Blessed with Sunshine

 

Count Your Blessings Month

 

 

“‘You are my lamp, O Lord;

the LORD turns my darkness into light.’”

2 Samuel 22:29 (NIV)

Because of the way God made me, I enjoy sunshiny days. An overcast day can send me into the doldrums-nothing seems to go as it should.

Several years ago I voiced my concern about having no sunshine for days on end one winter. It went like this:

 

   ME: Why doesn’t the sun shine? I’m getting tired of this.

   SON: The sun always shines. It’s the clouds that get in the way.

 

My son was in junior high school at the time. I didn’t consider him an upstart for this comment; he had heard it at church, so had I but it didn’t register.

One of the blogs I frequent had a question about how we managed through the overcast days of winter. I left the comment that I started out each day by spending time with God. This helps me more than I realized.

Blessed with Close Friends

Count Your Blessings Month

 

 

“A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.”

Proverbs 17:17

 

God brings people into our lives to allow His goodness to show through them. In our hurried lifestyles, we sometimes don’t see this action of God. It’s when things seem to pile up against us that those friendships become our lifelines back to ‘normalcy.’ They remind us of God’s love for us and that we are His children. They love us in spite of what we are going through and ‘stand in the gap’ for us, by interceding for us in prayer, by listening to us as we voice our fears or complaints. 

Sometimes, people relocate to another town or state. Those relationships become different but they can still be friendships.

Some ways I have been blessed by friends:

               *A phone call,

               *a card or a sweet note in the mail an email or a Facebook message,

               *a hug at church,

               *someone stopping in the pharmacy or grocery store to talk.

               *a friend helps me when I have a need.

Have you been blessed by a friend lately?

Blessed with God’s Presence

Count Your Blessings Month

 

 

“It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.”

With that same spirit of faith we also believe

and therefore speak, because we know the one who

raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus

and present us with you in his presence.”

2 Corinthians 4:13-14(NIV)

 

We have times when we feel God’s presence with us. In times of intense sadness, of loss,

of great trial, He lets us become aware of His presence.

In 1998, my stepmother spent the spring and summer in and out of the hospital. Three times we received calls to go to the hospital because her condition had worsened. On Labor Day we took her to the hospital and heard a doctor tell us she might need to go to a nursing home to receive therapy to build up her strength. Three weeks and two days later, we lost her. As I went through the days after her death, I felt the prayers of my church family. Because of their prayers, I felt God’s presence.

I often experience times when a chorus comes to mind and stays with me a while. As I compose these words, I was led to check our mail box. I saw it was raining. As I sorted through the junk mail, I had a tune start to echo in my head. At first, I didn’t have anything but the tune. Then a few words came. But I feel blessed by the Lord when I have these moments.

Have you felt God’s presence in your daily life?

Each Day is a Blessing.

Count Your Blessings Month

 

 

“Therefore we do not lose heart.

Though outwardly we are wasting away,

yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

2 Corinthians 4:16

 

Each day we are relatively healthy and pain free is a blessing. Because I have some arthritis and fibromyalgia, I notice changes in the weather. I have learned to take these conditions in stride.

All I have to do when I notice some inflammation is remember my Sunday school teacher. Several years ago, he had an accident at his place of business. He came through that event without losing his right leg but he carries metal pins and rods down its full length. His wife told me one of his doctors said he’d “become very good at forecasting the weather.”

One of my friends is a quadriplegic. When I worked my last job, each morning I’d pass his street and say a prayer for him and his mother. One fall the muscles in my legs were inflamed so much I actually hurt from hips to ankles. This particular morning, I prayed my usual sentence prayer for them as I went past. All of a sudden, my eyes filled up; I could barely see. Here I was feeling sorry for myself because of some pain when neither one of them ever complained about anything.

I view each day as a blessing from God. If I have a problem, I know He will help me through it. If I receive a blessing, I try to thank Him for that day and that special blessing.

