Quiet in His Love

Date nights can be a challenge when you don't have a sitter nearby.  My honey and I enjoy our date nights and look forward to 2 a month, but our regular sitters (my parents) have been unable to watch our 4 kiddos since April 22nd.  The other week it became obvious that with the stress of all that has been going on in our lives in the past 2+ months, we needed to make a way to have a "date night."  My honey and I were snapping at each other and stressing and just not really enjoying each other's presence too much.  I needed to go out for some reason, so I sent my honey a text asking him if he was available for a date at 9:00pm that night (after the kids were safely tucked in bed). I bought cheese, crackers, meat, juice, dessert for 2 and headed home to do some last minute prep work.  I got the basic idea from the Dating Divas website for our activity and then made it my own.  I found a blank bingo board template and printed it out and then added spaces w...

Where do you go to get refreshed?  Do you find time or set aside time to refresh yourself?  We need refreshment and rest to really be operating at our best.  God set aside a day for rest for a reason.  He knew we needed that body-refreshing rest to continue on in the work and everyday duties, tasks, and struggles of day-to-day living.  If you were given the choice between two hours of quiet, restful refreshment and a chance to scroll through all the "news" on Facebook for one uninterrupted hour, which option would you choose?  Be honest.  Which option is the one you truly need on a stressful Tuesday when the weekend is still 3 days away?  Or on a Thursday when you've driven three kids to 4 different places, gone through the drive through at your least favorite fast food place for the fifth time this week, and you are pretty sure the shoe you're wearing on your left foot has drool from Fido in it?  Yep...you know what you need...the rest...the...

I am looking forward to having peace in my life.   Overwhelming, overflowing, everlasting peace.   Peace that envelopes me from the minute I wake up until I close my eyes for the night.   And dreams full of peace.   God-given, God-touched peace.   Oh yes!   That is what I am most looking forward to right now.   Peace in my mind and my heart.   Peace that I know is flowing through me because the tension is gone from my shoulders and the headaches are gone.   I can sleep through the night and not be awake reading or doing puzzles off and on throughout the night.   Peace!   Such a glorious, and to some, simple thing.   Yet, to me, it feels, at times, unattainable.   Just out of reach.   The needle in the haystack as it were.   Oh why can’t peace surround me, engulf me, cover me?   Why can’t I hang my hat on the peg of peace every night before bed and get up in the morning and put it on for the day?   W...

Blessings come in many forms.  God uses His vast array of resources to send us blessings.  The blessings may be little, bitty things, or they may be so large that our socks get knocked off.  A blessing is a blessing whether it is tiny or magnificent.  And truly some of the "tiny" blessings have the most impact when they arrive at just the "right" moment. In March, my husband and I were heading out of town on a Wednesday to spend two nights away together in honor of our upcoming anniversary.  We were getting hungry so we got in the drive through line at a fast food restaurant.  When we arrived at the window to pay for our food, we were told that our food was payed for and God bless.  I couldn't help it...I began to cry. We hadn't ordered much, but the impact of that "small" act was a sweet balm to my soul.  With a job hunt in the works, since my husband had lost his job earlier in the year, money was tight.  Little do some people know of the ...

Today is the day to step boldly into the future God has for you.  No more holding back because of fear.  Leave fear behind.  Tell the doubts to hush up.  Bring on the faith...the faith of Peter stepping out of the boat...the faith contained in a mustard seed...the faith to move mountains.  We have been given that faith through our relationship with Christ.  Boldness may not come naturally to you, but with Christ you can walk in it.  He will equip you.  It is Time!  Your path is before you.  He has set it for you.  There will be obstacles along the way, but if you lean on Him, He will guide you through, around, and over them.  No more fear!  Just faith...prayer...God's grace, mercy, and leading...and a lot of joy. 

Life is hard.  This is not new information for many of you.  I pray it's not your life motto right now.  Instead, I hope your life motto is more along the lines of: God is good even when life is hard.  That's something to hang onto and embrace.  You can count to ten and then remind yourself: God is good even when life is hard.  It's a simple thing to acknowledge the truth of that statement, and remind yourself that it doesn't just have to be: life is hard.  God's goodness flows over the hardness of life and smooths away some of the jagged edges. This is a good reminder for me right now as some struggles are happening in my family.  I try hard to not put my family's concerns out in the public eye because I don't feel that's necessary.  However, with one of our recent struggles, I have turned to five dear ladies for prayer.  They are my prayer warriors, and I am beyond thankful for them.  If it weren't for my Abba Father, my handsome...

How would your life look if you spent a few minutes each day pondering what you are thankful for?  Little things, big things, medium things, doesn't matter...  Instead of concentrating on the things that cause you angst and stress, take time to truly consider the amazing things that are worthy of your gratitude.  When you woke up this morning, you could thank God right then for another day to enjoy, to be with those you love, to share God's goodness with others.  Gratitude produces a response in us...joy, excitement, happiness.  The response that is created when we consider the things that stress us out is not one that we want to encounter repeatedly, but who doesn't want to be filled with joy when considering all the things they are grateful for? I want to challenge each of you to take some time over the next five weeks leading up to Thanksgiving to contemplate the joys of gratitude.  Get a piece of paper or a little notebook and take time each day or onc...