There is nothing more powerful than when you are on your knees in prayer, surrounded by God’s mighty warriors, and you feel His mighty presence!
My favorite moments are the ones where I find myself at my lowest, my weakest, and I hear His voice in the stillness…
“Child, oh my sweet child, bring it to Me… I will heal your hurt, bind your wounds, and fill you with My Spirit… just bring it to Me.”
Yup! Those have to be my favorite moments!
Cookie…
How I’m feeling this morning can be summed up in the video below. The song is called Maybe It’s Ok, by We Are Messengers:
I shall be quite transparent for this next bit…
Currently, this child’s body is somewhat broken inside both medically and emotionally. Never fear though, as my spirit is stronger than ever… well, it’s His spirit that brings this girl so much strength. I did say that I was going to be very honest about things.
Our time in the wilderness, so to speak, has taken a bit more out of me than I’d first thought. What I’d assumed was just my IBS trying to readjust to things, has become something else. Now, it’s possibly just my ability to handle my health on my own any longer, which is where the emotional turmoil is coming from. I went down this route before and it didn’t end well… hence, the last 4 years of self-care. It hasn’t helped that nobody seems that concerned about my survival aside from God and my husband.
That is until this new doctor!
Not only did she surprise me with prayer during our first visit, but I think she actually listened to the words I spoke… I mean really heard me! And, she took the time to follow all of my test results, adjusting and selecting my meds and treatment. The downside to this new kind of medical care is that I can’t get away with anything. This means taking medications that are no longer an option… they are required! The first is a medication for my Cholesterol, which is off the charts, and has been for years. It doesn’t even matter if I eat like a bird… oh yeah, I already do! No change! The other is for my blood pressure, as it has gone off the reservation and it won’t come back down. That too has been something I was withholding from the doctor… that is, until recently.
In the last month my health has been systematically shutting down, in areas that I really kind of need. Well, I’ll need em if I’m to bring these stories to the little ones they’re meant for, ya know?! Little ones aside, I’m not done baking cookies… not in the slightest!
I’ve been writing on this blog steadily for nearly three years of this journey through the wilderness, and I’m not about to get to the gates of the Cities of Men, just to drop dead of exhaustion… and I don’t believe it’s God’s plan for me, either! I still believe that God led me to WordPress so that I could find you… each and every one of you!
Why?
Honestly, the answer will be different for each of you, as we’ve all grown closer together in different ways, and for different reasons. I know some of you better than others, but care for each and every soul that enters this lobby! I love you with the love of my God, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit that dwells in this vessel. Why else do you think I share so much with you, try to make you laugh, seek to make you think, and challenge you to eat my cookies? It’s love…
I know that most of my subscribers are adults, though I often write of adventures requiring you to find your inner child… so why do I do it?
Why don’t I write deep and passionate poetry?
Why not great theological teachings that might impress?
Why on earth do I always make you leave reality and push the boundaries of truth and/or fiction?
What’s in those cookies I feed you guys, anyways?
Some of you may think that I’m just a Jesus Freak that’s trying to shove God flavored cookies down your throats… well, ok, you got me there!
Some of you may think that I’m an oversharer lookin for sympathy andl/or attention. In truth… if that’s all you’ve seen then you should start reading between all those lines, friends. There’s so much more there…
Face it guys and gals, WordPress has become my family! With that being said and understood clearly, here, right now, it’s time we all start acting like it! I’ve been asking myself, of late, why I haven’t wanted to write for my family? Honestly, sometimes it feels like if I don’t give you something juicy and exciting (usually my journey junk)… I get nothin!
Now, before you start thinking that this is going to be another one of those articles complaining about a lack of likes, shares, and follows… stop it!
You come to this table as a family member… not a subscriber or follower, savvy?!
As a family, we are having a discussion about family dynamics, if that’s alright with everyone at the table. Do family members take the time to call or write each other, or do they just mail each other a gold star? As I’m just as guilty as you are, in this respect, let’s start making some healthy changes, here in the lobby. If you are busy, or not in the mood, don’t feel pressured to visit or leave me that gold star. It’s not like I get any money for it… it simply lets me know that you stopped by. If you do stop in and read, possibly grabbing a cookie, try leaving me a message, as well. Here’s the crazy part… your comment doesn’t have to have ANYTHING to do with what I wrote. Instead, try things like, “Hey, how are you?” or “I saw something the other day that made me think of you”. One of you actually wrote this to me, not too long ago… thank you, love.
There is nothing in the WordPress bylaws that states we cannot simply use the comment button to simply communicate with each other… you know, like friends and family should. Notice how I said should? Sadly, I realize that there are families that don’t do this… but honestly, it’s so very important! How else do you give love to those nearest your heart?
