Happy Halloween!

Thought it would be fun to reminisce today and visit past halloweens...

 

First Opportunity to React to this Priviledge

It was Chuck's first time to vote tonight.

Charles, Chuck and I exercised our right to go vote at early voting this evening.

Something we have taught the kids since they were very young, was to not take this privilege lightly. We encourage them to study the candidates and make wise selections. 

A suggestion if you can't sleep

if you can not sleep, my suggestion is to start praying for whoever the Lord lays on your heart.  It is sometimes people you haven't thought of in years.  Last nights prayers were for those facing Hurricane Sandy...y'all must have need many prayers because my sleep was fitfull.

It's What's for Dinner

Snacks for Dinner today

Appetizer Tray and a Variety of Sushi

Praying for the east coast as this big storm approaches -

 protection for our loved ones on that side of the country.

Hurricane Sandy is already making an impact.

TV Shows

I thought it might be fun to post the tv shows we currently like to watch...if I keep up the blog over the years - this might be a fun thing to do each year to see what we like as time passes.

Favorites
Once Upon a Time
The Mentalist
NCIS
Burn Notice
Major Crimes
Justified
CSI
CSI- Miami
Bones
Football
The Family Guy
Walking Dead

Occasionally
Hell's Kitchen
Master Chef
Hoarders
Smoking Gun
Wipeout
Bait Car
Leverage
Survivor
Celebrity Apprentice
American Idol
Mantracker
Top Shot
Ninja Warrior
According to Jim

Dropped a car full over at the Good Will - Becca is cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!
Hit a few garage sales - nothing to exciting, shopping on the east side of town today

Birthday Breakfast

 

The restaurant choice was IHOP this week - selected by the birthday boy.
Zander turned 11 today.
Here is his sweet little sis - Kenz.

It was a nice day and I even got an unexpected commission check for assisting with a large order.
I'm very thankful for it.

Thursday Nights

This is becoming one of my favorite nights of the week!  Why, you ask?  It seems to be the night that Chuck has been consistently off.  We are all home and able to enjoy our evening together.  This seems to be a rare thing since he works different hours now.  Just enjoying these moments together and realizing it wont be too many years before my sweet kiddos will be out on their own.  We love you both very much!

Pray like a Warrior

Warriors must be prepared for battle.  Our daily life brings with it many challenges and battles - like our little flood at work yesterday.  My employer told us about the devotion she read the night before.
It is about preparing yourself for warfare.  She did have a peace when she arrived and I am sure it was from being prepared.
This devotion listed seven tools of preparation.
1.  Put on the full armor of God.  (Eph. 6:11)
2.  Train yourself to be self-controlled and alert. (Prov 25:28)
3.  Know your enemy is not flesh and blood. (Matt 5:44)
4.  Learn to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Matt. 4)
5.  Pray out loud so satan can hear you.  - (Jesus responded to the temptations of the devil out loud and with Scripture!)
6.  Respond to the attacks of the enemy with worship. (Ps. 8:2)
7.  Pray in the powerful name of Jesus. (Phil. 2:9-11)

The Flood

As I walked through the door at work, I headed straight to my office.  I walked past the front desk and stopped abruptly as my foot squished into the carpet.  What in the world?!?  Apparently the pipe behind the commode broke last night and water was pouring out of broken pipe all night long.  Both bathrooms, the kitchen, several offices and the warehouse had quite a bit of water in them.  John was already on the phone with a company that comes out for water damage repair and restoration.  They arrived pretty quickly and started vacuuming up the water, which took about half of the day.  They then set up about 20 large fans and dehumidifiers all of the building to get the carpets dried up.  This will take about three days.  Praise the Lord - there seemed to be very little damage to the goods around the warehouse. 

Worship - Praise God for What He is

Tonight - I was working in my prayer journal.  One of the sections is called Worship- Praise God for what He Is.  I added several new names and qualities of God.  Here is a small sample from my list:
He is...
Eternal (Deut 33:27, Ps 90:2)
Holy (Lev 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15)
Wise (Prov 3:19, 1 Tim 1:7)
True (John 17:3, Titus 1:1-2)
Good (Ps 107:8)
Love (John 3:16, Rom 5:8)
Self Existent (Ex 3:13-14)
Deliverer (Rom 11:26)
Comforter (Jer 8:18)
Wonderful Counselor (Is 9:6))
Messiah (John 1:41)

When you pray, remember to worship who and what He is, the Lord's prayer gives this very example  right from the start. 
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

hallowed =treated as sacred; reverenced

Find out who He is and what He is - it will draw you closer to Him.  You will understand and know Him better and it will make your relationship stronger.  Isn't this the same way we have grown closer to our  favorite friends? We have learned their qualities and character.   We learn more and more about them as our relationship grows closer.  The more time we spend together, the trust in them generally grows, we confide in each other possibly sharing our inner thoughts and secrets, dreams and worries for support and strength.  It is the same way with the Lord - the more time we spend with Him the more we learn to trust, share and desire to let the relationship become our very favorite!


Yay!  We received word of an upcoming visitor who will be heading to town soon!  Can't wait to see you!

Going to a Play at the Local Theater

We went to see this play at the local theater.

Jon, Becca and Ben

our three muskateers 

my bff and me 

 

A few shots of the play

we all agreed it wasn't the best thing under the sun

some of it was funny

bust mostly not my type of humor

The best part of it was having a fun outing with Mamaw, Auntie C and the boys...

and I think we had more fun watching and hearing how the crowd responded rather than the show itself.

It was a fun few hours of people watching!

Another Blessing!

My, oh my, we accomplished a lot this morning.  We got our computer off to be repaired, then enjoyed a nice country breakfast at Cracker Barrel.   Our phone provider required us to go in to the store to make the change of merging one account with our other - it's nice to have that completed.  We then went by the bookstore and then the electronics store.  We returned to the house for lunch, and Chuck had already headed off to work.  Becca was invited to her cousins to spend the night and go watch the races. She had a few clothes to wash before heading over to their house.  Once they were in the dryer, she and I ran over to get food for Major.  The grocery store was a necessary stop after picking up her overnight bag. 
Once I returned home - I discovered another blessing.  I opened our water bill to find a credit of over $135 for a misread!  The Lord did it again - He is pouring the blessings out and we are so thankful.

I have heard these kind of testimonies at church and am so thankful to be on the receiving end of it.
I've recently been reading about prayers - I will be posting something soon about this type of blessing.  To be continued....

Overflowing with Blessings

He Will take care of us!

Charles just got word of a check that we will be refunded for a sizable amount on something we overpaid.  Praise God - He has already started providing these needs -

 it is really making me believe this _ _ _ is the one!

He also received an email today telling us that the our computer will be repaired. 

About two weeks ago - our desktop just went ka-put!  We have had it for a few years and didn't contact the company because it was out of warranty.  We figured we would save up and take it in - in a few months to see if it was worth repairing once we got an estimate. 

We did pray it would perk up and start working - Charles did his techie thing but none of the suggested fixes worked!  We were so surprised and thankful to receive the email telling us to bring it in and the notification that it would be repaired free of charge.

We totally believe this is a God thing! 

Thank you Lord for your many wonderful blessings - We love your amazing surprises!

Peace that Passes Understanding

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)

⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I must say - I do get anxious from time to time - do you?  What gets you anxious, nervous, brings out the worry?  Your finances, your kids, need of a job, a meeting that's coming up, car troubles, try outs for sports team or a play - the list can go on on and on  - can't it?

This week in my research regarding this new possible _ _ _, I realized that the pay periods will probably change - A.L.O.T.  My first reaction was worry - how can we go this many weeks without a check?  We need to figure out ways to cut back - here and there.  Charles already cut and changed a few of our monthly obligations and tweaked a few more.  The one thing that our flesh sometimes thinks about cutting is the tithe.  I must say - it did come into my mind - but immediately the Spirit bothered me and I knew that was not a payment to postpone.  I immediately felt a peace that if He could provide enough for those weeks to keep us faithfully paying our tithe -our other monthly obligations would also be met during a few weeks of lean pay.  I can't wait to see His awesome provision over these next few weeks!
It is all His anyway - I'm not sure why we try to constantly take that ownership back.

Who you gonna call?

 

Ok- you guys - you know I couldn't resist this photo opportunity!

When we left the restaurant this evening - the Zombie Outbreak Official Response Vehicles were on site!

I didn't get their number - but just know they are out their and ready to help!

Ha - Ha - This is posted especially for all our you that love the zombie stuff right now!

Only One Judge

"There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and destroy.  But who are you to judge your neighbor?" James 4:12 

Our study has had so many good and convicting teachings on this subject.

One verse mentioned this week really opened my eyes and touched my heart.

"The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment."

1Cor 2:15

People who walk in the Spirit judge "things." Not people.

Do you ever read something in His word and it is brought to life? 

 That happened with this verse this week.  There has been a lot of grumbling and griping lately at work about people.  They should do this, or they should be that, she should have this done or should do that - just a lot of attack on people's character.  The grumbling and griping has done nothing to correct the situation.  It has only stressed people out and brought hurt and division among some of the staff.

If the management would go sit down with the person and observe them for a day or two to judge or discern the thing (the stacks of paper that keep growing and getting further and further behind), they may find out that it really isn't the person.  It takes time to do every task on her desk, and some of these tasks can not be sped up - it may take ten minutes per task or twenty minutes per task with all the processes required to complete it.  After calmly monitoring the time it actually takes to complete several duties, a better analysis can be made to fix the problem.  If it is "her" speed causing the problem then address it and correct her, if it is a process taking too much time that doesn't have value added then eliminate it.  Attacking and judging her does not and will not fix anything - but discerning and judging the issue will lead to a solution.   There are times we grumble and gripe - wanting things to go perfectly but we don't want to really look at the thing to figure out how to fix it or deal with it - it's so much easier to attack the person.

Doesn't it make you think about that phrase I know you have heard so many times?

Love the sinner - hate the sin

(the above illustration is not saying that person is "sinning" - I believe they are given more than they can handle at the moment)

Love the sinner - hate the sin

I know I'm guilty of attacking the person instead of addressing the thing

How many times have you torn someone down instead of trying to correct the situation?

it might be your spouse - instead of attacking their character -

address the thing - the action that was done or not done

it might be your child - instead of belittling or tearing them down

guide and teach them to correct that matter

 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.  James 2:8

some of you have gone through some huge things

betrayal

abuse

financial sufferings

loss

disobedience of child

supervising issues

driving in the Metroplex

keep your judgment on the thing - be wise - stay in the Spirit - and LOVE PEOPLE

if they are in need of judgment - leave that to the ONE who knows BEST!

 

Organize It

I'm so proud of Becca - she is on an anti-hoard mission.  She has been cleaning and organizing her room - and in the mind set to clean, organize, get rid of excess and beautify her room.  She has a large pile that we will be donating to a local charity. 

I started trashing and organizing that mound of paper that continuously grows.  Junk mail and miscellaneous papers seem to mutate - do you have this problem too?  I recently bought an organizer to sort bills by due date - it has been working nicely so far.  I saw one of those wooden sorters that have the slots 1-31 - but they were sold out when I went back to pick one up.  I went on the hunt and found something I could use to accomplish the same end- it is actually a wire cd holder - which when laid down - has about 20-25 slots. 

New Microwave

Charles and Chuck got our new microwave installed above the stove!  Yay! - I can't wait to test it out!
Thank you to the two best guys ever!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

for breakfast.  They are quite tasty.  I started out with a clean eating - healthy recipe, then realized that I didn't have all of the ingredients.  I found another recipe - merged the two and pheww - it worked.

The girls spent time with the little yellow doggies while I shopped for groceries.  We then went to the craft store to pick up a few supplies for Misti's school project.  Becca found some Batman headphones.

Charles made some delicious tuna rice for dinner - it is one of my favorites.

Unexpected Appointment

I believe it went well - this unexpected appointment scheduled for this morning - it was a total surprise when I checked my email last night.  Decisions will happen quickly - praying that this is it!

The Girls

Misti will be staying tonight and through the weekend.  These silly girls always enjoy there time together!

Correlations

I was talking to Charles about the portion of our study about wisdom from above and below and he mentioned how it correlated to walking in the spirit or in the flesh.  Here is the list of both for you to see.

Wisdom from Above	or	Wisdom from Below
good life		bitter envy
deeds done in humility		selfish ambition
pure		boastful
peace-loving		deny the truth
considerate		earthly
submissive		unspiritual
full of mercy		demonic
good fruit		disorder
impartial		every evil practice
sincere		jealous
Fruit of the Spirit		Acts of the Flesh
love		sexual immorality
joy		impurity & debauchery
peace		idolatry & witchcraft
forbearance		hatred
kindness		discord
goodness		jealousy
faithfulness		fits of rage
gentleness		selfish ambition
self-control		dissensions
		factions & envy
		drunkenness
		orgies
		and the like

Galatians 5

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 15} If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Above or Below?

Something we are studying in our Bible study is wisdom.  This is the scripture we were looking at this week.  How we act and respond to situations can show whether our wisdom is from above or not.  

James 3: 13-18 is a clear gauge that we can use to see if we are on track or not. 

James 3 (ESV)
 ¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
James 3 (MSG)
^13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

James 3 (ESV)
¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 3 (MSG)^17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

How would you classify that little situation yesterday?

Wisdom from Above	or	Wisdom from Below
good life		bitter envy
deeds done in humility		selfish ambition
pure		boastful
peace-loving		deny the truth
considerate		earthly
submissive		unspiritual
full of mercy		demonic
good fruit		disorder
impartial		every evil practice
sincere		jealous

Accusations

"I have prayed for thee."—Luke 22:32.

OW encouraging is the thought of the Redeemer's never-ceasing intercession for us. When we pray, He pleads for us; and when we are not praying, He is advocating our cause, and by His supplications shielding us from unseen dangers. Notice the word of comfort addressed to Peter—"Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; but"—what? "But go and pray for yourself." That would be good advice, but it is not so written. Neither does he say, "But I will keep you watchful, and so you shall be preserved." That were a great blessing. No, it is, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." We little know what we owe to our Saviour's prayers. When we reach the hill-tops of heaven, and look back upon all the way whereby the Lord our God hath led us, how we shall praise Him who, before the eternal throne, undid the mischief which Satan was doing upon earth. How shall we thank Him because He never held His peace, but day and night pointed to the wounds upon His hands, and carried our names upon His breastplate! Even before Satan had begun to tempt, Jesus had forestalled him and entered a plea in heaven. Mercy outruns malice. Mark, He does not say, "Satan hath desired to have you." He checks Satan even in his very desire, and nips it in the bud. He does not say, "But I have desired to pray for you." No, but "I have prayed for you: I have done it already; I have gone to court and entered a counterplea even before an accusation is made." O Jesus, what a comfort it is that thou hast pleaded our cause against our unseen enemies; countermined their mines, and unmasked their ambushes. Here is a matter for joy, gratitude, hope, and confidence. (Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions)

It is a pretty awesome thought knowing and remembering that our Redeemer

is praying without ceasing for us.

___  ___  ___

Today I faced a little something that each of us either have or probably will face in our life.  I was accused of something by someone who was being very belligerent and aggressive.   She dropped the ball with something and tried to place the blame on me.  The attack came swiftly, harshly, and negatively.  There was no form of constructive criticism - only destructive accusations.  She came to me a few weeks back regarding an issue with a vendor and our customer.  The problem was resolvable, but the decision on how it would be handled would require a decision by upper management.  I provided information from the original order along with the required vendor details showing the information on our end was all correct.  It was then up to the managers to decide how they would handle it.  This was the last thing I knew about the situation.  This was approximately two weeks ago.  Apparently a decision was made, but nothing was noted and proper paperwork and filing did not take place.  A letter was received from the client along with their returned garments - with it was a partial write up by this person who felt the need to extend her claws. Our shipping department received the incorrect tops and called me out to review and discuss the details of the return.  Telling him what I knew regarding the original order - he and I determined that managment agreed to the return.  I read the customers letter and saw the return authorization written up by my co-worker who would later attack.  The shipping representative and I looked for a new order, a purchase order, anything that would let us know if this return was to be replaced.  We found nothing that would indicate the tops were to be remade.  It wasn't long before she arrived at work.  Our shipper explained the situation and asked for clarification.  She claimed responsibility at first and then very quickly changed her story.  The blame game was now in full swing as she left the warehouse and headed up front.  She flew into my office ready to pounce.  Forget good morning, how are you today!  It was WHERE is the customer's ORDER for these replacement tops?  WHERE IS THE PURCHASE ORDER to get them the correct items?  I started to respond respectfully regarding my discussion with our warehouse representative, when I was rudely cut off.  She said, "remember I came in here and talked with you about this situation - you pulled their previous order and purchase orders?"  My reply - was "yes ma'am, that is correct - I did make you copies of their original order which confirmed we wrote both the customer order and purchase order correctly." She then went on to tell me that she gave me a copy of the letter to write up the new order.  I politely let her know that the first time I viewed this letter was about 10 minutes ago in the warehouse.  She talked over my response without acknowledging it,  repeating the comment that she brought everything to me to write the order or purchase order up for the client and discussed it in detail with me.  As respectfully as I could, I let her know that this was not fact - the first knowledge I had that we were going to replace the order was a few minutes earlier, I just learned that the decision had been made.  I looked for a customer order and purchase order and didn't find anything.  She stormed out of my office without another word.  A few hours later, in a less than sweet tone, I was told that I was to write up both orders and get it taken care of immediately.  I kindly let her know that it would be handled at once and did complete the task. 

