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Today has been a beautiful Sunday.  There's just something about Sundays that is different.  Or at least it seems different to me.  I like the Sunday kind of different.

Time and time again I stand amazed at how my heavenly Father knows exactly what I need.  Spiritually, I mean....and all the other ways too.

For the past couple of weeks I've had something on my mind and in my heart and I have found myself longing and wishing and even praying for more of HIM.  Jesus.  The heartbeat of my spirit.

My Sunday School class has been studying Philippians.  If you read my blog and pay attention, you know that Philippians is one of my very favorite Bible books.  I can read it over and over and still get something new from it.  Today the teacher began by saying, "When one is saved, is that all there is?  Sure salvation takes you to heaven, but until then, is that ALL there is or is there MORE?"  Well hallelujah, there's my thought for the past couple of weeks.  More.  Of course there's more, but only if we as Christians want more.

The lesson went on and the teacher talked about being a citizen of heaven.  I'm telling you, the Spirit of the Lord was so real in that Sunday School class.  There were "Amens" from all around, there were tears of joy, there was the kind of filling of the Spirit I know that I needed.  Amazing is my Lord.  I found myself rejoicing that I, too, was a citizen of heaven and by golly, The King knows me by name!  Can I hear an Amen?

I continue to pray for more of Him.

When I'm discouraged, give me more of Jesus.  He is the encourager.

When I'm sad, give me more of Jesus.  He really cares.

When I'm happy, give me more of Jesus.  He loves to hear his children rejoice!

When I'm afraid, give me more of Jesus.  He assures me to not fear and he is there.

When I can't understand why things happen that happen, give me more of Jesus.  He is the faithful one who knows all.

When I am sick, give me more of Jesus.  He's the Great Physician.

When I've sinned, give me more of Jesus.  He knows how to discipline and love me at the same time.

When I seek wisdom, give me more of Jesus.  He is the wisdom builder.

When I need to be strong, give me more of Jesus.  He is my strength.

When I am unsure of the future, give me more of Jesus.  He's the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

When my heart overflows with HIS love, give me more of Jesus.  He's the one that my soul rejoices in, praises, and loves.

More.  Just give me more of Jesus.  How do I get more of Him?  I seek him through praise, prayer, conversation (yes we talk on a regular basis as friends talk),  and His Word.  More, just give me more.

"Rejoice in the Lord always:  and again I say rejoice!"  Philippians 4:4

Consider....

A-Z

So a few weeks ago I volunteered to teach the joint Adult classes for youth day.  No, I am no longer young and yes, there was a young person scheduled to teach but had an unavoidable conflict.   Since The Son-in-Law was in charge of the day, I decided to be a good mother-in-law and help him out.  The topic I got on my mind was The Bible A-Z.  Let me tell you....there are tons of options in this topic.

I decided to share with you my lesson.  The purpose is to give you food for thought in your own quest and study.  Here is mine that I had on that particular day.  Enjoy!

A — Answer—1 Peter 3:15:  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. ..

B—Blessed—1 Chronicles 4:10:  And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast and that think hand might be with me, and that thou wouldn’t keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!  And God granted him that which he requested.

C—Contentment—Philippians 4:11:  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

D—Devil—Ephesians 4:27: Neither give place to the devil.  Ephesians 6:11:  Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  James 4:7:  Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

E—Everlasting—For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

F—Fear not—Isaiah 41:10, 13:  Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness….For I the Lord God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

G—Glimpses of joy—James 1:2-4: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

H—Heaven—Revelation 21:23:  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.  Revelation 21 & 22

I—If—Isaiah 1:19: If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword.

J—Joy—Nehemiah 8:10:  The joy of the Lord is your strength.

K—Knowledge—Proverbs 2:3:  Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seek her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

L—Love—John 3:16:  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

M—Mercy—Micah 6:8:  He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

N—Name—Exodus 33:17:  And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that hast spoken; for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

O—Opportunity—James 4:17:  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin.

P—Prayer—1 Thessalonians 5:17:  Pray without ceasing.

Q—Quiet:  1 Thessalonians 4:11:  And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.  James 1:19:  Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

R—Renewal—Isaiah 40:32:  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

S—Strength—Psalm 18:1,2:  I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, My strength, in whom I will trust….

T—Testimony—II Timothy 1:12:  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

U—Understanding—1 Kings 3:9:  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge the people that I might discern between good and bad….

V—Vigilant (and Victorious)—1 Peter 5:8,10:  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour—(But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.)

W—Wisdom—James 1:5:  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  

X—“Xamine”—(okay, this one is a slight stretch) 2 Corinthians 13:5:  Examine yourselves…

Y—Yield—Romans 6:13—Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Z—Zeal—Ecclesiastes 9:10:  Whatever thy hand findest to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.

Consider.......

ALL HABIT BREAKING SHOULD BE THIS EASY

The Grandbaby loves her pacifier.  And yes, she's old enough to not love it anymore.  The Grandbaby is only allowed to have it at bedtime and upon awaking in the mornings.  This is except, of course, when she sleeps over at Neema and Poppa's house.  The mean Neema doesn't have a paci.  Or doesn't allow the one she has to be seen.  You determine which.

For all of you who read my prior post yesterday, you will recall that my extended household suffered flu last week and some of us unfortunately are still in recovery mode.  Namely me.  And you will recall my houseguests for the week were The Girl and The Grandbaby while The Son-in-Law was out of town.

With the terribleness of the flu, a big effort was made to rid of germs and keep them from reinfecting.  That meant Winnie-the-Pooh and Princess toothbrushes had to be trashed along with the paci that had been used regularly.  The Girl, when driven for the mid week pediatrician's visit and trip to the drugstore, bought a new one.  The new one was not exactly like the old one but as close as could get. The old one was trashed.  I know this because I trashed it.  Here's a farewell look at the "my little star".  RIP.

The night came and so did the question from The Grandbaby....paci?  The Girl told her the paci was on the counter clean and ready.  The Grandbaby found it, eyed it and contemplated.  Then she reached, picked it up, and put it in her mouth--immediately to bring it right back out with a nasty facial expression and a loud "EEWWWW....I like not that paci."  She took it out and tried it again and even louder "EEEWWWW....I like not that paci."  I looked at her calmly and said, "There are no more paci's here.  You just go on to bed and go to sleep."

And that's exactly what she did.  And what she continues to do each and every night.  No paci!

Now can potty training be so easy?  PLEASE?

BRUTAL

Today marks one week since I have been out of my house.  I think I will be wearing regular clothes today instead of pajamas.  Maybe.

A week ago this past weekend, The Grandbaby got suddenly sick.  High, high fever.  Lethargy.  Pitiful.  A trip to the urgent care showed no strep and the assumption was that the problem was either flu or virus.  She remained sick all weekend.  The Girl made her a pediatrician's appointment for Monday morning.  The diagnosis remained the same and time hopefully would send improvement.

Later on Monday, I began with a fever.  I went to the doctor immediately and tested positive for flu Type A. The doctor told me to go home, stay with The Grandbaby and send The Girl to be tested.  The Girl tested negative.   I got worse quickly and spent the next day in the bed.  So so sick.

The next day The Girl began with a fever.  That night The Grandbaby began with a high fever again.  The Husband took the two of them back to the pediatrician on Wednesday morning and The Grandbaby did test positive for flu Type A.  She continued being sick until Friday. The Girl had a mild case thankfully.  The bulk of the sick fell to The Grandbaby and me.  I understand better now when folks say the flu is really hard on senior adults and young children.  They ain't lying.

Oh, did I mention The Son-In-Law was out of town all week on business?  All us sick folks were here at our house.  The Husband was a rock.   He must have watched Pocahontas a dozen times in those four days.  And yes, all of us with the exception of The Grandbaby took Tamiflu.

I have had the REAL flu two other times in my life--once when a teenager and once about 35 years ago.  If you tell me you have had the flu and felt bad a day or two, I will argue that you didn't have the REAL flu.  I don't know how long it's going to take to recover totally.  My diagnosis came on the heels of a bad case of bronchitis and sinus infection AND a week of intestine/adhesion flare along with that.  My immune system, compromised on a normal day, really was compromised the past month.  It ain't been fun.

During one of our 30 minute times of feeling a bit better, The Grandbaby and I had a mani/pedi session.  I thought you might enjoy seeing that.  It's the only time in my life I've ever had my nails painted lellow.  I gave The Grandbaby rainbow toenails with princess colors, no less.

The Grandbaby and I stayed home from church together yesterday morning.  I didn't want us giving any residual germs away nor did I want to gather any new germs from someone else.

We cough on but look forward to a recovering week ahead.  Surely.  At least there are rainbows even if they are on little toenails!

THE GIRL'S BIRTHDAY

I began my week this past Monday morning with a continuing bout of bronchitis and sinus infection and before the morning was over had added a dreaded adhesion pain and flare.  I won't get into it all except to say that it's been a hard week for me and my health.  I even felt entitled on Wednesday to wallow in a bit of self-pity.  After wallowing a bit, I got myself in line and moved on with my week.  I must practice the faith I preach.

I ended the 5-day week tonight with a good dose of blessings.    It was on this day 38 years ago that our family of two became a family of three.  Yes, The Girl enjoyed a birthday today.

We didn't have much then and don't have much now but we had the three of us together and a whole lot of love.  This was our first Christmas.

Our little girl gave us one delight after another as a child and continues even now with each passing day....a blessing.

This is a preschool picture back in 1986....a blessing.

Her love of playing the piano delights us each and every Sunday...yet another blessing.

Even though she was an only child, she made friends.  Here are two that still live with us today....Susie and Amy.  Amy is the one with the head injury.

The Girl always studied hard and treated others nicely.  She always made us proud.  This picture's purpose is to show you how The Girl looks in shorter hair AND how much The Husband and I have changed.

The Girl followed her heart to The Son-In-Law and then along came The Grandbaby.  Blessings continued on then and continue on now.

We celebrated tonight as we have the other 37 years with gifts and sugar free ice cream cake.  From the smile of The Grandbaby, she's learning birthday fun, even when it's not her own birthday.

The Girl's gift included matching shoes for her and her girl.

I have always prayed for The Girl at various stages of her life and the Lord has always supplied.  I often just stand in awe of the wonderful woman this little girl has grown to be.  I've watched as she has excelled in school and work but most of all, but most importantly I've watched as she excelled in life.  Sometimes that hasn't been easy.  She has endured living with diabetes and she has endured much fear in her life.  She has shown courage and grace.  Through it all, if possible to be more so, she has become stronger, kinder, more tolerant, and more loving.  I learn from her each day.

I guess the best wish I could wish for her and The Son-In-Law is that after 36 more years, they will be able to experience the feelings about their little girl that I have experienced on this night.

So to the girl who made me a mama and a proud one at that, happy birthday!  Your parents love you more than you can imagine.

IT'S BEEN WAY TOO LONG.......

Yes, my faithful blog readers, it's been way too long since I shared.  Life overtook me in full force, boggling my mind and emotions and taking thoughts of this blog far away from my thoughts.  There's been a surgery of a dear friend, an earthly loss of a dear friend, more sinus mess, busyness, and fatigue.  I'm sure there has been other issues, too, but they are too numerous to name.

As the weather here this past weekend took a turn for the warm in February, I was able to relax a bit on my front porch Sunday afternoon with my camera and The Grandbaby.  Both of those things give me great delight.  To get back into the "blog groove", I decided this morning I would share some of that delight with you.

Balls and bubbles are popular activities on my front porch.  This day, though, bubbles were the most fun....She usually wants to use the "geen" bottle even though they are both the same bubbles.

My favorite photo of the day.....simple simple joy.....

Of course, this girl doesn't like bubbles on her hands so she needed hand wipes...

...and decided the porch floor needed to be wiped of the wetness....duh.

Being the teaching "Neema" that I am, I encouraged a more useful wiping of the storm door.  This could be a good thing to learn before spring cleaning time.  And yes, for all you fashion divas, I realized the red hair bow didn't match the pink outfit but let it go....let it go...

She liked the process.  Ah, the joy of youth...

There was tricycle riding, sliding, smiles and wonder...a nice hour of fun and relaxing.

The night before this, The Grandbaby and The Son-In-Law enjoyed a daddy/daughter date at the local favorite chicken restaurant.  The Girl took some photos before that...I'm sure she won't mind my sharing.  Actually, The Girl did a great job at her photography.

Ya reckon she has on enough bracelets?  I think The Girl is learning that one picks their battles and bracelets ain't one to pick.

"For God has given us these times of joy"....Psalm 81:4

Ahhh...........

AFRAID?

Some definitions of "afraid" are feeling fear and anxiety; frightened; worried that something undesirable will occur or be done; and unwilling or reluctant to do something for fear of the consequences.

I wish I could tell you I have never been afraid.  I have.  As have most of us who live and breathe.  Fears come to us in many ways.  I used to be afraid to stay alone after dark.  I've been afraid before surgery(s).  I been afraid of a possibility of something that might happen.  Do I get an "Amen"?  Am I alone in these fears?

I think it's just in us as humans on this earth to be anxious and afraid.

There have been several instances during this past week that have caused me to be anxious, fearful, discouraged, and all those other words that describe such.

I have been reminded that I can overcome this problem often lately with devotions and scriptures that I have encountered.   The Lord always knows what I need help with.  Even today, I passed a church sign that said, "The Bible says 365 times to not fear."  I've heard that before actually, and wondered who in the world counted those times in the Bible.  Be it the true count or not, I like to think there's a reminder of that for every day of the year.

The scripture that jumped out at me today was in a book of the Bible I rarely read.  It goes like this:

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."  Deuteronomy 3:6

Afraid?  Nah....     

Consider.......

JUST A THOUGHT...

There's no big long dissertation, just a couple of simple scripture thoughts for today that maybe someone needs to hear.

"Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"              Jeremiah 32:17

"Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh:  is there any thing too hard for me?"                                 Jeremiah 32:27

Consider.......

2019...REALLY?

Was it 19 years ago we were "concerned" with the year becoming 2000 and feared what that change might do to our world?   Amazingly, it did nothing but keep time moving along and now here were are and it's 2019.  I had thoughts all week of posting blessings of 2018 and it's not too late for that.  I will go ahead a reflect a bit.

This time last year I was spending days and a few nights in ICU with a sick dad.  After weeks of recovery, I'm happy to say he's doing pretty well for an 84 year old.  A year ago, things were not easy but God supplied.  Doesn't He always?

The Husband, The Girl, The Son-In-Law, The Grandbaby and I have not had a year of all sweet smelling flowers but we've not smelled any septic tank smells either.  I had another surgery that I didn't want to have but am living well without the appendix and right now, can't complain of adhesion issues.  I did do a visit yesterday to my doctor to be certain some chest pain was not heart related and thankfully, it wasn't.  I am thought to have a sliding hiatal hernia--doctor said it was definitely something going on.  Do we doubt it?  I explained to her that I feared I had become paranoid and her reply was that if anyone deserved to be and should be paranoid, it is me.  So there you go.  There has been respiratory problems, ear infections, gout, and retina problems with the family but God supplies.

2018 found us with losses and gains and with all these assurances that still God supplies.

2018 brought a Christmas miracle for dear friends who longed for a little one to join their family.  That longtime prayer was answered in the form of a sweet little baby girl.  Yes, God supplies.

There were birthdays...

VBS...

cooking fun...

new friends...

matching clothing, a hat parade, and designer ties.

There was the wisdom of the neighborhood widows...yes the one in the white jacket is 100 years old.  In my kitchen.  How many folks can say they have had a 100 year old in their kitchen?

The Husband and I actually got our picture made when we were dressed up.

The Grandbaby went to preschool and continues to bring us joy.

(Notice the right hand...she's "directing" the music....yes, she LOVES music and sings, sings, sings....)

Most of all, I am blessed by love.

Yes prayers were answered--not always in the way I wanted or expected but answered in just the right way.  Many more prayers remain for the answering and they, too, will be answered--maybe not always in the way I want but answered in just the right way.

Many I know and love continue to struggle and fear for upcoming "events" in their physical lives, many of us have concern for the country in which we live, many struggle with decisions that must be made, and many struggle with worries that they want to control.  It's as I heard said a long time ago, "Everybody's got a problem."  I realize more and more how true that simple statement is.  Now I know that for every problem, my God has an answer.

I will end with one of my newest favorite Bible scriptures from Isaiah 41:10 and it goes like this:

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:  I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Join me in the upcoming year in prayer for us all that we might all be the shining light in a dark world.  Shine, shine, shine on.  God supplies.

Consider.........