Repairing and Renewing Relationships

I reached out to a friend because God laid her on my heart as the person I needed to love. Did you ever open your mouth and say something that hurt another person and you didn't mean the words in the way they were taken? I did. And it nearly destroyed a relationship. I've been praying over the situation which incurred two weeks ago. Finally, I sent an email and poured out my heart. I wasn't sure how she would react, my only intention was to apologize and let her know that I loved her.

God is good!

Last night I received a positive response from her. I feel so blessed.

I've been thinking a lot about putting relationships first. It's not easy. "Things" still want to dominate my life, but when I choose the relationship instead, I feel like sunshine is filling my soul.

May you have a blessed day!

It's Not Easy Living 40 Days of Love

This week we need to pick someone we haven't shown love to recently and do just that. Show love. Hubby's comment was..."It will be easy to pray for someone, but hard to actually take the step to show the love."

Guess that says it all, right?

I've been struggling with choosing someone, too. I'm sure the first step will be the hardest. Why is it so hard to show love to someone besides our children or our spouse?

I do things for people and don't think much about it. I suppose that's showing love. But to consciously do an extra thing takes thought. Perhaps that's why I'm having a problem with this assignment. Should we show love by planning it?

Lots of questions. Hopefully I'll receive answers as we progress through this study.

If you've already participated in this Bible Study, I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment.

Blessings!

The Attraction of Lesser Things

Day Two of Forty Days of Love--Today the focus is on seeing what is most important in our lives. We learned that love is the supreme value in life and that God created us for relationships. But we are easily distracted. As an example, when I'm busy writing a scene in my latest manuscript, it really irrates me when my husband pops in to read me something from the newspaper or share something that he just saw on television. When I allow my writing to be more important than my relationship with my husband, I've gone against what Jesus would have me do. Jesus was the supreme example of patience and understanding. He always had time for people. His relationship with us is of prime importance.

If we follow the greatest commandment to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, then we become like Jesus. We personify love. And when we love God, we then extend that love to all we come in contact with.

Focus on relationships as the highest priority in your life. First, your relationship with God and then your relationship with others. God said we should love our neighbors as ourselves.

What is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning? What is the last thing you think of before you go to sleep?

On what do you spend most of your time? Your money?

The answers to these questions should help you see what you place the highest priority on in your life. Is it time to make a change?

Nothing is More Important Than Relationships - Day One

Jesus taught that nothing is more important than relationships. When God created us, he created us to have relationships. We need to nurture the relationships we have with God and with the other people in our lives. There are many types of relationships: husband and wife, parent and child, friends, co-workers... You get the drift. Each of these relationships takes effort on our part to keep them going. Sometimes we are hurt by a relationship and become disillusioned. But Jesus taught that we should love unconditionally. He taught that we need to understand the importance of our relationshps and nurture them. Walking away from relationships is the easy way out. Instead, we need to place relationships at the top of our priority list.

Read Mark 12:29-31

Forty Days of Love

Our bible study group is going to participate in the Forty Days of Love series. We begin the journey on Sunday. It's going to be an enlightening six weeks full of devotions geared to help us improve our relationships with others through love. I'm excited and uplifted going into this series.

It's my belief that if we could only step back and look at everyone with the heart of Jesus, the world would be a much better place. But, we humans are shallow. We are flawed. No matter how far we've fallen, though, God never gives up on us.

I'll be sharing devotions based on this Forty Days of Love on this blog beginning Monday.

On a personal note, we did find no lein on Mom's house. She should have been relieved. However, she has transferred her worry to herself. She believes there is a lein against her personally. Sometimes, her fiction is even better than what I can create. But, I'm not laughing at her. It's a deep-seated worry that troubles her and I need God's help to understand how to help her with this.

Have a blessed day!

Inspiration for Writers

Now that I'm considered a writer by my friends, family, and co-workers a common question is "when is your next book coming out." I guess that's a good thing. They must like my writing or they wouldn't be anxious to read the next release. Once I was clueless of the publishing world, too, so I understand their confusion when I try and explain the lengthy process.

However, one doesn't become a writer by talking about it, thinking about it, or reading about it. Granted, all of the above are necessary, but the truth is a writer becomes a writer by writing, submitting, and never giving up on the dream.

There are so many ways we can talk ourselves out of being a writer without being cognizant of our self-defeating behaviors. Few of us have the opportunity to spend 8 hours a day writing. We have commitments, responsibilities, and a daunting to do list. But, no matter how full a day may be there are opportunities to write. There is an email floating around about the teacher who brought in a jar filled with rocks and asked the class if the jar was full. Then she added some small pebbles and they settled between the rocks. Next she added sand, which again settled among the rocks and pebbles. Now the class unanimously agreed the jar was full. But, then she added water. We can find a few minutes or maybe more in each day to write if we want it. Remember, one word leads to a sentence. A sentence leads to a paragraph. A paragraph leads to a scene. A scene leads to a chapter. Chapters lead to a completed novel. Even if you write one page a day, you'll have a novel written in one year.

So, what's holding you back? Take an honest look at your schedule and see where you can fit in time to work towards fulfilling your goals.

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Thanks for stopping by!

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Have a day full of blessings.

And A Little Child Shall Lead Them...

