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Some may think me crazy, but I’m extremely excited about this:

I’m having gallbladder surgery this morning.  Yay!!! 

It truly is an answer to prayer!  Since July I have not felt well, and some of that time I’ve been really sick and in a great deal of pain.  Many of you have prayed for me, and for that I am so grateful.  After every “possibility” for the pain was tested and reported as normal, I was beginning to get discouraged.  Of course, I’m so very thankful for “normal” – but when something isn’t right and the tests say all is well… frankly, it’s exhausting.  We finally received an answer/diagnosis on Monday and plans for surgery were made on Tuesday.   And by this afternoon, I intend to be a new woman with a new lease on life! 🙂

God has worked every detail out to His perfection, and I thank, thank, thank Him.  My family has been so helpful and understanding during this process of pain and searching for answers.  And our church family and friends have been wonderful as they have supported us through prayers, meals, and stepping in to help anytime we’ve needed.  I’m so grateful to you all!

Thank you for your prayers.  I thank my God upon every remembrance of you~

I found something I just can’t keep to myself!

Updated to make it “Pin-able”. 

Some of you dear readers have let me know that the actual site of this wonderful list is un-pinnable.  That’s because it doesn’t have a photograph to attach to a pin.  Sometimes that happens.  So, I created this little photo that you can pin, linking to this blog post site, which will have the link to the list.  I’ll even put the list link right under the picture, so that you won’t have to scroll all the way down to find it.  How’s that?

This is the link to my “Pin” of this post. 

Thanks always for your feedback and comments. You are loved and appreciated here.  😉

     900+ Names of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit      

Y’all… This is a TRUE treasure ~ or at least it will be to some of you.  I wish you could see how excited I really am!

(However, if you could see me right now, you’d probably call me a nerd for sure!)  If you’ve been around this blog or my  life for very long,  you’ll know how much I love the names of God, Jesus, and the Holy spirit.  I’ve been studying and collecting these names for almost 20 years now.  Yesterday I was doing some research on something and when I googled “name of God Light” this popped up:

900+ Names of God

Whoa!  This is incredible!!!  A list of 930 Names of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, with many of the names’ verses referenced and linked!  To this point, I’ve collected around 730 names, and 200 more have just been dropped in my lap!  I can’t wait to get started on this list – and I just  didn’t want to keep the joy all to myself.

Because:

“And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].”  Psalm 9:10, AMP

If you’re wondering what to do with such a list, here are a few suggestions.

1.  Pin it for future reference.

2.  Print it and use it in your quiet time.

I take my Names of God, Jesus, and the Holy spirit list and go straight down it in the order it is presented.  One name a day.  I look up the reference to that name (on this list, some names aren’t referenced), read around that name, and ask God to show me WHO He is to  me for that day.  It’s like unrwapping a gift every morning from Him.  I LOVE doing that!  No matter where I am on the list, Jesus blesses me with Himself through either that name, or through the verses around that name.  It’s Christmas every morning! 😉

3.  Print it and keep it as a reference for when you need to run into the Shelter of the Almighty.

Proverbs 18:10 says “The Name of The Lord is a Strong Tower.  The righteous run into it and are saved.” 

The Message puts it this way:
“God’s name is a place of protection—   good people can run there and be safe.”

Need a dry and parched place in your life watered?  Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us that’s just what God will do.

Need someone to fight for you?  1 John 2:1 tells us that’s exactly who Jesus is to you.

Lonely and need a friend?  You’ve got one in Jesus, according to Matthew 11:19.

How did I know that?  Because I have a list of names of Who God is.   And now you do too.

Whatever it is that you need, there is a name of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to cover that need.  I promise.  God promises.  If we know His names (and names tell us of His character), we will easily be able to run into God’s Name and Character and be safe and saved. 

4.  Use these names in your Christmas decor, gift-giving, and family activities.  These are some ideas from Keeping Christ AS Christmas.

  •  Name of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit Advent Activity.  Choose 25 of your favorite names of God and write each name on a separate piece, strip, etc. of paper.  Add them to your advent calendar activities.  Each day, gather with your family (or Just with you and Jesus), pull out the day’s name, read the verse(s) around that name, and worship God for Who He is and Who He will show Himself to be to you and your family for that particular day.  (More about Advent thoughts and ideas will be in Friday’s “Keeping Christ AS Christmas 2012 Post”.)

 

 

  • Add them to your Christmas tree.  Using a paint pen or permanent marker, write your favorite names of Jesus (and references) on Christmas balls, ribbon, crosses, angels, beautiful pieces of paper inside tiny ornament frames… whatever you have that will hang on a tree.

 

  • Copy or print your favorite Names of Jesus (with references) on colorful cardstock, making sure you leave adequate space between them.  Cut them apart and use as Christmas gift tags.

 

  • Names of Jesus Garland – Like the above Christmas tree idea, put the Names of Jesus (and references) on something and use it to decorate indoor or outdoor garland.

 

  • Name of Jesus Wreath – Use the same principle as the above tree or garland.

 

  • Name of Jesus Chain – Write a Name of Jesus on small strips of paper.  Hook them together to make a Christmas Count-Down Chain.  Each day, pull off one Name of Jesus and praise Him for being that personal Name to you.

 

  • Use the Names of Jesus in Christmas craft activities.

 

  • Make or purchase ornaments depicting the specific Names of Jesus and label each ornament with that name and reference.

 

  • Use the Names of Jesus in gift giving.  Create Christmas decorations for your loved ones that include the Names of Jesus.

 

  • Create a “Name a Day” gift for a loved one.  Print each name of Jesus and the verse that accompanies it on colorful cardstock.  Then place the names in a pretty container.  Share the instructions to draw out a name a day so that a different characteristic of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit can be praised and enjoyed each day.  The names can be recycled back into the container or kept in a special place until every name has been drawn.

We have been given a treasure in the Names of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  Whatever you decide to do with what you’ve been given, please don’t let it go to waste.  Jesus IS God’s gift to us (John 4:10), and what we decide to do with Him is our gift to God. 🙂

E-book by Jennifer: Keeping Christ AS Christmas: Preparing hearts, households, and homes for PEACE this Christmas season.  Click here for more details, and “like”the Keeping Christ AS Christmas facebook pageto share YOUR ideas on keeping Jesus as the Center of the Christmas season.

 

As we continue to pray for this nation and the important upcoming elections…

We can rest assured in this one truth: No matter what, Jesus Christ is the ONE who ultimately reigns!

For to us a Child is born,
to us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father [of Eternity],
Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 (Amp)

So, as we pray toward the upcoming election day, here are some things to lay before the feet of Jesus:

Pray that God’s Spirit will miraculously over-shadow voting booths across America.
Pray that voters will hear and follow God’s guidance, not political parties or human reasoning.
(Proverbs 20:27; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:11; Ephesians 5:15-17)

Plead for God’s merciful grace on a nation
and many churches that are under His righteous judgment
(2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 85:4-7; Daniel 9:18-19; Hebrews 4:16; James 4:8-10; 1 Peter 4:17)

(and From Max Lucado’s 40 Days of Prayer)

Dear Heavenly Father,

You have given us this promise: “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

So, we pray to you. We turn from evil and look to you, our God. Please:

Unite us

Strengthen us

Appoint and anoint our next president {and may I add… all other elected officials}

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

* One more thing ~ I’ll be giving away 2 Keeping Christ AS Christmas books tomorrow.  Be sure and check out the post below for details. 🙂

Gospel Pumpkins, No {corn} in the Pasta Fajoli, and a few other thoughts…

A blessed October 31st to you!

Whether you and your family participate in Halloween activities or not, all who belong to Jesus have a chance to SHINE brightly on this day.  If you’ve never known the origin of this holiday, this is an informative and concise explanation.  Underneath the evil spirits, ghosts, witches, and goblins, there really are some God-honoring roots in this “All Hallows Eve” day.  If God has not called your family to ignore this day (as He has some Christian families, us in the past, as well) then make a conscious choice to let Jesus shine brightly through you on a night that will be filled with much darkness.

One way to SHINE tonight is through what you hand to trick-or-treaters.  This is one night in the year that the neighborhood children (and their parents)  will walk right up to your door with their hands out.  What an opportune time to place into those hands something that will lead them to a truth about Jesus, His love, and His redemption!  See this post for ideas.  This year, we are giving “Dum-Dum” suckerrs with a note attached saying, Jesus loves you so much.  You are no “Dum-Dum” to Him!  John 3:16

You could also talk about the Gospel Pumpkin with your family, and even print out a small version of this story to hand out to the neighborhood children.  It’s a condensed version of Liz Curtis Higgs’ wonderful book, The Pumpkin Patch Parable.  When our children were younger, we used this book and object lesson as we carved pumpkins with them.  It’s a simple and unforgettable illustration of exactly what God does with any life given to Him, and its now what I think of every time I see a carved and lighted pumpkin.

Today I want to tell you a story. It’s a special story called a ‘parable’. A parable is an earthly story that has a heavenly meaning. In the Bible there are many parables that Jesus told so we could understand His teachings better.

This is a story about a farmer and a pumpkin.

Pumpkins are really special. They start out as small oval seeds that grow into big, orange pumpkins. The farmer plants the seeds, waters, and cares for the pumpkin vines and patiently waits as they grow.

Finally by October there are big, orange pumpkins in his pumpkin patch! Some are tall and lean, some are short and round, and some have bumps and lumps. But they are all pumpkins and all were planted and cared for by the Farmer.

One day the Farmer chose a pumpkin for a special project. He brought it in from the field and washed it off. You have to be careful with pumpkins; they’re tough on the outside, but if you drop them, they break into pieces!

The Farmer took a large knife and cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin. Inside there was yucky, slimy pulp waiting for Him. That had to go! He cleaned it all out and threw it away – never to be seen again.

After that He gave the pumpkin a new face! He cut two triangles for eyes, a square for a nose, and a big, wide smile!

Then He did something really special. He puts a small white candle down inside the pumpkin and lit the wick.

Now that pumpkin glows! As people pass by, they see the smiling pumpkin and smile back. They know that once again the Farmer has taken a simple pumpkin and changed it into a glorious sight!

The Meaning of the Parable:

Just like us, all the pumpkins were different. But there was something the same about every one of them – that yucky, slimy pulp on the inside!

The yucky, slimy pulp is like the sin that’s in us. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That’s every single one of us.

God has made a way that all our sin can be forgiven and washed away. God even says He’ll cast them as far as the East is from the West. Romans 5:8 says: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:16 goes on to say: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

After cleaning out that pumpkin, the Farmer gave the pumpkin a new face! The Bible says God can make us a new creation too.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Then came the really special part. The light was placed inside that pumpkin and it glowed for all to see!

2 Corinthians 4:6 says: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

And Matthew 5:16 says: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

So we can become like that pumpkin – a glorious sight for others to see the love of Jesus!

Another good Christian object lesson with a pumpkin can be found here.

Whatever it is that you decide to do today – Let your light {Jesus’ Light within you} SHINE.     🙂

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On another note… There is NO corn in it! And I apologize profusely!!!

If you tried this recipe last week (as I know that at least two of you did), I owe you a huge apology!  I was having a mental mix up and was thinking about a different recipe when I suggested that if you don’t have the beans, you could substitute corn.  Please don’t.  I saw my mistake while on my iPad and immediately corrected it before the recipe was posted, but as I’ve noticed about other attempted-corrections, those made from the iPad don’t always stick.  My friend Peggy, who is the owner of this easy and delicious bread dough recipe  (which would be awesome with this soup, BTW) told me that she made the soup and substituted the corn and it was “ok”.  I don’t want you to eat “ok” soup!  So, please change your recipe and don’t substitute corn for the beans!

This is the “real” recipe~

20121010-141818.jpg


Pasta Fagoli Crockpot Soup
(Adapted from Olive Garden’s Copy-Cat recipe here)

  • 1 lb ground beef, cooked & drained
    1/2 or 1 med onion, chopped & cooked with the ground beef
    2-3 carrots, sliced
    2 cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
    1 can of res kidney beans, drained
    1 can of white kidney beans, drained
    1 box of beef broth or stock
    3 tsp oregano
    3 tsp pepper
    5 tsp parsley
    1 jar of spaghetti sauce
  • I box of pasta. (We used penne.)

Place all ingredients except pasta into the crockpot and mix well. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or low for 7-8 hours. Add the UNCOOKED past the last 45 minutes. (That’s my favorite step… Don’t even need to boil the pasta & dirty up another pan!) I used a whole box this last time & it was on the verge of being too much. But since we like pasta, it was fine. Next time, I plan to cut back a bit.

That’s it! How easy! And even easier if you keep 1lb packages of cooked ground beef in your freezer. I always try to cook up a few extra pounds to freeze. If you don’t have the onions cooked with the meat, they will be just fine added straight into the crockpot. Y.U.M!

Serve with a salad & garlic bread & you’ll have a new family hit. 🙂

Whew!  I now feel much better about that!

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This past weekend, I had the privilege of serving the Lord and the ladies of Louisville, KY’s  Hurstbourne Baptist Church at a beautiful Christian retreat center in Indiana.  The fellowship was so sweet!  My friend, Melanie (of the blog Stepping Closer) drove with me and we had so much laughter and conversation that I returned with only half of a voice.  The autumn leaves were incredible, and The Lord worked beautifully, and I was so blessed to be a part of His plan for the weekend.

Heather Payne (from the original Point of Grace) led us in worship – she has an AMAZING voice… I could listen to her all day long… and we couldn’t leave the weekend without a few pics. Wish I had some with and of the HBC ladies!  If any of you are out there reading this, and have a few pics of the weekend, please send them to me. 😉  I’m praying for all of you girls!

And we couldn’t leave Louisville without going to Lynn’s Paradise Cafe!  It is the funnest, most eclectic place!

