Boojoyful

"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:14 February 29 So long February! This month brought to my attention two young men who had to bury young wives, whom they loved and adored. One was the 28 year old daughter in law of friends of ours. The other, you probably read about in the news.  The wife of Monty Williams (Oklahoma City Thunders assistant basketball coach) and mother of his five children.  Both of these men, through the strength of God, gave touching eulogies at their wives funerals. Here is Williams' http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2016/02/20/Oklahoma-City-Thunders-Monty-Williams-gives-moving-eulogy-at-wifes-funeral/7611455995713/

Heading to dinner this particular night, we did not realized how well we coordinated! February 27-28 Just typing the word coordinated  sent me off to Merriam-Webster and what I found was actually an excellence description of what a marriage should be. "equal in rank, quality, or significance" "to act or work together properly and well" "the process of organizing people or groups so that they work together properly and well"  "to cause (two or more things) to not conflict with or contradict each other" "the harmonious functioning of parts for effective result" "the ability to move different parts of your body together well or easily"  ". ..each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.   The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband... " 1 Corinthians 7: 2-3 Right now I can't find my man.  I slept late and have ...

A warm swim on a cold day is a good distraction... and a good way to burn off the energy that little people pack! February 26 Once again my journal entry to God began with "YOU are the best part of my day!  No earthly individual or treasure could thrill my heart the way You do Father.  How do I pass that experience on to those I love?  My prayer is that You would  "Be REAL to those I love. Be REALLY special to them and allow them to REALIZE You are for REAL in their lives. " This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,  and Jesus Christ whom You have sent ." John 17:3 

February 25 Back to the book!  If we looked at every other human being as a precious, precisely created, child of God, planned with a purpose by Him and formed by His very hands, we would treat others a lot differently. When we take issue with individuals we should tell God about it. Chances are, He will point out something equally offensive in us! Yikes.  So, here comes the rest of the list to add to these seven we memorized Tuesday. Love for real, don't fake it.  Run from evil, cherish what is good.   Be a good friend, be 2nd.  Don't burn out, rest.   Be ready to serve happily.  Don't quit, pray hard.   Help Christians through hospitality. Today's simplified version of the actual Scripture to follow. Bless your enemies, no cursing. Laugh and shed tears with friends. Get along, don't be stuck up.  Make  friends with nobodies, don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back, discover beauty in everyone. ...

Spring is coming, so I had a test run on  backside  bunny buttermilk pancakes! Chickie Lamby lovers await the arrival of little guests! February 24 I have to interrupt the regularly scheduled devotional and Praise the Lord for how GREAT I felt yesterday. (Haven't gotten out of bed as of yet today.) It's the first time in 5 1/2 months my head has felt totally clear and I've had the confidence and stamina to drive to run errands on my own. For two hours, I was able to print photos at CVS and then do the grocery shopping and even unload the groceries afterwards!  This was such a huge step. Totally elated, I sang praise to the Lord the whole ride down the driveway afterwards! The Lenten study I did yesterday morning was on the Lord's Prayer and how we are instructed to ask for our DAILY bread...for God to meet our needs for that particular day...not grab all the manna in fear it won't come again, but trust.  As I drove to the store, in a bit of disbelief...

Our oldest granddaughter with her Mama Boo February 23 The Bible is like a fabulous box of chocolates.  There are lots of favorites inside!  If I was being sent away and allowed to only pull out a few pages to take with me, Romans 12 would be a contender. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it.   Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves  filed and aflame. Be  alert  servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Romans 12:9-13 What a perfect "to do" list.  At first glance you might think, "Those things don't come naturally, how do I accomplish such character?"  First, we must remember it's the Holy Spirit in us who pulls off such a feat.  Secondly, once we start living this way it wil...

February 22 We just had the blessing of attending the 30th birthday celebration one of our sons, along with a batch of our children and grandchildren.  The stroke was a huge wake up call to how quickly this earthly life can be over and to make the sacrifice to be with those we love when possible.  We checked into the hotel the night before the kids arrived, so I could be rested.  In the lobby we saw a woman our age, leading her husband who had obviously had a stroke. I know the shoe could have easily been on the other foot and it be I who is having to care so diligently for my husband.  Thank you. Pop, for all you've done these past five months! A huge thanks also to our children for making this weekend happen and accepting me in slow mo . But most of all, thanks be to God, whose grace I continue to see day after day. I know all things are possible, only because of Him. Let's keep soaking in the wisdom from Romans chapter 12. 3  I’m speaking to you out...

February 20-21 This is where I want to camp out for the next few days...Romans 12 The Message- "Place Your Life Before God" Paul starts out with the most important aspect of this teaching using the phrase "God helping you." Within this chapter are prescribed attributes and actions which are not easily acquired by humans.  #whatwouldwedowithouttheHolySpirit. "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you:  Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You'll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immatu...

February 19 The other day I sinned. (Every day I sin!) We have a beverage station in our kitchen where our coffee maker sits.  I've never had a cup of coffee in my life and have only attempted to make a pot a couple times, thus don't have a deep appreciation for the process.  The area was a mess the other day, coffee grounds, counter stains, spots on the floor tile.  I verbalized my disbelief that anyone could make such a mess.  The last comments of disbelief were not even out of my mouth when I wanted to throw up.  Not from the mess, but from my grumbling. I felt much worse from making those statements than from how I felt about the time it took to clean it up.  The worst part, the words couldn't be taken back.  (Ends up the cover of the coffee pot was broken and my kind husband hadn't wanted to trouble me to find a new one. UGH. Help me Jesus.)  I sought and received forgiveness, but Romans 12 has taken me deeper understanding of a specific asp...

Tuesday, thousands in our community, including the school where my husband works,  were without power.  Many of the ice laden trees came tumbling down. February 18 It's 1:41 and I once again I've given up on sleep and decided it's prime listening to Jesus time.  In my initial attempt to go back to sleep I set off into my Praise, Repent, Meditate and Pray routine.  It's been life changing!  One of the best times with Jesus I've ever had. I could die and go to heaven right now and feel like the life lesson I want to pass on was written by Paul in Romans 12 and transcribed perfectly for this generation in The Message. It may take several days for me to get through this, but I want to start with my wake up call, which was the word RENEWAL. Reaching the meditation portion of my middle of the night encounter, I selected the memory verse our church is working on.  Romans 2:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of ...

Be my bunny Valentine!  Jesus is our all the time Valentine. February 17 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?   Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?   No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."   Romans 8:35, 37 It's another sleepless night.  Even  ABC prayers were not getting me back to sleep, so I slipped away to the computer and went to Biblegateway to chew on the verse for the day.  I found the wonderful reminder that whatever our stage in life, we are loved by the Lord and empowered to be conquerors over what life might be lashing out towards us. Trouble, Hardship, Persecution...those should be no surprise Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world." John 16:33 Famine, Nakedness, Danger, Sword... "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off...

This is the Valentine I made for my hubby. It's made using packs of Rolo caramel candies. February 16 Our 5 inch snow is covered with a glaze of ice. No school again today. Laughter is good for the soul!  I'm married to a jokester!  He's one of those people who gets "The Joke of the Day" email. Some are winners, some are not.  I, on the other hand, am one of those people who ends up being funny by default...you know, saying dumb or "out there" comments. This stroke has definitely changed my personality.  I know it's a sin to grow anxious, so I'm learning to be content, while praying to get some things back if it's the Lord's will.  I'm S L O W E R, quieter and more pensive (most likely because at times it takes longer to speak).  The multi-tasker who loved to have a crowd around to cook for days on end, struggles to get a meal made and finds retreating to a quiet spot to be a healing balm.  WEIRD, but it is what it is for...

These robots were fun to make, but tempting for little ones not to tear right into. February 15 The snow has been falling all night and brings me peace after the sad news yesterday.  (See post.) Our pastor brought to remembrance in his sermon, on transforming our minds, how we listen to our voice in our head, way too often!  We should be listening to Jesus' voice! Last week while vacuuming, my mind was wondering into places of anxiousness over health issues I and others on my prayer list are facing and resentment over an unpleasant situation one of our children was having to face. I guess the Holy Spirit finally made himself heard as I did a whoops and thought...."God knows every thought before I think it. These thoughts are not pleasing to God, because I'm not putting my trust in Him by fretting."  On the day I was about to receive some very sad news God went before me and fulfilled the verse, Matthew 6:8 “ Remember, your Father knows exactly what ...

February 14 For 18 months many of us have prayed for healing from lymphoma for a young 28 year old woman, whose in-laws are dear, dear friends of ours.  Today that healing came in the form of her leaving this earth for a new body in heaven. These two verses from my coloring book are tributes to the sweet love her husband had for her and the steadfast love that he, her family and friends have shown her these past months. "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another." John 13:34 "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." John 15:13 This really isn't the outcome I saw happening.  I've said numerous "Why's?" to God throughout this painful illness.  While I still don't understand, I know God is sovereign and loves this couple deeply. My husband and I had the privilege of praying over her by phone this morning before she died and then were able to get a member of our...

February 13 In our younger years, as parents, we started every weekday morning with our six children in our bedroom for Bible Study.  The sooner you got there, the more chance you had at a spot in the bed! Having these three snuggle up in bed with me last weekend was wonderful. February is referred to as the love month!  The coloring book I've been working in is titled "Live Loved!"  No matter where we are in life's walk, we can all live loved every moment by Jesus. These two pages I did highlight these amazing scriptural truths.  Remember, you are LOVED! "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:7 "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant." 1 Corinthians 13:4

My  mother's term of endearment was "Sweetie." This butterfly Valentine was created using a pack of sweeties as the body. February 12 Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.   Psalm 51:2 Recently,  I was talking with a young lady who had been caught in the sinful act of stealing. Guilt was eating her up, as her act was against an individual whom she loved and uncovered by someone she respected.  Having the opportunity to counsel with her took me back to Genesis 3, where Adam, Eve and the Serpent are tossing around a forbidden fruit.  The culmination of this temptation story finds Adam and Eve in the justification process with the "blame game" as their key defense.  Blame and trying to make excuses for our actions is not sincere repentance. Acts 3:19 says, "Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing, may come from the presence of the Lord.. ."  We must repent and turn back to Jesus ...

Happy 30th birthday to this Daddy today. It's fun to watch him parent. February 11 There are so many parenting styles!  Just go to that section in a book store and get confused! We have seven very different children, parented by the same set of parents, yet most likely they will all parent differently.  The one key ingredient we pray they have in common is to train their children up to love and praise the Lord, to open His Word in their homes and memorize scripture, to pray without ceasing, and to be part of the Body of Christ and affiliated with a Bible believing church. Psalm 78:1-7 (MSG) states: Listen, dear friends, to God's truth, bend your ears to what I tell you.  I'm chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I'll let you in on the sweet old truths, stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother's knee.  We're not keeping this to ourselves, we're passing it along to the next generation-God's fame and fortune, t...

Check out what was hanging off our house during a recent snowstorm! B eing too cold for bare little hands to hold, we put these giant icicles in cups to suck on! February 10 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and  to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. Titus 2:11-12 Do I ever awaken and ask the Lord to fill me with the Holy Spirit, so that I can live sensibly, righteously and godly that day? Do I open my Bible with the intent of finding "how to" instructions on denying ungodliness and worldly desires ? I should!   The Lenten season kicks off today reminding us to stop, repent and reflect on our sinfulness and turn our focus to our Savior. The phrase live sensibly  in this Titus passage keeps reverberating in my mind. When I see Jesus I want him to say, "You've been sensible!"  The qualities of  righteousness and godliness  seem...

Highly recommend this devotional we gave him as a baptism gift. February 9 Well, it doesn't get much better than having your seven year old grandson ask you to read him a devotional.  Looking through the table of contents he said, "I'd like to hear the one that mentions creating a clean heart."  Oh, my...steal my heart away. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 We talked about all the ways in which our hearts can be pulled.  Life brings loads of choices and sometimes it is very tempting to go with the world's ways.  Walking away from temptation or choosing to standing alone can be very difficult.  I shared that our church has a memory verse we are working on together. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2  To have a hunger for the ...

Love watching these two play together. February 8 "...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."   Romans 5:3-5  I'm a southern girl who grew up in a football loving family, married a college football player who coached for 20 years, and I watched all five of our sons don school football uniforms and go at it. So, yes, I did watch Superbowl 50 right to the end.  During the season I pulled for the Carolina Panthers, being the closest thing we have to a home team.  As the pre-game week wore on, I began to tire of Cam Newton's being a character and appreciate Peyton Manning's humble character and his AGE! Yup, I found myself pulling for the old man to be able to go out with a win. Last night's game was all about the d...

"O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for our help." Psalm 86:5 February 6-7 Am I "ready to forgive?"  God knows us and he knows he is going to be offering up forgiveness on our behalf.  I don't think I step into life "ready to forgive."  There are times I step into situations praying in advance for everybody to just get along and be kind, but I want that to transform my thought process into an attitude of "ready to forgive!" Last month, I read an excellent devotional on forgiveness by a She Reads Truth writer.  Below are some key points which grabbed me. "...in my career as professional counselor, I've seen it time and time again: our natural inclination is to retreat and self-protect. It seems we're afraid to show others our sadness and pain, as if it's somehow safe to put up walls of anger and silence-even while we long to be understood and feel a close co...

Snow much fun! February 5 " I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.   In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!  I have overcome the world!"   John 16:33 The word overcome  has stuck with me the past week. While I want to overcome the residual effects of this stroke, there is much more on this earth to be overcome than our physical/mental ailments.   Let's look at Jesus' life in light of the word overcome. "They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome , they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh." Matthew 2:11 (When was the last time we were overcome with love and worshipped Him and presented him gifts?) "When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself.  But unsuccessfully, someone saw him and the word got around.  So...

February 4 These snowman pancakes were a great replacement for a birthday cake this year.  Don't they just make you smile!  That's a bacon scarf and whipped cream with sprinkles hat!  Making the various circular sizes and getting out all the embellishments took a little time, but the end result was well worth it! Worship takes time.  We need to find a place in our day to as it says in John 4 "...engage your spirit." I've never walked away from worship disappointed or downtrodden. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth.  That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.  God is sheer being itself-Spirit.  Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." John 4:24 

Making oh so good snow cream! Good to the last drop. We stayed in our snowplow pjs all day this particular day. February 3   But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Chris. Philippians 3:20   My husband has requested we play the song "I'm Walking on Sunshine" when we celebrate his home going.  My father's favorite song from the 1940's was "I'll Be Seeing You." which we played over and over for him as he was dying. Quite appropriate knowing he was headed to heaven. A cute new friend in my Bible Study group lost her mother a couple weeks ago and she shared two songs they used for her funeral, which were new to me!  Hope you enjoy... "No More Night" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iPIi7sunEU   David Phelps "When I Get Carried Away" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMg_4pJ1e4g   Ivan Parker Here's a happy look at what might happen when we get to h...

Do you see him? He looks like a white drone to the right of the tree. February 2 A couple months ago I asked my husband, "When will the white bird come back to the cove?"  Every winter he seems to appear. Once there were three of them. I called them my "Trinity" birds. A reminder of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Yesterday, right in the middle of reading an email from an encourager, he flew up the middle of the cove to our property.  I jumped out of the bed and grabbed a camera! Every morning I should jump out of bed with the same excitement because the Trinity  is with me, whether my head is spinning or not! "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever." John 14:16