Random Dozen - January 28, 2010

1. How good are you at delaying gratification?


In the past? Not so good ... which is why I have credit card debt.  But I am working on this, and once I get debt-free, I'm going to remain that way!


2. Maybe a marshmallow wouldn't be too difficult a temptation for you. What food (or anything else) would be most tempting?


Chocolate.  I often say, why waste calories to have a dessert if it doesn't have chocolate in it?


3. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being saintly) how patient are you?


After years of struggle in this area, I think I'm a 6½ ...


4. Have you ever waited for something in life only to be disappointed upon realization of the goal/object/etc.?


I waited a long time to be a mother, and I really thought I would be "supermom." After I became a mother, I realized how hard the job of being mom is, and how far short I come to the goal!


5. Are you a person who takes shortcuts?


Mostly I struggle with perfectionism, so no, I really don't take too many shortcuts.  I want a thing to be done "perfectly!"


6. Which line is hardest to wait in?


Any line that I am in ... I have a talent for picking the line that looks like it might be the shortest, but in reality it is a line filled with people whose debit cards won't work, whose items have no prices marked on them, or their items are damaged and they want a clerk to go check in the back of the warehouse for a replacement.


7. Did you wait to discover the gender of your unborn child until its birth?


Yes. (Even though, in my heart of hearts, I knew each baby would be a girl, so I was not surprised at their births.)


8. Are you more patient with children or the elderly?


I think it's about equal.


9. Did you ever sneak a peek at a present?


Oh yes, one year at Christmas, my brother and I peeked in all our presents when my parents were out one day.  Later, I realized that we had punished ourselves, there were no surprises to be had Christmas morning! I never peeked again.


10. What is the longest you've ever waited for anything?


Twenty-two years and counting for complete healing for my hubby from bipolar disorder, seventeen years for my daddy to turn his life over to Christ, ten years to become a mother.


11. Who has more patience, you or your significant other?


Definitely, me!


12. Which of the following songs about waiting is your pick for the best? (OK, you may substitute another, if you like.)


A) Anticipation by Carly Simon


B) The Waiting by Tom Petty


C) Right Here Waiting for You by Richard Marx


D) Wait for Me by Rebecca St. James


I've never heard B & C, but I like D best.


If you'd like to read other random answers, visit Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

Random Dozen

1. So I was thinking about how Jon Bon Jovi never seems to age much. His hair is smaller nowadays, but he still manages to look like a boy somehow. And then that made me think of the story of Dorian Gray. Question: If you physically lock in one age for yourself, which would you choose and why?


If I could physically lock in one age for myself, it would be 20 because I think that is when I had the perfect weight for my frame. If I could mentally lock in one age, it would be 30.  I was finally a new mom, I felt confident in myself, I was ready to take on the world.


2. What is the best dish that you cook or bake (your piece de resistance?)


My peanut butter bars.  Here is a link showing how to make them.


3. When you feel blue, what is one strategy you use to help yourself back to normal?


If I feel in a down mood, I remember Philippians 4:8 and think on good, positive thoughts or happier times. There are always blessings you can dwell on if you look hard enough.  Another thing I do to cheer myself is to get one of my tried and true, best-loved books and re-read it.  I can always lose myself in a good book!


4. When was the last time you danced in public?


Umm... never... dancing is not in my genes.


5. Do you consider yourself a realist or dreamer?


Totally a dreamer!


6. As a parent, what is one thing that you have done well?


I have a lot of insecurities as a parent, but I do feel proud of two things:  I always tell my kids I love them, and I taught them to have a love of reading. For many years, we read together before bedtime every night. I think because of that, all three of my girls are good students.  Reading unlocks the key to every area of study.


7. Which is your favorite character on the Andy Griffith show?


Definitely Barney.  I don't really care to watch the reruns after he left the show.


8. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?


Probably a 5.


9. Have you never been mellow? Have you never tried … to find a comfort from in side you? (Sorry, Jorge was singing that song just now, and it just seemed to be perfect timing as I was creating this week’s questions.) REAL question: What is your #1 driving pet peeve?


