365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 157

We were watching the hit drama Once Upon a Time last night and as I watched the evil queen and her attempt to connect romantically with the prince who rejects her. The emotions she felt brought to life how much each of us just wants to be loved. They had already shown a part of the evil queen's past in a previous episode so you know why she ends up full of hatred toward Snow White and you know she wasn't always evil. She wanted love, had love and it was taken from her. Love hurts without a doubt. That hurt can lead us down the wrong road away from God. I can't even imagine the kind of hurt God felt as his only son Jesus was dying on the cross. He could have saved him but his love for us was so unimaginably great that he endured the pain and hurt of watching his only son die so that we could be washed free of our sins and be able to be with God forever. So, take the lesson of the evil queen and remember that when love hurts we need to turn closer to God who loves us in ways no one else can.
1 John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 156

It's been on my mind since our mother, daughter, sister counseling session in San Antonio about friendship. My sister feels like she has no friends. Hmmmmmm. How many times have I felt that way? Too many to number. My mom said she has often felt alienated or like she doesn't belong when going into group situations. Hmmmmm. How many times have I felt that way? Too many to number. I was talking with my sister-in-law about this yesterday and yes Hmmmmmmmm... she feels like she doesn't have friends and feelings like she doesn't belong often too. My first thought was, "it's not just me". This seems to be a pretty common thing. Do you feel like you have no friends or at least no close friends? Have you felt alienated and felt like you don't belong when joining in with a group? In thinking about friends I felt the closest to a best friend in the flesh is my hubbie but by far my bestest friend is the Lord Almighty. He's the only one that knows me inside and out, front and back, through and through. He knows me like no one else. He knows my fears, what makes me cry, what brings me the greatest joy, my favorite "everything", my every feeling and thought from the moment I was conceived until forever thanks to Jesus. Without a doubt, when I am starting to feel like I have no friends or don't belong I look to the one who is my closest confidant, go-to person and bestest friend. When it seems like no one loves me, understands me, gets me. He does and always will. Remember God is your best friend too! Psalm 139:1 O Lord, you have searched me and know me.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 155

I bought and read a book I picked up at the airport bookstore called Nine Days in Heaven. It is based on a true story of a woman from the 1800's who went into a trance that she was in for nine days. In that time, she was shown parts of heaven. She was not a believer but on the fence at the time this happened to her. There are some very facininating details of what she saw and who she spoke with. I am re-reading it now as I tend to miss things the first time around and it was just too facinating to not read again. One interesting thing that has me especially excited especailly with all my body-health issues is that she saw people she knew who had died and they didn't look the same. They looked like they were, in the simplest description possible, in their optimal time of life. In growing older, I find this so very hopeful. All the aches and pains, all the wrinkles and weakness, all the gray hair and sagging will be gone. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful to God for the body he gave me and am grateful that overall it is a healthy body. But to have the optimal health body of my 20's, now that is hope. Growing old can be discouraging with all these aches, pains, etc but knowing that my life with Jesus will be like this is a great encouragement when those pains are in full force. Focusing on my future with the Lord is much better than being sucked into the negative feelings that the pain of growing old can bring. Is your focus where it should be? Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray haris I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustan you and I will rescue you.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 154

Conflict is not may favorite thing to be in the middle of but I found myself exactly smack in the middle of it on my trip to San Antonio. My sister had gone into her more quiet moody mode and though it didn't bother me, it bothered my mom. She ended up blowing up mostly towards my sister but like I said I was right there in the middle. It turns out I was the problem. My sister, at first, denied there was any problem but my mom persisted and it came out. She was thinking that mom loved me more because she thought my mom was talking with me more during our trip. Funny thing is I have felt that way a bit here and there with their relationship in the last couple of years because it seems to have gotten closer and I have felt left out but I have been quickly able to put it in the proper perspective and let it go. It was spiraling out of control so I suggested we do a bible study together as I had my notes from my workshop recently about John 16:33. We had done a bible study kind of thing together on our trip to Phoenix a couple years ago and it was wonderful. To me it was a common link that could bring us together. Our love for and faith in the Lord. My sister didn't respond at first but when I got up and stood in front of her I gently told her that we needed to bring the Lord into this and let him help. She came and sat down with us and we started the bible study that eventually led to other topics that helped show us that we are all the same, we all feel alienated or like we don't belong. We all feel like we aren't loved as much as someone else. We all feel like we have no friends. In the end we were laughing and saying we need to do a bible study at the beginning of our trip instead of at the end. The Lord helped bring peace into each of our hearts and brought us together as one body. It really was a beautiful thing to see unfold before me. Thank you Lord for my mom and my sister and for bringing us together as one in you. Col 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as memeber of one body you were called to peace.

We always get something for each of us to remember the trip by. It's always been jewelry. You see crosses everywhere in San Antonio and because of our conflict and the Lord bringing us back together again, it seemed very appropriate that we get crosses. So, we found a shop with lots of cross jewelry and we each picked our own cross. This is a photo of us in the airport to head home where our crosses.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 153

It hurts and is humiliating even to write this but I am a sinner just like everyone. While in San Antonio, my mom and sister and I went out to a pub for drinks and dinner. I intended to stick with just the one beer I order especially after getting a headache the day before after having the margarita at Rita's on the Riverwalk. But a table of folks next to us had ordered this drink sampler thingy the pub had. It was probably less than a minute and we were ordering one for our table. I call this the downfall. This is where it went downhill. Having 6 different mixed drinks that were all pretty darn good was just the frosting on the cake. The cherry and whipped cream were added when the table next to us order a round of tequila for us. Oh no! We all went along with it except my sister who has had a very bad experience with tequila enough to make her never want to have it again. I ordered some food thankfully at this point but my mom ordered more tequila for us so we were pretty toasted. At this point a singing drunk man came over to our table and was on his knees singing very loud and obnoxiously. I had eaten most of my pasta dish that I wanted at this point and without really thinking took a bite of pasta and put it in the singing drunks mouth. Once wasn't enough, I did it again and at this point my mom whispered to me that the man was a pan-handler. I stopped and the guys at the table next to us escorted the singing drunk out of the restaurant. It hit me later on at about 4am in the morning when I woke up in bed what I had done. I cried to Jesus for forgiveness for being a drunk fool. I opened up an avenue for sin to come out in myself with drinking too much. I am not a drinker anymore so it doesn't take much. In any case, I spoke to my mom and sister about it and vowed never to drink like that again. My mom told me he wasn't a pan-handler but just some drunk guy in the bar but that still didn't excuse my own sin. Drunkeness leads to foolishness, period. Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 152

I was thinking over some of the things that happened on my trip and this one particular incident that happened the first day although funny to look back on makes me wonder how well do I hear. My mom and sister and I were eating at Rita's on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. As we were enjoying our mexican fiest, a mariachi band came over to a table in our area and played a fun sing-a-long kind of song. Afterwards, they made there way over to our table. It was so fun watching that I wanted them to sing for us, too. One of the guys said something that I didn't quite understand but I just nodded okay so they began there song. My mom eyed me during the song to give them $5 for a tip so I pulled out some cash. When I handed it to the guy after the song had ended he tells me it's $10 for a song. They weren't singing for free! I guess I missed that when he spoke to me before the song. I know I don't do well with accents because of my undiagnosed auditory disorder and you throw in the atmosphere of a restaurant and it's noise and it's a combo that just doesn't work for my ears. I paid the $10 and we laughed and balked to each other how we had been duped because we didn't hear. We told ourselves that if anyone else came up to us wanting to do anything, they would have to have a big sign saying it was free before we said yes. Our salvation is free. The cost was paid by Jesus' death on the cross and resurection from the dark pit of hell. We don't have to do good things to earn our salvation, all we need to do is choose to believe in Jesus. So now when I think of the cross and Jesus, I think there is also a big sign saying free! Romans 3:24 There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redepmption that came by Christ Jesus.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 151

My long weekend trip to San Antonio with my mom and sister was a wonderful time of renewal just getting away from it all and having fun with each other and catching up but there were the not so good parts as well that I will share more of in the days to come. I am thankful to God for giving us this opportunity each year to come together and I pray that we can stay more connected to each other throughout the year until the next trip. Now, it's back to reality, the work is piling up at work, the laundry and housecleaning are calling out to me and Faith's hair needs some washing. LOL! Praise God for our times of renewal and prayers for the catching up parts afterwards. Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength."