Life in His Hand

Today, I gathered my three girls together and read two Bible verses to them and prayed for them to be safe while they're away from me this weekend. Then I hugged them good-bye. They're staying with their dad and going to church with him in a nearby city. I think this is the first Sabbath I have spent alone. After they left, I came across a quote by a religious author about the importance of having family worship daily, morning and evening. I was going to share it tonight at our prayer vespers, but found something else. Funny, when I got there, another lady brought a story to read called-Family Prayer. So I dug my quote out and shared it. I had been praying about what God was calling me to do. And this is it! Once again! I don't know why I so struggle with this simple thing, but I DO!! For the New Year, I wanted this to be the only thing I was going to do and it's been terribly neglected. God is nudging me to pick it back up again. I wish this was easier for me, I wis

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 I was just watching a Youtube video about the treasures a woman found for a fall party she was planning. She had a huge, fancy, glass drink dispenser, various table risers and serving pieces and stands all adorned with "bling" in perfect fall tones. She also had a set of new napkin rings. She was so excited! I thought it was a bit much, but she LOVED it. Okay, so who doesn't like to shop? Who doesn't like to find that perfect item? That treasure? I know I've been thrilled to go on a mission and actually find just what I was hoping for! (My shopping days have been suspended until further notice) I've always been on the thrifty side. Kinda had to be. And I am okay with that. For me, finding true bargains at discount and second-hand stores is about as exciting as it gets and then there is a feeling of pride for how little was spent, etc. Really, it's that bargain-hunting gene I

I am soo sentimental about things! I save old letters and cards and little mementos. I even have a hard time...well actually...I don't delete emails from friends. I have a friend that I email back and forth a lot. This friend deletes my emails (I'm so offended!!!!!). I save his, thinking...what if something were to happen to this person, I'd want to go back and  read them. Is that weird? Oh well. I am as sentimental as they come. I saved a lot of my kids' baby stuff and things I wrote when I was a kid. I have some of my grandmother's things and even my pink Barbie dress. I'm sure the list could go on and on and on... Okay, so we have an old picnic table out in our yard. It no longer can be moved--it's so rickety. It will literally fall to pieces if we try to move it. I mentioned getting rid of it and my youngest daughter Amanda, was like no mom, we have so many memories with that table. All the birthday parties and bar-b-ques. She said it more than once. A

Did I really sound so excited and enthused in my last post? Surely NOT feeling that way now! My trust in God is sorely being tested right now. My whole plan is crumbling....so I am praying for the Lord to show me what to do now. To show me His plan for me. Things really began falling apart on Thursday. On Friday, I decided to try to give it to God. At church, I asked for a prayer request during the service. I told them I needed guidance, wisdom and strength because I was stressed-out and had a lot of stuff going on in my life and was facing hard decisions. After prayer, it was time for special music. And God just showed up in an amazing way! He played "our song" to me, through a young guy that goes to my church. When I heard the name of the song announced, I just knew God was saying, "Don't worry, Johanna. I am here with you and everything is going to be alright. I love you". You see for the past three years, I was really struggling in the relationship. We

It has been almost eight months since this year began. And what a crazy, WONDERFUL year it has been!!! So many things have changed! My life has changed! As the New Year was approaching, I decided to pray for a word that would describe it somehow; to give me an idea of what God had in store for me. The year before, I prayed for a word and I was impressed with "trust". And wow! Did a lot of amazing things happen that showed just Who was truly in charge and just how BIG He was! One of the major things that happened, last year, was for us to move into our current house which has enabled me to do what God had planned for me to do this year. Everything builds. I'll tell you the story of my little, blue house some other time. So I began praying and right away, the word "step" came into my mind. And it persisted. I said, "Oh no, Lord! I hope this doesn't mean what I think it does." Step out of the boat, Peter! Time to get out of your comfort-zone. The y

Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.   But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32, 33 We can confess Christ with our mouths but deny Him by the way we live our lives. We claim to be Christians. But what does that really mean? What is a Christian? A Christ follower. A representative of Christ, an example of His transforming power and grace. So how do we make sure what we claim matches who we are? And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18 As we spend time with the Lord, in prayer, in His Word meditating on His character, we become more like Him. That is why it is so important to make having our own private devotions a top priority. If  we don't "behold" Christ, how will we become like Him? Ho

"On Your path, O my God, and not my own, be all my journeying. Rule this heart of mine that it be only Yours." - celtic daily prayer

A new phenomenon that has been occuring, this summer, is that my mom comes over and we sit out in my yard and talk until it gets pretty late. This has been a wonderful therapy for me. For her, too. We get a chance to go over our problems and actually laugh a lot. It's been really nice. She's fairly recently divorced, as well, and so we find a lot of interesting things to talk about. It's nice to have someone handy to vent to, run ideas by or just ask advice from. Lately, we've been seeing lots of shooting stars while sitting in my yard. So lots of wishes have been made. At least by me. Maybe my wishes are half-wish and half-prayer. Either way, I always hope they come true! Luckily, God doesn't always give us what we pray for. Thankfully, every wish wished upon a shooting star is not granted. I'm so glad God's in charge and that He gives us what we really need and not just every whim our hearts imagine. I have experienced much of His discretion in my

My d-i-v-o-r-c-e was final...on Friday!!! Received the papers today. There was a small problem with them a couple weeks ago, so the judge did not sign. Instead they were sent back with a note, explaining what the problem was. So I had to resubmit them to the court last week and wait. So yay!! They passed this time! (I'M FREEE!!!!) The kids will be able to go to church this weekend and I'm thinking he's just threatening me with the only thing he can now. Next time I'm not going to get upset, but just put it all in God's hands. Thank you for your support!

I'll be glad when all of this is over and far, far into the past! The ex is threatening not to let the girls go to church on HIS weekend. Before we finished the divorce, while we were "agreeing" on stuff, I told him I didn't have a problem with him having the girls every other weekend, but they still had to go to church. He totally agreed to that. But now he's making threats and going back on his word. Yes, this is the only thing he has to use to hurt me with and I told him it's the girls he's hurting. Then he threw out there that He might take them to church in a different town. That's doubtful. When I first became a Christian, Savannah was only a year and a half, Sophie was five months and Mandie wasn't even born yet. Since I began taking them, they've rarely missed a day in church. Mandie was in church since conception. She came out singing hymns! Since we belong to a small church, I have had the privilege of spending years teaching my own

Seventeen years seems like such a long, long time. Such a waste of life, in a sense. But one day leads into the next and then the next and then a week goes by and then a month and before you know it so many years go by. And you look in the mirror and see a much older, much wiser face and you realize you're back at day one, again. Feeling regretful tonight and yet I know it was all according to God's plan and timetable. And I don't know if I had that much to do with it taking so long to get out of the relationship or not, but I have noticed that I grew in many ways and that many circumstances had to be put in place before I could be out of the situation. And it seems a lot of things just had to play out. I'm still trying to make sense of it all. The one word I keep coming back to is--waste. I wrote in my last post about sharing some of the ways God has worked in my life and then I couldn't seem to get into the right frame of mind to really go into it. I still hope

How big is your God? How small is your box you keep Him in? One thing that bothers me is when people limit God. They try to make Him fit their ideas instead of realizing that He can act in unusual ways. The Bible is full of examples of freak and weird things God has done. Like Jonah being swallowed by a fish, or lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt. How about Balaam's talking donkey? God does not always fit into a neat little package tied with a bow. I haven't shared, with many, some of the highly unconventional ways God has worked in my life. Some of the promises He's made to me would cause others to raise an eyebrow. God sees the whole big picture and acts accordingly--whether or not it fits into someone's preconceived ideas and rules of what God "can" do or say. Four years ago, I went to Campmeeting, seeking God with all my heart. I was struggling so much under the burden of my miserable marriage. I spent much time in prayer o

Tonight I am sitting here feeling a deep contentment and peace which has been a rarity for me. This whole week LIFE IS MINISTRY has been running through my head. Here is one of my favorite quotes from a book called Desire of Ages, pg. 20 and 21: In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field. “His strength setteth fast the mountains.” “The sea is His, and He made it.” Psalm 65:6 ; 95:5 . It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father’s love. Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves up