Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the Day: Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Oh, how that is a verse I needed to see yesterday! At church we are going through the book of Isaiah and this is not the first time it said something I needed to hear. For good or bad, my life pretty much revolves around my kiddo. I sometimes feel like my parenting skills are lacking and with his vocabulary becoming larger and the introduction of the word "why" into conversations several times a day, I find myself at a loss. This whole verse wraps me in the comfort of God's arms - and for several reasons. When I picture Jesus, I envision him with little children all around. This verse gives me that picture with God. Where are the little children? Close to his heart. Even when I screw up, as I do on a daily basis, God has my little man close to his heart. In addition to that, God leads us i...

Scripture of the Day: 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 4  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.   5  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.   6  There are different kinds of working, but the same God   works all of them in all men.   7  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.   8  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom,   to another the message of knowledge   by means of the same Spirit,   9  to another faith   by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing   by that one Spirit,   10  to another miraculous powers,   to another prophecy,   to another distinguishing between spirits,   to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,   and he gives them to each one, just as...

Scripture of the Day: Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. I have a knack for remembering the dates of important things in my life - most of the time. I was just thinking yesterday that I do not remember the date I got engaged and that seems an important one to have forgotten! :) Unfortunately, those important dates for most of my young life revolved around major surgeries. For instance, on October 27, 1995, I had my colon removed. And then, wonderfully, on October 13, 2011, I had surgery to remove some of my small intestine and now have what is called a permanent ileostomy. Granted, I was not excited about it at the time! For the past couple of weeks, I have been reliving the day of surgery last year and the weeks that followed. I had surgery last year for a couple of reasons. 1) My GI doctor in Chicago told me I needed it - medication would not have helped my issues and my quality of life would improve. 2) I felt that it was in God's plan ...

Scripture of the Day – Psalm 56:8 “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” I am not much of a crier. Sappy movies don't usually bring on the water works and I seldom cry happy tears (weddings being an exception - those get me every time!) So when I do cry it is usually heartfelt and out of sorrow, confusion, or seeming helplessness. In the past several years I have noticed I have two kinds of tears. The first kind comes about when I am typically responding to something in a silly way when really I need to just push through. When I cry these tears, my face scrunches up, and I like to be in the fetal position. Those tears hurt. The second type of crying I do is really quite peaceful. My face is calm and tears simply roll from eyes down my face. Those tears bring healing. Last night in the course of 15 minutes I cried both types of tears (reason isn't really important - but everything...