Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the Day: Matthew 18:2-4 2  Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.   3  Then he said,  “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.   4  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Today I was at the park with my son and a little girl whom I watch a few days during the week. I was at the point where I was ready to leave, when what should they see but a butterfly. Have you seen the face of pure joy? I did today. It was those two children trying to catch a butterfly. Their smiles were innocent and their running was free. It was one of those moments that made me wonder how some people question the existence of God. And then later this afternoon I got some more not-so-good health news which put me in a bit of a slump. Thankfully it didn't last very long! Because as I sat pondering...

Scripture of the Day: Ezekiel 37:5-6 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. If you know me well, you know that I have been plagued with health issues for most of my life. This summer has been no exception. My latest saying of choice is that if my head were right on top of my legs, I would have no problems! I may look a little strange, but I bet you I would feel awesome (that is if my heart and lungs could somehow be included so I could still breathe)! All humor aside - life is hard. Illnesses, especially those that go undiagnosed, can take their toll because as people in the age of technology - we want answers for everything. And we want those answers 10 minutes before we even thought of asking the question! But God doesn't work that ...

Scripture of the day: Genesis 41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "Today I am reminded of my shortcomings." Do you ever notice how God not-so-quietly reminds you of something? I was just last week spending more time in Genesis and although my shortcomings could create a pretty long list, I was having a hard time really figuring out what God wanted me to be working on. Then yesterday happened! It was one of those little things, ( I sent a text message to one person and not another), but feelings were hurt. Or at least could have been and although I apologized, I was too chicken to actually ask, "Did I hurt you?"! I had great intentions of sending the text to all pertinent parties, but I made the mistake of setting the phone down after I sent the first one (yes...I live in a world without a smart phone and sending to more than one person at a time is confusing for me on my new phone). Then I just got busy and forgot. That seems to be the shortcoming...

Scripture of the Day: 1 Timothy 4:4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is to be received with thanksgiving. Do you ever have problems feeling grateful for the things you have, or feeling appropriate gratitude to God for how your life is at this current time? Goodness knows, I do! Most days I look around me and the chaos that is usually my house and I want to throw up my hands in the air. My house is too small. My pile of dishes is too high. My floor barely has a path I can walk on, for all the toys in the way. But. If I lived in a bigger house I would not be a stay at home mom. If I had a dishwasher I wouldn't take any reflection time out of my day. If my floor was clean, my son would not be able to stretch his imagination. Just yesterday, for example, we went "camping" in our living room, which meant he took EVERYTHING out of his room, piece by piece, over a thirty minute time span to load his "truck" with "camp...

This is a partial re-post, if some of this sounds familiar! Scripture of the Day: Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” I needed a reminder of this concept of praying with grace tonight! I have a big prayer request for a high school friend of mine who has a very sick little girl. Earlier I found myself praying a conditional prayer: "Please God do this, but if not...do this." And I stopped myself and decided to get rid of the "but" and the "if not" and just go for the big prayer. "God, please perform a miracle. Please heal this little girl." I am not sure that I have ever actually asked God for a miracle before...but I am sure asking now! Tonight, I prayed with grace. Here is what I consider that to be! If you look back at the Scripture verse, grace, this getting of something amazing that we did not deserve, came...

Scripture of the Day: Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. Here is a question for you this morning! "What if God designed [relationships] to make us holy more than to make us happy?" This question was posed by Jill Savage and I admit it has been haunting me since I read it! Her point was marriage, but I think you can view any relationship from that lens. God doesn't promise that our lives will be easy. He doesn't promise that everyone will treat us fairly and that happiness is a daily occurrence. Look at how the world treated Jesus and you can find that! But regardless of how Jesus was treated, he always valued others above himself. Instead of being self serving, he was always "other-serving" if  you will. God intends for us to model our relationships after the lives of Jesus Christ. And to ...