Scripture

Mark 5:32-34 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Observation

Jesus was not angry with this woman for touching him. He knew she had touched him, but he stopped and asked who did it in order to teach her something about faith. Although the woman was healed when she touched him, Jesus said her faith caused the cure. Genuine faith involves action. Faith that isn’t put into action is not faith as all.

Application

Its hard to step out on faith sometimes. At least for me it has been. When I do though the rewards are many. I think sometimes people try and rely on faith alone to fix things. It reminds me of the story/joke about the man standing on the top of his house while flood waters surround him and he prays to God about sending help and God sends several options for him to be rescued, yet he denies each one, because he is expecting a miracle or perhaps God himself, who knows. We can pray and pray for help and God opens many doors, but we have to do our part and walk through, work through, and/or change things in our lives with our faith. God can do all (I mean ALL things), but just like the woman above, sometimes we need the lesson. Take action in your faith.

Pray

Lord I come to you rejoicing today, because of the times I have put my faith into action as you needed me to. It was a hard lesson that brought such rewards. At the time of the reward, I rejoiced for the ending, yet now I am able to look back at that time and see better the lesson not just the reward. Thank you Lord for your mercy and patience with me as I learn. Please help me to remember that I cannot live by faith alone, that I must take actions.

Amen~

Good Morning folks, I hope you are blessed this day and given the opportunity to bless someone else.

Scripture

Mark 4:24-25 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it we be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Observation

As you read God’s word carefully read it and think and pray about it for understanding and that your heart and mind be opened to it. The more you read His word and apply it to your life the more you will understand. His truth’s are clear, but our ability to understand is imperfect. Yet, as we obey the more it will sharpen our understanding of His word. However, if you do not stay in God’s word daily the harder it is to understand and recall His word, which in turn makes it harder to live this life.

Application

I feel my life is a perfect observation of those verses. I can see the days that I don’t spend time in His word. They seem more chaotic when I play them back in my mind. I forget the many verses that I have read and instead try my own remedies for that days problem. Do you know the more I spend in His word, not only do I understand more but I relinquish my pride easier and pray first instead of after all things have fallen apart. From my human mind I tell myself some days that I do not have time today to spend in His word, but if I only had that day, then that day would have gone smoother. I need (NEED) to take time each day in God’s word and in prayer to not only understand God’s plan for my life more completely, but also to live life more abundantly. So, I guess the application is no matter what, take time each day to study God’s word and spend time with Him in prayer.

Prayer

Lord, I want to live each day for you. To do this I know that I need your hand in my life. I need you each and every day. Please give me that strength or give me what I need to do this with you Lord. To build our relationship as father and child. Thank you so much Lord for your word and for knowing what is best for me. If left up to me Lord, I would most likely destroy it. I love you Lord, thank you for sending your Son, I cannot imagine that sacrifice. The love for one’s own child leaves me without words and you gave yours to cleanse us and save us. Thank you for your sacrifice. All I can say is thank you thank you thank you, for all you have done for me.

Amen.

“My Precious Ones”

It doesn’t look good when I say I am doing a 30 day post series and miss already after two days. Sadly, the stomach flu has hit our house I and I haven’t been close to a computer in two days. Please forgive my absence and I will be back shortly.

Guess, step #2 in God’s Plan was to rest up a bit.

Proverbs 16:3 – Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

I stink at time. Spending time, wasting time, finding the time. I am really bad at managing my time wisely. And, once again I have tried to do this all by myself. Then I realized, time management from a biblical perspective is not about the challenge to manage time. The Bible teaches that we need to surrender everything to God including our time. As I stated, I want to “make time”, in my life for community. This is a big priority in my life. A priority that I feel God has laid on my heart. So, for the next thirty days I am going on a journey on how to do just that. When God laid this on my heart, I said God, “I don’t have time”. From the very beginning I said I can’t, I am pretty sure can’t doesn’t exist in God’s vocabulary. Therefore, it shouldn’t exist in mine. So, today I am starting with a list of priorities and making time for them. As the 30 days pass, I will re-evaluate the list and add to it or change it. As He molds me, things change, right?

Time Priorities

God Time
Husband Time
Family Time
Caring for House Time (cleaning, caretaking, cutting wood, etc.)
Caring for Family Time (cooking, bathing, teaching, etc.)
Community Time (outside of the home, with family & friends & strangers)

I am a procrastinator! I admit it. Being a procrastinator wreaks havoc on so many things. Mostly it destroys my sanity. The world does not need an insane mom on the loose. You know that saying, “when mom’s unhappy, everyone’s unhappy”. I do this to myself, no one but me makes me unhappy. So, God said, lets fix this. I said, rather reluctantly, “okay”.

Handing my time over to God – Step One

His answer today for me, was this –

Proverbs Chapter 31:15 – She gets up while it is still dark…

I get it, no really I do. Get up before the kids, check! I love sleep, I mean I LOVE sleep. Talking about time, well for as long as I can remember I have been a sleep in kind of gal. No easy step 1′s, God? We can’t ease into this journey can we? PLEASE! Can’t you just hear God saying or thinking, “For once can you just listen and obey, instead of talking back to me?” That is how I feel with my kids. So, hear goes…

Prayer

Lord, please give me the strength I need to get up every morning and spend time with you before each day begins. I hand my time over to you Lord that you may help me succeed.

