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Friday, February 28, 2014

Paint Party Friday: Bless the Lord!


 
Psalm 103 is an old favorite, and no wonder!
"Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being,
bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord,
O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits...
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is His kindness
toward those who fear Him."
Psalm 103:1, 2, 11

 To bless God means to praise, and to worship.
When God blesses us,
it is wholly undeserved.
It is out of His "hesed", loving kindness,
that He treats us with unmerited favor.
But when we bless Him,
it is because of who He is,
His character, and His love for us.

 
"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." 
Mark 9:43 
Sounds painful but I am pretty sure 
Jesus is not telling us to amputate ourselves. 
I think He is reminding us that 
we need to watch what we do, see, 
where we go for amusement, what we read, 
who we spend time with, etc.

If anything will cause us to sin, 
endangers our relationship with God, 
we need to stop it right away. 
There's a lot of junk in my life 
that needs to be furtled and thrown away! 
 
One of the ways we can bless God 
is to imitate Him,-
after all, it is said that
imitation is the sincerest form
of flattery!



Linking with

Sometimes I put on my best pajamas and
join these wonderful blog parties!!!
So many WONDERFUL blogfriends to discover!


Thank you for dropping by!
You are appreciated!

Patsy
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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

WOYWW: The Best of Plans

 Here is my desk this morning.
I am starting a new journal (left side,bottom)
as I have filled up my old one (left side, top journal).
In the middle is my scripture guide and The Word Among Us
Meditation booklet.
On the right is a sample Thank You card
which we have to design
to thank those who condoled with us
on the death of our mother.

"We can make the BEST OF PLANS
but only God can guarantee the future."
How true this is!
This time last year my mother was strong 
and still at the helm of our business.
And now, she is in Our Father's House!

In James 4:15 it reads,
"If the Lord wills it,
we shall live to do this or that."

So it is folly to make plans without 
putting the future in God's hands!

 "This kind can only come out through prayer." 
Mark 9:29. 
More things are wrought by prayer 
than this world dreams of. 
(Alfred Tennyson) 
Whatever we are going through,
 small or big, 
God can bring us through.

 "Love your enemies and 
pray for those who persecute you... 
for He makes His sun rise on the bad and the good...
Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." 
Mt.5:38-48. 
Perfect? How could we possibly be perfect? 
The word was translated from the Greek 'teleos' 
which means completeness or wholeness. 
I prefer to translate it as 'with integrity', 
 meaning that our actions match our heart.
 Jesus was so scathing with the Pharisees 
because they were more concerned 
about their external actions,
 obeying every tiny detail of the law, 
but forgetting the most important- LOVE. 
God wants us to be like Him, 
and God is ALL ABOUT LOVE. 
We should live out His heart of love!


So perhaps, we may not know the future,
but if we go through our day,
each and every day,
with love in our hearts,
God will take care of 
things we don't prepare for!

"Whoever receives one CHILD in My name, 
receives ME, receives not ME, 
 but the ONE who sent ME." 
Mark 9:37 
Luigi, my husband, likes to talk to street children,
 remembers their names,
 and since he talks to them now and then, 
he knows who got married, 
who has children already. 
My sister Tina tutors street children, 
brings them to museums, 
takes them swimming, or to carnivals. 
I can imagine Jesus approving with a smile. 
Not many people think of 
giving attention to insignificant people. 
People of no influence. 
People with no money, or power or fame. 
But Jesus always points them out to us. 
I think we just need eyes to see, 
a heart that cares and a way of thinking 
that allows us to see ourselves as "insignificant", 
not "entitled". 
After all, it's not about us. 
Life is about following God and 
loving the people He loves.







Blessings!

Patsy

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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

WOYWW: The Crown of Life

 
Here is my desk when I woke up this morning.

And here it is as I left for the mortuary.
I will finish this post when I get back
from the interment of my mom.
Meanwhile you can read this post,
Nothing is impossible with God!

Thursday, January 20
 "Blessed is he who perseveres
in trials,
for when he has been proven
he will receive the CROWN OF LIFE
that he promised
to those who love Him"
James 1:12

 My mom left a legacy of faith and love.
And yes, she persevered in trials,
and she had many.
Up to the end of her life,
she was tried and tested.
I think her biggest trial
was her battle with tongue cancer
which eventually claimed
her life here on earth.
She was diagnosed in December of 2008.
At the time, the doctor said 
it would be very fast and very painful.
She would need chemotherapy and radiation,
she would need part of her tongue taken out,
and replaced with tissue 
from another part of her body.
And she would need a PEG tube
to feed her.


This was drawn from a picture of my mom.
My brother and I drew it the day after she died.

My mom was 75 at the time of the diagnosis.
After prayer and discernment,
we decided against the chemo.
We chose alternative methods,
and she confessed healing verses three times a day,
because it says in Proverbs 4:20-22
that God's Word is health to our bodies.
I believe that is why the cancer 
did not progress until last year,
and it was not painful,
even if she had a big wound in her tongue.
That in itself is a miracle!
 "Humbly welcome the Word
that has been planted in you..."
James 1:21

 The Word is like a seed,
and it will grow and bear fruit.
My mom made sure that we, her family,
knew the Lord and His ways.
She taught us from when we were young
that if we obeyed God,
all would go well with us.
All would be grace and blessing.
 "I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise shall ever be in my mouth."
Psalm 34:2

 Even in this time of sorrow
because we are temporarily separated,
I will rejoice and praise the Lord
for I see His victorious plan.
What was meant to destroy,
built my faith even more.
God used it for good, as He promised.

  Her illness was heartbreaking 
not because of physical pain.
I saw how a strong, beautiful woman,
became slowly helpless, weak, could not even talk
because of her tracheotomy tube,
could not even write because 
she lost control of her muscles.
But God used her illness so that we,
her family, who loved her so much,
could finally accept that 
God wanted to take her to her true home.
It took a long time,
but we were all finally able to say,
"Mommy, we love you.
Go with Jesus."

Thank you for all your prayers,
love and concern,
which surrounded us all!





Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 
peek at desks and projects!
 

I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:
Linking with

Sometimes I put on my best pajamas and
join these wonderful blog parties!!!
So many WONDERFUL blogfriends to discover!

http://withlove-simplybeth.blogspot.com/ 


Blessings!

Patsy
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Monday, February 17, 2014

No Goodbyes!


 
"Consider it all joy,
when you encounter various trials ,
for the testing of your faith
produces perseverance."  James 1: 2-3

 
How can we ever consider it a joy
when we encounter trials?
But it is possible with TRUST-
Trust in God, and that whatever happens,
He will turn it for good.

 My mother,after a long and difficult journey,
went home to the One who loves her the best
on February 15.
During her illness, there were times I would think
that God was not making any sense
and I struggled with trying to understand.
But when I decided I did not have to understand,
that I would just trust Him,
then I had the peace and joy that comes
even in the midst of trial and difficulty.

I can honestly say that I rejoice that my mother
is in her true home, where she belongs,
where we all belong.

 I was looking for a miracle,
and God indeed gave me a miracle.
I thought I would be devastated,
because my mother was my best friend.
We could talk and talk and talk.
We could even quarrel and talk some more
until we could understand each other.
I am not devastated,
I am not even sad.
I have been looking for grief,
and I could not find him!
I believe you need grief to heal
and move on. Grief is good.
But you do not need to heal when
there is joy and gratefulness
in your heart!
I did not know it was possible,
but it is!
God can indeed do the impossible!
 
 I was not happy with my portrait of my mom,
so I asked my brother Robert to fix it.
Here is what he did.
I am so happy with it!

I am not going to say goodbye, mommy!
I know we will be together again!
And there will be no goodbyes!


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