365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 26

I had to take off 8 days of work for my shoulder surgery. My first thought was there goes Christmas but as I got through those days and had to start telling my daughter no can’t buy this or that because I don’t have any money, I found that this is a blessing in disguise.  Although our Christmas may be with less stuff, it will still be filled with family and our time together. Christmas gift giving should be done with love but tempered with some self-control. So, this Christmas God has given me the blessing of forcing me to have self-control in shopping for stuff for my family. Christmas is about God’s love and I am thankful to God for helping me keep that focus. God’s love is all we need and everything else is just icing on the cake that he blesses us with.

Matthew 6:24-25  ”No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 360

My newest goal is to become a smart Christian shopper. I have heard some not so great stories about how Wal-mart treats their employees and I have heard the same kinds of stories about Michael’s. I have decided that no matter how convenient or less-expensive things may be at these stores I will not shop at a store that treats its employees in such a way that goes against my values as a Christian. The other side of the coin of this goal is to buy only products made in the USA. Thankfully, after shopping at King Sooper yesterday, I think in terms of food that will be fairly easy to accomplish as long as you are checking the labels. But when it comes to clothing, gifts, household goods; that’s where it can get very challenging. So, feel free to come along on this journey with me and do this challenge with me.  Check out this blog with some guidelines on doing this challenge. http://buyamericanchallenge.wordpress.com/    Here are a couple websites that have listings of products made in the USA  http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/index.php  and http://www.americansworking.com/   Thanks be to the Lord for giving us wisdom in making choices that will let our faith in Jesus shine.

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 331

I am working on my Isaiah 9:6 faithbooking project that I will be submitting to the church to be displayed this Christmas season. It is coming together beautifully. The faces all around us can and do reflect the roles of Christ as they are written to us in Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I cannot wait to share the finished project but am thrilled to be in the midst of learning how very much we see Christ in everyone around us. Thank you Lord for the opportunity the church is giving to artists to share their passion and heart with others.

2 Timothy 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 301

Last night my 9 year-old daughter was playing restaurant server. She made up some menus, took orders, served and gave us a bill. It was so sweet to watch and she was very excited to get her first tip.  She has been into serving lately. She will bake brownies or cookies and than serve everyone. I love seeing this serving attitude in her. She does it with joy and love. Serving others and loving them is our core purpose given to us by God. This core purpose will fit into our lives and our gifts that God has given us. If we are teachers, we will serve and love through our teaching. If we are administrators it will be through adminstrating. No matter how our purposes get lived out, the real core purpose is to serve and love the Lord and love your neighbors and that means everyone! God's glory will shine through all our love.  Today I will go through my day with these questions. How am I showing my love for you today? Is God's glory shining through me? Thank you Lord for the children in our lives who show us examples of how we are to be loving and have a servant's heart.

Psalm 86:12 "I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 231

For some of us, being giving and generous just comes natuarally. It is your gift but for others, like myself, it is something that I have to work at. The ladies at my work that I sit next to are very good examples of the kind of person who is just natuarally giving and generous. Judy always has a snack drawer filled and welcomes all to come and take whatever they want. The other Judy brought in the makings for a salad the other day for everyone for lunch. Yesterday, I ended up sharing my lunch with a young lady in my office. I had planned to eat the rest of it today but I really enjoyed offering to share with her. Turns out she has never tried avocado ever. Wow! That was cool to be able to give something that she had never tried. Because I am not giving and generous naturally I will have to be more intentional about it.  I am going to start with a list of ways I can give and be generous that I can refer to.  Help me out with my list!  1. Baking something and giving it to a neighbor. 2. Bring donuts or bagels into work, just because! 3.....?  Thank you Lord for the examples of giving you have placed around me that help me strive to be a better giver.

Acts 20:35
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 18

Yesterday was a push through the pain kind of day. Unfortunately, the tincture I started taking for my hormone issues ran out before Thanksgiving and my new shipment of it has been delayed for who knows how long because of customs. It's coming from Africa where it is made. Unfortunatley, my menapausal symptoms are coming back and yesterday I had a vice on my head all day squeezing it. Nothing really helps except my peppermint essential oil temporarily but even that wasn't doing a great job so it was on a scale from 1-10 a 9.5. I was supposed to be doing my Christmas card workshop and I didn't call anyone so I ended up with two good friends coming and that's it. I could have cancelled considering how my head felt but I didn't want to waste my afternoon lying in bed, I wanted to get MY Christmas cards done and was thankful for the company of my friends. What I really want to praise is the gifts that God gives each of us. My friend, Michelle, has a gift in that she is very technically savvy. She has been a technical advisor of mine for a long time and she came to my rescue yesterday and helped me get over 10 apps on my Iphone. I have had an Iphone for over 2 years so this is huge. Some of these apps are going to be so useful like the Christmas shopping list app to keep track of what you bought for who and where, etc. And the What's for Dinner app that will help you get a recipe and create a shopping list, etc. And the Womanlog which will help me track my menapause symptoms or lack of them eventually. So, praise to God for bringing this wonderful lady into my life who has these gifts that she very generously shares with others. If you are not sure what gifts God has given you, Google spiritual gifts inventory and pick a site to use the inventory to help you determine what those are. Be a gift sharer!
1Corinthians 7:7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.