Hi everyone! We just got back from our trip to Tampa, Florida, where it was sunny and 81 degrees! It felt like summer time. Sunset one evening consisted of a pinkish backdrop next to a black silhouette of a lone palm tree. It was gorgeous.
Needless to say, we're now wanting to pack up our RV and head to sunny, balmy Florida to stay. BTW, there are plenty of RV parks all across Florida.
We had a good time and now it's time to unpack and get ready for our next trip in just a few weeks. It's nice to be retired, or refired, as I like to say.
We listened to Joel Osteen on Sirius radio coming home and I want to leave you with a quote from him that I really liked. "True greatness is not how much you shine, but how much you make others shine." Isn't that good? He is such a positive, encouraging speaker.
I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! 2015 is going to be a year full of God's Blessings!
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Christmas Blessings
Climbing up on a chair to dust the light fixture hanging above our dining room table, I could now see the top of the bookshelf and all the dust that had collected there too. Dust, dust everywhere it seems! And how appropriate! Especially this morning, because I received a text as I was struggling to awaken that another marriage had bit the dust. How sad, because it seems just about everyday there's news that another marriage has ended in divorce. (I hate that word.)
Yesterday, after lunch I told my husband I was going to lie down on the sofa and watch Hallmark Christmas movies. The reason being, I was feeling a little down and alright, a little depressed. The tears were just on the rim and I knew if I blinked, they would begin to flow...so, my goal was to not blink!
I grabbed my new, gray, fleece throw, and flipped to the Hallmark channel and I was not disappointed. There were plenty of sad, love relationships gone awry, nothing turning out right for Christmas, movies, that I could sob right along to in silence, beneath my fleece blanket of gray. How appropriate again! My blanket was gray and I was feeling gray, but I digress. (Love that word, by the way:)
After watching three of these heart wrenching stories back to back, I decided enough was enough. I felt I had overdosed on depression a wee bit too long. It was time to shift gears and be happy. I could do it. I just had to decide to be happy.
So, I threw back my fleece blanket of gray, inwardly and outwardly, so to speak and got up off my sofa. After a dinner of Pizza Hut cheese sticks and vegetables, I felt much better. It's all a matter of mind over matter and it does matter what you mind.
Back to this morning's dust. Yes, we all have dust and I'm not talking about just the dust on our furniture. I'm talking about the dust in our minds. Sometimes, life's dust, clouds our thinking and that's when we need to count our blessings. The best thing to sweep away the dust from our thinking is to sweep our minds with the Word. I mean His Word. The living Word of God.
Psalm 73:26 reads like this: "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Isn't that good? God's Word works. It cleans those ugly cobwebs right off of our hearts and minds. His Word also tells us the joy of the Lord is our strength!
Many of my friends are facing some really difficult situations this Christmas season. A young man's mother passed away a few weeks ago and his father's ailing health is something he must decide on how best to care for him, while caring for his own little family. A wife, just found out her husband has cancer and their facing difficult days ahead. A couple who have been married several years are facing divorce. A woman in her retirement years is now facing it alone because her spouse died a few years ago. Another family is dealing day to day with a special needs child and another family with a special needs child are having to explain why he can't get his driver's license without injuring his feelings. A grandmother cries, because she feels sorry for her grandson and her son. Another has made mistakes for which they are sorry, but the damage has been done. A man is struggling with alcohol addiction and he's losing everything he holds dear, but this demon has him in his grasp and won't let him go. Another, has committed adultery and because of that his marriage has ended. On and on the list goes.
The problem is a SIN problem! There, I've said it. A SIN problem is what we have, but there is answer. People don't want to hear they have a sin problem. Oh, it's something I can handle. I just need counseling or vacation time or more sleep. No! You've tried all that and how is it working for you? Be honest, it's not. The answer to our sin problem, our loneliness, our health issues are all found wrapped up in a little baby boy long, long ago, born in Bethlehem of Judea, one dark, starry night. His name is Jesus! He's the answer to any problem your dealing with this Christmas season.
This is why Jesus came..."Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3 Jesus Christ is the answer. Call upon Him today. Let Him show Himself mighty on your behalf.
Merry Christmas Blessings to all!
Yesterday, after lunch I told my husband I was going to lie down on the sofa and watch Hallmark Christmas movies. The reason being, I was feeling a little down and alright, a little depressed. The tears were just on the rim and I knew if I blinked, they would begin to flow...so, my goal was to not blink!
I grabbed my new, gray, fleece throw, and flipped to the Hallmark channel and I was not disappointed. There were plenty of sad, love relationships gone awry, nothing turning out right for Christmas, movies, that I could sob right along to in silence, beneath my fleece blanket of gray. How appropriate again! My blanket was gray and I was feeling gray, but I digress. (Love that word, by the way:)
After watching three of these heart wrenching stories back to back, I decided enough was enough. I felt I had overdosed on depression a wee bit too long. It was time to shift gears and be happy. I could do it. I just had to decide to be happy.
So, I threw back my fleece blanket of gray, inwardly and outwardly, so to speak and got up off my sofa. After a dinner of Pizza Hut cheese sticks and vegetables, I felt much better. It's all a matter of mind over matter and it does matter what you mind.
Back to this morning's dust. Yes, we all have dust and I'm not talking about just the dust on our furniture. I'm talking about the dust in our minds. Sometimes, life's dust, clouds our thinking and that's when we need to count our blessings. The best thing to sweep away the dust from our thinking is to sweep our minds with the Word. I mean His Word. The living Word of God.
Psalm 73:26 reads like this: "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Isn't that good? God's Word works. It cleans those ugly cobwebs right off of our hearts and minds. His Word also tells us the joy of the Lord is our strength!
Many of my friends are facing some really difficult situations this Christmas season. A young man's mother passed away a few weeks ago and his father's ailing health is something he must decide on how best to care for him, while caring for his own little family. A wife, just found out her husband has cancer and their facing difficult days ahead. A couple who have been married several years are facing divorce. A woman in her retirement years is now facing it alone because her spouse died a few years ago. Another family is dealing day to day with a special needs child and another family with a special needs child are having to explain why he can't get his driver's license without injuring his feelings. A grandmother cries, because she feels sorry for her grandson and her son. Another has made mistakes for which they are sorry, but the damage has been done. A man is struggling with alcohol addiction and he's losing everything he holds dear, but this demon has him in his grasp and won't let him go. Another, has committed adultery and because of that his marriage has ended. On and on the list goes.
The problem is a SIN problem! There, I've said it. A SIN problem is what we have, but there is answer. People don't want to hear they have a sin problem. Oh, it's something I can handle. I just need counseling or vacation time or more sleep. No! You've tried all that and how is it working for you? Be honest, it's not. The answer to our sin problem, our loneliness, our health issues are all found wrapped up in a little baby boy long, long ago, born in Bethlehem of Judea, one dark, starry night. His name is Jesus! He's the answer to any problem your dealing with this Christmas season.
This is why Jesus came..."Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3 Jesus Christ is the answer. Call upon Him today. Let Him show Himself mighty on your behalf.
Merry Christmas Blessings to all!
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