People who do not use their signals.  It drives me insane!


10. Which color best represents your mood today? Care to elaborate?


Blue because I feel calm.


11. If your spouse were an animal, which would he/she be?


A cuddly teddy bear


12. What activity takes up the bulk of your time on an average day?


Lid! Are you trying to get me to admit that being on the computer takes up most of my time?


If you'd like to participate in the Random Dozen, visit Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

Well Done

..."Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matthew 25:23

She lived her life in a circumference of less than 50 miles.  I doubt that she ever traveled to more than three states. When asked at Christmas or birthdays for ideas for gifts she would say there was nothing she wanted. She was the original frugal housewife.

She was a Christian, a wife, mother, daughter and sister. My mother-in-law, Edith, was totally content to stay in her God-given roles and serve to the best of her ability. Loving her family, she gave her all and did whatever was asked, often going the extra mile.

She attended the same church from birth unto death. (She was loyal like that). She attended every service barring extreme illness.

Yesterday, after a valiant fight, she went on her first long-distance trip.  She went home.  Home to see her heavenly Father.  Home to see her husband, baby son, mother, father, two sisters and a host of friends and relatives.

I think when she stepped through Heaven's gates, she was greeted with the words, "Well done.  You've been faithful, come on in to the joy of the Lord."

____________

For the next few days, my family and I will be celebrating Edith's life.  Please pray for her children.  Edith left behind five children.  Yes, they are all grown, yet no matter how old you are, you don't want to lose your mama!

Words to Stand On - Day Ten

I've been having a lot of fun posting this series. Thanks to all who came by and read and shared their insights.  I love me some feedback!

Today's post contain some of my very favorite scriptures of all.

If you're like me, you probably struggle from time to time with feelings of being unloveable.  After all, we know ourselves better than anyone, and we know how imperfect we are.

A couple of years ago, I ran across this verse and it struck a chord with me:

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, 

       your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

Think about it: when the astronauts went to the moon, did they report seeing the gates of heaven? In fact, has any space travel by man or telescope revealed where heaven is? Heaven is beyond thousands upon thousands of miles into space, perhaps billions upon billions, and God's love fills up all that space.

His love is enough to cover each and every one of us. It's big enough to totally surround us, to soak us through and through,

I've always heard if God tells you something twice, it is of special significance. This concept must be important to God because it is repeated two more times, almost word for word:

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; 

       your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 57:10

For great is your love, higher than the heavens; 

       your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 108:4

Are you feeling loved yet?

Another scripture made a great impact on me:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

Lavished means He went above and beyond the norm, totally pouring it over us, soaking us in His love.

The next time you feel you have tested God's limits by messing up one time too many, remember His love is more than enough.  He has enough love to handle our childishness, our errors, our foolish ways. He's not waiting for you to be perfect, He loves you right now, just as you are.

His love is enough!

Words to Stand On - Day Nine

Do you have an area in your life where you keep messing up? Do you have to say, "Lord, please forgive me, I did it again?"

You didn't want to fail once more. You thought it would never happen another time. Yet, here you are, standing in a pool of self-condemnation.

I have a couple areas that are life-long struggles for me. I am making progress but sometimes I get careless. Life gets busy. I quit paying attention. The result is aggravation with myself for missing the mark.

Of course, the first thing to do is confess to God and TRULY repent. (I'm not talking here about the person who doesn't try to turn from their ways but sins intentionally thinking they can just say, "Oh Lord, forgive me," and everything will be okay. I'm afraid that person may regret his attitude later on.)

Our God is a God of second chances. (or even a thousand chances!)  How do I know?  Look at this scripture:


"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:21-23

In this portion of scripture, the writer feels like life has turned against him and thinks that God led him into a dark place.  Yet, in spite of his feelings, he knows the Lord is merciful with new compassions for us each day.

