Monday, Monday

Monday is a fresh start.  It's never too late to dig in and begin a new journey of success.

Mondays are always busy for me.  A new school week, new menu plan, new items to add to the old schedule.  I don't hate Mondays, though.  I look at it as a new beginning.

School started at 10:00 am today.  We were all kind of slow this morning because it was so dark out.  It was a hot and muggy day, totally the opposite of yesterday with its cool breezes and clear skies.  We got rain on and off all morning, and even when the breezes picked up in the afternoon, they were warmer than what we'd gotten the past week.  Of course, it's supposed to get back down into the 50's tonight, so the weather roller coaster ride continues.  

So anyway, school began with music, Hope, and science.  At noon my son paused to take his algebra online class, and I made Southwestern style chicken soup.  Days like these call for soup.  I'd bought everything to make the soup except the tortilla chips, because I knew we had some.  What I didn't know was that they'd gone a bit stale.  I still ate them, but my son E wasn't too happy.  Oh well.

After lunch we finished working on science, and he took his quiz.  He's got a 90% so far, but the teacher has to grade a couple of essay questions.  It was a normal sort of day; he got all his work done and completed his required 5 hours, so we're both happy.  It looks like it might be a slower day tomorrow, but we'll take it one day at a time.  He's doing well so far, so I'm pleased.

I started working on my daughter's taxes.  It looks like she's gonna have to pay, which she's not happy about.  She has to pay her own taxes for her church job, and while we did the worksheet and figured out how much she needed to pay, it seems it was short.  I'm looking to see what can be done additionally to get the amount down.  I feel bad for her; she was counting on getting some money back, but instead she's gonna have to dish out about $200.  That's gonna put a dent in her savings for sure.

I have to share this amazing quote from Beth Moore from the Daniel bible study:  "A sovereign, powerful God sits upon His throne, and nothing misses His gaze.  He will right all wrongs.  I do not know how, but I know Who."  Amen!  Thank You Jesus!

And with that beautiful thought I leave, saying Goodnight and Pleasant Dreams.  God bless.

A Great Quote

"If you're feeling overwhelmed and desperate, you won't find the answer in yet another self-help book or in a temporal bottle of pills. More self-esteem won't quiet those inner yearnings or fears any more than a "better" body or new clothes will. Only Christ can satisfy your anxious heart and give you peace." - from the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. 

Words of Wisdom

If God can hang the stars on high
Can paint the clouds that drift on by,
Can send the sun across the sky,
What can His power do through you? - Jones

Move It Mondays

Happy last Monday in January!  Wow, I'm amazed at how this month has zipped by!  It's late in the afternoon but I wanted to give a little rundown of how my day has gone thus far.

After my pumpkin spice Eggo waffle with bacon this morning (I can't believe they're still in the stores!) and dropping my son off at school, I was determined to get some work done around the house.  Last week I was running in and out everyday with errands and I missed being home getting things done.  I mopped the family room, kitchen, living room and hallway floors.  I vacuumed the furniture (it gets filled with dog hair, ugh) and polished the wood tables.  I put some crushed tomatoes in the crock pot early in the morning, and to that I added homemade meatballs which we had with spaghetti, garlic bread and salad.  Yum!

Then I started working on our taxes.  Do you feel the gloom entering the room?  I remember a time when I would spend and hour, maybe an hour and a half with interruptions, doing our taxes and be done with them in no time.  Today I spent about 2 hours on them so far and I'm still not done!  Yes, I use H & R Block software and it helps make it easier.  It's just that there is so much information and so many credits/deductions/taxes, and it feels like they change things every year!  Believe it or not, after 2 hours I've had to stop because I need my daughter's college forms before I can finish entering everything.  I also want to see my daughter's return and if it isn't more advantageous for her to put the college deductions on her return instead of ours.  She hasn't even gotten her W-2's yet, so I'm at a standstill.  That's okay, though.  At least I got a good portion of it done.  I'm ahead of the game.

We had an awesome service at church yesterday.  Our pastor was back at his old church doing some work that needed to get finished, but he left a short video introducing a couple of men from our church who gave amazing testimonies of how God uses even our pain to bring blessings.  One of our pastors has MS and he talked about the struggles he faced but also the help from the church and his family.  He now travels throughout the United States talking to folks about what he's been through and how Jesus Christ has given him joy in his pain.  He even speaks in public schools!  The other gentleman is a security guard at the school.  At 7 months of age he had to have an operation to drain the fluid he had in his brain.  As he describes it, his head was the size of a watermelon and his body was like a carrot.  The doctors told his parents that if he survived he'd be a vegetable.  Today he is 40 years old, married and a father of 2.  Sadly, his body is riddled with terminal cancer, but he continues to trust in the Lord and teaches Sunday school to the middle schoolers.  It was heartwarming to listen to these men.  Rather than being angry or bitter because of their circumstances, they encourage others to follow Jesus because in the end, our lives here are temporary.  This earth is not our eternal home.  We choose heaven or hell when we accept or reject Jesus.  The beauty of it, is that once Jesus is Lord of our lives, even in the trials we have peace.  That's something only the Holy Spirit can bestow.

I pray everyone has a productive and joy-filled Monday.  God bless!

Move It Mondays Update

I've gotta post this and give some praise to God for His goodness!

