Went out to feed the horses yesterday. All but one came up as soon as they heard us. So we fed the ones that came up and headed out to look for the one that didn’t. We finally found her all the way at the back of our property. She had found a patch of grass back there & was content burrowing her nose through the snow to eat it. I thought, “You silly horse”! Little did she know that I had a big bucket of yummy feed and half a bale of fresh hay for her. She was missing out on the good stuff because she thought she had found something better. Once she realized what I had to offer, she forgot all about that snowy patch of grass. But aren’t we all pretty silly sometimes. We wander away from God because Satan tells us that we can find something better somewhere else when all along, God has the good stuff and will give us everything we need if only we could just keep our noses out of places they don’t belong and our eyes on Him.

On this 15th day, I LOVE my crazy life! Even though we have a tendency to bite off more than we can chew, over-schedule our week, and make life changing decisions at the worst possible time, God manages to carry us through! Very thankful that although I had things to do this weekend, God allowed me some much needed rest. Now…to hit the floor running in the morning!

On this 13th day, I LOVE sprinkling happiness around! If someone is on your mind, God put them there for a reason. Let them know they’re on your mind and say a prayer for them. Even if they just cross your mind. There’s no such thing as coincidence. They are whispers from God and He wants to work through you. Let Him! You’ll be glad you did!

On this 11th day I Love all of the blessings that God gives us! If God gives you the words, say them. If God puts a song in your heart, sing it. If He gives you love, share it. God doesn’t give us blessings to tuck away & save for later. He gives us an unending supply if blessings to share with others because He wants to work through us.

On this 9th day I LOVE that I grew up with parents that whipped my rear when I needed it, taught me the value of a dollar and that I had to WORK for something if I wanted it, and although I didn’t appreciate it then, I love that they were over-protective and didn’t allow me to do everything I wanted to. I managed to make enough mistakes with their guidance. I can only imagine how much trouble I could’ve gotten into without it. I pray that we can instill the same values in our girls as well as guiding the girls in choosing the path of righteousness.

If it hasn’t rained at all for a week and the sun is shining, chances are pretty good that you’re not going to be in a flood today. If you find one flea on your dog and put a flea collar or treatment on it, chances are you’re not going to have to worry about an infestation today. If you are doing something that causes a spark that ignites some dry grass and you immediately extinguish it, then you probably don’t have to worry about starting a forest fire. Because you see, a flood happens one drop of rain at a time. An infestation happens one flea at a time. And a forest fire starts one spark at a time. And while some tragedies can’t be helped, others can be stopped as long as you don’t ignore them. A tragic life doesn’t happen all at once. It happens one sin at a time. Left ignored, sin can become a flood, an infestation, a raging fire…..that only the grace of God can contain. He is there for you…willing to help…24/7/365…but you have to be willing to call on Him.

Proverbs 15:32 ESV
32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

Luke 21:34 ESV
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

I was thinking about marriage this morning. I scroll through my social media feeds and see a lot of jokes about husbands and wives and how they are handling this season of quarantine. My hubby and I even joke about it a lot. Sometimes I think his favorite scripture is Proverbs 21:19…

Better to dwell in the wilderness, Than with a contentious and angry woman.
Proverbs 21:19 NKJV

But what did God have in mind when He ordained marriage between a man and a woman? He intended it to be a union in which the two complemented each other. He intended for it to mimic His relationship with His church.

Now…how do we (the body of Christ…His church) treat Him? Do we stomp our foot when He doesn’t pay enough attention to us? Do we belittle or ridicule Him for not doing something that we thought He should’ve known to do? Well I certainly hope not! We shouldn’t anyway! Unfortunately we don’t even always treat our Savior the way we should. And if we don’t treat God with the respect and gratitude that He deserves, then I’m pretty sure we don’t treat our spouses the way we should either.

