Boojoyful

October 31 Yesterday, as I was looking for whipping cream in the grocery case my eyes settled on a dairy product in an Almond Joy flavor. It didn't say exactly what you were supposed to do with it, but I surmised it was a coffee creamer. I've never had a cup of coffee, but I really love Almond Joys and I like hot chocolate, so I was thinking I could use it in some way to enhance my hot chocolate. As I unpacked my groceries I was curious about this product, so I took a swig. It was tasty, so I had another swig and placed it in the refrigerator. Before all the groceries had been put away, I was feeling rather nauseous and guessed it was from consuming the Almond Joy juice, straight up, on an empty stomach. My treat, tricked me! There are many things in life which are enticing, but in the end trick us and are not the treats we thought them to be. When we take our last breath and step to the other side, we will be in for a trick (rude awakening) or a treat (the heavenly rea...

October 29-30 Call Upon the Father The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18 For years we lived in our hometown where our parents were. It was such a blessing for our children to see their grandparents on a regular basis and for us to have the support of our parents. My husband and his father coached football and basketball together for twenty years. My father, who's occupation was a road builder, has a brilliant engineer's mind and has helped us design everything from home additions and play grounds, to bridges across our creek. Growing up help was always just a phone call away. Even if he was away bidding a large highway job, he had an office staff, work crew and heavy equipment to solve any problem. We had a small elevator in our home growing up and I remember my mother getting stuck in it and telling me to call Carl, one of the best of the company's superintendents. He arrived and had her out on no time! Those were the g...

October 27 This week my husband has been out of town attending a conference. Wednesday morning, when he was quietly finishing his packing in the wee hours of the morning, I called out to him..."Are you journey proud?" "Am I what?" he replied. Laughingly, I said, "I don't know, that is something my mother and grandmother used to say. I guess it means are you excited about your trip?" Then it hit both of us! As believers, we are journey proud, for we are headed for the ultimate destination. A journey beyond comparison! My mother looked forward to heaven. The verses she wanted read at her funeral were John 14:1-3. On my calendar that year, which had a daily scripture verse, was this reference the day she died. God is so good! Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me . My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a...

October 27 The frothy whipped cream atop my steamy hazelnut hot chocolate left a mustache above my lip that our bulldog longed to lick off. The sun had left our yard and was shinning on the tree tops across the lake, so there was a chill in the air. Being alone this particular evening I looked at Moses and said, "Let's grab my Bible and steal away with Jesus." Wrapping a raggedly knitted scarf, which I made years ago, around my neck I grabbed a cozy blanket and we headed for the hammock. (Getting Moses in that hammock was a feat!) I opened my Bible to Isaiah 43:1-4 and felt the love! Isaiah 43 When You're Between a Rock and a Hard Place But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: "Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When y...

October 26 By two o'clock I was missing my husband greatly. Mondays seem like such long days. The weather was gorgeous, but I was stuck inside on a major clean up project in our furnace/storage room. When he walked through the front door, I suggested we hit the hammock before the sun went down. Serenity now! We rocked back and forth and recapped our days for each other and pondered why certain trees had lost their leaves and others were still clinging to their foliage. One of the trees our hammock was attached to was almost bare with the exception of a few walnuts hanging overhead and one red headed woodpecker jumping around. There was not a sound to be heard, nary a boat on the Lake or a leaf blower blasting. Even the woodpecker kept quiet. What a wonderful time to be still and reflect on the power of God, evident in the changing seasons. Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Tuesday, three o...

October 25 You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13 "God's fingerprints were on your life before you had fingerprints of your own." Eddie Lawrence Being part of an Internet prayer ministry, based in Mississippi, has been a blessing to my life for many years. Janie, the coordinator, is the mother in law of a pastor from our past! :) She is a kindred spirit, a woman who loves Jesus with a passion, and an individual who exercises with obedience our call to pray without ceasing. Two years ago, she called upon our group to pray for her niece, living in CA, who experienced complications with her pregnancy. What ensued were heart wrenching prayer request for this little fellow, Gian, and the life threatening surgeries and ordeals this family would face. Today Gian's mother writes: Dear All, Just wanted to send some pictures of Baby Gian to you. I hope this offers encouragement and hope to all of those that seem to have insurm...

October 24 Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Colossians 3:15 "The peace of God should act as a guide when it comes to knowing the will of God." John Hull The mist was so thick on the lake the past two mornings that kayaking was not an option. My husband headed out on our acreage to blow the scripture trails and ended up spending the afternoon with a chain saw cutting up a large tree, which had fallen blocking the trail. Life dishes out road blocks in all shapes and forms. Our dream house gets sold before we can purchase it, the college of our dreams rejects us, the baby we dream of does not come, the company we work for lays off half its' work force, the one we've loved leaves us via death or divorce, and where we thought we were going, the plan we had designed for our life, is blocked. Sometimes hurdles, detours and roadblocks are God's way of redirecting and guiding us towards the path He has for us. How quickly we forget He created us with a purpose...

October 22-23 Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me. Psalm 141:9 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 Brot hers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted . Galatians 6:1 AOL news writes: "When it comes to speed traps set by law enforcement to snare unsuspecting drivers, it turns out that drivers are trying to help other drivers slow down and avoid the hefty tickets. One such county where there has been a kind of headlight driven on-road social network has been Volusia County, Florida where some 2,900 motorists earned tickets between 2005 and 2009 for flashing their headlights at other drivers to warn them of the approaching speed trap. The police didn't like being ratted out, so they issued tickets to the whistle-blow...

October 21 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 Bargaining with the Lord yesterday, I tried to convince him my life would be much easier if I didn't have to write this blog each day and the enemy would lighten up his attacks. I even offered to serve Him in other venues. He said nothing back. Ugh, be careful what you wish for, right? I've been up since 3:30 writing away! While I am not up for catching any more flack than I usually do, being in the NFL (Nuts for the Lord), and while I am not getting on a political bandwagon and endorsing any one of the republican candidates as my pick yet, the Spirit keeps prompting me to share about how Newt Gingrich responded in the last republican debate to a question about whether the faith of political candidates is of relevance. Interestingly, the comment...

October 20 The numbers on our bedroom clock shined in a burnt orange hue stating quietly that it was 5:46AM. My mind blows me away at times like this. The first thought of the day came in the form of two oldies titles. From Ghost Busters-"What ya gonna do when they come for you?" and Motown Hit "Are you ready?" While neither were created with spiritual undertones, both titles pose important questions. On the Huffington Post news this morning (I know, way too liberal for me, but that is who took over AOL news and it pops up on my computer) is a story of a couple who had been married 72 years. They were in a car accident and taken to the ER and placed in intensive care. The medical staff decided it appeared important, with their ages of 94 and 90, to keep them together. They were holding hands when the husband died and while he was not breathing, the monitor still registered a heart beat, because his wife's heart was beating through his hand. She died an hour l...

October 19 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. Job 37:5 Shopping for a piece of replacement tile, I tried to find a picture of my bathroom on an iTouch. (A skinny phone size piece of computer equipment, which has a camera as one of its applications.) Not being very technologically savvy, I tried to swipe across the screen and find the picture. A picture appeared and I said to the young gentleman helping me, "I have no idea what that is." "Oh, that would be a picture of my counter, which you just took," he replied, "but I won't charge you for it." "Sorry. Would you like to look for the picture?" I inquired, "I don't exactly "get" how this works." My husband and I laughed and laughed when I got home. Living on the older edge of 50, do we get points for trying to learn how to use these new mechanisms or does the younger generations see us as hopeless? Watching spor...

October 18 Be joyful always, pray without ceasing and in all things give thanks . 1 Thes. 5:16-18 On my personal prayer list right now are four individuals with weighty situations. One baby with a lesion on his brain, another young woman who has battled infertility and is now pregnant and struggling with complications, an elderly couple whose savings have been depleted and a young college girl struggling with heart break which has her very heavy hearted. Others and I have knocked, knocked, knocked on heaven's door interceding for these individuals. Today's Godtube pops up in my email and blows me away. It is as if God is saying, shift gears into thanksgiving. God is so personal if we let him in! http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KL7PYWNX&utm_source=GodTube%20Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10/18/2011

October 17 Flood waters can't drown love. Love can't be bought or sold . SOS 8:7 (MSG) Whoa! This was a deep study I was drawn into on love. The challenge question was to ask the Holy Spirit to teach us what God created love to be like. Having just come off over two weeks of grand baby love, my first thought was that there isn't much more pure a love than that of a young child towards a parent or grandparent. The bond is really unexplainable. I posed myself the questions: "What do we learn about love from life? Which loves have we tasted that are conditional?" The conditional list grew and grew as this debate began. Friendships and the love that grows out of them are established due to surrounding conditions. The durability of most are based on the way we treat one another. Teachers/Coaches : Last night we were watching a rerun of a TV show called Friday Night Lights, about a football coach and his wife who is a guidance counselor/principal. The relationsh...

October 15-16 Disciplining ourselves to obey the Lord can be a task at time. He isn't standing in front of us, holding a wooden spoon or a grade book, but He is present. Whether it was my menopausal 3AM hot flash or simply a flash from the Lord, I almost sat up in bed the message came so clearly. "FACE". I knew that was the word for this weekend's devotional, yet awakening three hours later, my natural instinct was to try to think about what quick devo I could write so I could go make pancakes and play with my grandchildren. Closing my eyes to pray, the word was very clear again "face". Again shifting into my control, I thought....hmmm Moses saw God face to face, David was always falling on his face or asking God not to hide his face from him....or maybe we are to face our trials. Stop! I knew I needed to open the Word and feed upon it. What?! 374 references for the word face. Digging in, I asked the Lord, "What is it You want me to share?...

October 14 Rule 1 Realize that God means for you to be where you are. Rule 2 Be more concerned for God's glory than your relief. Rule 3 Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord Rule 4 Pray! Rule 5 Stay calm and confident, and give God time to work. Rule 6 When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith. Rule 7 Envision God's enveloping presence. Rule 8 Trust God to deliver in His own unique way. Rule 9 View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future. Rule 10 Don't forget to praise Him.

October 13 Don't forget to praise Him. Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:1-2 "Wash your face every morning in a bath of praise." Charles Spurgeon Morgan shared of standing in the back of his church during the praise time one Sunday and watching several people sing with heartfelt gratitude, but says he was bothered by the number of people who were not singing. Some were looking around side to side, shifting their feet, others even whispering to their friends. He thought, "Maybe we need a crisis." My mind drifted back to 9-11 and the people pouring into churches mid-week to pray. How few enter on Sunday morning with attitudes of gratitude. A story was shared of a man who sent his gr...

October 12 View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. Exodus 14:30-31 "A faith that can't be tested can't be trusted." Warrren Wiersbe Our faith grows at different rates and waivers at various times. Scripture clearly identifies that faith is measured and rewarded by God. " O woman, great is your faith! Let is be to you as you desire." Matthew 15:28 "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Matthew 8:26 In this ninth chapter a quote by Brother Lawrence is found: "The trust we put in God honors Him much and draws down great graces...When God finds a soul penetrated with a living faith, He pours into it His graces and favors plentifully; there...

October 11 Trust God to deliver in His own unique way. The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters a wall to the right and to the left. The Egyptians came after them in full pursuit, every horse and chariot and driver of Pharaoh racing into the middle of the sea. It was now the morning watch. God looked down from the Pillar of Fire and Cloud on the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. He clogged the wheels of their chariots; they were stuck in the mud. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God , with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split. The Egyptians said, "Run from Israel! God is fighting on their side and against Egypt!" Exodus 14:21-22 Yesterday, I watched a powerful Godtube video of a young man named Christopher Coleman. For years, I feel certain he wondered why God had made him the way He did. I doubt deliverance or purpose ever entered his mind. Nor did wha...

October 10 Envision God's enveloping presence. Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. Exodus 14:19-20 Four Suggestions 1) Affirm His nearness in your heart. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. Genesis 28:15 2)Visualize God's presence in your mind. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27 3)Access God's nearness through prayer. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Deuteronomy 4:7 4) Reflect His presence in your demeanor. Be joyful always. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 The song lyrics...."Whenever I feel afrai...

October 8-9 When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith. The Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." Day by day the Lord pours out his steadfast love upon me. Psalm 42:8 TLB "Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount, So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. Matthew 6:34 TLB Morgan lays out a plan..."When you don't know what to do next, cast out fear and seek light for the next step. Trust God for guidance in small increments; and if you can't see what lies dimly in the distance, do what lies clearly at hand." Can you imagine the faith of the Israelites to take that first step into the Red Sea? I bet not all of them could swim! I am not much of an adventure movie watcher, but being the mom of 5 boys I've heard my share of action packed movies playing in the house or car. Harrison Ford starred in Indiana Jones films where he an...

"Oooh, Mama Boo, this is some good stuff in this little book!" October 7 "Stay calm and confident and give God time to work." This is my favorite chapter so far! Morgan seems to agree as he says, "This is hard for me. (Speaking of keeping our emotions under control.) The very word emotion is the word motion without the e in front of it ( e for erratic, I suppose.) The other day I was sharing with my daughter how I wish 30 years ago I knew what I know now about the Lord. I felt I had to be the "Defender" of my children and stand up for them in the battles of childhood and being a student. What I needed to do was put into action the phrase I pass on to so many parents now..."Pray it, don't say it." In other words...less motion caused by emotion! Check out how The Message interprets Moses' words of wisdom during the Red Sea Scenario. Moses spoke to the people: "Don't be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of sa...

October 6 Pray! As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw them-Egyptians! Coming at them! They were totally afraid. They cried out in terror to God. Exodus 14:10 I bet they cried out! Can you look back in your life and recall times you called out to God? There have been three times this past year in our car when accidents almost occurred. I've been quick to shout out a "HELP US LORD!" Eight years ago, when our son was recovering from a horrific automobile accident and had broken his neck, while lying in the hospital a case of the hiccups came upon him. They would not stop and each hiccup was excruciatingly painful to his body. In desperation I dropped to the side of his bed and cried out to God to stop this torment. Just a few months ago, when our daughter was in crisis during the delivery of her child and rushed off to surgery, I went in a bathroom and cried out to God for mercy. Morgan states..."When you face impossible odds, pray urgently, ...

October 5 Acknowledge Your Enemy, but Keep Your Eyes on the Lord. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:7-8 Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will be standing firm. Ephesians 6:13 Morgan writes: "Every time we resist the slightest temptation, we honor God. Every time we overcome even the smallest problem by trusting and obeying our Lord Jesus, God is glorified in our lives. Whenever we choose character over convenience, faithfulness over ease, or honesty over deceit, we bring honor to the Lord Himself. When we serve Him with watertight obedience even in small things, God is glorified, just as at the Red Sea." "These things, " wrote the apostle Paul about the events of Exodus, "happened as examples for us." 1 Corinthians 10:6 This is an enlightening chapter filled with real life examples of the schemes the devil devises. ...