If God Had a Cell Phone

This afternoon I got a text message from my son. He was just letting me know that he was drinking a bottle of water that had been bottled in our hometown. He was sitting in class and apparently it was less than interesting, thus the compelling need to text me immediately.

Texting is the primary way that my children communicate these days. After Manning's text I started thinking about what it would be like if God had a cell phone. What if your cell phone company offered you a plan with daily texts from God?

If God did have a cell phone, I believe his number would be Jeremiah 33:3. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." I imagine some of His texts might read like this:

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" Jeremiah 1:5

"For I know the plans I have for you" Jeremiah 29:11

"I have loved you with an everlasting love" Jeremiah 31:3. And these are just from the book of Jeremiah!

Fortunately, we can hear from God daily just by picking up our Bible. His Holy Word in its entirety. It addresses every problem that we might encounter. It brings peace and comfort when we are troubled and rest when we are weary. We can go straight to the throne of God with any request or petitions we have.

God is waiting to speak to you daily. Just listen for Him.

Cleaning My Closets

For some reason since our nest is now empty, I have felt compelled to clean. And I do mean compelled. I have thoroughly cleaned and purged almost every closet in my home. It was long overdue and it felt good to get rid of things that are no longer needed. There were years of accumulated "stuff" in the kids closets. Old clothes and old toys that could be used by other children now.

During this time I began a new Bible Study with my small group. Funny thing, this study by Jennifer Rothschild, "Me, Myself and Lies" deals with cleaning out my thought closet. I had no idea that my thought closet was so full of junk. Our thought closets are crammed with thoughts from our past, lies that we have told ourselves. This has been a difficult study, in that it makes you confront any wrong thoughts that you have. Thoughts that come from ourselves and not the Truth of God. But in its difficulty, my thought closets are being cleaned and purged.

So I'm getting rid of the junk and replacing it with God's wisdom. Taking off my self-imposed labels and replacing them with God's.

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB

Seasons

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love everything about it. Crisp, cool mornings. Falling leaves that blanket the ground. The sky seems bluer, the air cleaner. I love it!

Just like the earth goes through distinct seasons, we too have seasons in our lives. My husband and I are now empty nesters. It has taken a little time to adjust to having both of our children gone. It is a new chapter in our lives and we have determined that we will enjoy it, for that is what the Lord has been leading up to for all these years. Raising children that weren't ours in the first place, but a precious gift from God. It is God's plan that your children grow up and lead their own lives. Some days are easier than others though. It's tough to give them up! I think it's tougher on the Mom. It's hard to shift gears from being the caretaker, peacemaker, boo-boo kisser, problem solver, cook, maid and all the other hats that we Moms wear to having so much less of a mothering role. They still need me, but in much different ways. It's hard to step out of the way and let them find their own way.

Our daughter graduated from college.

Then two weeks later, our son graduated from High School.

We moved our daughter from her apartment in her college town to another city and college. Then we left our son at school and headed to the beach to catch our breaths for a little while

Our daughter got engaged and we immediately began making preparations for a May wedding.

Trying on dresses, decisions about flowers, colors, food, etc. It has been fun and oh so special.

During this time my sister and I gave our parents a 50th Anniversary Reception. It was nice to be able to celebrate their long marriage give something back to them for all that they have put into our lives.

Four days later I met my sister in Denver for some much needed sister time. She had to attend a conference for work and she asked me if I would like to come with her. Of course I said yes. We attended the musical "Wicked" and it was fabulous.

The weather was great while we were there. It was sunny and beautiful and we walked all over Denver. We ate lots of yummy food. One of the highlights of my trip was being able to meet a fellow blogger Holly, from Crown Laid Down for lunch on our first day in Denver. She was a delight and I was truly blessed to be able to spend some time with her. Of course I forgot to take a photograph of her.

This was the view of the Rocky Mountains from our hotel room. It was a great trip and I hope to go back very soon.

Thank you for indulging me. I didn't mean to write a novel. I just wanted to share what's going on in this season of my life. I have missed all of my blogger friends. I haven't forgotten about you. You have been in my thoughts and prayers and I am looking very forward to catching up with all of you.

Fear

For the past couple of weeks I have had several things rattling around in my head that I felt like I needed to post. I have tried, but they inevitably ended up as drafts. The words just didn't come out right. Then I finally realized that it was because it wasn't what God wanted me to say. I'm not always the sharpest crayon in the box.

I'll have to admit that it really isn't something I'm comfortable sharing. I just tend to be the sort that keeps things to myself. Then I read Leah's post over at The Point. And the conviction was even stronger. God wants us to be transparent. He wants me to be transparent.

I will have to be honest with you, for the past several weeks I have absolutely been in the strongest grip of fear that I can ever remember being in. I became ill with some sort of virus that lasted about three weeks. Soon after that a young woman in our tiny little community was abducted. On the very same night there was also an unrelated murder. And a high speed police chase. We rarely experience serious crime in our small town, much less three events all in the same day. Then I read on the internet about a horrific car-jacking incident that ended in the deaths of a young couple. There are so many victims. So much evil. And our country is changing before our eyes, on a downward spiral. The list goes on and on. Turn on the news for five minutes and you'll be overwhelmed by all that is taking place. Combine the physical illness with all of the above and I became a basket case. And before I knew it, there I was paralyzed by fear. The fear that our community is no longer the safe place that we thought it was. The fear of not knowing what in the world will happen to our nation. The fear of something happening to my family. Fear begets more fear. And I am ashamed that I feel this way. It has been a struggle. Proverbs 29:25 tells us that, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." I have let my fear of man become a snare. The enemy knows our weaknesses.

I know that God is Sovereign. I know He is always in control. I believe it with all my heart. That's why this has thrown me for such a loop. But I know that God did not give me a Spirit of fear. So I am clinging to Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

It's Tough Being a Woman

The Lord made it clear to me in the Spring that I was going to begin a fast from blogging. I thought He meant just from my blog, but He made it clear that I was to abstain from reading, commenting, etc. I love the blogs that I follow but I was spending more time in the blog world and less time with Jesus. So He saw to it that I got my priorities back in order.

I was also able to spend lots of time with my sweet children this Summer. We are now officially empty nesters. I miss them terribly, but I am excited about this new chapter in all of our lives.

Last week I began Beth Moore's Bible Study on Esther. I have enjoyed it so much already and I've only just begun. But it got me thinking about all of the hats we as women have to wear. And it is tough being a woman.

But I think the hardest thing about being a woman is other women. We tend to measure ourselves by the yardstick of others. At least I do. We compare ourselves to other women. What they wear. How good their children are. What their husbands do or don't do. And like my friend Leah says, "we Christians tend to shoot our wounded". Many times I have needed so badly to share something going on in my life but fear of ridicule or being fodder for gossip has prevented me from doing so. Christian women are some of the first to fire. I am including myself in this.

So, because it's tough to be a woman, let's try extra hard to show compassion to our Christian sisters. We are the body of Christ. Sometimes life can be hard and we need each other.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean for my first post to be so somber. That's what I get for thinking. Thanks for listening to my disjointed ramblings.

Taking A Break

Hello my bloggy friends.  I miss you.  But I have felt the Lord pulling me back from the blog world for a season.  

I am entering a new chapter in my life!  My daughter graduated from college and two weeks later my son graduated from high school.  It's time to rest for awhile and enjoy the summer with my family.

I pray that all of you have a wonderful summer.

New Life

A few posts ago I showed you this picture:

The eggs have hatched into three little baby birds! Their nest is sort of out in the open close to our garage so I was a little worried that they might not make it, but despite our vehicles coming and going and the monsoon-like rain we've had for ever, they are growing well. I don't know why I was worried. His eye is on the sparrow, and the baby cardinals too.

Here they are, right after they hatched. They were mostly just little balls of fuzz.

Here they are three days later, resting after they've eaten. Look at their little wings. God's detail is amazing.