I have not been faithful listing the gifts I  thankful for on my blog.  However,  I have continued with my journal at night when I read my devotional.  Each day Ann Voskamp lists a picture and a statement on facebook. 

                                 Saturday's Joy Dare! *3 gifts moving*...
1.  The clouds as the move across the sky always changing.
2.  The wind as it gently or strongly moves the branches of the pine tree out my window.
3.  My nine month old grandson as he army crawls across the floor .

This is what the Lord says—He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, -Isaiah 43:16

Prayer request:  If you have extra time during your prayers would you please pray for:
1.       My DH is having heart issues again with irregular and rapid heartrate.
2.       We are watching our 1500 acres of corn and soybeans dry up due to complete lack of rain during the summer.  

Thank you!

 

In Christ, I AM....

Gifts today:

Christ has....provided me with all I need...Often when I am heartbroken or feeling alone. He will say,"Linda, I am ALL you need." I will reply with, "But Lord, I am lonely." He replies, "Linda, I AM all you need."

Christ has...Given be Life in Him...

Christ has...provided me with all a beautiful family to love.

Joy Dare April 30

April 30--   A Gift Given,    Made,   Sacrificed

"A Gift Given"

A quilt made and given to a precious baby boy.  His grandmother was a special friend who died of cancer seven months before he was born.  I promised her I would make baby quilts for her grandchildren.  

 

 "A Gift Made"

For Jessa's second birthday I made her a Princess Cake.  She is a special gift.

Complications before her birth could have lead to losing her and our daughter-in-law. 

They were held in prayer for three months before her delivery at 36 weeks. 

A True Blessing and Gift

"A Gift Sacrificed"

  The greatest gift sacrificed for me. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.."

April 29-Three Gifts In Dirt--

I have been so very blessed reading 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Though I haven't been listing the gits here as I had hoped, I have been listing them in my journal..

Gifts in Dirt for April 29--

1. Grandson #2-Finding the mud to jump in shows he is all boy--will be farmer--working beside Papa and Daddy.







2. Though now the field is dirt--with faith we plant and wait for the harvest. Same as with our faith--we put our faith, hope, and trust in our Lord and Savior.

3.  Lilies growing from the dirt.

"Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."Luke 12:27.

Joy Dare-- 3 Gifts Close

I'm not sure what 3 Gifts Close might mean....

10.    A hug from Granddaughter #3 when she holds on to give a hug that makes you feel as though you are the most important person in her life.

11.  One DS-1, DIL-1 and kids living 40 acres away and the other son & family living 10 minutes away.

12.  Looking from my kitchen window to watch the eagles soar,  the geese and ducks swimming on the pond while the deer are grazing in the soybean stubble from last falls harvest.

Sunday's Joy Dare

Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare for today:  3 Gifts Found In Christ

7 Grace:  Ephesians 2:8-9    For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.

8  Faith :  Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

9.  Salvation: John 3:16   For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

4.Today I watched as  the sunlight streamed through the pine boughs covered with snow from yesterday's storm.  It sparkled like a million diamonds on each branch.

5.  Giggles from the back seat as papa sang, "Ol' King Cole" to one of the Grandson #2.

6.  Smooth heels and polished toes from allowing myself to be pampered. 

Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts

A few weeks ago my small group Bible study began our journey studying Ann Voskamp's "one thousand gifts."  Ann is an outstanding author with a unique style of writing.  She is extremely poetic writer.  She challenges the readers to join her in listing one thousand gifts.  She describes it as,“The practice of giving thanks...eucharisteo...this is the way we practice the presence of God, stay present to His presence, and it is always a practice of the eyes. We don't have to change what we see. Only the way we see.”

She also has a Joy Dare. Each day she gives a dare.  Today's Joy Dare is:  3 gifts inherited.
1.  Gold locket Grandma Peck gave me to wear for my wedding,  the same moon and stars locket Grandpa gave her to wear at their wedding.

2.  Memories of Grandma Peck reading "Popcorn Party".

3.  Memories of Grandpa Peck's laughter as we teased him with Orchard Grass.

I am still learning about this walk of  “Eucharisteo."  Join me as I take this journey.