Nothing major came from this ordeal - and I am thankful to the Lord for that.  I am thankful for His mercy, grace and favor.  When I have read this verse before - I have always looked at it as personal - me being vain or lying and keeping it far from me.  Today it made me think about others who lie about me.  I pray that all lies be far from me and you. 

"Remove far from me vanity and lies."—Proverbs 30:8.

  Aren't you so glad we have a God that cannot lie...
"Tell me I pray thee wherein thy great strength lieth."—Judges 16:6.
HERE lies the secret strength of faith? It lies in the food it feeds on; for faith studies what the promise is—an emanation of divine grace, an overflowing of the great heart of God; and faith says, "My God could not have given this promise, except from love and grace; therefore it is quite certain His Word will be fulfilled." Then faith thinketh, "Who gave this promise?" It considereth not so much its greatness, as, "Who is the author of it?" She remembers that it is God who cannot lie—God omnipotent, God immutable; and therefore concludeth that the promise must be fulfilled; and forward she advances in this firm conviction. She remembereth, why the promise was given,—namely, for God's glory, and she feels perfectly sure that God's glory is safe, that He will never stain His own escutcheon, nor mar the lustre of His own crown; and therefore the promise must and will stand. Then faith also considereth the amazing work of Christ as being a clear proof of the Father's intention to fulfil His word. "He that spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Moreover faith looks back upon the past, for her battles have strengthened her, and her victories have given her courage. She remembers that God never has failed her; nay, that He never did once fail any of His children. She recollecteth times of great peril, when deliverance came; hours of awful need, when as her day her strength was found, and she cries, "No, I never will be led to think that He can change and leave His servant now. Hitherto the Lord hath helped me, and He will help me still." Thus faith views each promise in its connection with the promise-giver, and, because she does so, can with assurance say, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!" (Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions)

I have a little more to say about this situation but will save it for tomorrow.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together the margarine, shortening, sugars, pumpkin, and egg, beat well. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well-blended.
Chill dough for about 30 minutes (or cheat like me and throw it in the freezer for about 10 minutes). Roll into balls the size of small walnuts.
In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground ginger (more or less depending on how you like it). Roll dough balls in sugar mixture until completely covered.
Place dough balls about 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 7-9 minutes until lightly browned, but still soft.
Makes about 4-5 dozen cookies

Trying this recipe today - found it on...
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/pumpkin-snickerdoodle-cookies.html

Favor

Deuteronomy 33

¹This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death....

¹³About Joseph he said:

“May the Lord bless his land
    with the precious dew from heaven above
    and with the deep waters that lie below;
¹⁴ with the best the sun brings forth
    and the finest the moon can yield;
¹⁵ with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains
    and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
¹⁶ with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
    and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.

What a picturesque way Moses spoke asking the favor of God for the tribe of Joseph.

Increasing our prayer life can come by praying God's Word - find His promises and ask for them - learn to trust the favor of God and pray if for those around you.

I really like these verses - don't you?

"My son, if you will receive my sayings and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And he preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course."
Proverbs 2:1-9

Tortilla Soup

Charles doctored up some tortilla soup for dinner - it was delicious.  We had a nice evening with everyone home tonight.

I'm thankful to the Lord today for a productive day at work.  I was able to accomplish many things that have been getting backed up during our busy season.

Standing on the Promises

Praying hard is standing on the promises of God.  I read recently that there are more than three thousand promises made to us in the Bible?  It makes me want to find them and pray them.
As I sit here and think about promises - it makes me so unbelievably thankful for God and His unwavoring word.  He is strong and He is sure.  What He says, He does....the promises He makes He keeps.
When you were young did you ever say to a friend when making a childhood promise...Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye?  Oh my, the things we say, the promises we had full intention of keeping but fell short, justifying our reasons for failing.  I know I have made light hearted promises over the years and promises filled with passion and determination.  Some of these were kept and some were broken. Why do we break our promises?  Sometimes it is because we don't think it through  before committing - we just give a willy nilly answer without a thought.  Other times we truly commit but circumstances prevent us from following through.  Sometimes time goes by and we just forget to finish the promise.  I even bet there are times we make a promise knowing full well that we are not going to do it. I'm pretty sure all of us have done this at some point in their life - broken a promise for one reason or another.  Man fails - we give in to our flesh - our own selfish desires and fall flat on our faces.  We will fail - all men fail - that is why we must be very careful about focusing our eyes on men instead of keeping our eyes on the Lord. If you are the promise breaker or the one whose been impacted by a broken promise - I want to assure you that there is one friend that you have that will NOT EVER break His Promise to you...The Lord!  
If you are hurting go to the friend that will keep His word!  He has promised us so much- dig into the Word and find the treasured promises and claim them - because He wants to keep His promises and He will!

Easy Dinner

I ran by the store on the way home to pick up some fixins for dinner.  I grabbed a few bags of the pre-cooked steak and chicken strips, some wraps, spring mix, peppers, onions, cheese, tomatoes and mayo.  I grilled the onions and peppers with the steak and made a wrap for Charles.  He wanted swiss cheese in his dinner.  I had chicken and cheddar with spring mix and tomatoes.  We had chips and hummus with it. Chuck was working (I see he brought home subway for himself) and Becca wasn't hungry, therefore, decided to eat a little later. 

I don't usually have these bags of meat around the house, but it does make for a quick and easy dinner that can be used to make all types of different dishes! 

Exhausted

and ready to sleep!  The day was beyond busy - the one good thing was it was a trouble free busy and 5:00 hit way before I was aware.  A pile is left on the desk - plenty to do tomorrow.

Ate well  - check
Drank water - check
Exercised - check
Nice evening with the family - check
Watch some footbal - check check

See ya tomorrow!

Fasting

Isaiah 58:5-7

Today's New International Version (TNIV)

⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

 These verses are a part of our Bible study and they jumped off the page this morning.  I don't know why I do not plug into the power that is available.  I don't know if you are like me, but so often I work harder and not smarter.  Do you put all of your umphh into things  - instead of using the tools that are at your fingertips?  It is almost like we take our scissors out to cut the grass instead of using the riding mower.  Which is easier - which would give quicker results - which would give better results? - Of course the mower would be best!  Visualize it  - can you image crawling around your yard trying to cut every blade of grass evenly!  By the time you finished - you would need to begin again.  You would be exhausted, sore, weak, tired and discouraged - I would imagine.  Now picture tackeling your task with the mower.  You fill your tank with fuel, crank it up, sit down and simply steer it around the yard.  You are done in almost no time and have a beautiful well manicured yard with very little effort on your part.

We have access to our Lord and can plug into His power in so many ways, but often find ourselves trying to take it all on ourselves.  His Word is the truth and will guide us in everything - yet it is sometimes the last place we go.  Our prayers are heard by Him, He loves to talk with us - yet we often go to nearly everyone else before asking Him.  Fasting and praying is one of the most powerful disciplines of all.  "Fasting

called by God will result in strength, not weakness.  It is a wonderful and highly effective discipline of God, but we must follow His instruction for fasting so we will be empowered rather than depleted in our battles." (Beth Moore - Seeking a Heart Like His)

Here are a few facts on fasting from Campus Crusade for Christ:

• Fasting and prayer can restore the loss of the "first love" for your Lord and result in a more intimate relationship with Christ.
• Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God (Psalm 35:13; Ezra 8:21). King David said, "I humble myself through fasting."
• Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life.
• The Holy Spirit will quicken the Word of God in your heart and His truth will become more meaningful to you!
• Fasting can transform your prayer life into a richer and more personal experience.
• Fasting can result in a dynamic personal revival in your own life-and make you a channel of revival to others.
• Fasting and prayer are the only disciplines that fulfill the requirements of II Chronicles 7:14:

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
If you fast, you will find yourself being humbled as I did. You will discover more time to pray and seek God's face. And as He leads you to recognize and repent of unconfessed sin, you will experience special blessings from God.  (http://www.cru.org/training-and-growth/devotional-life/personal-guide-to-fasting/02-why-you-should-fast.htm)

Let's plug in to His Power - it's more effective and we will definitely be working smarter and not harder!