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Showing posts from March, 2016

In God's Hands?

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"Deuteronomy 30:15 & 19"    I used to say (and believe) this phrase. It served as a logical excuse for when things didn't go as I had planned. But lately, I honestly think this phrase is just not right.  Deuteronomy 30:15  (NLT) reads:  "Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster." Deuteronomy 30:19  (NLT) reads: "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" In these verses, God is telling the Israelites that He is giving them options and that their choices will be witnessed and verified in heaven and on earth.  So if "Its all in God's hands..."  why did He offer them options? Why did He tell them to choose?   Here are my thoughts on this well intended

I Can't Explain Jesus

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I get all fluttery inside just thinking about Easter.  Can you visualize Mary running from the graveyard shouting that she had talked with  Him? How about the look on Peter's face as he tucked his head into the empty tomb? Emotions from elation to sadness, from excitement to doubt, from disbelief to acceptance! I think that the most glorious sight we could ever behold, not including His ascending to heaven or Him returning in the clouds, would be that empty tomb! In my head, that empty tomb shouted to Mary and Peter:   "Hey y'all, you ready for THIS, He ain't here! He has risen; He did what He said He was gonna do, whatcha think about that?!" And then, the Holy Spirit rises up inside me, giving me a smile on my face, a tear in my eye, and a feeling in my gut that many of you know all too well! I would love to try and explain the love I have for Jesus Christ but mere words just can't explain it or   Him. He has to be experienced . Every person for yourself

A Great Place to Start!

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“ This is the day the Lord has made; let’s rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24 (ISV) " Okay, let's get this day started !"  I sat on the edge of my made-up bed, fully clothed and ready to start my day. My schedule included taking my son to school, answer e-mails and complete a report for work, babysit my sick grandson, pay bills, balance checkbook, fix supper, get Bubby from track practice. Oh! And watch the new episode of The Flash tonight!  And suddenly, instead of it being 7:00 am – in my mind - it was bedtime. Just that quickly, I had teleportated to the end of the day I had just started! Suddenly, my cell rang with a courtesy call from my husband " Hey sweetie, I forgot to tell you, it frosted last night - you may want to warm up the Jeep before you head out ."  And that phone call catapulted me into scurrying mode, and what started out as a busy yet peaceful second day of spring suddenly became yet another hectic morning. And I found myself

Simple Disrespect

I hate disrespect. I don't care if it is aimed at me, another person, an animal or an inanimate object. Lately I've been thinking about the impact it has on our society and can't seem to find a good answer to the problem. Many folks, and most of our neighbors, are kind, respectful individuals. But as a nation, respect for God, authority, and humanity seems to have declined to the point of extinction.   This is a problem that cannot be legislated away, it isn't the fault of schools nor churches. This is a problem that started developing at home. But its solution starts with each individual. The problem of disrespect can be stopped by listening to, and following, those gut instincts God Himself gave us. Its simple really, if your gut says its wrong, guess what? It is! Listen to your gut...it is seldom wrong.

Rooted in Christ

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Nothing tastes as good as that first tomato or ear of corn from your own garden! And thankfully, spring is right around the corner; so it's time to start getting the soil ready for our gardens! Last summer, as I hoed row after row of corn, okay to be honest they are very short rows, I remember not really thinking of anything, just working to get the job done and about how sweaty my tee shirt was. (Some ladies perspire but thanks to our mom's genes, my sisters and I, we sweat!) Anyways, I don't think I told John this, but one day after a week of hard rains, as I hoed the corn, one of the plants popped out of the ground. It looked just like a jack-in-the-box as it popped up and flipped over! I swear, if I hadn't known any better, I would have sworn I had pulled it out on purpose!  I stood there, looking down at the silly thing not knowing if I should put it back in the ground or toss it. But I pushed it back in, gave it a little water, and prayed that it would take root

Beyond the Bully

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The Simple Things

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Leonardo de Vinci wrote: " Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication ." I doubt that I am alone here but I am willing to admit that sometimes I over-complicate life. Which is odd since I am very organized. I have a notebook for this, a bag for that, and electronic file folders within a folder within a folder. But the problem comes when I get a new tool . When I get something new, instead of donating or tossing the current one, I keep and reuse. So it gets a little complicated trying to find my stuff .  I have even coached myself: " Dreama, seriously, pick one bag and make it work for all your projects and contracts. Keep things simple !" But again today, I looked at my cute and functional bags, and picked one, and started moving my stuff ... all in the name of organization. Now I am not quite sure how this made me think of my relationship with Jesus...but it did.   So I asked myself if I over complicate my relationship with God...in the name

Promise or Warning?

I am 48 years old and I have never seen such amazing displays of rainbows in all my life! This past year or so, I have seen double rainbows, multiple rainbows, and rainbows that literally hit the ground.  Yesterday, I had the unique experience of driving under a rainbow - now that was pretty awesome! Until yesterday, I only considered these sightings as inspiring promises. Genesis 9:14-16 reads:  "It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  But yesterday, as I passed under the bow, it hit me: these pretty things also hold a warning about " what comes next ."  Somehow we tend to ho