Read more of Ann's Joy Dare at  A Holy Experience  Joy Dare.

Sunday Morning

A difficult topic in my daily devotional

Today's devotional from the book, "A Gentler Spirit Devotional Journal."

"Father," A Relational Term"

The scripture reference is Luke 2:52,  "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."


One of the paragraphs talks about the nature and character of God.  It was to be played out in and through man and woman and the concept of family.   God desired for family...He sent His Son, he created Eve so Adam would not be alone, He calls us to be his children.

From God we receive nurturing and love.

This is difficult because I grew up with an emotional abusive father.  He and my mother were divorced when I was 39 years old.  She stayed in the abusive relationship until she had Biblical grounds for divorce.  He was having affairs with women.  She gave him the choice of their marriage and all the owned to give up the affairs.  She gave him 2 years and he continued with the affair.

His selfishness destroyed our family and the relationship between family members.

So--when I think of God as my loving Father--I need to remember that His love is all I need--I am His daughter--and He cannot hurt me.

Praise:
*New baby boy for Katie & Ryan
* My Christian blogging sisters
Praying For:
*DH's heart condition
* Mike, Amy, & Family as they travel back to Wisconsin on furlough from their missionary placement in Nicaragua. 
* Many other people I am lifting up for physical, emotional, or marital healing. 

What Really Matters!

Today I feel like Paul when he wrote: Romans 7:15

New International Version (©1984) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  New Living Translation (©2007) I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. I am struggling with being obedient to what I know I need to do!  Some of you know that I worked extremely hard at losing weight the past year.  I lost 45 lbs with  along way to go.  I did gain back 5 lbs with the stress and frustrations of the winter.  I know that I need to get back on track. I lost it--or should I say--The Lord gave me the strength to lose it with His help through attending Weight Watchers and studying and praying His word with Beth Moore's Book, "Praying God's Word."  If I am not able to be obedient to Him in self control, then I will have difficulty being obedient in all area of my  life.  I must give Him complete submission. In today's devotions from "A Gentle Spirit Devotional Journal." (Thank you Melanie for directing me to it)  The topic is "What Really Matters."  The scripture is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." It tells us to talk to God rather than talking to ourselves.  I have had many experiences where He has directed me to pray and pray and pray when I don't know why.  Later I have learned why I was being nudged to pray.  I thanked Him for making me obedient to his promptings. I am committing to God, myself, and you (whoever may or may not read this).  That I will be obedient to His prompting and know what I need to be to be obedient.  I will pray without ceasing when I know I need to follow His Path. Thank you for your prayers of support, Your Sister In Christ.

A Tribute to All Woman on Mother's Day

 To some Mother's Day can be a difficult day for many different reasons.  Each year I cry some tears remembering my special little guy.   A found of mine posted this on face book.  I think it says it all to all woman! 

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you
To those who experienced loss this year through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.
To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you
This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Ginny Owens, "If You Want Me To"

'What If It Had Been You?"

Hello My Friends, 

This was written by the young mom who I requested you pray for following the tragic accident on January 11 that claimed the life of her young son, Fane.  She sent this out today on her Facebook page and to all the addresses in her email address list. 

Please continue to hold them in your prayers.

Thank you,

Linda

What if it had been you?

by Haylee Hall Hershey on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:51am ·

