God Meets Me Right Where I Am

I say it often "I am always amazed how God meets me right where I am."  Not sure why I am amazed as He has never failed me, not once. 

 This morning was no different.

I woke with a headache, was going to get up at 5 a.m. to go and exercise...could hardly move my head hurt so bad, reset the alarm for 6 a.m., woke feeling like my head weighed a ton, got up took some Ibuprofen and made my way back to bed, reset the alarm for 7 a.m.  it went off and I just rolled over...woke up at 7:55, still had a headache but at least I could get up and move.  It was raining so decided we would skip the Farmers Market this morning...will go next Friday :)

 

I struggle with many things...one is finding making time for the Lord.  My heart is in the right space but not always my actions.  This morning, not feeling well I picked up my Bible and my devotional book and this was the verse and it made me think of something else I struggle with - drinking water...water is boring, doesn't taste good YET when I drink water I find I want more water and that's how I am with the Word...when I go to the Word I want more of the Word.  I NEED the Word in my life just like I need water in my body...I have drank 1 bottle of water already today (it's just now 1 p.m.) and have started on the second bottle...my goal is to drink 3 bottles of water each day.  So as I think on this verse and God's Word and needing it every day I am also thanking the Lord for letting me see the correlation of imbibing on God's Word  ~ the Living Water and drinking water to fuel my body.

Yesterday was our son, Jamie's 36th birthday.  This week each year is filled with tears of joy as we reflect on Jamie's life and how proud of the young man he has become.  He is a great son, maturing into a wonderful hubby to Suzanne and daddy to Opal.  He has a  great heart and works hard to support his little family, spending time with family and friends whenever he can.  We are so proud of him and so glad he is a part of our family and our son!!  

Happy Birthday Jamie!!!  

Even though I just don't understand how he can be 36...it was just a few days ago he began kindergarten...just can't figure out how he can be 36?????

And also tears of sadness as we remember Royce, our baby who lived three days.  Royce is Jamie's twin so we have always tried to spend August 8th celebrating Jamie.  We never have wanted Jamie to feel bad that he lived and Royce died...we may not understand why Royce didn't live (yes we know the medical reasons) we do go forward.  For some reason the past few days both Ron and I have been thinking a lot of what would life have looked like if Royce had lived.  Would he be married, would he too be a daddy?  Would he be married?  What would he have enjoyed doing?

And then this morning, my scripture reading was John 14:1-11 (this was shared by Pastor Adrian at Royce's funeral) and verse 2 jumped out at me:

 

and my heart was warmed to know that when Royce left us here on earth he was warmly welcomed by Jesus into heaven.  Today I imagine Royce being surrounded by both sets of his grandparents, Peggy & Ted and Pete & Anne and many other family members and friends who are no longer here with us.  I picture my friend, Lori who passed away in 1997...she was such a great mom, grandma and friend and I can see her cuddling Royce and though my heart aches for my loss I am so thankful that Royce is totally healed in God's presence and for that I can rejoice.

And then the Bible verse for today at biblegateway.com 

Luke 12:6-7

 

and I am reminded that 

God Cares for Me

just the way I am 

with the joys and sadness 

with my headache still in full attack

but 

 

and even though today I am not feeling well,

feeling overwhelmed, feeling like I can't get caught up on things

 

I think I will take some more ibuprofen, drink another bottle of water and get back to plugging along.

Hope each of you are having a great day!!!

I've shared about me today so you can pray ~ is there anything I can pray about for  you?

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.