I've been trying to cheer Mom up and make her see the positive side of moving in with us. She's accepted it, and she acknowledges that it will be all right, but perhaps it's my own feelings of sadness for her that's causing the problem.

Last night I called her and she said she'd spoken to Julie (next to youngest daughter) and Kody and C.J. (Julie's sons aged 11 and 9). Those two wonderful boys have her excited about moving here now. Their enthusiasm and loving hearts reached across the miles and created a remarkable emotional healing.

Sometimes God works miracles through those who are willing to be shepherds.

Thank God for kids.

Walking with God

Walking is cathartic! There is nothing more inspiring than walking on a beautiful, sunny day, beneath a perfect cloudless blue sky. I live for these days. After a long, dreary winter, sunny days make me smile inside.

Walking brings me closer to God and makes me believe that I can achieve my dreams if I work for them. There are times when I brainstorm plots and characterizations while I walk, and sometimes I walk to relieve stress.

When I'm troubled, I walk and talk to God. Nothing makes me more aware of His presence than seeing in nature all the things His hand has created.

One of my favorite hymns is "In The Garden"..."He walks with me and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own." I love to sing this song in my mind as I walk. It brings a smile to my face and my heart that I just can't hide.

Have you taken a walk lately?

Have You Opened the Door?

Happy belated Easter!

Yesterday was a day of rejoicing the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. A day full of thankfulness, smiles, and love. Our latest sermon series has been Extreme Makeover, focusing on the different rooms of the house and how these relate to our lives. The room on the stage yesterday was the front porch, but the door to the house had no knob on the outside. Why?

Because there is no knob on the outside of our hearts. Jesus knocks, but we have to open the door to allow Him inside.

Have you opened the door yet?

*************

I spent a few hours on the phone with my mother yesterday. Her body is going downhill fast, but her mind is still active. That's so true for all of us really. Our minds are full of dreams, ideas, and good intentions, but sometimes we let our physical body and lives interfere. Live life well. God has a purpose for each of us. Open the door.

Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

After the Dust Settles, Look for God

On Wednesday while getting my clothes out for work, I felt extreme pain in my thumb. Since I have arthritis,I'm used to these events; however,this time the pain did not go away. To make a long story short, I took off work and went to the doctor. Hubby drove. On our return, our house alarm trouble alarm was sounding.

If I had gone to work, I would have been in a Senior Manager's Meeting and my hubby wouldn't have known what to do. Thankfully, I was home and able to contact the right people to rectify the situation.

Three hours later, we had the alarm fixed and signal going to the alarm monitoring company, my telephone line corrected, and I had a thumb stabilizer to help with the medical situation.

Sometimes, God works in ways we don't see until after the dust settles.

Moving Right Along...and Giving Thanks

This weekend we managed to move my office from the upstairs floor to the downstairs spare bedroom. Not an easy task with a bi-level. It's that 180 angle at the bottom of the first flight of stairs that's the killer.

Now, I only have a few things to move from upstairs closet and find a spot for. I think Mom is going to like her new bedroom. It warms my heart to know I can give her a nice place to rest. And the best part is...our cats promptly jumped on the bed and took a nap. I hope they do that when she arrives. She's used to having her cats sleep with her.

Maybe they know already that she will need their comfort.

I'm putting my trust in God on this and it has been like a burden lifted from my shoulders. I chatted with Mom last night and she was enjoying the country music awards. I flipped the station and watched it while we talked. One thing that stood out was the way the award winners all thanked God for the win. Carrie Underwood thanked God first and foremost.

God is good, all the time.

Whoa! You Want Me to Do What? Trust?

Trust is something we have been taught is an earned reward. When my children would lie to me and I would find out the truth (as most parents do), I told them they would have to earn my trust again. I'm sure my parents said the same thing to me. Is it any wonder we have trouble trusting in God?

The theme woven through most of my books is trust. We tend to be individuals who depend on ourselves rather than others, we trust ourselves, but trusting in another person is harder. Throughout our lives we run into issues of trust. How do you trust someone who has proven themselves to be untrustworthy? It's difficult. We need them to "earn" our trust.

I participated in a group leadership seminar once where we had to "trust" in our fellow members in various scenarios. What a humbling experience. It taught me a lot about having trust in others...not easy for me.

How about you? Do you trust easily or do you expect others to earn your trust?

I'm sure that's what God experienced when He sent His son to earth. He had to earn our trust by allowing His son to die on the cross for all us, so that those who believe in Him could have everlasting life.

Still, many times we question God in times of trouble.

Prayer for the Day: Dear Heavely Father, Help me to place my trust in You. Amen.

Not Just a Material Thing...

I spoke with Mom again last night. Though she tried to hide the tears, I could hear them in her voice as she told me she had definitely made the decision to take her beloved sixteen year old cat, Maggie, to the animal shelter rather than bring her to our home. My mother and Maggie are inseparable, especially since Dad passed. It hurts me when I empathize by trying to imagine how I'd feel if I was all alone and had no choice but to move in with a member of my family hundreds of miles away and hand off my best friend to an animal shelter.

I keep telling myself this is her decision and I must trust in God that He will take care of this. I pray with all my heart that some kind soul will offer a loving home to Maggie where she can live out the rest of her life in comfort.