A blessing from above!

It is a precious little boy! By the end of January, we'll be grandparents- I wonder what plans God has for this little one? As I write that the holy spirit illuminates the words of Christ when He said " I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." I pray that very thing with the Lord for my little grandson. A new member of the family !

The road is not clear and we can't see ahead and no plans are certain. What in life is? Only one thing is. That is His love.

The other night the Lord asked me: " Do you trust me"? Do you trust me to know I'm aware of everything that's going on!" "Look back and see that I was there and know that I am God and I am here now" "Be still and know that I am God"

The spirit led me to focus in on what He is doing in the lives of my children, my husband, myself, my grandchildren, my friends, and my family. He's working out plans far beyond my comprehension. I believe that while things look rather glum, the Lord is working behind the scenes and is the great multi-tasker extraordinaire. He's much more interested in what is going on inside while we as humans want to judge things by what we see or think we know. For only God can see what's inside a person's heart. Then he led me with a visual of Joseph's life. I saw that through his life was the power of what God does. Although it was really looking pretty darn glum, the Lord had a purpose we can't always see and sometimes miss while the going is rough. It is the evidence of what God can turn around...I rejoice in the good times. I rejoice in the uncertain times. I rejoice in the pain, persecution, & what ever the Lord allows because I know he will do great things for all those he loves & those that love him. What Jesus did in the life of Joseph was to bring many to himself. The life Joseph lived was an example that harm was meant for good.

Where ever evil is God is in control and will use it and make something good out of it that couldn't be done by anyone other than Him. Our circumstances good and sinful will not derail what God wants to accomplish. It is means by which the Lord uses for the purposes of drawing ourselves and others to Him. I just forget..not much different than the Israelites..I'm humbled by His grace & mercy & that He doesn't hold it against me.

I want to live a life focused on what God is doing ! +

Genesis 50:19-21

But Joseph said to them, "don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God inteded it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children."

Let nothing consume us but Jesus

Right this minute
I need to relax
my heart hurts
and my brain is tired

I close my eyes
and in the stillness
you are there
bringing comfort and peace

What was stressing me
is put into perspective
as it is taken out of my hands
& into your hands

No place loves us like
his mercy, grace, and peace
Thank you Dear Father
forgiven and set free


I came to you tonight
for I have sinned
and you have brought me to you
and in your presence now
I feel a conviction coming on
it was from fear
the root cause:
wanting to get my own way

Just as quickly as it came
I was not thinking of you
I quickly saw how I was
living without you

I lay that fear at your feet
I know you have a plan
I will not be afraid
I will put you first

You plant my feet on solid ground
You plan and direct the path
You take away the sin
You are the first and the last
the beginning and the end
a cleansing and consuming fire

Laughter

Today at the spa there seemed to run a similiar thread throughout the day. Today was great fun and I laughed alot. Every one of my clients laughed alot too. I mean REALLY laughed.

I was the first one to arrive at the spa this morning. I decided that I was going to put some new music in all 5 discs. I hit the repeat button twice like I do to my personal CD player so that all 5 discs will continue to play in turn throughout the day.

Turns out, the first song played over and over again for 90 minutes. My client began to laugh hysterically about 20 minutes into her session. I began to laugh with her because she was laughing so hard. Everytime the song started up again we'd laugh real hard together. Nobody else noticed the song playing over and over again, it was hard to believe it! She was a good sport being a mother of 4 children under the age of 7, she was use to repetition.

My second client started laughing about the time the second song started to play. It sounded like a mexican chant song! She started waving her hands in the air like an orchestra leader! We both started cracking up! Ironically, by the end of the massage she was sound asleep!

My third client was the kicker. After she had settled onto the massage table and I walked in, the first thing she said to me was "Who was that playing on the CD?" I couldn't believe it. I was thinking she must hate this music too! I was thinking to myself I sure picked the winning CD's this morning and I began to laugh out loud. She started laughing too not knowing why and I explained to her that something about the CD's I put in the player this morning has caused alot of chuckles today. She told me she absolutely loved the music and wanted to know who it was and if we had it for sale! She wanted it for her son's engagement party and from there she never stopped talking & laughing throughout her massage.

I don't know what happened to the sound of the music with my last client. It just seemed to disapear into the background. This woman had had a visit with her chiropractor yesterday for an adjustment in her neck and he sent her to his massage therapist who severely bruised both her trapezius muscles. It was awful. She also had lymphodema in her left arm from having had breast cancer 12 years ago and never wore one of those arm braces recommended. I was reluctant to give her a massage but I was glad I did because she had an emotional release during the massage with sighs of smiles and laughter. She had a pleasant smile on her face and said she would definately be coming back in.

I came home and shared this with Steve and he also reminded me that this "music redundancy thing" happened on our vacation as well. We were sitting there eating breakfast while that country song "That's the way love goes babe" played on and on and on. We found it funny then too that nobody else seemed to notice but us two!

It's fun to laugh at silly nothing! It connects people and puts us at ease.

Thank you for the medicine Lord.....! It does our soul good!

Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine"

The Hill Country

My husband and I just returned home tonight from a short vacation to the Hill Country. We had a good restful time. We saw lots of wildlife and exotic animal ranches along the way. What a neat way to live.
Getting away from the usual routine of my daily life, brings me a new perspective on how I want to live my life. Every time I go on vacation, I see how busy my life is. Everytime I go on vacation, I experience the blessings God has given me that I take for granted in my busyness.
The last few days I've been at a slower pace. I don't want to live life in a hurry. I want to experience and appreciate the beauty of a single flower, a child's smile, a warm "hello" & live a life through a lense of gratitude.

Heaven Means Forever

My daily reading:

Ezekiel 43:7



"This is where I will live among the Israelites Forever"



In these chapters about the rebuilding of the Temple in the tiniest detail, it reminds me of how much our Lord knows every detail about us. In the same way, He reveals a little at a time about himself to us.

In this descriptions of the details of rebuilding the temple, I see Him preparing us of what is to come as it is written in Rev. 22. Our imagination is small & he reveals this vision to Ezekiel for us to understand. He speaks of a place called heaven that will exist with God Himself as the Temple.

This verse is filled with hope and a promise for those who believe in Him. They will dwell with Him forever.

Dear Heavenly Father-

I am grateful that you have plans for those who love you & have placed their faith alone in you. There's not a single day that your not in the details. May all those who love you feel your presence & know your in all the details & that you live within us forever.

To Him be the glory forever-

Amen