So, in the spirit of positivity, I am going to begin sending you messages in your comment box that may or may not have anything to do with what you wrote… ok?
No, I’m not going to try passing phone numbers or hookin up, if you get my meaning, here! I think that so often, we simply want to know that we’ve been seen, that someone noticed our passing.
If we all began seeking to give love to another, rather than seeking to receive for ourselves, wouldn’t we all become filled with needed love simply by proxy? Kind of like a happy accident or positive side effect?
Well, it can’t hurt to try, right?!
As there is such a vast difference between comfort and actual physical survival, how can one even answer this prompt correctly?
If it’s a luxury…. you can live without it, silly!
Now, if I cannot live physically live without something, that limits our list to water, caloric foods, sufficient shelter and protective clothing from the environment… oh, and love! Who can live without love? I know that I can’t!
Since I have all that I need, everything else can come or go… most of it already has, and I’m still alive.
The only thing that I consider a luxury would be my freedom! The freedom to speak my mind, to speak my faith, and to share the love of Christ. So, I guess that I discovered my answer, right in the middle of my excuse for not coming up with one… go figure!
Don’t forget your cookies…
I think we’re all grown up enough to admit that our answer could and would change, depending on the one asking this kind of question. Say for instance that you’re in the middle of a job interview when this question pops up… maybe not the moment to share the love of Jesus. Or maybe it is!
Why can’t I say what’s in my heart, whether I’m at church, in an interview, or at a gathering of complete strangers? My desire is to have the boldness of Christ, no matter what my circumstance! No fear, no shame, nor arrogance. I wish to bear only truth and love, which are THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS NEEDED TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE!
I’ve a quick little story to tell you that is both funny, and a great example of both the truth/love part, and the boldness of Christ that I mentioned…
I’ve been having a bit of issue with my health, of late, probably due to the environment we’d been surviving in for so long. Unfortunately, I’m not bouncing back as quickly as I’d hoped. Anyway, I went in for some tests and things the other day. My dutiful and doting husband was by my side, as per usual. The wait wasn’t very long before they called my name and we followed the nurse down the hallway toward the exam room. As they normally do at the beginning of a visit, the nurse asked me to stand on the weigh scale. When I stepped onto the scale it climbed all the way up to 203lbs… no joke! I stood there for a second, just staring at the number… how could that be right? Retaining my peaceful, child of God attitude, I acted as if I’d always weighed that much… but I was totally shocked, and rather dismayed! Had I really gotten that far without realizing it?
Just as I stepped backward off the scale, I hear my husband say to the nurse, “Please don’t write that number down… I had my foot on the scale while you weighed her.” No Joke!
Now, I suppose that I could have gotten angry, but as I’m fully aware of my partners shenanigan’s, I know that he loves me to the moon and back… and, I was so grateful that I wasn’t that heavy, allowed me to burst out laughing at his antics! There are no lies between us, we both have heartaches, hurts, and both share bad memories filled with the lies of others. This is the part to explain my answer about Truth and Love, but the next part brought about my thoughts on the boldness of Christ.
Once my doctor had completed the exam, asked all of her questions, and discussed what we needed to do going forward, she did something quite unexpected. She looked me straight in the face and asked, “Can I pray for you? You may say no, if you aren’t comfortable.”
Oh, My, Goodness! What are the odds of little ole me getting a physician that prays to the Ultimate Healer… Praise God! Hallelujah! Having someone actually take my hand in a doctor’s office, of all places, and pray for my needs?
Wow! I want that sort of boldness, day and night, winter spring summer or fall, and in good times or bad. I’m fairly certain that it was that woman’s faith in God and His love working through her, enabling her to speak out with such boldness. This is all just my impression about things, of course.
Now, maybe this story will help you understand my answer for the prompt, maybe not. But, I do still think it was worth the telling… just sayin!
Here, have a cookie..
Now, I know you might think that I’m going to say ‘the bible’ for my first choice, here… but you’d be wrong! Ok, not entirely wrong.
When I saw this mornings prompt, I did plan to give that as my first answer, at first! But, here’s the problem I encountered when I sat down to write out my response to the above question… the why part!
First of all, do you realize how many books I’ve read over the last 56 years? I wouldn’t be able to answer that question, myself. Goodness! I’ve read and re-read so many books over the years, whether they be fiction or non-fiction. The sheer number of adventurous stories I collected and filed into my memory banks must be staggering! Where do you think my love of writing was born? Dreaming! What filled my dreams? Those fictional adventures brought my imagination to life, I think.
Unfortunately, life has a tendency to suck all the fun and adventure out of things, so survival called for moving beyond fantasy toward the pursuit of the truth. Endless hours were spent pouring through all manner of Christian and/or Secular volumes of self-help, self-improvement, and self-validation books. Some helped and some didn’t. One particular book did, in fact, help. Yes, this is the place where you can say, “see, we knew you were going to say the Bible.”
But did I? Can we even do that? Well, I suppose we could, but the real question here might be… should we?
Did you know that the Bible, itself, is not really just one single book? Technically, it’s a collection of 66 different books, some quite small and others quite lengthy… but still!
Of all the differing books I’ve read over these many years, those 66 books have been invaluable to me at one time, or another. I’m fairly certain that if you were to ask me this same prompt question at a different time, my answer would be different. Well, ok, I confess that the Psalms will always be in my heart, so I guess that one will always be on the list, though I cannot say whether it would be number 1, 2, or 3. As I said, it would probably depend on when you asked me the question.
Since we know that one of the three books has already been set in stone, so to speak, now what? How can I not go straight to the gospels? But, how am I to decide which of those books impacted me the most? Matthew, Mark, Luke or John… can one actually decide between the four? Well, I couldn’t… I can’t… in truth, I don’t want to!
It didn’t even help trying to pick the Old Testament or the New Testament… way too much valuable stuff in both!
Personally, I look to the entirety of the old testament for our history, as it’s important to remember. We all want to know who we are and where we came from, don’t we? Aren’t there currently a number of DNA mail in organizations out there that make a ton of profit from those wanting to know their family’s genealogy? My point here is that we all find our history important! The old testament has 39 books to choose from, and I’ve already said that Psalms is on my list of three, so there’s still 38 more books to pick and we haven’t even begun to talk about the books in the New Testament. What about Paul’s writings, or Timothy’s, or James, or John? See my problem?
If I were to actually take even one of these books and write an explanation of how it impacted my life, we’d need a lot more time and a lot more cookies!
In answer to the prompt
books one, two, and three
They’re all within scripture
so I can’t choose, you see…
Cookie?
It seems like wherever we look these days, there are plenty of things to fill us with fear. Wars, famine, worldwide environmental changes, and constant political battles that carry unavoidable fallout!
My point here, is not to cause you more fear or discomfort than the prompt has already done, but to reflect on how easy it can be for one to choose a fear to write about, talk about, or simply obsess over.
Forget that! I don’t know about anybody else, but I have a whole lot of other things to put my energies toward… other than to sit and think about things I have no control over. Fear is a nasty beast to battle with and trust me, I’ve had some real doozies!
Honestly, I quite trying to use my own strength to fight my fears, and instead, began walking by the strength of another… One much stronger than I!
For some, trusting in another can bring any number of fears to the table. This world is filled with dangers, pitfalls, and paths we wish we didn’t have to travel along. One life, one chance to walk through it, and with no guarantees! It’s like a recipe for disaster just waiting to be created, right?!
I don’t know about any of you but I don’t plan on spending my remaining years hiding in fear over things… no thanks! Besides, I can’t begin to recount all of the times that I showed up to a fight with faith on my side, only to find out that fear was nothing more than a bully… and never even showed up to the battle… what a coward!
From the place in life that I’m currently at, I’ve come to adopt an old fashioned saying,
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. we have only today, let us begin.” Mother Teresa
I can learn from what has come from my yesterdays but I cannot undo them…
I can think on tomorrow, plan for tomorrow, and expect for tomorrow, but it isn’t here yet. No amount of fear about any of the possible outcomes will do me any good, really. Yes, fear can have it’s place in keeping us from common dangers, accidents, and/or hairbrained ideas about drinking the acid out of a car battery… just sayin! I think today’s prompt is referring to obsessing about something that frightens us, whether it’s founded or unfounded. At least that’s my understanding, but I could be wrong.
Whatever your fear might be, everyone has to choose a method for dealing with, overcoming, and letting go of that which does not bear good fruit. Personally, I have chosen to walk by faith in God. That’s how I choose to live!
No, I haven’t come to a magical place where I don’t experience fears or doubts, just in case you were at all wondering. I’ve just been working towards giving my fears to God, trusting that I am in his capable hands. The giving of those fears is the easy part. The part that’s not so easy? Well, that would be NOT taking them back just to worry over them some more… I fall for that more times than I care to admit!
I guess that’s why I say that it’s a walk of faith… a walk, a journey, or lifelong adventure, if that sounds better. We all know that Life changes, and our fears will change from one day to the next. Success is determined, not by the obstacles one encounters along the way, but by the way in which one overcomes said obstacles!
Overcomer is a powerful word! The actual definition on Google is as follows,
someone who prevails despite facing opposition, difficulties, or weakness. Essentially, it’s a person who successfully overcomes challenges and emerges victorious. This can be seen in various contexts, including personal struggles, spiritual battles, and overcoming societal obstacles
I went a bit further and looked up what scripture says, according to Google:
In the Bible, an “overcomer” refers to a believer who, through faith and perseverance, successfully withstands trials and temptations, ultimately achieving victory. This victory is not just a one-time event, but a continuous process of resisting the world’s influence and living a life aligned with God’s will.
As everyone knows, you should not only cite your sources but also check at least three differing sources for comparison, confirmation, and clarification… so I did just that!
Above, there are two offered from the internet, and below is from my own bible. I use an NIV translation but you can use any you wish. There are a number of references in scripture using this word but my favorite is in the book of John:
“In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
I shall do just that! I will walk by faith in the words spoken by my lord, so long ago!
Cookies?
Being a light in the darkest of places requires a powerful source… and it ain’t mine!
Walking in shadows to find the lost calls for strength and courage that only comes from my creator!
My own light is quite weak when I try to fuel it without the proper oil… Holy oil, that is!
I, myself, have gotten lost repeatedly when trying to traverse the shadows by my own strength… and my courage always failed me when I sought to do things on my own.
The only legacy that should remain in my absence? It was never mine to begin with, as I am merely His vessel!
When I was given grace, it blossomed into something much more than I shall ever be… true forgiveness, purpose, mercy, love, and a desire to further His kingdom!
You want a legacy? Here’s one that should last into eternity…
“With what shall I come before the lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:6-8
Cookies?
One of my favorite songs about babies has to be from Lady and the Tramp, when Lady first meets the new baby. Put an adorable dog together with a baby and a tender song and what do you get? I get all emotional and start crying!
So it seems that it is fitting and right that I start your Monday off with the sniffles… but in a good way, of course!
Guess what?
It’s a girl!
Well, she’s here but not ready to come out of hiding just yet. That’ll be on or near November 25th. It makes me smile whenever I think on that date since my daughter’s birthday is the 18th. Wouldn’t it be the funniest thing if she is born on my daughter’s actual birthday day?!
They’ve still not quite settled on her name, at the moment, and neither have I. NO, I don’t get to name her! But, what I do get to do that nobody else can is to give her a special Meemaw name, just like I’ve done for all my other grandbabies.
Let’s see, there’s my first grandson “Peanut”, then my little Peach, my pinecone, and Little Man. Following them is my Chipmunk and our little Firefly, too. That makes five in all, so far. I’m also a Godmother to a very special Peapod.
Why the namesakes? Simple terms of endearment left with each of them for their memories… and, let’s be honest here… my memories, too!
It’s funny that I started doing this all the way back when my girls were born. My girls would never forgive me if I stopped referring to them by their personal nicknames, no joke!
I guess it never occurred to me how important it was for them, til a few weeks ago. I was sitting with my oldest grandson and talking about when he was smaller. I thought to apologize to him for always calling him Peanut when he was little, as he always made a fuss at me for doing it.
When I said that I was sorry, my grandson stopped what he was playing on the computer, looked at me funny for a moment, and then said, “why are you sorry?” I told him that I thought it bothered him, but he just smiled and shook his head in disagreement.
Apparently, he would like me to continue calling him Peanut… I’ve been given the all clear!
Ever since that conversation I’ve not stopped thinking about the importance of those little things, those tiny details. Often we find ourselves getting so caught up in doing the big things, we lose sight of what’s possible in a tiny, tiny thing…
All big things begin small, right?!
So, now that you’ve been given way more information than you probably needed for this next part… it’s time we think on a very special name for our newest family member. Yes, I said we! Don’t you want to help me think up an adorable new nickname for my soon-to-arrive granddaughter? Give it some thought if you would and then let me know in the comments. If we all put our heads together I know we can come up with something really adorable.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday … hugs
The answer is in the question, silly WordPress! Balance is the answer, in and of itself. What’s in the baskets will depend on the one doing the balancing. The key to the balancing is to choose the correct set of scales!
Look for quality, longevity, and any and all perks available with your purchase. Watch out for companies that cut corners with cheap product and shoddy manufacturing. They will look pretty, but will break after the first couple of uses.
Remember, if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is!
Go with a reputable company, preferably one that’s been around for a good long while. And do your research! Ask around for testimonials from those who previously purchased quality scales. This way, you are sure to find the set of scales that were meant just for you.
I found mine, and I promise that you will too. And I’ll stand on their quality til my last breath! I’ve had mine for as long as I can remember. At times, I’ve abused them, misplaced them, or downright put them away so I could try to do things my way. But I’ve still got them… and they look as good as they did when I first received them. If you’d like to, you can use my testimony and referral to where I got mine if you’re in the market to buy a quality set of scales. I’d be happy to tell you where I got them from… you know, who the manufacturer is, and all.
Until such time, we shall bake cookies…
I thought we could all do with a reminder of who we are and how God sees us.
May you feel God’s love and faithfulness in your lives today, and always… Hugs
Journey With Me! 