Today is the first day of Advent. Many Christians celebrate Advent, the time before Christmas. But what is it? How did it start? What does it symbolize and what does Advent mean for us today? Let’s look at this four week period before Christmas and learn the true meaning of Advent….
Sunday Scripture
KEEPING A THANKFUL HEART FOR THANKSGIVING
My sweet friends, Thanksgiving is less than a week away. Does that make you feel happy, anxious, sad, nervous, harried? As women, we often carry the Martha-like burden of making sure all the moving parts are in place and everything is ready for Thanksgiving day! I really understand that! Today let’s talk about keeping a thankful heart for Thanksgiving……
A LAMP UNTO MY FEET
When my children were very little I would get up early, often dragging myself out of bed unwillingly, and make a hot breakfast every school morning. And I would wake my kiddos up early too, but not as early as myself. Then Bobby and I and the children would sit around the table and eat a scrumptious breakfast and we would do devotions together. I knew that feeding them both physically and spiritually was the best way to start their day and send them off to school!…
THE ANCIENT OF DAYS
One of my favorite names for God is “Ancient of Days”. It’s a very timeworn name, which first appears in the Book of Daniel, Chapter7. The date is 553 BC. Daniel has a dream and a vision given by God about the Gentile nations of the world and God’s dealing with them. It is a dream of prophecy. Part of Daniel’s dream gives him a look into heaven… and what a sight he sees Let’s set the heavenly scene and discover this beautiful name for God… Ancient Of Days… In heaven, thrones are set up and the court sat! Daniel is……
ABIDE AND OBEY
Have you ever been so pressed in by God about something? It seems so much of what I am reading and listening to and thinking about revolves around one subject. Abide and Obey! I ask God to impress on my heart (mind, will, emotion and intellect) what to post each week and I have felt such a strong inner voice and moving of the Spirit about this subject. Today let’s talk about abide and obey….
BEAUTIFUL FALL GRACE BEFORE MEALS PRINTABLE
As I was thinking of all the bounty of fall and its beauty I was thinking how gracious and creative and good our Father is. And how we need to be mindful that everything was created by and is a gift for us to enjoy. Today I created a Fall Grace printable for you. Such a touching prayer to say before your meals! You can print it out, frame it and enjoy it this Autumn season!…
A LESSON FROM MY FRONT PORCH
If you were to stand on my front porch and look across the street you would see a huge corn field. The tops of the corn are tasseled and the color of staw. And in just a couple weeks every stock of corn will be the same gorgeous color. I love corn at harvest time. When the wind blows through the dry stalks it sounds like the rustling of a taffeta ball gown….
HIDDEN IN YOUR HEART
I have been blessed in the last 22 months with three adorable grandbabies! Anderson, Emma Kate and our newest addition Alexander. Since the day these my precious little ones were born I have sung “Jesus Loves Me” to them as many times as I can in a day. I am no singer, believe me, but I don’t think God cares very much about that and either do my babies….
HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR LIFE?
I recently had the opportunity to hear Bruce Wilkerson (a best selling Christian author) speak. His message was so profound and so thought-provoking, I was going to write about it today… BUT, why write about it… when you can see and hear it! Bruce is talking to the student body at Liberty University at a convocation service. As Bruce addressed the students, pretend he is talking directly to you. Now here is my challenge…HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR LIFE? Click HERE to listen to this powerful message. …
OUR TRUE SHELTER
I am a “shelter” blogger. A term used to describe bloggers who write about anything related to home. And I think it’s a pretty accurate title. For me, the word shelter speaks of all things home, a sanctuary away from the world and protection all that is harmful. I spend most of my day almost everyday immersed in the beautiful world of home decor. And I love it. I hear readers and clients talk their forever home. StoneGable is not my “forever home” Today, let’s talk about our true shelter…our true forever home….
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN
If you were in dire trouble and needed to be saved by a superhero who would you pick to come to the rescue? I would pick Superman! Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… He can fly in the sky like a bird and his hair is never messed up! He fights for truth, justice, and the American way! Strong, fast, powerful. A real hero! He is the perfect package of good looks, brains, brawn, and compassion! Yes, I would feel pretty safe in the strong arms of……
HIDING GOD’S WORD IN OUR HEARTS
This weekend my sweet little 12 month old granddaughter and her parents came for a visit. Not an unusual thing. I’m very blessed to have my children and their families within driving distance of StoneGable. Emma Kate is so so sweet and dainty and girly and giggly! And just such a joy! And she is getting chatty. Oh, a chatty little girl. I love it! And this darling little one caused me to remember a very big precept of God while she splashed in the baby pool on our patio! Literally out of the mouths of babes……
WHAT IS YOUR HEARTSONG?
Almost every morning… just before daybreak… I am awakened to the sound of a Mockingbird singing his little heart out near my bedroom windows. He sits on the top branches of our weeping cherry tree and shouts out his song. It’s not even that pretty! No obvious melody… just strings of squawks and calls and shrill whistles. He doesn’t seem to care at all… he just belts it out with everything his dear soul has. It is his heartsong! …
OMG… STOP SAYING THAT!
You would probably not ever want to go shopping with me. I am not a “let’s go shopping together” kind of girl! I really don’t like to shop! I shop at a handful of stores, but that’s it! If a store has the words pottery or crate or Home or vintage in it… well, bring it on! Other than that, I am a lone wolf shopper! If I have to shop, I hunt down my merchandise prey alone. That way I have time to think and strategize about the mission! In… attack… out! No fooling around. Precision and quick strikes!……
GREETING GOD EACH MORNING
When you open your eyes each morning how do you greet the day? More importantly, how do you greet God? Factoring God into our day can have a major impact on it. Let’s talk about the habit of spending time with God each morning… …
CARRYING FRIENDS TO THE THRONE OF GRACE
What do you do when illness or tragedy or troubles or anxiety or difficulties strike someone you know? It could be a friend, or family member or even a person you hear about! Let me tell you a story about a man with a debilitating illness and how his friends helped him in a time of his great need… This story struck me deep in my heart when I first read about it years ago and to this day it is still on my mind… Our story takes place in Capernaum, a town right on the……
WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?
If you ask me what my favorite song is I would say Amazing Grace. It was not until I was 33 years old that I knew for the first time how amazing grace really was. I have always loved this song and can sing all the modern verses but I often sang it without any deep knowledge or meaning of the wonderful truths I was voicing. But when I was 33 an amazing thing happened that saved my life……
HOW ALL PEOPLE KNOW GOD
Have you ever wondered why we believe in a God, or should I say “THE GOD”? And did you know that every culture, country, tribe, race, and peoples ALL believe in a god? Why is that? How does God, THE GOD, manifest Himself to each individual and woo us to Him? These are all important questions to ask. Today we will just skim the surface of understanding HOW ALL PEOPLE KNOW THERE IS A GOD….
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE WORRIED
Do you know someone that is a worrier? Maybe you are! I’m somewhere in the middle of the road. I don’t worry much except when I feel there is a real danger or problem that is far beyond my fixing. For many people, I think worry is just a very bad habit. It can be a “default setting” in life! I’m sure you know that worry is a useless and a very negative reaction to any situation! Worry never changes anything for good, it turns our emotions on end and cannot solve any problem. Let’s look at what God says about……
PALM SUNDAY’S MEANING
When I was a little girl my father was stationed overseas and we could not go with him. In those day, we called it going “remote”. We… my mother, my siblings and I, lived with my grandmother during this time. I had an amazing father and I missed my daddy very much. Fourteen months is a long time for a little girl to go without her Daddy! But my mother and grandmother kept us busy with family life and school filled my days and the time passed. These were the days of no smart phones or computers. My daddy……
A FACE LIKE FLINT
While traveling in the Negev (southern Israel) our teacher took us on a “wee little walk”. Because we had been with her for over two weeks our small group knew exactly what that meant! Something hot and rocky and long and treacherous. But we also knew that this “wee little walk” would reveal sights we had never seen before and God would reveal a deeper level of His word to us as we struggled along….
FAVOR FROM THE LORD
I loved picking up my children from school. It was just a little nicety I did or them and it would spare them the bus ride home. I especially have very vivid and precious memories of picking them up during the middle school years. Middle schoolers what a bizarre and funny lot, right? So what do God’s favor and middle school pick-ups have in common? Oh, more than you might think……
12 BEST THINGS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN 2018, PART 2
How are those New Year’s Resolutions going? Are you still on track? Or have you given up on some? I know making changes in our lives is much harder than just making a list. I struggle with keeping New Year Resolutions too. Today is part two of a three-part series about making SPIRITUALLY healthy changes in our lives this year. The best things we can do for our overall well being are spiritual. Let’s get started!…
CELEBRATING THE 4TH WEEK OF ADVENT- JOY
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays are ways we all express greetings to one another during Christmas. But merry and happy don’t really adequately express the true feeling we should be experiencing during this season! Of course, it’s not bad to wish people a merry or happy Christmas but the emotion behind those two words fall so short of what God wants us to experience. Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Today, let’s ponder on the true meaning of joy at Christmas….
PEACE ON EARTH AT CHRISTMAS
Before I spent time in Israel I imagined Shepherd’s Field, the place where angels announced the birth of Jesus to lowly shepherds, as a big open grassy plain. A place of great beauty and open spaces… like on a Christmas card. The picture below is of Shepherd’s Field today. It’s not at all what I imagined but then, most of what is true in the bible is not what most of us imagine……
CELEBRATING IN THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING
I think hosting Thanksgiving is the most work intense, tiring, hardest meal of the year to pull off! There, I said it! And maybe I said it for all of us who host Thanksgiving year after year! There have been years in the past that I have worked myself into total exhaustion to put together a magical-Martha-Stewart-type-Thanksgiving. So, by the time my family and friends sat down to dinner I wanted to say, “Have a great dinner and remember to clean up after yourselves… I’M GOING TO BED”!…
ARE YOU KIND?
Who is the kindest person you know? When he or she comes to your mind what good qualities are you thinking about. This person is a rare gem in today’s world. Kindness in human terms is defined as affectionate, gentleness, warm, concern, care, and generous. Wonderful and selfless qualities to have. The Bible says that God is kind. Let’s talk about how this quality draws people to repentance and to His eternal kingdom and why we should be kind like Him….
FINDING LIVING STONES, PART II
Today is part II of my quest to find the Living God at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Please take the time to read part I HERE. I turned from the hot holy stones… exhausted. I was a puddle. Melted by the heat and the emotion of being stood up by God! How do you pick up a puddle… How does it walk or continue a tour… or write in its journal. Can a puddle eat lunch or make small talk… or even breathe? How does a puddle put it’s heart back together… …
FINDING LIVING STONES
It’s been almost a decade ago since I studied in Israel. It was one of the most life-altering and profound experiences of my life. I walk in the footsteps and across the land of prophets and kings and the King Of King, Jesus Himself. I wandered and learned from the northernmost tip of Israel to deep in the Negev. And spent time in beautiful, gritty, divided Jerusalem the eternal “city of peace”. It was there that I had one of the most meaningful spiritual meetings of my entire life. Today and next week I would like to share……
A THANKSGIVING BLESSING
As we get closer to Thanksgiving I like to plan ahead and get things ready for this special All-American holiday. It’s a time for family and fun but it’s primarily a time for remembering to thank God for his goodness, grace, and lovingkindness to us. And that comes in more ways than we can count. Today I have a THANKSGIVING BLESSING you can print out and use during your Thanksgiving festivities!…
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