My List of Demands

wpid-062913_1419_youcanhaven1.jpeg Proverbs 22:17-25:28

“Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” Proverbs 25:25

Today has been a whirlwind of a day! It started out with the chaos of getting a family ready for the day and ended better than I could have imagined had I tried. After getting the kids off to school I sat down and wrote out a list of things that have been going on lately. You might even look at it as my list of demands for the angels to carry out post haste on my behalf. There were THIRTY-FIVE things on the list! I’ve never sat down and written out a list of all the things going “wrong” in my life, but as the list kept getting longer and longer I just kept shaking my head and thinking, “no wonder I’m so stressed out!”

And while I’m not going to share my list with you, it’s a little more private than I want to get today. I am willing to share parts of the conversation God and I had over my list.

“Do you feel better now that you’ve gotten that out of your system? If you go back through what you’ve written I imagine you’ll find your complaints quite silly and menial indeed. I am the I am. I will do what I will do and if I choose I will do it for you. You know this full well now don’t you. Take your pen and turn it to Me. I will bless it farther than you can ever imagine throwing it. You laugh, because even now you use a pen from the Fairfield Inn and Suites. You know that writing is your “fair field”. You know that I am right and true and all about Y.O.U. You know that I do not lie and that I care for you with a love that is beyond all human comprehension. You know that I am Good and that I delight in the prosperity of My children. You know that I seek your health and wellness in body and spirit. Down to the marrow of your bones I care for YOU. I desire your happiness just as you desire the happiness of your own beloved spouse. And you know that happiness is something you choose not something you are. Life happens to everyone it’s how you handle it that determines what happens next.

You are in a constant tizzy over what to DO with yourself. Why? Because you care. You care what I think of you. You care what your husband things of you. You care about the happiness of others to the point of your own unhappiness. And church has told you that’s a good thing, yet you’re not finding it very appealing are you?”

“Lord, yesterday, when I was at the seminar and we came back from lunch and the teacher talked about skipping lunch and it occurred to me, “these people eat three meals EVERY day!” I never do that! Lord, being a mom is a lot harder than I ever imagined. Today, just this morning I had to choose between staying in bed and snuggling with my husband or getting up and reading my Bible. Then in the rush of the morning I ran out of time to make my own breakfast while making everyone else’s breakfast and lunch. Then, the time I was going to use to shower got used up with my little girl’s nose bleed and me needing to drive her to school because she missed the bus. Lord, I put everyone else first and I take care of everyone else but who takes care of me?

Lord, I miss MY Mommy! Being a grown up stinks! One of the few perks is having sex, but we’re both so busy and tired that we don’t even hardly get to do that anymore either!!! I’m tired LORD. Your word says that those who wait on the Lord will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not faint and they will walk and not grow weary. So why am I so weary? I’ve been waiting a long time haven’t I?

The battle has been long and I am weary BUT, I am NOT giving up. However, it would be right kind of You to send some reinforcements. Thank You Daddy. I love You!”

I am happy to report, here at the close of this day, He sent reinforcements. In an awesome way. Our Father is so good! Make out YOUR list of demands. It is written that the LORD delights in the prosperity of His people. That word prosperity, in the Hebrew, is Shalom. It means the completeness of His people. Taking care of their every need, physical, spiritual and emotional. It is His delight to care for you in a way that is meaningful and beneficial to you.

Write out your list and “send” it to Him as a soldier would send His commanding officer a battlefield report of how things are looking from your view on the front lines. There may be some things on the list that He just can’t get to you immediately, but then there are others that He can. He can and is willing to send you the reinforcements that you need. ASK HIM TO!

We love to pray for you! If you’re willing to share, send us your list or a few items from it. For ease of use, if you’re receiving this post via email, all you have to do is click “reply” and it will send your reply straight to the comments section here on the website. (How cool is that!?!) This way you all can be praying for each other as well. 🙂 This is supposed to be a community after all right? If you would like to receive emails concerning the comments attached to this post you can click on “Notify me of follow-up comments via email.” located below the comment box.

