Boojoyful

December 11-12 For three days now the image of Mary and Gabriel has come to mind. Being hesitant and almost disobedient the other day to pose a simple question God had on my heart to ask someone, pales in comparison to the request made of Mary. (Well, OK, maybe it was more of a "head's up, you're going to be pregnant"..I actually had five of those surprise revelations, but I was sleeping with a man.) Let's refresh our minds with the story... In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you ar...

December 10 Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. 2 Corinthians 13:5 9 (MSG) "Stop messing with me," was the flash thought I lifted up to the Lord after a little lack of immediate obedience from me yesterday. Just as quickly as those thoughts from emotional exhaustion came to me, so did the words I've often heard my coach husband say to players. "You should be glad I am on your case, because when a coach stops getting on you that means he has given up on you." I figure as long as the Lord keeps disciplining us He has a purpose for us! The entanglement began as I sat in the examination room of a doctor's office yesterday. While waiting for the doctor to come in I took the time to quiet myself and pray. That's when the unexpected occurred. The Lord said, ...

December 9 Gift giving is such a creative expression of love. When our children were young the Christmas morning rule was you couldn't go downstairs until you had your picture taken as a group, usually at the top of the stairs. Pop would be down below with the video camera ready to catch the excitement. Somewhere this morning I came across this sight called: Greatest Christmas Morning Freak Outs Ever www.asylum.com/2010/12/02/greatest-christmas-gift-freak-outs-ever/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7C5%7Clink3%7C30034 The song "I Can Only Imagine" causes us to ponder what our reaction will be when we see our Greatest Gift (Jesus) face to face. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17 (NIV). ""For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NIV) ...

December 8 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 "Can you believe all the "WikiLeaks" news?" my husband inquired last night. "Wiki what?" I replied. He was astounded I had no clue what he was talking about. "You are on your computer every day, you must know," he continued. Then we realized since acquiring my Mac computer I no longer have to go to a home page. It is set up so I can go directly to my mail, my blog, Biblegateway, and a few other favorite sites. Rarely do I turn on a television (now that Dancing with the Stars is over), so the past few months I have become joyfully ignorant to what is going on in the world. I do listen to Christian radio daily and assume if there was something of great urgency they would clue me in. I have no intention of entering a beauty pageant or going on Jeopardy and I am not teaching this year and thus have no necessity of being up on c...

December 7 My computer battery says it is 67% full. Looking at that figure I immediately thought, I am maybe 67% ready for the week of Christmas celebration which is about to occur at our home. The awaiting wrapping, decorating, baking and pantry stocking had me a bit frantic this morning and that was topped off by a request of one of our sons to have his wisdom teeth out while he is here! Add to that my grand idea of everyone making something homemade and me personally selecting a project which at this point to complete would require a staff of elves and I am on overload! What am I doing? I need to stop and give Jesus 100% of my attention right now! Before my eyes opened this morning I began to pray for my sweet sister in Christ who is headed to Duke today for her chemo treatment. After that I prayed for another friend who is grieving deeply over the loss of his father this past week. Two friends will most likely say good-bye to loved ones this week. One a father with Alzheimer...

December 6 Attending an Apple Mac Computer training last week I listened as a gifted instructor was explaining to a customer about a video camera lens. Using the explanation of how a fighter pilot with outstanding eyesight can still be easily impaired by fog, he explained you can have the best camera but if dirt gets on the lens it will not produce a quality product. This made me think about how the even the most steadfast in their faith can lose focus and fall into temptation. Nancy Leigh DeMoss has a radio show today called Food, Beauty and Control: Three Snares Woman Face by Bob Lepine. R ushing along in "Must Do Holiday Mode" I must admit I fell into temptation and didn't listen. Let me adjust my priorities and go read on her site Revive Our Hearts....I bet there is a tidbit to tie in with today's "Boojoyful". (Who needs to bake another cookie or hang more tinsel anyway!) Bingo...there it is. Lepine says: "I want you to see that all of us are ...

December 4-5 Being a mother of seven there are so many things I would do differently if I could parent again. Because a worn out uterus was tossed years ago there isn't any chance I will be carrying another child, so the next best thing to a do over is the opportunity to share my knowledge with young mothers. The number one piece of advice I've passed on for years has been "Pray it, don't say it". Meaning, pray more and nag less, because God can bring about changes in ways that don't alienate our children from us. The second piece of advice I am now offering has come from the changes I have seen in my own life over the past five years (when I became an empty nester). Get alone with God each day. Two of my devotionals, which I am reading now during my quiet time, confirmed this message today. Check these out. From Jesus Calling My thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways and thoug...