Guideposts for Dark Times

He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—He is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of His death, His blood that poured down from the cross.

Colossians 1:18-20 MSG

This morning began with thick fog. When I woke up and looked out my bedroom window I could barely make out the trees across the street. But, by mid-morning the fog gave way to beautiful clear blue autumn skies. 

Yesterday, my husband and I were talking about the current state of affairs in our state, our nation and the world. He made a comment that I think most of us have at least thought in these confusing times. "I just don't understand what God is doing right now." He's right. We are living in a time of fog, a time of confusion,  a time of strife,  a time of sin abounding, a time of darkness. It's easy to be frustrated when we can't clearly see what God is doing or why He is allowing certain things to take place. In times when we can't clearly see, we have to rely on guideposts that we've established in our lives to get us through the dark times.  (Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, November 1st  at Woman to Woman Ministries, where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)

still following,

Also happily linking up with:

Sunday Scripture Blessings

Susan B. Mead

Sue Moore Donaldson

Weekly Gratitude Journal

The weather is cold and clear, my favorite kind of autumn weather. We are hosting a dinner at our house tonight for our church leadership, one of my favorite things to do. I've got things to get done for that, but I wanted to be sure to post my weekly gratitude journal first. Giving thanks to God is life giving and life changing. It helps to maintain equilibrium and focus during life's ups and downs. I challenge you to start the habit of writing down at least three things each day that you are thankful for.

*****************

Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks, 

piling up gratitude day by day in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#13,807-#13,827

10-19-2020-

-early morning cozy candlelight

-a walk with my grand babies

-the two middle grandgirlies getting to spend the night at our house

10-20-2020-

-our eight grandkids

-youngest granddaughter saying "I love you"

-God speaking to my heart, "I am firmly held"

10-21-2020-

-our nephew who is a constant help and encouragement

-a really sweet walk/talk with Jesus and rainy weather that gave way to blue skies for my walk

-the old song, "Falling In Love with Jesus is the Best Thing I've Ever Done"

10-22-2020-

-God's protection over my husband when he was rear ended by a hit and run driver

-our daughter coming over to check on her dad

-our church leaders help and support

10-23-2020-

-Friday date day together

-our garage door installer honoring a lower price on our door replacement

-God's trustworthy leadership, step by step

10-24-2020-

-God with me-all of the time and everywhere I go

-the fun of getting a package in the mail-new vases from Magnolia

-an encouraging talk with my friend 

10-25-2020-

-such a good word at church today

-a helpful, encouraging talk with Cristiana

-my sister letting me know that she and her husband are praying for me/us

still following,

You Are Firmly Held By God

The enemy loves to torment us with worry, fear and anxiety when we are the most vulnerable. Let's face it, we're all a bit vulnerable right now. We are still in a worldwide pandemic that has affected our lives socially, emotionally, physically and financially. We are in the midst of a very contentious election season in our nation. There is civil and racial unrest in our nation and riots in many of our cities. Add to that all of the challenging circumstances that we experience living life on sin-sick planet earth, and yes, we are definitely vulnerable right now to satan's tricks. Thank God, that we have the Captain of the Lord of Hosts, Jesus Christ and His angel armies, fighting on our behalf. We also have the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, as our weapon to use against satan's lies.

The other night, I woke up in the middle of the night tormented by anxious thoughts about everything from the upcoming elections, to the future, to finances, to our children and grandchildren. I knew that my mind was under attack by the enemy...  (Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, October 25th  at Woman to Woman Ministries, where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)

still following,

Also happily linking up with:

Sunday Scripture Blessings

Susan B. Mead

Sue Moore Donaldson

Weekly Gratitude Journal

Oh my goodness! Life is so unexpected, so unpredictable. Yesterday morning my morning was going "according to plan." I hopped in my car to leave for church, put the car in reverse and heard a horrific crunch sound. Evidently my garage door, for some unknown reason, was only three fourths of the way open, so the roof of my SUV hit the bottom of the garage door, bending the door out and right off it's track and scratching up the roof of my car. Bummer! That's a big unexpected expense for us. I don't like it but, at the same time, I know that it rains on the just and the unjust-we all have bad days. This morning, I had news of the unexpected death of a loved one's father. There is a big difference in an unexpectedly bad day and a horrible loss that changes your life forever. Life has a lot of the former and a few of the later. But, life is mostly made up of ordinary, uneventful days that can become quite forgettable unless we make an effort to mark them in some way, to memorialize them. Mark your days with gratitude friends. Be thankful for the uneventful days, give thanks even in the unexpectedly bad days, and thank God for His presence and help to walk through the dark valley days. He is Lord of all of our days and He is always worthy of our praise and gratitude.

*****************

Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks, 

piling up gratitude day by day in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#13,783-#13,806

10-12-2020-

-God's daily care and provision

-finding a doll baby that looks like our youngest granddaughter for her  Christmas gift

-the feeling of getting a big job accomplished

-an encouraging evening with friends

10-13-2020-

-Your faithful provision

-a walk around the park with my grandson

-having a yummy Taco Tuesday at home

10-14-2020-

-Psalm 68:9 God confirms, carries, directs, establishes, makes provision and preparation for, rests and strengthens us when we are weary

-a good, long heart talk with my oldest daughter

-cooking a yummy dinner for a young mama who had emergency surgery and her family

-finding "shoes like Papa's" for our three year old grandson who has been asking for some for Christmas

10-15-2020-

-a beautiful, cloudless autumn afternoon

-the hope we have in praying for others and believing God for miracles

-trusting God with an unknown future

-praying together at church

10-16-2020-

-a really good Friday date day together

-taking a drive to somewhere we've never been before-so fun!

-text threads with our girls and my siblings

10-17-2020-

-listening to encouraging podcasts while doing Saturday chores

-my husband calling me from his office just to see how my day is going

-the encouragement of praying together

10-18-2020-

-my husband bringing me Starbucks

-my nephew's help with an unfortunate garage door incident

-remembering Jesus' body broken for me and his blood shed for me

still following

A Heart Check-Up

Love is patient and kind;

love does not envy or boast;

it is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on it's own way;

it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV

Have you ever asked God to show you the truth about your own heart? I grew up loving Jesus from as far back as I can remember. I always wanted to live for Him and to do the right thing. It was easy for me to believe the truth of the Bible when it says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It was even easy for me to acknowledge and repent of my own sinful acts and choices. But, the truth is I struggled with the Bible verse that says there is no one good, no not one. I understood the concept that this is another way of saying that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's perfect holiness. But, because I had always wanted to be a good girl and tried to be a good girl, because my area of sin struggle was more inner attitudes than outward behaviors that everyone could see, a little voice within me would argue with God's Word when it said there is no one good, no not one. I wanted there to be some sort of parentheses added to that verse-there is no one good, no not one, (except Elizabeth, because, though she's not perfect, though she has, on occasion, sinned she always wanted to be good and tried to be good so she can have a pass on this one.)  Then, one night, I asked God to show me the truth about my own heart and He actually did. (Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, October 18th  at Woman to Woman Ministries, where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)

still following,

Also happily linking up with:

Sunday Scripture Blessings

Susan B. Mead

Sue Moore Donaldson

Weekly Gratitude Journal

Keeping focused on God's goodness, on His blessings in my life is my coping mechanism in these tough times. satan wants me to get off focus. he wants to magnify life's difficulties until they seem bigger than God and His goodness. I choose to magnify the Lord instead! I will bless the Lord. I will continue to cultivate a grateful heart.

*****************

Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks, 

piling up gratitude day by day in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#13,761-#13,782

10-5-2020-

-autumn colors

-a healthy body

-youngest grandson's giggles

-God's provision

10-6-2020-

-an autumn afternoon spent baking for our church leadership dinner

-studying all that the Bible says about God's goodness

-praying with our leaders

10-7-2020-

-taking our two middle granddaughters out to dinner and to pick out some new books from the bookstore

-talking to my sister on the phone

-trusting God in uncertain times

10-8-2020-

-phoning a friend

-a sweet prayer time at church

-praying and singing with my grandson when I tucked him into bed 

10-9-2020-

-a sunny day to enjoy the outdoors before a rainy forecast

-"It's open!!!" three year old grandson so happy when we took him to a fully open playground at the park

-walking around the lake with the grandkids

10-10-2020-

-my husband getting up with the grands that we are caring for this weekend

 so I could sleep a wee bit later

-sun breaks on this rainy day so the grands could play outside

-cousins playing together

10-11-2020-

-the person in front of me at Starbucks paying for my coffee

-encouragement and prayers from friends who read my blog

-a relaxing Sunday afternoon

still following,

-

The Goodness of the Lord

I must confess, there have been days when I feel like there's an ugly cry just beneath the surface of my "I'm fine" exterior. I could recite a whole list of others who have much greater reasons to cry than I do. I think of them, shaming my grief and tears deeper down below the surface and lock them deep in the basement of my heart. 

In my morning quiet time with the Lord I ask Him to search me, to reveal the truth about myself to me. He unlocks the basement doors of my inner being and makes me face the grief that has been packed into the past ten months... (Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, October 11th  at Woman to Woman Ministries, where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)

still following,

Also happily linking up with:

Sunday Scripture Blessings

Susan B. Mead

Sue Moore Donaldson