Over the past four weeks I've had lots of thoughts and emotions coursing through my mind and body.  And rightfully so.  That's what happens when your 3 & 1/2 year-old son dies in a car accident.  A car accident in which he wasn't buckled in and you were driving.  So as is likely, there have been many, many, many thoughts and questions about heaven.  God is a being I've always believed in and heaven is a place I've always planned on going after this earthly life.  And that hasn't changed.  What has changed, however, is the urgency I feel to spread the gospel.  I never felt pressed to pass The Word along before.  I was always very timid about it, fearing I'd upset someone or people would think ill of me.  But the death of a close loved one (especially one that in your mind wasn't supposed to die yet) forces you to think more pressingly about eternity.  Of course we all know these tragedies can and do happen everyday.  But we never really expect it to happen to us.  And we are not called to sit by timidly and let others perish in the flames.  We are called to boldly proclaim the good news of salvation.  God wants all of us to be saved.  But He gave us free will.  That means the choice to accept or reject Him is ours.  So I ask: What if it had been you?  If you were the one who died where would you be now?  My beautiful Fane is in heaven with our Maker and Savior.  But where would you be?  Now more than ever I believe there is a heaven and hell.  And now more than ever I believe that Jesus is the way to salvation. Simply being "a good person" and leading "a decent life" is not enough.  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  I know there are many people who believe in heaven and hell and God and Satan.  But merely believing is not enough.  Even Satan fears and trembles.  The way to heaven is through Jesus.  We need to know Him and love Him and serve Him.  We need to ask Him to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We need to invite Him into our hearts and into our lives.

I'm afraid I'm sounding preachy and that really wasn't my intent.  So I think I'll stop here.  It's just that this has all been on my heart a lot lately and I felt compelled to share it.  I know there are a lot of people who don't believe in God at all.  And that's their prerogative.  Like I said, free will...But I also know there are a lot of people who think you get to heaven by being nice.  That's simply not the case.  None of us are perfect, but we can be through the sacrificial lamb Jesus Christ.  We are nothing without Him.  So please, please, please at least consider what I've said.  And do it now.  You may not have until tomorrow to get it figured out.  What do you have to lose?  If I'm wrong...nothing.  You die and that's it.  But if I'm right...well, the stakes are much higher.  If I'm right, you have heaven to lose and salvation to gain.  If you've already been saved and have your ticket to heaven, awesome!  I'll see you there if not before.  And really, you gotta get to heaven so you can meet Jesus face to face.  He's an amazing guy, quite indescribable in fact.  And then you gotta meet my Fane...'cuz he's pretty cool too.

Chapter 2.." The Promise of Provision" Study days 1-4

And my God will need all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Philippians  4:19

Day 1: The Promise of Provision

"Jesus reminds us that His provision is something we need daily.  We don't have to pray the perfect words, because He knows what we need before we even utter it.  But He asks us to come o him because He knows that prayer brings us into  right positioning with God.  We are coming as His children , and He is our Source.  He will always, always provide what we need."

"Prayer is when we partner with God to bring about His will for our lives." 

Day 2: Our Needs

 "God made us with physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. And the more we study Scripture, the more we see He is concerned with all of our needs.  He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and freed those in spiritual bondage.  God also knows exactly what your need is today.  He specifically knows the touch you need from Him. "
 Assignment: Make a list of things you desire in your life.  Take a moment to pray for discernment about which items are needs and which are wants.  Prioritize the needs and ask for God's provision. ...

Day 3: Praying For Daily Bread--Prayer is daily admission  of our need for God.
"Sometimes we don't even ask our small groups or close friends for prayer because we wrongly assume they have enough trouble of their own.  We don't want to bother others with our struggles. This attitude often flows over into our relationship with God."


Comments on Matthew 6:9-13.
"But prayer is much more than that...it is a two way conversation between God and His child.  In this model prayer. Jesus first addresses God as "Father".  It's easy to gloss over this beginning but it is so important.  We are praying to the Source of all thing, the one who owns all there is.  This quickly position us with the right perspective. God is our Father and we are His child. 


Assignment: What are your needs today?  Not on what I need at the end of the week, or in a month. Focus on your needs for today.

Day 4: Letting Go of Our Wants
"Praying puts us at risk of getting involved in God's conditions. Be slow to pray. Praying most often doesn't get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests."

"...because we are human, we can easily confuse our desires with our needs. When our basic needs are met, our desires can come more into focus."

Psalm 37:4-7
.."our desires are fulfilled in our delight in Him.  That is where our deepest longing is satisfied."

Prayer:
"Lord, help me to completely submit to you alone.  Help me to take on Your wants and desires for my life.  Help me to join You in your dreams for me that are much better than my own.  Help me  to take delight in You and to perservere in prayer so that I may resist the devil when tempted with the wrong things.  In Your strong name, Amen."