Heaven Changes Everything Book Review

 

Todd and Sonja Burpo have written a devotional-reader containing inspirational thoughts aligned with sections of their first book, Heaven Is For Real. 

Each short chapter begins with an excerpt from Heaven Is for Real.then either Todd or Sonja expands on that excerpt. They wrap up each chapter by presenting a question or a thought to the readers and including a scripture verse.

 This book gave me a view of a family and their life after a medical involving their small child.

 What I read challenged, inspired and enlightened me. The Burpos gave me opportunity to think about the reality of heaven. I knew it existed but this book presented a few concepts I had not thought about before. The authors held my attention; Instead of pacing myself and taking a few days to study this book. I found myself starting it one day and finishing it the next.

 The Burpos present the devotional readings in a very casual, conversational way. They tell of the prayers that went up for their son and how one nurse decided “there [is]a God because this is a miracle.” At the end of each reading is a verse or passage of scripture that magnifies the topic of that section.

 
Iwould recommend this book to those who work with children, young parents serious in their faith, and children’s ministers.


********
     I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishing through its Booksneeze program in return for a honest appraisal of this book.

Trials Do Come November 2012 RJD

 

 

March 8, 1998

 

Spurgeon states, “It was never in God’s design for His people to be untried.” The book of James tells me, “Consider it pure joy when you experience trials of many kinds.” James continues with “the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

               Yes, God does test His children; he does it for our own good. If we weren’t tested we would not gain spiritual insight into our world and we would never know God for who He is. We would never know we could rely on Him in times of stress, especially from the world. I would have completely caved in this past Thursday, if I had not known that God would listen and take care of a situation and He has!

Thank You, Lord.

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

The situation I had two days prior involved an order I had placed with a specialized company for a birthday present for my dad. He turned 75. (In the previous two years we had been through his emergency Heart Bypass and Cancer surgeries and another ordeal.) The ordered item didn’t come. I called the company. The lady returned my call; they didn’t receive the order. I lost all composure and started screaming into the phone. She hung up on me. Then, I felt terrible.

               Later, as we ate ice cream and cake, Hubby told Dad about the issue in conversation. Dad said very nicely, “That company has a lot of problems in their order department.” God was there for me.

 More recently: I ordered replacement checks for my personal account. I should have done it when I started the last pad in the box. But I didn’t. I was told they would be here this on the 30^th. I realized on Wednesday that I needed to pay two bills but that would take my last two checks. I then realized it was the 31^st. I called the 800 number again and finally got to talk to a representative, what I call a ‘real’ person. She was very kind. She sent me out a second order, sending them by another carrier. My original order came today, three days late. The second order came yesterday, one day after I made my call. I didn’t feel the need to get upset or raise my voice. I think I may have learned something here.

Linking up to :beneaththesurface-dawn.

Reader Appreciation Award

 

Several weeks ago I received nomination for an award from Emily Akin at Blog4 WritersBlog4 Writers. Thank you, Emily. Emily’s blog is about writing. She provides information about writing issues and links to sites to assist her fellow writers.

I, of course, accepted it, and there are a few requirements:

 •Acknowledge the giver of the award and provide a link to his/her blog site.

 •Copy and paste the award to your blog.

 •Pass the award to a maximum of ten bloggers.

 •Notify your selected bloggers that you have nominated them.

 

It is now my turn to nominate some bloggers. Because I write about Jesus and our walk with Him, I read several Christian blogs. The ones I have nominated are ones that I find make me think about my relationship with Christ, about my faith and how I can walk closer to Him.

 

My nominations are:

·       Dottie Parrish at Faith Notes

·       Cathy Biggerstaff at Joyful Journey

·       Berta Dickinson at Snapshots

 

 

Please take a few minutes to visit each blog. Think about encouraging each of these writers by commenting If you have a favorite Christian blog, please share it with us by leaving its URL.