My God My Everything

This weekend I experienced three different thieves. I woke up at 5:30 am to take the dogs out. When I returned to bed I looked out the window and noticed that the door of the work suburban was open. After reviewing the security camera I saw three people walk by the vehicle and then one stopped in front of it as a look out and the other two opened the doors and began to rummage through it looking for things to steal. Fortunately there was nothing of value in the suburban and they moved on. Later that morning I received a text alert that my debit card had been fraudulently…

The other day a friend posted a suggestion on Facebook that caught my attention. The post simply said, “Wondering who God says you are? Go read Ephesians 1-3.” Little did I know that God had much more waiting for me as I began to read the reminder. In addition to reading all six chapters in Ephesians (I couldn’t put it down) I read my daily devotional and it had a short prayer that really grabbed my heart and made me say, “Me too Lord.” “Lord God, I desire to be counted as one who knows My God, one who shall be strong and do exploits, one who uses the understanding…

On the final morning of the Labor Day weekend I had a perfect bible study message. It came from Psalm 16:6-11 and tied in perfectly with the lessons on training and boundaries that I’ve been learning with Roscoe. Sometimes training is difficult and painful, but always with purpose. God is a good God and only wants what’s best for us so when I read the first portion of the passage it made my heart smile because it is so true. “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;    you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;    surely I have a delightful inheritance.I will praise the Lord, who counsels…

It’s Labor Day weekend and I’m at our weekend home. The campground is full of people celebrating the long weekend and enjoying some of the last days of summer. As the day begins to wind down the campfires are lighting up and the scents of the outdoors are everywhere. Kids are excited to cook hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire and family and friends are circling the fire pits with their camp chairs. In my quiet place by the river I can hear voices throughout the campground of families sharing stories, laugh and enjoying each others company. There’s something about a campfire that brings people together and quiets your…

On my walk with Roscoe today I was thinking about how stressful it can be at times keeping him out of trouble. He is so curious and at times naughty. But I’ve learned that if I close the doors it makes it so much better. By closing the doors and setting boundaries the temptations in those rooms are no longer an option. When I leave the door open he will eventually find something he is not suppose to have and quickly run through his dogie door outside and try to play keep away. Tracy told me not to be surprised if the neighbors gave me a weird smile when I…

Our new puppy Roscoe is a cute little beagle or at least that’s how he started out. He is growing like crazy and has already doubled in size since we got him. Along with the physical growth his willful and playful personality has been developing. Being a puppy he likes to chewy on everything and being a type of hound dog he likes to explore. When we read about beagles before purchasing him, we learned that they tend to wander off because they are so focused on following scents that they don’t pay attention to where they are. The study also said that you will probably have to go find…

Over the last several months I have been trying to adjust to changes in my life. There are some temporary changes involving work and schedules and there are some major changes like the change of life. Never having been through the change of life before I’m at a loss of how to handle all the unique differences I am experiencing. I’ve been researching all kinds of questions and this morning I think I finally came up with a game plan, or rather, God answered my prayers of what’s going on and how best to handle this season of my life. Many of the articles that I’ve read have mentioned the…

Many times we’ve heard, “Go to your happy place or I’m going to my happy place.” I was thinking about that this week and thought of my home and our weekend home and wondered which was my happy place. I have enjoyable moments as well as stressful ones at each place. So where is my happy place? While on a walk I was talking with God about it and He reminded me of His lesson on choosing joy. No matter where we are we can choose joy. As I pondered the reminder I wondered about times that make me sad or hurt. How can I choose joy in those moments?…

Sometimes God gives me messages in the most unique places. One of my favorite is in the quietness of a bubble bath. I think it’s because I’m finally still enough to listen. As I was pouring out my heart to God the hot bath gave me space to cry and let it all go. Sometimes I just need a good cry and when I’m all cried out, I’m in a place when all I can do it listen. When I had finally reached that place a song played that said, “Hold on. Your answer is coming. The breakthrough is almost here.” It was one of those moments that I knew…

I’ve been reading and studying the mentors in King David’s life to see what the people were like who had the greatest influences on him. Samuel was one of the most Godly influences in his life and in the nation of Israel. I came across a time in his life that I found very relate able. He had been leading Israel for many years and they had decided they wanted a king so they could be like other nations around them. As you can imagine he felt great rejection and yet he was given the assignment of anointing his replacement and to continue serving in every capacity that was required.…