Isaiah 54:10

"For even if the mountains walk away and the hills fall to pieces, My love won't walk away from you, my covenant commitment of peace won't fall apart. The God who has compassion on you says so" Isaiah 54:10 The Message

Now THAT'S commitment, y'all!

Yes, there might be earthquakes, but He will still be there. Things might fall to pieces, but He will be there offering you wholeness.

I like the sound of that phrase - covenant commitment of peace. He's committed to peace. When everything seems in an uproar, when voices of defeat are harping at us, He will be speaking words of peace.

Sometimes, He even has us go through a time of exile ... but it's only temporary. He has compassion on us. Compassion means sympathy, but it's more than that. It's also a desire to alleviate the distress.

You see, He has promised, even decreed that for God's servants everything works out for the best.

Everything.

Will you trust Him?

WFMW - 15 Minute Day

Have you ever had a day where you didn't know how you were going to accomplish everything you needed to do? [Umm ... that would be every day for me ...]
When that happens to me, I go into my "just 15 minutes" mode. Now, this is not an original idea. I got it from Marla Cilley, at Flylady.net and adapted it to my crazy busy life.

Say it's a Saturday, I have a really messy house [hard to imagine, I know] and also have to prepare for my Sunday School lesson and write the church bulletin for my second job AND a big pile of laundry needs to be done. How do I do all that without staying up til the wee hours of the night? [Anything past 9:30 p.m. is the wee hours of the night, y'all!]

I get my trusty timer and set it for 15 minutes. I work on my lesson till it goes off. I jump up, set it again, and get my first load of laundry going. If the timer hasn't went off yet, I work in the kitchen till I hear it ding. I set it again and back to my lesson for 15 minutes. And throughout the day I alternate 15 minutes working at the computer with 15 minutes housework. You'll be amazed at how well it works!

You can also have 15 minute days when you want to surf the net, I mean do research, and get your housework done, too. You can adapt this idea for the office, 15 minutes returning calls, 15 minutes filing, or whatever. As Marla says, and I agree, "you can do anything for 15 minutes!"

For more great Works for Me Wednesday ideas, head over to Shannon's blog, Rocks In My Dryer at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/

Oops, I Did It Again

Did you ever start driving to a certain destination and wind up somewhere else without realizing it? No, it's not what you were thinking ... No alcohol or drugs were involved, just a brain that is trained to go to a certain location.

I was supposed to meet some friends at Red Lobster, but instead I found myself on the road to Wal-Mart. Thank the Lord, I discovered my mistake and turned around, arriving at the restaurant just in time to be seated.

What's sad is that this is not an isolated incident ....

I've done this at least four times and each time discovered myself on the way to Wal-Mart, once actually in the parking lot before realizing my error.

The following is what I wrote about this experience after the first couple times it happened to me.

... I observed something interesting about myself. The power of routines over me is phenomenal!

This morning, I had intended to break my routine of turning left at the second stop sign to go to work and instead drive straight ahead to drop something off at the post office. Now, already aware that I am a creature of habit, before taking off I said to myself, "Self, you need to drive to the post office before starting to work. Don’t forget!" (I know myself well!) I even went so far as to place my items that I wanted to mail in my left hand as I drove with my right. That should have ensured success. Wrong! Naturally, I turned left as I always do. However, I am proud to say I only drove 10 feet before realizing I had to turn around and go back.

It seems that God wanted me to learn this lesson again. Before lunch, I had planned to go to the CPA’s office. In fact, I had a certain amount of time to get there before the office closed for their lunch break. As I drove, I was naturally concentrating on getting there quickly and glancing at the clock to see how much longer I had to get there. Yet, because my routine when driving on that road is to go to Wal-Mart … well, you guessed it.

Later, as I was doing my daily walking routine, I was berating myself about the day’s activities. I was wondering if a course of gingko biloba was in order, when a thought (I believe from the Lord) came to me. It’s not that I am so forgetful, it is just that I have trained myself to do certain things at certain times or locations. It is the power of a routine. Have you ever turned out a light as part of your routine and then later couldn’t remember if you had done it? Then when checking you realized you had done it automatically.

What would happen if we made the Lord part of our routines? For example, if we made daily bible reading part of our routine. Would we get so used to doing it that we would automatically reach for our bible and be ready to read before we realized it? Could we schedule prayer at certain times of the day? That is what Daniel did! He prayed three times a day so regularly that all his neighbors knew it! (see Daniel 6:13)

I don’t know about you, but I am going to take a look at my routines and re-work them. I want my routines to reflect God as my number one priority.

No Place Like Home

We're back from Florida, and not one of us is sunburned! A good time was had by all. What did we do? Mostly go shopping, go to the beach, go shopping, play games, go shopping, play games, EAT, go shopping ... you get the idea. I just want to say that each of my daughters and I got new cute shirts. (Remember, I told you that we were all addicted to buying shirts. My husband says that he is not addicted to shirts, but he doesn't have to be -- we all buy shirts for him for every special occasion.)

Another really cool thing that I did was visit my old friends. Every time I go back home, I tell myself that this time I will go by and see people that I knew during my growing-up years. Somehow, between all the shopping, beach trips and game-playing, it never gets done. This year, it was different. I planned ahead by making appointments to visit. I organized our calendar to include time for visiting. (I said to my family, "On Thursday, don't plan anything for me to do. I already have plans. You'll have to do something without me." And they did!) I followed through on my commitment to visiting!

Hmm... that sounds a lot like the old saying, "Plan your work, then work your plan." Now if I'd just apply that to other areas that I've been procrastinating on ...

Anyway, I titled this post, "No Place Like Home," because my intention was to say that no matter how much fun I had, no matter how many cute shirts I bought, or games I won (yeah, Scrabble Queen), it all pales in comparison to coming home.

Since I must always leave you with a devotional thought (*grin*), think about that final home-going. It's going to be even more awesome than sleeping in your own bed and drinking your own sweet tea! Why, I can't even imagine it!

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man,

the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

1 Cor. 2:9

Fun In The Sun

We're off to Florida in a few hours. I'm almost ready. I've been tanning so I don't get burnt when I go to the beach. I have my hair colored so all my old friends won't see the gray! I also got my hair trimmed in a style that I finally love -- only took me years to get it that way. I have all my cute shirts packed. [For those of you just meeting my family, one fact is true about me and my daughters -- we're all addicted to cute shirts! That is where all our "disposable" income goes. What does disposable income mean, anyway? All my income is disposable because it gets used up as soon as it comes in. But, I digress.] Now, if I had just lost those pounds that I wanted to lose, I'd be really excited to have my old friends see me.

Making all these preparations to travel made me think. We've been thinking about this trip for days. Everyone has been deciding what to take, what to pack it in, and most importantly, how can we fit in all our paraphernalia [I love that word!] for five people in one trunk.

Aren't you glad we only have one thing to prepare for to make it to heaven? I'm glad I don't have to pay to get into heaven -- I have trouble saving up money as it is. I'm glad I don't have to be thin to get into heaven since I've already admitted that I'm going to Florida with more of me to love. I don't have to worry about reliable transportation to make it there. Why, I don't even have to be dressed in a cute shirt or have my hair just right! All I need is to be sure that my name is written in the Lamb's book of life. And really, He has made it so easy for me. He has done all the hard work, my work is just to believe.

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

John 6:29

[I told you I could make anything into a devotional!]

Put On Christ

Here's an awesome quote from Elisabeth Elliot's Daily Devotional that I had to share:

"Put on Christ. The act of honest obedience--the fruit of love for Christ--is your part. Making you Christlike through and through is his part."

It's like a light bulb went off in my head: It's His job to make me Christlike! It's not up to me!

That's my problem a lot of times anyway ... thinking that it's all up to me .... am I the only one that gets caught up in that kind of thinking?

Why I Started Blogging

A few weeks back I read in Today's Pentecostal Evangel all about blogs and how they can be a witnessing tool. I decided to check it out. Now, I'm hooked! In fact, I see where it could get out of hand ... The first blog I looked at was Marybeth Whalen's Cheaper by the Half Dozen blog. It was like finding a friend! She very graciously had a blogroll with her favorite blogs listed. I looked at a couple and then bookmarked them. The next day I looked some more and then realized all those blogs had blogrolls ... well, I HAD to look at them, too. That's all it took. I'm a fan. And someday ... when I figure out how to do it ... I will make a blogroll and introduce you to all the great blogs I have found. My home page will have to be a mile long to fit them in, but it will be worth it.

The only thing, this is another area that my perfectionism can mess me up. At first, I just wanted to put in a devotion every few days. (Devotional writing is one of my passions. My kids say I can see a devotion in anything.) I didn't want to post anything until I had it written just so. However, I noticed something. The blogs that I like most to read aren't perfect -- don't get me wrong, they are waaay ahead of me. I just mean ocacsionally there is only a sentence or two, or sometimes just a sharing of everyday events, not unlike a journal. I really enjoy that; in fact, every day I love to see if anything has been added to my favorite blogs. I'm always disappointed if there isn't anything new. (Not to put pressure on anybody or anything ...)

I named this blog Jerri's Journey because I love alliteration, and because the idea that once we become a Christian we start on a journey that ends with us getting to our final destination -- heaven. My intention is to share what I learn along my journey. Maybe Jerri's Journal would have been a better idea. Boy, for a minute, I was thinking "Jerri's Journaling Journey" but don't worry, I was firm with myself and reigned in my obsessive personality.

Ok, I've rambled enough. Why do YOU blog, and what do you hope to accomplish? Please share!

My Girls

Malia - Our Baby Girl

Alexa - Our Middle Child

Elissa - Our First Daughter

I know I'm posting this in June when I should have posted it in May, but one thing you will learn about me is that I'm always a little bit behind - after all, it took us 10 years to have children! Also, someone told me how to add pictures to my blog, so I decided to try it. (I'm technologically challenged.) I thought you'd like to see pictures of our gifts from God. These were taken on Mother's Day 2008. It was an awesome day. My class went well. I made it through my solo without coughing or my voice cracking. (It's only the third time I have ever sang a solo in public.) I didn't have to cook. I got presents. I got my Sunday afternoon nap, AND there was no church that night, so I got to lay on the couch and watch movies. A perfect day.

The best part of all was that I could celebrate Mother's Day because I am a mother. I never forget how I used to feel on Mother's Day when I thought I might never have children. I am always thankful that the Lord blessed me with these children. And I pray for those who are still waiting to be blessed...I never forget them.