My God My Everything

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.…

In looking at the lives of Samuel and David, they both started out as young men that learned dependence on God at an early age. Hannah could not train Samuel to depend on her because she wouldn’t be there for him. David was left alone with the sheep and would not have others to rely on for help. Dependence on God is key to becoming a person after God’s own heart. No matter where we are or who we’re with, God is the One and Only source that we can truly depend on. People may leave us and forsake us but God never will. People will give advice but God’s…