Come on, admit it! We can say that we don't care what other people think of us....but without some confirmation or agreement about our thoughts - they seem to get lost in a sea of wonder.
We all have crazy thoughts that we NEVER share - only our God knows truly what's on our minds and in our hearts. But there is some solace in knowing that someone, somewhere out there is feeling the same! Isnt it a comfort to start talking about something that you've been through or thought about and someone comments that they are going through the same thing!
We humans are more alike than we'd like to admit! We all just wanna be loved, right? And to have some kind of connection! It sustains us and it pushes us to do better.
So at the end of the day when you lay your weary head on your nice,soft, comfortable pillow.....let those thoughts of love ease your mind! Be comforted in knowing that only God can control the happenings in our day and it is up to us to make our goals and act accordingly.
In the name of Valentine....spread the LOVE!!!

Does prayer really change "things" or people?

How powerful do you think prayer really is? Do you believe all the prayers in the world can change the plans God has already made for you? Can it turn the dead to life, the blind to see, the lame to walk,a gay person straight, or an atheist to believe? OR does is just give us the power to accept what God has put in our path and help us see a different side of things?

I have read "The Power of a Praying Woman for her kids" (by Stormie Omartian) and I ask myself if I believe my prayers will actually change the events or actions in my kids lives or just change ME into never giving up hope that they will walk with the Lord? Will they live a life of love, joy, peace, faith, kindness, gentleness, and self control? I can hope and wish but it really is up to them and their personal walk.

We only have control of our attitude about life and how we react to what God puts in front of us and to be able to increase our appreciation for God's grace that is our there for us to grab and from that, gain wisdom to hopefully share with those who will listen.

As I lay down at night to say my prayers - do I pray that someone from cancer will be healed - or that that person will have the strength to endure what God has in store for them and to have faith in His love that HE is in control!

If He already knows us so well, down to the number of hairs on our heads, wouldn't His plans already be in place??

If I pray that my friend or family member will get a job and if he/she does are my prayers answered? If they don't are they not answered?? Not sure. I guess I can only pray that God will come into each persons heart and that they will be open to listening to God's voice in what they are to do.

Yes prayer can be powerful -

but I believe mostly it will change the hearts and souls of the people and not necessarily the events planned for us.

Being happy, grateful, and having God's grace....

My Outpost reading....PSALM 100

Make a joyful noise all ye lands

Worship the Lord with gladness

Come before Him with joyful songs

Know that the Lord is God

It is He who made us and we are His

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise

Give thanks to Him and praise His name

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever

His faithfulness continues through all generations

I cannot recite from memory any quote from the Bible

I am amazed at the people who can.

My middle son,Paul, learned this psalm when he was 5 and it has always stuck with me

Aside from him being as cute as ever trying to pronounce the words,(& yes we have it on video!), he didn't really understand the meaning....but to me it was a clear instruction of what we are to do -

and that is to obey God. This is a blueprint to teach us how to worship God joyfully and be thankful.

Singing is a way to make a joyful noise. It can provide unity in the hearts of people involved.

I have always enjoyed music and singing - even though I don't have a show voice! God doesn't care how good our voice is!

It brings joy to my heart and singing with others can give me a feeling of fellowship. God truly wants us to be happy and enjoy all he has given us!

Also if we listen to His voice - it is only a result of the training provided by Him and His continuous loving kindness towards us that we are able to change our behaviors and become better people

We must continue to obey, worship and praise God throughout our lives - even in the most challenging times.

That is when he hears our prayers even more! Why? Because he knows that we have faith in Him and that we will trust Him to help us get through our hard times

Keep your eyes and your heart on God - always!

Make a joyful noise all the earth! God made us all - He is not prejudiced to one group on people

Just as a son is his mother's...we are God's own. Therefore give thanks!!

Author Dennis Prager writes in his book "Happiness is a serious problem" that there is a secret to happiness and it is gratitude.

All happy people are grateful and ungrateful people cannot be happy.

We tend to think that is is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person!"

Enter God's gates with thanksgiving...it is good to give thanks to the Lord but not because God needs it - but because WE need it.

It was a very inspiring meeting today at Outpost and the speaker we had spoke of Gods grace - how it is free to only those who are weak. I tend to believe that for the most part but I believe that God's grace is there for the taking for us all - whether we even realize it or not! He is constantly present in our lives and wants what's best for us but we have to be cognizant of his presence to get the full benefit from it. We need to be aware of the "religion" of God and not the "religion" of our agenda for being a mom, wife or an employee or whatever. And in that respect we need to "weaken" ourselves or empty ourselves of our control of things and let his grace shower us with to love He feels for us. Life is precious and goes by so fast that we all need to take time to reflect on the goodness and be grateful for all that we have....then we can be truly happy! God bless!

Graduation, Family vacation and Outpost

Well, we've made it through our 3rd and final child (daughter) graduating from college!! What a great feeling! There is definitely a sense of pride in knowing we were able to work hard and be able to put our 3 children through college and get them started on their careers! It certainly wasn't always a smooth ride, but we've learned a lot through the process! Now the job search begins which is another bridge to cross! But I feel that God will lead her in the right direction as long as she is open to listening! That is always the key!

We then ventured on a family vacation....yes all 5 of us for the first time in about 8 years!! Usually my oldest son isnt able to join us because of his travels with his entertaining work, but this year it worked out and it was so much fun! We did a little white water rafting, beaching, boating, and kayaking , but most of all we got to be together! It was really fun to see my adult kids act like kids again and to enjoy each others company! It will definitely be one to remember and who knows when that opportunity will come again. Carpe Diem!!

There is an organization in Newtown, Ohio called Outpost which is "a gathering of women committed to encouraging, motivating, challenging, and developing our walk with Jesus. Whether you are a life-long follower of Christ or still unsure of your relationship with Him, these gatherings will point you in the right direction."

