Psalm 37

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

I like this verse It makes me feel optimistic It reminds me where to put my focus for true happiness After stressful days,when I may put God on "the back burner" sometimes I just need this reminder :)

If you feel like it's you against the world read Psalm 37 ..you'll feel better :)

Teaching

"To love to teach is one thing...to love those you teach is quite another"
Words of wisdom for me to remember with my patients today

What makes you smile?

On my MSN page today they had the 10 happiest cities and the 10 most depressed cities
On a grey day like today I was sure Dayton had to be #1 on that list but it wasn't
Philadelphia is the city to avoid and Laredo Texas is the city to move to
So what are good things to do when you have a grey day What makes you smile?
Here's some things on my list

A day off work
Getting my haircut (It's always nice to have someone else wash your hair :)
Watching a comedy
Eating out at Hacienda Grande ( I love their chips)
Talking to a friend
Talking to Kristen (you can't help but laugh at her)
Talking to Tyler
Sending a card or email to someone else (make their grey day better )
A warm bed
A clean house (that someone else cleaned :)
Fried ice cream (it's available in Homemade Brand at DLM )
Doing a bible study or reading your bible and having something "click" that you didn't know or understand before
Buying and reading a new book
Vanilla lattes at Starbucks

Locks and keys

"What is the lock in your life?"
"What consumes you?"
These were questions that Jeff asked the youth groups(Franklin Vineyard visited) tonight at K2
The visual picture of Megan with chains and locks on her trying to break free as the band played and sung "Deliver Me" was very powerful
We all have locks in our lives Sometimes we have more than one
Sometimes we need help getting those locks undone
Sometimes we try to break free on our own ..but when you get to that last lock there is only 1 key.... one thing that will totally free you....

Christ

Hard decisions

I was looking at my son's yearbook this morning and inside he had written his opinion on growing up in Springboro and going to Springboro schools Let's just say it wouldn't make anyone want to move here
Seven years ago we had to make the decision whether to move from West Carrollton We loved our house and if it hadn't been for what we were seeing in the schools we would have stayed Sometimes you second guess yourself on these things There was alot of thought and prayer that went into that move
I knew it would be hard for both my kids at first but especially Zach He is my quiet one and change is hard for him ( He's like me :))
The things that frustrate him happen in every school system "popularity issues",politics in sports,overbearing parents,etc I don't know that it would have been any better if we had stayed in West Carrollton or moved somewhere that "money" wasn't such a huge factor
Life isn't always fair
It just makes me sad that Zach has had to learn that the hard way

Inner beauty

You hear people say all the time "It's not what's on the outside it's what's on the inside that counts" What if someone asked you to shave your head ..would it matter to you? Would it matter to your husband or wife?
I watch a show call the "The Amazing Race" Last night in order to finish 1st that night a couple took the "fast forward" which is kind of like a dare They had to shave their heads This has happened before on the show in a previous season and the couple(very strong in their faith) couldn't do it Last night the husband was already completely shaved bald but his wife had beautiful long hair It was the most touching thing to watch the husbands's reaction to his wife's sacrifice and to hear him tell her how beautiful she was with no hair It was also very emotional to see her reaction to seeing her hair lying on the ground by her
I hope they win in the end They show what it means to be a team and to sacrifice pride
I don't think any of us truly know what we would do until we're put in that situation

I will never love you less

"No matter what you do I will never love you less"
This line from a clip of a Rob Bell video has stuck with me all day
It's the unconditional love a parent gives their child
It's the unconditonal love that God gives us

Life lessons

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems
today,
life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow."

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way
he/she
handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled
Christmas tree lights."

"I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your
parents, you'll
miss them when they're gone from your life."

"I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing
as "making a life."

"I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance."

"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's
mitt
on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back."

"I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open
heart, I usually make the right decision."

"I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be
one."

"I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch
someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back."

"I've learned that I still have a lot to learn."

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will
forget
what you did, but people will never forget how you made them
feel."

Maya Angelou

Spending Time

"Come near to God and he will come near to you" James 4:8

How much time do I spend with God? "God is with us He is around us. He covers us. He aches when we ignore Him, too busy for our God. Yet He remains faithful. He longs for us, our companionship, our fellowship. He longs for our love."

I know how hurt I feel when I'm ignored or made to feel unimportant
God feels the same way

"All relationships in the human dimension require love, care, and attention. They require time. My relationship with God is no different and unlike many of my "human relationships" God is always with me..ready to listen..I need to make the time

My name on his palm; his name on my forehead

"Every day I deal with a measure of low self-esteem in ministry. I never feel up to the task. Never smart enough. Never strong enough. Never prayed up enough. Never prepared enough. Do you feel the same way? Then perhaps you also feel the same flood of emotions when truth washes over you : God loves us. He prepares an inconceivable place for those who receive His love and highly esteems those who choose to believe His call over the paralyzing screams of ther own insecurities. No, our names won't be written on the foundations of the New Jerusalem,(Revelations 21:14), but they are engraved in the palm of His hands(Isa. 49:16)
Beth Moore "Beloved Disciple"

When we do get to heaven "They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads>" Revelations 22:4

I look forward to that day :)

Some of my favorite things about spring

This weekend was perfect weather It made me realize how much I love certain things about spring

1 The sun and being able to sit in my backyard and read
2 The smell of grilling out (steak and chicken :)
3 The smell of freshly cut grass ( since I'm not the one who cuts it :)
4 the sound of kids playing outside in my neighborhood
5 Sitting outside at Starbucks
6 The smell of flowers especially lilacs and honeysuckles
7 Being able to wear skirts and capris and flipflops
8 Strawberries and shortcake
9 Dairy Queen diptops (vanilla dipped in cherry)
10 The ice cream truck playing "It's a small world"

Seven more weeks Graduation Day

Kristen graduates 7 weeks from today.. May 28
Am I ready ? I hope so but I have very mixed feelings I'm trying to think of it as my friend's husband put it "It's only the end of a chapter" She'll be starting a new chapter
I've been thinking alot this week about how different the next few years will be as I've been planning our family summer vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina It's not only the end of a chapter for Kristen It's the start of a new chapter for all of us
Darrell's closest friends bought a cabin in North Carolina and will probably be moving within the year They have a daughter who just got married in Oct and their youngest daughter is going on a missions trip to Africa for 6 months They are making a big step in starting their new chapter
My sister-in-law was offered a wonderful job in Phoenix Arizona and will probably be moving within the year Her daughter is in her 1st year at IU They are making a big step in their new chapter
I honestly wonder where we'll be in 5 years I know I need to keep an open mind and trust that I will hear the voice of God when he guides us to those decisions
For now, I'm just trying to enjoy the next few months day by day..sometimes hour by hour :)

The Old Rugged Cross

I can remember singing this hymn when I was younger It has more meaning for me the older I get I read this story in my email this morning and it really touched my heart I can only hope that I'm as passionate as the man in this story and I would love to see this cross in Connecticut!



The Old Rugged Cross
by John Fischer



On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame.
- George Bennard


There is a church in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, that has a cross in it, not behind the pulpit or up on the wall somewhere, but bolted down into the ground — a fifteen foot wooden cross that stands in front of the platform so that it is situated between the people and the pastor. When you stand up behind the podium to speak, the horizontal crossbar is three feet in front of your nose. When I closed my eyes to sleep on the night I spoke there, the cross was somehow stamped on my eyelids, much like you feel a hat on your head, long after you have removed it.


The picture in my mind was so indelible it inspired me to write a book ten years ago entitled On A Hill Too Far Away, about a trend I was observing in Christianity as a movement away from emphasizing the cross. Instead of sinners, we’re dysfunctional; instead of forgiveness, we need counseling; instead of the cross, we need a hot worship band. Somehow that big wooden cross smack in the middle of the church said it all, and I found the metaphor rich enough to yield a book’s worth of reflection. Six years later Randy Vader turned the book’s inspiration into an Easter musical by the same title.


All of this is leading to something. Today, I want you to meet someone very special.


