georgene's Xanga

Mother's Day withone one..

Sun, 13 May 2012 18:55:54 GMT

Our life is full of 'firsts'. The first time we walked. The first time we went to school. Our first kiss. We oftentimes categorize our life by firsts.. kind of like a timeline of remembrances. Hopefully our life is characterized by 'firsts' that are joyful. A mother hopes that she will never face a year of 'firsts' without one of her children. Yet, as most of us know.. our life is not our own to order.. and many of us will spend this Mother's Day without one of our children.. either through death or distance. This Mother's Day will be my 'first' without my youngest son who passed away at the beginning of this year.

I didn't want to go to church this morning. I just plain did not want to go. But, I started praying last night that the Lord would give me the 'want'. And, of course, He did! So off my husband and I went! I had a smile on my face... prepared to worship my King.. the Giver of life and breath.. Ordainer of my days and my sons!

I have purposed in my heart through the courage gained by the Holy Spirit to meet this Mother' Day head on with my eyes focused on a loving God and a thankful heart for all He has given me.

Even though I cried through the worship service and through much of the sermon ... I was there by God's grace! It was a 'first' Mother's Day without my son but I also wanted it to be a 'first' of not being overcome by the grief but pushing through it to glorify the 'God who sees'. He is worthy! He is worthy to receive honor and praise!

My eyes are set on Phil. 4 today. I've focused my heart to think on things that are LOVELY! I have so much to be thankful for! I don't have to look far to start counting the load of blessings and benefits the Lord has poured out on me!

My Thankful List:

I'm thankful for my two remaining children here on earth who work hard to be the best godly parents they can be and try hard to honor their father and I.

I'm thankful for the years that God gave us with our youngest son who is no longer with us. I'm thankful for all the lessons God taught me through being his mother. I'm thankful he was my son.

I'm thankful for my daughter in loves and my son in love. They complete our family. I'm blessed to have them call me mom. I'm grateful they love my children and my grandchildren and try hard to be good parents!

I'm extremely blessed to have my mother still on this earth so that I can honor her today. I couldn't have asked for a better mother!

Oh.. there is so much more... so much more...

My heart is full when I think on all that is lovely in my life.

And I will....

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job. 1:21 ESV

A godly example of a Christian marriage!

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:19:03 GMT

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

In sickness and in health.. 'till death do us part!

Links worth reading...

Fri, 04 May 2012 03:35:05 GMT

If you have some downtime this weekend you may enjoy these articles. I sure did.

When You Feel like Everyone is Bigger, Better, Smarter… { or ‘How to be a Star’}

Work as Worship

Switching your Focus

What are you doing today?

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:39:45 GMT

I've noticed a few blogs have asked what their readers were doing today. I enjoyed reading their comments. It's fun to 'peek' inside other women's homes and see life being lived out. It sparks ideas in my mind and I become encouraged. So, I was wondering...

What are YOU doing today?

It's only 2:30pm in California and my day is not nearly over. I'll post tonight when I sit down.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your day!

Choosing to live when life is not as you planned.

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:49:16 GMT

"Our heart is to make God bigger to a world that doesn't know Him. We're choosing to live."

Interruptions

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:24:13 GMT

"I think I find most help in trying to look on all interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one's work. Then one can feel that perhaps one's true work - one's work for God- consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one's day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day- the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to fnish will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it." Annie Keary, 1825-1879

(I love being interrupted by these sweeties!)

This writing reminds me of Ps. 16:5.. Lord you have 'assigned me my portion'!

Each minute of our day is precisely assigned by the God who created the universe. No one can thwart His plan. Why then do I believe my plan for the day is higher and more noble than what He has assigned?

"Lord, may my eyes be on You today and may you grant me a quiet heart as I learn to trust you with the seemingly interruptions of my day!"

The Daily Demands of a Family

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:21:22 GMT

I've chosen the book of Luke as my devotional reading these past few months. I've enjoyed reading slowly to discover more about how Jesus related to others. One main theme that has reoccurred is the patience Jesus showed under the demands of the day. It didn't matter how many times He had already been asked for help.. He served each person as if they were the first.

