Boojoyful

February 28 Opening an email request for prayer for a premature baby, which had just been born, my thoughts drifted to how much God loves this little fellow. Having visited cancer hospitals and seen the rooms filled with bald headed men and women the thought has crossed my mind that they are absolutely beautiful to God, even when they feel peeked and less than lovely without their hair.  Looking down at my own wrinkled hands and flabby belly I am affirmed in the realization that God made our bodies to go through this process and to him aging is beautiful. Closing out this month on love,  I do hope each of you makes the time to slip away with the God of the universe, who created you perfectly in his sight, and that you are able to bask in His love. For it is His love that makes us beautiful in this world! Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.   Song of Songs 2:13 You are beautiful   Song of Solomon  7:6   "You aren't...

February 27 One of our god-daughters celebrated her 30th birthday last week.  She is a professional photographer and captured this gorgeous photo on the beach.  Life looks amazingly brilliant for her at this time as she is a breast cancer survivor!  This young woman is loved by many, but the love she pours out to others is beyond measure!  Her life is truly beautiful! http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=1BBJ1NNU&utm_source=GodTube%20Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01/28/2014  For the Lord your God is living among you… With His love, He will calm all your fears. Zephaniah 3:17 "The love of the Father is like a sudden rain shower that will pour forth when you least expect it, catching you up into wonder and praise." Richard J. Foster Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace,  and the  God of love  and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11

February 26 Today's photo is of one of my dearest friends, who went to heaven two years ago today.  We planned our daughters' weddings on the same day, at the same hour, at churches a block apart from one another without realizing what we had done!  Then we had our hair done that day by the same person! God had just seen my girlfriend through rough, tough lung cancer surgery, but allowed her to make this wedding and she looked beautiful!  The look of love between this mother and daughter is one of the special gifts God creates.  It stands the test of time. I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. John 15:9 "Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks… all things possible." Thomas A Kempis

Sorry for being out of order. I was out of town without my computer to post this weekend entry.. February 22-23 Searching for heart idioms I was amazed how negative most of these references are. Heartache, heart attack, heart failure, hard heart, bleeding heart, broken heart, and heavy heart. God knows the conditions of our hearts, which can fluctuate greatly. Praise God he binds up the broken -hearted. The following two verses contain some godly maintenance advice for our hearts. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.   Psalm 34:18 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.   Proverbs 34:18 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.   Psalm 19:14

February 25 Nuff said…. …human love may change or fade. God's love never will. Billy Graham I have loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3

February 24 "Love is the beauty of the soul." Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 A godly, godly friend is an AWANA teacher for fifth graders at a local church.  Her Valentine week lesson for these students involved taking the word love  and contemplating these words which begin with each letter. L-listen, learn, lead, loyal O-obedient, observe, origin, over-flowing C-visible, viewpoint, valid, valuable E-endearment, excitement, effect, effort Then, the following challenge was issued. "Think about how you can use a word beginning with each letter, to show love to others!"  What a great exercise for us all to consider applying to our lives. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from t he love of Go...

February 21 We can't do a month's concentration on love  and not delve into 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, so I thought it would be fun to check it out in The Message translation. If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love,  I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day,  and have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I do't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr,  but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always, ...

February 20 Maybe it is a result of dedicating this month to meditating on verses related to God's love for us and the condition of our hearts as believers, but morning after morning I have awakened to God saying, "Rise up and come away with me." My first thought was maybe I was going to head to heaven that day. but I am still here. Knowing that was from the Song of Solomon, I decided to delve into those pages of scripture. "Love ever gives, forties, outlives…and ever stands with open hands." John Oxenham If the Song of Solomon doesn't like your fire, with the way God loves us, nothing will! Come, dear lover- let's tramp through the countryside. Let's sleep at some wayside inn, then rise early and listen to bird-song. Let's look for wildflowers in bloom, blackberry bushes blossoming white, Fruit trees festooned with cascading flowers. And there I'll give myself to you, my love to your love! SOS 7:10-12

February 19 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priestly-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus.  When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good-not only ours, but the whole world's. 1 John 2:1 Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34 "You're on a first-name basis with the King of the universe." Found in Thomas Nelson's book You Are Loved I awakened with the most wonderful "love"thought…the picture of Jesus sitting at the right hand of God interceding for me.  Jesus makes God approachable for us. He solves our sin problem, which creates a blockade from God.  This morning I pictured the following scene, as I desired to talk to God. Jesus makes the introduction:  "Oh, Father, I love this one.  Look it's Boo, I know her well....

