God-Incidence: When God Says No

I'm a big believer in prayer.  No matter how you look at it, there are really only three answers to prayer:  yes, no, or wait.

At various times, I have had all three of those answers.  Today, I want to talk about a time when God said no.

First, let me give you a little background to my story.  Auto insurance providers do not love my family.  Let's just say we've had more than our share of fender benders ... okay, totaled cars.  At one time, we had three children plus my hubby and I on our policy.  Believe me, we were paying the big bucks!

One day, during the time after our flood, we had stayed late working on the house.  Afterwards, my hubby was on his way to my aunt's home where we were living at the time, when he hit a deer.

We all prayed that the insurance company would not total out his van because we needed it so badly with all the remodeling we were doing.  Sure enough, the insurance company did NOT total the van.

Fast forward a few months later.  I was coming home from a board meeting one night when a deer came out of nowhere and connected with the bumper of my van.  I was just sick!  I love my van!  I mean, I really love it.  I do not want to try to find some comparable van.  I want this one.

I asked all my friends and family to please pray that God would keep the insurance company from totaling it.  I put it on the prayer list at church.  I prayed daily, no, more like hourly that God would grant my request.

And yet, God said no.  My van was considered a total loss by the insurance company. I thought, "This is no fair, we prayed for Jim's van to be not totaled and it wasn't.  Why is mine totaled?"

The man who does our body work was sure he could fix it, so we ended up buying our own van back from the insurance company. (Does that make sense to anybody?) We took the money that the insurance company settled with us and had the van fixed.  When all was said and done, we had almost $1,000 profit!

God knew something we didn't know!  Later on, we needed some work done on both our vehicles and the profit from fixing the van paid for it.

This is just another thing that proves what I already know:  don't worry, God's got it all under control.

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him" 2 Chronicles 16:9

It's like He is looking for someone to bless. 

I'm jumping up and down, saying, "Pick me!  Pick Me!"


Would you like to read more stories of God showing up in someone's life?  Then go to Jennifer's blog, Getting Down With Jesus to read "God Bumps and  God-Incidences."

Continue!

Jesus came on a mission.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19

He came to do His Father's work and His goal was to pass the work along on to His followers.

"As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." John 17:18

In fact, He will empower us to do everything He has done - and to do it even greater!

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.  Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." John 14:11-13

God has not called a stop to the mission.  Both He and Jesus are still working.
"... Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17

Now Jesus work is at the right hand of God, interceding for the saints.

"...Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Romans 8:34

It's time for us to take up His mission.  Now is the acceptable year of the Lord.  Now, in 2012.  God wants to continue His ministry through us.

At the church where I work, the custodian (who is Finnish) will sometimes stop to talk.  After a little bit, he will say, "Well, I must continue."  Off he will go down the hall muttering to himself, "Yes I must continue the work."

I thought of this Sunday when Pastor Terry talked about 2012 being the acceptable year of the Lord.  This is the acceptable time to continue the work.  We must be about the Father's business:  preaching, healing, delivering, and setting the captives free.

We must continue.

I'm linking up at Michelle's blog, Graceful

Daybook - January 29, 2012

FOR TODAY, the last Monday in January

 
Outside my window... brilliant sunshine and 54 degrees ... we have not had much of a winter this year!

I am thinking...that January is almost over and I'm still focusing on my "word of the year" - joy!

I am thankful...that my employer gives me a day off for my birthday.  I chose today, so it's another "lazy Monday" for me.  I do love me some 3-day weekends!

In the kitchen...homemade chicken pot pie and salad tonight.

I am wearing...my favorite faded jeans, a comfy paisley top, and thick black socks.  No makeup today!

I am creating...blog posts. I'm linking up with a new group of bloggers this week.

I am going...to our church annual business meeting tonight.

I am wondering...what God has in store for our church this year.

I am reading... "Rebel With A Cause" by Franklin Graham ... still.  I haven't had much reading time lately.

I am hoping...our youngest daughter does well at her new job that she starts today.

I am looking forward to...my next day off!

I am learning joy in the midst of unanswered prayer.

Around the house... peace and quiet ...

I am pondering... my next bible lesson.

A favorite quote for today..."Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Thomas A. Edison

One of my favorite things...sweet tea with lemon.

A few plans for the rest of the week: blogging and more blogging, finishing up re-doing files at work and catching up on my bible reading program.

A peek into my day...

My Day Planner keeps me straight!



The Daybook is a concept created by Peggy Hostetler.  You can link up at her blog, The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Five Minute Friday - Tender

Last Friday was so much fun, I'm doing it again, I'm linking up at Gypsy Mama's blog for 5 Minute Friday, who says:

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

Tender

When I think of the word tender, tenderhearted comes to my mind.  I think we all would love a person who is tenderhearted and compassionate.  You wouldn't be afraid to tell a tenderhearted person when you messed up, because you know they would be forgiving and not hold your mistakes against you.

The opposite of tenderhearted would be a hard-hearted person, someone who would show no mercy or sympathy.  You would approach such a person with fear and anxiety.

A lot of us might look at God in such a way.  We don't have to feel that way!  The bible tells us "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15.  He knows how we feel!

I think God is full of tender mercies because His word says "his compassions are new every morning!" (see Lamentations 3:22-23)  I believe that means He has a never ending supply of mercy.  His heart is ever tender towards us!

STOP

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Friday's Fave Five - January 27, 2012

I'm not one to mess with success.  Last week's FFF format went over so well, I thought I would do it again!

1.  Fave post to write:  My goal as a blogger is to be more prolific this year.  I'm off to a good start with 19 posts alone in the month of January (and 4 days left to go!) I'm branching out into some new areas and having a lot of fun.  My favorite post to write this week was Top 10 Life Stories. I've gotten some comments that people are surprised I can remember that many stories.  I've got plenty more where that came from!  I have a great long-term memory bank.  (Short-term is another story.) Actually, I was torn between my favorite posts, so I have to give honorable mention to my post, God-Bumps:  How God Gave Us What We Wanted.

2. Fave quote: I am actually sharing a quote that I saw a year ago, but I'm still pondering it:

"... what God is calling out to you is to Embrace YOUR Place.  Be faithful where He has called you until He moves you on to another stage.  Allow Him to do a work in you and stop thinking about what you want Him to do through you.”  … Holly Furtick, The Preacher’s Wife blog

3.  Fave photo: Actually I have two. A new french door fridge for my kitchen!  Excitation!

A sweet friend sent flowers for my birthday. (Actually other friends brought chocolate cake, chocolate peanut butter bars, cards and a Willow Tree Angel, but I only have a picture of the flowers.)

4.  Fave meal:  This week's favorite meal was Santa Fe soup that I assembled before I left for work and put in the crock pot.  I love meals like those!  You come home, the house smells delish, and you can have the table set and be ready to eat in minutes. This great recipe comes from no other than our own Lisa Writes!  Click here to see the link.

5.  Fave new blog to visit:  I already gave you a heads up about the preacher's wife blog (just click on her button), but I also want to share a new blog that I've been linking up with - Jennifer's Getting Down With Jesus. Jennifer runs a great blog party called God Bumps and God-Incidences.  Check her out here!

But no one can compare to our fabulous Friday's Favorite Five hostess, Susanne.  You can visit her at Living to Tell the Story.

Top 10 Life Stories

Today's Writer's Workshop Prompt:  You know the stories that are retold a million times at family gatherings? I call them Life Stories that you just never live down. List your Top 10 Life Stories.

I admit it, our family loves to tell the same stories over and over.  It's a sickness, really.

Below is a list of the Top 10 stories told at family gatherings all my life.  (Not all of them were about me!)

10.  My brother's adorable mis-pronunciations.  He could not say my name, Jerralea, so I became "Jelly."  (He later named his daughter Kelli - coincidence?) He also said "bisketti" for spaghetti and "baffume" for bathroom.  However, his most famous mis-pronunciation that is repeated at numerous family functions was the time he saw a snake in a tree and excitedly yelled, "hey, look, there's a sneak!"

9.  Along those same lines, our whole family calls our cousin Arthur, "Arfner" because my brother called him that at a family visit.  It is my understanding that Arthur's roommate got ahold of that story and also called him "Arfner" much to Arthur's dismay.

8. Perhaps my brother inherited his pronunciations from my father.  We once had a dog that I creatively named "Pooh Bear."  Dad could never get it right.  We love to recall the time our preacher asked dad about our new dog.  When queried about the name of the dog, dad said, "Bear Poo."  The look of confusion on Bro. Murphy's face was priceless!

7. Just the other day, my aunt brought up the story of the time I picked her and my uncle up at the airport.  I was a new driver and thrilled with the responsibility of driving to the Tampa International Airport -at rush hour, no less - to greet my relatives and ferry them back to the little town we lived in. I got there just fine and got them and their luggage loaded into my dad's car. (It was a Chrysler Imperial which tells you two things:  this story is old, and that car was huge!) I managed to take the right exit and head home.  Talking excitedly, all of a sudden I noticed that traffic had stopped in front of me. I jammed on the brakes for all I was worth and killed the motor!  I managed to stop and not hit anyone but as I shakingly tried to restart the car, I started to wail, "Oh no, I've locked up the engine and Dad is going to kill me!"  My uncle calmly reached over and put the car in neutral.  I had been trying to start it in drive! I've been trying to live that story down for 40 years now.

6.  Along those same lines of being in fear for my life, the story of my graduation night bears repeating.  My dad and I got into an argument because I felt that as an 18 year old "grown-up," I should be allowed to stay out as long as I wanted. He wanted me home at midnight, but I defiantly waited until 2 a.m. in the morning to come home.  (I really wanted to come home at midnight, but it was the principle of the thing.)  At 1 a.m., the heavens opened up and a flood of rainwater drenched our little half-mile lane that led to the house.  Did I mention the lane was made of dirt?  Yes, I did - I got stuck in the mud UP TO THE FRAME of that car. I walked home in the rain with an umbrella, in a white dress and white heels, sloshing through the mud and crying.  I sure didn't feel very grown-up!  Curiously, Dad never said a word and the next day went and pulled my car out of the mud and delivered it into the yard. In return, I never stayed out past midnight again.

5. My dad loves to tell about the time my cousin Lyle got in trouble.  At the time, he was very small, about 3 or 4.  His dad told him, "Lyle, if you get in that mud puddle, I'm going to spank you."  Dad chortled every time he told this, "You could see the look on Lyle's face that he was going into that mud puddle, no matter what."  Lyle calmly walked over to the puddle and jumped right into the middle of it.  For emphasis, he jumped up and down a couple of times. Lyle is still alive today in spite of the spanking he got!

4.  Actually, Lyle knew no fear.  Another family favorite story is the time he defended my honor.  He was riding his trike, minding his own business, when he noticed a little neighbor boy tormenting me.  Dad says that Lyle carefully parked his tricycle, went over to the bully and calmly punched him in the nose.  Then he went over, got onto his trike and rode off into the sunset.

3.  I can't leave my sister out of this.  When we were small, our father always had little nicknames for us.  My sister was "Buttons" because he said her little blue eyes shone like buttons.  Over time, he shortened her nickname to "Butts."  (I know, it's really sad.) One day, we were all at the shoe store, and Dad called to my sister, "Oh, Butts, those shoes look so cute on you."  The salesman looked so strangely at Dad as I tried to slink out of the shop and pretend I didn't know those people.

2.  My dad liked to tell of one time I embarrassed HIM.  I was in kindergarten and my teacher was a young dark-haired single lady named Miss Bedwell.  One day, dad picked me up from school.  He was early, so he came inside to find me.  I think Miss Bedwell was excited that a parent actually came into her domain and seemed interested in what was going on in the classroom.  She and dad talked and talked for what seemed like forever.  Soon, all the other kids were gone, and it was just the three of us.  I shifted on one foot, then the other.  I started to frown and obviously felt this conversation had went on long enough.  I blurted in the middle of their conversation, "Miss Bedwell, did you know that my dad is married? To my mom!" We went home right after that.

image from Google images

 1. My number one life story that has been told over and over is the horsefly story.  Gee Whiz!  I don't know why that has to come up all the time!  One summer, I was staying at my aunt's and uncle's home. They had a little above-ground swimming pool for their 4 kids.  It was a fairly decent size because I was about 12 at the time and I enjoyed getting in it every day. One day, it was lunch time and everyone had gone in to eat except my cousin, Renda, and I.  We decided it was worth skipping lunch to have the pool to ourselves. We were sitting in the pool chatting, when the biggest bee I had ever seen came and landed on Renda's head.  I yelled, "Don't move, there is a giant bee sitting on your head!"  Of course, that scared her and she opened up her mouth and started screaming! She never moved her body, just screamed. I ran into the house, yelling "Uncle Sammy, come save Renda.  A giant bee is attacking her."  He dropped his fork and ran out of the house to the pool.  When he got there, he yelled disgustedly at Renda, "stop screaming, it's just a horsefly," then turned around and marched back into the house.  He didn't even get it off her!  Renda obediently stopped her screaming, and swatted the horsefly away.  I asked her why she was screaming if the horsefly wasn't hurting her.  She replied that I said it was a bee so she knew it was going to start to hurt any minute.  We were told to come inside for lunch, but we were too scared to come inside until Uncle Sammy left for work!

I got a million more of these stories, but ten is all you get today!

If you'd like to read more, visit Mama Kat's blog here.

Tea Talk - Thursday, January 26, 2012

1. I'm having...coffee with my newest obsession:  Cafe Mocha creamer by CoffeeMate.  Oh it's so good! I'm using my old faithful coffee cup, my SEMO mom cup.

2. I'm feeling....in a good mood.
3. On my mind....thoughts of birthdays and aging.  I had a birthday this week and I find that, as usual, I do not feel any older.  I'm thinking that your spirit (or the you inside) never really ages. I'm also thinking, "what does God have in store for me in this season of my life?"  It will be fun to find out!
4. A verse to encourage us in our quest to eat healthy:

“When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners:
Don't gobble your food,
   don't talk with your mouth full.
And don't stuff yourself;
   bridle your appetite.”

Proverbs 23:1-3 THE MESSAGE

See, the bible is full of good advice for every situation!

Tea Talk is a meme that focuses on the positive.  Ruth at Celebrate Friendship is the hostess.  Visit her and link up today!

God Bumps - How God Gave Us What We Wanted

Last week, I shared how God worked things out for me to have the jobs that I do. My story doesn't end there.  God planned for me to work where I do. I know that without a shadow of a doubt.  Not only am I where I am supposed to be, but God knew that I would need to be here for a future event that would happen.

You know, God's word says that He will order our steps.

"The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives." Psalm 37:23

Not only did God lead me to the job He wanted me to have, He also made provision for my needs in the future.  He knew what I didn't know.  He knew my church would be such a help to me when our house was flooded this past spring.

First of all, when the flood waters were rising, the youth leader brought the youth group THREE times to my house to sandbag.

Later, after the house was flooded, the music director at our church volunteered to help rip out the sheet rock and put it back.  (He just happened to be a building contractor.)

When we realized our kitchen cabinets were in rough shape, a man that goes to church where I work volunteered to redo the kitchen.  (He happened to be an expert in kitchen renovations, especially in building kitchen countertops.) Another person that attends church where I work volunteered to pay for the materials to do our kitchen!

The youth pastor I work with just happened to flip houses before God called him into the ministry.  He was invaluable to us with all the other remodeling that needed to be done.  He knew the right people to call for the roof, the windows, the siding.  He knew the best place to get the carpet. He walked us through the whole process!


Co-incidence?  I think not!  This was definitely an example of a God-Incidence. Seven years ago, God led me to JFBC.  He took delight in planning every detail of my life, even planning the people that would be working with me when we were in crisis.

For years, we had wanted a new house.  However, we never could decide if we should just remodel the one we had, or try to sell it and buy a newer one.  Indecision had us a standstill. When our house went through the flood, there was no more indecision.  It had to be fixed.  No question about it.  And so, we ended up with what we wanted - a new house - and God sent friends and money to help.

With a God like that on my side, there is no need to worry. I have learned to trust Him.  He has the answer before I even ask!

We're sharing God-Incidences today. If you would like to share how God has worked in your life, link up at Jennifer's blog, Getting Down With Jesus.

Daybook for January 23, 2012

FOR TODAY, MONDAY, JANUARY 23

Outside my window. ..gray windy day ...

I am thinking...about the story of Abraham and Sarah and Abimelech.  Abimelech was a king and saw Sarah, realized her beauty, and had her taken into his harem. Apparently, Abraham had feared this would happen and had advised Sarah to say that she was Abraham's sister instead of his wife.  He felt that he would be killed so that Abimelech could have Sarah.

I know it is hard to understand the mindset and the culture of that day, but this just seems so fantastic to me.  I mean, really?  Sarah must have been one incredibly beautiful woman to have this happen to her.

But what really blows my mind is when I realized this:  this event happened AFTER the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him he would have a son in the next year.  That's right, after!   When Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90!

A 90 year old woman in a harem? Unbelievable! More about this later ...

I am thankful...for my bible.  I would hate to be without it.

In the kitchen...I'm taking the easy way out tonight and serving tacos.  I need some new inspiring ways to have quick meals ...

I am wearing...gray slacks and cardi, gray, black and turquoise top. Turquoise necklace and earrings.

I am creating...bloggy ideas.

I am going... to add some new memes to my writing routine.  Lately, I have discovered so many interesting blog parties.  So many opportunities, so little time to post!

I am wondering... if my candidate will still be on the ticket by the time I get to vote in the primary.

I am reading..."Rebel With a Cause" by Franklin Graham

I am hoping...for God to call someone to lead our women's ministry this year.

I am looking forward to... when the we get some more color in the scenery!  Winter's gray tree limbs just depress me.

I am learning that I have to write everything down or I forget ...

Around the house...some cleaning and rearranging because we are having a new refrigerator delivered Thursday.

I am pondering...a situation that I don't know how to answer.  I'm glad I know Who does know the answer!

A favorite quote for today...

"You will invest your life in something, or you will throw it away on nothing."
Haddon Robinson

One of my favorite things...milk chocolate

A few plans for the rest of the week: meetings every night the first part of the week - collapsing the second part!

A peek into my day... here is what my typical taco meal looks like:

Daybooking is a concept created by Peggy Hostetler.  You can link up at her blog, The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Five Minute Friday - Vivid

Today, I'm linking up at Gypsy Mama's blog for 5 Minute Friday, who says:

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

Today's word is "vivid."

When I think of the word vivid, I think of colorful and bright.

Maybe even neon.

If I could be a vivid color, I think I would be a neon fuchsia. I would want to be feminine, so definitely something in the pink family.  I would also want to be noticeable because who ever heard of a vivid color that did not stand out?

And my hubby's favorite color is fuchsia!

Of course, we can't be colors.  I do think, though, a close humanly definition of vivid would be enthusiastic.  So, if I can't be vivid, I can definitely be enthusiastic.  

I want to find the joy in everything and be excited about it all!

I can't stand dullness or apathy. 

So, yes, I will be vividly enthusiastic!  (I think I am on my way. After all, look how many exclamation points I use in my writing!)



Wow, this was a much more difficult exercise in writing than I thought it would be.  I'm afraid my perfectionist tendencies kept me from really writing without editing. I'm going to have to have a timer handy for next week.

Friday's Fave Five-January 20

I can't believe that it is already Friday or that January is more than half over! Has your week went just as quickly? You might want to do what I do:  share my highlights in a fabulous meme called "Friday's Fave Five."  You link up with some great folks at Susanne's blog, Living to Tell the Story and share five (or more) favorites from your week.  It helps to keep the week fresh in your memory, and it helps you end up the week on a positive note.

There are always favorites to find!

This week was all about posting for me.  Some weeks, I have a lot to talk about, others, not so much. Joy was the topic of a couple different posts. My favorite post to write was "Bloom Where You Are Planted." But my bloggy favoritest (I just made that word up) of the week is that I finally figured out how to get email subscriptions going!  Please consider subscribing to my blog.  I wouldn't want anyone to miss a daily dose of my faith-filled quirkiness!  You can subscribe at the box on the right on my blog, right above the followers box. Say, while you're there, would you consider being a follower?  It would give me joy!

Favorite quote of the week:  I already shared in Tea Talk this jewel of a quote that I ran across at Shan's blog, Family Brings Joy.  It's a quote about marriage from Martin Luther!

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave"

Isn't that wonderful? Click on Shan's blog to see some artwork she found to go with that quote.

Favorite photo of the week - around the house:

I'll leave a light on for you!

Favorite meal this week was Friday night out with our friends, Wayne and Glenda.  We went to Marion (or was it Paducah?) and had pizza at our favorite pizzeria and went shopping.  I was excited because I found a pair of shoes at a great price.  I love me some shoes! The evening was topped off by ... ice cream at Dairy Queen.  It doesn't seem to matter what we do or where we go, we always end up with ice cream.

Favorite new blog to visit:  I've been encountering some new blogs lately.  I thought from time to time I would share with you so that you could enjoy them, too.  This week, I visited Layla at The Lettered Cottage and linked up at her "This Little Word of Mine" blog party.  It was lots of fun, and I met a lot of great bloggers. (I haven't made it to all the blogs yet, but I'm hoping to check them all out.)

My word was JOY, in case you hadn't guessed!

And so, that wraps up a week in the life of Jerralea.  Hope you had a wonderful blessed week as well!

Choose Joy

It's Writers Workshop day at Mama Kat's. If you'd like to participate, click here.  I chose this prompt for my post this week:  "What brings you joy in good time (and bad)? Inspired by Oprah."

It's sort of ironic that she would ask this question because I had just decided that "Joy" was my word for 2012.  I wrote a post explaining my joy here. Please go read it.  I'll wait.


Are you back?  Good.  You may ask what more can you say about joy?

alphabetphotography

I just wanted to add that having joy is a conscious decision.  You choose joy when bad times come.  You remember the things you've already been through and you know you will end up a better person when all is said and done.

Yes, sometimes it will be hard.  Who ever said life would be easy?

I feel that one way to always choose joy is to have visual reminders to help me remember my choice.  I'm  planning on having the word joy everywhere!  Right now, I have a Scrabble letter holder on my desk with tiles spelling joy.  This is just the beginning.  By the end of the year, I'm going to see "joy" everywhere I look.

Another important thing to help me feel joyful is to be careful what I think.  If I dwell on hurtful, depressing and discouraging things, of course, it will suck away all my joy! Instead I will focus on lovely things, happy times, humor, beauty and blessings.

Hmmm... that sounds familiar ...


"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippians 4:8

What brings you joy in good times (and bad)? That was the prompt I chose from Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop this week.

For me, it always comes back to the Word of God.  I'll always find joy there!

How about it?  Will you join me on my journey to joy?

Remember, it's a choice.

Tea Talk for Thursday, January 19

1. I'm having...I'm having coffee with a new creamer, Cafe Mocha by CoffeeMate, in my teacup from my first set of Corelle.  I thought it was named Spice of Life but I found out it is Indian Summer. Oops!

2. I'm feeling....in a positive frame of mind.

3. On my mind.... a post about legacy that I want to do soon.  My great grandfather left a spiritual legacy.  I'm wondering how our family is carrying it forward.

4. A quotation to encourage:

" Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave." Martin Luther

I saw this on Shan's blog, Family Brings Joy, and knew I wanted to share it with you.  I never knew Martin Luther said anything about marriage before.  I think he is certainly right on with his thought.  If wives worked at making home an inviting place, and husbands worked on being pleasant to their wives while they were home, I think it would cut down on the divorce rate! 

Ruth at Celebrate Friendship is the hostess of Tea Talk.  Stop by her blog for some tea and encouragement.

Bloom Where You're Planted

Last week, I shared how I found my calling in life with the crowd that frequents God-Incidences and God Bumps at Jennifer's blog.

Today, I am going to share how I remained a church secretary.

The first five years of being a church secretary was the greatest! I mean seriously, I had to make myself go home at the end of the day because there was so much to do and I wanted to be a part of all of it.  The creativity that flowed in that office was just phenomenal. We had some staff that really thought outside the box and every day was just an adventure.

But since I worked with humans, there finally came a time when some problems surfaced.  Deep problems.  You see, our church had put our pastor up on a pedestal.  There is but one place to go after that ...

Three years later, things were a mess! And the sad fact was this:  the church could no longer afford to pay me a full-time wage.  Since my husband was on disability, I knew this meant I must look for a different job.

For eight years now, I had make the church my second home.  I didn't know how I could function anywhere else!

Because of the hurt I had experienced, I decided that I needed to find a job that had benefits.  After all, I had my family to support.  I needed insurance, retirement, sick days; why, it would sure be nice to get a bonus every once in awhile!  I applied everywhere I could think of to apply, starting with all the area hospitals and schools.  I put in application upon application up to a 50 mile radius of where I lived. Believe me, I had never worked so hard to find a job.

All of that activity and no results!  I mean, I only got one interview, at a place that was pretty obvious I wouldn't fit in.  The boss was looking for someone who would be a real team member (read:  lackey who would work as many hours as asked without complaining.)  I had three young daughters and a disabled husband.  I couldn't work 60 hours a week!

Finally, I asked God what He wanted me to do.  Funny, I didn't think of asking that first!

The very evening that I asked God's help, I looked in this little newspaper the county north of us distributed for free.  There I saw an ad for a church secretary.  Those kind of ads are rare. Usually churches just put the word out, and someone that a church member knows usually gets the job.  I didn't think I knew anyone in that county.  Since I was desperate, the very next day, I mailed them my resume. Mail delivery is slow in the city that I worked in, so I mailed it from a little town I passed through on my way to work. 

The next day, the Pastor called me for an interview.  Turns out that someone in that church did know me - their daughter and son-in-law were former members of the church where I was currently employed.  They gave a glowing recommendation and I was hired on the spot.

Pastor told me that the day I saw the help wanted ad was the very last day the ad was going to run.  They had run the ad for 3 weeks and not one person applied.  The pastor had decided he would try something else and pulled the ad, but NOT before I saw it! It was definitely all in God's timing.

Since then, I have learned a lot of things.  I have learned that if you have received a clear call to do something, you don't move until God tells you to move.  I had felt a definite call to be a church secretary.  God had not called me to be anything else, so that is where I needed to stay. I needed to bloom where I was planted; in other words, make the best of my situation stay where I am and be all I can be. Just because it was time to leave my first church didn't mean it was time to leave my ministry altogether.

If you would like to share how God has worked in your life, link up at Jennifer's blog, Getting Down With Jesus.

Joy is the word for 2012

I heard about Layla from The Lettered Cottage issuing a challenge to choose a word to be the theme for your upcoming year.

I chose the word "Joy." I've always loved the word joy; in fact, I named my first baby girl's middle name as Joy.  Joy also means delight, and we were delighted to have her in our lives.

Joy is different than happiness.  Happiness depends on the circumstances, joy is assurance that all will work out despite the circumstances.

"Another way we might put it is that we have happiness BECAUSE of our situation, we have joy IN SPITE OF our situation.

Joy comes as a result of a complete trust in the love of God and a deep desire for the will of God to be done in the world, no matter what the cost might be to ourselves."  [Anne Robertson]

"Happiness is an emotion and temporary; joy is an attitude of the heart." [Brian Cromer]

Quoted by Sean White:  "a good analogy for happiness and joy. It goes like this: Happiness is like a thermometer that changes based the environment around it. Joy is a thermostat that we can learn to set and will effect the enviroment around it."

The reason I picked joy as my word for 2012 was because of lessons learned in 2011.  I learned that even though a flood may come, God will work everything out for the better.  We were flooded in May 2011.  We had to rebuild our home, camping out in my aunt's home in the meantime.  In 3 months time, with a lot of help from God and friends, we moved back home to something nicer and newer than what we had. Best of all, we were totally debt-free!

Of course, we didn't know that at the time.  On May 1st, 2011, at 2 a.m. in the morning, when we had to wade through the water and climb over a levee of sand bags, each of us holding a laundry basket with what earthly possessions we could scrabble together, it sure didn't feel like it would all turn out for good.

God taught us that we can trust Him.  He does care.  You can ask and it will be given to you.

However, the lessons didn't stop there.  We've also had to deal with other situations, such as car wrecks that seemed total losses but became testimonies of God's goodness, and items that needed costly repairs but instead were fixed for few dollars. It just seemed like we were in a season of blessing.  God just took care of our every need.

Of course, not every test and trial in 2011 was about physical needs.  Some were spiritual, some struggles involved people.  The answers to every problem have not come in yet.

In all these things, I am learning not to worry.  God has a plan.  Sometimes it involves pain and loss, but in the end, it will be well.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a plan for us, to give us an expected end. 

I really do have a spirit of joy because I firmly believe I know who is in control, and now I know that I know that I know, I am loved and God really really cares about me. No, I might not get my way every time.  He's not a genie that you can ask for wishes to be granted.  But if you are truly living for Him and obeying His Word, when you are in trouble, you can ask for help.

You can rest easy knowing He has a plan.  He's never caught off guard.  He's never unsure what to do.

So in 2012, my goal is to always choose JOY!

The LORD has done great things for us,
   and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:3 

Daybook-January 16, 2012

FOR TODAY, MONDAY, JANUARY 16

Outside my window... another dreary day.  It's not cold, just a gray day.

I am thinking...of new ways I could blog this year.

I am thankful...for all the Lord has done to help us in 2011.  I should not worry about 2012 because I know how faithful He is to care for me.

In the kitchen...homemade hamburger helper and cornbread.  I need comfort food on a gray day.

I am wearing...gray pants and gray cardi with a peach shirt.  I'm also wearing my new gray shooties, or are they called booties?  Anyway it's a shoe that looks like a boot. I'm also having a good hair day, and just let me say, when your hair looks good, and your feel good in your clothes, it just makes the day go so much better!  So, don't wear something that you don't like!  It's not worth it.

I am creating...new blog posts. 

I am going...crazy .. I just answered the phone by saying, "Praise the Lord!"  They hung up on me ...

I am wondering... what 2012 has in store for us. (Hmm... did I say that already? If so, I'm still wondering!)

I am reading... "Freedom Writers" by Erin Gruwell

I am hoping...for the dreams I have for my children to come to fruition.

I am looking forward to...my next day off!  I got so spoiled during the holidays that now I dream of time off all the time!

I am learning...to lean on Him.

Around the house...piles of books and magazines for me to read. I love to read!

I am pondering...joy.  More about this will be coming ...

A favorite quote for today... Martha Cook said, "In some way or other the Lord will provide; it may not be my way, it may not be thy way, and yet in His own way, the Lord will provide."

One of my favorite things...new shoes.  Okay, retail therapy just works for me.  Don't judge me!

A few plans for the rest of the week: get ready for a board meeting, blogging, reading and possibly some movie-watching.

A peek into my day...

My new shoes ... My daughter calls them "Pilgrim shoes,"  I say they're booties.  What say you?

Daybooking is a concept created by Peggy Hostetler.  It's a fun way to journal!  If you'd like to join in, link up at her blog, " The Simple Woman's Daybook."