15

Today one of my best friends, one of my teachers, one of the people God uses to speak to me, my first born is 15 years old.

I didn't believe it when people would say enjoy, because time flies.  And here we are 15 years later.  Wow.  That's not to say I am no longer enjoying her.  I do.

I enjoyed her chubby cheeks when she was a baby...looking at her with baby food all over her face as she tried to feed herself...watching her take her first steps...hearing her sweet voice making up words, then trying to say things we could actually understand (God made aminals!)...watching her onstage at school plays and programs...seeing her in the role of big sister...cooking with her and ending up white from throwing flour at each other while we laugh and end up rolling on the floor...seeing her start to notice boys...seeing her fall in love with Jesus...teaching her how to drive...hearing about her dreams to be a chef...now a missionary and a Doctor...

I am thankful for who she is and who she wants to be.  I don't care what career she chooses as long as it is the path she feels God is calling her to take.  I want her to have peace.  I want her to be filled with joy.  I want her to allow herself to be loved by God so she can pour the love He gives her onto those who cross her path.

Happy You day Alex.  You make me a better person every day.  I love you.  Mama.

Hope you laugh

So, one of the things I am trying to be better at is having consistent quiet time with Jesus.  In order to do this and not be distracted, I know I need to do it at the wee hours of the morning before it's time to wake anyone else up.

I re-started this on Friday morning, it was great.  Saturday, it was great.  Skiped Sunday (not sure why).  This morning I wake up, ready for quiet time.  Quiet time, right now consisting of reading a particular verse, given in a short study I'm doing along with my Micro church.  Then following some steps to really dig into that verse.  I'm really enjoying the flow of studying a verse in this way. 

Anywho...

This morning, Banana (our cat) decided he was not going to allow me to focus. 

He began his shenanigans by laying on my journal!  Not cool. So I gently moved him so he would still partially be on the journal but so I could also write in it.  At which point he decided he would bite the pen as I wrote.  Again, not cool.  That part of my entry now looks like my 2 year old niece's doing.

So, I took him off the table and put him on the carpet.  Which didn't do much good.  He quickly jumped back on.

This time he decided he would "hide" behind my lunch bag/purse and with big eyes (like the cat from Shrek when he is trying to be cute) peek at me from one side to the other and then leap over the bag and with both paws attack my face!  You can picture it right?  I know you've seen the video of the cat standing on the two back paws slapping the dog???  Except, the dog was me!

Ahhhh. 

Back down to the carpet he goes.  Before I can even start to write again, he is back on the table at which point , in exasperation I lean my head and shoulders waaay back as a sign of defeat.  Which he apparently totally understood as such because he decided to climb on my chest and lay there!

I had to surrender.  Darn cute stinkin cat!  So, I somehow cuddled him with one arm and finished my lesson with the other.

I know God has a sense of humor.  But really?  The cat to teach me patience?  Or was it to teach me that loving on someone, paying attention to them when needed should take presidence?  Was it so I'm not so "stuck on" having a list of when to do what?  Was it to show me that those little things are just that, little things?

In any case, as the wonderful God that He is....although I did not focus as I should, He filled me up just as if there had been no interruptions.  Thank you Lord. 

Short but sweet

A friend sent me a devotional from God's Daily Word and in today's message was this sentence...Chew on it...

We may lose some of the battles, but through Jesus, the war has been won.

To rejoice or not to rejoice...that is the question

My two cents...

In everything we do, we should consider what God's view of "it" would be. 

Do you believe God loves everyone?  Then that includes the rapist, the murderer, the terrorist, the liar, the gluton, the prideful, the rich, the poor, the wise, the uneducated, the gossiper, the worker, the lazy.  It includes us all.

I believe He rejoices when any of His children repent, ask for forgiveness and accept salvation.

Therefore, I also believe that He weeps when one of His children is lost to darkness and dies without repenting, without asking forgiveness, without accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I don't want to rejoice while God weeps.  I want His mind, His heart, His thoughts, His wisdom. 

Oh Lord, help me.  Renew my mind...every day.