Amen.

Do you make memories with your children and family? Memories that will last a life time that they will cherish when they have their own children. I was thinking this morning of a time when my Dad, was addicted to Waffle House coffee. On Saturday mornings he would yell out, “Who is coming to Waffle House with me”. Mind you this was at 4 am. Back then I remember thinking, “you have got to be kidding me”. Yet the times when I did go, I loved it. It was time with just me and my Dad and the other crazy 4 am coffee drinkers. Everyone that came into Waffle House knew his name. We would all chat and laugh and I would get a handful of quarters to play songs on the jukebox. It is a fond memory for me.

My Dad & Sugar Plum Fairy (Making Memories)

I was reading a blog recently about as a family they go out to eat once a week at the same restaurant. Actually here is the post, My Home Sweet Home. Just had to give you the link, she is a good read. The point I loved about this post was community. They are making memories with their family but they are also building lifetime friendships and bonds. So many times nowadays we get caught up with ways not to make friendships, (twitter, facebook, google+, tv, smartphones, blogs, email, texting, etc.) or build communities face to face. It almost feels like this generation is losing the art of communicating face to face, even with family.

Take the time to spend quality time with your family, friends, children, parents, strangers each week. People is where life is lived. Where bonds are formed and memories are forged. In fifty years, heck 10 years, are you going to remember that facebook status or are you going to remember that time with that guy and the thing that brings a smile to your face.

What ways do you spend quality time with your family? How do you build community? Me and my bunch have a day of the week that we have family night. As for community, that is something I want to start. I would love to begin a weekly or bimonthly time where we meet in the same place at the same time and with friends and family where we bond, share, and play.

I am writing this post as much for me as I am for you. I write this thinking do I have the time? And, then I think in my wee little brain. What does God say? Time is like the mist. It is fleeting. With that fleeting time I need to spend it wisely. Other than God, people are the most important thing on this planet. Telling them about God, showing God’s love and compassion to them. If we do not take and make time for the people in our lives and the strangers on this planet how can we ever be called children of God ourselves. My mission and only mission as His child is to love and obey Him. Part of obeying Him is reaching out to others. Reaching out is not preaching to them. It is showing them His love. Being a friend in need, a hand to help, a smile, a hug, an ear. By building a community where I can spend time with others can also lead me to be there when people need God’s love. I would love to start a community that may start with friends and family but where those friends and family can and will feel comfortable to bring their friends and family and that community grows.

So, for the next 30 days, I am going to pray and write about ways to make time in my life for others. I am hoping that with God’s help I can start building that community.

Good Day Mates!

Scripture

Mark Chapter 3:11-12 – Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

Observation

Okay don’t laugh, but this is totally what I saw this morning. So, Satan is God’s eternal Nemesis right? And, Satan’s henchman are evil spirits, demons, and the like, right? And, we are God’s children, which means Satan hates and despises us because of this and wants to hurt us, turn us, rip the hairs from our chinny chin chin. And, Satan would most likely use his henchman to do these nasty dirty things to us, right? Those nasty dirty henchman can do nothing to us. Look at Mark Ch.2, verse 11 & 12. They saw Jesus and fell down and cried out, and then He gave them orders and they obeyed those orders. Do you think they wanted to? No, but God is all powerful ya’ll!

Application

So, I am not saying that Satan cannot make things very difficult during this life we have on earth. But, never fear, your Lord God is always near. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He can control the henchman of Satan. He can stop Satan. Put your fears at God’s feet and let His peace wash over you. Pray to him before you roll out of bed. Do not wait until things go wrong and you have tried everything that our human minds can think up. Go to Him first and often. He loves you, He loves me and he wants what is absolutely best for our lives.

Prayer

Lord, I am the worlds worst of not lying my fears at your feet. I worry about things each and every day and try to fix them on my own. Lord, I need your peace, contentment and wisdom. Wisdom to come to you and seek out your will. Your contentment that I may rely on that will and not continue to think I am the all powerful one, when many times I have proven myself wrong again and again. Your peace, that I can boldly go without fear and do your work. Help me to remember that there is nothing in this world or beyond this world that I need fear other than you. I love you Lord and I thank you for your patience with me.

Amen.

“The Cape”

This small family has a very huge heart and they are currently being blessedly used by Christ. They have been given the opportunity to be His hands and feet in a small area of the Dominican Republic. I have wanted to share them with you for sometime now and God really laid it on my heart this morning that I write this post.

I have known the Fernandez family for nigh on 20 years. I have seen Kelly & Shawn grow into these amazing harvesters for God. I am blessed to know them. I would love for you to get to know them as well and what God is doing in their lives and the lives of those around them. Let God inspire you today through them. Please also pray for them and their work in the Dominican Republic.

Go visit them on their …

Facebook page.
Three Sixteen Missions Blog
or
Three Sixteen Missions Website

“Fun in Pop Pop’s Bamboo Jungle”