I have been incredibly behind at work and at home and it seems that things are just getting more hectic each day. As I dig myself out and through I have to rely on God. I have to know He is helping me catch up, He is helping me plan and organize (prioritize) my days for maximum impact, He give me HOPE in the fact that working with him this state of insaneness is only temporary. I have to rely that if I listen to His promptings, nothing will fall through the cracks. As I trust Him with a little (right now it's just with digging out at work and peace at home) I realize I can trust Him with more. For me (the mild control freak) this is actually hard. I know that I know that I know God is faithful. So why do I still hold on to so much? Why do I pray and then worry? Will I ever arrive at the place where I literally give it all to God each day and live each day based on His guidance and promptings? I don't know. But for right now, I will do what I can and progress a little at a time. I could be frustrated that I am not to my desired point with God or I could be happy with where I am and the determination I have to grow toward my ultimate desire. I believe God honors this. It's called GROWING. As long as we are growing we aren't dieing. My growth may be slow, but it is growth none the less.
Hope you are growing daily in your relationship with God!
Lots of love,
D. J.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Just a weekly little update
I try to post to this blog once a week about the spiritual aspect of my life at that given time. This week, I can't quite explain it. Initially I want to say God is being quiet but that isn't true. I have been prompted to pray and prompted to rethink some things. So no, God isn't being quiet. I am inclined to say I am too busy to be hearing from God, plus, I didn't go to church on Sunday or Wednesday this week...little bit of self imposed guilt comes through there. But that is not entirely it either. I think, perhaps, that the spiritual aspects of our day to day life don't always have to be profound! In relationships (as we are in with God) each day is wonderful but not always full of "aha's" and "wows". Humanly speaking, some of our best relationship days are just quiet days where we get to just simply be with one another. Maybe not a word is spoken! Life is just calm and we are together chillin'. That's good even looked forward to. I know my husband and I have been talking about this and dreaming about it :-). Could this be my spiritual place this week, just chillin' with God? I rather kinda like that thought and I rather kinda like being here...just temporarily though. Ponder it!
Hoping your walk with God is always in forward motion!
D. J.
Hoping your walk with God is always in forward motion!
D. J.
Friday, August 13, 2010
I love Norman Vincent Peale
I don't know how many years it has been since I was fortunate enough to read Norman Vincent Peale's book The Power of Positive Thinking. Recently, after many many years, I have picked the book back up and I am reading it again. It's all about thinking positive thoughts - why? Because God through His Word gives us so much hope, so much promise, so much to be happy about!
I am reminded that we, as Christians, simply don't pray enough, we don't read God's word enough and we don't apply God's word to our daily lives enough. I think of the Norman Vincent Peales, the Zig Ziglars, oh...there is one more I can't think of right now, anyway - they lived their faith totally in faith, solid knowledge, and dynamically! Sadly I think these types of Christians are literally a dieing breed. I want to change that. I want to be one of "those Christians" I want to bring about true change in someones life - not just because they BELIEVE the GOOD NEWS but because they BELIEVE AND LIVE what the GOOD NEWS has to say and offer.
I read the scripture this morning that says "who can add an hour to his life by worrying". So true. Why worry? Just pray and believe. We are told to come boldly before the throne. We are told God is able to do abundantly more than we can ask for or imagine. If God be for us, who can be against us? I know the reason I am not prospering as much as I would like right now is because of me! My thinking, my lack of Godly knowledge and my lack of applying Godly knowledge to my daily living. The power to change this is in my hands. I am not just talking financially here. I am talking emotionally, spiritually, through relationships, through work, through mothering and wifing. Doing it all - that's my Call -- I want to do it all with God's power right with me. If I want to drive to Wal Mart I have to put the power of gasoline in my tank, right? Well if I want to live my faith the way God wants me to I have to put the power of God in my mind (by reading His word and thinking positive right thoughts) and on my tongue by speaking truth, life and positive things into everything I say!
That's where I am today. Pondering what I haven't tapped into.
How about you?
Lots of love,
D. J.
I am reminded that we, as Christians, simply don't pray enough, we don't read God's word enough and we don't apply God's word to our daily lives enough. I think of the Norman Vincent Peales, the Zig Ziglars, oh...there is one more I can't think of right now, anyway - they lived their faith totally in faith, solid knowledge, and dynamically! Sadly I think these types of Christians are literally a dieing breed. I want to change that. I want to be one of "those Christians" I want to bring about true change in someones life - not just because they BELIEVE the GOOD NEWS but because they BELIEVE AND LIVE what the GOOD NEWS has to say and offer.
I read the scripture this morning that says "who can add an hour to his life by worrying". So true. Why worry? Just pray and believe. We are told to come boldly before the throne. We are told God is able to do abundantly more than we can ask for or imagine. If God be for us, who can be against us? I know the reason I am not prospering as much as I would like right now is because of me! My thinking, my lack of Godly knowledge and my lack of applying Godly knowledge to my daily living. The power to change this is in my hands. I am not just talking financially here. I am talking emotionally, spiritually, through relationships, through work, through mothering and wifing. Doing it all - that's my Call -- I want to do it all with God's power right with me. If I want to drive to Wal Mart I have to put the power of gasoline in my tank, right? Well if I want to live my faith the way God wants me to I have to put the power of God in my mind (by reading His word and thinking positive right thoughts) and on my tongue by speaking truth, life and positive things into everything I say!
That's where I am today. Pondering what I haven't tapped into.
How about you?
Lots of love,
D. J.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Wives - stop putting too much on those husbands!
God has shown me an interesting thing this week. Not through any major life happening - just an eye opening word to my spirit. My husband always keeps a stash of cash hidden. I rarely ask how much is in the stash and rarely get into the stash. But, I know it's there. I depend on my husband to always have it there. Knowing this, sometimes - well most of the time, my spending habits are rather sloppy and my budgeting discipline has been non existent. God, for quite some time, has been prompting me to pay better attention to our finances, to be disciplined, and while I have acknowledged the prompting - I have done very very very little to act on the prompting. So I spend, without a budget, a little too much here, a little extravagantly there, and there is nothing wrong with 3 or 4 $4.00 lattes in a week - right? And inevitably we end up in a bind - but that's okay because Bobby always saves us with the stash. WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG! My husband isn't stashing to save my undisciplined hiney - he is stashing to SAVE. What an insane amount of stress and pressure I put on him to bail us out because my spending is careless. As a side note - does my husband spend as God would have him to? Well, let me be quite frank here - it is none of my business if my husband is following God's personal promptings and guidance for him - that is between God and my husband. You know the plank in your own eye scripture....Yes, pay attention to what God is telling you and don't whine "But he gets to do it" Okay, back to my point. God is our ultimate provider - not our husbands. Our husbands are here for us to love and to be loved by and to enjoy and grow together. We all know marriage is HARD - so why make it more difficult. I would rather work with my husband in the area of our finances rather than dumping on him when my negligent spending finally catches up. I would rather lean on God together with my husband - trusting God together to be OUR provider. That's what God wants us to do! He wants to provide, but we must trust Him to do so, straighten up our own sinful deeds that would block the blessing of provision, and then stand. I like to envision my hubby and I standing, holding hands and smiling. We all know when we "discuss" money - this is usually not the pose or expression we have.
This week I made a budget for the next two weeks - it's all I could grasp and it's UGLY. But, God is prompting me to look at the budget and the checkbook daily - so He is walking me through this daily. He is honoring what I have done and what I continue to do. I was able to show my husband our SCARY budget last night and we did not argue. I let him off the hook - I told him I didn't expect him to figure it out, I just wanted him to know where we are standing. I also told him I was finally listening to God - thus the budget - and that I am praying about and trusting God to provide. This was a much nicer "discussion" to have regarding our finances. It was good - and I don't think either of us are worried, rather we are focused and full of faith.
Hoping this speaks to someone!
Lots of love to all,
D. J.
This week I made a budget for the next two weeks - it's all I could grasp and it's UGLY. But, God is prompting me to look at the budget and the checkbook daily - so He is walking me through this daily. He is honoring what I have done and what I continue to do. I was able to show my husband our SCARY budget last night and we did not argue. I let him off the hook - I told him I didn't expect him to figure it out, I just wanted him to know where we are standing. I also told him I was finally listening to God - thus the budget - and that I am praying about and trusting God to provide. This was a much nicer "discussion" to have regarding our finances. It was good - and I don't think either of us are worried, rather we are focused and full of faith.
Hoping this speaks to someone!
Lots of love to all,
D. J.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Nothing much
Well, nothing much seems to be going on but I am still going 90 to nothing! I am feeling a little distant from God right now. Not sure if He is being quiet or if I am just not being still enough to hear Him.
I know I am being prompted to kinda re-evaluate things. Not just priorities, but all things in general. I did have a bit of an epiphany the other day. I was out and about with Brandy. We were walking across streets, stepping up and off sidewalks, up and down stairs. With my other girls I would have been moving at a quick pace, holding their hand, basically dragging them along. Well with Brandy you can drag or hurry her - as you may cause a serious injury. So I have learned to live at her pace. I slow down to match her speed and I hold her hand. The first thing I realized is that this is how I should have been with my first two girls. The second is that this is the way our Heavenly Father works with us. He is right there with us holding our hand as we go at our own pace. He doesn't rush us or slow us down. He works with us at our own pace. I haven't quite grasped the entirety of the thought - but I think it's kinda cool. Going at Brandy's pace has not caused me to run behind - but it has caused me to be more patient and more relaxed. I focus more on her rather than what I have to do. My children should always be more important than what I have to do. Brandy trips and stumbles quite often, as I hold her hand I have to make sure I don't jerk to hard to save her from a fall, but just enough. If I jerk too hard I could hurt her worse than the fall could. This to reminds me of my Heavenly Father - as He holds our hands and we trip or stumble, He tries to help minimize the affects of a fall.
I feel like God is waiting for me to find my own pace so that we can more efficiently work together. If I am going to fast, I tend to leave God behind. If Iam going to slow, well I tend to ignore him because I am so focused on getting caught up. Don't know that I "know" my good own pace. I know that I have had one, but I didn't pay attention at the time.
Interesting things to ponder. Until next week!
Lots of love,
D. J.
I know I am being prompted to kinda re-evaluate things. Not just priorities, but all things in general. I did have a bit of an epiphany the other day. I was out and about with Brandy. We were walking across streets, stepping up and off sidewalks, up and down stairs. With my other girls I would have been moving at a quick pace, holding their hand, basically dragging them along. Well with Brandy you can drag or hurry her - as you may cause a serious injury. So I have learned to live at her pace. I slow down to match her speed and I hold her hand. The first thing I realized is that this is how I should have been with my first two girls. The second is that this is the way our Heavenly Father works with us. He is right there with us holding our hand as we go at our own pace. He doesn't rush us or slow us down. He works with us at our own pace. I haven't quite grasped the entirety of the thought - but I think it's kinda cool. Going at Brandy's pace has not caused me to run behind - but it has caused me to be more patient and more relaxed. I focus more on her rather than what I have to do. My children should always be more important than what I have to do. Brandy trips and stumbles quite often, as I hold her hand I have to make sure I don't jerk to hard to save her from a fall, but just enough. If I jerk too hard I could hurt her worse than the fall could. This to reminds me of my Heavenly Father - as He holds our hands and we trip or stumble, He tries to help minimize the affects of a fall.
I feel like God is waiting for me to find my own pace so that we can more efficiently work together. If I am going to fast, I tend to leave God behind. If Iam going to slow, well I tend to ignore him because I am so focused on getting caught up. Don't know that I "know" my good own pace. I know that I have had one, but I didn't pay attention at the time.
Interesting things to ponder. Until next week!
Lots of love,
D. J.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
New Faith Walk - New Perspective
So, it's been a week since we got the diagnosis. It's sunk in, kinda. A friend had an interesting statement - basically that Brandy has had this all along, today we just know the name of it. The name of the enemy. I have been pondering God's work on how He knitted us together in our mothers wombs, how we are fearfully and wonderfully made. I get stuck here - I believe it, it is truth after all. Where I get stuck is why are babies born with diseases, disorders, and such. This part I don't get. Then I remind myself, regardless of the HOW, my God is still and always will be the Master Physician. My God is MORE THAN ENOUGH to see her through an amazing, healthy, fulfilling life. My God is BIGGER than this. My God knew we would be on this walk and He has already put people in place to point us in the right direction, to give us good, quality information, and to help us take care of Brandy. I still struggle with wanting to be mad. I struggle with wanting to know WHY Brandy? I can't lie about it, God already knows my thoughts, my emotions, my everything...why lie? I don't wallow in fear, in anger, in sadness...quickly I remind myself of Gods TRUTH.
Everything seems a little different now. I do have a new perspective on things. Some may seem silly but I think they are noteworthy. I have decided to give up all POP. Carbonation robs the bones of calcium - Brandy won't be able to have much pop at all - we are talking RARELY! So, I am giving it up too. Struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle to this point has literally been a luxury I had. Now I don't have the luxury of the struggle. I have to choose health as a lifestyle so that I can give that lifestyle to her. I no longer have the luxury of deciding I don't want to go work out. Brandy must maintain a healthy weight as she grows...activity is a key piece to this! I want to teach her to be active for fun and active for health. I must teach by example.
Brandy surprises me much more than my other two girls did. I really don't know what to make of it. For example; I had to harshly get on to her Sunday as she kept trying, LOUDLY, to talk to me while I was on the phone, even after I told her to wait, that I was on the phone. My tone was harsh and specific and I asked her if she understood. She nodded her head. Within 20 minutes she apologized SPECIFICALLY for trying to talk to me while I was on the phone. She is only three! Another example; her daddy ran an errand last night, when he returned she was ecstatic! I said, " Brandy are you excited that your daddy is home" to which she replied, verbatim, "Oh Yes, I love him so much!" Final example - she asked me if I kept her safe, I said yes that Jesus and I keep her safe. She thanked me for keeping her safe. How do you like that?
I am constantly reminded how blessed I am. Things are just no longer what they seemed. I have decided to put some things on the back burner for the rest of the year and to adjust my priorities. I feel good about it. I feel that I am following Gods promptings and I have a peace knowing we may having a few bumps with learning more about Brandy's disorder that its going to be a really GOOD rest of the year. I am seeing more good and less bad. This is hard to explain. It is simply a new faith walk and a new perspective.
Hoping you are focused on what God want for you today!
Lots of love,
D. J.
s
Everything seems a little different now. I do have a new perspective on things. Some may seem silly but I think they are noteworthy. I have decided to give up all POP. Carbonation robs the bones of calcium - Brandy won't be able to have much pop at all - we are talking RARELY! So, I am giving it up too. Struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle to this point has literally been a luxury I had. Now I don't have the luxury of the struggle. I have to choose health as a lifestyle so that I can give that lifestyle to her. I no longer have the luxury of deciding I don't want to go work out. Brandy must maintain a healthy weight as she grows...activity is a key piece to this! I want to teach her to be active for fun and active for health. I must teach by example.
Brandy surprises me much more than my other two girls did. I really don't know what to make of it. For example; I had to harshly get on to her Sunday as she kept trying, LOUDLY, to talk to me while I was on the phone, even after I told her to wait, that I was on the phone. My tone was harsh and specific and I asked her if she understood. She nodded her head. Within 20 minutes she apologized SPECIFICALLY for trying to talk to me while I was on the phone. She is only three! Another example; her daddy ran an errand last night, when he returned she was ecstatic! I said, " Brandy are you excited that your daddy is home" to which she replied, verbatim, "Oh Yes, I love him so much!" Final example - she asked me if I kept her safe, I said yes that Jesus and I keep her safe. She thanked me for keeping her safe. How do you like that?
I am constantly reminded how blessed I am. Things are just no longer what they seemed. I have decided to put some things on the back burner for the rest of the year and to adjust my priorities. I feel good about it. I feel that I am following Gods promptings and I have a peace knowing we may having a few bumps with learning more about Brandy's disorder that its going to be a really GOOD rest of the year. I am seeing more good and less bad. This is hard to explain. It is simply a new faith walk and a new perspective.
Hoping you are focused on what God want for you today!
Lots of love,
D. J.
s
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
New Faith Walk
Yesterday we received confirmation that our precious little 3 year old has Osteogenisis Imperfecta Type I. Basically it's the mildest form of a disorder that creates weaker bones and such. We praise God that is isn't cancer and that it's not one of the worse types. At the same time my heart weeps - who want their child to have something that is incurable wrong with them. My faith walk has changed to say the least. As I read and study what "can" happen with this disorder I have to remember this is what the world has determined to be true. Gods truth is the ultimate truth. God is bigger than the disorder. God still heals completely. God protects. It seems there is a fine line here though. I do trust God with her health. At the same time I will not be ignorant of it. Because I trust God does not mean that I don't educate myself. It does not mean that I do nothing. If a child is diagnosed with diabetes - do we trust God and not give the child the insulin the body needs? God does heal, sometimes on demand - but most often in HIS timing.
I trust God that I am saved and that I am heaven bound. So do I now do nothing? No, I learn more about his character, more about what He wants me to do with the here and now. God heals and God protects - so do I now do nothing? No, I learn more about the enemy I/we battle and how to effectively battle in the world and I trust God to do all He can in HIS time. I trust God to guide my learning and to put me in touch with the information that I need. part of the armor of God is wisdom - Godly wisdom, Godly wisdom is first and foremost His Word, but God also uses other forms to get the wisdom before us that he intends for us.
The chances of Brandy having this disorder were 1 in 60,000. I believe God guided me to search the Internet for Brandy's issue. I believe he guided me to the site that introduced me to this disorder. I believe God gave me the boldness to go demand that she be tested - you see two pediatricians basically told me I was over reacting. Had I waited on the very educated world (doctors) I know we would be no closer to knowing that Brandy had a medical condition. God prompted, guided and empowered.
In the midst of waiting - almost a year now since I started asking that she be tested - I have had to put my trust and the well being of my daughter in Gods hands. It has been hard knowing I had done all that I could do, and that I could do NOTHING else to help her, other than to trust God. In a way I am still there - I can't heal her, I can't make it all better. Oh how my heart hurts to have to say that and accept it. So now, as my friend said yesterday - we knew there was an enemy and yesterday the enemy was given a name. That's all that has really changed. I still can't make her all better. I can't fix this. I have to put my trust in God, I believe him for protection and healing. I believe He is good and I believe He will do as His Word says and work all things to the good for those that love the Lord. I love the Lord and so does Brandy.
What I can do, I will do. I will also seek God to show me all that I can do and how to accomplish it. My God is Good and My God is Faithful.
To say I am not afraid would be a lie. My daughter, Allison 15, gave me this quote last night: Don't tell God how big your fear is, Tell your fear how big your GOD is! I am surrounded by blessings! In Jesus Name - this OI type I will not affect Brandy and it has to leave her body!
Praying your faith in increasing and becoming more solid every day!
D. J.
I trust God that I am saved and that I am heaven bound. So do I now do nothing? No, I learn more about his character, more about what He wants me to do with the here and now. God heals and God protects - so do I now do nothing? No, I learn more about the enemy I/we battle and how to effectively battle in the world and I trust God to do all He can in HIS time. I trust God to guide my learning and to put me in touch with the information that I need. part of the armor of God is wisdom - Godly wisdom, Godly wisdom is first and foremost His Word, but God also uses other forms to get the wisdom before us that he intends for us.
The chances of Brandy having this disorder were 1 in 60,000. I believe God guided me to search the Internet for Brandy's issue. I believe he guided me to the site that introduced me to this disorder. I believe God gave me the boldness to go demand that she be tested - you see two pediatricians basically told me I was over reacting. Had I waited on the very educated world (doctors) I know we would be no closer to knowing that Brandy had a medical condition. God prompted, guided and empowered.
In the midst of waiting - almost a year now since I started asking that she be tested - I have had to put my trust and the well being of my daughter in Gods hands. It has been hard knowing I had done all that I could do, and that I could do NOTHING else to help her, other than to trust God. In a way I am still there - I can't heal her, I can't make it all better. Oh how my heart hurts to have to say that and accept it. So now, as my friend said yesterday - we knew there was an enemy and yesterday the enemy was given a name. That's all that has really changed. I still can't make her all better. I can't fix this. I have to put my trust in God, I believe him for protection and healing. I believe He is good and I believe He will do as His Word says and work all things to the good for those that love the Lord. I love the Lord and so does Brandy.
What I can do, I will do. I will also seek God to show me all that I can do and how to accomplish it. My God is Good and My God is Faithful.
To say I am not afraid would be a lie. My daughter, Allison 15, gave me this quote last night: Don't tell God how big your fear is, Tell your fear how big your GOD is! I am surrounded by blessings! In Jesus Name - this OI type I will not affect Brandy and it has to leave her body!
Praying your faith in increasing and becoming more solid every day!
D. J.
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