Seasons of Opportunities

  BEAUTY Quite a few years ago, I came across a blog post about choosing a word for the year. A word to set as a goal, something to focus on and strive towards. A word that God puts on your heart to bloom and grow in your life.  I tried it, and I liked it! So for several years now, towards the end of the year, I begin thinking and praying about the word God wants for me to focus on during the course of the new year.  This year my word is  BEAUTY I've been reading quite a few books on bringing life and beauty to my home, my family, my own life, and the lives of those around me. I also know God created a world of beauty - perfect in the Garden of Eden, now flawed, but still beautiful.  He also desires to create an inner beauty  in us women  that comes from knowing Him and becoming more like His Son Jesus through cultivating a personal relationship with Him. So, my goal for the year: To create an environment of beauty in my home and ...

Soo.... It's mid-January... And for some reason I am still reeling from the holidays, the accident my hubby had almost 5 months ago, and life in general. I am just waiting for life to STOP! so I can catch up, of course, and then it can move on. Which obviously isn't going to happen... so every day I feel like I am just getting a little further and further behind. Then for a few minutes or a day, I feel like there might just be a little light at the end of the tunnel, til something else gets thrown in the mix... Needless to say, my blog has kind of gotten put on the back burner for a while, because family, kids, and other things have to take priority. However, I am still reading when I can, and hopefully will have my book reviews caught up soon. Every year, I choose a word for the year. I don't know if you guys do that or not. I read about it a long time ago on a blog and was fascinated with the idea. This year, I kept throwing around words like MARGIN, ORDER, SIMPLIFY...

Ahhhh Summer!! This summer has felt like a whirlwind - rushing in and twirling a bit and rushing out.  We have had a wonderful time, full of adventure, time with family and friends, traveling and much more. I thought, on our 7000 mile cross country trip I was going to get all kinds of books read and reviews written and have time to tell my tale. NOT!

Today is a day we celebrate those who gave their lives for our country. I have several relatives who were in the military. A couple years ago, I was blessed with the chance to go to Arlington Cemetery. It is awe-inspiring to see the endless white, and realize all those people paid the price for our freedom. We enjoy prosperity, freedom, and so much more because of the dedication of these brave men and women! I just want to say THANKS!! Take a minute today to be thankful for the gift of life, freedom, and a wonderful country. Jesus also gave his life for us, so we could be free, from the burden of our sin, and have the opportunity to live with him for eternity. He paid the price for our freedom.

Today the sun came out, and I am thankful... I Stood there for a while this morning, just basking in the sunshine shining in my kitchen window, soaking it up and thanking the Lord for the break in the rain, even if just for a day, a few hours, as it is already raining again. It felt good! It has been a bit of a winter for us... And I have not managed very well at all to stay on top of things on the blog as I would have liked. I am running so far behind on my reviews it is embarrassing.  Not as much on the ones that have specific deadlines, but those that don't seem to end up on the back burner of all the other things that became the urgent.

A new year... Time to reflect...  Time to plan... Time to move forward... For my One Word this year, I chose  LOVE I had considered so many choices of words, but it kept coming back to this... No matter what I do... if not done in the context of LOVE... it is pointless and worth nothing. (I Cor. 13)

As I am working towards my New Year's Goal of  keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest and a holy day to the Lord and how to apply that to my own life, I wanted to share these verses with you.  Like I mentioned in a past  post  at the beginning of the year, I don't believe we are required to keep the Sabbath in the same manner as the Old Testament believers did. We live in the age of grace, and yet, we still need a day to focus on God, to rest from our work, and regroup.  Here is what my Sundays have looked like in the past: We go to church in the morning We try to avoid use of the computer, video games, TV and social media before church because I want us to focus on getting ready and keep our minds tuned into the fact that we are supposed to be in worship mode. Often we have guests, mostly kids that come over to play with my kids, occasionally someone who accompanies me to church, or other visitors. I usually cook, either in morning before church to p...

I was reading today about Ruth... The part of her story where she gleans in Boaz's field and then lies down at his feet at harvest to ask him to be her kinsman redeemer. From there I went to Joshua, to read Rahab's story because she was Boaz's mother. Did Boaz love Ruth because she was a foreigner like his mother, whose faith played a huge part in her life? Do men marry women like their mothers, the same as daughters supposedly marry men like their fathers? One of my favorite books I have read over the years was Francine River's Lineage of Grace .  .She writes about five unlikely women who were chosen by God to be in lineage of Christ. Two of them include Rahab and Ruth. Both foreigners in the land of Israel, one a harlot. What an awesome testimony of God's grace, love, forgiveness and mercy. He can use any of us, if we are repentant of our sins and willing to surrender our all to Him. Moving along on my rabbit trail, from Joshua I went to Judges, just to put...

CONFIDENCE Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord   God , the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength : and ye would not.

Every month this year I have a new verse to go along with my word for the year, to keep me focused on living  Intentionally . January's was Ephesians 5:15-16. My February verse : I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.   So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. Philippians 4:12-16 The Message How was your week?? I loved the weather this week! It was like a breath of fresh air, warmth, and sunshine (most days any...

