Take a Look

I would like to invite you to my friend Adrienne's blog. She is doing a series of posts about the life of Job from a book that she is reading entitled,  Let God Be God by Ray Stedman.

I pray that you will be as blessed as I have been by her insights.

Time to Say Goodbye

I stood in the driveway bawling my eyes out as my youngest headed back to college.  He's a sophomore so it isn't like this was the first time he was leaving for school.  I don't know why I was so emotional.  Maybe because he had been home for a month and I was going to miss him.  I never have been good at good-byes.

But as we go into 2011 there are some things I'll be happy to say good-bye to.  Desk drawers that are over-stuffed with "stuff";  closets bulging with clothes that I can no longer wear.  I don't know about yours, but my home just has too much stuff!  And I'm determined to get rid of that stuff and be careful not to accumulate more.

I am also ready to say goodbye to a few other things too.  I desperately want 2011 to be the year that I draw closer to the Lord and get to know Him better.  So I'm going to have to say goodbye to anything that hinders me from spending time with Him.  Some of these things are good things.  But I'm going to have to choose the Better Thing.  There's  also no room for old thoughts that will hinder me from a closer walk with Him; doubt, fear, anxiety, bye-bye!  Hebrews 12:1 tells us:

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles...

 
I must replace the old with the new.  No more room for doubt, fear or anxiety to cloud my thoughts.  Philippians 4:8 says this is what must fill our thoughts: 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

This time I think good bye will be easier!




Life is Good,


Cindy

'Twas the Night Before CHRISTMAS

This is a beautiful version of the story 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by my friend Victoria Bierman Jenkins.   I pray that it will bless you as it has me.


'Twas the Night Before CHRISTmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
None of God's creatures were stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In truth, it was Christ's birth that had put them there.

God’s children were nestled all snug in their beds,
Unlike the baby Jesus, with no place to lay His sweet head;
Mother Mary and Joseph, and some shepherds perhaps
Watched over our Savior as He peacefully napped.
When up in the sky there arose such a clatter,
That three wise men grabbed the best gifts they could gather.
Away to the Messiah they flew like a flash,
To see our Redeemer in the flesh at long last.

The star in the sky gave off such a glow
Shining with the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But the stillness of the star showing they must be near.
It's unclear how long they traveled, but it was quite a bit,
Still they knew by the star's pause that this must be it.
Three gifts they brought to little Jesus when they came,
And they rejoiced as the angels had as they praised His name;

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom He favors!
To the top of the mountains!
To the bottom of the sea!
Our Savior is born to save both you and me!"

As God's children sleep, safe in their beds,
Both Father and Son watch over their heads,
Loving them enough to number each countless hair,
We've no way to earn their love, but every way to share.
Giving gifts as the wise men did is a fun tradition,
As long as the point of Christmas never goes missing.

Deck the halls and trim the tree,
Hang the stockings and dance with glee.
Share the joy of CHRISTmas which no wrapped gift could match,
Tell of the Babe wrapped in cloth who brought us freedom at last;
A bundle of joy lying in the manger,
Sent to save us from unspeakable danger.
His life for ours, what an amazing gift!
He was born so that man might no longer perish!
His life was as pure as the day He was born,
As He taught us the greatest lessons we'll learn;
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love,
Don't try to be pleasing to man, but to God above;
Build on the Rock and not the sand,
Keep an open heart and an outstretched hand.

So many people are in need this Christmas,
Let God use you to fulfill their wishes;
Give as you've been given to,
You provide for others and He'll provide for you;
So speak of His Word, and get straight to His work,
Always giving Him the glory since it all came from Him first.

Remember, it's God's children in this world that are the light,
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

And The Winners Are...........................

Today's the day to announce the four winners of From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy  by Leah Adams.

So without further ado, the winners are:


Marilyn in Mississippi from Walking in Truth

Tiffany from Tea with Tiffany

Vivian Childs 

Cindy from Consider it All Joy
 

Congratulations ladies!  I will have your books in the mail by Thursday, November 18th.  Thank you for entering the drawing.

It's Give Away Time!

 In honor of my friend Leah  I will be giving away four autographed copies of her Bible Study,  From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy.

This excellent Bible study will help us examine our legacy and guide us in creating a godly legacy that will honor God.

All you have to do to enter for the drawing is to leave a comment.  I will choose the winners in a very scientific way; your names will be drawn out of a hat by my sweet hubby on November 15th.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

A Good Connection

My Blackberry was on it's last legs. The screen would freeze, making in difficult to use unless you turned it off and then back on several times a day.  I am not technologically savvy at all but I decided to get a new Android phone that is really cool.  My niece works for our wireless carrier so when she brought me the new phone, she and her brother gave me a thorough tutorial.  Very soon I was familiar enough with the phone to do all sorts of cool things.  However, I failed to learn how to retrieve a call!  After several missed calls I finally got the hang of answering a call.  By now you have probably figured out that I am not always the sharpest crayon in the box.

Today in Bible study during Leah's prayer, one of our ladies' phone rang.  She had forgotten to silence it.  She managed to silence the call and then another ladies' phone rang.  She silenced her call as well and we had a little giggle during our prayer.   As Leah was praying, she thanked the Lord that he never silences our calls.  I am so thankful for that.  He always takes our calls.  He never mutes us.  He never sends us straight to His voice mail.  He never screens our calls even when He sees on His caller ID that it's me.   Our calls to Heaven are never dropped and there is always a good connection.  He is "on call" 24/7.  His network is always available.  He can "hear us now".  Praise Him with me that He always hears our prayers.

 "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all you heart."  Jeremiah 29: 12-13

 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."  Jeremiah 33:3

Life is Good,

Cindy

Hoarders

Some of you may have watched the television show Hoarders but  I had never seen an episode until last week.  I was flipping through the channels on Labor Day hoping for a Criminal Minds or NCIS marathon but instead I happened upon Hoarders.  And I was mesmerized.  And heartbroken for the hoarders.

 The A & E channel defines it like this : "Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things even if the items are worthless, hazardous or unsanitary."  Some of the hoarders have had some circumstance in their life that triggered their disorder.  I was amazed that some of the homes had gotten to the point that they were uninhabitable.  The hoarders are embarrassed and overwhelmed.  Most of the houses had gotten so bad that the hoarders had no clue where to start and seemed hopeless.  Some of the hoarders did not realize that they had a problem.  Families had been torn apart by the hoarding.  The only way for a compulsive hoarder to change is through therapy.  It was so easy for me to be judgmental and disgusted.  But like I said my heart was broken.

The Holy Spirit began to whisper that we as Christians can be hoarders too.  What?  Did I hear you correctly Lord?  While we may not hoard possessions we can sometimes hoard our emotions.

• We hoard forgiveness when we fail to extend it to someone who might have wronged us. 
• We hoard mercy when we fail to show compassion to others.
• We hoard patience when we are easily annoyed by others.
• We hoard joy when we let our circumstances dictate how we feel.

When we hang on to these things instead of sharing them with others we are basically hoarding Jesus!  Jesus paid too high a price for us to keep Him too ourselves.  I don't want to be a hoarder.  How about you?