Can I Get an AMEN??

God is STILL, STILL faithful!!!

So, since I last posted, we had to be out of our home by March 18th.  Two weeks before, Plan A fell through.  Four DAYS before, Plan B fell through.  TWO DAYS before we had to be out, God provided a larger place than we had expected, for less than 1/3 of Plan A's cost (three times the size), and $25 less than Plan B (twice the size).
God has blessed us and blessed us again.  On top of that, now that Doug is cleared for work, he has a temporary job until the end of April, and my job ends at the beginning of May.  I have no earthly clue where God will put us after that.  My sister's lease is up in the beginning of May, so it is possible that she will be able to take over our lease if we need to move somewhere else for what God had for us.  However, God may have us here for the whole of the lease (Oh, which He gave us a 6 month lease with no extra penalties, in stead of a whole year's lease). There is someone who may be willing to take our muttly for us, since we've had her for 3 years and are not supposed to have her here at the new place.
So, now things are pretty well settled in, and to do "Exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think..." God put us near the park, and the library, and my parent's home.  I am able to walk there on the days I have no vehicle while Doug is at work. God has also provided a way every Monday and Wednesday so far for me to get to work while Doug is also on his way in the opposite direction!!!!  He is SO good to me!!!!!!
And when I think about the fact that he has taken care of so many things, What a FOOL I would be to complain about the little things that I could be prone to complain about.  God is SO GOOD to me!!!

For the Love of All Things Holy

Ever heard the statement used in a derogatory manner?  Or as a frustrated cry when things don't go correctly?

Well, this week, it has taken on a whole new meaning for me.  We are having revival meetings with Evangelist Mike Peletier and his family this week.  The messages have been a wonderful blessing to me.  I've interpreted for the deaf twice, and I had nursery last night, but God has done a pretty amazing thing in my life over the last few days.  That's sure.

Tuesday night's message was about making God "My GOD".   He started with Moses, in Exodus 3 when God calls him.  In there, God says, "I am the God of thy father Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob..." However, He never says "The God of Moses" until later when Moses had CHOSEN God for himself.  Bro Mike then went back into Genesis, and showed the same true at the calling of Abraham, the calling of Isaac, and the calling of Jacob.  He talked of how God will never be your personal God until you chose him for yourself.  And that you can choose him in salvation, but there's so much more to it.  He then turned over to Psalm 18:1-3, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."


He then continued on with an explanation about a time in college, that that became more than just another verse to him.  He was looking for a particular need to be met, and God had answered him with these verses....  He also said that in his Bible, all the personal pronouns were circled, showing emphasis... here, read it again: 
 Psalm 18:1-3, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."


It was just a good reminder for me, that he has to be MY God.  I have done that many times, but as of Wednesday, I needed that reminder I had gotten on Monday.  Then tonight, Thursday, Bro Mike preached about things that hinder a Christians life.  They were usual things, but what he said ABOUT them was exactly what I needed tonight, because of Wednesday.


Here's what he was talking about.... Sins that hinder....  Bitterness, Worry, and Hypocrisy.  


Bitterness:  when that person's name enter's your mind, there is an immediate feeling of dislike, almost like a bad taste you remember when you remember a certain food.  


Worry:  It tells your children that God is dead, or that he is a lie..... BECAUSE, if you really believed the things you claimed to believe when you were at church, then you wouldn't worry.... "your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of these things".  


Hypocrisy: can be the outward manifestation of saying one thing and doing another, but it starts out as an attitude of thinking that you're better than someone else.  That didn't convict me until he said, "have you ever looked at someone and thought, ' they think they're too good for everyone', then you are thinking you're better than they are because you're looking down on them for looking down on others.  You are now the hypocrite."  WOW!  Needed to hear that.


So, the love of things holy?  Holiness has taken a whole new meaning for me.  I may not be out in the world doing "all that bad stuff" but I am doing bad.... all by myself......... and that could keep someone else from stopping the "bad stuff" to follow the Saviour I claim to believe so strongly in.  Holiness is keeping my focus on my Heavenly Father, and allowing him to take care of others problems, and take care of me and my family and our needs.


Hope that makes some sense.  I wanted to write it down somewhere before I lost it from mind and couldn't go back and recover it.

The Good Wife

Things that happen are not in our control, but our attitude always is in our control.

Dad Clark went to live with the Lord this last Tuesday,  June 8th, at 5:20 in the morning.   Time since then has both dragged and stalled, if that makes any sense at all. 
It seems like yesterday, I was watching him talk to Momma.  He looked at her, and said, "It's been a good life, right Bridgie?" (See, Dad always called Mom "Bridgette", even though her real name was Dolores, because he said she was prettier than Bridgette Bordeaux, a pin-up girl of their generation).   Mom got all choked up and said, "Yup, it's been pretty good."  He says, "We haven't been too rich, but it was a good life."  She says, "It was a great life!"  I saw tears in his eyes.  This man who never even said "I love you."  This man who for all the time I have known him, has told me 4-5 times that he loved me... two of those were this last week or so.  This man who shocked his son into realizing how close to death he was by saying "I love you." 
He was an amazing man.  Watching my husband grieve for his dad has wrenched my heart in half.  Trying to be there if he needs me, but stay out of his way when he doesn't ... this has been my hardest challenge.  It has been hard to stay close without smothering him.  To give him his space while letting him know I was there if he needed.
Among all this happening, our dryer has also gone out.  It has been a good dryer, given to us 9 years ago for our wedding.  So, since we have no extra money for a dryer right now, and since we have other things that need the money we do have, I went out and invested $25 into a clothesline.  I just had to buy the eye screws and the rope and clothespins, since God made our trees close enough together that we can string lines between them.
And my attitude?  I think God has given me more grace over the last two weeks than I have had in all my life before.  My theme verse has to be either, "My grace is sufficient for thee" from I Corinthians 12, or "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him" from Psalm 37.  God has worked so much out, and I'm resting.  Not just about this, but about so much more.  It has been an amazing thing to watch God do the work while I am waiting. 
God has been good, life has been bittersweet, and the future is as promising as my attitude of the moment.  Praying, and waiting, and hoping and watching, and longing for what God has in store.  Ready to look at the future and see it now.

Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing

Have you ever uttered those words??  I have, a lot.  With a 6 year old that's going on 45, I have to constantly tell him I'm smarter than he is.

Well, here lately, Doug and I have been on the receiving end of those words.  Since Doug officially lost his job last month, then lost his secondary job today, we are learning in a whole new way how to trust our Heavenly Father, and that He really does know what He's doing.

God has met every need, right on time, in a more amazing way than we could imagine.  As Doug and I continue to trust our Heavenly Father to provide and lead, it's a comfort to know that He really does know what He's doing!!

"For I know the thoughts that I think of you, saith the Lord.  Thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to bring you to an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

Does Life ever Surprise You??

Does life ever surprise you??  I don't mean just the complex stuff, but simple, somewhat stupid things as well??  It certainly surprises me.

What am I talking about?  I know that if you're reading, you're thinking that.  But, really, has something occured to you that was such a simple concept, it amazed you that thinking about it amazed you??

Here's my simple, somewhat stupid discovery as of late.  I am amazed that when you go seeking for answers, you find them.  I know. Blonde, but true.  It amazes me that for 30 years of my life, I went along without wondering what really made me tick.  Here in the last two years of my life, I've learned more about myself than I learned in all the 30 previous years combined.  And all I did was start to look for the answers.

For instance, my marriage is one of the top 20% of the marriages in the world.  It has been a wonderful since the beginning, almost 9 years.  But, I knew I could do some things to make it better.  So I went looking for information.  I found Created to be His Helpmeet, which helped me to realize that JOY was the thing that draws your husband to you.  After that, I found Just for Women, which helped me to learn about how guys think, and how to understand my husband better.  After that, I found Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood, which taught me the two most important things about my husband and his thoughts (first, that he wants to be accepted, and second that he wants to be admired).  Ok, I know, PATHETIC!!  Things I knew over here in my brain, but they'd never moved over there to connect with my thoughts and actions toward my husband.

Second thing I've learned:  I've always been an insecure person, and also, I have a tendency to be negative.  Found out a couple days ago through an overheard conversation that the two things are linked.  Made sense as soon as I heard it.  Everyone I know that is negative is also insecure.  And vice versa. 

Third thing I've learned:  God is good.  He provides in ways beyond my understanding.  He brings things into our lives when nothing else will do.  He nurtures, cares for, and prunes us as an award winning gardener would do with their prized plants. And if we step back and allow Him to work, he does a work in those around us that is far better than we could do ourselves (and He changes us, so that we fit them better, too).  God has amazed me in all that he has brought about in our lives to draw us closer to HIM.

And lastly, I've learned how important I am to God.  Of all the katrillion things He has created, He chose mankind to love and send His Son to die for.  Of all the massive stars, and moons, and comets, and space rocks, and galaxies God made, He chose to breathe life into one little insignificant human body.  He chose to let that human have a free will, even when He for-knew that that human would sin.  Of all the babies that have been born, or miscarried, or born with handicaps, He chose to make me born perfectly healthy.  Of all the families on earth that He could put me in, He put me into the one that would take me to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night to hear about Him.  Of all the Principals in the world, He gave me one who would love me, even when I was in the wrong, and would show me what the love of God is like.  Of all the men in the world, He gave me one that I could best complete without feeling too stretched, or too limited.  Of all the children in the world, He gave me three little wonderful men to raise to be HIS servants.  When I think through all the things He lined up, just so my life could take place.... I stand AMAZED.

So, I ask you again, Does life ever surprise you?  Do you ever stop to think just HOW GOOD God is to you?  It certainly surprises me.