Three Years Later...

Can't believe it's only/already been three years...

Still, I cannot really share what is in my heart, but this song sums it up pretty well.

I am so, so blessed and thankful that Christ can give a life

of rejoicing and trusting Him, no matter what!

I Sing of Thee

1. I sing of thee, oh blessed Christ,

For thou hast saved me by thy grace.

Redeemed by thee at dreadful price,

With angels I would sing thy praise.

CHORUS:

I sing of thee, oh blessed Savior,

Thy praise shall now my tongue employ.

I’ll sing of thee, oh Lord, forever,

For thou hast filled my soul with joy.

2. I’ll sing of thee and smile through tears,

When sorrows come to make me sad.

For I remember through the years

Thy grace, and sing because I’m glad.

3. I’ll sing of thee while life shall last,

At home, abroad, on land or sea.

And when through death to life I’ve past,

Forevermore, I’ll sing of thee.

(One of my best pictures ever!)

No Giant So Great...

For an amazing perspective of God’s power, read again this account of the Bible classic, “David and Goliath,” from I Samuel 17. Only this time, when you read, insert your name for “David.” Whenever you read “Philistine,” insert the name of the sin, or problem, that you are struggling to overcome. This will remind you of Who gives the victory, and that He can and will do it.

⁴⁰And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

⁴²And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

⁴³And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

⁴⁵Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

⁴⁶This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

⁴⁷And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.

⁴⁸And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

⁵¹Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

There is no giant so great, that God is not greater still!

The Discipline of Hearing

Sharing the devotional from Oswald Chambers' book My Utmost for His Highest.

Feb

14

2012

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops —Matthew 10:27

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

Just Call Me Auntie Sharon!

I am officially an Auntie for the first time!

My new nephew is definitely my “pride & joy!” (See below.)

(Whoops, wrong picture.)

Although I have only seen pictures, he looks so small and HANDSOME!

All day Saturday I pestered Andrea & Dustin (my sister & brother-in-law) for news. Are you in the hospital yet? Have you had more contractions? How do you feel? When will he come!

Even into the night, I could not sleep…just waited up for news. Nothing…nothing…nothing. I did not want to disturb them, but from 2,061 miles away...IT’S HARD TO BE PATIENT!

And while I waited, I prayed. I prayed with Nana (Campbell): “Lord, let him be exactly what you want him to be. And most of all, may he know You from an early age. May he come to faith in Christ at an early age.”

At 10:00p.m. my time (Midnight “their” time), I especially prayed for safety for the baby and his mama. “Lord please, let them not have any problems. Please keep them from harm now and into the future.”

Finally, around 1:00 a.m., my time, I texted to see if there was any news.

A few seconds later, Dustin called to say that the baby had been born just before midnight (THREE HOURS BEFORE—WITHOUT TELLING ME!!!)…healthy and doing well! Praise the Lord!

Then I put the timeline together: I had been praying for safety just after the baby was born. And my mind turned to Isaiah 65:24 where it says, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

Thank you Heavenly Father for doing good, before I even asked. Your love and grace is truly amazing!

(See more pictures of this handsome fellow here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/117190158734967051397/albums/5706492975023968865?authkey=COqF1uim4ez7mwE&banner=pwa

And HERE:

http://beinstant.com/

Laugh Out Loud Moment

I found this picture on Twitter, but the tweeter will not take credit for it. So, I am sending a big "Thank You" out to whoever created it first.

Check it out!

It's HILARIOUS!!!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423318_3225905370594_1355332796_33266252_1159218274_n.jpg

I'm baa-aa-aack!!!

A Cream Corn Day

As I ran out the door this morning, I grabbed a sour cream reusable container filled with mac-n-cheese, and a can of chili to mix together for lunch. (Not the WHOLE can of chili, of course.) Chili-mac has become a common event in my mealtime mix-up.

When lunchtime arrived, I opened the chili and prepped my bowl. Then I opened the sour cream container, only to discover that I had grabbed the cream corn, not the mac-n-cheese.

Ugh! I was actually looking forward to Chili-mac.

Well, they were both there, and I do not eat cream corn by itself, so they both went into the bowl. It actually turned out fairly well. The texture of corn was a good addition to the chili, and the cream filled out my typical affinity for creamier chili.

No, I do not have some deep lesson to learn from this. I guess I might have made a twist on the old cliché, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade” quote. However, “When life hands you cream corn, make cream-corn-chili” sounds worse.

Still, it was a good reminder to smile and enjoy the ride!

P.S. Now that I am thinking about it.............a new cookbook line might be “in the mix” (pun intended): Scrumptious Strokes of Luck.........Leftover Roulette...........Delectable, Incredible, Accidental, Edible…oh, nevermind…this is going nowhere FAST!

Can You Say...Christmas!?!