Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the Day:     “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome  the world.”  John 16:33 Spicing things up today with a song lyric that reminds me of that verse! MercyMe has a song called "Greater" that I absolutely love. Lyrics are:  "There are days when I lose the battle...grace says that it doesn't matter because the Cross already won the war." I have bad days. Days when I yell at my son more than I should and my patience has run out before I get out of bed. Days when the future seems dim and it is hard to focus on putting one foot in front of another. Days when I am so focused on seeing the plank in other's eyes that I can't see the one in my own. Those are days when I lose the battle. What I find most refreshing about the verse and the song is that they remind me that it is OKAY to lose the battle. Christ already won the war by saving our souls....

Luke 2:19  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.   I am one week into a three year (that's right...year!) bible study. The great thing about that is we read really tiny snippets. In today's reading I noticed that not once, but twice in Luke Chapter 2 he comments that Mary treasured up in her heart. I have somehow only noticed one time in previous readings, but the repetition seems significant. Today the verses, and the context, seemed particularly fitting. As the children I babysit were napping this afternoon, I was sitting on the couch with my son on my lap. And, my, how I treasured that moment! Pretty soon, I fear there will be less of that - due to increase in age, and the amount of laps available with the increase of family around!  Now as I write, I am thinking about how I am also treasuring up my years in Bloomington/Normal. These years will live in my heart always. They have brought me to Jesus. They have brought me to my hu...

So...if ever I was reminded of God's sense of timing, it was just a minute ago! One of my last blog posts was on John 1:12-13 and putting on my "child-of-God self." Not having remembered that, the post I wanted to write today was on John 1:12-13, for entirely different reasons! Apparently, He is trying to tell me something! Here are the verses: But whoever did want him,      who believed he was who he claimed      and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves,      their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten,      not blood-begotten,      not flesh-begotten... I haven't written in far too long. The list of reasons for that could be lengthy...but they would all be excuses and not worth sharing! The bottom line is I simply stopped. God didn't ask me to, I just did it. And in not writing, I have been unhappy for months...and have been neglecting my heavenly ...