I totally love the idea of new compassions every morning, a daily new beginning. It's so awesome to think every morning He has new compassion for us and the trials and struggles we face.  He knows how we are made and our weaknesses yet He has great love for us.

Knowing this, then, should give us strength to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and trudge into the battle again.

Words to Stand On - Day Eight

Have you ever been alone at night and became afraid?  I have.  When my husband and I moved away from our small hometown to Terre Haute, Indiana, his job required him to work "graveyard shift" which meant I was alone after midnight.

It's funny how you can hear strange noises when you are by yourself in the middle of the night.  Your imagination can run away with you and before long you're terrified! I had always lived in the country and the city sounds in the dead of night caused me to break into a sweat.

I had to get in control of my emotions or I would end up a basket case.  What to do?

I believe that you can find an answer to any problem in God's word.  Here are three scriptures that comfort me anytime I am afraid.

This first scripture is a simple line that I love to repeat as a mantra whenever I'm afraid:

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee" Psalm 56:3

This scripture is one of the first ones I learned as a child, and I have prayed it many, many times!

Later on in life, I learned that fear comes from the enemy:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" 2 Timothy 1:7

If I was afraid, it's a sure bet that it wasn't God that put that fear in my mind.

However, if I was experiencing a night-long bout of terror, I learned to open my bible and read Psalm 91 over and over until I was calm. Eventually, I would relax, feel safe and fall asleep. (Oh, did I mention I was pregnant during this time of night terrors?)  There was many a morning I would wake up with the bible turned to Psalm 91 and propped up on my stomach.

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High

will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 This I declare about the Lord:

He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;

he is my God, and I trust him.

3 For he will rescue you from every trap

and protect you from deadly disease.

4 He will cover you with his feathers.

He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,

nor the arrow that flies in the day.

6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,

nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

7 Though a thousand fall at your side,

though ten thousand are dying around you,

these evils will not touch you.

8 Just open your eyes,

and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,

if you make the Most High your shelter,

10 no evil will conquer you;

no plague will come near your home.

11 For he will order his angels

to protect you wherever you go.

12 They will hold you up with their hands

so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;

you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.

I will protect those who trust in my name.

15 When they call on me, I will answer;

I will be with them in trouble.

I will rescue and honor them.

16 I will reward them with a long life

and give them my salvation.

This psalm is so comforting!  I love where the psalmist declares, "His faithful promises are your armor and protection". What more do you need?

I learned to trust Him so well by studying this psalm over and over.  Now I stay by myself at night and never think a thing about it.

Do you have times of heart-stopping fear? You may think it sounds simplistic to believe that meditating on scripture can remove fear. I know standing on God's promises work, I've done it many times in my own life. When God makes a promise, you can believe it. He said, "I will protect those who trust in my name."  He always keeps His word, He has never failed yet. 

Words to Stand On - Day Seven

Burdens can weigh on your mind.  It's hard to sleep sometimes when you are going through a trial and you don't have a clue what to do. Every waking hour can be consumed with your dilemma.

I'm actually in the midst of such a struggle.  Here is a scripture the Lord impressed on me,

"Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6 HCSB 


This scripture is power-packed with things to consider!

• It says, don't worry about anything. That's a tall order, but it can be done if you really believe that God loves you and will work everything out for your good.
• Paul goes on to tell the Philippians in everything you pray, good times and bad. It's natural to complain to God when bad times come, do you pray when life is good? Or is He pushed to the back burner?
• Every prayer and petition needs to be made with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the crux of the whole matter. God impressed upon me before I start asking God to change circumstances, I'm to find something to thank Him for in the situation. I don't think it means you thank Him for the bad times, but find something praiseworthy in the struggle.  For example, when Jim became ill (Read Day Four here), I wasn't to pray, "God, thank you Jim is sick," but rather, "Thank you, Lord, for providing a doctor to help us find the right medicine.  Thank you that our church men's group came and put a new roof on our house when Jim was unable to do so. Thank you, someone saw our need and left us a box of groceries."
• Finish up by making your requests known.  In other words, tell God what you want!  Be specific. You are in a relationship. Best friends tell each other their needs. Spouses tell each other their needs. Why not tell your Savior your need?

