~Combing my Blogs~

I am combining two of my blogs...you can now find writings in http://popcorn-chocolate.blogspot.com/

They will be a mix of the inspirational writings and my new adventure in life...I have been writing in Popcorn & Chocolate since last December and not able to keep up here. So please add that blog to your browser if you want. Thank you!


This is the latest entry:

~Changes~

I am sitting here sipping my Super Irish Breakfast Tea...my go-to caffeine! 

I have decided to combine my Crazy Peace blog (inspirational writing) with this blog since I am here to write most of the time giving this blog my energy. So, this blog will be a combination of MEMEMEMEME (grins) my adventure and inspirational writings as Father and I communicate and He tells me what He wants me to write. 

I simply love my friends! I love watching them grow and learn in Jesus. You know those people you grow up and you wonder how they turned out? Some fully encourage me as I have seen awesome Jesus changes in their lives. I have lived so many places and made so many friends that well, I do get confused as to who lived where and who knows whom. I keep thinking that some friends of mine on Facebook know other friends of mine...not so...(laughs a little).

I have lived no more than 5 years at some places while growing up. When I married, I lived for 5 years in one town...then 4 in another as I worked for the university my husband attended...then 5 1/2 in southern Indiana as my husband was a youth pastor there...then we moved back to Michigan and have been in the same community for about 18 years. My boys grew up here. They have a home town. I don't. I never regretted my many moves. I looked forward to them as I didn't have to deal with people knowing me at certain phases of life. My move when I was very young, never left a trail. A move in elementary school I didn't mind. Junior high years weren't always grand...as is the case for most of us. I was called goodie two shoes which...yes I guess I was (no regrets there). I moved my first year of high school and was the new girl in town. I made good friends there. My senior year of high school I moved to Pennsylvania. Some have asked me if that was difficult for me...no...it really wasn't. I had no roots anywhere so moving was part of life...no I can't relate to military kids but I did move enough to not "stick" anywhere. I made friends in Pennsylvania too.
I've always been the friendly, smiley girl. College was a time of meeting new people from all sorts of places. In growing up, the friends I made in the various towns mostly all grew up there and together...I had no togetherness. College was a time of meeting new people with such varied backgrounds...and I met my best friend forever...my husband.

I say ALL of this to tell you that in each adventure of my life, people from ALL of the places I have lived are still a part of my life and they pray for me and encourage me. Father has reasons for EVERYthing. He sees my past, He sees my now, and He sees my future. Those places I lived all had people who would continue on in my adventures with me. Some have known me when I was an infant and they knew my parents well so they they feel a closeness to me because of my parents. Some knew that goodie two shoes and are still friends with me (grins). Some knew that friendly girl who enjoyed being alone, reading, writing, and listening to her music. The wonderfully amazing thing is that, as I have said, some of those people are still in my life. Father had reasons for me to live in all of those places. Some knew me as the adult who worked alongside my husband with teens...some know me now working alongside him with a variety of people. 

I thank Father nearly daily for all of the people He has placed in my life! I get teary thinking of His loving care for me and that He knew those people...you friends...would still be in my life...and that you would all be such a blessing to me!

I guess this post is pretty much MEMEMEME oriented...not much change here yet (grins). I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your friendship and I wanted to let you know a little more about me.

I do know this. A friend, who was actually one who hung out more with my sisters in a teen choir, sent me a fantastic video clip on prayer today. Prayer is our weapon. It reminded me that I am a Warrior Princess...and Father has me in His hands. When I am down on my knees (mentally or physically) is when I am stronger in praying to Him. This warrior princess is His child. 

As, I said above...this blog will be varied in topics...MEMEMEME or inspirational. Whatever God wants to flow from my brain to my fingertips to the keyboard...and of course adventure updates (smiles)

Blessings to you all!

~Symphony...I Lift My Hands, Louie Giglio~

I wanted to share this with you! PLEASE take the 50 or so minutes to watch, listen, and worship. God is truly an amazing and creative God...and ALL of creation worships Him! 

Symphony...I Lift My Hands, Louie Giglio

~Crave~

Sitting here sipping tea with you...I have been thinking through things I would like to share with you...

Crave...it's a powerful word with a powerful meaning...to have an intense desire for....and intense...strong or extreme...so, to Crave is a powerful act.

I think we use many of our words too loosely or without much intent. We use the word "love" weakly, "I love vanilla ice cream"...."I love horse back riding"...is a minor example.

To Crave...to TRULY Crave...it is that deep, down, strong desire like no other in your innermost being. That is an act I have been experiencing over the past few weeks regarding the Three...Father God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. From every part of me I have been craving more of the Three. So, here I sit, hoping that what is written here will inspire you to Crave...Crave like you have never craved before.

