each day is new

     I don't know about you, but I constantly see things like motivational sayings all over and especially on pinterest about Life, and the secret to life. I have pondered this very thing as well. You see some people just glide along, no problems or minimal problems, then there are others who struggle. When I say this, I mean something obvious... like I see people all the time, who have a four year degree in one thing and now they are going back for their nursing. I see some people just go to college like it's the norm, then others who struggle and really try and have a hard time getting an associate degree, because their life is harder and there are more struggles and it isn't always because of their choices, but sometimes because of choices their parents made or just hard times that hit that family, and you ponder on that.      Oh there is always a struggle, maybe we don't always see it, maybe it's buried away and hidden, but I think a majority of human...

  Sometimes my life doesn't seem like my life. You see I have given my life to God and though I do feel selfish at times and really strive for "me " time and down time and free time... it's all God's and I am grateful I am his.   We moved from the Bible belt and very much of a Christian town to Florida. I have never seen so many non-Christians or even Christian haters. But God is Good !! He has put me in a job, that even though I am Christian, they still like me for me.  We have met some great people and God has blessed us beyond measure.    I went from working in a hospital with a lot of Christians and really thought I would not see that again until I went to St. Anthony's here in St Pete. They are Catholic by history and there is a large statue of Jesus right out front and a cross on the roof...wow...I was impressed.  There are crosses in most of the rooms where I worked yesterday, and no secular person has made them remove it. I was in awe that they ha...

Most days I am Martha, busy, busy, busy.  I run around trying to get things done.  So many things to get done and not enough time. I think of the story in the Bible of Martha and Mary and how Martha was running around the house to get things done. By nature I am my names sake, I am a Mary. I want to just sit at the feet of Jesus and soak up his goodness. There are times, I am studying or just living life and I have absorbed some of God's goodness or in the moment I think I need to blog about that, I need to write more about the goodness of my Lord and Savior and I need the world to know about it, but it's fleeting and my Martha self comes through and tasks need to be done and accomplished, so blogging and journaling goes undone.  My Martha tasks...... We are trying to plant this church, I feel completely compelled to do a good job. To outreach, to do the books, to support my husband and keep up the blog, the Facebook, and the Twitter account.  I want to do mo...

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(ICor 13:4-7) As we study God's love this month at church, I am reminded of this scripture as well. It is often read at weddings.  I personally have read it many times and I think of Jesus Christ when I read it. I think wow, if I could only love like that. If only my heart was so pure . If only others loved even half as much,  what a better world we would live in, but sin is here to stay and well that is just how it is. Sin will always fill the world with anguish and pain and what can we do but overcome it through the love of Jesus Christ. So much easier said than done, that word over come… How do...

As I am sitting here in the quite of the morning, meditating on God's word, and God's promises. I pray for the coming year, but first I give God my disappointments and failures of 2013. I pray and I ask God to reveal to me what I am to do in 2014 and I pray for guidance. "I stand between the years.The light of  God's Presence is flung across the year to come, the radiance of the Son of Righteousness.   Backward over the past year, is a Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment."AJ Russell  I wish I had all the answers but I don't. I do know that I am sold out for God. That material things don't matter as much as they used to, that my ambition and career don't even matter like they used to. What matters to me is working for our Lord and Savior, People matter, and right under God,  my family matters most to me. I am resolved to the fact that it is all God's and I am just a vessel he uses, and I am grateful that he uses me. ...

Have you ever thought about the animals in the forest when there is a forest fire and how they run from danger. When there is a forest fire or danger?  God has given them a very sensitive sense to detect danger. Birds fly South in the winter, why to survive.  God has given them all these survival abilities how much more do you think he has given you? When I think about that innate ability animals have, I am in awe when I think about how wonderfully God orchestrates things. If he gave the animals that how much more did he give us? How much more does he want us to survive and thrive. God is a just God, but such a loving Father as well. He says:   25  “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?   26  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’...

"14  So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.   15  This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." Hebrews 4:14-16 I was reminded by Satan the other day of some of my faults just like probably a lot of us are often. I often want to be more positive, but am often more of a realist or even negative at times and that is something I strive to replace with good thoughts and positive thoughts. I have studied Norman Vincent Peal's stuff that he writes of positivity. I also often go to the Bible where you can find good stuff too. There is a fine line there.... that point where you accept your faults and try to improve and then those days where you drown in the fa...