Melanie is a wonderful friend, a great “driver” and an even better sport!  She indulged my every desire to shop, take silly pictures, and patiently turned around often because of all of my navigational mistakes (of which there were plenty, I’m ashamed to say!!!)

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This week, our church has been hosting “Judgment House” – and it’s been phenomenal!  Seems like the whole body of Christ has been involved in some way, and we’ve seen many either come to know the Lord, rededicate themselves to Him, or be encouraged through renewed hope in Jesus Christ.  And those are just the ones who immediately responded.  Only God knows the number of lives affected through this offering.  We aren’t in it for the numbers.  We’re interested in the life-change!  A lot of seed-planting, plant-watering, soil-tending, and fruit-picking has been happening – all to the glory of God!

Our theme this year has been about the unpredictability of life and the fact that at a moment’s notice, it could all be over.  It’s a serious reminder that those who have given their lives to Jesus will blessedly meet Him face to face, while those who don’t will end up in eternal torment.  Nathan is playing the part of a demon and even though this is just a slight recreation of what we imagine  Hell will be like, it is deeply disturbing to think of anyone going there.  The tragedy in this drama is a deadly tornado, and Abigail’s character was one hurt in the storm.

The storm in this drama is kind of ironic, considering what is going on presently in the Northeast.  We are praying constantly for that area of our nation and for the millions of lives affected by the storm.  None of us knows what tomorrow brings.  May we all make sure that our hope and security rests in Jesus.  He is the only One who can bring Peace in the midst of life’s storm.  If you want to know more about Jesus, see this post.

Many blessings of the Lord upon each of you today and always, my friends.  May we shine with the Light of Jesus on this All Hallows Eve.

Monday’s “Makes Me Smile” – Tuesday edition


Yep… This is my story of this Monday and Tuesday! 😉  That’s why this post (which was supposed to go up yesterday didn’t even get written until this morning. haha)

These are some IRL {in real life} things that bring a grateful smile to my face this week.

First of all, my sweet husband and I will have been married 20 years on Wednesday.  20 years.  I both can and can’t believe it.  To you 40 and 50 and 60th year anniversary dear ones out there, I know that 20 doesn’t sound so long… and sometimes, it doesn’t sound so long to me either.  But then I think about life and all that has happened in these 20 years, and I’m so grateful to have spent them with the man God saved and purposed for me.    I made him take this silly picture with me.  We are a lot like Lucy and Ricky… I’m always getting us into silly messes that make him shake his head and say, “Ay yi yi yi yi!” 😉

Some friends rented a condo in Orange Beach, AL for the month and they had other obligations that required them to leave it for a few days, so they loaned it to us for a little anniversary get away.  It was beyond wonderful to get away and do nothing except to relax and enjoy the ocean.  I’m still living on the peace we had while we were there!  It makes me smile!!!!

This picture of my husband having his quiet time makes me smile  I’m so grateful for a man of God who seeks God’s Word and wisdom and conviction and fellowship every morning.


And now, I’m hoping THIS will make YOU smile ~ I recorded one minute of the beach, and posted it to Youtube, so that I could share it with you and so that any time I needed a 60 second vacation, I could just watch this and take one. 🙂

(If you’re reading this from e-mail and don’t see the picture, click here.)

We arrived home on Thursday night and went straight to a surprise birthday party that Abigail had arranged for Nathan at their favorite Mexican food hang-out.

We got there just in time to deliver the cake.  While we were gone, Ab designed the cake and she and my mom ordered it.  It turned out so cute!

(I know… I know… I took the picture with the 6 backwards!  Another Lucy moment – which also makes me smile.)

Friday was a big day – CHS Homecoming!

                Walker 66… that’s my little boy. 😉

Not only that, but my brother Chris and his family came in for the weekend.  There was so much going on during the weekend, and having two teens who aren’t yet driving their own cars made for some crazy hosting.  Sometimes, my brother’s family was left at our house by themselves while we carted people here and there.  On Saturday night, my 10 year old nephew Zach said, “Aunt Jen, you sure do come and go a lot around here.”  That makes me smile. 🙂

Saturday was actually Nathan’s 16th birthday.  Our “little Nate” has turned into “Big Nate”!  That’s what he is now called by many. 🙂

Before he celebrated with his dad and some friends, we had a B-day lunch together and got one good family picture –

which absolutely makes me smile!

I don’t take these blessings for granted.  As long as the Lord allows us to tarry on this earth, I want to treasure every moment with those I love.  These gifts from God always make me smile! 🙂

And one last gift for you  – hopefully to make you smile too… Another minute at the beach at sunset. 🙂

Click here if reading by e-mail.

A blessed Tuesday to you, my friends!

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