My Everything Quilt

Does everyone have one of those people in their lives that give "interesting" gifts? You never know quite what to expect when they give you a present. Sometimes you even hold your breath while opening the gift waiting for the unveiling of who knows what! Most times you open the gift and wonder what they were thinking that caused them to buy this and give it to YOU. Were they thinking of you and your likes/dislikes; or just buying a gift because there was an occasion for a gift? Usually the gift tells the answer to that question! But you can be sure they meant for it to be special. Unfortunately, it usually is more special to them than to you. You just look at it, shake your head, and wonder what you are going to do with it. Then comes the obligatory thank you note. What do you say? Do you just thank them for the gift and don't mention exactly what it was? Do you say how you plan to use it? Do you dare mention how thoughtful it was of them to think of you in such a generou...

Wow!! To say that I am excited would be the understatement of the year! My daughter is having a baby! When the time came that I would no longer be the one to be having babies, I began to look forward to the day when my children would make me a grandmother. That name, "grandmother," sounds so old, though. So, we are going to have to come up with a not-so-old sounding name! Grandmother. I remember my grandmothers well. I remember spending a lot of time with them, even though they did not live in the same town we did. My parents would take us to them to spend the summer vacation. We would go to them at Christmas. I even remember an Easter in Moultrie, where Granny and Daddy Bo lived. I remember riding in Granny's car; she was rather short and could barely see over the steering wheel! They lived on a farm and I loved to go out to see the cows and any other animals that would be in the barn. I used to love meals in Granny's small kitchen. We would cram all 6 of us, my aunt...

To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy-to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.~Jude 24,25 We have victory in Jesus if we'll just live out what we've been given. It's not a victory to live the way we want to, but to live the way God wants us to. When we do that, we show His majesty and power to the world.~Open the eyes of my heart devotional

I love my husband. All day I have been struggling with something that I just can't seem to let go of. Then he calls and in 2 minutes calms me down and helps me look at the situation from a totally different perspective. More objectively, of course. Sometimes his way of looking at things can really get me frustrated. But most times, especially when it is an emotional issue, he can remain much more objective than I can. So why did I spend all day in emotional turmoil when all I needed to do was talk to him?! You would think after all these years I would have learned by now. I guess it just goes to show me how much I really do need him in my life. He is my rock, my anchor. Thank you, God, for giving me just exactly who I needed to share my life with. David, I love you more...

Leah is married. The wedding was very sweet. The bride was beautiful. The weather was gorgeous. You couldn't have asked for a better day. And yet... I have been learning for months now, that you can't control others actions; you can only control your own. No matter how painful another person's actions are toward you, you are only responsible for the way you act. The bottom line is you HAVE to leave it in God's hands. He uses all things to conform us to the image of His Son. Even, and especially the painful things. I have learned a lot going through these past few months in preparation for Leah's wedding. I have learned when to speak and when to just say nothing. I have tried to do the right thing because it was the right thing to do, no matter how I "felt" about it. I have watched my husband struggle with a pain I cannot image for a father to endure. I have cried until I thought there could not be any more tears, and yet there were. Through it all, my cons...

"Where do you turn for help? Turn to God's throne and call upon Him. Our Savior stands there, interceding for us. This requires that we stop focusing on our problems, trying to figure everything out, and thinking it's all up to us. When we call upon the Lord, He fights for us. He has the power to change circumstances, create new solutions, and sharpenour perspective. With our eyes off our problems, the battle is won."~Open the Eyes of my Heart devotional

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." Lord, don't let me be just a lot of noise. Help me show love as well as speak of love. "If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I want to DO, not just KNOW that I am loving. "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." Love is an ACTION. "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, and is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endur...

I just watched a video that was so incredibly timed it is unreal. I needed the reminder that God is the One who holds me up. He uses the trials in my life to shape me into the image of His Son. He gently, and sometimes not so gently, chisles away everything that gets in the way. He wants total control of my life, not just what I think I can't handle. (Which right now is pretty much everything!) The question then is this. Do I completely trust Him to control this situation? Do I want to know His ways and not my ways? Am I really relying on His righteous right hand to hold me up no matter what comes? Do I want this situation to glorify Him or make me happy? His timing is not my timing. Therefore, I have no choice but to rely on His widsom to work ALL things ACCORDING TO His will, IN His time, FOR His purpose, FOR His glory. Mold me, shape me, O God, according to Your will and purpose! My desire is to please You in all I do and say.