My One WORD for 2016 is INTENTIONAL For a while now, God has been speaking to me about how I am living my life. Kind of like the waters of my creek. Just flowing along, bouncing off of this and that, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, but moving without much purpose, rhyme or reason, just at whatever speed the current conditions make it flow.

During the past few weeks, the Holy Spirit has really been convicting me concerning my prayer life. Oh... I pray! But sometimes it seems like carving out time for prayer is difficult. It is easier to " pray without ceasing " and that is Biblical right? But so is going into your closet to pray.... Over the years I have tried multiple tools, prayer journals, read books, etc... to help me get on track with my prayer life. And I guess, its been kind of like a roller coaster with ups and downs, twists and turns, depending on the season I am in. But in today's world, can a person survive without a constant and steady prayer life? It is easy to get depressed, discouraged, and at times even losing hope. There are battles everywhere - in the home, out of the home, and all around. I want to be a Woman of Prayer! I want to approach the Throne of God boldly, and ask knowing I will receive what God has for me. There may be so many blessings, I am forfeiting simply because I am no...

Realism  vs  Optimism and Pessimism What do you consider yourself? Are you an Optimist? Or, maybe you lean more towards being a Pessimist (life often stinks right?) Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? As I was reading in Romans today, a passage of scripture stood out to me.   Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations,  just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead —since he was about a hundred years old —and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.   20  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened  in his faith and gave glory to God , 21  being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Romans 4:18-21 The first thing I thought of was, Abraham was a Realist!

A few years ago, I found a blog that encouraged readers to choose one word to define their upcoming year. I took the challenge and for the last few years have chosen a word each year to try to learn about and live by. Several of my words have included Meekness, Focus, and Intercession or Prayer. Can you guess this years??

I can hardly believe this year is over!  But I am also excited about beginning a new year.  I haven't set many goals for the new year other than just walking closer with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as well as selecting my ONE WORD for the year!   (hopefully an upcoming post on that one) As far as my blogging goes... It needs a lot of work, I know.  Because in spite of the fact that I enjoy it immensely, I have to remind myself that I CANNOT always do it all , as I would like to think, and it is mostly just a hobby.  I need to work on prioritizing better as I often tend to over commit - although not on purpose. My eyes are just sometimes bigger than my reading time and ability as it has been of late. I have gotten so far behind on my reviews, I am embarrassed.  I will definitely be working on getting that back on track in the new year, so if yours is the book, I have yet to review - please forgive me. The past couple of months, o...

Well... The HOLIDAYS are in full swing... And if you are a bit like me, so is the holiday crunch! Of course, there are some out there - unlike myself - who may have it all together this time a year. (smile) My hats off to you! Between extra seamstress jobs (for which I am extremely thankful), Thanksgiving festivities, family in town, a Christmas parade, practice, program, and all the loose ends to tie up.... Life is getting ahead of me. Hence, I am a bit off kilter with my reading and blog posting. Our Parade float was Grand Prize Winner As much as I enjoy blogging, reading, and connecting with those of you who are book lovers like me, my blog takes second place to "real life", family, and other obligations; because alas, it is mostly a well-loved hobby. So, I want to say THANKS for reading,                            Thanks for understanding               ...

Not very often do I blog about much other than reviews on the books I am reading... courtesy of Hobbies on a Budget But over the course of this past year or so God has been really working in my heart. And I have been amazed at how God has providentially provided books that incorporated the same ideas - although the books themselves were in no way related to each other and didn't even come from the same publishers or authors, they often spoke the same message to my heart...

This morning I was reading a book I am probably already supposed to have reviewed. It spoke to me about some things in my life I need to be working on and I wrote a prayer to the LORD.  Asking Him once again to help me get lost in HIM. That when people see me, they won't see my "good deeds", my accomplishments, my "talents", instead they will see Jesus.  How that ties in exactly with what I write next, maybe won't be as obvious to you, but it made sense to me. smile I turned on the computer to check emails. He sent me two. The  First one from Kathi Lipps Blog -  What Our Kids Want More Than a Pinterest Perfect Birthday Cake God spoke to me: The words that stood out - " Present over perfect." I just want to be present , enjoy each day to the fullest with my children, my family, my friends, and serving the Lord. The Second :  For Whose Glory  on Allume by Kayse In this post she talks about pride and distraction. Once again, both of the...

Have you seen it yet?   They say its good!

This is a MUST READ for the New Year! This book covers the most amazing love story any author has ever written. And the best thing is, no matter who you are, this book is for you.  You will never read another one like it.  Are you looking for romance, love, adventure, drama, excitement, horror, history or science? You will find all in here. It's a classic and has stood the test of time. There is something for everyone. You can read this book many times over, there will always be something new. It works for any age, any time of life, any mood your in. So whether you have read it before, or never tried it. Picked it up, and put it down... This one should be at the TOP of your 2013 list! Get started! I am planning on reading my Bible through from cover to cover.  I have a chronological Bible and I have always wanted to read the Bible in order, so I am starting today. It may take me all year? Who knows... but I am setting it as a goal. What are some of ...