Facing Our Giants

It's a busy time for me so I'm sharing another devotion today. I sure hope you'll hang around and take the time to digest and soak it up ...













God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)NCV

A cloud of terror hung over the Valley of Elah as snarling threats and vile promises spewed from his mouth. The intimidator strutted along grassy slopes swinging an enormous club, his mammoth, ironclad feet pawing the ground like an irate bull, ready to attack. The huge, ugly monster was Goliath, a nine foot giant, the pride of Philistia. He wore massive armor; a bronze coat weighing 200 pounds, a solid iron spear, a heavy bronze helmet. The target of his ranting and raving was a frightened, helpless group of Israelites, cowering in their tents. For forty agonizing days, Goliath had come, taunting them, promising certain destruction and doom. The Israelites, paralyzed with fear, had given up all hope of escape, resigned to their tortured fate at the hand of this Philistine monster.

Then came day forty-one! I am certain, as the sun inched its way over the mountains that morning, that neither Goliath nor the Israelites had any idea that this day would be different. A young handsome teenager stepped into the valley of fear, fresh from the presence of God. David, the youngest in a family of eight boys could not believe the scene before him. Tossing the giant’s threats and obvious advantage aside, David refused to accept what he saw. Instead, he chose to believe what he knew in his heart; this giant was going down. With simple but certain faith and unreserved confidence in God, David stepped through the fear, ushering in the mighty presence and power of God. Goliath not only met David that day, He met the Lord of Heaven and earth. And the giant fell! Giants always fall in the presence of God.

We stand on the threshold of a new year – a new beginning! If you're like me, you face 2012 with mixed emotions. Personally, I'm thrilled to have survived 2011! There were certainly moments when I wondered if I would. I am so excited about a fresh start, a brand new set of days overflowing with new dreams and unmarked possibilities, but I also know this year is crammed full of the unknown, as well as a giant or two. If I am brutally honest, I have to admit the unknown fashions a pocket of fear in my heart where questions and doubts thrive.

The good news is - what lies ahead is no surprise to God. In fact, He has already been where we are going. That reason alone empowers us to face every tomorrow with hope, knowing whatever touches us passes through His hands, with His permission.

It's not God’s plan for us to dwell in fear or for fear to rule our lives. He has already set in motion the defeat and fall of every giant we will ever face. Our responsibility is to step through our fear, facing them in God’s power and with His promises. The Holy Spirit will guide the path of His truth to its destined mark, taking down the giants lurking in each tomorrow.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever! The days ahead are saturated with the memory of Goliath’s fall and trust in Almighty God, the Giant Killer.So I ask you, what is there to fear?

Here comes 2012 - like a clean slate filled with new beginnings and fresh starts. Will the lessons of 2011 make a difference for you?












Review it and ask ...

* What giants have I faced?
* Was my response right or wrong?
* How do the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ affect those responses?
* How do I typically handle fear?
* What giants will I face today?
* What changes do I need to make as I enter 2012?

Allow your heart and mind to look ahead to all that this year holds. God is faithful and He is sufficient for whatever it brings. Seek Him always.

* Praise Him for His faithfulness in your life.
* Guard your heart and mind against the darkness.
* Stand firm in His power and His presence.
* By faith lay every fear and worry at His feet.
* Trust He is with you every step of the way.

and remember to

* Pray instead of panic.

Until next year :)

Being the mother of three and a wife of almost thirty years, trusting in God has not been debatable for a very long time.

Like prayer, it's just there. I'm sort of a 'pray without thinking' kinda gal. If I come upon a wreck, I pray for the injured and the family, or families, who are about to receive the news. I'm forgetful, so I don't make a mental note or a list for later. You're probably the same way. Because don't you just love that you can go to Him anytime?

Same goes for trust. I trust God - period. Does this mean that I don't worry, stress myself out or lose hours of sleep over stuff? Absolutely not. I'm human. But in retrospect, I look back at all of the crossroads, situations and heartbreaks that God alone has led me thru over the years. So yeah - I trust God.

The comfort of that trust came into play - big time - yesterday. To make a long and agonizing story short - my dad was considered missing for a while. Hate that word now.

He left home about 9:30 for an hour and a 1/2 drive to Nashville for a doctors appt. My mom received a call from someone within the CT department at 1:00 wanting to know why he had missed his appt. Can I just share that gut wrenching panic followed?

Several hours were spent placing phone calls, filing police reports and my brother driving winding country roads searching for his vehicle. He was stopping along the way to show my dad's photo, hoping someone may have seen him. At one such market he found my dad's empty vehicle in the parking lot. As he was reporting this to the authorities, my dad walked out with a bag of groceries.

Yep. He did arrive for an appt. He had x-rays AND a CT scheduled, but only went for the x-rays, thinking those and the CT were one in the same.

So while we were absolutely frantic - he had driven to his appt, was returning home and had merely stopped to pick up a few groceries...sigh.

In retrospect?

For my dad -

#1 Never leave home without your cell phone.
#2 Travel thru Clarksville to Nashville - not the 'back-roads'.

And for me -

#1 IF there's a next time - have them cross-reference all other departments for his name.

#2 Obtain his tag number.

But most importantly? As my mind replayed the events over and over last night, I recalled that familiar comfort of God reminding me - 'Everything will be okay, trust me.'

I went to bed extremely grateful last night and awoke the same way.

Life is indeed good ...

Until later :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

What I'm loving Wednesday for is the opportunity to wish you all MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I'm loving that although this week has been hectic and rolling by like the Polar Express


the holiday spirit shared by those around me has been nothing but warm and extra special.

I'm loving that Michael is home for Christmas and is sharing Kristina, his someone special, with us for the holidays :)


I'm loving that Priss and her Prince will be hosting our Christmas Eve gathering as part of The Forbes Family First Christmas Together.


I'm loving that we'll be attending an amazing Christmas Eve service at Grace this year. What a blessing to gather as a family to celebrate the birth of Christ.


It's not too late to join us ...



I'm loving that I'm pretty confident everyone is going to be happy and a little surprised with their gifts this year! But they'll just have to wait until Christmas morning to find that out ;)



A huge, laid-back Christmas breakfast is one of our special family traditions. And I'm loving the new additions I have planned this year. Hope they do too!



I'm loving that God continues to bless my family - in so many ways we do not deserve. This Pinterest find reminds me of just how much that's true. Our blessings are indeed countless.


I'm also loving all of these other random pins I came across. Hope you enjoy them too.


I know others who also feel the same way :)

Some don't understand this concept.

Praise God!


Paradise!! I actually considered putting this on my bucket list until I remembered I have a fear of heights :)

Yeah Big Guy. Let's get it right next year!


Great idea for newlyweds.


Definitely a project for me and Miss Priss ;)


If only I had a stair case .....


I certainly hope ours do.

In fact - take a hike. I am so over you!


We're all guilty at some point, aren't we?

And I'll be waiting!



Nana's have dreams too :)


Love the simplicity of this! Hope Pinterest reminds me next year :)

And just in case I don't have a chance to blog again before Christmas I'd like to leave you with this one


and wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Until later :)

Yikes!

FIVE days till Christmas! Man! This happens every year. I plan, plan, plan and it's gone, gone, gone ...

I still have a list of want to do's that will probably become didn't happens. But that's normally the case each year too.

I still have some treats I AM going to get made. Here are a couple of my annually requested treats. I managed to get these made last weekend.


HAYSTACKS

1 (12 oz.) pkg. butterscotch or chocolate chips
1 (12 oz.) jar peanut butter
1 (9 oz.) can chow mein noodles

You will need adult helper, saucepan, mixing spoon, teaspoon, and waxed paper.

Put chips in saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted (ask an adult to help you). Add peanut butter to chips and remove from heat. Stir well. Mix in the chow mein noodles. Drop by teaspoons onto waxed paper. Let the "haystacks" harden for 1 hour.


SWEET NOTHIN'S

1 stick butter
1 (6 oz.) pkg. butterscotch chips
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 box crispy rice squares cereal (12 oz.)
1 box powdered sugar

Melt butter, peanut butter and chips together. Pour over cereal, coating well. Put 1/4 box sugar and 1/4 of mixture into a bag, shaking to coat. Do remaining mixture the same way. Store in tightly covered container.

These are super simple - and great if you're pressed for time, need something tasty - but not necessarily pretty :)

I didn't get around to blogging about our trip to the Opryland Hotel to see the lights. Last week was an unusually hectic week. So here's a short re-cap.

Had a blast on the ride up. Priss served as our Mad-Lib Master of Ceremony. If I had to guess, I'd say this photo was taken during the reading of our Christmas themed story :)


We DO love our car games :)

We stopped for dinner (that son-in-law thought to make reservations :) for a great meal at the Sante Fe Cattle Company. We then joined the bumper to bumper traffic and headed out to walk it off while viewing the lights.

The trees were huge and beautiful and the lights were pretty awesome.




But they paled in comparison with these lovely ladies :)




We did run into more than a few interesting characters


although I was really hoping to see King Julian (I like to move it, move it :)

I hope the guys enjoyed it at least a little bit. They just sort of followed our lead. But then if we're honest ... a hotdog and a beer would've been more down their alley anyway - and we know it ;) So the sacrifice did not go un-noted.

They were good sports though. They even picked up our slack a time or two ...


FYI - if it's across the chest, it's a satchel...

Good times and even better memories :)

Until later :)

But.....

I'm using today's post to share another devotion. Appropriate timing for sure. What would your thoughts have been . . . ?




This isn’t the way I planned it, God. Not at all. My child being born in a stable? This isn’t the way I thought it would be. A cave with sheep and donkeys, hay and straw? My wife giving birth with only the stars to hear her pain?

This isn’t at all what I imagined. No, I imagined family. I imagined grandmothers. I imagined neighbors clustered outside the door and friends standing at my side. I imagined the house erupting with the first cry of the infant. Slaps on the back. Loud laughter. Jubilation.

That’s how I thought it would be.

But now…Who will celebrate with us? The sheep? The shepherds?

The stars?

This doesn’t seem right. What kind of husband am I? I provide no midwife to aid my wife. No bed to rest her back. Her pillow is a blanket from my donkey.

Did I miss something? Did I, God?

When you sent the angel and spoke of the son being born—this isn’t what I pictured. I envisioned Jerusalem, the temple, the priests, and the people gathered to watch. A pageant perhaps. A parade. A banquet at least. I mean, this is the Messiah!

Or, if not born in Jerusalem, how about Nazareth? Wouldn’t Nazareth have been better? At least there I have my house and my business. Out here, what do I have? A weary mule, a stack of firewood, and a pot of warm water. This is not the way I wanted it to be!... Forgive me for asking but … is this how God enters the world? The coming of the angel, I’ve accepted. The questions people asked about the pregnancy, I can tolerate. The trip to Bethlehem, fine. But why a birth in a stable, God?

Any minute now Mary will give birth. Not to a child, but to the Messiah. Not to an infant, but to God. That’s what the angel said. That’s what Mary believes. And, God, my God, that’s what I want to believe. But surely you can understand; it’s not easy. It seems so … so … so … bizarre.

I’m unaccustomed to such strangeness, God. I’m a carpenter. I make things fit. I square off the edges. I follow the plumb line. I measure twice before I cut once. Surprises are not the friend of a builder. I like to know the plan. I like to see the plan before I begin.

But this time I’m not the builder, am I? This time I’m a tool. A hammer in your grip. A nail between your fingers. A chisel in your hands. This project is yours, not mine.

I guess it’s foolish of me to question you. Forgive my struggling. Trust doesn’t come easy to me, God. But you never said it would be easy, did you?

One final thing, Father. The angel you sent? Any chance you could send another? If not an angel, maybe a person? I don’t know anyone around here and some company would be nice. Maybe the innkeeper or a traveler? Even a shepherd would do...

The angel said, "Joseph, descendant of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21)

Until later :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Divine Gift

I'm sharing another devotional today. I think it's more than time appropriate as we find ourselves rushing and scurrying to find that perfect gift ...


Oh, the things we do to give gifts to those we love.

But we don’t mind, do we? We would do it all again. Fact is, we do it all again. Every Christmas, every birthday, every so often we find ourselves in foreign territory. Grownups are in toy stores. Dads are in teen stores. Wives are in the hunting department, and husbands are in the purse department.

And we’d do it all again. Having pressed the grapes of service, we drink life’s sweetest wine—the wine of giving. We are at our best when we are giving. In fact, we are most like God when we are giving.

Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less. He could have left the world flat and gray; we wouldn’t have known the difference. But he didn’t.

He splashed orange in the sunrise
and cast the sky in blue.
And if you love to see geese as they gather,
chances are you’ll see that too.

Did he have to make the squirrel’s tail furry?
Was he obliged to make the birds sing?
And the funny way that chickens scurry
or the majesty of thunder when it rings?

Why give a flower fragrance? Why give food its taste?
Could it be he loves to see that look upon your face?

If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would he? If we—speckled with foibles and greed—love to give gifts, how much more does God, pure and perfect God, enjoy giving gifts to us? Jesus asked, “If you hardhearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?” (Matt. 7:11 TLB).

God’s gifts shed light on God’s heart, God’s good and generous heart. Jesus’ brother James tells us: “Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light” (James 1:17 MSG). Every gift reveals God’s love … but no gift reveals his love more than the gifts of the cross. They came, not wrapped in paper, but in passion. Not placed around a tree, but a cross. And not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood.


Wow! Is that beautiful or what?? '... splashed orange in the sunrise ... cast the sky in blue ... gave flowers their fragrance ... our foods their taste??' And all for our enjoyment. Take a minute and chew on that. Oh what a LOVING, GIVING God we serve!

Allow me to wish you an early Merry Christmas as you enjoy the joy of giving.

Until later :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

What a difference a week makes! Sooooo . . . Happy Snowy Wednesday :)


What I'm loving Wednesday for this week is that my son is home for Christmas!!


We enjoyed catching up over dinner. Add this group and food - and you have true entertainment :)

I'm loving that Michael is home, but


really wish he could have bagged and brought his weather with him!


I really am loving that we had snow flurries this morning. But if it has to be this cold, I'd much prefer it come with lots of the pretty stuff :)

I'm loving that this mess will soon be over.


I'm assuming the bridge work is 95% complete - which has improved traffic a lot. And love the improvement. The inconvenience? NOT so much ...

I'm loving that our tree is heavily guarded this year. In addition to the alarm system, there are 'covert operations' going on ...


I'm loving that even though our Sammie is a (gulp) Senior this year


she still enjoys spending a Saturday night with Nana & Papa :)

And I'm loving that if she's not hanging out with him, the Mister still has someone to keep him busy...


I guess they'll have to do - - - for the time being.

I'm loving that I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping. And to let you early-bird shoppers who are scoffing about now ... this will set a record for me.

I'm loving my new 'healthy' snack. Stumbled upon it on Pinterest. The recipe is so simple - it's scary! Ready?


Sprinkle sugar-free jello over baby carrots. (YIKES!) I prefer the strawberry-banana flavor, but the peach is delicious too. :)

I'm loving that dinner will be ready when I get home.

I crocked my Award Winning Chili this morning. (That's a whole other post!)

But to make a long story short - it's easy, inexpensive, DELICIOUS and I'm sharing.



Shelia's Chili

1 lb of ground chuck - browned
1 onion - chopped
1 can tomatoes (your choice - stewed or diced)
1 can pinto beans - drained
1 can light kidney beans - drained
1 pkg powdered chili mix (I use mild)

Brown meat. Add all ingredients to crock pot, stir well and cook all day on low.

Seriously, that's it. To double or triple, simply double or triple the ingredients.

Suggestions:

* Generic brand beans seem to work best - not as mushy.

* If time allows, I'll add the onion to the meat while browning.

* This makes awesome nachos. Layer chips, chili, shredded cheese, etc.

And I'm still loving Pinterest! I'll close today with some finds that stuck out to me this week:

I LOVE this color! Now I just hope I can remember to look for it.


Remember this one as you find yourself deep in the holiday stress. Just sayin'...


Words to live Happily Ever After by


Hallelujah!!

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16





Until later :)