February 18 "A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults." Charles Kingsley But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that He lets us be called His children, as we truly are." 1 John 3:1 Oh, that the Body of Christ would behave in the way Kingsley describes.  To love others as Jesus loves us.  To see friendship as a gift to be treasured.   To forgive faster than we grumble and to put the needs of others before our own.  (Funny, that last one wouldn't be appropriate on an airplane in regards to the oxygen masks being dispensed!) It is a blessed thing to have a friend who loves you well!

February 17 "The God of the universe, the one who holds the stars and the moon in place,  knows everything about you and loves you with unprecedented abandon." Sheila Walsh "Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works  as for the love with which they are done. Teresa of Avila In everything we have won more than a victory,  because of Christ who loves us.   I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love. Romans 8:37-38 How has your "love" month unfolded?  Did you get a Valentine? The mail didn't run here on Thursday or Friday with our storm. Did you send a Valentine? I had the most romantic Valentine's week ever. We received 18" of snow here at Shiloh, my husband closed school for 3 days and we played in the snow! The roads cleared in time to get out and enjoy a delicious Valentine's dinner with goat cheese french toast, covered in sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions and topped with...

February 16 What a person desires is unfailing love.   Proverbs 19:22a A close friend was sharing about a women's retreat she had attended, where on the first night the small group facilitator asked her group, "What is your deepest desire?"  As the women in the group became vulnerable and unpacked those desires the facilitator was able to walk them through what the underlying factor was behind those desires.  For several, the desire was Proverbs 19:22… unfailing love. I've always felt people have the need to be needed and the desire to be loved.  God's purpose and calling on our lives fills the need and his unconditional, eternal love fills the desire!  Whose life can we touch this weekend, by asking them to come alongside us to help in some way and whose life can we brighten by showing them we love them.  After establishing relationship in this way, then we can be bold enough to tell them there is a source that never runs dry of fulfilling ...

February 14  How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!   Psalm 119:103   A friend emailed this story about the history of Valentine's Day. I have not checked the validity, but love the story and decided to pass it along. "Did you know that Valentine's Day began with a prison ministry?  In the year A.D.320, the early church set aside February 14th to remember the heroic death of a man named Valentine, who was beheaded on a pagan altar because he refused to renounce Jesus Christ. According to historic tradition, Valentine was born into a wealthy Roman family and converted to Christianity as a young man, sometime around the year A.D. 240. It was an era when the church was being severely persecuted by the degenerate Roman emperor, Cluadius II.  Thousands of Christians were imprisoned in the dark, tomb-like jails of Rome.  Wealthy Romans of the time considered it "entertainment" to visit the...

February 13 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,  your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OBRvxrzhqs "The more we know of God, the more we know of love." Thomas Nelson's You Are Loved. "Faith, like light, should always be simple and unbending; while love, like warmth, should beam forth on every side." Martin Luther

February 12 There's an old favorite love lyric which goes like this: "Baby I need your lovin, got to have all your lovin." Maybe God wrote those words!  Nah, while He wants to be our first love, he wants us to follow His way of love and give bucket loads of love away to others.  Who needs a scoop full of love today? Let's dish it out, BIG time! Follow the way of love. 1 Corinthians 14:1 "Love doesn't make the world go around. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." Franklin P. Jones

February 11 Today is the 28th birthday of our 5th child.  He is a love and loves others so well.  As I read Antoine de Saint Exupery's quote on inexhaustible love I think of maternal love. Maternal love never gives out. Neither does God's love! My thoughts are drawn to hospital and hospice rooms where the physically exhausted sit by bedsides with their never ending love pouring out over loved ones whose outer shell may be failing, but their hearts are still connected to the person by their bed.  Love is powerful! For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:5 "For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have." Antoine de Saint Exupery "If there is anything better than to be loved, it is loving." Anonymous

February 10 The link below is to a song of which I was not at all familiar.  The lyric, "We were made to be a part of something holy," really grabbed my heart.  We forget who we are in Christ.  We listen to what the world says about us and forget how God sees us. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession , that you may declare the praises of him who  called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLOVgl3hWq0 The secret of your life is written on your heart's desire. John Eldredge Let's pray we can be all God desires for us to be!  We will be blown away as that happens!

February 8-9 I've just finished reading Francine Rivers' book Redeeming Love  for the third time.  Each time I've read this piece of Christian fiction it has taken me to a deeper realization and appreciation for the depth of our Father's love.  (Also, it creates a deep gratitude for my husband's unconditional love for me.)  Give yourself a wonderful Valentine gift and read this book.  Charles Stanley had an excellent devotional this week that is worth printing off and keeping to read after you read   Redeeming Love. "Our Thoughts"  by Charles Stanley Read |  Romans 12:1-2 The mind is the control tower of life. Your thoughts greatly influence not only your successes, failures, and choices but also your relationship with the Lord and others. Godliness comes from thinking the way God does. Yet there are several problems that can negatively impact your thought life. One of the most persistent is the influence of your past. When you...

February 7 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22  "Those who love deeply never grow old;  they may die of old age, but they die young." Sir Arthur Pinero "To find someone who will love you for no reason, and to shower that person with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness."  Robert Brault Working on Valentines yesterday, I realized I hadn't made one for Jesus.  I can't wait to mail that one! While being crafty, I listened to several of James MacDonald's sermons on "Choices".  Today, I choose to put my hope and trust in Jesus!  He is my All in All. http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/walk-in-the-word/

February 6 "Love began with the One who perfectly designed you to love and be loved;… …love grows with those who treasure you now and those who are yet to be blessed by knowing you." From Thomas Nelson's book, You Are Loved Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 While this month is dedicated to love, I think this Chris Tomlin song is a love song.  A friend posted it on Facebook the day a kind, gentle, extremely talented friend of ours went to heaven.  It is because of the immensity of God's love, through the sending of Jesus to die for our sins, we can sing such a song in a time of sorrow and be filled with joy and a sense of victory knowing as believers…we can dwell in the house of the Lord forever! This has been a season of saying good-bye.  To all those families grieving, we continue to send up prayers for comfort and peace. https://www.youtub...

February 5 We interrupt the light heartedness of this look at love, in the month of February, because "misery loves company" and I did Nancy Leigh DeMoss's Pride Test yesterday and was convicted on multiple accounts.  Knowing most of you as I do, I figured you'd love a deep cleansing from the Lord as well. Truly, her Monday broadcast is not for sissies, but for those who know how much God hates pride and also know that godly correction and our repentance bring great freedom and relief. God has been working on me in the area of pride lately and I thought I had done so well receiving His discipline…PRIDEFUL wasn't I.  Well, the teaching at Revive Our Hearts took me back multiple notches.   Pride keeps us from being close to God and that's my favorite place to be, so I'm willing to confess, repent and try, try again through the power of the Holy Spirit. http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/revive-our-hearts/pride-test-2/

February 4 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of  your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 59:16 "The love we give away is the only love we keep" Elbert Hubbard "You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love." Henry Drummond Are the kids out the door?  The hubby off to the office?  Are we alone in the shower or the car? If so,  off we go to sing to our first love!   Sing to the Lord a new song!  Make a joyful noise, on or off key.  God is so powerful whatever comes out of our mouths, to Him will be a fabulous melody!

February 3 We love because God first loved us. 1 John 4:19 "You cannot touch love…, but you can feel the sweetness it pours into everything." Helen Keller The Casting Crowns song below speaks to how God created us for His love!  The title is All He Ever Wanted Was Our Hearts! http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WYZDZGNX&utm_source=GodTube%20Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=02/03/2014

February 1-2 This month will be dedicated to heartfelt love comments!  I'll also try to photograph some of my handmade Valentines. You are forgiving and good, O Lord,  abounding in love to all who call to you. Psalm 86:5      

January 31 Well, my words were so few that I forgot to post them.  There are days when we sit before the Lord in silence and just listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdfRn61mAUo