I took this scripture to heart and found things to thank God for in the midst of the trial I am going through.  No, everything is not solved yet, but I do see progress being made. Most importantly, I feel peace -- just like God said I would!  Look at the next scripture:

"And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 HCSB 


That's my wish for you, my friend.  Find peace by refusing to worry, praying, thanking and asking God for help.  The promise is sure!

Words to Stand On - Day Six

Do you have things in your past tormenting you? Do certain memories play over and over in your mind?

I've been there. When I was newly married, my husband worked a lot of hours which left me plenty of time spent alone. I began to dwell on some of the ugly things I experienced when growing up as a child of an alcoholic.

Make no mistake, I truly loved my dad and had forgiven him for things he had done. I didn't want to have those memories!

I had the good sense to go to the Lord and ask Him to help me with this problem. I sensed God leading me to study two scriptures:

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" 2 Corinthians 10:5

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, Phil. 3:13

Every time my mind started to travel down the road of bad memories, I learned to stop. You can't keep the memory from existing but you can keep from dwelling on it. When a bad thought came, I cast it down saying, "God knows my father repented and now he is a new man. The man who did those things is dead, a new loving father exists in his place."

It really didn't take all that long. By not feeding on those ugly things, the memories eventually went away. Today, I really have to rack my brain if there is something I wanted to remember about those old days.

Paul said in Philippians "this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind." If there is one thing you need to do, it is to let the past go. In Paul's case, the things in his past might have been considered good by some people. He had honor and prestige among his peers. Yet when he became a Christian, he saw the past trying to reach out and grab him holding him back from where he wanted to be in Christ.

Whether you have an ugly past or precious memories, you can't live there. You must go on. Let the past go. When those thoughts come, and they will, banish them immediately. Pray, asking God to help you forget, and then focus on the things ahead of you - abundant life, the joy of knowing Jesus and our ultimate goal, Heaven.

Words to Stand On - Day Five

     

    Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with your life.  What kind of job or vocation should one pursue? In today's world, nearly all of us at one point or another seek to be gainfully employed.  If you have to work, you might as well work doing something you like to do!

     

       Jeremiah 29:11, New Living Translation, says "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

God has a plan for our lives.  A plan that gives you a future. Sometimes, random happenings reveal it! Here's what happened to me:

When it became obvious my husband was having difficulty with job attendance due to his illness, I knew that meant I needed to go back to work.  My children were 3, 5 and 10 years old, and I had to find employment that worked around their pre-school and school schedules.

I began going out daily to apply at various offices.  I wasn't having any success when one day my 10 year old asked, "Mom, if you could have any job you wanted, what would it be."  I realized that I had not really thought about my job search in that perspective. What was it that I really wanted to do?

I told her that I thought I would make a good church secretary.  I loved the church and had practically done almost every job connected with it as a volunteer. Why not get paid for doing something I was already doing?  I determined that tomorrow I would go around to the churches in the area and see if I could apply for a job.

The very next day, I received a phone call from the wife of one of my husband's cousins informing me that their church needed a secretary.  She felt impressed by the Lord to call and let me know about it! 

Long story short, I was hired at her church and for the next 8 years I felt like I had the best job in the world!

But in life, change is inevitable, and circumstances with the church made it clear that soon there would not be enough money to pay my salary.  What to do?  By then, my husband was on permanent disability.

Feeling discouraged, I thought I should apply for a secular job, hopefully one with better benefits.  I started applying at colleges and schools because I thought that environment would be the next best thing to the church. As time went on, I applied everywhere and panicked because no one responded.  I felt humiliated, few businesses even wanted to interview me.

One day, I told the Lord I felt like giving up. Later that evening, I picked up a little paper that covered all the news from the county next to where I lived.  I hadn't looked in their help wanted section because past experience had shown there were only ads for nursing assistants and truck drivers.  That day, however, there was an ad for a church secretary at a Baptist church!

