Present

I'm joining in with LisaJo for Five Minute Friday! Learn more about it and join the fun HERE

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no   backtracking. 

2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 

3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.. 

I've been blessed beyond belief the last couple of weeks. To the point that I can't believe it. On one hand I want to yell from the rooftops the wonderful ways that God has provided for me. The way He continues to take care of me and Tanner. 

On the other hand, I feel like it's so extravagant that it's almost like bragging. I certainly don't deserve all of these blessings. Why me? 

Then I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine. I was telling her of these blessings and she was rejoicing with me! When I was told her how I was feeling conflicted about it, this is what she said to me:

"You are a daughter of the King of kings! Why wouldn't He give you all these blessings? He loves you!"

Something in my heart changed right in that moment as those words penetrated not just my ears, but my heart. God, my father, He loves me. He wants to take care of me. He wants to give me good gifts.

(Oh ya, and the devil, the one who says I don't deserve it, the one who whispers "why you?" in my ear, he is a liar.)

So I am here to shout from the rooftops how good God is! What a wonderful provider He is! How He loves me!  And I accept the gifts from Him as that, a present because He loves me and wants to take care of me, not because I'm "good enough" or because I "deserve" it, but because He loves me. 

In the next few weeks I will be having my furnace, water heater, central air conditioning, and my refrigerator all replaced at essentially no cost to me. As each appliance is replaced I will be thanking God knowing in my heart how much He loves me and I'll be sharing His love with anyone who will listen! 

And in the fall, when I am able to send my son to the christian school I've been praying about, I'll be telling everyone that the only way we could do it is because God provided. I had to spend all of my savings for his tuition on a major car repair, but I was informed last week that we would be getting a bonus in a couple of months! According to my manager, it should be double what I had to spend on my car repair. God is good and He loves His children.

"Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

                                                                   Matthew 7:9-11

In Between

I don't even know how this happened, that you are so big already. You are just a few months shy of double digits! Yet in my mind you are still my baby, always will be I suppose. But, in reality, you are not a baby. You aren't grown yet either, though. You are in between.

The other day you found some clothes you wore as a tiny newborn baby. Oh, how looking at them just grabbed my heart and squeezed til I could hardly breathe. Where did all the time go?  It's hard to believe you were ever that itty bitty.

Now, as I remember how you fell asleep sprawled over the recliner, legs long and hair messy, I ache for how quickly you are growing. So smart, so funny, so loving.

I am loving this in between time with you. We have hilarious conversations and sometimes I wonder how you got so smart! Other times you are still my little boy and hold my hand and want to cuddle with me. My heart bursts in those moments.

Son,  you are my greatest gift. You are a treasure to me and I don't want to miss a single minute of this wonderful time with you.

I'm linking up with LisaJo Baker for Five Minute Fridays! Join in and be blessed HERE!

Rhythm

Rhythm. 

The first thing that comes to mind about this word is that I cannot spell it. Ever. I always have to look it up. In fact, when I went to start this I had to refer back to Lisa-Jo's post to make sure I was spelling it right.

Yet, this hard to spell word seems to be a constant in my life.

I am always moved by the rhythm of things.

I'm comforted by the even back and forth of the rocking chair.

I'm soothed by the steady tapping of my foot.

The breathing of a sleeping baby is the sweetest rhythm of all.

The sound of waves beating against the shore.

The continual beating of a heart, the pounding rain on a rooftop.

I find God in the rhythm, a reminder that He is constant, like a rhythm.


I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker today for Five Minute Friday! To learn more and join in, click here!

Hello Mornings - Believe

He says it over and over and over again.

Believe.

"I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life."  John 5:24

And not only that. Once we believe we have eternal life. It is done. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

Not...once you change your ways and stop sinning. 

Not....once you do enough good deeds

Not....if you read your Bible enough

Not....if you pray hard enough and attend church regularly

Now.....we HAVE eternal life, from the moment we first believe we "have already passed from death into life." (John 5:24b)

This verse says it all:

Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you; Believe in the one He has sent." 

John 6:29

All we are required to do is BELIEVE. Everything else will fall into place. He will change our hearts and guide our actions. Our belief will lead us into prayer and worship and good deeds and out of sin. Our belief will cause us to follow Him. It becomes the desire of our hearts to do His will. 

I'm doing the Meet Jesus study with the Hello Mornings group HMCPsalm1438 and this is what He has been impressing on me. Just believe. Quit trying so hard to earn my way, just believe. It's where everything starts.

So, although our study is from John, my prayer today is from the book of Mark: 

"The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" 

Mark 9:24

"For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."

John 6:40

View

I think about you a lot.
Missing you every day.
It's the little things that remind me of you......
A song that was your favorite,
A bike tire that needs fixing,
The sound of a lawnmower and the smell of fresh cut grass,
Our boy wearing your cologne to remind himself of you.....

It helps knowing where you are
Who you are with......
Sometimes I try to imagine the view.....
The golden streets,
The pearl gates,
The angels,
The room that Jesus made just for you.
And the one He is preparing for me.

Linking up with Lisa Jo Baker for Five Minute Fridays. Join in and be blessed!

Comfort

I know it's Thursday and we are just hours away from a new prompt for 5 Minute Fridays with Lisa Jo, but I've had this word on my mind all week. Since I had to do a tiny bit of "research" --does looking up words count as research?!?----I suppose I'm not following the rules, but here goes anyway! Just under the wire....

COMFORT

A few months back, during a sermon on Sunday morning, the pastor speaking was talking about the Holy Spirit and how He is our comforter. He then went on to explain that in Hebrew the word comfort actually means strengthen. I wanted to know more so I looked it up for myself......it not only means strengthen, it also means sustain, support .....comfort.

This is so much more than my version of comfort which was to soothe and console. And those are an important part of comfort, but to be strengthened, supported, sustained......it is so much more powerful!

 It also made me look back on my hardest of times and be able to see His presence with me. Holding me up, supporting me, sustaining me, strengthening me.....comforting me.

Linking up (a little late!) with Lisa Jo Baker for Five Minute Fridays! To join in click HERE!

Brave

Brave. It has been a topic of conversation around our house lately.

My 3rd grade son has been having trouble with a boy in his class bullying him. It is really hard to take, my momma bear really rises up. My son is a people-pleaser, conflict-avoider, super-sensitive, follow-alonger. I would like to say I have no idea where he got that from, but I can't. He totally got it from me.

I'm trying to teach him differently though.  I'm praying he can learn from my experiences and be brave way before I was. I'm learning it won't take him as long to trust Jesus as it did me.  See I used to think that "brave" meant having no fear. I was totally wrong, brave is having fear and doing it anyway.....that's what makes it brave. The other side to that is learning to trust Jesus in our fear. Knowing that Jesus is with us can make us brave in spite of our fear.

So, we've been praying and my son has been brave. He's gone to school and has been having a great week. (And the other boy has left him alone.)

Soon, I'll be taking lessons on bravery from him.

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I'm linking up with LisaJo today for Five Minute Friday! Join in and be blessed! To find out more, click HERE.