My Everything Quilt

Yesterday was one emotional day. I am so glad it is over. It was one of those days where you wake up already on the brink of losing it and as things progress, eventually something happens and the dam breaks. That something doesn't have to be big; a little something will work! I love it when friends remind you of things you already know, but you just needed to hear it. Of course, it can also be very convicting. A question was posed to me that I had not considered before. It was like a wake up. I had to look at myself and confess what I wanted was not what I should be wanting. That question: Do you want a relationship with ___ more than a relationship with God? And then I was hit with another question: Are you more concerned about ___ relationship with God than your relationship with ___? Thought-provoking doesn't even come close. Heart-searching is more like it. I am trying to keep my mind focused on God's best and His timing. But there are those times where meltdowns occur....

Isn't it wonderful how God shows His faithfulness?! You pray and pray and He answers in ways you really don't expect. Lesson to be learned here: Don't worry! God is in control and He does have your best in mind! He NEVER fails! He can't; He is God! That burden you think is too much to bear? He's there to carry it for you. You think you are getting the bad end of the deal? He loves you and wants what is best for you. His word is true and you can place your trust in it. He is faithful, just, true, and worthy of our praise. OK, maybe it was not such a big deal. But to you it was a big deal and it caused you concern. He is the God of all comforts. You really can count it all joy when you encounter various trials. My role in all this is to know His word and trust in it! I may never see the results, but I can know He hears my prayers and knows my hurtings. It's just His timing is not always my timing.

"I am not your servant." How many times have I felt like saying that to my children? And my husband, for that matter?! The problem then arises: I want to have a servant's heart! I would call this a dilemma. So, how do I serve my family with an attitude of service and not want to tell them to do it themselves? How do I not angrily say to the child sitting on the sofa watching TV while I unload the groceries, "You now have food!"? How am I supposed to teach them to do for themselves and not wait for someone else to do for them, and to serve one another at the same time? When I come behind them and wipe up the crumbs they left or I put the dish in the dishwasher they didn't take time to do, is this serving them or am I doing them a disservice by not making them learn to do for themselves? I have struggled with this issue for years (my oldest now being 25) and still have not found an answer that is satisfying. I keep saying that love is an action. Taking care of...

Just got home from a pleasant evening with a friend. We treated ourselves to Frosty Frog salads and quiche, and coffee and cake for dessert. The food was just right. And the conversation was...well you know how it goes when 2 friends haven't been able to visit for a while. We caught each other up on our lives and so forth. When you start thinking too much about what is going on in your life, good and/or bad, you can so easily forget that other people have problems, too. Not trying to compare problems, but some things just help to put your own troubles into a different perspective. Your problem is still there along with whatever goes with it, but you can forget for a while and try to offer comfort to someone else. Or at least listen to them share their hurts and concerns. I am thankful for my friends and their understanding when sometimes I don't even understand myself.

Hannah and I are reading The Hiding Place for school. This is a story I am very familiar with. I saw the movie years ago, when it first came out, and Rebekah was in a play. However, just having read the first three chapters, I think this book is going to be way more than I imagined it to be. Mr. ten Boom seems to have been a very godly man with much wisdom. For example: When Corrie asked her father to explain sex to her, he asked her to carry a travel case that was obviously too heavy for her. She said she would not be able to carry it. He told her that as her father it was his responsibility to carry things for her that were too heavy until she could handle them. This was one of those things. On losing her first love, her father comforted her with the words, "Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, God can give us the perfect way." He once told Corrie that our heavenly Father knows just what we need, and when we need it; don't run ahead of Him. I think this book ...

All I want is a new flower arrangement for my dining room table. I would prefer to buy a ready made one as opposed to making it myself. However, there are no acceptable arrangements out there to be had. The only nice part of my shopping trip today was spending time with my 2 oldest daughters. I just love to browse in stores with them. We each express our likes and dislikes of items, many times agreeing, occasionally disagreeing! But always fun! So, I guess I will wait until the new spring arrangements are out, and hopefully there will be something I like. I did return home to find my 2 youngest had done their chores and mine! What a blessing! I think my husband had even helped. What would I do without my precious family?!

It's the beginning of a new year and I want to do something I've never done before. The answer: this blog! I am not a great writer, I do not have a lot of profound wisdom to share with people, I don't have any earth shattering experiences that will amaze people. I just like to put my thoughts down once in a while so I can go back later and see what was happening in my life and how I lived through it. I write down verses that impact my thinking, and hopefully my actions; when I come across someone else's saying, I like to write that down so I will remember it. I even like to write down things I come across while reading. So, a good bit of this blog may come from other people! But, I wanted some place to record what is happening in my life and the members of my family.