Oh, if I had sprinklings of "Crave dust" I would toss it over you so that it would land and absorb into your being. No one can force cravings. I will hope to help you see the need for the craving for the Three.

Ah, your walk with Jesus is good you say? You talk to Him and not just talking to Him about your "wish list" but you really talk with Him and listen? That's fantastic and I commend you for that! You read His word? Wonderful! 

I want to challenge you to make even more time for Him...The more time you spend with someone you love the more you want to spend with them. In this case it is a wonderful cycle. I find that the more time I read His Word, the more I want to read His Word and the more time I spend communicating with Him...the more I want to communicate with Him...and the more I am quiet with Him...the more I want to be quiet with Him.

I am able to meet with Him in the morning and often times I can meet with Him at length. I find myself not wanting to leave His presence. When I have to leave to get on with my daily life of housework, errands, paperwork...etc....I don't want to. I want to stay right with Him. Oh, I  know He is with me in all that I do all day long and I talk with Him on and off all day long...but it is different...there are distractions. My Craving is to be Still with Him...to learn from Him...to have the Holy Spirit quietly in me, guiding me, counseling me...I don't want to budge from where I am so that I can take all of Him in. Oh, I know that is not reality...life is out there...I have to go live and show people how they can know Him and how wonderful He is to have in your heart. But I truly crave Him as absorbing the sunshine as I sit on a beach...basking in the Sonlight.

So, the craving...how can it become part of who you are? Make time to be with Him. Read His Word. The more you read His Word the more you know and understand who He is. Study His Word. Focus! The Holy Spirit will speak to you...listen. When the Holy Spirit speaks to you, take it all in. You can also talk to the Holy Spirit. Jesus left Him with us to be our counselor. Jesus talks of this in John 15: 28 and 16:7-15 The Holy Spirit is Love and Truth. 

Jesus prayed for believers in John 17.

20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”

Read those verses. Read them again slowly. Read them out loud. Read them out loud again. Hear what you are reading. 

I hope that you Crave...that you Crave all Three...that you strongly desire to know more, listen more, communicate more...Read that passage from John 17 again...out loud...listen to the words you speak. 

As you make more time for Jesus...you will crave more time! 

~Gentle Boldness~

Sipping my tea here again...how have you been? It's been a while since we have been here together. I had no intentions of being away for so long. Please forgive me. I have missed our time here!

I  have been having some wonderful Inspirational times with Father. I have learned something in the past couple of months...I have learned that I need to be still more. I had been doing so for a long time and then some "life" interrupted. Oh, I continued with my Inspirational times but they were more of me talking to Father, reading scriptures, and devotionals...but not being still and listening...not making that time.

The other day I made that time...and oh I am so glad I did...and will continue! I was home alone so I thought I would have my Inspirational time and listen to some praise/worship music on YouTube. I spent time in our Inspirational time (Father and I) then flipped YouTube on. That's not what was needed. Off went the music. The "noise". I needed to spend more time with Father...still and quiet time. I am so thankful for that time.

This is what Father impressed upon my heart....the words Gentle Boldness. I am that personality that has a difficult time speaking properly. Oh, writing is totally different. Writing is my oxygen! Writing is my way of expression! When I speak, my brain jumbles and words don't come out as I hope or they are not a tone I like. So, Gentle Boldness!

Let me explain...I was led to many scripture passages on being gentle. I have this neat application in my phone for note taking...so I posted the verses in that application under, "Gentle Living". Gentle Boldness is a lifestyle. 

In Philippians 4:5 (CSV) we read, "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." How do we live being gracious? True graciousness demands that you have time for others. So listen. Be attentive to what others say. Respond without interruption. Can you imagine Jesus and a fisherman talking. The fisherman begins to tell Jesus about his huge catch of that day and Jesus interrupts and says, "Huge catch you say, let ME tell you about how I made the net break the catch was so huge!" Imagine the man sighing and knowing that he was not important enough to be heard. Jesus always made the time to truly listen. A gracious person does not dwell on themselves. A gracious person gives...time and ears.