I went to my first one a few weeks ago and it was wonderful! There is a mix of song, testimony and scripture reading for 1 1/2 hours and an amazing group of very welcoming women there! I have been asked to read a scripture and give my insight for what I pick next week . Now understand that I am not a public speaker and have NEVER really done anything like this before but - HEY - this is all about stepping outside of the box a little.....ok a lot... and see what great inspiring, MEANINGFUL things come my way!

I will write more about it after I have presented and see what happens!

Motherhood

There were days when I was tired of being a mom. LONG days of shelling out commands like "pick up your stuff", "stop fighting", "your in time out", and "GO TO YOUR ROOM"! I thought I would never get to the day when I wouldn't have to manage everything they did.

And now I find myself on a slippery downhill slope towards the finish line and it is bittersweet.

Galatians 6:9 says "Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up".

We have definitely reaped a harvest of 3 wonderful beautiful grown up children and it is so comforting to watch them become the adults that we always hoped they would be. All of those silly things that we got so upset about really don't much matter now. It's funny, now, to think back over some of the things they did and I hope I can keep that perspective. Oh sure, there are still days that I feel disheartened, but I am so glad that we did not give up on them! We are all just "works in progress" in God's eyes and He never gives up on us, even when we turn away from Him. Unconditional love........from God and from Mothers.

I hope all the moms out there had a great day with their kids and for those who couldn't be with theirs.....I hope the memories and thoughts of days past comforted them. We did good.

Coincidences or divine intervention?

Many times people have happenings in their lives that they chalk up to coincidences. I wonder if they aren't really messages from a higher place. This past week I have encountered small but enlightening moments that has made me feel the power of God's presence. You tell me....coincidence or divine intervention?

As I left bible study last week I was struggling for a message to send to my fellow women since I am the person who sends out the emails for prayer requests and usually add some kind of message or quote to stick with them through the week. I usually always get something through other emails or readings but this week nothing was coming. But a song kept getting into my head about being hungry for the Lord and I realized that we had been talking about the power of song to praise God so I figured I was to send this song out to the others which I did.

I also encountered a young man trying to collect funds for people struggling with addiction and how he was transformed a few years ago through the power of God and is now studying to become a nurse! Since that is my profession I figured he was sent to me for a reason! Of course I had to give him a donation which he was very grateful.

That weekend I went to a luncheon/study on Women of Faith and there was 3 women who sang a few songs to which none of them I recognized but wondered about. The second was one about ...

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet And a light unto my path.

The jist of the speaker that day was to walk in faith 

and not in 

sight - to trust God in knowing that you 

make the plan but He directs your feet.

As I was driving home after that, I was listening to a 

book on 

tape from Amy Grant called "MOSAIC"

 (which by the way is a great read!) and at the end of 

one of her 

readings the music started to play and it 

was the same song - her song "Thy Word"! 

When I feel afraid, And think I’ve lost my way. Still, 
you’re there right beside me. Nothing will I fear As 
long as you are near; 
Please be near me to the end.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet And a light unto my path. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
I will not forget Your love for me and yet, My heart 
forever is 
wandering. Jesus by my guide, And hold me to your 
side, And I will love you to the end.
Coincidence or God's message to me to trust in Him and he 
will teach me???
As I always pray about my childrens lives - I was also directed 
to books that day to help me pray
 for them and the decisions they make and for God 
to help me put it in His hands and not to 
worry. A quote I heard was " Worrying is like sitting 
in a 
rocking chair....you dont get anywhere 
but it  gives you something to do!" How true! I will
 try not to 
waste my energy on worrying and
place it in God's hands!
If we open our hearts and minds to Jesus and spend some 
quiet moments trying to hear 
his voice - he will give us the message! It might not always be 
the one that we want to
hear though! That is where true faith comes in.....I 
am learning to hold my tongue unless it 
is requested and it eventually I am able to get my 
point across - even though it might not be at 
the moment I want! He will tell me the time! It is an 
ongoing 
challenge though..........

A month has gone by since I have returned from Belize! It is still fresh in my mind but life goes on and new adventures await! I have been going to Bible study weekly and we are studying the power of a praying woman. Prayer can be such a comforting feeling knowing that God is listening! We might not always get the answer we were hoping for but I do believe that there is a reason for whatever happens....the hard part is - we just may not know the reason until days,months or years later! The important thing is to have hope. I have sooo many hopes for different things! First, I always hope that my family is safe from harm. Secondly I hope that they are happy! I pray daily that my son Jeff is able to fulfill his dream of being on Broadway! I pray my other son Paul finds a job that he is excited to get up everyday for! I pray that my daughter Maggie focuses on her future and does everything in her power to make her marketable for the job world in 3 months! But I also pray that they are Godly people and that there are good strong faithful people that cross their paths daily. I pray that my husband Mike and I stay healthy enough to enjoy our second half of the century we are living! We have had such a wonderful life so far and I am so blessed to have him to share it with!As far as adventures........We took a short weekend trip to Norris lake for Valentines day ! We have great friends that are willing to share it with us and it was a very relaxing time. It is so peaceful there and the air seems fresher!The following weekend we went to Charlotte NC to visit friends and watch XU basketball get another win from Charlotte! Charlotte is a nice clean town that seems newer than Cincy and it didnt hurt that the sun was out and the temperature was 6o*!! What a great way to spend my 54th birthday! Going back to work gave me a different perspective after seeing how Belize had so little. We waste so much but we have all the latest equipment to do the best we can for our people. So which is better? Wasting less but not having as much or the alternative? I would find it hard to believe that people would vote the alternative! Maybe the "going green" society would be the only ones! Until their day comes to have surgery!