On Friday, as I was doing my grocery shopping, my car radio started acting weird.  It was playing a CD, when suddenly all the controls froze.  The CD player was still working, technically, because the CD was still playing, but I couldn't get any of the controls to work.  I couldn't raise or lower the volume, I couldn't take the CD out, I couldn't switch to radio; it simply would not respond.  When I got to Walmart I turned off the car and hoped that when I came back the radio would have reset itself and would work.  Quite the opposite happened; the radio was completely dead.  It wouldn't turn on or anything.  Worse yet, the CD was still in the player and I had no way of getting it out.

I knew I'd have to take the car to the dealership to see if the radio was still under warranty, since the car is just 15 months old, but I didn't have time on Friday, and I certainly didn't want to go during the weekend when the dealership is packed.  It wasn't anything urgent, so I decided to wait till Monday.  Saturday I went out shopping and to dinner with my daughter, and the radio didn't work.  We went to church yesterday morning, and still nothing.  I was prepared to spend the morning getting the radio fixed.

This morning, as we got ready to have breakfast, my son E and I prayed and thanked the Lord for a new day, for the food He'd provided, and while I was at it I prayed for the car radio to be fixed and not to cost me anything, since I wasn't sure the warranty would cover the radio.  I got in the car, turned the key, and to my shock and surprise the CD started playing right where it had left off on Friday before getting stuck!  I pressed the button to remove the CD, and it popped right out!  The radio works, the CD player works, everything works as though nothing had ever happened!

It reminded me of Jesus' words, "You have not because you ask not." (John 16:24).  It's not that God can't do for us what we want, it's that we don't ask Him because we think our request is too menial, not important enough to bother God.  But He wants us to approach Him with all our requests, all our desires, and trust that He will take care of them.  He certainly took care of my car radio!  Thank You Jesus, for Your kindness and generosity!

In Six Words

This morning my devotional challenged me, "If you had six words to express what Christ has done for you and can do for others, what would you say?"  I thought of so many things:  salvation, freedom, access to the Father, hope for the future.  I decided to sum it up in these six words:

Jesus has given my life purpose.

What about you?  How would you answer that question in just six words?  Think about it for a while.  Have a blessed day.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

"We have little control over the circumstances of life. We can't control the weather or the economy, and we can't control what other people say about or do to us. There is only one area where we have control--we can rule the kingdom inside. The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart."

 - Warren Wiersbe

Words of Wisdom

 "Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificied on the altar of conformity and popularity."

 - Charles H. Spurgeon

 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

 - Romans 12:2

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

Without the Lord as your guide through the fog of life, and His Word as your compass, you will wander aimlessly.

My Lord is ever with me

Along life's busy way;

I'll trust in Him completely

For guidance day by day. —Anon.

Have a blessed day!

Words of Wisdom

"I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter."

Benjamin Franklin

A Poem for Moms

Continue On

A woman fretted over the usefulness of her life.

She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother.

She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference.

At times she got discouraged because so much of what she did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated.

"Is it worth it?" she often wondered.  "Is there something better that I could be doing with my time?"

It was during one of these moments of questioning that she heard the still, small voice of her Heavenly Father speak to her heart.

"You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be.

Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye, but I notice.

Most of what you give is done without remuneration.

But I am your reward.

Your husband cannot be the man I have called him to be without your support.

Your influence upon him is greater than you think and more powerful than you will ever know.

I bless him through your service and honor him through your love.

Your children are precious to me.

Even more precious than they are to you.

I have entrusted them to your care to raise for Me.

What you invest in them is an offering to Me.

You may never be in the public spotlight, but your obedience shines as a bright light before Me.

Continue on.  Remember you are My servant.

Do all to please Me.

 - Roy Lessin, author of How To Be the Parents of Happy and Obedient Children

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

"Whatever merit there is in anything that I have written is simply due to the fact that when I was a child my mother daily read me a part of the Bible and daily made me learn a part of it by heart."

 - John Ruskin

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Faith is the silver thread upon which the pearls of the graces are to be hung. Break that, and you have broken the string -- the pearls lie scattered on the ground.

 - Charles H. Spurgeon

Psalm 118:24

Wednesdays Words of Wisdom

 "Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life."

 - A. W. Tozer

The Wisdom of Spurgeon

"What is needed is thought, truth, and sound doctrine, and the Spirit of God. Young men are apt to think less of what to say than of how to say it; but our advice is, think of both in due proportion. Set the matter before the manner; get the horse first, and get a good one, and then harness him. Give the people the grand old Gospel, and plenty of it, and they will not much mind the way in which you bring it forth."

 - Charles H. Spurgeon.

Wise Words for Wednesday

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars..."

 - George Washington

He Is Risen!

The tomb is empty!  He Is Risen!  Praise the Lord God Almighty!

Happy Resurrection Sunday.

Really Good Advice

"Every morning, read seriously and reverently a portion of the Holy Scriptures, and acquaint yourselves with the history and doctrine thereof. It is a book full of light and wisdom, will make you wise to eternal life, and furnish you with directions and principles to guide and order your life safely and prudently." - Matthew Hale

Words to Meditate On

"Take heed that thou gloriest not in thy graces, but let all thy glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for only so canst thou be kept from falling." - Charles Spurgeon