I read one morning that He was 'thronged' by the crowds. Thronged... that's pretty intense. Not approached.. but thronged. I've never been thronged by a crowd but I've felt pressured recently as I serve the needs of those in my household. I read again that as He came down from the mountain a great multitude met Him. Now, in all honesty, I can imagine if I had just come down from a mountain top experience and found a multitude waiting for me to meet their needs that I would give out a big sigh. Crowds met Him at every turn. They pressed in on Him.. always asking for something...He always.. always.. put their needs above His own.

I've pondered this a lot lately as I'm met with the demands of my day. I've considered my Savior's love for others more than His own comfort and rest. Yes, He did take time to rest and to spend time with the Father but apparently He did not see this as His right because He never got irritated when He was interrupted. I fall so short.

A lifetime will not be enough to learn about my Jesus.

Content to be a Keeper at Home

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:35:49 GMT

“In contrast to the wise woman, the foolish woman is not content to be a keeper at home.

She is not satisfied with where God has put her. One of the things the feminist movement has done so successfully is to stir up discontent in women with being homemakers and to convince them that other pursuits can increase their sense of self-worth…

Fueling discontent and pushing women out of their homes in search of greater meaning and satisfaction has resulted in off-the-chart stress levels for many women who can no longer survive without pills and therapists…

The greatest spiritual, moral, and emotional protection a woman will ever experience is found when she is content to stay within her God-appointed sphere.

This does not mean that she never leaves her house, but rather that her heart is rooted in her home and that she puts her family’s needs above all other interests and pursuits.”

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Child Training & The Gospel

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:15:11 GMT

"The Gospel" seems to be the new buzz word in Christian circles today. Ironic that the main focus of our religion NOW has the focal point again. I'm so thankful, though. I have gained a renewed interest in learning how these truths relate to each area of my life.

I'm currently reading Elyse Fitzpatrick's book called, Give them Grace: Dazzling your Children with the Love of Jesus. I have enjoyed watching the shift in her teaching these past few years. She is all about Jesus. In her book she talks about how she trained her children to be 'good little moralists' and how few times she actually shared the Gospel in their everyday living. The Gospel was for 'salvation' and that is where it stayed. Her focus was on training them to obey the law without helping them to see they can never fully do so and that is why Christ came. By training our children to only obey God's Law (and then acting as if they fulfilled it by continually calling them or their actions 'good) we train them to be good little 'moralists' with no need for Christ. I shook my head 'yes, yes, yes' because I could see the same tendencies in my own child training years. I believe it was partly due to the fact that I had not discovered the depth of joy and rest found in the Gospel.

“None is righteous, no, not one;" Romans 3:10

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"Galatians 2:21

So, here I am with the blessing of 10 grandchildren.. 7 of them living in the same town .... and I'm asking the Lord.. how do I not make the same mistakes? How do I encourage them to rely on Christ and not their own efforts? How do I point them to Jesus and help keep the focus off of making them 'good' in their own efforts? I think this will be a long learning process... one in which "I" will need to rely on the Lord for His wisdom.

I had a 'practice' opportunity just the other day to sow some seeds of the gospel with one of my grandchildren but I came away feeling a bit confused as how to point them to the Gospel. Old habits die hard and this is a new way of thinking for me. This sweet one was very angry with their brother. I immediately started praying and asking the Lord to show me how to minister the gospel to the situation but I came up flat. After they left I continued to think and pray about the situation. Later it dawned me... my grand one was angry because brother had broken a rule... yet they were breaking a rule by being sinfully angry. The Gospel point: none of us can keep rules.. that is why Christ came. He was the perfect 'rule keeper' and His perfect record is now accounted to us by faith.

I'll be looking for a chance to share this the next time an opportunity arises.

Washing dishes and the lordship of Christ

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:59:37 GMT

"Jesus Christ is Lord over my heart, and he is Lord over my hands,and he is Lord over what I do with these hands, and he is Lord over what I say in my heart while I’m doing it. In submitting to the lordship of Christ, then, I do not treat washing dishes as wasting time I could be spending doing something ‘meaningful,’ but rather as a service to those who eat in my home, as a service to those who would have to wash dishes if I did not, and as an offering of thanksgiving to God that I have food to eat, dishes to eat it on, and running water inside my home to clean with. "

Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson