Boojoyful

 Enjoyed an overnight visit with this sweet 1 year old recently. I was just as tired as she was after two days of play. LOL  January 2nd, before opening my eyes I said,  "Lord, I just realized I've allowed the hectic holiday schedule to have me waking up without greeting You first.  Forgive me. Good morning. I love You. Show me what purpose You have for me today." God " Anticipation. " Boo "Great word, Father. Each day with positive expectancy, we should anticipate that You have something with great purpose on the agenda." Looking up the definition I found..."a feeling of excitement about something pleasant or exciting that you know is going to happen. It can also be anxious anticipation about a big event like a birthday or wedding." That was interesting as this was our youngest granddaughter's 1st birthday, our adopted daughter's 40th birthday and we were also hosting a luncheon at church for 45 people to hear the testimony of church...

Our oldest granddaughter. While working on a Boojoyful devotional using Google Chrome, out of the blue, a Phil Wickham song started playing on Safari.  I went as far as to hit "Force Quit" but the songs would not stop coming.  When I listened to the lyrics of "The Reason I Sing" I thought, my songs to God should never stop coming from my heart either. Remembering back to the days when my father was passing from earth to his heavenly home, I recalled him pointing out the window and saying, "Listen! The choir is singing "Faith of Our Fathers." His nurse, nor I, heard nothing, but he clearly did and I am convinced he still does hear choirs of angels and all of heaven singing. Some parts of Revelation can be a little confusing and even creepy, but not verses       5:8-14. There will surely be singing. "And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders   fell down before the Lamb,   each holding a harp, and   ...

Our daughter's family enjoying the slopes at Snowshoe. Perusing Instagram,  to get a glance at my children and grandchildren, a clip from a mama and daughter popped up. I don't know how to navigate IG well, but the person posting is called "therealchidimma." This mama has equipped her child with TRUTH that she will carry with her wherever she goes. The exchange is precious and powerful.  Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6 I've posted these truths in my kitchen in hopes of memorizing them. The Mama "So, how do we punch the devil?" The child's enthusiastic response. "By saying the word of God. I have the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I'm the redeemed of the Lord I'm the beloved of Abba All my sins are forgiven. I'm passionately loved by God. I'm powerfully helped by God. I'm kept and protected by God. I'm irrevocably blessed. I'm eternally for...

The grandson in this photo is much older now, but this is a favorite picture capturing him looking at the beauty of a freshly fallen snow. I have embarked on a 4 week study of the book of Ruth with a few younger women at our church. I will be posting some snippets along the way.  To familiarize themselves with the story I suggested they read this short four chapter book in The Message translations.  Everyday we make choices. Every time we make a choice we should evaluate what is influencing that decision. As you read this story ask the Lord to bring to mind some decisions you have made and what influenced that decision. Next, consider what decisions are facing you right now. Practice listening for God's still quiet voice to guide you and apply scripture to the decision process. In Ruth Chapter 1 here is what is going down. 1) A famine caused this mother and father to choose to take their two sons to a foreign land. 2) The father dies and the sons choose to marry foreign women ...

  A sweet snowstorm memory from our younger days is of one night after we had the six children tucked in bed, we snuck out for a walk in the snow under the moon. The silence of snow falling from the sky and hitting the ground is powerful and calming. As the snow poured from the sky this week I told my husband, "We don't know how many snow walks we have left in us.  Let's go!"  The wind was blowing and snow hitting our faces as we made our way across our deck. Laughing, I said, "Okay, maybe that was far enough. We don't need to break anything and it's freezing." But we ventured on and made a memory.  He wanted to send me down the hill on a sled, but I declined the galant offer. This storm, name "Blair" ended by bringing our area mostly ice and three days without power.  Neither my husband, nor I had ever experienced going more than 4 hours without power. It made us appreciate a lot of things I rarely consider.  On Day 3 I said to him, "...

  Such dear friends who send me joy  wherever they find it. It was 3AM December 31, 2024 and both my husband and I were wide eyed and awake. (I guess better than wide eyed and dead, unless the Lord had taken us together.)   Sitting in bed in dark, with the exception of a few lights glowing from docks in the cove, we began to chat.  The conversation began with me saying, "I had a dream."  We both laughed and laughed.  I tend to have some whoppers when it comes to dreams. The middle of the night exchange progressed from dreams, to prayers, and then landed with a discussion about Paul writing, from prison, to the church at Philippi. This led to another joyful thought from John. then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of th...