Another verse is in Proverbs 16:24 (CSV), "Pleasant words are a honeycomb; sweet to the taste and health to the body." How do your words "taste"? Trust me, I know it isn't always easy to use "sweet" tones and "sweet" words. I believe it is even more difficult to use such language in the home because, well, "they know me at home and I can be myself". Who is the self you really want to be? Do you really want to have "tones" and "bitter words"? I don't. So, how do we go about speaking more gently, a bit sweeter? Well, a study on the life of Jesus in the gospels and how He treated people would be one way to learn. After all He is the Master. He is the true Life model. I also suggest talking to the Holy Spirit about having the right words, the right tones, the right attitude in dealing with all people. Trust me again on this as I know all too well how some people can simply get under your skin and it can be hard to keep gentle words and tones. But you  know what? You can do ALL things through Jesus who gives you strength. Talk to the Holy Spirit as you have your time reading the bible and praying. Ask Him for guidance and gentleness. Pray that if you need to speak boldly, your gentleness will be evident and the boldness well received. There have been times when I have been talking with someone and prior to each bit I say, I breathe a prayer on how to word things so that it is taken well. There may be some long pauses in your conversation if you are dealing with a situation that takes Jesus Boldness because you are taking the time to sort what you hear and you take the time to mentally pray for your words and tone.

In Ephesians 4:1b to 2 (CSV) Paul writes, "(I) urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." Humility is not letting people walk all over you. A humble Jesus follower is confident in who he/she is in Jesus; knowing where true strength lies...seeing the value of each person.

I didn't share all of the verses I logged in my application. I didn't want to overwhelm you. My hope is that I have inspired you to be a Gentle Bold person for Jesus. I hope that you seek out some scripture on gentleness and talk with one of the Three: Father, Jesus, or Holy Spirit about what you learn and read. Wait quietly. What needs to be changed in your mind, heart, and soul to be a truly gentle Jesus follower? Remember, gentleness is not acting as some sort of wimp. Gentleness has been defined as restraint coupled with strength and courage. I like that! We are strong (bold) because of Jesus and we are courageous because of Him and also because of Him, we can restrain ourselves.

My friend, as a Jesus follower, practice Gentle Boldness. Practice graciousness. Practice humility. Study the life of Jesus. Live as He modeled.

~Make The Appointment~

I sit here sipping my tea with you...it has been a while since we were together last...glancing out the windows I see a beautiful act of Father's creation...snow....all sorts of snowflakes coming down...it's a cozy feeling...

So much has happened since I last sipped tea here with you...I didn't mean to neglect you...I just got carried away in a variety of this and that's and I was also sorting things in my head...

I want to inspire you to set aside alone time with our Father. That is so important! Today I simply want to talk with you about time alone with Him.

I believe I have told you that every morning I collect up my things for my Inspirational time and make sure I have a cup of tea beside me. I have a place in my home that is set up for my Inspirational time. I have a comfy chair and a stand for holding my belongings in a quiet area of our home. I have sort of a mess of things that I deal with rather sloppily laid across my lap. I have my cell phone for the bible applications and highlighting (saving bible verses), I have a devotional book, I have my bible, and I have my journal.

I realize we all have our own ways of having time with Father and whatever works for you, do it!!! What I do goes with  my scattered mind...the flitty mind. First I set quietly with Father asking Him to show me what I need to learn form Him today. Secondly I read from the devotional book and go over any scripture there. I may pause to talk with Father during this time. I note the verses that "hit" me and save them in the phone and I turn to my bible with the paper pages, read the verse and mark up the page with thoughts that "hit" me, underline words, and write the date by it. After the devotional book, I pick up my cell phone to go to the bible application. I pretty much do the same thing with that as I do the book. As I go along through each of these devotionals, I will take a pause and write in my journal whatever comes to mind. When I am done with the devotionals, I sit quietly with Father asking Him to tell me what He wants me to remember from our time together. I stay quiet for a while. I talk to Him on and off. I listen. For some, sitting still and being quiet is difficult. Learn to do it! Discipline yourself! Sitting still with Father before and after our reading and learning time together is a MUST for me. In quietness I tune in to Him. I may or may not hear from Him but I am tuning in to our time together. Focus. When we conclude our "chair time", I praise Him and thank Him for all He has done and is doing for me or for others (I name them to Him in thankfulness). I talk with Him as a daughter would talk to her loving Father because HE is the perfect Father...the One Who has compassion...justice...love...peace...truth...When I am ready to get out of my chair, I finish up my journal by writing what I call Inspirational words for the day...something like....Trust! Hope! Life! Truth!

We can't all make the time in the morning to sit alone at length with Father. What I propose to you is this...each day set a specific time that is for you and Father alone. It is your "appointment" and appointments need to be kept. Start with the length of time that you know you will be able to give Father. Maybe you will find that is the only amount of time you can give or maybe you will discover that you can add more time to your appointment. Do what works!

