Boojoyful

Hmm. It is questionable whether this younger sibling's enjoyment of bath time is being respected by the older. We are living in a social climate where there is little respect for one another.  The idea of regarding the feelings, wishes, rights or traditions of others often doesn't play into our encounters, especially on social media. One of the key bits of wisdom I share when counseling others is "Remember, you do not know the whole story behind what has made that individual act that way. There are hurts, hindrances and sometimes protect motives, which have shaped their thinking." As believers, we have moral absolutes given to us by God which we desire to live by. The judgement that belongs only to God, enters our minds and our reactions can be less than merciful.  Yet, when a loved one breaks those bounds we remember God's grace and mercy and hit our knees and pray. Below are two entries from ministries I respect. These came to me two days in a ro whenI was prone

An alone moment on the dock and it feels just fine. Rarely, am I alone. Being a people person that's okay. Accidentally, a friend recorded a conversation about me that she was having with her husband and it texted to me.  In the  conversation, this friend said, "I don't see how she does it. All those children and I think 14 grandchildren."  I love her husband's response. "Well, it's all she's known."  He was correct. That has been the norm since we married 46 years. Having a crowd is comfortable. Now, I don't mind a few "catch me up in the quiet" days. But it brings me joy seeing people gather together and connect with one another. While on a date night at t he theatre to see  Reagon   with my husband, my heart began to tug as an older  gentleman walked in very slowly after the previews had started and found a seat. He was all alone. We headed to dinner after the movie and were placed in a booth next to a woman eating all alone. Tha

  How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!  If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand.  When I wake up, I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18 Call me crazy or the equivalent, call me Mama Boo, but every morning when I awakened I open my weather app to check the the weather in the places of residence of our children and consider what they are facing weather wise. Our Utah son was thrilled by their first snowfall yesterday, while our Minnesota son called saying the kids were excited to jump in their pool with friends after school as the temps topped out at 87. If you have children you know they are forever on our minds and we wish we could make life easy for them. Only God is knows which are sunny days and which hold storms for all of his creations. He also knows every beat of their hearts and the thoughts on their minds.  I've said before that I have no clue why He created such a system to have all this on his heart, but He is the Almighty

  God goes before us and behind us.  I see this truth all the time in the simple way He will put a Bible passage before me or a message sent to my ears that confirms an area he is working on in me. One day last week a friend called needing help with a high school reunion she was planning. She wanted to borrow some of my party planning supplies. My first thought was sure, than the more I thought through that her request involved glassware I thought this may be a lot of work. Eight hours later I am reading the daily "Bless Every Home-Praying For Your Neighbors" email I receive and it was the prayer posted above for generosity. She picked up her glassware yesterday! Generosity-"the spirit and action of freely and frequently giving to others. An overall spirit of kindness." The prayer-"Lord, I ask that You bless our use of resources for good works, helping us to give generously and share with others.  Help us to recognize the blessings we have received and to use t

Peak a Boo at the Peaks' View  This is a view on our way home from church. https://www.peaksofotter.com   #3 The Cry of the Heart Whew! Haven’t you let loose a “Jesus, help me!” or a “Lord, I need You now!”  This chapter reminds me I’m not the only one who has had a near miss behind the wheel of a car or boat, screamed for Jesus out of fear of injury for a child or grandchild, or experienced excruciating pain that won’t allow me to sleep. When I was in labor for the first time and had settled into a bed in labor and delivery my anxiety was heightened when I heard the woman in the labor room next to me  screaming... “Jesus, HELP me! HELP me!”  I looked at my husband and said, “Am I saying things like that?”   The psalms are filled with  David’s ballads about the mighty victories of God, but in  Moving Mountains  we are  reminded we can blink our eyes and then read where  David is singing songs of lament and woe. Great faith doesn't eliminate our need for God. God hears the cries

  Dear Grandson,  Praying for you each week is teaching me depths in my walk with Jesus!  Last night I was having a hard time sleeping, so I began praying for your upcoming game. The Lord quickly gave me the words heart, soul and mind , which led me to  Matthew 22:37. My heart thrills with all I learned.  “And he (Jesus) said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your   heart   and with all your   soul   and with all your   mind .’” I Googled the meaning of those three words and one site equated them in this way.   Our emotions (heart), actions (soul) and thoughts (mind). You need all three of those under the control of Christ in a football game. Ha! I need those everyday just dealing with people. Another pop up said, “We love God with all our   heart   when we love Him exclusively, Him and Him alone. We love God with all our   soul   when we find our satisfaction in Him more than any other person or thing. We love God with all our mind when we make decisions to obey His

Take a look back.   When I attended elementary school we did not have backpacks. My first book accessory was a rubber strap with a metal hook to keep your books together, but it didn't work well at all. My husband said he had a belt, but that too was useless.  Next for me was the cute little brief case type bag  like in photo #1. I remember inside my brief case I also had a pencil case.  As Fancy Nancy would say, "Ooo la la." By the 70's we had back packs, but they certainly were not laden with the loads kids carry today. Our oldest grandchild, who is in high school, called to just chat the other night.  Talk about thrilling a grandmother's heart! When I asked him how I could be praying for him he replied to pray he can balance the load  as a varsity athlete and high school student. Such a mature request. The flip side of all students have to balance is the sandwich generation carrying for elderly parents and grandchildren at the same time. Come to Me, all you who

Eldredge shares two stories related to persistent prayer in Moving Mountains.  How long will you keep praying? https://wildatheart.org/rhplay/video/moving-mountains-session-1-there-way-things-work I was baby sitting at our daughter’s home while I working on this study. A crazy red cardinal flew right at the glass door to the room where I was sitting. I thought... I wish I had caught a photo of that for a Boojoyful devotional, but I wasn’t willing to sit there and see if the bird came back. That made me think of the story in the Session 1 video of Elijah sending his servant to look for rain 8 times. That’s a lot of faith/positive expectancy y’all.  While I pondered this the bird flew again, but I wasn’t ready with the camera. Then I thought…what am I willing to wait patiently for.   I thought of the times I’ve waited for my husband to arrive.   Back in our dating years, I’d stand a long time trying to get a glimpse of him coming off the plane to visit me where I was living in Florida.  

Our eldest son lives in Park City, Utah. Very different mountain views from SW VA. His faithful dog was constantly by his side. She died tragically last month and we are all heartbroken for this loss. Moving Mountains Session 1 Points 1 and 2  The day I wrote this post, I was out on our screened porch writing and the morning temps were in the 50's and there was a chill in the air. I wore a hoodie sweatshirt and a had blanket over my legs. After pouring into this first chapter for more than an hour I found myself glancing at my watch realizing I had places to go and people to see and the reality hits me...I probably won't spend a concentrated hour in prayer, but I should. Already knowing concentrated prayer is where this study wants to take me I had failed to check in with God's plan first.  I'd sent the grands  first day of school prayers, face timed with one granddaughter, Instagrammed a grandson, and   actually donned my inflatable shark costume to rush over and way

Beautiful Smith Mountain and its lake These two cousins had some mountains of fear to overcome related to tubing after some tough falls. Thanks to a dedicated dad/uncle who prayed and played with them to help them conquer the mountain! My connect group has embarked on a video study about prayer by author John Eldredge. Below is the link. "In this  Moving Mountains video study , John Eldredge shows how we labor under the misconception that prayer is asking God to intervene instead of partnering with him to get things done. This faulty assumption leads to untold confusion and grief whe n we ask of God but can't sense He hears us--or even cares.  Rather, Jesus says, ' I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven' (Matthew 16:19). When we operate from this position, we approach prayer with far greater confidence. We understand we have a role in making change h

 Happy Birthday to this sweet child. She is full of joy, joy, joy! Celebrating with cousins.

"Re"  Two little letters that simply mean:   “again .” God appears to have a particular affinity for “re” verbs. For instance, “return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22,) There are a lot of “re” words in the Bible. Words like   redemption, renew, repent, restore, resurrection, reconciliation and regeneration   show up over and over throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament. The word the Lord gave me was Reaction.   Reaction   -an action performed in response to a situation or event; a person's ability to respond physically and mentally to external stimuli.  The prefix “re” means back or again. I prayed for the Lord to allow our grandson to have a “pick 6”   again!   Prayed lots of other things too that were in accordance with this definition of reaction and the responsibilities of OLB.   Lord, I pray for this young man's safety, good health and mental clarity. I pray for his eyes to be keen to the offense’s movements and for his quick, yet accurat