Tag Archives: Faith

April’s photo dump

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As I may have mentioned a time or two, I have a penchant for taking a ridiculous amount of photos, but sadly I don’t have the same penchant for blogging about them. So to remedy that problem, you have the honor of witnessing my first ever photo dump. Yeah, I’ve done monthly wrap ups, and I even did an entire blog recap when I hit 100 posts. But this time, I don’t really have a reason for sharing random photos, except just for the sheer joy of putting them out there. So, grab a tall glass of sweet tea and get comfy…

During the month of April I celebrated my 20+10+1 birthday. (I’ll let you do the math.)

Bubba makes a homemade birthday cake for me every year. And every year Annie-dog supervises.

Besides the delicious cake, I also received tulips for my birthday. Purple ones…

And white ones! Oh, and I finally got to use my owl vase!

The weekend before my birthday we took a little trip down to Las Cruces  where we viewed the raging Rio Grande River.

Visited with Bubba’s family…

Dined at one of our favorite Italian food establishments…

Then on our way home, saw many desolate areas…

After all the birthday celebrating had calmed down, it was time to celebrate Easter. One of my favorite holidays, not only is it a holiday filled with pretty pastels and Peeps (come on how could you not love sugar covered marshmallows?) it’s also a day to celebrate our Savior’s glorious resurrection.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3

Apparently, this photo dump turned into a recap of April, and of course a recap of a national holiday, my birthday!!

Invaded by Worry

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I’ve been reading through Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest”, recently, it’s been such a blessing to me. Everyday it seems that the Lord uses these old devotions to speak to me. Today’s entry was of particular interest, Mr. Chambers referenced one of my favorite and most often read passages:

“Do not worry about your life . . .” —Matthew 6:25

Here’s what Oswald had to say about it:

“A warning which needs to be repeated is that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,” and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us (Matthew 13:22). We are never free from the recurring waves of this invasion. If the frontline of attack is not about clothes and food, it may be about money or the lack of money; or friends or lack of friends; or the line may be drawn over difficult circumstances. It is one steady invasion, and these things will come in like a flood, unless we allow the Spirit of God to raise up the banner against it.

“I say to you, do not worry about your life . . . .” Our Lord says to be careful only about one thing-our relationship to Him. But our common sense shouts loudly and says, “That is absurd, I must consider how I am going to live, and I must consider what I am going to eat and drink.” Jesus says you must not. Beware of allowing yourself to think that He says this while not understanding your circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and He says we must not think about these things to the point where they become the primary concern of our life. Whenever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first.

“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). How much trouble has begun to threaten you today? What kind of mean little demons have been looking into your life and saying, “What are your plans for next month— or next summer?” Jesus tells us not to worry about any of these things. Look again and think. Keep your mind on the “much more” of your heavenly Father (Matthew 6:30).”

Are you being invaded by worry? As Chambers says, the Lord only asks us to be concerned with our relationship to Him, everything else is secondary. But Common sense tells us that is silly and absurd, how could we not be concerned with our basic needs of food, shelter, and love? We must remember, that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. So He knows our needs before we are even aware of them.  In fact the Lord already has a plan to supply for these needs that we don’t even know exist yet. How wonderful is that thought? That He knows us so well, and loves us so much that He’s already supplied for every need? The only thing we have to do is follow Him.

What can we add to circumstances by worrying about something that has already been taken care of?

Merry Christmas

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The poochies were all snuggled in their beds for a long winters nap…

Here’s hoping you all have a very Merry Christmas, and remember why we have such a beautiful reason to celebrate!

” 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Luke 2:11-14 KJV

The 19th Day of December: From the Desk of Dad

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**Warning, this post will be about my dad. So, don’t cry Mom or Big Sister! I don’t want this blog to be filled with questions of porque? with back car windows filled with pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe. So, I promise there won’t be many more sappy posts. Ok, I can’t promise there won’t be anymore sappy posts, but I can promise there won’t be any sad posts. End Warning**

Since today is December 19th, my dad’s birthday, and  I’m munching on  a delicious piece of  (unfortunately store bought) red velvet cake, I just couldn’t help but think of Dad. And decided that today would be the best day to introduce a reoccurring series on the blog. I have entitled it From the Desk of Dad, but don’t hold me to that. I have a very short attention span, so the title of this series will more than likely change.

Remember my 31 Days of Treasures series?  If you are too lazy to click the link, it was a 31 day series that ended up being a 16 day series where I jibber jabbered on about all the vintage stuff I’ve been hoarding collecting  the past few years, and it also included a few treasures of the heart. I meant to share this one during that series, but then life happened.

This is one of my most precious and favorite treasures, my fathers Bible.

