Lillies

Happy Sabbath

The Goodness of the Lord for this week?

I am thankful for a good and productive week back at work.  I am thankful that He has put in my mind a reminder to schedule two people I completely forgot about and I am thankful that I had space on my calendar to add them for the last week in January.

I am thankful for my little son and that he says, “I love you Mommie”.  I am thankful that he is doing well in school and is a healthy happy five year old.

I am thankful for something that I asked about last week.  He answered it the very next day.  I am looking at homes right now and my real estate agent sent me a couple the first week of January and again this week.  It will be February and March that the serious search is to start but my heart is set on two homes at this time (one on the list and one that is not).  I want a rancher because I’m guaranteed at least 3 bedrooms, a fire place, a spacious layout and I won’t have to deal with climbing stairs if I’m still living there 30 years from now in old age. I’m having issues with my knee and body already so I don’t need a multi story home especially if I will be living in it all by myself when my son moves out.  I imagine buying the house on the other side of the woods from my parents.  I imagine having enough money to pay the taxes each year on their home, my home, and the taxes on the property in NC.  One house could be rented.  The other would remain a vacation home and I would live in mine.  It’s just a thought, I don’t know.

I think I said I was thankful for being made aware of a financial issue last week.  I have racked up a lot of debt.  I have drafted up a plan to pay it off and am working towards this starting this month.  I had to take at least a thousand dollars from my house money to make a little progress and if I commit to the plan, I could pay it off in 6-7 years.  Depending on how much I put down on the house, I might be able to pay it off in half the time or less. 

I am learning how to live on less.  I have a new appreciation for what my parents did to make our household work.  I am thankful for two opportunities to manage a house on my own and learning about gas heating and water heaters and the problems I could encounter (and how to solve them). 

I am thankful that I can trust God.  I was feeling down a bit earlier this week but God reminded me of His love for mankind, for us, for me.  We are worth more than the birds and God feeds them.  He cares for the lilies of the field.  I spent time this morning looking at photos of lilies and was amazed at the beauty of them and variety.  God cares for even them. I witnessed something very sad this morning on my way to church and I don’t want to mention the details of it.  I am thankful that God is a God of compassion.  He does not want us to suffer or go through hardship but we must remember that there are times that we will face persecution and difficulty if we are trying to follow Jesus.  Even with the hardships, remember that God loves you, He really does.  He sees all and knows how you feel.  You may bee going through something right now but God will turn it around for your good in time.  As it is turned around, please remember Him.  As you are going through it, remember Him.  He knows and truly does care.

Happy Sabbath to you 

All Is Good, All Is Well

Happy Sabbath,

I had a great vacation week off and thankful for this time to get away from my home with my son (giving my neighbor a break in the process which I’m sure she can appreciate).   

I was able to stay over at my parent’s house and house sit for the vacation and the Lord permitted that they safely returned this afternoon.  My church has a new pastor and I was able to give my friend a ride to another church when she needed.  I was able to assist during the Pathfinders ceremony for the first time.  I was able to take care of the neighborhood cat (my son named him Dolphin so I’m sticking with that).  He lives in my parent’s back yard and it was just nice to interact with him and see him happy and well.

I am thankful for the Lord opening my eyes to some of my habits that I need to change and I am willing to put forth the effort now.  I have racked up a lot of credit card debt that I could have avoided and I am even now thankful that there is a way to work my self out of it.  

The other thing is the Youtube Channel, They Overcame By.  Last Sabbath, friday night I went looking on their channel because I was in a place where there was wifi and I have not had access to free internet for many months now at my apartment.  I would use a great deal of my data if I used my phone or tablet.  I searched and saw nothing was posted since last year and was disappointed thinking to myself, what happened to this channel?  God is still blessing people and I know there are more testimonies to see on the channel.  I went on to 3ABN and found some Veggie Tales for my son to look at.  Tell me why when I came back from church last week, Saturday night the first video for 2018 was posted on there?  I was beyond excited and watched it right away.  If you don't know about TheyOverCameBy, you really need to go to Youtube and watch it.  It is really encouraging and reminds us that God is still ever present and on the throne.  If He can do these things for those people, He most certainly can do it for you.   

 May you be blessed and have a great Sabbath and great new week to come :)

Joining a New Church

Happy Sabbath,

I will keep this short but I wanted to thank the Lord that I had a great day and went to church with my little sister. My parents went out of state to work on property else where so I decided to stay over at their house for the weekend to give my neighbor a break from my yelling at my son and my son’s regular disruptions. I was going to church this morning when my sister dropped by unannounced to work on a birthday card for my son. I extended an invite to her to come and amazingly, she said yes and came with us to church which was awesome.   I was able to participate in a profession of faith ceremony  (joined my church after attending for over a year finally) and see several others get baptized.  I had a great week at work and was productive.  I look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in the coming weeks.  My son’s birthday is next week and we are preparing for that.  I hope and pray that my sister was able to get something out of the service (a lot was going on).  I look forward to serving God in a higher capacity at this church location and am thankful for this opportunity.

Also, I want to thank the Lord for reminding me to pick up yogurt for my son.  I always forget things for my son and this was an item he needed for his lunch on Monday.  If it were not for His reminder, my son would have been without his yogurt for sure and I’m thankful that He allows the Holy Spirit to guide us in this way.  I know it was God for sure.

That’s all I want to say and hope you have a great week!

Happy New Year 2018

Happy Sabbath and Happy New Year

I am thankful that my son and I could see a new year and that the first week of this year has been great thus far.  

I am thankful for something I read this week after looking over some screen shots of pure bred dogs I was for a brief period thinking I’d see about adopting.  I’m not adopting any pets, I have enough to deal with.  

I looked over the images of the dogs (the whippet, the Finnish spitz, etc..) and wondered about any pets or animals in the Bible that may have an inspirational story that I could review.  In my search, I recalled the donkey that spoke and searched for the story about Baalam.  I have not read the story for a long time so I went to Numbers 22 and read over the entire account and realized something for the first time in reading it. Baalam was not a jew.  He was not an israelite as he was already in the land with Balak’s people as the people of Israel were approaching and passing through.  Israel had just defeated Sihon and other surrounding nations and the people of Moab were afraid as they came into town.  Balak heard that Balaam spoke words to bless and curse people and it sounded like he was around the neighborhood for some time.  When Balak sent messengers to request he come to Balak to curse the people of Israel, Balaam said he needed to consult with the Lord first.  Not baal or some other false deity of the time. He said the Lord.  I was extremely encouraged by this story.  I know that in the new testament, it mentions the sin of Balaam and it is easy to think he isn’t a good example to follow.  He was not good in that he did not obey the Lord when He said that if the men should call him, he should go (he got up and went in the morning and they didn’t call him so his way was perverse before the Lord of course).  The Lord was merciful in that He made the donkey speak to get his attention.  He did not want to slay Him.  After Balaam saw the angel of the Lord in the Way and was rebuked, he walked correct moving forward.  

What I find most inspiring is that the Lord was talking to a person who was not of the blood line of Israel.  He was willing to hear and seek the Lord and the Lord accepted Him.  I like the stories that show people in very close communication with God; ones like Elijah and Samuel and Moses.  Although I could easily put Elijah in the same category as he pops up first in 1 Kings 17 and came out of the wilderness.  No one really knows where he came from, I mean what exactly is a Tishbite anyway?  I like that Samuel from a young age heard God and continued to walk and talk with Him until his old age.  I like how the Lord showed His love and care for Elijah when he was fed by ravens in the wilderness and the tenderness He showed when Elijah hid from Jezebel and felt defeated.  God cared for him and accepted him.  I don’t know the end of Balaam, but I am encouraged that God does talk to His people.  Ellen G White was another person and I know and accept this because I prayed about this when I was considering taking a church office before.  God revealed the answer to me and I gladly stepped into the role.  

I reviewed a booklet of the 28 beliefs of the Seventh Day Adventist church.  I believe and accept every single one.  I have the fundamentals 27 book somewhere in a box in my apartment and when I was baptized back on 9/1/2007, I remember reviewing all of them except for the one on Ellen G White.  Ellen White was not someone we talked much about and I think that it was a mistake to leave her out.  If anyone is on the fence about anything regarding what they believe, pray to the Lord about it and wait for His answer and He will show you what is truth or fable.  God spoke to Ellen and He spoke to so many others before her.  He is able to talk to us even now.  We just have to be willing to listen to Him and follow what He is saying in His word.  

I do the profession of faith testimony next Sabbath and I am looking forward to it.  I am also taking a church office and will need to pray that I listen closely to the Lord so that I speak what is right and truth to these children.

I went to the new years eve service and was glad to have gone with my son.  I was able to share a little about what the Lord has brought me through and to pray with other believers that evening.  I received a gift membership to a fitness center and decided I would visit it on January 1st.  

On January 1st, I went over to the center to find that they were closed despite what the website was saying.  I went over and spent an hour or two with my parents before heading back home.  January 2nd I had a great and productive day. January 3rd, someone knocked off the drivers side mirror of my car and I ended up having to get it fixed yesterday.  I expected to pay over $200-$300 but my mechanic was able to find the mirror for less than I saw on sale online and did the work for $100 which I am thankful for.  I took off on friday because of the blizzard and worked from home on thursday.  

Church today was great and I am hoping to resolve a hot water heater issue soon.  My hot water stopped working early this morning.  I thought I fixed it but it looks like it’s a problem with the diverter valve (university of google will do that for ya) so I will have to call someone, but I don’t want to call anyone on the Sabbath.  It’s not an emergency and I was able to wash up with stove top boiled hot water today.  I’ll call at sunset and leave out of here tomorrow morning for my parents house (I usually leave on Sunday nights) so we won’t have to sit around and suffer any further ill effects of the system.  The central air is working and water is running so I’m keeping the water dripping so as to prevent the pipes from freezing.

I thank the Lord that we have heat and running water.  I thank the Lord that we have clean clothes, dishes, and so many other things.  My drivers side mirror is back on the car and I am thankful that I didn’t have to drive out in a snow storm with snow covered windows and 1-2 functioning mirrors.  It was so dangerous out there and the Lord protected us from that.  My son was able to stay home from school for two days and I could spend the time with him.  

I am thankful for a whole new year to do better and try new things.  I pray and hope that you too have a great year and hope you had a wonderful start as well.  Thank Him for the challenges and for the blessings.  Everything will work out for good to those who love the Lord so love Him with all that you’ve got this year!

Happy Sabbath :)

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An hour later, the Lord allowed for my hot water to come back on without me having to call maintenance.  God is good!  Thank you Jesus!