Perspective

Hubby and I are trimming down the spending and going on a budget. First time we have been able to actually do this. Like anything else, you have to make it a habit.  Kinda like this blog.  Stopped doing this and it has been so hard to get back in the groove.  Back to the budget. It is amazing how much money you can throw away and not know it.  I challenge anyone to keep track of everything you spend in the month and you will find ways to save. Our biggest spending was on food and eating out. We now have a budget for our food weekly and actually have fun trying to find a better deal. We go to a farmers market every week and get shrimp, chicken and beef for the week.  This farmers market has great prices. Better than the grocery stores. We take our lunch every day and keep it simple with the chopped salad bags and a piece of grilled chicken. The other thing we are doing is not using credit cards. That is very hard to do when you have used them your whole adult life. Cash or nothing. If you are under 30 start now to live on half what you make.   Yes, I heard that the other day.  It sounds crazy but if you did this you would never have any money issues and could retire very early in life.

If you have any great ideas and advice, we would love to hear about it.

Remember to Love God, love others, and love yourself.

I've Got The Power!

 

Do you remember the song back in 1990, "I've got the Power"?  It was a great dancing song. I think they played it a lot at sporting events.  The good news as believers of Christ, is we really do have the power. 2 Timothy 1:7 is my new favorite verse.  

2 Timothy 1:7

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

The Holy Spirit is dwelling within us. We have a Spirit of power, love, and self control.  This is the same power we read about in Acts.  Today, we need more examples of miracles and healing through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Pray. Believe. Be bold.  Pray in the Spirit. Expect miracles.  Let God's glory shine through you so that all may see and believe.  

Love and peace

In the moment

Living in the moment.  Being present. Living each day with intentional purpose.  Unless you are very deliberate about this, it is so easy to be concerned about tomorrow. God wants us to be living for the now and focus on his desires for that moment.   Matthew 6:34 says,

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Excerpt From: Peterson, Eugene. “The Message New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs.”

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=392612491

The key is to become outwardly focused and God focused.  Not only are we to not worry, but our focus is to be on God.  What an amazing world it would be if we can be so focused on God that we are constantly in the moment going about our Father's concerns.  We won't have time to get caught up on gossip, or trivial matters when our heart is with God. We could then be outwardly reaching those around us who need God in their lives.  May you live today in the moment with God leading you.

Peace

A Life Worth Living

My sister in law passed away this past Thursday.  She fought the fight of metastatic breast cancer.  My family and Kathy's close friends gathered on Saturday to celebrate Kathy's life.  It was at the home of her very dear friend who had taken care of Kathy during her illness.  We had a time where we could say something and remember Kathy. It was very clear how much Kathy was loved and what a great spirit Kathy had for life, fun, joy, and happiness.  She could have played the pitiful victim but chose instead to live life to the fullest and make her life happy and full. 

The other thing that was revealed to me was how much love is in the world.  God brought the right people to Kathy to be by her side and help her through the storm.  So many people who never met Kathy were praying for her daily.  A love that is selfless and Christ like to do what is needed for a person in need.

It can be so easy to focus on the negative world we live in.  But within all of this you find beauty, kindness, joy, hope, and love.  My prayer is that you can focus your life on loving and caring for those around you.  

Peace...

God working through others

My sister Liz is a chaplain at a hospital and is assigned to the neo natal ward.  Today there is a memorial service for the babies who went on to be with God.  She said there are over 400 that die from miscarriage to still births to complications after delivery every year in her hospital. Liz has a special gift to love on these families and pray for them.  What a gift God has given her to use for His purpose.

Life can really stink.  Everyone will experience loss during their lifetime. One of our reasons to be here is to help those who are suffering.  Love on those who are lonely.  Feed those who are hungry.  

Everyone wants to know their purpose in life.  This is no secret.  We were created by God to be used for His purpose and bring glory to God.  We do this by loving God, loving others, and loving yourself.  Don't make it complicated.  Take every moment and use it as an opportunity to help someone. To forgive someone. To love someone.  Take this moment and change your life to live and to love.  Let go of hatred. Stop being scared and mean. Start living for others.  Share your love with everyone.  

Ask God to make you more loving in your heart.

http://youtu.be/dBQqda_YDxw

Why do we pray?

This is taken from www.one place.com by Adrian Rogers

Why do we pray?

It's very important to understand this: we are inviting God into our lives when we pray.

When we pray, we experience —

• Fellowship. 

We become "workers together with Him" (2 Corinthians 6:1). When we pray, God gives us the joy and privilege of administrating His kingdom, His affairs — working together with Him. He could do it without us. We could not do it without Him. But what a glory that God allows us the privilege of doing it with Him!

• Development. 

When we pray, God is growing us. Have you ever prayed and didn't receive immediately what you asked for? What did you do? You kept on praying, but you also began to search your heart and life to see if something was hindering God's answer. Many times there is. God uses prayer to grow us.

• Dependency. 

God never wants us to live lives independent of Him. If God just did everything for us and we never had to pray, soon we would begin to take things for granted. We would cease to depend upon God.

Prayer Binds Us to God

That's why we tell God what He already knows. He knows what we have need of before we ask, but we're definitely, specifically, unqualifiedly told to pray and to ask — not to impress or inform God, but to invite God, so that we might have that fellowship with Him, so that we might grow, and we would learn to depend upon Him.

God Is With You

Back about 15 years ago was what I would call my spiritual transformation. I went deeper into my relationship with God through prayer, meditation, and journaling.  I would wake up around 5 in the morning and just spend some time with God. I wrote phrases and sentences that turned into verse. I borrowed my sisters piano and just started playing around with music and created melodies. 

Around this time, my sister was very sick and several of my friends were dealing with cancer.  I wrote "You Are Not Alone", to express how God is always with us through every storm in our lives. We can find rest, peace, and comfort in God. 

I hope you can find a message of God's love for you in this video. 

Peace

http://flipagram.com/f/HlJTeSPgJW