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Wednesday’s WOTD

Psalm 23
From the Message

God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.

Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.

You revive my drooping head;

my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God f
or the rest of my life.

Psalm 23 is so beautifully stated in The Message. How thankful I am that it is God who is our Shepherd, and He is the One responsible for our lives and livelihood.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker
[in reverent praise and supplication].
For He is our God

and we are the people of His pasture
and the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice,
Harden not your hearts…

Psalm 95:6-8a
(Amplified Version)

Praying with you today…. With love… Jennifer
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Catching Up


Hi friends! (If I had some “ocean waves” sounds, I’d be playing them for us about right now, but since I don’t, just pretend with me: whhhhooooosshhhh… swwwwwiiiiiiissssssshhhhh) I now make these noises when I want to be back in my chair at the beach! It helps a little… not really… 🙂

Would you please indulge me for a moment while I brag on the Lord? You know how it is… when we leave “normal” surroundings and visit a different area of God’s magnificent creation, our hearts seem to be wide open for praise – And that’s just what we did!

The gentle rhythm of the waves, consistent gradual sunrises, salmon pink sunsets, white powdery sand, and bright blue skies were medicine for the soul and spirit. Everywhere we looked made our hearts cry out in praise. It was amazing! God was so good to us and blessed our week with His beauty and rest!

Here are a few pictures (I promise – I won’t bore you with all 300 of them!) 🙂


This was a great shot. In this picture, Nathan was skim boarding.


And of course, we took the family pictures – in the same poses every other family who goes to the beach uses. 🙂




While were were there, I “fasted” from the computer, internet, e-mail, and blogging. I missed keeping up with all of my new bloggy friends, but the time off-line was helpful in evaluating where I spend my time and focus, and I saw that I lose a lot of life while on-line. When I first started blogging, I read a tip from another blogger that said something like this: Don’t get so tied up in blogging that you miss living your life.
In all my 4 months of blogging ;-), I’ve never forgotten this. In the future, there’s going to be some additional “living” going on in my life (and no, I’m not having another baby!). Although I’m not at liberty to say what it is right now, I can tell you that it will take some additional time and mental energy. In asking the Lord how to balance everything, He’s called me to clean my plate a little. I’m not going to stop blogging, but Smelling Coffee will be slowing down a bit. I’ll post one or two times a week, and “Frappuccino Fun with Amy” will still be posted on Fridays. (yeah!)
I’ve so enjoyed blogging, and am glad to get to continue – just on a smaller scale. (I have tons of posts in my mind… & I’m praying that the Lord will help them stay right where they are until I have the time to peck them out!) Thank you for being loyal readers and for leaving your encouraging comments. I hope to be catching up with many of you soon!
“True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.” Psalm 23:3 (The Message – our theme for our week at the beach.)

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A quick word from the beach

Hi friends~ I’ve promised my two blogger friends with me that I would make this short and sweet… so here goes:

*Frappuccino Fun with Amy will be postponed until next week. She sends her love. 🙂

*The boycott of McDonalds has worked, and is now over!!! You can read about it here. It was so good for our children to see that we can take a stand for what is right and make a difference. Our family is looking forward to going back to McDonalds, and I’m already tasting a Hazelnut Iced Coffee! I can’t wait!

If you participated in the boycott, and wrote a letter to McDonalds asking them to change their policies, please go to the McDonald’s website under “contact us” to thank them for choosing to back down on their pro-homosexuality agenda, and let them know you’ll be back as a customer (if that’s your desire.). I know you’ll be kind in your response.

I’ll be back to posting sometime next weekend. Until then, you can find me in one of these:

🙂 Blessings to all of you… wish you were here…Jennifer

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Packing Light

Today we’re off on our first family vacation that doesn’t involve my husband’s company or my hometown – and we’re so excited! (Not that we didn’t appreciate the other trips – but this one has no agenda but to rest and relax!) We’re headed to Florida with Frappuccino Fun with Amy’s family and another family for one whole week. I don’t plan on spending much time on the internet, but we will be posting Frappuccino Fun on Friday – it will just be a little later on Friday than usual.

My mom, husband, and 2 traveling friends have all encouraged me to “pack light”. I’m trying hard, but I just “need’ too much stuff around me. I’ve never traveled with an understuffed suitcase, and I always have to pay extra when I fly. It’s my MO. My suitcase comes back to me everytime with a tag on it encouraging the baggage handlers to lift it with bended knees!

As I’m loading all of my stuff, I can’t help but think about “packing light” in the spiritual sense. What a gift it is to know that we don’t “need” to lug around all of our stuff – every day! When Jesus went to the cross, He took all our “stuff” with Him, and when we stay “confessed-up”, and depend on Him for everything, we have the gift of living lightly and freely.

It makes me think of one of my favorite verses from the Message Bible:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28

That’s what I’m hoping to do this next week… keep company with Him, and live freely and lightly – even though my suitcase weighs a ton! Have a great rest of the week, friends…

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Wednesday’s WOTD

What do I do next, Lord?

Have you ever been in a situation where you are desperate to know what the Lord wants you to do about something?

I seem to find myself in this situation often. I like a plan. I like to know what is going on, when it is going on, and who’s going on with it! But as we all know, our Awesome Lord doesn’t’ work according to OUR plans, does He? (Praise the Lord for that!) Every time I’ve needed a specific answer from Him about something, I must say that He has never disappointed me with His answer and its timing. Often when I haven’t received the answer I’m looking for, at the time I want it, God has used my seeking Him to draw me back to a sweet place of a “waiting trust” – Much like a baby in her mother’s arms.

If you need a specific answer from the Lord about something in your life, you really can find the answer in God’s Word. Here are some scriptures to pray through to help you find your answer to the question, “What do I do now, Lord?”

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You. 2 Chron. 20:12

He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. Psalm 25:9

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. Prov. 16:9

Unto You do I lift up my eyes, …You who are enthroned in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy and loving-kindness for us. Psalm 123:1-2

Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You. Psalm 143:8

If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. 1 Sam. 3:9

Years ago I learned a secret to hearing direction from the Lord: Obedience. Obeying what you know to do right now, and trusting God to show me answers for the future in His perfect timing.

Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest” says “Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up.” (Oct 10)

My shepherd in Community Bible Study, Kathy Dupree, often tells me, “Just do the next right thing.” She’s right.

Micah 6:9 says, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God?”

From these scriptural truths, for those of us who need a plan, here it is: A 6 step plan for every one of us – no matter our dilemma:
1. Keep our eyes on Jesus
2. Come to Him in the morning
3. Ask Him for wisdom
4. Trust Him
5. Humbly walk throughout the day with Him
6. Obey Him

He is such a Good God! We can be assured that He will never leave us without an answer, and that His timing is perfect. In the mean time, let’s keep our eyes on Him, come to Him every morning to be filled, seek His wisdom, trust Him, humbly walk with Him and obey Him. That’s what He wants us to do next, and everything else will fall into place.

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