Earlier this week I had the privilege of having lunch and some wonderful fellowship with a local choir director whose choir performed the musical just two weeks ago on Good Friday. I actually requested this lunch when I found out that this man, along with another church member, had traveled back to Connecticut from southern California to see first hand that church he had read about with the unforgettable cross in it


“I had to go,” he told me. “This thing had God all over it.”


Here’s a guy who doesn’t do anything halfway. For some reason he could not fully explain, he had to complete the circle. He took his leadership of the choir and this particular musical that seriously.


He sat across the table from me and told me all this, including some amazing details of how God met them on their trip. All the while, his book, with yellow post-it stickers bulging out of it, lay on the table, handled lovingly and cherished by a man who had found new discoveries of grace as the result of his unusual pilgrimage.


I remember a few times while writing this book, I wondered if I might be taking this cross thing a little too far, or making too much of the cross in that Connecticut church. Marvin didn’t think so. Nor do I, now.


Earlier this year, Marvin celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday. I can only pray I have his passion, energy and love for God should I live to be his age.



John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

Fears

"I have envisioned certain fears that I kept trying to keep ahead of, only to find that when I stopped and faced them, there was really nothing to fear at all"


Marilyn Meberg

God loves monotony

Do you ever feel like you get up and do the same thing over and over and get stuck in a rut? I read a good devotion this morning that spoke to my heart on this It's in a book called "Deeper Walk"

"Is it possible to live intimately with God when stuck in the often dreaded routine of everyday life? Could God have valuable lessons to teach us through our monotonous routines? He does but unfortunately, we are often too busy wishing for what we don't have to notice...We are tempted to think that simply because we do the same thing every day, God renders us ineffective. The opposite is true. The reality is that we render Him ineffective because we get bored of our routine.We grow weary of repetition. But our Father doesn't, and rather than being bored with the monotony, He may be the designer of it.
Is it possible that God says every morning, "Do it again to the sun; and every evening "Do it again to the moon.. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."
We have all heard "we can do all things through Christ " but do we believe this strength is strong enough to move us to "do it again" when we wake in the morning, fresh for the challenge of yet another day? Can we see our life as more than an audio book locked on repeat?
I need not look far for strength each day..I only need to look out the window.For even as I hear the dreaded buzzz of my alarm clock, I can see the morning, God has not been idle. He has done one more time what he has done millions of times; once again, He has instructed the sun to rise, the wind to blow, and the birds to sing. And if He can do that millions of times over, surely I can face the day ahead with Him. Together we can delight in the magnificence of monotony.

Jeremy Klaszus

A Painful Lesson

"Above all else,guard your heart, for it affects everything you do Proverbs 4:23

Why is it we learn this the hard way?

Sunday afternoon

Darrell and I spent a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon together I didn't feel like staying inside on such a beautiful spring day so we walked in Cox Arboretum I'm trying to increase my walking time for exercise I haven't been there in a couple of years It's a beautiful place to just walk and look at nature and talk I was feeling down (actually frustrated is a better word )about something and Darrell always knows the right thing to say to make me feel better :)
We went to Comp USA I'm trying to talk Darrell into buying me an I trip for my i pod mini I have no CD player in the Saturn and now that the library has e books to download I could listen to a book :) He didn't go for it yet I might have to "borrow" Zach's :) I did notice that I can buy it quite a bit cheaper on line ..$20 cheaper hmmmm....
We of course had to visit Starbucks where in Darrell's case "where everybody knows your name (theme from "Cheers") It was nice to be able to sit outside eat a cookie drink a vanilla latte and relax
We went to Centerville library where Darrell "broke the rule" of no food and drink by taking his coffee in and the librarian let him know that she had to keep it behind the desk.. how funny He never goes in a library maybe that's why
I had reserved a book called "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time" It's been on the best seller list and my sister recommended it The main character is an autistic boy and it's a mystery which I love so I'm anxious to read it
So now I'm back home spending time in my favorite place (the computer room :) getting ready for a "wild" week at work

"Peace I leave with you my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Kristen comes home !

Kristen and Kari