A New Direction

For the first time in a few years, I don't have an office to go to every day anymore. Although I still work for the same business, I have elected to scale back my responsibilities to the bare minimum. What I will continue to do for my employer can be handled at home with occasional update visits to the office.

Although I have loved being able to use my abilities to earn an income, I am ready to use those same abilities to bless my family and to glorify God. I need to write something more substantial than blog entries. The Lord has been shaking my shoulders about this for some time, but lately He has kicked things up a notch. I haven't been able to write much of anything for quite some time now. I am convinced it is because I need to focus my thoughts and insights toward creating something more lasting than writings that are read for maybe a day or so, then soon forgotten.

This has been a wonderful venue for me to begin to test myself as a writer and I will continue to blog on a regular basis, but my writings here will be scaled back a bit. The deeper writing is going to be compiled into something more permanent.

I am so thankful for the encouragement I have received by those of you who comment regularly here and to those who comment to me face-to-face when we cross paths in the real world. Please continue to encourage and pray for me in the coming months. I'll need all the support I can get. I am not as confident in my writing ability as I'd like, but I am confident in my Savior.

Thanks for everything!

Taking Scrapping to a Deeper Level

Have you ever considered using your love of scrapbooking to glorify God? FaithSisters.com is a website I discovered that encourages us to do just that. They are organizing a challenge this year to scrapbook about our faith. Can you imagine what an amazing scrapbook will result from rising to such a challenge? What a gift to leave behind for our children and grandchildren! A new challenge will be issued every week. By the end of the year, you will have a 52 page legacy. Cool!

link: Faith Discovery Challenge 2008

UPDATE: There is more than one challenge on the faithsisters site. This Challenge begins this Friday, January 11, 2008. You have time to do a bit of research before we begin. Sorry for the confusion.

I'll post my pages as I finish them. Hold me accountable, people!

The Simple Things.

Today is my favorite son's 14th Birthday. I only have one son, but that makes him no less a favorite in my book!

Last night I was performing my very last 13-year-old tuck-in and was feeling especially sappy and generous. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner. Every restaurant in a 20 mile radius was offered to him plus a plethora of his favorite meals, including barbecued hamburgers. Such a meal would be a true sacrifice of love considering our chilly and wet weather today. After entertaining all the options, he chose to have a mexican fiesta a la Suzanne of Bakersfield! Yay!

As soon as I hopped out of bed this morning, I began my shopping list: Fresh corn tortillas to fry into shells (no taco shells from the box would do for my fella!), lean beef, all the makings for authentic mexican rice and beans, plus every accompaniment I could come up with. The task looked daunting, but I was determined to do this for my boy.

Within minutes of my awakening, the Birthday Boy was at my side.

"Mom?"

"Yes, my favorite son, Birthday Boy, computer wizard, incredi-geek, love bear; what can I do for you"

::favorite son rolls eyes, sighs and smiles::

"Is it too late to change my dinner request?"

"It is never too late, babe. Would you rather have barbecue? Go out to eat? You name it!"

"Well.....I know this sounds weird.....I'd really like to have hamburger helper."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. I woke up and the first thing I thought of was hamburger helper. Could we have that for dinner?"

::doting mom rolls eyes, sighs and smiles::

"Absolutely."

"Thanks, Mom."

I just love that kid!

Wouldn't it be great if we all could learn that lesson? Instead of letting others influence us about what would bring us joy, what if we took the time to ask ourselves what we really want? I suspect we'd be surprised at how little it really takes to bring contentment.

Saved by Candied Popcorn

Did you know a regular box of Cracker Jack contains only 120 calories?? Yes!!

...Thank you, Lord, for your provision. amen

I'm All Abuzzzz

New Years Morning I went for a walk with my Tuckerlicious dog and encountered something so

unique I ran home and grabbed my camera.

A beehive! It was sitting there in the middle of a field, treated as though it were garbage. For shame! This is anything but garbage: It contains nourishment, life and enough danger to be worthy of a healthy respect. Look at how intricate the honeycomb is! To think a multitude of individual creatures managed to create something that fits together so perfectly! Everything in the hive works together to create the optimum environment to create and sustain life. It even nourishes others outside the hive!

Miraculous.

I wonder if this isn't similar to the way the world treats God's Word, the Bible. The Bible certainly isn't an object to be worshiped, that's for sure. However, in it lies an amazing treasure...if we are willing to look for it. It is the tangible gift our Saviour has left here to sustain us until He returns. It was written by individual human beings, inspired by God Himself, and forms one cohesive truth for us to live by. Within the pages of the Bible we can find what is needed to encourage, bring joy, guide us; to sustain our lives. As we are sustained and encouraged through the Word, we are free to encourage and spiritually nourish others who aren't spending time in Bible study. When they see how richer our lives are as a result of growing in knowledge through study, they may be encouraged to study for themselves.

The Word is even sweeter when it is scooped up and tasted with our own hands.

How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! - Psalm 119:103

Learning to Take It

Receiving complements is something I really stink at. I am the reigning queen of deflection. Seriously. When any praise is handed to me, my standard m.o. is to say "thanks," but run down the list in my head of why they didn't really mean what they said.

I have come to realize how out of line that type of thinking is. When others complement God's creation (me) and I reject their complements, I am essentially calling God a liar. As I reread that last sentence, it looks a little crazy. Maybe if I share a recent example it may make more sense.

On Christmas Eve our church holds a special service. Many churches do this, I suspect. Anyway, I sang at the service. As I was gathering my things to leave, a few people approached me and shared their appreciation and complemented my talent. I said "thank you," but my brain immediately started in with:

- They have to say that because they're your friends.

- They just want to end the evening on a positive note...tomorrow is Christmas, after all.

- Only a couple of people even said anything. Everyone else is probably too embarrassed for me to even say a word to me.

Seriously, I am messed up when it comes to receiving complements. Now the world knows. Plus, I have just said all that stuff about someone whom God regards much more highly:

I am God's Temple - 1 Corinthians 3:16

I am Wonderfully Made - Psalm 139:14

I am Free from Condemnation - Romans 8:1

And just read this: "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." Colossians 2:9-10

I am complete. I am Wonderfully Made. I am Free from Condemnation. I am God's Temple. To say I am less than any of these things is to call God a liar.

When someone says "Great job," I need to say "Thanks," receive it and believe it.

I've just covered the why - I found a great article that covers the how to. Follow this link to read more about how to take a compliment.