Friday Faves

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I haven’t done a list of my top 3 favorite blog posts for quite some time.  As I read the title of Melanie’s article I was intrigued.  One of the members of the Sunday School class I teach likes to try to get me going with the question, ‘If God knows everything, why bother?’ Or something similar to that. God knows what choice we’ll make in every situation but we still have a choice. Check out Why Should We Pray (if God Already Knows Everything Anyway)?

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary to Deb Wolf and her husband!  They’ve made it to 45 years and are looking into the future.  Her 10 tips are among the same life concepts that have helped Ray and I in our 45-year journey. (April 8th we will celebrate that milestone, too.)  Enjoy this article from one of my favorite bloggers!

 

 

 

 

Finally! A review of The Shack that doesn’t bash it to pieces because it isn’t theology accurate.  Finally!  WooHoo!  I’ve read the book and loved it.  Why? Because it attempts to show God the way I believe Him to be.  The Creator of both men and women in His image. (see Genesis 1:27)  I loved it because it shows what mercy and forgiveness are meant to look like.  And I fully expect the movie to be totally awesome.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

 

Delight!

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In the course of my lifelong search for what Love really is God has given many examples of it.  We recently had guests for lunch and their youngest son was totally enamored with our black cat’s choice of sleeping/hiding places.  He (the cat in the picture above) loves to be totally covered up under quilts, blankets, pillows…actually under anything.  We would pull back the throw, that the cat was sleeping under, and all Isaiah could see was two green eyes peering back and he would laugh that delighted two-year-old laugh.  I could hear God in that laugh and knew that He was once again giving me a personal glimpse of Him through a child’s delighted laugh.

Psalm 149:4 tells us the LORD takes great delight in us.  He shows us how much He loves us in the many things around us.  Like a child’s delighted laugh, hummingbirds at the feeders, the shapes and colors of nature, people who model His many attributes, and… Watch for the LORD’s delighted love.  It’s everywhere!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

This is a reblog from a post on August 11, 2011. 

Where She Belongs – – Book Review

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51mf2fndxilAll of us have had situations in our lives that make us want to walk away or start over or go back to a better place.  Often when we choose the latter we also have to face the memories that go along with it.  This delightful story of a lovely young widow encompasses a critically injured child…falling for the wrong guy…unknown (unremembered) circumstances from teenage years… life choices based on past experiences… a really crabby villain…

Things I liked about this story

  • The characters enter at just the right point to make the reader wonder what they have to do with the story.
  • Just the right amount of good and bad situations.
  • Bible verses interjected at just the right point

Great book for that summer afternoon, school break reading list.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

5 Ways To Improve Any Relationship

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I often think about being the best wife, friend, teacher, worker… I can be.  Perhaps I can do more, be more, give more… Certainly all of the above but there are some very practical, down to earth ways we can show those around us they matter most.

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I believe the #1 way to improve friendship is to take yourself out of the running for 1st Place.  Narcissism destroys more relationships that any other personal characteristic.  Anytime we think we matter more, in any way, than the person we’re relating with ruins any chance of building up the other person.  Jesus said it best when He said, ‘love others’ in response to what is the greatest commandment.

Steven Covey, in his book First Things First, makes it clear that we must know the wants and needs of the other person to become successful.  In our relationships, we really need to know what another likes or dislikes.  Remember anything we might think is fun may not be enjoyable to someone else.  Get to know your friends, husbands, co-workers.  Talk to them.  Discover their hobbies and interests.  The best relationships take the desires of the other into account first.

When you’re building friendships and relationships don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.  If it’s more than one-sided the other person is just as interested in you.  If your friend says let’s go see a dirt bike race and you really can’t stand the dust then tell them.  Remember, if your friend is truly interested in creating an awesome relationship they’ll find someone else to go with and both of you will discover something about the other.

That leads us to trust.  If a friend chooses to do something with another person do not put a guilt trip on them.  Building relationships with other people adds more to the friendships you already have.  Learning to trust others is a huge growth issue.  One does not need to know everything that their friend is doing every moment to build a strong relationship.

kindness-710209_960_720Last, but certainly not least, choose kindness.  In Aesop’s fable, The Lion and the Mouse, the moral is, a kindness is never wasted.  Perhaps something you’ve done in the past will lead to its reward in the future.  True kindness, like love, is based on wanting what is best for the other person.

 

Sometimes, when I read a list like this, I think I have to do everything.  Not so!  Even choosing one of these suggestions will make you a standout, awesome friend.  Go for it!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Do Overs

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God is the God of second chances, third chances, fourth chances…  God gives ‘do-overs’.  Look at the number of people in the Bible who were given another chance, a do-over if you will.

David and Paul and Jael were murderers…

Noah and Lot were drunks…

Rahab was a prostitute…

Samson was a womanizer…

Jonah was hesitant, reluctant, and fearful…

Naomi and Martha were whiners…

Peter denied…

Elijah was suicidal…

All of them were given mercy.  Yes, a do-over.

David asked for forgiveness and God, in His great mercy, said I can still use you.  (Psalm 51)

Rahab followed through on her promise and God saved her and her family in the fall of Jericho and topped that off with giving her a place in the lineage of Christ.  (Joshua 6:22)

Jonah went the opposite direction to get away from God’s command, God sent a storm and whale to get him where he needed him… Jonah saved the people of an entire city.  (Jonah)

Jesus told Martha to quit whining and follow the example of her sister Mary. (Luke 10:38-42)

Peter did exactly what Jesus said he would.  But Jesus knew the rest of the story…Peter would be the Founding Father of His churches.  (Matthew 16:18)

Elijah was so afraid of what Jezebel would do to him that he ran and hid under a desert bush asking God to let him die.  God had other plans…  (1 Kings 19:4-14)

And he still does that today.  He knows we’re not perfect.  He knows we fall short.  Yet, He forgives over and over and lets us start over and over.

What a Mighty God we serve!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

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