Boojoyful

June 1 Today is my mother's birthday. She died nine years ago. Everyday, I wear a diamond bracelet which belonged to her. Last night I was doing a bit of delayed spring cleaning, chloroxing the fence posts which go around our dock. At one point, my arm hit one of the slats and I thought, hmm, if this bracelet fell down into the lake I could easily enlist people to search for diamonds in the murky bottom of the lake. Why is it so difficult then to persuade someone to seek the Lord with all their heart? He is more precious than silver, more costly than gold and more beautiful than diamonds. Nothing we desire can compare to Him. How much effort do we put into seeking and searching God's purpose and will for our lives? He made each of us the way we are for a reason. He knows the plans He has for us. (Jeremiah 29:11) We can know the plans too, but it takes a willingness to go on a life long treasure hunt. Dig deep today...believing the Lord wants you to find His treasures. As for Go...

May 30-31 During out final closing ceremonies yesterday there was a point our head master, my husband, asked parents and their children to go find a spot outside and reflect on God's love as we listened to the song by Casting Crowns called "Your love is Extravagant". One of the parents of a student of mine had not arrived so I asked her to be my child and come with me. We went down to the water's edge and sat on some steps. God gave me an amazing message as we sat there. Look out to the deep water (our future) we can't see what lies beneath it. But look right here in the shallow water in front of us (today) we can see the bottom of the lake, the rocks, shells and other obstacles very clearly. As we gazed into the water there were two little minnows staring right back up at us. I said, "What a great picture to remind us we are never alone, God is right beside us caring about every thing that happens to us. Fortunately, clear visibility is not necessary fo...

May 29 Remember my nocturnal friend, Mr. Whippoorwill, on the volleyball post outside our bedroom window? Last night I was up until after 1:30AM putting the finishing touches on a Treasure Hunt and Obstacle Course for our school's Final FUN Day today! I had invited two of our 7th grade girls to spend the night to help out one of the mothers who was having a medical procedure. (Ah, the benefits of a tiny school.) The good news was the other parents and students are not to arrive until 9AM, so I told the girls we can sleep in. But no, at 5AM while it was still dark, our whippoorwill decides to get in one final outburst right outside our window. Whip-poor-will or GET YOURSELF UP, he screamed at me. My eyeballs hurt and I am already anticipating an afternoon nap! I have a very godly friend who would say, don't look at this as why did this have to happen, look at this as what is God doing by having me up at this wonderful quiet time of the day! Yikes...my husband is out burying the ...

May 28 Racking my brain late last night, I tried to come up with all the clues needed for a treasure hunt we are formulating for our students and a Field Day tomorrow. This morning the task at hand was coming up with a prize which can be buried in the sand for each of the four teams. Immediately my mind raced to 1 Corinthians 9:26 (NLT) which says: I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. Verse 24 says: Run in such a way as to get the prize . Paul also talks about "the prize" in Philippians chapter three where he says: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus . That reminded me of various attitudes of people who have participated in our treasure hunts here at Shiloh. Some run and are elated at the final dig. Others finish and are grumbling that someone else cheated and got to the prize sooner. Some may complain that a clue was too tough. Paul say...

May 27 This past week I kept thinking I was having lots of hot flashes and a reaction to the pollen in the air, when in reality I had a fever and was sick with a virus. This conclusion could have been reached faster had I taken time to stick a thermometer in my mouth or ear (if I had the fancy kind, ah good Christmas present for my kids). We often have trouble differentiating between what God is telling us, what are our fleshly desires and what the enemy might be whispering in our ears. When we open God's word and hold it up our dilemmas in life we increase our chances of discernment. Yesterday, I sat on my screen porch to do my Bible Study. Moses wandered up wishing for a back scratch. Succumbing to his desires left numerous hair balls blowing across the porch. Watching that occurrence brought me to a very powerful verse: Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and ...

May 26 Today was to be a catch up day from being down with a virus for several days. The fever is gone, but the congestion and cough are lingering a bit, so I decided it best to not drive on the school field trip, but rest up and catch up. God had a different agenda. At 7:45 AM the power went out. I called AEP who said it should be back around 4PM. That means no washing, vacuuming, ironing or even mopping or cleaning the floors or me because we are on a well and the pump won't work. I am even limited on the computer. Although I have a verizon attachment to get onto the Internet, I have limited battery power left. The Lord put on my heart to do the devotional first, but the temptation was so great to read 37 emails which were waiting for me. Each of three times I attempted to do that, the lost connection. Now that I am doing it God's way, I can just type away! So what will I do with 8 hours without power! I will plug into some awesome Bible Studies and an intense time of prayer ...

May 25 Our air-conditioner went out Friday (great timing...a holiday weekend). The nights have been delightful, so we have opened our windows and the door in our bedroom to our screened porch. We were just closing our eyes last night when the loudest Whip-poor-will or Chuck-will's widow (a larger version) let out with its song. It was so loud, my husband thought the bird was on the screened porch. Walking out onto the porch I turned on the spotlight which shines onto our volleyball court. Right there on the top of one of the net posts sat this confident bird singing over and over again its nocturnal song. Some people receive a lovely robin or blue bird in their yard, but not us, nope we get the loudest whip-poor-will around serenading us to sleep! My husband says, "Nothing normal ever happens to us." When we reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day...remembering those who died while serving our country, there is nothing very normal about a person who is willing to give his...