... the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ in every place...
Isn’t she beautiful??? She belongs to a sweet couple at our church, but she’s mine for a few hours today. 🙂 There is nothing like holding a newborn baby… and that’s what I’ll be doing for as long as she’ll let me.
Have a great Monday, everyone. Love to you all…
Jennifer (and this precious baby!)
Bless you for your prayers and encouragement to me/us!!! You gifted us as we walked into a new stage of trusting the Lord. He truly has made us glad and given us His peace. Thank you for sharing in our walk. We love you and thank God for you!
If you’re like me, verses like Proverbs 3:5-6, and Romans 8:28 are such a familiar passages, that I find myself glossing over the deep Truths these verses convey. However, familiarity doesn’t negate truth, and today, the Lord has brought them afresh to me. What an encouragement they are!
If you need some encouragement today, read these verses, asking the Lord for fresh eyes to see them… to really soak in what the Lord is saying… and let Him bless your heart and mind.
“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord
with all your heart and mind.
Do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways
know, recognize, and acknowledge Him,
and He will direct and make straight and plain
your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (Amp)
“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor]
all things work together and are [fitting into a plan]
for good to
and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (Amp)
Every so often this story comes across my in-box in the most timely of ways. It’s a beautiful reminder of what God is doing in all of our lives when we place ourselves and our loved ones into His hands.
May you be blessed and encouraged through this – and may the Lord make each of us to shine in such a way that we reflect His character to everyone we encounter.
Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
Because He IS working all things together, fitting them into His plan for you, for your good, and for His glory! His Word says so. And we can trust Him.
Peace in the Lord Jesus Christ be unto you~
Jennifer
Picture: Google Images
This Friday is January 15th. This date may not mean a lot to you, but to our family, it is the first day of a life whose security has nothing to rest on except in our God. We honestly thought that by this date, James would be in a new job. We never imagined that we would hit this date unemployed. As we thought toward our future, we expected to celebrate the 15th of January with hearts full of gratitude to the Lord for all He did while we were unemployed, as we happily rejoiced in all the new things God would be doing in our lives through the new job.
But the 15th is here, and there still is no job… and not for the lack of trying.  We are still at the “rejoicing in the things God is doing while we are unemployed” stage.
I imagine that for various reasons, this has been a difficult week for many of us. I don’t know about you, but for me, that battle between faith and sight has been tough. Burdens of our own, and those we are carrying for others (ones we know and ones we only know about) have been heavy. I’ve cried a lot. Prayed a lot. And I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate. 🙂
As I’ve rolled those burdens upon the Lord time and time again, The Lord has been gracious, comforting, loving, gentle, and firm in His reminder that He is on His Throne. In our own life situation, as well as in the devestation in Haiti, with the martyrs around the world, the lost, the lonely, the grieving… God is still working, loving, comforting, strengthening, healing, saving, and He will not let go of His hold upon us. (Heb. 13:5-6, see below.)
While we’ve done what we can for others, filled our minds with Scripture and our home with Praise Music, God has blessedly calmed our hearts and made us glad. We look toward the future, uncertain of what, where, and how it will be, remaining certain of Who it is in.
A sweet friend wrote this to me the other day: “The God who loves you, provides for you, comforts you, and sustains you on the 14th, will be the same God who loves you, provides for you, comforts you, and sustains you on the 15th…”
So true! Not just for the Walker family and our “deadline”, but for you, too. I have a feeling that someone, besides me, needed to be reminded of this today. This side of Heaven, we will not completely understand the mind and heart of God, but we can trust that no matter what, He is and will always be Who His Word tells us He is. He is good. He is loving. He is just. He is merciful. He is our Shield, our Strength, our Portion, our Deliverer, our Shelter, our Strong Tower, our Ever Present Help in time of Need! He is Everything!
If you need some encouragement on this day, spend worship some time with the Lord through this song, Made Me Glad. Because, no matter what happens, or what day of the week it is, or what deadline comes and goes, when we put our lives into His hands, He is the One – the Only One – Who forever can make us glad.
I love you, and am praying for you~
Jennifer
“Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6 The Message
Do you ever have one of those days when, although you know a deadline is looming, you do everything else you can think of instead of doing the ONE thing that was on your list? That perfectly describes my day yesterday, and I have to say, aside from the thing I didn’t do, I accomplished SO much! It was a banner day for 2010 so far.
I read some blogs I’ve been missing, replied to some e-mails, cleaned out my in-box, studied, researched, and wrote my entire Sunday School lesson for this coming Sunday (uber-new for me!), exercised, dressed, cooked a delicious dinner, straightened the house, devised a menu plan and grocery list, made some phone calls, researched re-starting a tutoring business, organized everybody’s vitamins and medicine for the month, chatted with friends on Facebook, made homemade salsa, and started this blog post… all in the name of procrastinating the ONE thing on my list for the day. I can’t decide if I would chalk it up to a successful day or not… But I sure did get a lot done! 🙂
I don’t know what that has to do with this recipe, except that I was typing out the recipe instead of getting the thing on my list done. (BTW, the thing on my list is that I’m taking two graduate level classes to renew my teaching certificate, in case the Lord calls me back to the classrom. Yesterday was the “big day” that I was to start back to school… and all I accomplished in that arena was “organizing my notebook”. I’m one of those that will spend so much time making a list that I never have time to complete anything on it.)
But I digress.
My mom gave me this recipe, and we made them for a New Year’s Eve soup dinner. I could have eaten the whole plate all by myself. They go incredibly well with any kind of soup, chili, or served alone as an appetizer. Just Amazing!
Seasoned Saltines
1 box of Saltine Crackers
Place crackers in a 2 gallon zip-lock bag (or a large plastic container with lid). Mix oil and seasonings. Pour over crackers and rotate or flip the bag/container slowly and continuously for 10-15 minutes, making sure all crackers are coated. (It’s good to recruit some gentle helpers for this step.)
This post is linked to these incredible blogs with tons of recipe links:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace
Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlem
