Boojoyful

February 27-28 The word consternation came to mind last night as I was going to sleep and was still with me when I awakened. Not certain what it meant I headed to the dictionary. Consternation - amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion. WOW, this week I was thrown into a state of consternation following a phone call. So what was I to do with this word feeling so certain God wanted me to follow its lead. After checking seven translations I finally found the word in The New American Standard in Ezekiel 3:15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them. This led to a two hour study of the book of Ezekiel. (I had planned to clean my house...oh, well.) Looking at the word again I saw... The prefix con means "with". Constern translated in my mind to "concern". Then there boldly at the end of this word stands "nation". We are to be fil...

February 26 LOL...my Bible study this AM has taken me to passages on the importance of sitting still! Immediately I realized I bark out the command of "sit still" daily. Ah, you are thinking that is because I am a teacher....nope...that command is aimed daily at our English bulldog who requires some tedious care. From the gook which drains out of his eyes, to the dirt which cakes up on his nose, to the poopies which get stuck under his corkscrew tail and the drainage which comes out of his infected ear I need him to be still and cooperate while I clean him up! Do you hear it? Did the same thought reverberate back to you? God is saying.. "A hum." Likewise dear ones, I need you to sit still and cooperate while I clean up your heart with my Word! Oh, my! The list is lengthy of the things which need to be picked out of our lives. 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increa...

February 25 Lying on my belly, with the covers pulled up high around my chilly shoulders, I am praising the Lord for wireless which allows me to type without getting out of bed. It's cold! My hot water bottle of a husband starts his day in another town, so he is up and Adam, leaving me to really not want to get out of bed and wander out into the cold temperatures this morning. Sobbing through a faculty prayer time yesterday, two of us shared circumstances we are experiencing which at times make us want to give up the battle. A huge part of me wanted to hide beneath the covers yesterday and not get up and face the world, but I knew the children would be an excellent distraction and the prayers and encouragement of my colleagues would put me in the proper mind set. That was right on! Today my prayers are for the "burden bearers" out in the world. This phrase has dual meaning, so I need to double up my prayers. While typing this term, "burden bearers" I was thinkin...

February 24 "The battle is heightening." I hear that comment over and over again from brothers and sisters in Christ. Situations are robbing our slept and anxiety is pressing in on many fronts, but when the going gets tough we need to get on our knees,open our Bibles, turn on the praise songs and encourage one another. The phrase "Everyone needs compassion" has just come to mind. I've posted Hillsong's complete lyrics to Mighty to Save on the sidebar of the blog today. Here is the beginning. Everyone needs compassion, Love that's never failing; Let mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness, The kindness of a Saviour; The Hope of nations. Saviour, He can move the mountains, My God is Mighty to save, He is Mighty to save. The Biblegateway verse today is an appropriate one for those of us who need to remember God is in control and has a plan! For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,...

February 23 We struggle with the unknown! We think life would be much easier if we just knew what was to come. Hollywood has produced hits like Back to the Future which tempt us with what would appear to be a luxury of being able to make choices which could alter the outcome of life ahead of us. A day doesn't go by in this economically deprived time that I don't talk to someone who wants to know that things are going to get better, that they will have a job, or that they can make their house payments. They struggle with what to do next. (My husband and I are right there with them concerning our jobs.) This time of year has thousands of students waiting for college decisions. They just want to know where they will be spending the next four years of their lives. Adoption lists are long and anxious, "want to be" parents see time ticking along and their desire to have a child consumes their daily thoughts. They just want to know...will the call ever come? Overwhelmed wit...

February 22 Lord, I have one of those 14 hour days ahead which does not stop and I am already late and feeling overwhelmed. Looking out my window is the deepest, pink sunrise I have ever seen. While beautiful, I am thinking of the rhyme my father taught me when he was teaching me to sail..."red sky at morning, sailor take warning; red sky at night, sailor's delight." (Ha, we were just on the lake and always insight of the shoreline!) Hopefully, that warning does not apply to the storms of everyday life. Needing a verse to cling to, I felt rushed and as if there wasn't even time to write the devo or look up a verse. I opened a 50 page document where I have been doing a Bible study and scrolled to the middle to look for a quote about the storms of life. Instead...there aws what I needed to bring me peace. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8 I probably wo...

February 20-21 The students at school have been writing to soldiers and today in my Bible study I was really impacted by the way what I was personally studying related to our military personnel. From One Month to Live : “ Jesus traveled lightly. He kept only the cargo that was most important for His health and His mission. He advised His followers to do the same.” The study goes on with these questions. What is your response to His advice? What cargo might Jesus want to you to discard from your life? (Oh,goodness...show me some mercy! My husband is hoping I interpret this to mean I need to learn to travel more lightly!) Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with the...