I quickly wrote a letter explaining my previous church secretary experience and mailed it on my way to work.  Usually, when mailing things from the town I worked in meant mail would be delivered two, maybe three, days later. However, I was called for an interview the day after I had mailed my resume. The next day, I was hired.

In three days, God had given me a job just right for me. I found out later the church had been discouraged with the lack of response from that ad and had pulled it from the paper.  I saw it on the last day scheduled for the ad to run.

God had a plan for me, and it ended just as He expected!

Don't be discouraged when it looks as if things are hopeless.  Stand on Jeremiah 29:11 and remember that He does have a plan for your life, and it's a good plan.  He is not worried that it won't work out. He will move heaven and earth to see that it does!

Pray this:  "Father, I yield my life to You.  I ask that You work out your plan for my life. I thank You that it is a good plan and that I have a good future in You. I trust You, and because of you I have hope.  Amen"

Words to Stand On - Day Four

      If you are facing a situation that doesn't seem like it can be resolved, how can you cope? How do you go on, day after day?  Let me share our story ...

        Twenty-two years ago, my husband became ill.  He was diagnosed with major clinical depression. He was on medication for about 6 months.  It was a very confusing time (I had not known anyone with clinical depression before).  Once he was off the medication, I was relieved.  I thought it was over.

     But it was just the beginning ...

     Within a year, he was sick again. This time, we saw a psychiatrist instead of a general practice physician. We learned that the medication he had used before was not given to him in the right way, so he was started on something new.

     A funny thing about my hubby, he's very hard to medicate ... so we started on  a journey of finding the right medications.  Along the way, we encountered many new medications and side effects, hospitalizations, sporadic job attendance, a new diagnosis of bipolar disorder, many different doctors, electroshock therapy and finally ... permanent disability.

        I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phil. 4:13

When Jim first became ill, I thought we could never make it. Phil. 4:13 became a cornerstone scripture to me. I remember sitting on my couch crying “God I just can’t take it.” But when you're all cried out, the only thing to do is to go on.  I'm the kind of person that looks on the positive, so wiping the tears from my eyes, I would concentrate on what scripture helped me the most at that time.  I realized that I COULD make it, not through me or my own strength, but through Christ.

When I had to leave my babies and go back to work, I told myself I could do it because Christ would help me. When I basically had to be a single mother during the years when Jim was the sickest, I would give myself a pep talk and remind myself that I could do it with Jesus helping me.

He never let me down.  He's always been there.  He showed up twice giving me just the right job.  He rode in the car with me all the times my hubby was at a hospital an hour and a half away and kept me awake and sane.  He would impress on people's hearts to help us when we were in need. He helped my husband get his disability on his first time applying (THAT was miraculous, indeed!)  He even had a couple groups of church men come put a roof on our house when we needed one!

I'm telling you, drink in the Word.  Feed on it. It will help you through every kind of trial.  You CAN do anything with Christ helping you. I'm living proof!

Words to Stand On - Day Three

    

    I believe that you can find an answer in God's word for any problem you have. I'd already experienced it when dealing with alcoholism in the family and infertility. Now I was going to learn that God also cared about meeting physical needs.

    When our first child was about 10 months old, my husband became unemployed.  At the time we were living in Indiana, about 4 hours away from our family.  Since we still owned a house back in our hometown, we decided to move back.

    The fact my husband was unemployed, and I wanted to continue to be a stay at home mom, meant we had a real genuine need. We needed the Lord to provide a job for my husband - a good job with benefits. 

  

Previously, I had heard a testimony by Dodie Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.  Dodie had cancer. She stood on several healing scriptures that she read continually and claimed them as hers. It was said that she "took those scriptures like medicine."  She went over them several times a day, just like she would have taken prescription medications several times a day. (You can download a list of those scriptures by clicking here.) Her diagnosis was in 1981, yet she is alive and well today! 

I could not get her story out of my mind.  I remembered that the Bible tells me that God is no respecter of persons.  He loves me and my husband just as much as He loves Dodie. I felt that He not only cared about our physical needs, He cared about spiritual and material needs as well.  

So, feeling inspired, I got out a clipboard and copied down every scripture I could find regarding God meeting our material needs. The major verse I stood on was:

     And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19

    Always read scripture in context.  If you read the whole book of Philippians, you'll find the Philippians were givers and had helped the Jewish Christians that were in need.  They gave, and then received a promise that all their needs would be met. I felt I could also stand on this scripture because my husband and I were learning to be givers, also.

  

    As soon as we moved back home, we left our baby with grandma and headed to town so that my husband could put in applications.   After talking it over, he decided to apply at a business that sold diesel parts since he had prior experience selling parts.  The business had a good reputation, reportedly paying good wages and benefits. We figured we might as well start first with putting in an application where Jim really wanted to work.

    Keep in mind, there was no ad for help wanted at this establishment. Jim just walked in asking for an application.  Meanwhile I sat in the car praying and reading over and over my scriptures.

    The longer I prayed, the more encouraged I became.  What was taking him so long?  There must be a job opening because it doesn't take that long to say no. When he finally came out to the car, he was grinning. "I start Monday!"  

    "Fantastic," I cried, "so they were looking for someone?" 

    "Nope, but when they heard I had International (truck parts) experience, the boss sat down and talked to me.  It's not every day a guy walks in knowing about International. The boss just decided to make a job for me!"

    Our God is so awesome!  He WILL meet your needs, even if He has to make someone create a job just for you!

Words to Stand On, Day Two

    



What do you do when you have a desire that goes unfulfilled? Suppose you have prayed for something for years, yet God does not seem to answer your prayer?

My husband and I married when we were 20 years old. (Looking back, it's plain to see how young we were!) In the rural, family-oriented area that we lived in, the main topic of conversation centered around having babies. Everywhere we went, people would ask us our plans about starting our family. Foolishly, I would say, "It doesn't matter to me if we don't have any kids until we've been married ten years!"

Sadly, I didn't know about the scripture that declares "you shall have what you say." (See Mark 11:23) Televangelist Joyce Meyer teaches: "words are containers for power." It's galling to realize I spoke infertility into my own life.

It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind. After 3 years of marriage, since my husband worked a lot of second and third shifts, I thought a baby would be a lot of company.

Yet nothing happened. Years went by. A desire for a baby became an obsession.

As time went by, infertility became harder. Every baby shower became torture and excuses not to go came easily. Tears flowed during each Mother's Day and Father's Day service. Especially hard were the days our younger brothers' wives announced their pregnancies.

Oh, the advice we received! We were told over and over again to just not think about it and then it would happen. Easier said than done! We were told weird stuff to do to get pregnant. (I can't mention these things here, this is a family blog!)

Over and over we went to the altar and begged God for a baby. Yet it seemed Heaven was silent.

About eight years into our marriage, we moved away from home. Living in a new town where we barely knew anyone helped mature us. We found a church and became involved. This was a time of great spiritual growth for me. I began to study this scripture:

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

This became the scripture I stood on when praying about fertility issues in my life. The big question became how does a person delight themselves in the Lord? It became clear that developing a relationship with the Lord was key.

Relationships need nurturing. Spending time in the Word, finding areas of service, prayer and praise are vital in delighting in the Lord!

A time came when our church was in revival. The revival ended up lasting 9 weeks. My husband and I attended as much as we could.

One night, the evangelist asked for those who wanted to have children to come up for prayer. We were one of three couples struggling with infertility who responded. Within a month, all three couples became pregnant!

I believe that God saw we genuinely loved Him and wanted to serve Him, so in His timing, He gave us the desire of our heart. I also believe that if you are truly loving God with all your heart, if your desire is not something that God wants you to have, He will change your desire to something better.

In the tenth year of our marriage, we gave birth to our beautiful first daughter, Elissa Joy. We felt her name should be something special that had real meaning. Elissa is the French form of the name Elisabeth which means "consecrated to God." Her middle name, Joy, also means "Delight!"

Since then, we've birthed two more daughters. God truly gave us the desire of our heart.

Is there a longing in your heart? Maybe the best thing you could do for yourself is get as close to Him as possible. Finding joy being with Him makes all the difference.

Friday's Fave Five - January 1, 2010

It's a new year and a new opportunity to participate in Friday's Fave Five!

1.  I'm totally in love with the idea of new beginnings, so, of course, January 1st is my favorite day of the year!  Who can tell what exciting events the new year may bring?

2. I've shared before my love of dishes.  Here are my favorite Christmas dishes, glasses and placemats. I use these all through the month of December.

3.  I love the traditions of Christmas.  Our family Christmas always includes a reading of the Christmas story by my husband.

4. Another favorite of mine is decorating the table with runners, candles, and some sort of centerpiece.  Here is my December decoration.  (Note that I'm using the poinsettia I was given for my 5th ministry assistant anniversary and the yard sale candlesticks I bought and my hubby spray painted this summer.)

5. Today is an occasion for another favorite:  getting together with friends.  One of my favorite groups of people, my Encouragers Sunday School class, will be gathering tonight to celebrate the new year, eat pizza, and play Apples to Apples with each other. I can't wait!

6. Wait a minute! How can I forget one more favorite -- this meme and all the participants!  This group makes blogging enjoyable.

How was your week?  Would you like to share?  Link up over at Susanne's Living to Tell the Story.

Words to Stand On - Day One

I'm a big believer on standing on the Word.  I think there is a scripture to stand on for every situation in your life.  Please join me for the next 10 days, I'm going to be sharing the scriptures God gave me through each time of testing that I have had in my life.


My goal is to encourage you to turn to the Word anytime you need direction, guidance, or just need to know that God loves you.  I am so passionate about Christians studying the Word! I do not understand how some  never open the Bible and then complain about their church, saying "I just don't get fed there." Quit being a baby Christian and learn to feed yourself! (Forgive me, I just had to vent for a second ...)


I recommend that you commit to memory the scriptures I will be sharing with you.  I find the easiest way to do that is to copy the scripture on index cards and then post them in places you are sure to look at every day, like the refrigerator, the mirror, and on your computer monitor! Write it down, look at it, and also read it aloud to yourself. No matter whether you are a visual, kinesthetic or audio learner, this method will cover them all.


The first scripture I want to focus on is Phillipians 4:8 -


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


I grew up with an alcoholic father.  I was very blessed in that I had a mother who was a Christian, I was raised in church, and I knew that I was loved. Even though my father drank, he did not believe in drinking at home. He would just disappear for days at a time. Yet, I saw and heard some ugly things.  I was disappointed and let down many times. Often Daddy would promise to do things with me and then never show up.


But God gave me coping skills.  First of all, I was blessed in that my natural disposition was to be upbeat and positive.  It did not take a lot to make me happy. I could get excited about the smallest things.


I also was given the gift of imagination.  If life was terrible at the moment, I just got busy and imagined everything turning out alright. As I grew older, I realized this was really just dwelling on the positive.


When I became a Missionette (a girls' club in the Assemblies of God church), I learned their motto, which was Philippians 4:8. It encouraged me to think about good things, just like I had really been doing all along!


Years have passed now. My daddy turned his life over to the Lord and gave up drinking.  He is now in heaven.  But the lesson I learned as a child have been valuable to me.  Think about good things!  There are lots of good things around you if you just look for them. Fill your mind with uplifting thoughts.


When satan tries to get me to worry and think about all the bad things that have happened, I remember Phil. 4:8 and instead try to think of all the blessings I have had. When the enemy tries to make my future look bleak, I get busy and think of how God can work everything to my good. (See Romans 8:28) It's all in your mind, and how you think can make all the difference.


Remember, think on good things!