To get closer to Jesus I must be willing to allow him to purify me. I must empty myself to him and allow him to fill me. I must be grieved over the sin in my life and allow him to change me. Each action I take should have him in mind. Each thought I think, evaluated as to whether it is pleasing to him. I will never be perfect in this body, but I there is no reason why I can’t strive to be as much like Jesus as possible. 4 weeks ago
I no longer have a camcorder except on my phone. While I had a camcorder I enjoyed it more and more as I learned new features. Definitely worth doing! 1 month ago
Whenever I communicate with anyone, whether it be online or in person I endeavor to have ALL of my communication be glorifying to God. I no longer have this as a goal because I have integrated into my lifestyle. If I am talking with Christians it is an opportunity to fellowship. God is there with us. If I am talking with unbelievers, it is an opportunity to share the hope of heaven and my relationship with the Lord. 1 month ago
Me and some ladies from our church talked today about getting together to share the gospel door to door. I am excited to see how God is going to use us in this ministry. Keep us in your prayers. 1 month ago
When I gave birth to Shony, it was the 1st time I felt ready to have a child.
Fond memories I have of her:
1. As a baby she was happy, inquisitive and talkative. I remember asking her to stop talking on a road trip. For the longest time she could not stop talking. When I realized that she had finally stopped talking, I found that she was asleep.
2. When I would send her to bed at bedtime, she would sneak back down and fall asleep in the room where me and the older children were chilling.
3. She would read out loud to me many of her reading assignments from school.
3. The business project she had in High School. I was her accountant. Her team won. She made delicious chocolate chip cookies.
4. In my opinion, she has been through more pain and suffering than any of my other children. Only God knows for sure. My heart has broken for her over and over again. Unfortunately, I have unintentionally been a part of that pain.
5. I am proud of her for holding her head high through all of the difficulties in her life and setting good boundaries.
6. She is successful. She did not let the struggles in her life stop her. 2 months ago
I have been attending a discipleship class at the church I attend. It has been a series of workbooks that goes over the basics of Christianity. I am on the last book in the series called “Ye shall be witnesses.” I have already started sharing Jesus with people I care about. I want to make sharing Jesus part of my lifestyle. Life as a christian is more that doing good works, it is showing people they have the opportunity to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
Tell everyone. Rescue the perishing. 2 months ago
This is something I will be working on daily for the rest of my life. Daily reading the Bible. Daily praying for my needs as well as others needs. Being obedient to what the Holy Spirit speaks to me through Bible reading, prayer, and messages from church. Fellowship with other Christians ignites my desire to do all of these things. 2 months ago
I was recently able to encourage someone to rededicate his life to the Lord. This was such a great blessing. Please pray for this man that he would be able to maintain freedom from alcohol, get freedom from cigarettes, make peace with his family. He also desires to be blessed with money so he can be a blessing to other people. I know these are prayers that God desires to answer. Praise the Lord. I also had a chance to minister to non Christians also. Sowing some seed. 4 months ago
I have been attending Freedom Baptist Church since July 2012. It has been a GREAT blessing in my life. The fellowship is sweet. : ) Recently I started attending a fellowship group that meets at one of the lady’s house. We meet Tuesday through Friday. We have a different emphasis each of those days. It is like we all come with the fire of God burning in us. Then when we meet the fire ignites into a blazing bonfire. I am SO VERY blessed with great fellowship. 4 months ago
We call him Donny. He was born with a clef lip and palate. He had several surgeries as he was growing up to repair the deformity. I have always considered him a very special child. One that God trusted with the stigma of having a deformity. He is generally quiet.
Fond memories I have of Donny:
1. Placing my granddaughter in my arms as he got her out of the car when he visited me. As he placed her in my arms, it if was as if he was giving me a special gift. The tenderness towards me and his baby girl in those moments was indescribable.
2. Asking me to help enroll him in Jr. college. I went with him and also enrolled myself too. We would occasionally run into each other between classes.
3. Once he got his own place, he would blare music while he did he housecleaning. He would clean with a passion while he had the loud music going. When he finished he would sit down and relax without loud music.
4. After he went on a road trip to meet some online friends, he came back with some kitchen organization suggestions: get rid of a lot of my dishes, only keep kitchen items that I use, everyone clean their own plates and silverware after meals. I let him go through my dishes and appliances to remove the unneeded items. I never did get the hang of having people clean their own dishes. I appreciate the effort he made to encourage and help me in these areas.
5. He called me often on the road trip he took. One time that stands out was when his car needed repairing. He had to stay overnight in Missouri. He was denied a hotel because he was under 18. He ended up spending the night in someones back yard that was near the service station. I stayed on the phone with him until the power went out on his cell phone. I prayed earnestly for his protection that night. I was thrilled when he called me the next day after he got his phone charged.
6. When he was a pre-teen we argued about the way I was raising him. I told him I was doing what I believe is right, and doing the best I could. I asked him to please keep those things in mind until he had children, so that he could be a better parent than me.
7. He did not want to move out when he turned 18. I was ready for him to move out but he was not. He stayed with me for several more years before getting a job and moving out. We got along better when we each had our own home.
8. As a baby he had a difficult time with drinking from a bottle. Consequently, he spent more time feeding than doing anything else. As a result, we had a strong bond from him getting a lot of attention.
9. I was very proud of him when he attended Bible college. I was very happy that he had a desire to learn the Bible in depth. I loved it when he shared what he learn from the Bible.
I look forward to meeting and getting to know him again when I go to visit him. We have not seen each other since shortly after his daughter was born. 12 months ago
Landy as we call her is my 1st born child and 1st born daughter. She was the most beautiful baby I have seen. The moment my eyes saw her, I had more love for her than I thought could come through me. Growing up she was a very easy child to take care of. She was and still is sweet, thoughtful, creative and a true beauty.
I am proud of her accomplishments.
1. She prepares a raw food vegan dinner several times a week for her family.
2. She took in my youngest daughter when I was very ill for several years.
3. She is an artist. She can make beautiful crafts in a unique way.
4. She is a loving and devoted wife to her husband.
5. She is a christian and takes her children to church to learn about God’s love.
6. So far she has given birth to 4 beautiful children.
7. She reads to her children before bed.
8. She does many things for her children that I wish I had done for my children.
I desire to encourage her in the good things she has going in her life. I also desire to learn from her in the areas she has excelled. 12 months ago
I have this as a goal because I have entered a new phase of my life. I no longer have children that live with me. All my children are either adults or are now being raised by their older siblings. I have an empty nest.
So far to deal with this NECESSARY loss, I have a young roommate that is allowing me to be a mother to him and an adviser. It is an honor to me when people appreciate my interactions in their life. Over the years of raising my children I have been a second mom to my children’s friends. Although I enjoy mothering my roommate, I feel like my life is incomplete unless I give tender care to my adult children.
I have 6 children. 4 are adults, the other 2 are close to adulthood. I feel like I did a much better job raising my youngest 3 children than I did my oldest 3. I have a desire to give my older children the love that I gave my young children. Not that I didn’t love my older children, it is just that I have learned so much more since they were born.
When my older children left home, very soon afterward communication with them became scarce. I was allowing them to live their own life without interference from me. Also my younger children were still very young and I was focused on raising them. I did not realize until recently that backing off as much as I did was a disservice to all of us. I feel like I do not know them anymore. I want to get to know them again and love them in the ways I love my younger children.
Those of you reading this that know God, I ask that you would pray for me. I desire to be totally Christlike in my thoughts and attitudes toward my children. I am very proud of ALL of them. 12 months ago
I learned some stretches when I was in Physical Therapy. I also re-read my 1st entry of “stretch every day”. Most of stretches I learned in PT are also in the list from the article I mentioned in my 1st entry of “stretch every day”
I am more disabled than I was 5 years ago. Yet, all of the stretches listed in the article are still doable to me. I feel good about the gentle burn I feel while doing these stretches. 12 months ago
I am not letting the fact that I am on vacation detract me from working on this goal. There are simple things I can do at other peoples houses that keep me on track with this goal.
1. Pick up after myself
2. Take my dirty dishes to the sink
3. Rinse off my dirty dishes
4. Pick up other peoples dirty dishes on the way to the kitchen
5. Discard obvious trash around where I sit and in whatever room I am in.
I am making it a lifestyle change. I take joy in doing it. I have come a long way in making it a habit in my life. : ) 12 months ago
I to love cheese. In order for me to eat healthier, I have to cut back my use of cheese. What I did was switch to Parmesan cheese. If I am not mistaken it is low calorie and low fat.
This might work for you. It may be the milk fat in cheese that is causing the reactions in your body. 12 months ago
Yesterday I went through my 43things list to re-organize them. I listed them in order of priority. “Find a balance between the things I want to do and the things I need to do” is now being used as a marker dividing the things I am currently actively working on and the things I would like to work on.
The things I am actively working on are the things I believe are needed goals for my life right now. The things after that goal are things I sometimes work on and/or would like to work on in the future. 12 months ago
This is a goal that I will have for the rest of my life. Not so much as a conscious effort but rather as a natural consequence of having a relationship with God.
One of my favorite ways to share Jesus is to pray out loud with people when hearing gossip or hearing about difficult circumstances. Many times I forget to do this. Every time I have done it in the past, there has always been a positive outcome. Considering Jesus right there with me when I talk to others, defuses the fear of people.
My prayer,
Dear Lord, help me have less fear of people and more trust of you.
Amen. 12 months ago
I recently moved from CA to IL, December 3, 2011. I do not have a car to get to church on my own. By calling a church mid-week to arrange a ride, I am able to get to church. I am not good at remembering to make this call. I need to make this a higher priority. I have not yet found a church to settle into and call my church home. All the churches I have attended so far have their good points.
What I have been doing since I moved is to record church services, on weekends, and Precepts for Life, Monday thru Friday. If the message is substantially beneficial I listen to it more than once so the message will really sink in.
I know this helps mold me into a Christ-like individual. This helps me be more of the person God desires me to be. As christian we are to be a reflection of God to the people we come in contact with. I desire to be more are more like Jesus in every area of my life.
My prayer: I desire to trust you more Dear Lord. You are truly the love of my life. Amen 12 months ago
What I do now, to stay in balance, is to focus on the things I NEED to do in the morning and the afternoon. During this time I take short breaks to do things I want to do. I am physically disabled now. It is very important for me to take breaks during the day so I do not over stress my back. Once I am refreshed I go back to the needed things. I save watching tv for the evening.
Getting important things done is a motivator for me. The more I get done, the more I want to keep going and get more done. When I get things done during the day, I find my tv time more enjoyable.
When my pain kicks in too hard, I do what I can. But sometimes, during those times, the best I can do is to enjoy life is to watch tv. It gets my mind off of pain. Even that is not a total loss. I put my DVR to good use and record religious shows that encourage me and tv shows that leave me feeling encouraged by the stories. 12 months ago
When I moved from CA to IL December 2011, I got rid of everything except my 2 cats, and 2 suitcases of clothes and personal items. I did leave several boxes of personal items in CA until my sister brought them to me last week.
I am currently on vacation. I went to one of my grandson’s 1st birthday celebration in IN. I stayed there for a week. Now I am visiting my oldest sister in MO. It feels good to travel lite and enjoy all the things I possess.
When I go home next week I plan to systematically go through the boxes that were brought to me. The plan is to either throw away most of the contents or send them to new homes. I plan to take full advantage of FreeCycle to help get new homes for items that do not fit into my current home.
I have been enjoying the benefits of living simply since I arrived in IL. 12 months ago
I recently moved. I had my 2 youngest children move in with older siblings. I did not expect to need to have my youngest daughter move in with my oldest daughter. I do believe that this is what God wants to do at this time in my life. It was very difficult for me.
I had been aware there is pain involved in having an empty nest. But when it happened to me, it was sudden. I failed to realize that I even had an empty nest. I just knew I was in a lot of pain from no longer having my daughter live with me.
I have a roommate that is a young adult. Interacting with him I still feel like a mother. He accepts me as a motherly role model in his life. I am sure having him with me softened the blow of having an empty nest.
I am still involved in my children lives to a small degree. I have more of an advisory status. I do not think I will ever STOP raising my children to love God. 12 months ago
I just moved from California to Illinois. My tomato plants only grew 1 tomato which was delicious. When I moved, I gave my Aloe Vera plant to my sister. No more plants until I have a permenant place to live. 18 months ago
Using plant food in their water now 051811 2 years ago
My collection is growing quickly. I need to slow down to make sure I can maintain them all. 2 years ago
They stay much fresher stored in water. 2 years ago
