God Nudges from others

Wednesday and Thursday are our days off.  

Yesterday we slept till 11:55...at least we got up in the morning :)

This morning I slept till 10:05 and woke up without a headach

e, which is a good thing because yesterday after dinner I got to feeling very puny...head was pounding, felt dizzy and just plain yuck..

...today just the opposite...woke without a headache and feeling rested.

On Wednesday and Thursday's it is hard for me to have time with the Lord...I like to be by myself, in the quiet and that is usually just not the case.  So yesterday I had no "quality" time with the Lord.  This morning when I got up, Ron was reading stuff on Facebook and it was quiet.  I started reading a few things and God quietly nudged me...

...first from a devotional I get every morning, 

written by Christy Fitzwater.  You can check her out by clicking on her name.

This morning her devotion was titled "God Loves the Blubbering Woman".

I was so challenged by her questions/statement of when asked by someone "what's wrong" and we reply "nothing"...yep, I so do that.  And that we sometimes do that to God.

So true!!

And so wrong...obviously something is wrong or we, no I would not be responding that way.

As Ron says to me often...you are talking to me in that TONE, even when I haven't said anything but am giving him the look!

And I realized that in my desire to be authentic I need to be honest to God, to myself and to others...when someone asks "what's wrong?"  I need to reply honestly.  And most of all I need to take to God the things that bother me, hurt me or anger me just like I do when I take the things that make me happy and joyful.  And I need to remember no matter the situation/circumstance I find myself in, I need to remember

 

God continues to speak and I am trying to continue to listen ~~~ a few weeks ago, my bestie, Dee send me an email to join Daily Challenge.   Dee and I are sisters, friend, confidant, bestie's and we are always trying to encourage one another in life.  We enjoy our friendship, have husbands who are very similar, share similar struggles at times..we are the best of friends.  Any way, doing the Daily Challenge is something we can do together even being far apart mileage wise (and I sure do miss her). 

Back to writing...this morning's challenge was

Keep up your strength by spending 15 minutes practicing your favorite form of stress relief.

  and this is how I responded:

I can't say stress relief for me is fun...but this does work for me...

...going for a walk. Here at Branson View Campground going for a walk is not an easy task as we are all hills...it is up or down no matter where you head. This is good as it keeps my mind off what is really bothering me and gives me something else to focus on.

...writing a "venting" email to my bestie, Dee...she understands me and can identify with me 99% of the time...the living in a RV not so much...though I think secretly she would love to escape sometimes and an RV is a perfect getaway vehicle as it has everything you need to live...toilet, fridge and most of all the bed!!!

...eating chocolate...if I did that for 15 minutes straight I am sure the 20 lbs I have lost (over 2 years) would be back in a heartbeat...as I just wrote that I think I need to start focusing on losing weight with my current weight as the new weight and get some of this extra stuff off of me...with a refocused mind and attitude.

...and sometimes I just lose it with my hubby and get all snarky and grumpy...he usually says "I think you need something to eat" you see I am diabetic and getting snarky is usually a sign that my blood sugar is not in a good space.

...and most often I say a prayer or cry out to God...I can't take it anymore...turn on some music and refocus my heart and mind.

and I felt the Lord challenging me in how I respond to stressful situations, because right now I feel quite a bit of stress about a situation and I know I need to change how I am dealing with or in this case not dealing with the situation.  Because just venting and being snarky is not working.  I remember Marla (a great friend and Christian counselor) asking me if something I was doing was working for me...no it wasn't...and that question came to mind this morning too...is being snarky and venting working in this situation...ummm no...so what can I do differently (another one of Marla's favorite questions) and I found God asking "do you want to talk about IT?"  ummm no I just want the situation to fix itself.  "Oh so you want the person involved to be a mind reader and just do what you want him to do and you haven't bothered to tell him?"  ummm yes...."Don't you remember writing about "people aren't mind readers just a few days ago?"  ummm yes..."So what are you going to do about this situation?"

and realizing I need to deal with this situation sooner than later...

....so I prayed about it, wrote out what the issue is and wrote out a plan of attack and will continue to pray for my attitude to filled with grace and love as I actively deal with this situation.

Thank you Lord for using others to speak to me, 

help me today as I work constructively on this situation

and most of all find JOY in my day today.

 

 

Continuing to learn and hear what God has to say to me.

First off thank you to everyone who replied to yesterday's blog post...isn't God awesome how he talks to one person and that person doesn't even know that what they share resonates with someone else...I am thankful I was obedient and listened to God..and I continue to strive to do that daily.

The other day I was struggling as I was choosing

 

in my life and Satan was throwing things at me right and left and I shared that with my bestie, Dee and she reminded me that Satan wants to take my Joy away and I just need to make the right choice...choose to respond in JOY, choose to see the JOY in whatever situation I am in.

After a very long and mostly difficult day yesterday dealing with multiple internet issues and spending over 3 hours on the phone with 3 different guys trying to fix the internet problem...not to happen ~ the technician will be out sometime this afternoon...and Satan trying to make me go back on my decision/commitment to not be on Facebook as he brought thoughts to mind 'oh you should share this on Facebook" and then God bringing to mind my word to Him - no Facebook for the month of August...

...and then this morning 

thru Romans 14:17

 

reminded me that my JOY comes from the LORD through the Holy Spirit into my life

and so again today I am choosing JOY

 

and through Christ all things are possible.

Joy to me is also the settled peace ~ the peace that passes all understanding.

 

being reminded of a question that Pastor Charles asked me (on more than one occasion)  "IF the worst thing happens [ fill in the blank ] what will happen?  And my fear at the time that question was posed to me was "What if something happened to Ron?"  And I had to admit if something happened to Ron he would be Jesus and that would be great for him and Jesus would always be with me and that He had never failed me yet.  That God would still be God and God would still be in control and He would never leave me!"

And then I was led to 

 

1 John 4:1-6

specifically 1 John 4:4b

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world

WOW!!  

Reminded again that no matter what life throws at me God is with me always and He will never leave me or give me more than I can handle.

Because God is in charge over everything, as Christ followers we don't need to be paralyzed by fear, at all or of anything that Satan might try to toss at me.

And then turning to 

2 Kings 20:1-11

 

Do I walk in truth in every relationship.  Does my keeping "feelings, needs thoughts, desires, etc." inside and not shared with those who those thoughts involve work for me?  No, not really..I let my frustrations get the best of me, cause me frustration and irritation and then I take those feelings out on others, usually the ones I love and care about the most...yes Ron :(

and then I am reminded of something that Tom (a Christian counselor I saw for 2 1/2 years during some very difficult times in my life) said "Ron (or anyone else) is not a mind reader...why do I expect him to be?  I need to be open with him ~ tell him what I need, want, desire.  I can't just expect him to know ~~ and that is the same with others who I am in relationship with - they are not mind readers.

The bottom line being "I need to walk in truth in all areas of my life!"

And not expect others to just know what I want or expect.

Do you expect others to be mind readers?

Do you need to share with someone something so that you can move forward and not stumble or get frustrated with them?

I know I do. 

And today I choose to walk in truth.

When God Speaks Do You Listen?

When God Speaks Do You Listen?

That could have been the title of the sermon from yesterday's worship service at Friendly Baptist Church.  In actuality it was Speak & Pray.  It was a good sermon, I took lots of notes, wrote down scriptures that were used in the sermon and then left church and promptly forgot about what was said.  

But God had other plans for that sermon.  It was the first step in what He was going to share with me this morning and talk to me about.  He is like that you know, brings things up more than once so you (I) will pay attention.

Yesterday I wrote the following during the sermon ~

1.  Has the hand of God been on you? touched you?

2.  Are you distracted?  Has the Spirit moved you?

3.  Can things change in my life?

4.  Answer the Lord wisely.  Is He able?

How am I going to get THIS done?

Results are God's not mine.

5.  What is my response to God?

Speak to God

Speak & Pray

Lord I want my life to be authentic!

Scriptures from the sermon:

Ezekiel 37:1-10

Matthew 4

Luke 4

John 16: 8, 13

And then this morning...had the alarm set for 5 a.m. ~ woke at 4:56 and changed it to 6 a.m., slept till 5:57 and changed the alarm to 7 a.m., rolled over and slept till 6:59, turned the alarm off and laid there till 7:04 and heard this little voice "You ask me to get you up, I have done it 3x and here you lay...do you want me to wake you so you can spend time with me?"   That's when I quietly got out of bed, combed my hair and got dressed and made my way to the couch stopping to grab a bottle of water.   That dang little voice said to me "you seem to be drinking more soda pop, more alcohol...when are you going to go back to drinking water...lots of water?"  so yep, I grabbed a bottle of water and have drank half of it already this morning :).

Some of you know Friday was a rough day all the way around...Ron backed the JD Gator into a guests van (a friend of the owner no less) and I was feeling stressed and that I just had no time to get everything done and in the course of the day of sending a few text messages to our boss, Darrell and he wrote back at one point "God is Good...All of the Time"

And I repeated that phrase a few times on Saturday, again yesterday during the worship service it was said a couple of times and then this morning God met me once again right where I am and I found myself saying a couple of times "God is Good...All the Time"  and you know what?  

He is :)

The first scripture I turned to this morning was Psalm 69: 29-36

 

Resonated within me...I need to praise the Lord all the time, giving thanks to God for everything not just the stuff I think I need to give thanks for but EVERYTHING!

And not take things for granted...we live in a beautiful country and right now in a beautiful area of the country.  Yesterday I was whining about all the rain  that had fallen yesterday...instead I need to give thanks for the rain...the area is parched, the grass is brown...the rain is a blessing and I need to be thankful for it.  And with all the rain I was able to pretty much have a day of rest...and that's what I have been craving...a day of just being and not really having to think...and that's what I did and I crocheted on a blanket (one of three I need to finish and get in the mail to send to Japan)  and I watched movies with Ron...something we enjoy but we find we don't do very often.  Thank you God for the reminder to give thanks to You for EVERYTHING!

But God wasn't finished talking to me this morning.  

My devotion this morning came from 1 Kings 3:1-6 and is summed up 

 

and closed with the statement

"Do you practice what you preach?  David did and Solomon too, do you?"

and then my mind went back to the last statement I wrote down yesterday during the sermon

Lord I want my life to be authentic!

Do I practice what I preach...I think I do, most of the time...

but God calls us to be truthful, authentic ALL the time. 

Which leads me back to right where I am today...feeling overwhelmed, like I have too many spoons in too many pots all calling for my attention to stir them and not ignore them.

And then that little voice said "Give up Facebook for the month of August."  WHAT?    That's how I stay connected to so many.  "Give up Facebook for the month of August.  You can do the Branson View Campground  and Forever Friends but no more wasting hours and hours of your time just scrolling through Facebook."  Um...really?? You want me to give up Facebook?  "Umm YES!!!  You can tell people how to get a hold of you.  It's time to refocus on what is important ~ your home, your family, your job, relationships, ME and not in that particular order."  

Don't you just love God...he meets you right where you are!!

God knows I need to get myself reorganized, get my priorities straight, to do the things that need to be done, to focus on what is important.

So if you need me...you can reach me at ali1257 AT gmail DOT com

or

send me a message on Facebook ~ I get the messages without having to go on to Facebook :)  and make sure you give me your email address so I can respond.  

Now to notify all the groups on Facebook I won't be around for awhile...who knows maybe a month will lead to three months...

Thank you Lord for the reminder this morning that to do all the things I NEED to do, what to put my focus on I can do it by getting my priorities right and the first one is being right with you Lord.