Boojoyful

Bless his bones...this was a head scratching situation from one end of the property to the other. We have a creek that runs through our property, but last week it became a pond. We tried to cross this bridge only to realize it had been raised off it's foundation. Foundation-an underlying basis or principle for something. There is only one reliable foundation upon which we are to  build our lives and that is Jesus Christ. Oh Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.  " You are the foundation on which we stand today. You always save us and give true wisdom and knowledge Nothing means more to us than obeying you."   Isaiah 33:6 "You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God.  You are like a building with the apostles and prophets as the foundation and with Christ as the most important stone.  Christ is the one who holds the building toget

 " When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad ." Romans 12:15 We all need people in our lives to hear our hearts! Me oh my! I'm stopping right now and thanking God for the heart hearers in my life!  The people God sends to our door, who offer up a text, note, or email, or make that call right at that needed moment and realize God had to have been behind the encouragement. Satan is tossing those devil darts by keeping us apart from one another. Hebrews 10:25 says... " And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another,  especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."  Let's stop right now and ask God who needs our encouragement and then make the time to carry out that action. " Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 " Let's think of ways to motivate one another to a

Throw way back...our oldest grandson, now 11 years old imitating his Papa. Influence-"the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself." Who are some of the influencers of your life? There is a woman who was my neighbor two doors up from the only childhood home I had. This lovely lady always has time for others! Now a 96 year old widow, she is blessed to have three fabulous sons who adore her and live close by. Looking back, I can see how much she enjoyed the neighborhood girls and made a point to invite us over one at a time for tea and little chats. Her faith is enormous and she pours the Word of God into her heart every day.  Her home is the most eclectic home I've ever been in, yet it is a place of welcoming that oozes peace.  I know it has truly been a safe haven for many. I am thankful for the influence she has had on my life. She exemplifies  Titus 2:3-5. "Likewise, older wom

The area behind our boathouse was filled with debris and a set of our steps into the lake had been unearthed. They had floated away and had to be retrieved and tied to a tree until the water goes down enough to hopefully build them back. This is our 22nd summer here at Shiloh and never before have we experienced debris. Merriam Webster defines debris as scattered fragments, typically of something wrecked or destroyed. We are a broken people. Do y'all feel like life as we've known it has been wrecked? Has a particular heart aching experience, job loss, separation left you feeling broken, destroyed or wounded? I wish I had pasted Isaiah 43:2 on my forehead during the flood last week. " When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you." I allowed myself to become overwhelmed and look at this whole situation from the point of view of two older people trying to put Shiloh back together ag

Today's FINAL Coloring Page of The Promises of God  " Now the Lord is Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17 This was to be the Memorial Day post, but the flood put me a bit behind. Liberty "The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority  on one's way of life, behavior or political views." Dwell on that a bit.   Check this out from Natalie Grant's Facebook page..."A song a day keeps the crazies away." Her rendition of our national anthem is beautiful. Listen to the very end and get yourself a bundle of chill bumps. https://www.facebook.com/nataliegrantmusic/videos/173110637463532/

The word wouldn’t leave me. Every time I went to pray for our pastor and his family the word honor came to the forefront of my mind. I headed to Biblegateway to see if there was a verse the Lord was drawing me to and accidentally I hit the Merriam Webster site, so I typed in honor  and found a long list of definitions.  The last verb definition really caught me… “To accept as payment.” Oh my.  When was the last time we acknowledged with an attitude of grateful acceptance the great payment Christ made for our sins?  Many mornings I awaken and thank the Lord for the day ahead, but I don't readily acknowledge my sinful state and "accept" the fact that He has taken care of my sinful heart, which continues to falter, by the death He paid on the cross. Thank You, Jesus. Honor-"to regard or treat someone with admiration and respect; to give special recognition." Oh my again.  Do I daily give special recognition to Jesus in my conversations with others?

Last Saturday was going to be date day!  A whole, uninterrupted day with my husband!!!!  I awakened early, but before we headed out for a walk I said, "Let's go at 7:00 that will give me a few minutes with Jesus. Wait, we better say 7:15. Once I start chatting with Jesus, it's hard to stop the conversation." I think it was 8AM before we got out the door. Date day turned into chore day, but we did it together! This Saturday was supposed to be inflatable day. It would take hours with the air compressor to pump up water trampolines, floats, tubes, etc. but our lake is severely flooded. Most of those water toys/joys are underwater.  The dock clean ups will take days and can't begin until the waters recede.  So, like Noah, we wait. As we chip away at the recovery process, we can "get together with Jesus" while we are out there working! He makes every chore better. "If you will do that with your life, if you will get up every morning and s

Our four main docks are over 20 inches under water and I can't imagine what the inside of the boat house looks like. The projection is for another 6 inches of water to rise today. Those are our floating docks you see. To get perspective the photo below was yesterday and our huge concrete planters were probably 6" under.  By noon you will only see the hydrangea tree sticking up. Oh, the clean up to come whenever the waters recede. We've had a rough, rough week. Devil darts from every direction, but nothing that surprised God, just us!  Prayed hard yesterday for this rain to stop and no more trees fall.  My man was working outside before sunrise to remove furniture from both our docks and prepare our boathouse for the flooding that looked inevitable.  Last night at 2:30 AM he was out with a headlamp on. We have motion detector lights at two of our boathouses and he said he was walking out on one dock and the light was shining onto the water and he could see f

My social distancing inflatable outfit. We are such divided people and it is difficult to discern what is true.  This virus experience has added yet another way to bring division. I was walking, yes, out of my house walking with some friends and one of them sighed and said, "My neighbors are handling this situation quite differently. There are some who start backing away if you come near them and some who do not even want to step out of their homes.  Then there are you girls who will let me take a walk with you!"  My reply was we just have to be kind to one another.  We all have different variables guiding our decisions. Praise the Lord, there is godly discernment available to us. Check out Proverbs 2:6-8 below. In the midst of the madness we must love one another. Today's Coloring page from the Promises of God " For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shield to those

Chuckled at this group moving in with their essentials in their backpacks. They are a strong and courageous group. Kathy Lee Gifford and Rabbi Jason Sobel put together a video study called The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi.   It is so insightful to study about Jesus from the perspective of a Messianic Jew. Each of the videos takes you to a different location related to the life of Christ.  In Chapter 8 of the book, you glance at the occurrences in the Judean desert when Satan is tempting Jesus. Gifford references have the desert is a metaphor for the dark times of our lives and how James1:2-4 tells us we WILL have trials, but these times of hardship and trials can work together to strengthen us. I do believe the past couple months have afforded the opportunity for families to strengthen their relationships, but continually being together also can put a strain on a family unit and leave an open door for temptation. Jesus responded to Satan's temptations each time by sta

A friend encouraged me to bring a smile to people using my bathroom. This sweet lady was thrilled with her TP gift!  The card says, "You are loved." There are still 25 rolls of toilet paper, packaged with the Gospel of John in the back of my car. Heading out on a road trip to meet our daughter in law last week the Spirit nudged me to pull across the road and give toilet paper to two men mowing grass at a business establishment. I drove on. There were even three turnaround opportunities immediately before me, but I disobeyed justifying that I was already late.  Within seconds the Spirit said, "You missed it.  Aren't you thankful Jesus never misses it when we call on him to come to us?" Goodness. I thought about that.  On a Sunday morning if ten people respond to an invitation to ask Jesus into their heart, God is able to to receive all ten.  Think back to Billy Graham crusades where hundreds would come forward responding what they felt the Holy Spirit

We've been toilet papering the town! A few weeks into the quarantine (I can just hear us saying, "Back in Corona Virus days") I was sitting with the Lord and and pondering what it means to give sacrificially.  Quickly, I said to the Lord, "It would be sacrificial giving to give away your toilet paper."  He replied, "Then do it!"  What? That would mean going to Kroger at 7AM every morning to get enough to give away. I knew what I'd been called to do though, so I shared with my husband and got very little response at first.  Then I asked if possibly our church could order a case from their distributor that we could purchase.  He explained the church was closed and they were not receiving any deliveries.  Oh well, then off to Kroger he would need to go for me, because I'd been staying clear of going inside places. It wasn't 48 hours until he was sitting in a staff meeting and the head pastor explained they had just received an

Today's Coloring Page Promise of God " You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy;  at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore."   Psalm 16:11 The house was empty, not a sound was heard.  I'd been up early doing Bible study and some church work and thought...I might just close my eyes and snooze a bit more simply because I can. Doing so, I began my sleep by telling the Lord I loved Him.  Immediately, the song lyrics of "Here I am to Worship" came to mind and instead of sleeping, I pulled up the song, lifted my hands in the air and worshipped. Here are two different versions of the song.  The Psalm 16:11 coloring page about God's presence being the fullness of joy fit perfectly with this sweet little retreat.  Praying it blesses you today. Anthem Lights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5slD2aSKKY Chris Tomlin with Lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaUTv1pXRyU

I have been amazed at the resilience of our grandchildren during this "Stay at home" order. As I watched from a distance last week I saw this one out in a hammock. The sequence of  his hammock time made me think of the way so many people were feeling after three months at home. It began as a nice break, then we got a little antsy, and by the two month mark we are ready to fall out of our windows into freedom again. "In spite of God's blessings upon us, we have a tendency not to trust Him completely. How God is accomplishing His plans for us is often a mystery....Faith is to trust what God has planned and to act decisively and deliberately. It is to persevere no matter what our circumstances." Today's Coloring Page Promise of God "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. "  Proverbs 3:5-6

These three have been glad to quarantine at Shiloh where there is plenty of room to safely roam without running into others. Biblegateway.com   is a daily tool I use for scripture reading, research or audio listening. I haven't put a lot of thought into who is behind the app making the selections for the "Verse of the Day" until this pandemic. The past few weeks there has been intentionality to select verses of encouragement we can cling to during this time.   Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Romans 12:12    Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.                                          Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that                          no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel."  Philippians 4:6-7 These are desperat

Are you a "hurry up and let's get this finished" or an "oh let it linger" type personality? The grandson in the above photos hardly came up for a breath while devouring his Elmo cupcake. He was probably afraid if he removed his mouth for a moment the delicacy would be removed. I've been known to stay up until the wee hours of the night finishing a good book and I'm the same way about Bible studies. When I began The Promises of God Adult Coloring Book I didn't count that there were 44 coloring pages. Somewhere in the thirties I thought, "Will I ever get through this?"  Instead I should have been saying, "Hallelujah! There are so many magnificent promises to meditate upon." Covid-19 has us all longing for the restrictions placed upon us to be lifted and this time of trial to reach its completion, but God has his purposes in this process.  There are changes He wants to see in our lives and my guess is it's t

While weeding an area by our patio, I decided to spice up the process with a four leaf clover hunt. Looking and looking at ground level I was unsuccessful, but as I began to stand up I lifted my eyes and there stemming a foot above the ground, flying solo, was the largest four leaf clover I have ever seen.  I chuckled and told the Lord that was just like him to put such a big blessing before me. So often we focus on the wrong things and what God is trying to do and bless us with is right before our eyes if we just refocus.  There really shouldn't be anything that thrills our hearts more than seeing someone else come to a saving faith in Christ.  Be challenged by Colossians 4:5-6 today in the Contemporary English Version and realize the person God is placing right before your eyes may need to hear some Good News! "When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words caref

Love this little one donning his shades on a sunny day. I look forward to the day all these grands and their parents can once again gather at Shiloh. It is thought that Jesus' half-brother  James  wrote the book in the Bible by that title. What is known is for certain is that it is difficult to read this book without coming under conviction in some form. James points out that we will encounter trials that may test our faith. He reminds us to be doers of the Word, not just listeners and that faith without works is dead.  He points out that there is a sin trap we fall in by showing partiality and that it will take more than luck and a conscience effort to tame our tongues.  If we want to receive a harvest of righteousness then we need to sow peace and finally in chapter 4 there is a very clear warning to watch out for worldliness.   Bible Study Fellowship had a whole lesson on James 4. I've recorded some highlights from that lesson for a self check up today.  Le

My parents brought us up on an easy to play, family friendly, card game called  Michigan.  The best part of it is that it requires poker chips!  One aspect of the game is hoping you are dealt one of four winning cards, which is adorned with chips which have been anted upon at the beginning of each hand.  The other big way to win is to go out of cards first and every other player has to give you a chip for every card remaining in their hand at that time. Last week, I had the opportunity to really rack up, by going out early. Each of the other four players would have had to give me 5-8 chips.  That morning I had been studying in God's Word about the freedom found in forgiveness, so I told everyone I was going to forgive their debt.  Some sighed relief and appreciation. One child said, "No, no!" At first I was shocked, then I pondered the situation. Was that reaction because he didn't feel worthy of the gift or because he didn't like that precedent being s