Life in His Hand

One day I imagine I will put my complete trust in my Heavenly Father! He is always proving how very faithful He is. Today was another example of His love and care. I mentioned before that when I worry He says seek first My kingdom and My righteousness and ALL these things will be given to you as well...speaking of our everyday needs. I have an arrangement with my landlady. I keep up the yards and property in exchange for the utilities. So mowing her lawn and my lawn are not a problem. She has a nice riding lawn mower. It's almost actually fun! The problem comes with the mini field I have behind my house--then there's a drive that separates us. This "field" is too bumpy for her mower and I used to have a really old beat up lawn mower I used on it but it quit. I had told her that, but today she was saying how I needed to get those weeds down. So I prayed, Lord I need to be able to mow this. Please help me somehow. I prayed that the old beat up mower would work as I pu...

Stepping out of the old and into the new can be and has been stressful. I guess I'm at the "and" part between old and new. Maybe even in the "d" of "and". Trying to get my courage up to live a different and new life. Trying to think of the possibilities instead of the doubts. To trust instead of fear. Because I know, without a doubt, that God does have a plan. God has brought me through many hard times. I believe He will bring me into many good things and that the landscape of my life will look vastly different. Psalm 107:1-43   1-3  Oh, thank  God —he’s so good!      His love never runs out. All of you set free by  God , tell the world!      Tell how he freed you from oppression, Then rounded you up from all over the place,      from the four winds, from the seven seas. 4-9  Some of you wandered for years in the desert,      looking but not finding a good place to ...

Every New Year, I pray for a word that sort of describes and sets the tone for the upcoming year. Last year's word was- "step."   God impresses them on my mind. You can click on "step" in my labels to read about what all happened with that word this year. Last year was very hard, as I was approaching the New Year. I was under tremendous pressure at home. I knew my husband and I needed to get a divorce. I just didn't know how the kids and I would make it. So there was a lot of fear surrounding that. During that year (2011), God had provided things for us (teaching me to trust Him) when there simply was no money, including moving us to this smaller, cheaper house-where the kids and I could have a chance to afford to live on our own, when the time came. I knew the time would come, when I found out we were moving here, because He had announced it to me a month ahead of time. Soon, I need to share the story of the sparrow and the little blue house. Another st...

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...

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 pray...

I often look at normal people with their normal lives doing normal things that normal people do. And I wonder--do they realize what they have? They go along calmly living. They cook special things, talk about their kids, love their families, go about their lives working, playing, resting. They seem so quiet, settled and happy. Perfectly content. Perfectly placid. I compare myself with them and am amazed by the shocking, overwhelming contrast. My whole life has been anything but normal, anything but placid. My life is one of extremes. Extreme sorrows; extreme joys. Always lots of noise...sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Today, a kind, retired pastor was our visiting speaker at church. He is the epitome of a good Adventist. Soft-spoken, kind, spiritual, went to all the right schools, married a wonderful, sweet Adventist wife. He is living the Adventist American dream. And I wondered as he spoke of his 51 years of a happy marriage and shared stories of his calling int...

There is something that I believe God said to me many years ago. I asked Him a question. A very serious and heartfelt question. I believe He answered me from His word, directly. I know that may sound crazy to some of you, but I was a new Christian, in a desperate situation. The question I asked was so important to me, that I asked for His answer to me, to be confirmed in a dream. I prayed that He would tell me a certain detail, at a certain time, in a dream and it happened at the exact time I asked for. That was 10 years ago, this month. Yes it's been a long time. But the issue that I prayed about is an ongoing thing and so I have waited and doubted and waited and doubted. And waited and wondered. Throughout these years, I have prayed about this same thing many, many times, always receiving the same consistent answer in many different ways. A very consistent and obvious answer. But one I have to wait for. So that's what's been happening for the past 10 years. And life goe...

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay Your hand upon me.  Psalm 39:5 It's pretty amazing when you see God. When it's so obvious He's working things out for you. He's not shy about announcing it when He sees fit... it's like He takes a big can of spray paint and writes..."God was here" all over your life. It's unmistakable.                                           *       *      *     "No! I don't want to learn to scuba dive!," my 8th grade son adamantly protested. "Why not? The teacher really wants you to do it. What happened? Was it because the instructor was rude to you?," I asked, hoping he'd change his mind for the teacher's sake. "No I just don't want to..." "Fine," I said, thinking I wasn't going to try to force him. Besides, I thought it had something to do with the instructor getting on to him, the day befo...