Monthly Archives: August 2012

Unexpected Blessings

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Christianity, Fun stuff for kids, rafting, streams, wisdom and understanding

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“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”    Romans 8:31   Someone once dumped over 50 old truck tires down in our lower field near the lovely stream that runs through our woods.  I must confess that it made me really angry when I first found out about it.  But God turned it into the most amazing blessing.  When our grandchildren discovered the tires they turned them into boats and had the most wonderful time playing on them.  Sometimes we just need to look at things through the eyes of a child.  The creative imagination of children enables them to enjoy the simple things of life.  Watching them melted my anger and filled me with laughter.  I am reminded how God can take an old worn out and seemingly useless life and renew it making something beautiful and useful that fulfills his purpose and glorifies him.  What about you, dear reader.  Has God turned one of your problems into an unexpected blessing?

Another unexpected blessing https://ilovesunsetsbythesea.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/one-lovely-blog.pngI received some time  ago was to be nominated for the One Lovely Blog award.  Unexpected blessings are a gift from God and since I have unexpectedly discovered so many blogs that have blessed my heart, I wanted to give my readers an opportunity to also have their hearts blessed by some of them.

First of all I want to give a big thank you to and recommend that you visit the blog ilovesunsetsbythesea.wordpress.com, which nominated me for this award.  Her post One Sunny Day has breathtaking pictures and Lessons From a Little Girl Named Jaja will inspire you to talk with and pray for those you meet when you travel.

Here are the guidelines for accepting this award:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you.  2. Paste the award image on your blog, anywhere. 3. Tell them 7 facts about yourself. 4. Nominate 15 other blogs you like for this award. 5. Contact the bloggers that you have chosen to let them know that they have been nominated.

So, in accordance with the rules of the award, here are 7 facts about myself (this is the hardest part!):

1.  I worked as a librarian in our small town library in the summer and on Saturdays when I was growing up.  I was happy to be making a $1.00 and hour.

2.  Reading beautiful and inspiring books has always been a favorite way I like to spend my time.

3.  One of my favorite books growing up was “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

4.  I love to read and look at the pictures in gardening books.  One of my favorites is “Tasha Tudor’s Garden” with text by Tovah Martin.  Another favorite garden book of mine is “Monet’s Passion” by Elizabeth Murray.  Looking at pictures of beautiful gardens is a delight to the soul!

5.  I love to bake homemade bread – it makes the house smell so good.  I never can resist cutting a slice and eating it while it is still warm with butter melting on it.

6.  I was afraid to get a microwave for years after they came out for fear it would cause my family health problems.  My children still laugh and tease me about this.

7.  I love to paint landscapes of God’s beautiful creation and can totally forget the time when I’m painting.

Now I would like to nominate some of the blogs that have blessed my heart over and over again with their inspiring posts.  It is very possible that many of them have already received this award but even if that is the case, I just wanted to give my readers an opportunity to discover their posts because I am sure that their hearts will also be blessed by what they read.

altarofheaven

AlwaysAlleluia

Charinabrooks

Diamondsongrass

ellzey.wordpress.com

JadedbyGrace

jesusknowsmyname

mychainsrgone

onemoremorning

Redemption’sBeauty

simplystriving

soulstops

thescrumptouspumpkin

toshowthemjesus.com

wynnegraceappears.com

I would like to thank each one of you and my prayer is that you will continue to bless others with each of your posts.

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Abiding in His Peace

20 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in beauty, Christianity, faith, Fall leaves, insomnia, joy, love, peace, sunsets, wisdom and understanding, worry

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“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”                      Jeremiah 29:13

I love the changing of the seasons and already I’m wondering what great new adventures the LORD has in store for me this Fall.  For the last few mornings I’ve been waking up several hours before the time I wished to get up.  I pray and repeat bible verses but still I can’t seem to get back to sleep.  My spirit has been restless for days and I have questioned God if I am on the right path or if He has a new direction He wants me to take.  But I feel as though I’m standing at a locked gate and all I hear is silence.   “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”               Proverbs 3:5, 6

I wondered if I was asking God to direct me and then happily going down the path of my choice.   “This is what the LORD says:  Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”      Jeremiah 6:16

I felt that I had come to a crossroads in life and had no idea which way to go.   “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying ‘This is the way; walk in it.'”      Isaiah 30:21

But I wasn’t hearing any voice, just silence.  Staying in bed when I couldn’t sleep seemed such a waste of valuable time when I had so much to get done.  But I wondered if God was trying to tell me something and I just wasn’t listening! Then this verse came into my mind and so I decided to lie still.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”           Psalm 46:10    I felt that God was being silent for a very good reason I just wished He would hurry up and tell me what it was.  I do not like to wait and if He had a new plan for my life, it seemed important to get up and get started.  But last week when I read Nikki’s post, “What Can I Do” at Simply striving and thought about these words from the song, “A Little Longer” by Brian and Jean Johnson, I felt like He was speaking straight to my heart.

“You don’t have to do a thing
Just simply be with Me and let those things go
‘Cause they can wait another minute
Wait…this moment is too sweet
Would you please stay here with Me
And love on Me a little longer.
I’d love to be with you a little longer
‘Cause I’m in love with you.”

So this morning when I couldn’t sleep, I thought about those words.  It was almost as though I could hear God saying, “You worry too much about sleep, my child.  I will give you rest.  Just wait here awhile in my Presence.”  And then I felt the greatest sense of peace and joy.  I felt so loved like a child in his father’s arms.  It is hard to describe the warm, secure feeling I felt as my Heavenly Father reassured me and held me close in His loving arms.   Perhaps God just wants us to slow down and seek Him with our whole heart.  He promises to give us peace in the storms of life if we will abide in His Presence.  When the time is right He will leads us in the way He has chosen for us.  But for now I’m just going to rest in His wonderful Presence.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.”                Isaiah 43:1, 4

Ladder of Joy

13 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in beauty, Christianity, faith, flower gardens, joy, love, wisdom and understanding

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“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”            Psalm 16:11

I love morning glories.  Just the name fills me with joy and when I wake up and see one of those heavenly blue blooms, I can’t help but believe that it will be a morning glorious.  Last year I planted a morning glory in with some pink petunias and loved looking at the contrast of colors. 

This summer I planted a morning glory that climbed right up to my coffee tree and then kept on climbing.  The lovely vine has heart shaped leaves which make me think of a ladder of joy going up to heaven.  It reminds me of the prayer my mother taught me to say when I was a little girl.  “Please help me Jesus to build a road of the loving heart.”      Every time a bud opens out into one of those beautiful blooms it is like a new possibility that God tucks in our mind to enable us to bless someone.  There are so many rewards to building a road of the loving heart but the best reward is the joy we feel in His Presence as we travel along the way.    Each day is an opportunity to do something loving for someone we meet or know.  It might just be to smile at a stranger or the clerk in the grocery store; or possibly to write an encouraging card to a friend or call someone and wish them a happy day.  You may want to do something special for a family member or visit someone who is sick and take them something you know they need or would like.    The blooms on the morning glory don’t last long and never more than a day. If we are not wise enough to quickly step up and let God use us to bless someone’s life that opportunity may soon be gone.  I don’t want to miss out on these opportunities that God gives me each day.  If you feel the same, please join me in climbing this ladder of life and we will fill it with steps of joy and love as we bless others with the blessings that God has given us.

Inner Peace illuminations

06 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in beach sunsets, beauty, Christianity, depression, faith, health, Hearts Filled With Joy, love, peace, wisdom and understanding, worry

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“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”   I Peter 5:7

It was one of those beautiful days on the beach after a storm.  The temperature was in the low 70’s and the ocean waves were tossing foam and shells upon the beach.   I decided to take a beach walk so I could photograph the gorgeous clouds and the waves that were dancing for joy.  But just ahead of me I saw a young man with a large, heavy looking backpack strapped to his back and I wondered what stuff could be so valuable that you couldn’t leave it behind in order to enjoy a carefree walk on the beach. 

Then I began to think about what burdens I too might be carrying this beautiful morning.  The burden of an unpleasant conversation that I couldn’t forget, words I wish I had left unsaid, an opportunity to do something kind left undone, worries and anxieties pushed aside and covered up with other worries and problems.  My own invisible backpack of problems was weighing me down and keeping me from enjoying this beautiful day and lovely walk.

Thought freedom comes from a process of substituting our worldly worries and frets with thoughts of trust in God. Sometimes I feel like I have a restless spirit.  I think this is God’s way of telling me that my spirit is at odds with the direction of the Holy Spirit so my soul can not rest.   When I have a restless spirit, I am not abiding in the peace of the Holy Spirit who indwells my soul.  Our heart is where our own spirit dwells.  We can have a spirit of fear, resentment, anger, bitterness, anxiety, worry or hopelessness. Our negative emotions and thoughts can enslave us and make us miserable.   “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”                      Galatians 5:1

Trusting in Christ will set our heart free, but a spirit of hopelessness makes the body ill.  The Holy Spirit is able to illuminate our darkness.  He is able to direct and guide us into all truth.  He wants to bestow on us His wonderful gifts.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”                          Galatians 5:22, 23   “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”   Isaiah 26:3

There is great strength in calmness.  When my circumstances seem our of control I begin to feel panic and want to run away from my problems even though I know the wise thing to do is to run to God.  Sometimes I find myself holding so tightly to my problems that I just have to open my hands and say, “Please Lord, you take them.  I just can’t carry them any longer.”  The only way to hold the hand of Jesus as we walk along is to let go of our problems and give them to Him.

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”                Psalm 68:19

In order to have peace of mind we must quiet our thoughts and racing heart knowing that God is in control.  He knows all about our problems and how best to solve them.  Once our mind is quiet, we are able to come into His presence and listen to Him.  When we stop trying to fix our problems ourselves and go to Him in prayer, we can rest peacefully while we wait on His perfect timing.   “Find rest O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.”          Psalm 62:5

Jesus knew that as long as we are in the world we would need peace.  He promised the gift of peace so that we would not be afraid or have troubled hearts.  The prayer of real faith is a prayer of joy because we pray knowing that we can trust God to answer our prayer if it is His will and is in our best interest.   “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”            I Thessalonians 5:16-18

When we trust and love God, we desire to talk to Him and understand the situation from His viewpoint.  When Jesus has complete control of our lives, He enables us to have a heart filled with peace.  Oh the wonder and anticipation of waiting, knowing that our awesome Heavenly Father delights in answering our prayer with what is best for us.   “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”       Philippians 4:7