Heart Transplant

Last night in the "Outback" Bible study, there was an excerpt written by Barbara Johnson that read; "Belonging to Jesus Christ means that you've been given a heart transplant. With a new heart, He gives the power to be joyful, exuberant, and thankful. Eternal values replace temporary ones."
In today's devotional reading "Scripture compares our conversion experience to receiving a heart transplant" and references Ezekiel 36:26 which reads; "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
I have accepted this life-changing grace, that only comes from God. I thank Him daily for being patient with me, for never giving up on me. Without Him I am nothing. God freely offers His unconditional love, and I have been blessed beyond measure because of it.
My hope is that you will accept this miracle of grace, too.

Alone......................?

I have not been on here in like, forever!!! And I'm not exactly sure why I am on here now. I think it has something to do with me being lonely. I have M&E here with me today, but it just isn't the same as having my family here. There has been a lot of stuff happen in the last month, good and not so good. Nothing that God can't handle for sure, but it seems that when things are going really good, a monkey wrench gets thrown in and messes up the gears of the forward motion. It either comes to a grinding halt or is going very slowly. I know that these are the times to lean on Him, and petition Him for His wisdom and help, and that is what I will be doing. Waiting on Him. So, for now. Our plans for the weekend have changed big time. We were going to the Family Camping weekend in Mechanic Falls, ME with our CBC church family. Melissa was coming up to join us. We are not going to be able to go now, at least for the whole weekend. David's truck needs to be fixed this weekend, and will be quite a project....a good couple of days. We will need the money that we would have spent on the weekend to put towards the truck repairs. UGH!!!! I have talked with Melissa and she will still be coming up, but we will only be spending a day at McFalls.....probably Sunday so that we can be there for the baptism in the afternoon. A very huge part of family life. It isn't a total washout, but our plans are not always His plans. I am working on my patience and perseverance....I am totally exhausted. Michelle and Joel have been going through a tough spell for a few weeks, and Melissa has left the nest for college, and all of that weighs heavy on a mothers heart. I praise God that He has them in the palm of His hand, and has plans for each of them, and that they all love Him, and serve Him. I am truly blessed. So, I have rambled on long enough. I need to go and talk with my Father. He always makes me feel better.

Advise...?!

Yesterday at the bridal shower for Shara we were all handed a small card to offer some "advise" to Shara for her new life to come. This word really got me thinking and wondering what "advise" I could give to someone. I could find all kinds of scripture verses or I could give some "deep" intuitive mumbo jumbo, but that is not really who I am. I don't like giving "advise", I think it is because I stumble with it. If I give "advise" and don't live it, then I feel like a hypocrite. If I can't live it myself, I don't think I should offer it to someone else, I mean I don't want them to see my failure(s). Well, I got over the mindboggling feeling of being inadequate to give "advise", and wrote something, not sure what it was exactly but the card ended up being really small, but it was from the heart. It was something I put into practice daily, not always an easy thing to do, but something that is God honoring when done.

So, the only "advise" I can give is think about what is pleasing to God, then do it.

Emotional........

It's one of those days! I know I am exhausted, so I'm sure that has something to do with all the emotional stuff, but WOW!!!! I am realizing that come the end of August we will have no "children" at home. Hmpf!!!!! that really stinks! The nest will be empty.

I am really proud of both of them, but they will be gone. They have grown up, and are moving on. Melissa will be home occasionally for weekends and maybe breaks, but there will be two vacant rooms for most of the time. Michelle and Joel aren't able to come back much as they are both working full time and it's hard to get time off other than holidays and special occasions. And I can tell you right now that there aren't enough of either of those as far as I'm concerned.

I knew this day was coming, but it has certainly been coming faster than I had thought it would or, for that matter, hoped it would. Oh well, life goes on.

Aaaaahhhhh......Spring, and New Life

I just love Spring. All the signs of new life. The new leaves coming out on the trees and new grass poking up through the turf, flowers budding and coming into full bloom. Absolutely beautiful! The fruit tree buds turning into blossoms and the smell of the new apple blossoms. Oh, spring is such a wonderful time of year.

It brings me back to May 12, 1987 when I experienced new life in Christ. What a great night that was! I went from being dormant for 32 years, to being made alive in Christ. For the past nearly 21 years I have experienced new growth, the pain of being "pruned" and "cut back", but most of all the love of the Creator to guide me through it all.

I am so grateful to God for loving me that much. That He had a plan for me and waited patiently for me. I can't imagine life without Him. Thank you, God!

Blessings overflowing

I am having one of those days when everything is a blessing. Even doing the taxes and raking the lawn. I much preferred the raking to the taxes. But the blessing in each of those is that I can do them. I have enough intelligence(please no laughing) to do the taxes and I am able physically to do the raking. I am also feeling very blessed to have my family. I am so in love with my best friend(yes, it is David), God gave me the best gift of all when He gave us each other. And then I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters after being told I would not have children(what did the doctors know--NOTHING). And I have a nephew who considers me his "Mom Dukes"(cute, huh?) and I have adopted him into my heart as my son. AND last August I became a mother-in-law to a wonderful young man who makes Michelle so very happy. And I'm not finished yet, because I have this VSN Tabitha who I would take for mine at anytime.

So that is the beginning of my blog, but in no way the end of it. I remember the song "Count Your Blessings", well, that is exactly what I am doing today. So, if I don't write anymore than this, you can be sure that I am counting my blessings all day long. My blessing list is very long.

Thank you Jesus for rescuing me and blessing me over and over again. I love you, Jesus!

Ladies Day Apart

I am still sorting through it all in my head. What an awesome day! The worship time before each session was incredible! Carol Kent sharing from her heart was dynamic!

Session one was titled "living a new kind of normal". I always snicker when I hear the word normal. Most of you know why. In session one she spoke on 6 topics: The power of unthinkable circumstances, the power of relinquishment, the power of heartache, the power of community, the power of faith, the power of speaking up.

When she discussed the power of heartache, she emphasized that everyone has pain. No ones pain is any greater than anyone else's. "Pain is pain".

I really liked the word picture she gave for the power of community. Based on Luke 5:17-30. She said that our friends are our "stretcher bearers". What a great picture!

And she also said that our lives were "polka dotted" with trials in reference to James 1:2. And how true it is.

Session two was titled "developing spiritual authenticity". The topics she discussed in this session were: develop a passion for Jesus, do what the King wants done, cultivate honesty about sin, focus on thoughts beyond natural behavior, think in terms of eternity not time.

We are to be the real deal. Points to ponder; Do I try to give the impression that I am better than I am, or do I embellish or exagerate, does my conscience feel uneasy, do I do anything in private that would offend my friend. Wow!!!!

Session three titled "becoming a woman of influence". There were seven principles that she discussed, but the one question she asked impacted me for the rest of the session. "Who do you want me to influence?" Here are the principles: We need to spend time with God, we need to be walking and talking, we need to be willing to tell our story, we need to be willing to ask questions, we need to have compassion, we need to be able to cast vision, and we need to show unconditional love.

Writing it out like this certainly doesn't give the impact of being there. I am so blessed to have been able to attend.

I am going to add one more thing. The ladies at Calvary Bible Church in Derry went all out decorating for the event. The beautiful flowers on the stage, to the banners, to the bathrooms. That's right, they decorated the 6 bathrooms that were being used for the day. The 2 men's rooms were even transformed into ladies rooms. I went into 5 of the 6 bathrooms and found two of them to have polka dotted theme, one was decorated with Japanese Kimono's, and two were decorated with beautiful spring colors and flowers. I couldn't find the 6th bathroom. What a fantastic job they did to make us feel welcome and special.