Romans 1:12

Good morning, dear one. I'm so glad you came by to see if I'd posted today!

I know I've shared my struggle about what I want this blog to be. Today, God gave me another clue that I'd like to follow with you. :) Romans 1:12 says, "That is, that we may be mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by each other's faith, both yours and mine." (Amplified)

THAT is what I want! I'm not strong on my own. I need to be encouraged, too - that's why I treasure your comments. :) And when we pray for each other, we're not only strengthening each other, but comforting one another, too. And when I get encouragement from a sermon or lesson or book, and share with you - THAT is ALL what I see this blog for.

Now, I know that we're a small group. But I believe that God has helped us find each other for this reason!!! PLEASE, continue to put your prayer requests in - you can either email them to me, or leave them in the comments area. And be sure to read and pray for each other when you get a chance. If there's something REALLY important, I'll post it in the blog. Update us when you get an answer, so we can ALL be encouraged and comforted. You don't have to give lots of details, if you don't want. Let us know praise reports! Blessings shared are AWESOME things - they encourage us to remember that God is working on our behalf, even if we can't SEE it!

I saw a church sign a few days ago that REALLY impacted me: "God adds and multiplies. Satan subtracts and divides." Let's share how God is adding and multiplying in our lives, dear friend!

I cannot WAIT to pray for you - and I know there are others that feel the same. I cannot WAIT to hear how God is blessing you! And I can't WAIT to continue to share what God is doing in my own heart and life. :)

Toward that purpose, I have put the video below. You don't have to use MY verse to meditate on when you watch this approximately two-and-one-half-minutes of the ocean, but fix your mind on whatever verse is yours for the day, and just bathe in God's creation. This is the Gulf Coast at Fort Walton Beach, where we were two weeks ago. Expect a little from Oregon, too. :D

Be BLESSED, dear one. God has a plan for you, a purpose for your life. Expect to see Him move today. Keep your eyes open for all the little blessings He's sending you; they're gifts, letting you know how much you're loved, and how much He delights in YOU.

Psalm 148:7-8:
Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,

Good Monday Morning!

How was your weekend? Did you get to spend time with friends and/or family? I was SUPER-busy! What IS it with weekends nowadays?!?!?! I feel like IF I get a break, it's during the WEEK sometime! CRAZY.

Anyway. :D It's MONDAY; it's time to share what you learned - and we're going to expand that a bit, I think, since there are a lot of my dear friends who either aren't churched right now, or can't always go. So, what did you learn at church, in Sunday school, or in your devotions? What is God saying to you???? What does He want you to do this week?

Kenn and I have started to read Randy Alcorn's book, HEAVEN, together; we JUST got it, and will talk about it once a week - this is something I've been wanting to do for a while! So, I started reading the introduction. Did you know, in our world, 250,000 people die EVERY DAY? They're each destined for either Heaven or Hell. It just made me start thinking - JUST that statement: what have I done to influence the choice that each person around me makes?

I've never believed in being one of those hellfire people; I firmly believe God has asked me to lead a life that SHOWS Him. I know I USED to be effective at that; I can't help but wonder how I'm doing these days. I pray that He will use this blog to touch someone's life today!!!!!

So, what else are you up to? Talk to me! I LOVE hearing from you! I want to know what God is telling you. I'm always amazed at how He can start movements one individual at a time. I want to LISTEN, and OBEY!!!!

Nancy, this is the sharing about God's LOVE I mentioned two weeks ago. :D

Hello, dear friend. I'm still not feeling too great, but God's GOOD! :)

I mentioned being scared of asking my Father for ANYTHING - well, in this excerpt that was in my study Bible, Max sure threw some light on why I feel this way! I can't wait to hear YOUR take on it....

AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I *knew* I should have marked it! I've spent two hours looking for it, and still can't find it. I'll keep looking, but I want to give you the gist of the excerpt.

Max's wife had been away, and he was in charge of the girls for the time. If they had been good, the family was going to do something special. They went to the airport to pick her up; when she asked if the children had been good, he said yes.

The oldest piped up from the back seat, and told her daddy he was wrong; they'd done this and this and this bad, so they shouldn't get to go.

Daddy had forgiven the little trespasses. But we don't expect OUR Daddy to do that, do we. We keep track of the things we do wrong, and say, "How can You love me, God? See how filthy and dirty I am?" But HE says, "I've forgiven that. You're washed in the blood. Quit bringing it back up, dear one. It is DONE."

Tuesday is Goal-Check Day!!!

It's that dreaded time of the week, ladies. :D It's time for us to 'fess up about how we're doing with the goals we've set ourselves. I'll go first, then ask those of you who sent me your goals some questions!

OK. First goal: reading the Bible in chronological order. I was up with my schedule until last night; my room threw up into the rest of the house while they're doing the floors :D, so I'm not quite sure where the Bible I'm using and my schedule got off to. It's on my list of things to find today. :D

Second goal: doing water aerobics twice a week, starting this week. Tonight is the class I attend, and Kenn knows I'm going, and I know I'm going, and my bag is all packed and ready to grab. :) I'm half dreading it, half looking forward to it. My endurance is way down, and it's amazing how much my carpal-tunnel hurts when working with water weights. But I love the water! :D I love being so much lighter in the water. LOL!

Third goal: setting office hours and keeping them. OK, not so good. I was on a conference call last night about balance in life - and I used to teach this stuff, too! :D - but the one thing he said was multi-tasking is a popular buzz word, but not an effective way of getting ANYTHING done. So, I'm going to stop multi-tasking, especially when I'm on the computer, and that should help me get much closer to this goal. I am doing better at keeping things separated. Another thing that came out of this call was: if I don't have separations and boundaries I'm willing to adhere to, why should I expect anyone else to adhere to them?

OK, I'm done. :D Now, then. Let me pull out my file! :) OK.

Deby. You're first. :D How are YOU doing? I know ou're reading. How about your organization? your WW?

Nancy! :) How are YOU doing? What steps toward your goals have you been able to take in the last week?

Judy? How's the exercise going? Still keeping on with it?

BECKY!! :D How are you doing with your billion goals? :D I know you're stamping and scrapping like you wanted to, and doing really well on your keeping your house straight. :) I know you didn't go to church Sunday because you hurt your leg. Plans for Wednesday night? How are you doing with your other goals?

Karen. :) How are those steps toward your accomplished goals going? Are you journaling? How's the Bible reading going? The rest of them? :)

Anyone else jumping on this bandwagon? :) It's never too late to set a goal for yourself. I'll be glad to help, if that's what you need. And we're ALL holding each other accountable.

The picture is from this morning; it's the wind chimes outside our back deck. It's REALLY warm here this morning; the weather front is moving in, so it's going to get stormy, but it's just silly when you go outside at 8:30 in the morning and it's as warm OUTSIDE as it is INSIDE, in JANUARY. AUGH!!!!!

:) OK. Time to move on to another task. I hope you're having a WONDERFUL day, my dear friend. I am blessed beyond measure by you!!!! Take this verse today, and take a moment to obey:

Psalm 46:10-11

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.