My soul followeth hard after thee:
Thy right hand upholdeth me.
Psalm 63:8
KJV
Photo Credit: Free Graphics CrossDaily.com
Living the Adventure
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
The Gift of Grace
'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a...
Well, someone was stirring - me!
This morning I tiptoed down the steps into my living room - the same room where yesterday my youngest son tore open his presents making a sea of colorful wrapping paper. The room was dark except for the shining white lights on the Christmas tree. I sank into my favorite reading chair by the fireplace and looked at the opened gifts scattered under the tree.
I clicked on my reading lamp and read the following verse from First Corinthians. As I read my Bible, I realized anew the wonderful gift we are given in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me." I Cor. 15:10 NKJV
It's by God's grace that we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8,9) It's by His grace that we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17:28) And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet all our needs. (2 Cor. 12:9,10)
Let the unmerited, divine favor of God rest on you today. Let His grace wash over you on this adventure called life and you will find strength for the journey.
Not a creature was stirring, not even a...
Well, someone was stirring - me!
This morning I tiptoed down the steps into my living room - the same room where yesterday my youngest son tore open his presents making a sea of colorful wrapping paper. The room was dark except for the shining white lights on the Christmas tree. I sank into my favorite reading chair by the fireplace and looked at the opened gifts scattered under the tree.
I clicked on my reading lamp and read the following verse from First Corinthians. As I read my Bible, I realized anew the wonderful gift we are given in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me." I Cor. 15:10 NKJV
It's by God's grace that we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8,9) It's by His grace that we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17:28) And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet all our needs. (2 Cor. 12:9,10)
Let the unmerited, divine favor of God rest on you today. Let His grace wash over you on this adventure called life and you will find strength for the journey.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Noel means Christmas
By Susan Skitt
When I gaze into the sky,
By Susan Skitt
When I gaze into the sky,
I think of yesteryears gone by—Noel.
For in the night there shone a star
For in the night there shone a star
That wisemen followed from afar—Noel.
Shepherds heard a joyful sound
Shepherds heard a joyful sound
When angels chorused all around—Noel.
And in a manger filled with hay,
And in a manger filled with hay,
Our newborn Savior, Christ did lay—Noel.
Jesus came from Heaven above
Jesus came from Heaven above
To fill our hearts with his great love—Noel.
And if you trust in him, tis true,
And if you trust in him, tis true,
He will save your life and make you new—Noel.
Gone forever is the darkness of sin,
Gone forever is the darkness of sin,
When you choose to let the Savior in—Noel.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A Good Day
Tuesday night, I went to bed very early (9pm). That doesn't happen often, but when it does, I usually wake up VERY early. So, at 4am I could no longer sleep, especially because I had a children's story brewing in my head. What to do? WRITE! Oh, I knew this was going to be a good day!
I filled a mug with water and popped it into the microwave for a cup of hot chocolate. With that in the works, I sat down on my couch with my laptop, opened up a Word Doc. and began to type. Ah, for any of you writers out there, don't you just love it when the words flow? (Hint: I'll let you in on a little secret. My story is about a mouse who saves his town. That's all I'll tell you for now.)
Anyhow, I made it 3/4 of the way through, realized I hadn't touched my hot water to make hot chocolate, and discovered it was officially time for my Mommy duties. My youngest son needed to rise and shine, get dressed, get fed, you know, all those important things that need to happen at the beginning of the day for 1st graders.
After driving him to school and as is my custom on Wednesday mornings, I sat in the car for a couple of minutes and read a few verses in my Bible, then walked into my son's classroom after they finished their "Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America" and a few other routine morning items), to help his class with their writing journals. Oh, what cute little stories they write. Every Wednesday morning, I get to read their stories and help encourage many up and coming storytellers in that group!
Then instead of going to the gym as is my normal routine, I drove back home, grabbed my laptop and headed to the bank and then to the supermarket. Yeah, you heard me right, the grocery store because my local supermarket has a Starbucks and a little cafe. When a writer has an idea flowing, they usually don't like to stop!
So after chatting with Patty about her upcoming wedding, (the barista who made my cocoa), I settled down at a chair and table and fired up "old Betsy", my greatly burdened and ancient as far as computers go, laptop. Within the hour, the first draft of my story was finished! Oh, I can't tell you how good that feels - (Thank you Lord!!!). If you're a writer - you know!
Of course there was another reason I went to the supermarket besides writing - to finish off my shopping for the week! As I loaded my few items onto the conveyor belt, the woman at the register rang up my groceries and after bagging them said, "Have a great day... or at least try to."
Now, how should I respond to that I wondered? "Yeah, I'll try." No. That sounds depressing. "You have a great day too?" Plausible. But the answer that kept coming to mind in the midst of all this is "Tell her about Jesus." No, I thought. "Holy Spirit, I don't think she'll want to hear it. She might think I'm a nut." But the burden that grew on my heart in those few seconds was so heavy that I blurted out as I gathered my bags, "Everyday is a great day with Jesus."
I watched for her response. A mildly confused look came across her face as I suspected would happen. She tipped her head and she said something like this, "That's good... I'll have to remember that."
What is God doing in your life? As we go about our normal everyday business, let's not forget to speak a word for the Lord. Yes, truly every day, no matter what happens, whether I go to the dentist like happened on Tuesday and get my mouth jabbed with needles only to find out they can't trace the infection to the root for my root canal (for the second time, which means I'll have to go back when my mouth blows up with pain), or if you finish an amazing story that will hopefully have children riveted to their seats, of course my seven-year-old was hopping around the kitchen batting a balloon while listening to my story later that night, but he still could tell me what happened and said, "Mom, are you going to be famous or something?" - LOL!
Everyday my friends, is a good day because of Jesus!
Live the adventure,
Susan
I filled a mug with water and popped it into the microwave for a cup of hot chocolate. With that in the works, I sat down on my couch with my laptop, opened up a Word Doc. and began to type. Ah, for any of you writers out there, don't you just love it when the words flow? (Hint: I'll let you in on a little secret. My story is about a mouse who saves his town. That's all I'll tell you for now.)
Anyhow, I made it 3/4 of the way through, realized I hadn't touched my hot water to make hot chocolate, and discovered it was officially time for my Mommy duties. My youngest son needed to rise and shine, get dressed, get fed, you know, all those important things that need to happen at the beginning of the day for 1st graders.
After driving him to school and as is my custom on Wednesday mornings, I sat in the car for a couple of minutes and read a few verses in my Bible, then walked into my son's classroom after they finished their "Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America" and a few other routine morning items), to help his class with their writing journals. Oh, what cute little stories they write. Every Wednesday morning, I get to read their stories and help encourage many up and coming storytellers in that group!
Then instead of going to the gym as is my normal routine, I drove back home, grabbed my laptop and headed to the bank and then to the supermarket. Yeah, you heard me right, the grocery store because my local supermarket has a Starbucks and a little cafe. When a writer has an idea flowing, they usually don't like to stop!
So after chatting with Patty about her upcoming wedding, (the barista who made my cocoa), I settled down at a chair and table and fired up "old Betsy", my greatly burdened and ancient as far as computers go, laptop. Within the hour, the first draft of my story was finished! Oh, I can't tell you how good that feels - (Thank you Lord!!!). If you're a writer - you know!
Of course there was another reason I went to the supermarket besides writing - to finish off my shopping for the week! As I loaded my few items onto the conveyor belt, the woman at the register rang up my groceries and after bagging them said, "Have a great day... or at least try to."
Now, how should I respond to that I wondered? "Yeah, I'll try." No. That sounds depressing. "You have a great day too?" Plausible. But the answer that kept coming to mind in the midst of all this is "Tell her about Jesus." No, I thought. "Holy Spirit, I don't think she'll want to hear it. She might think I'm a nut." But the burden that grew on my heart in those few seconds was so heavy that I blurted out as I gathered my bags, "Everyday is a great day with Jesus."
I watched for her response. A mildly confused look came across her face as I suspected would happen. She tipped her head and she said something like this, "That's good... I'll have to remember that."
What is God doing in your life? As we go about our normal everyday business, let's not forget to speak a word for the Lord. Yes, truly every day, no matter what happens, whether I go to the dentist like happened on Tuesday and get my mouth jabbed with needles only to find out they can't trace the infection to the root for my root canal (for the second time, which means I'll have to go back when my mouth blows up with pain), or if you finish an amazing story that will hopefully have children riveted to their seats, of course my seven-year-old was hopping around the kitchen batting a balloon while listening to my story later that night, but he still could tell me what happened and said, "Mom, are you going to be famous or something?" - LOL!
Everyday my friends, is a good day because of Jesus!
Live the adventure,
Susan
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