The Lord called my dad home on November 30th, 2003, it was a Sunday evening, I don’t really remember the exact time he passed from this side of heaven to the other. The watch I had worn since high school had stopped, but frankly I really didn’t care what time it was, or that my favorite Tweetie Bird watch was broken.  I just knew that my father was finally in the presence of our Savior. I will never forget the sharp pain I felt that night, or the persistent ache that came afterward. That pain, was not mine alone, the rest of my family also missed him, and we still do. But as believers in Christ we can rejoice in the fact that we will see my dad again, and be able to rejoice in the presence of the Lord, just like Dad did, that fateful night in November.

  Since his passing, over the years, I’ve begun to really appreciate my father and what he did in this life. The impacts he had on those around him, the leadership he demonstrated in our family, the witness he was to this world of Christ’s love for humankind. You see,  Dad was a preacher, he was a follower of Christ first and foremost, but he felt called to full time ministry as a pastor and missionary. And so, he followed the call, he pastored churches in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, but the Lord had a place for him as a missionary to the Navajo people in New Mexico. It is New Mexico where Dad spent most of his ministry, and where my mother is still serving.

On my 30th birthday this past April, my mom blessed me with the gift of my dad’s last preaching Bible. He had gone through a few Bible’s during his time as a preacher and missionary, my sister and brother were given those Bible’s that had particular meaning to them. (We like having study Bibles, church Bibles, and if your a preacher then a preaching Bible. But don’t misunderstand, all Bibles are sacred, because they are the Word of the Lord.) The Bible that I wanted, the one that I held dear, was his last preaching Bible. The one he’d used during my childhood and adolescence.

Amongst the pages of this Bible are several of Dad’s sermon outlines, some are handwritten, some were typed on an old typewriter, others were scrawled on scrapes of paper here and there as the Lord spoke to my dad.   The Bible is a cherished possession, not only because it’s the Word of my Savior, but also because it holds much of who my dad was on this earth. These sermon outlines, do not paint the entire picture of who Dad was, but they do remind me of what Dad represented, and what I hope to represent to this world.

*Don’t cry Mom!*

I’ll be sharing bits and pieces of these sermons, the scriptures, and some anecdotes from these cherished outlines. I won’t put myself on a time line for this, as I apparently have blog ADD. But occasionally you will find, a post here and there about a favorite sermon, or one that has recently spoken to me.  I hope that you will join me on this journey through the Good Word, and I hope that the Lord will speak to you as He has for me, through these sermons preached and unpreached.

Dad

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Today marks the eighth anniversary that my earthly father went home to our Heavenly Father.  My dad was a great father, a loving husband to my mother, and most importantly a faithful servant of the Lord.

Thanks for being my Dad!

 

This is love…

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“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4

Thank you Jesus for suffering on the cross and bearing the cost of the sins that I could not pay. How blessed it is, on the third day that You rose again! Thank you for the hope and the salvation that your sacrifice brought humanity. And for forgiving me, a humble sinner who has found life in Christ. It is only through You that we can be saved, and that we can truly know what love is.


Give Thanks

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“1O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.”

Psalm 136:1(KJV)

Happy Thanksgiving all!! I hope your Thanksgiving is just as bountiful as ours. Remember to give thanks to those you love and to the One who is good!!



Cozy

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I have all these posts in my draft folder just waiting to be posted. However, I just can’t seem to make the time to put the finishing touches on them to share. So instead, I’ll post a pretty fall I came across, it’s currently one of my favorites. I love the colors, it looks so darn cozy.

{NY Times}

I leave you with some encouraging words from Romans 12:12

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Must we wait??

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I wanted to share some thoughts today about waiting on God, it sort ties in with my post concerning patience. It takes patience when we wait on the Lord. But sometimes, we must wait to receive patience. We wait to see what He has set before us instead of rushing ahead and losing our way.

Psalm 27:14 says:

14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

So wait on the Lord and be of good courage, you definitely need to “be of good courage” to wait.  But to be patient enough to wait? I guess what we really need is the grace and courage to wait. For me, to wait on something especially those big somethings, is a frightful thing, so to find the courage to wait and to have  grace during the waiting is almost unimaginable. But we must all remember that when we are going through those times of waiting, that God will supply that courage and grace we need to stay on His path. Sometimes, He doesn’t want us to move forward just yet, He needs us to wait and listen. That’s the ultimate in obedience to the Lord.

Trust

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21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the loving kindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9 , where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19).

Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest”

What resounding words,  Jesus was made to be sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the rightesousness of God in Him”. Christ didn’t die on calvary because He felt sorry for us, but out of obedience to His Father.  What an example to follow! Christ paid the ultimate price to be obedient to Him. Is it so much to ask of us to follow where the Father leads? To follow in Christ’s footsteps of obedience? It’s true, not all of us will face the sort of death and torture that Christ did in our walk with God. But to be completely and utterly obedient, means to follow Him even in those dark times when it seems there is no end to the trials. It also means to keep focused on our Lord, and not the trials and the hardships.

The first step of this walk of obedience is to accept that sacrifice that Christ suffered on that cross. Do you live your life as if someone else has paid the price for your sin? Or do you cling to traditions and superstition to get you through this life instead of the putting your faith utterly and completely into the Savior’s hands?