ThinMint

1 of 5 When I was a little girl I envisioned God as kind, grandfatherly, eager for His children to climb up onto His lap and tell Him whatever they wanted. He would listen, amused, and He would smile and nod His head in approval. It’s a lovely vision, but it’s not a complete picture of Who He is. Some see God as angry, vengeful and arbitrarily interfering in the lives of earth dwellers. Some see God as aloof, apathetic and withdrawn from the affairs of mankind. We run into dangerous territory if we pigeonhole Him and we’re not interested –that is, if we’re not learning Who He is. We read the Bible to understand Who He is. It’s His-story. The chronologies of His presence, protection and pursuit are woven together and tell of the love between Him and His children. Have you ever heard a word or verse in the Bible that makes you understand a different perspective? Perhaps you’ve read or heard it countless times before and didn’t give it much thought. Then unexpectedly the Holy Spirit taps you on the shoulder, and He provides context and significance then the word, verse or phrase is applicable and you’re able to make a deep and personal connection. That’s one of the reasons why wanting to know Him intimately is worth the seeking.

Please share all the good & inspiring, delightful, awesome, beautiful things: stories, memes, music, news, images, bible verses -all the goodness you see ❄️

Each year as we approach the time to flip the calendar over to January, I ask the Holy Spirit to give me a phrase, or just a word, to reflect upon and pray about for the next 12 months. Before I even had a chance to approach Him this go around, His Spirit gave me one word: Shaking! So this is what I will be praying about and expecting this year. While we've been feeling the earthly foundations shake and it feels like we are long overdue for man-made institutions to shake, I am also praying for a shaking to take place among Believers. Pray and ask Him to give you a phrase, scripture or word, too. If He directs you to do so, please do share!

I am pieces of all the places I've been, and all the people I've loved. I've been stitched together by song lyrics, book quotes, adventures, late night conversations, moonlight, and the smell of coffee. ~Brooke Hampton (And made beautifully whole because of Jesus. Thank You, Father God, for giving us Jesus.)

Thank you for your prayers, sweet thoughts and kind words. We are grateful that the stroke wasn't as bad as we worried about. She talks and is completely coherent. She's waiting on a bed for inpatient therapy and we anticipate her stay there to be short. My mom and I are quite close. She's amazing, strong, witty and thoughtful. My love for her runs deep. The posts above were meant to convey the message that we all know: Life Can Change In a Heartbeat. Simply, don't wait. Call, write, reconcile if reconciliation can be found, forgive. Don't wait for the right time, the right moment, the other person to initiate... Be courageous, be hopeful. Move. Life is worth the living.

I would tell my friends to stop putting off, stop ignoring, stop making excuses. Where there is reconciliation, reconcile. Forgive. Call, write, reach out. Don’t wait. You will never, ever regret listening to God’s instructions.

This morning my brother called to tell me my Mom had a stroke last night. Later, I thought about these questions. About being obedient to the Holy Spirit’s urging, and how humbled and grateful I feel for sending these to her. He is in every aspect of our lives –in ways we could never imagine. He is in the tiny and ordinary. He is there in the velvet, darkened skies as we rest. He is there in the new morning. He is there as the day unfolds before us. He is there when we are lonely, confused, hurt. He is there when we are angry and hungry for answers. He is there when we have to face the unknown.

As I look through all the graphics I have, I often ask the Lord to show me what He wants me to post, because I know that someone, somewhere needs His message. Sometimes, it’s a message that I need, even if I don’t recognize the significance at first. That’s the case with the above graphic. The Holy Spirit said, that’s the one. So I posted. As I settled down to rest, the Holy Spirit brought to mind that it needed to be edited. I got up, grabbed my device then added a comment to the bottom: “With Jesus we can face the unknown.” A few weeks ago I was clearing out some older posts I saved. There was a video narrated by a gentleman and he talked about, “The 7 questions you need to ask your mom.” I jotted the questions down and thought that these questions would be great to present to my mom around Mother’s Day. Last week the Holy Spirit urged me to get these questions to my Mom. I thought I would send her a lovely card with the questions tucked inside. However, His Spirit said to email her. I did and two days later she sent me back her answers. Here are the questions:

Please share all the good & inspiring, delightful, awesome, beautiful things: stories, memes, music, news, images, bible verses -all the goodness you see! ❄️

If you've been with me for awhile, do you remember the sweet gift I found in the sky one cold day two years ago?

It's been snowing here since about 1:30 this afternoon. There's something so lovely and perfect and delightful and wondrous about the first snowfall. It was a good time to make cookies. The potted roses are moved under shelter, the washing is done, the pantry is full, the water is freshly stored. God is making stillness for His creation. We will savor the change in pace, the quietness outside, the cheer of the kids inside. He makes life is still very, very good.

Please share all the good & inspiring, delightful, awesome, beautiful things: stories, memes, music, news, images, bible verses -all the goodness you see! ❄️🤍