Right Side of the Bed

Wow, yesterday was not how I had planned it to go!  Do you try to plan your day in advance?  The girls and I have a sort of routine, and I am very much a planning, scheduling, everything needs to go this way kind of girl!  I woke up on the completely "right" side of the bed.  First of all, I didn't not have any kids in my bed when I opened my eyes!  Shock and Hallelujah!  That is cause for celebration right there.  I was able to get a quick workout in and even an early Bible reading before my oldest was up.  Oh Yeah!  This was going to be a great day.

We had plans to do some baking for church and then some much needed errands.  After finishing breakfast and beginning our baking, I suddenly remembered we were having a visitor over at 10:00.  It had completely skipped my brain.  Ok, first rearrangement.  Things continuously did not go as planned through out the day.  Church services, I am sad to say, were no better.  I was being pulled in a million directions as soon as I walked through the door; my youngest daughter got hurt in the nursery, and I was not able to stay in my class or any class for that matter.  I was in tears by the time I was on the way home after having a "unique discussion" with a fellow church member.  All I could think was how my day had went from fabulous to the absolute pits and super fast!

How could things go that way, especially when I woke up with such optimism?  How was I going to face the next day after ending my day feeling so beat down?  The devil had really tried to cause me to break, and I was almost giving in.

I woke up wondering how today would be, and praying for the strength to get out of my bed.  And, of course, the devil was after me again.  I was beating my own self to a pulp by the time I was pulling out of the preschool parking lot.  I prayed for resistance to the devil's darts of doubt.  He was making me feel so worthless, but I cannot give into the temptation to crawl in a hole and not be the light God called me to be.

Today's Verse - a fave
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  Matt 5:16

Let your light shine so others can see His love through you.  I felt like I couldn't muster a smile on my face after the beating I received yesterday, but with His help, I did.  I even kept that smile while being told at Target that I couldn't use a coupon (not having a coupon honored - one of my worst pet-peeves).  I wanted to snap at that manager, but that is not how God wanted me to respond.  That would not be showing His light.  And we have those sort of encounters everyday.  But, remember someone is always watching, and if we handle it God's way it might just touch someone with just our actions.

That is my prayer every morning, show His light to all those you come in contact with, no matter if I got out of the bed on the wrong side or the right.

Sorry - Not Ready

Do you ever feel like the wheel of Cheese in the Cheese-it commercials?  Do you know the one where the cheese is not "mature" yet, and the man in the lab coat keeps checking "not ready"?  Then finally one day the cheese matures.  I have put the YouTube link below for your viewing pleasure.  You might even laugh a little.  It makes me chuckle!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/CHEEZIT?v=ewexwSnNijw&feature=pyv&ad=12536192852&kw=cheez%20it

Lately I have envisioned myself to be this block of cheese and the lab coat man is God in heaven.  He is just waiting for me to mature just a little more.  When I hit that all important maturity level, He will say, "Ah, finally, she is ready for my will to be revealed."

I know the Lord is guiding me.  And, I know He has a purpose for this time of uncertainty about the next move in our life.  Yet, it can be sooooo hard to be patient.  With our calling in our church ministry, our house for sale, my husband's job issues, starting a side business, and my studying to possibly write, there are days when I just want to say "Where are you Lord?  Can you please tell me your plan?  Please!!"

In Psalms 77 the psalmist is crying out to the Lord (vs 1), seeking the Lord (vs 2), and even complaining to God (vs 3).  In verse 9, he even asks "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?  Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?"  But just a few more verses down in 11 and 12 the psalmist decides to "remember the works of the Lord" and "meditate also of all thy work".  He remembers in verse 14 that God is "the God that doest wonders".

It's ok to cry out to God.  But, just remember He is always there.  He is always listening, even when we can't feel it. He has performed so many blessings and miracles in your life, some that you are not even aware of.  The greatest of all is simply that if you have asked Him to, He has saved you.  He will reveal His will.  You might be in the dessert, but He will call you out of it.  He is the God of wonders, and He will use you.  He really just might be waiting for you to mature a little.  He is using this time of wonder to prepare us!

Today's Verse
"But it is good for me to draw near to God:  I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works."  Ps 73:28

Draw near to Him.  Wait for Him.  You will have to trust Him.  When you do, you can declare His works.  He will prepare your heart and make you ready!

3 Minute Miracle

There is a hair product called "3 minute miracle" that I keep in my shower.  It is by Aussie.  It is a conditioner that you use every once in a while.  I have long hair, so it is necessary!  On the back it says to wash and rinse then apply and relax for 3 minutes and think about your day.  I am only able to use the stuff and actually take a relaxing shower on Saturdays.  That is the morning my hubby is at home.  He watches the girls and cooks us a fabulous breakfast (thanks honey).  And I get an uninterrupted shower.  No little ones coming in with questions or whining about this and that.  No rushing for school or church.  I get a much needed relaxing hot shower.

Those moments of peace are worth a lot!  We must have time to think, time to relax, and time to recoup from the pressures of being a wife and mom.  I have a hard time feeling guilty when I am away from my girls, but I have to remember that I am a better mom when I have had some time by myself with the Lord.  Yes I enjoy devotion time with the girls and prayer time with my husband, but in order for my life to feel in order, I need one on one time with my Heavenly Father.

My oldest is in the process of giving up her nap.  No nap - Oh No!!!!  I still have to have that "nap time" on those days when she can't sleep (like today).  That is my most precious time with the Lord.  Yes, I know there are clothes to wash and emails to be sent and phone calls to make and things to clean and church stuff to do, but nap time has to be my quiet time for me to make it as a mom.  The other things have to come after my time reading, thinking, writing and chatting with God!  I have made a deal that she still has to have her quiet time so mommy can have my quiet time.  It is going to take some adjustments, but I know the Lord will honor our time together.  As I said yesterday, when I give Him my time, He will give me more time!  Oh how true that has been!

Verse for Today
Ps 73:26 "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

This fleshy body is tired and falling apart, and this is even more evident since reaching my 30s (YIKES).  But, when I give Him my time it makes God the strength of my heart I am truly able to function better as a wife and mother!

I took a break last night and skipped gym class.  My wonderful hubby took the girls by himself; yes he is brave!  I felt horrible for like a minute, that is a fun time for us as a family.  But, it was pure bliss painting my nails, writing in my journal, catching up on pictures and working on a Bible study I am doing.  When those 3 minute miracles are possible to take, take them and don't feel guilty.  Your kids will thank you for them when you are more fun to hang out with.

Direct my paths

Wow - today is a true Monday!!!!  Why can't I still be at the beach?  I have managed to lock my girls and me out of our house (thank the Lord it is for sale and I was able to get the spare key), had major issues with boo-boos, and confusion on some of the church's financial statements.  All of this has occurred after a weekend were I had to stay up this for 40 hours with only 3 hours of sleep mixed in (Yay for all night youth lock-ins) and the emotional drain of yesterday being the tenth anniversary of 9/11.  I just want to crawl under a rock!  There is nothing about me that knows where I am headed or if I am coming or going.

Thankfully I have continually asked the Lord to direct my paths today, and I have the confidence that He is doing so.  I am not sure why He thought it would be beneficial for me to lock us out today of all days (which by the way I have never done this before - EVER), but I have told myself it is for a reason. I should at least be able to laugh at it sometime in the future!  I have a to do list that is 5 times too long, so stopping for constant boo-boos can be a little straining on the patience, but I know I will miss giving those kisses before I can blink.

I have to prepare my heart today and everyday when I know the devil is throwing everything he can at me to make me lose my temper and just plain mess up big time!  In 2 Chronicles chapter 12 we read about one of Solomon's sons, Rehoboam.  In verse 14 is sasy, "And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord."  I don't want that to be me.  I don't want my girls to say, "Mommy is mean", because I didn't take the time to consult God about our day.

Have I prepared my heart today?  Have I sought the Lord today?  I wouldn't be typing if I hadn't.  I'm not saying everyday I get up and prepare myself like I should, but I have to lean on Him continuously to make it through (especially when there is sleepless night involved).

Today's Verse
Proverbs 4:26 "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established."

When we get up, we must set our sights on The One to follow.  I had a little feeling of panic recently when I felt there was no way I was going to get everything done before the youth lock-in this weekend.  I felt a tug on my heart that said, "give me your time and I will give you more of it."  He can allow us to get everything done, but we must not cut Him out of our day.  He will establish our ways!  Ponder what we can do for Him and ask Him to direct our paths.  He promises He will (Prov 3:6).  

Picture Perfect

As I sat out on the beach last week, oh how I wish I was back there now, I looked out at the horizon.  Where the ocean meets the sky forms the only perfect line in nature.  It is amazing to feel the power of God through the beauty of His creation.  To me, looking out at the wide sea seems to be perfect.  It offers peace and calm, even with the waves crashing on the shoreline, there is peace to be had at the serenity of the view.

I was reminded of this beautiful picture of perfectness today when I picked my oldest daughter up from preschool.  Now in her defense, she did not get a Grench  on her discipline chart, but she did disobey today.  I was devastated as the teacher told me of my child's misbehavior.  Not my child!  How could she do that?  What was she thinking?  As I asked her this, she responded with the inevitable, "I don't know mommy."  I wanted to scream and cry and question.  I wanted to know if I was doing something wrong as a mother.  But all I could think of was the fact she is a sinner, just like me and just like you, she sins everyday.  As much as I would love for her to be the star student that I know she is capable of being everyday, she is going to have a bad day.  I know I certainly have my bad days.  I know there are days I don't want to obey!

I have this image of being a picture perfect family, but we are not, nor will we ever be.  I want my girls to obey, but they are not going to all the time.  I want to not lose my temper with them when they do disobey, but I will also fail at this.  The phrase "there is none that doeth good, no, not one" is found three times in the Bible.  And Paul tells us in Romans 3:10 that "there is none righteous, no, not one:"  We are not going to be picture perfect, but thankfully we don't have to be.

The only perfect person to ever walk the earth was our Lord.  There was none before Him and will be none after Him, including our little angels.  As perfect as His creation is, man fell to the temptations of sin and will deal with the consequences until the return of Christ.  The good news is, He took all our sins on the cross with Him, and as perfect as He was, He bore our imperfectness.

Today's Verse
Psalms 9:10 "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:  for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."

We must seek Him everyday.  Seek His forgiveness and be forever grateful for it.  We must teach our little ones to seek Him everyday as well.  Tell them daily of His love and free forgiveness.  Tell them of the way we can trust in Him always.

Thank you Lord, that we do not have to try so hard to be the picture perfect family, and thank you for not forsaking us.  Please allow our family to be at least a small glimpse to someone of how Your light can shine through imperfect people!

It's nice to be known

My verse my mother "gave" to me when I was young is found in Psalms 91.  I was reading this chapter while on vacation and wrote the promises given in this chapter down.  "My" verse is 11 and says "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."  I love this verse and have so many memories of finding that verse in my pocket during difficult times.  Thanks Mom!

I found a verse that spoke to me in a tremendous way that night I was reading this chapter.  Verse 14 says "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:  I will set him on high, because he hath known my name."  He loves me, but not only that He knows me.  He even knows my name.  It's such a comfort to know I am known by my Lord.

I am dealing with a situation where someone is acting like they don't know who I am.  Yes, I know I am not the most memorable person you will ever meet.  And, yes there are people with bad memories  and who forget people easily.  But I specifically know this person knows me.  Yet, when face to face, she is not acknowledging that she knows me.  I am starting a situation where we will be in contact on a weekly basis, and I just simply do not know how to handle it.

As you might can imagine, this bothers me.  Now I do not want to have a bad attitude towards her.  I do not want to appear to be judging her.  I try to keep a smile plastered on my face as we have our little chats, even with the sense of tension in the air.   So I have to ask myself, how can the Lord use this to teach me something?  I need a reason for this!  Then today the thought hit me.  There is only One Name under the stars that matters and that person knows me!  Little old me!  He knows me!

I recently watched a cute movie "You Again" .  It was about a girl that had a horrible high school experience, but had went on and had lots of successes in her career.  She then finds out her brother is going to marry her arch nemesis from high school.  This girl had made her life miserable!  When they meet again, the girl acts as if she never knew her.  She only wants to be acknowledged and have a sincere apology from her former enemy, but she gets nothing. In true romantic comedy fashion, they all live happily ever after and everything is wonderful in the end.

I feel like this character trying to get this person to just realize that what she is doing is hurtful.  But, in the end of my life, it is not going to matter if she knows my name or not.  My name only needs to be in the Book of Life and spoken by my Lord!

Today's Verse
Joshua 23:8 "But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day."

I do not know how the Lord will use my current situation, but I know He has a reason for everything.  The one thing I do know is I cleave to Him because He knows me.  I cleave to Him because He is the Lord MY God!  I cleave to Him because He is all that matters.  He is mine and He can be yours.  He is the only one who needs to know your name!  He can make it nice to be known!


Other promises from Psalms 91
Verse 1 promises we will be protected by His shadows.
Verse 2 promises that He is our refuge, fortress and the One we can trust in.
Verse 3 promises He is our deliverer.
Verse 4 promises that His truth will be our shield.
Verses 5 and 6 promises us we don't have to fear.
Verse 7 promises protection.
Verse 10 promises that no evil will come upon us.
Verses 11 and 12 promises that His angels will have us covered.
Verse 14 promises He has loved us and knows us by name.
Verses 15 and 16 should be our promise to Him to honor and live for Him!

Home Again Home Again Jiggedy Jig

After some much needed R and R, the Allison family is home again.  We never want to leave the beach when it is time to go.  This was a vacation we thought would never happen.  There were problems with school conflicts, Gerrad's work, and of course a hurricane.  We didn't know if we would ever make it to Carolina Beach.  But, as always, the Lord knew what was best.  It was the perfect weather week with no storms and not even a cloud in the sky.  We got to see a beautiful fireworks display.  And, we were even able to have family come for a day and take us out on their boat - lots of fun!  Yes, I missed my bed and writing, but I still did not really want to have to get back in the swing of things here at home.

But alas, we are here and it feels good to be typing.  We had no internet or computers!  Culture shock at its finest.  One thing I did miss even more than typing was spending time reading my Bible.  I am not saying I did not spend time reading everyday and I definitely prayed, but in all honesty I did not read like I should have.  When I sat down today in the peace and quiet with my little ones sleeping (which didn't happen as much on vacation with the nap policy so lenient), I felt such a peace as I opened God's Word.  And as I have trudged through a study of the first five books of the Bible, I feel I have learned so much (even though it has sometimes made me yawn with all the laws- just being honest).  Learning more leads to wanting to learn even more.  Every verse can hold a new meaning and can be applied to our lives.  We must thirst for that knowledge.

I wrote down many topics to write on throughout the week and a half we were away.  Things that the Lord laid upon my heart, things the girls did and said, and the sheer beauty of the ocean in all its grand splendor, but it is just the peace of being home that I am happy to think about today.  The peace of spending much needed time with my Bible in hand.

As I think about what reading the Bible does for my life and my joy level, I also think about the guidance that comes with it.  I let the girls watch a Hermie movie on the way to preschool this morning.  Hermie is Max Lucado's caterpillar cartoon character that my girls love!!!!  In the movies, Hermie and his bug friends are able to talk with God audibly.  There are times when I listen to what is going on and think, "Lord, why can't you just shout down at me what to do or a comforting word to get me through this trial."  But, I immediately know the answer to my own thought.  I do have those things, and it's found in my Bible.  I just have to be willing to pick it up and listen!

Today's Verse
Isaiah 30:21 "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying , This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

God speaks to us through His word.  We must find that quiet time to seek His guidance and strength.  He will reveal His will to us, we just must seek the way.  Isaiah is full of promises for those seeking strength, answers, and guidance.  Take some time today to seek God's guidance.  It will give you the warm fuzzy feeling like being home again!

Isaiah Promises
Is 41:13 "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not: I will help thee."

Is 42:16 "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known:  I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.  These things will I do unto them,
and not forsake them."

Is 43:2  "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not   overflow thee:  when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."