Categories: Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

What a Day!

wpid-062913_1419_youcanhaven1.jpegProverbs 18:1-22:16

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it’s fruit.” Proverbs 18:21

What a day! That’s all I can say.

Yup, that’s all I’ve got at the moment.

Categories: Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Sunday SHMILY’S

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Proverbs 14:1-17:28
“The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
    and good news refreshes the bones.”
Well folks I am officially without a computer for the next few days. My brother the computer guy has taken it to see what he can do with it, if anything. So it’s just me and my phone for the moment. Oh how I will miss the tap of those keys under my fingers! It is such a bliss to me.
Anyway today is Sunday and that means a review of those great pictures God gave me this week. Moments that spoke His love for me through the faces I hold dear. 🙂
Like this one, Anna learning that she can roll her tongue. 

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My sweet Skippy dog sunning in the window. 

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A heart shaped potato skin. 

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And some MELTING snow in the shape of a heart. 

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An attempt at patching Anna’s pants with crochet that failed miserably, but it made me laugh.

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A smiley face.

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Hmmmm….. Maybe not quite smiling, but a face nonetheless. 😉 with a heart for an eye!
The GORGEOUS sunset on my way to Greek class Tuesday night. The streaks through the sky started to look like an eagle in flight after awhile. So I just had to stop to take a picture even if it meant being a little late for class.

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That look from the puppy boy that says “I love you, thank you for taking care of me”.

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It’s a little hard to see but, a heart shaped smudge on the glass as I’m sitting down for devotions.

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Again, kind of hard to see, it’s sideways, a face in my hamburger! I ate it anyway.

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A clean -er living room! (If you’d seen it before you would be impressed trust me.)

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A heart shaped rock that I’ve driven past for almost 7 years and never noticed it had a heart face until this week!

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The carrying on of a Friday night tradition my mom started when I was in high school. Make your own pizza night!

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A heart in a low moment when I needed a pick me up. He’s good like that.

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Smile my friends! God loves YOU! 

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Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Proverbs, SHMILY!, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Prayers Please

wpid-062913_1419_youcanhaven1.jpeg Proverbs 9:13-13:25

“one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward” Proverbs 11:18

Folks, I could really use some prayer. I am under some extreme spiritual attack. It’s been going on for a month or more now, but I’m coming to the point where I’ve become weary and less able to withstand the battle. I’ve started having trouble sleeping. My computer has been throwing extreme fits. My house has become a complete disaster area due to negligence and winter being so extreme. The list could go on and on, but I’ll really just give you that much to work on. I have noticed from past experience that great breakthroughs generally follow fierce spiritual attacks like these. I have also noticed that I have 84 days left in my “Write through the Bible in a Year” challenge from the LORD. Now friends, I have been working on this for the last 3 years and have never been this close to actually accomplishing the goal. Not ever.

Judging by the fierce spiritual attack I’m guessing that this is a challenge that Satan REALLY doesn’t want me finishing. Well, he doesn’t get to win. I said I was going to do this and I’m going to. Period. There are so many days, especially lately, when I have been so tempted to write nothing, or I have simply run out of time to write anything halfway meaningful. At one point I thought I was done writing and I was planning on just re-posting all of my original writings. But then when the time came to do it, I just couldn’t. I couldn’t stay away that long.

For whatever reason I don’t fully understand, God wants me talking to you all every day (except Friday). He wants me sharing my life and many of my deepest thoughts and emotions with you. (And some of you are people I’ve never even met in person before!) Yet I trust Him and His plans for me. I trust that perhaps something I say will be meaningful to you in some way, shape or form. At least I hope and pray that it is anyway.

I guess what I’m saying is that Satan is heavily tempting me to give up and I need your prayers to pull me through. As much as I LOVE writing, there’s only so much interference a person can run before she wears out and has nothing left to give. Although, those are generally the moments that you tend to get the most from me it seems. So maybe this right now is extremely beneficial to you. I can only hope so anyway. I have a lump in my throat the size of Houston right now trying to fight back the tears that are threatening to spill over and betray my frustration. I feel like things are unraveling before my eyes and there’s nothing I can do about it but watch it happen. And yet, who is to say that that’s not a GOOD thing? Maybe the very thing that is unraveling is the very thing that’s been blocking me from the next step. Maybe this thing that is unraveling has been the very thing that has been binding me up from moving forward. So perhaps as disconcerting as this feels maybe it’s the best possible thing that could happen for me. I mean God does say that He works ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

GOSH it feels good to get all this out! I love you guys! Thanks for always being here for me… even though most of you are not physically HERE with me, like, ever! 😉

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Proverbs, The Crazy Mom Blog, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | 2 Comments

Don’t Hold Back

Word of the Day: Proverbs 5:1-9:12

“Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” Proverbs 8:10-11

OH HOW MUCH I WANT TO SAY TO YOU TODAY!!! But alas, I am not able at the moment. siiiigh….

So, if you’re jonesing for something more to read after these GREAT Proverbs, here’s a link to another chapter from Dandelion Season.

Don’t Hold Back.

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Proverbs, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Wonderfully Made

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Proverbs 1:1-4:27
” Let your heart hold fast My words;” Proverbs 4:4

I’m spending today getting organized for the next few weeks so I’m reposting a chapter from my book Dandelion Season. You can find it here in e-book format or here for print format.
Enjoy the throwback Thursday post, on a Wednesday. 😉

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“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”  Psalm 139:14 KJV

What is it about youth that we are so obsessed with? Why is it that we even want to look younger than we really are? Think about every year of your life so far. Have some of them been really great? And some of them really hard? During those hard years, what about them was so difficult? What did you do about it? During that time in your life where you were being shaken where did you look for help? Did you look to the problem or God? And now in the aftermath of that situation, looking back, what did you learn from that shaking? Did you draw closer to God through it? Did you learn something about yourself? Him? Someone else?

For every wrinkle or silver hair on our bodies, there is a corresponding event. For every scar there is a story, every broken bone, and new strong point (they heal stronger than they were to begin with). Every single tear that we shed God collects (Psalm 56:8). He CARES about our hurts and He never wastes a single one. He USES them to teach us, to mold and shape us and help us grow to help us heal. So then why, oh please someone tell me why is our culture so ready and willing to cover all that up; to hide the help that God provided us in our time of need? If every silver hair equals a lesson well learned, why dye it back to the way it was before and cancel out your wisdom? Pretending it never happened? How do you think God feels about that? I mean He’s the one who painted that hair silver in the first place isn’t He? If He’s going to take the time to count how many are on your head (Matthew 10:30) I’m pretty sure He’s got them all labeled with a color too!

When my husband and I were dating we used to always talk about growing old together, what we’d do when we retired, and how we would spend eternity together. Now, keep in mind, this is when we were young teenagers! And now, every single silver hair on my head is a reminder to me how I am now getting to live out some of those dreams with my husband, and that I am one silver hair closer to that final dream of eternity with my husbands – both of them! So now, tell me, WHY would I want to try to hide the fact that I am literally living out my dream of life with the man I love?

The same is true of my spiritual husband Jesus, think about it; He numbers every hair, collects every tear, and counts every footstep. Does it sound like these things matter to Him? Then shouldn’t they matter to us? Every morning women get up and paint over the face that God painted first. His fingers traced those laugh lines around your mouth, “Aren’t they beautiful?” He says. His brush painted that stretch mark iridescent, “Aren’t those children wonderful?” He asks. Those spider veins are His handiwork too! Your royal purple blood shining through your fleshy exterior. “Oh, you are so beautiful!” He exclaims proudly, “I did such a work on you, and that’s just on the outside! You should see what all I’ve painted on the inside!”

She who has eyes let her see! We may think a child’s skin is beautiful because it is flawless, but really it’s because it’s still blank! God hasn’t painted anything on it yet. But you! You’re a half-finished work of art, painted by the Master himself. THE Master! Better than Picasso, or Rembrandt or hey, even Andy Warhol! This Master is the One who painted them! And He’s painting you too!

You may not like the way you look in the mirror, but God loves it! He doesn’t make mistakes (Deuteronomy 32:4) so why question His judgment on how low your breasts sag or how wide your hips are? And really, what’s the point? I mean where does it get you other than losing money on beauty “aids” and a huge loss of self-confidence in the beautiful woman God’s creating in you. No, He’s not done yet, that takes a lifetime, but look how far He’s come with you! Step by step He’s led you down life’s road, right by your side (whether you recognized Him or not) He was there the whole time. He is ever so fond of you, and loves you so desperately, will you choose to believe Him today? Will you choose to cling to His promise never to leave you, to never let go. Will you choose to believe Him when He tells you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? If you do, it might just change your entire perspective on the world. Remember God doesn’t make mistakes, He makes miracles – that’s you sister!

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Proverbs, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Kaleidoscope/ Finishing Your Granny Square Blanket

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Philemon & Philippians
“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

Today is a good day because I today I finished my kaleidoscope!

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She’s got at least 48hrs in the squares, 24hrs in sewing them together and then about an hour and a half in the edging. She’s heard a multitude of sermons on how much God love us and she speaks that out in each square being a different color. As varied as they each are, together they tell of the different colors of His love for each of us. Sometimes His love looks dark and brooding while other times it’s light and cheery.  But sewn with love and prayer together they make a covering that protects us from the cold harsh world around us. Each square holding tightly to the one next to it they form a thick barrier that warms the heart just as much as the body.
Yes. It’s just a blanket. But at the same time it’s SO much more. It’s a symbol of a love that surpasses all understanding. It’s a gift that never stops being given as long as it continues to be used.
God’s love was never meant to be put on a shelf to be looked at. It’s meant to be received as a gift and used day after day. His love covers over a multitude of sins,; yes even your worst ones.
He began a good work in you and He will continue working it in you until it is finished – and not a moment sooner. He won’t give up on you. I promise.

Sewing the Squares Together:

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The first thing I did was to sort the squares.  As I was making them I had tied them into groups of ten to make counting easier. I knew I wanted the completed blanket to be 4 feet square. So I made a test granny square and measured it at approximately 2.5in square.
Next I figured up the math:
I converted my desired length into inches: 4ft = 48in.
Then I converted my inches into squares: 48in length ÷ 2.5in granny squares = 19 granny squares per side.
Then I multiplied my length in squares by my width in squares to get my total squares needed: 19 squares × 19 squares = 361 squares total needed to make a 4ftx4ft blanket.
I had my work cut out for me.

Once I had double checked that I had the correct amount of squares completed I cut all the bindings loose and mixed them all together in a large paper bag. Aren’t they beautiful!

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I wanted the pattern to be completely random so as I sewed the squares together I would draw the next square out of the bag. My only rule was that two squares of the same color couldn’t be above, below, to the right or the left of each other; but diagonal was ok.
I used a whip stitch* to join them going ONLY through the back loops. I started at the corners where the chain (CH) stich is.

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Join the squares corner to corner with a cross stitch type “X” to secure them so that they don’t migrate down the whip stitch.

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Work ONLY in the back loops of the square so that you get a nice “invisible” joint between the squares.

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In last week’s granny square tutorial I told you to pull the last chain stitch tight which would make a knot. In joining the squares I found it worked best to start with the corner nearest the knot so that I could then whip stitch right over the knot and the tail making sure that the knot faced the back of the blanket.

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By doing this part first when I went to whip stitch the vertical columns of squares it went MUCH faster because then all my squares were facing the same direction so my stitches all lined up neatly AND I didn’t have any tails to worry about anymore.

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With the edging I tried to do a granny stitch style edge but it didn’t look quite right. It made the squares look like they were continuing on rather than stopping at the edging. I had worked so hard at making all their edges look straight and lined up I didn’t want to ruin that with the edging. So I switched to a double crochet (DC) in each stitch around, including the “hole” created by the chain stitch spaces. At the corners I worked (3DC, 2CH, 3DC) into the CH space of the corner square. Joining the final DC with a slip stitch to the first DC. Finish off and weave in the tail. Tada! A finished work, a long time in the making!

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*Note: to make the blanket two sided you could use a slip stitch or even a single crochet, worked in the back loops only, to join the squares. I actually would have done this but didn’t think about it until I was already halfway through whip stitching and at that point I wasn’t going back!

Categories: 365 Life, Crochet Tuesday, Jesus Loves YOU, Philemon, Philippians, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Love in a Smile


2 Peter 1:1-3:18

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16

Eyewitnesses of Christ’s majesty. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have been there watching everything the Savior was doing? Witnessing the tenderness with which He spoke to the sinners, it had to have been wonderful. I can only imagine the way that He touched the lepers healing them instantly. The gasps from the crowd as He reached out to them, it was a tremendous scandal after all, touching a leper. At that point, for the clean to touch the unclean made the clean, unclean. Yet with Jesus the opposite happened. The clean touched the unclean and made the unclean, clean!!! In Christ we too can have no fear of touching the unclean, because we have been made clean though His perfect blood on the cross.

All too often religion still teaches us that “Thou shalt not…”, but so many of those shalt nots have been turned on their heads! For instance, I know of many that teach against drinking. And for them and their lives, they need to live that and perhaps they’ve even been called to teach that. But then I know others whose entire ministry is based in a bar! They go, they drink (NOT HEAVILY) and they do a Bible Study. They invite the people of the bar to come and join them, and they do! Many have been saved by this very ministry; because suddenly, these drunkards have witnessed the Grace of God right smack dab in the middle of their sin.

Way too often we spend so much time condemning the sin that we forget there is a sinner involved in the process. A sinner that first and foremost needs LOVED. Loved and taught that they matter to an Almighty God who created them and cares for them. I think we’ve lost sight of the POWER of the LOVE of Christ. We spend so much time focusing on the sin and the judgment of it that we lose sight of what we’re really supposed to be here doing.

LOVING PEOPLE.

We get so wrapped up in DOING that we forget the LOVING part of the process. We do our good works and we pat ourselves on the back, check it off our list and then turn around and scowl at the guy walking out of the bar. We cluck at the single mom who had one bad night and is paying for it for the rest of her life. Instead of wrapping our arms around her and offering to watch her kid for her so that she can take a break and try to regain her sanity. (I spent most of last week as a single mom while my husband was away on a business trip; I honestly don’t know how you gals do it! My hat is off to you!!!)

If we would just bother to read our Bibles once in a while we would notice that the love of Christ compels us to do good works. It covers over a multitude of sins, it bears all things, but most of all it’s the greatest thing that remains when everything is said and done. Love is greater than faith and hope. So while we can preach ourselves blue in the face on being faithful and hoping in Christ, the reality of the matter is that LOVE IS WHERE THE POWER IS!!! If faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, what can a little bit of love in the form of a smile and a wave do?

I know you know what I mean. Think about a day where you were up against the wall, you could feel the blindfold over your eyes and you could hear the distinctive click of the firing squad taking aim. And then someone you don’t even know smiled and waved at you. But it wasn’t just any smile; it was the kind of smile that goes all the way to their eyes. Or better yet, the smile of someone who actually does know you. The kind of smile that lights up their entire being when you walk into the room because they’re genuinely happy to see you. Those are the kinds of smiles that can literally change your entire day. They’re not hard, but they’re amazingly powerful. The power of Love taking the form of a smile, in Jesus’ name.
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Categories: 2 Peter, 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Love Letters

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1 Peter
“Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
A wise person once told me, when I had writers block, to be still and let God write love letters to you for awhile. So that’s what I did today. I went through and picked out my favorite pictures from this week, my love letters from the LORD.
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Categories: 1 Peter, 365 Life, SHMILY!, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

Writers Block

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Obadiah
Well, I can’t say this happens all that often but today I seem to be speechless. Everything I try to say gets stuck somewhere between my brain and my hands. Go figure.

Categories: 365 Life, Obadiah, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | 2 Comments

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