Our Help Comes From The Lord

In "The Power of Positive Thinking", Norman Vincent Peale tells of traveling to a certain city where he meets a committee of people who whisk him from one event to another. There are autograph signings to go to, crowds to speak to, VIP's to meet, and then he is rushed to the hotel to hurriedly change clothes for dinner. He receives a phone call rushing him to dinner and as he runs out the door he almost forgets to lock it. He suddenly stops and asks himself what he is doing, goes back in and places a phone call to let the people know he will be late to dinner. He then He then sits down and begins to meditate on Psalm 121 and pray. It ends with the words "the Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this day forth..." After spending 20 minutes with the Lord, he went down to dinner feeling like a new man. How often do we get so busy we forget to stop and spend time with God who is our source of help. Before we know it we are feeling anxious, and stressed, not knowing if we are coming or going. If only we will make time for Him in our day, He will direct our steps. Psalm 121:2 says "Our help comes from the Lord." Stop and let Him give you the help you need each and every day.

Know Any Good Jokes?

As I was going about my day yesterday, I felt very tense. I had more to do than hours to do it in and it was stressing me out. While I was in town, I decided I would run by the library and grab a book I had been wanting to read, and grab a few magazines to get some decorating ideas for my house. While I was browsing through the magazines, I heard the lady behind the desk telling jokes to a lady across the room ( there happened to be only a couple of people in the reference room besides myself and the lady working there). Now, these were some very dumb jokes she was telling. I was thinking, "This lady is really strange." But, in spite of here goofy sense of humor, I found myself smiling. When I got to the desk to check out, she asked me if I knew any jokes:) I told her that I wasn't very good at remembering jokes, but that I would remember one that she told and share it with the men in my house (they also have goofy senses of humor). I also let her know that I had needed to smile and lighten up that day. I was feeling less tense already and left smiling!

Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Our Plans vs. His Plans

Monday morning, Feb. 14th, my husband had just left for work and I was beginning what I had planned for my day, when I got a phone call saying my dad had been rushed to the hospital. I rushed there as fast as I could to find him arriving in an ambulance unresponsive. As the morning went by, and many tests were performed, he was diagnosed with a stroke and not expected to live. The doctor said to call in all the family. All of my siblings arrived from several states, some with their families ( there are 6 of us living). As he days went by and dad started responding, the doctors said that if he lived, he would be a vegetable and we needed to find a home to put him in permanently. The stroke also affected his swallowing, so they had to put a feeding tube into his stomach. Well, he started responding more, and more, but was hallucinating a lot and very delusional. We were taking turns sitting with him 24 hrs a day, and he was having to be put in restraints most of the time to keep him in bed and from pulling all of his tubes out. All of this time, many of his friends and family were coming in and out to visit him, and almost always they prayed for him before they left. One day the ER doctor came into ICU and was totally shocked to see that dad had come out of the coma. Well, evidently, God isn't limited by the doctors diagnosis and hears all of the prayers that had been going up to Him. Today, dad is in a nursing home going through therapy. He can carry on a normal conversation and is enjoying joking with the nurses and therapist. He is pretty much normal, only gets confused occasionally, and forgets that he's not at home. He can walk, but is still very weak and tires quickly, but is getting stronger every day. Tomorrow they will do another swallow test to see if he can eat yet or what he can eat if anything. He loves to eat, so is very concerned about the outcome of this test. Yesterday, the social services director said that this looked like it was going to be a very short stay. This just makes me want to laugh, just thinking about how good our God is, and how miraculous is His love. And, just like He didn't ask me what my plans were that Monday morning that I received the phone call (or for the weeks that followed), I guess He didn't bother to ask the doctors what their plans/diagnoses was for dad.

How the Snowy Weather/Bad Roads Saved Me Money Last Week

1. Saved money on gas by staying home.

2. Stayed out of the stores so wasn't spending money on stuff I didn't have to have.

3. When I needed something from the store I sent hubby for it on his way home from work, which saved me time and money on gas again.

4.On Saturday, we finally had a really pretty day and I ventured out of the house. The whole town was so glad to be out of their houses and needing to shop for their Super Bowl parties, so Wal Mart had no shopping carts available or hand baskets, so I only purchased what I could carry in my hands. So, I narrowed down my menu a little, making do with what I had at home again, and saved a little more money.

Now if I could only learn a lesson from this, and put it into practice.

No Fat Pizza Sauce

My husband is on a diet, and the menu for last night called for a pita pizza with low-fat marinara or tomato-basil sauce. Well, I didn't have any sauce on hand, so, I found a pizza sauce recipe and tweaked it to make it no fat. It was so easy and tasty that I thought I'd share it and save it here.
Pizza Sauce:
1- 6 ounce tomato paste
2/3 c. water
2 cloves minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. pizza seasoning or 1/2 t. oregano & 1/2 t. basil
Mix all ingredients. No need to cook sauce, just let sit 10 minutes or more to blend flavors before spreading on pita and adding toppings.

"I Wish, I Wish..."

A few days ago, I was going about my work and my mind was very busy with thought of "I wish...". I won't tell you what I was desiring, it doesn't matter, but it wasn't the first time my mind and heart had yearned/prayed/thought this over. Anyway, as I was wishing, the thought popped in my head...."Tell it to Jesus!" For a second I was excited that I was being encouraged to pray about my situation. But then, just as quickly, I started thinking , "Surely God is tired of hearing me pray about this." It was then the story in Luke 18:1-8 came to me about the widow who kept coming back and coming back to the judge with her request. Finally, he got tired of her bothering him, and gave her the thing that she desired. This has encouraged me to not give up, but to continue to bring my request before the Lord. I know one day I will be granted my desire.

Where Are You Gonna Eat Today? (the restrooms a good place)

This morning as I was boiling eggs for breakfast, I thought, "This would be a good time to read a few scriptures". This reminded me of the post I had previously written entitled "Not Enough Time?" which talked about not letting your busy day keep you from getting into the Word of God. We can grab a verse here and there as we have a moment and nibble on it and a lot of time this increases our appetite for more of the Bread of Life. I believe I need to make it a point to keep the Bible with me wherever I am today and see where all I can find time to read it. Let me know where you squeeze in a snack today!

Warning! Just as in the physical, if you snack all day you get fat, the same is true in the spiritual. Keep nibbling on the Word and you are gonna grow!