When I think of what Father has done for me...created me for one...sent His only Son as a sacrifice for my sins...helped me through many health issues...and so much more...how can I NOT want to give of my time to be with Him? How could I go about my day giving time to family, work, church, social events, even cleaning...and  more....and let Him slip off to the side. How SELF-ish!

Father has given everything of Himself to me! Can I really and truly be so selfish as to maybe give Him a quick "hello" in the  morning or a "hit the pillow prayer"? Father is relational! He wants to be in your life! Give Him time!

As we go about our day, we can always carry on a conversation with Father. Just talk with Him as you would a good friend. I believe I have said earlier in my times here with you that I talk with all Three...Father my creator, Jesus my friend who teaches,is Truth, and is along side me as I go through life's issues, and the Holy Spirit who guides and comforts and fills me with Peace and Joy when I ask. All Three are worthy of our praise and thankfulness. They are always there and so easy to talk with. 

I hope that you are excited to have your time with Father (well really all Three). I hope that you understand the importance it is to your spiritual well-being. Believe me, your soul will sing! I hope that you will be giving of your time...as much as you can give Father. He loves you! He wants to sit quietly with you, teach you, listen to you, and comfort you! 

Make the appointment...Keep it! 

~AWEsome Day~

Sipping tea here with you on this sunny New Year's Day...I want to share with you something that I am not sure will ever occur again...and something I will remember for my lifetime...

I am dealing with getting some testing done for some spots on my lungs...2 spots...I have never smoked in my life so that came as a surprise to me. When I first learned of the spots, I honestly felt like I was going to pass out...shock I guess.

Anyhow, time went on for a few more days. I kept praying my prayers that the spots would not be cancer. I am just feeling like a "normal" person from having had breast cancer and chemo (finished March 2016). 

I was prayed over in our church on a Sunday. The following Saturday, I was doing laundry, changing loads from the dryer to a basket and the washer to the dryer as my mind suddenly felt fearful of the possibility of those spots being cancerous. I said to God and to myself, "I can't let those demons of fear and doubt grab hold of me!" Right then and there I prayed to Jesus to get rid of those two! I felt the release. Then as I stood there talking to Jesus, I felt this sense of being prayed for. "I don't know who is praying for me or if just one person is praying for me," I told Jesus,"but thank You for putting me on someone's heart and mind to pray for." Then I began to pray for God's Crazy Peace...that peace that you cannot understand until you experience it...that peace that Paul talks about in Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." I immediately felt that peace in my heart, soul, and mind. I thanked Jesus for it. I stood with my hands lifted in praise to Jesus thanking Him for His peace...for a while...right there in my laundry room with a basket of clean clothes on the floor at my feet and the dryer spinning.

Something AWEsome occurred...I felt angels. I felt the "hush" of their wings. I picked up the laundry basket to take for folding. I could almost see the angels...well...I could see or sense four or five of them. They hovered over and around me. I heard their wings touching each other...they were that close to each other to surround me. Even as I write this to you I get the shivers that I felt at first when they were so near to me.

These angels were angels of peace. I could feel their peace! I heard it in their wings! I  have never experienced anything like this before. All day long they were with me...hovering over and surrounding me. 

God had not only given me His Crazy Peace inside my own soul, heart, and mind, but He sent His angels of peace to comfort me...to surround me. During the entire day I never once even thought of the issues in my lungs. I went about the day feeling the presence of the awesome peace angels. I felt this amazing serenity. I would thank Jesus for them being with me...for Him sending them to attend me on this day...on and off I thanked Him during the day.

I knew they were with me all day...I felt...faintly saw...and heard their brushing wings at times. It was so AWEsome! 

As evening came, I felt them leaving. I smiled inside my soul. I knew they had come for me to do what they as that type of angel were to do...hush all around me...hushing my mind and soul...that feeling of them hovering and surrounding me is one I will always remember...it was so comforting.

That night as my head was on my pillow, I thanked Jesus for sending them to me...I lifted my hands in praise to Him (my husband had his back to me but he would have been fine with my arms sticking up in the air). Tears rolled down my cheeks as I thanked Jesus not only for His Crazy Peace...but for His compassion for me in sending those peace angels.

When I sit alone in silence,remembering, I can still faintly see them and faintly hear the brush of their wings. It truly was an AWEsome experience! 

I am so thankful for my Best Friend and how He takes care of my needs. I debated on sharing this with you but then I thought...why not? It may bring encouragement to someone. I hope it does! 

My faith, trust, and hope is in Jesus. I hope yours is also!

~Too Long Gone~

Wow! I recently realized how long it has been since I have sipped tea here with you! I have been learning a lot, growing, and resting in Father God. I will be back and sharing here soon. I have missed writing! and I have missed you!