So in this season of togetherness that we are in, let us use it as a time to work on our marriages. Doing all things in love.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV

Do we go buy a fire extinguisher AFTER our house is already on fire? Do we put on our seat belt AFTER we have already crashed our car? Do we put on a life-jacket after we have already drowned? NO we don’t!! We do all of these things before tragedy strikes. Not after. So why do we wait until our marriage is in turmoil before we start working on it? My husband and I are part of a couple’s bible study. I view it as a type of vitamin boost to our marriage. Not because we’re having trouble…because we’re not…but because we don’t want to have trouble. We realize that we are 2 broken people but we want to be broken together. We don’t want to look back and say, “If only we had worked on our marriage…” Marriage is a sacred bond, ordained by God, and, IF SEALED BY God’s protection, can NOT be broken. But we have to ask God’s protection over it and continue to maintain it. It’s when we neglect it that Satan finds an opening to creep in. So I’m encouraging you…don’t wait until there is a fire, invest in your marriage now. And if it’s too late for your marriage, ask God if it’s really too late or if that is just Satan whispering in your ear. Because it ain’t over until God says it is!

On this 1st day I LOVE that I grew up with parents that whipped my rear when I needed it, taught me the value if a dollar and that I had to WORK for something if I wanted it, and although I didn’t appreciate it then, I love that they were over-protective and didn’t allow me to do everything I wanted to. I managed to make enough mistakes with their guidance. I can only imagine how much trouble I could’ve gotten into without it. I pray that we can instill the same values in our girls as well as guiding the girls in choosing the path of righteousness.

How often do we skim down our newsfeed and just catch the headlines or highlights? I do it most of the time. If it catches my eye, I might go ahead and read the whole story or article, but otherwise it’s on to the next item. Here’s the problem with that. Too often, the headline is misleading. And once it has entered your mind, it’s there. So unless you make the effort to read the rest of the story, whatever you have in your mind may or may not be correct. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen someone post that Jesus said to let he who is without sin cast the first stone….mainly because they want to deflect attention away from their sin. Problem is, they have failed to read the rest. If they had read just a little more they would have seen that Jesus also told the woman to go and sin no more. My point is…you can’t just skim the bible, reading only the headlines or highlights, and know the whole story. You have to read it all. Because assuming you know it could cost you your life if you’re wrong.

If you saw a train tipped on its side…hovering above a bunch of children…being held up by only a few people…in the middle of a storm…what would you do? The people holding the train up are exhausted because not only are they holding up this huge train, but they are also putting out fires, shining lights to show others the way out, helping to patch up those that make it out, trying to tend to their own injuries, attempting to keep others from sliding under… all while trying to stand firm and working to set the train back on solid ground. Would you jump in & help? Would you decide it to be an impossible situation and walk away? Would you hesitate for fear of being hurt? Would you stand back, criticizing those who are trying so hard to help because you think they are doing wrong? Would you decide to leave it up to the professionals? I can’t imagine anyone walking away & not helping…or could I? People, WE are the church. And WE ARE a train wreck! God has blessed each and every person with a gift. Can you even imagine what WE the church…WE the body of Christ could accomplish if we put God first, took up our cross, and followed HIM?!? So Sunday morning when you wake up, instead of listening to one of the 4,726,937,927,275 excuses to NOT go to church that Satan will have readily available, remember that you can either listen to him & walk on by, or you can jump in and be a part of God’s amazing grace!

Ok…so let me begin by first saying that I’ve tried really really hard not to have any knee jerk reactions toward the state of the world and actions of the lost lately. Because even when we absolutely HATE the actions of some, we are still supposed to love them. And lately I absolutely HATE the actions of many….but my heart hurts for their souls. That being said, here is my prayer…please pray it with me…

Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I come to you tonight with a broken heart. Broken because of all the evil that I’ve seen in the world lately. Broken because I’ve seen many lost and angry people lash out in their anger…and try to justify their sin by calling it protests. And while I understand their anger, I also understand that it’s one’s reaction to the anger that they feel that reveals the condition of their heart. And while I realize that YOU are the only One qualified to judge them, I also know that the fruit that we produce reveals our heart. And LORD, I see so much bad fruit being produced by lost souls that I’m overwhelmed with grief for the massive absence of LOVE…the absence of YOU. LORD I pray tonight that YOUR HOLY SPIRIT would rain down and that every rioter, every protester, and yes…every politician, would be completely emerged in YOUR living water. I pray that every knee would bow and every heart would be softened and healed. I pray that anger would be released with the knowledge that YOU will be the final and Just JUDGE of ALL actions! We will all be judged. None of our actions will go unpunished. Please LORD speak to the hearts as only YOU can. Speak the wisdom and knowledge that there are more amazingly good in this countey than bad. Speak the wisdom that retaliation against the innocent for the sins of others make those retaliating no better than those they hate. Speak love so loudly that they cannot hear the lies that Satan is whispering in their ears. LORD I pray for YOUR whispers of love, YOUR hand of healing, and the comfort of knowing that YOU can and will take care of everything if only we would let YOU. Oh if only we could come together in prayer as powerfully as we can come together in hate! Oh if only we could so eagerly and readily extend forgiveness as we do malice. I do not hate anyone involved in any of these actions but oh how I hate the actions! Oh how I hate that your children continue to turn on each other instead of turning to each other. So tonight I pray for YOU! YOU are love. Perfect love. And YOU are the only ONE that can save us. YOU are the only ONE that can heal us. And YOU are the only ONE that can stop us from letting Satan destroy us. I pray that this prayer would spread faster than all of the hate in the world. I pray that this prayer would be cried out so loud that it would drown out Satan’s whispers. And in all things we give YOU the honor and the glory. AMEN!

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5:16 NKJV

There is so much power in prayer! Share this prayer or pray your own but please, please, please pray for this world!

I’ve always said that there is no such thing as luck…good or bad. There are however blessings and lessons. And depending on what you take from the lesson…it can still be a blessing.

2020 has most definitely been a year of lessons.

Yes, this year has been tough. Yes, it has been filled with heartbreak. Yes, it has been filled with trials. But yes… I have learned more this year than possibly any other year of my life….and hopefully I have taught my children some things.

Here are some things that I learned…and some I needed reminding of.

*I will not live in fear. I just won’t. I realize that everyone has their own opinions on the whole “pandemic” situation, and while I believe that this has been a terrible thing, scripture tells me that I was not created with a spirit of fear. I put my faith in God. Not in man. (For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)

* I will not take “time” for granted. None of us know how much time we have here on earth. But I can tell you that compared eternity, it is not much. Spend the time that you are here preparing for eternity. Cherish time with loved ones and let them know that you care about them. And if you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ…remedy that. (“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Matthew 24:36 NKJV)

*I will worship here…I will worship there…I will worship anywhere! Don’t get me wrong, I believe that if you are able to gather with likeminded Christians in praise and worship, then you absolutely should. But I also do not believe that God Almighty is only found within the walls of a building. We…the children of God…ARE the church. Not the building. And I will praise Him wherever, whenever, and however I can. (For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Romans 12:4-5 NKJV)

*I don’t just love my family…I LIKE them! I enjoy spending time with them. I’ve always felt that it was important for us to spend time together as a family. And while there have been times this year that I have missed being able to be around large groups whenever and however we choose, I have been so blessed to have this family. I can’t imagine trying to social distance with people that I don’t truly enjoy spending time with.

*Find your gift and use it to help others. God gives each of us special gifts. The ways that you can help others is unlimited. So find your gift. If you can’t find it, ask God and He will help you. Maybe it’s simply helping someone who is without transportation go to the grocery store. Maybe it’s just lending an ear to someone who is lonely. Or maybe it’s simply praying for someone because you know that their hearts are shattered and that God is the only One that can give them peace or comfort. Whatever it is, find your gift and use it. God wouldn’t have given it to us if He didn’t want us to use it. (Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8 NKJV)

*God is in control and hears our prayers. Yes. Even when things are bad. Especially when things are really bad. God can and will…and HAS made triumphs out of tribulations. I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it. And I know He will never leave us, never forsake us, and that He will carry us through the hard times…IF WE LET HIM! (Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV)

These are a few of the things I have learned. Our kids are looking to us for guidance. What are they seeing? Are they seeing us scared, hopeless, hiding away and relying on “man” to fix…to cure…to save? Or are they seeing faith in action? Are they seeing us looking to God? Relying on God? Confident that God will fix…will cure…will save us? Are they seeing us living our lives as the body of Christ… using our God given gifts to help others? Are they seeing that just because things aren’t “normal” that it doesn’t mean that there is not good in them? Are we showing them that it’s not our career, social status, or possessions that define us, but rather, our faith and the perfect, all-curing, all-saving hope that it provides us with?

So as we wind down this year of lessons….don’t forget to see the blessings. They may not always be easy to find…but they are always there.