A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

In this season of my life, it seems as though every activity under heaven is taking place at once. My head is twirling around and I’m not sure what to focus on at the present.

Today, our ladies Bible study is wrapping up with spring tea. What a joyous season it has been to study the Word of God with such wonderful women who seek after the Lord.

We’re preparing for my oldest son’s high school graduation coming up in a few weeks. I just wont admit that I’m that old. We’re having a big celebration with lots of family coming to visit.

My youngest son, is a big fan of baseball. This is the last week of regular season, but next week is all star try outs. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if we go another couple of months in all star games.

Also, we’ll be taking a trip to Six Flags in San Antonio soon as my youngest son won this trip in a recent Bible Drill competition.

The kitchen remodeling project is just about complete. YEAH! Praise the Lord! I haven’t cooked a great home cooked meal in many weeks that I’m not sure I remember how. Or perhaps it’s like riding a bike and it will come back to me.

Also, coming in June is our 20^th wedding anniversary! We’ve been so busy with the boys and projects that we’ve failed to plan adequately for ourselves. I’m open to suggestions on how we can celebrate 20 years on a tight budget (college cost lots of money) & not much time to make reservations.

Blessings in Christ--

O Sun Stand Still

Is it just me, or is time spinning faster than I can keep up with it?

I imagined as I was speeding down the road to turn on my street what I’d say to the officer the reason I was speeding. I imagined saying, “I’m trying to catch up with the time. It’s going faster than I can.” I’m glad I didn’t get pulled over and I decided to slow down.

I feel like I can’t get enough done. When I do, I feel like it wasn’t enough.

I asked the Lord today if I prayed like Joshua did, if He’d stop the sun for me just for a couple of hours so I can get caught up on a few things.

Joshua 10:12-14

12 On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
"O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."

13 So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on ^[b] its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!

I shared my thoughts and prayers with my friend next door and she said she didn’t need anymore time and refused to stand in agreement with my petition. Well I went and read the scripture above and it says, “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man.”

So I suppose that means for me to become a better steward of the time allotted to me.

Therefore, I better get back to taking the laundry out, give a spelling test, take the cat to the vet, pick up some things from the store for the weekend, and get ready to cook dinner.

Ya’ll have a good weekend!

BTW--If you notice the sun out longer today, remember I prayed! LOL!!

Blessings in Christ--

Make Over

When we moved into our home almost 10 years ago, it definitely was a “fixer upper.” Built in 1972, it still had all the original 1972 paint, carpet, and light fixtures. One of my of my goals in owning my own home (well okay, the mortgage company owns it, we just pay them and get to live in it) was to paint the walls any color other than white or creamy white. I wanted to add color to our lives since the mortgage company allows us handle all the maintenance and upkeep.

Being new and inexperienced, I started painting. I first painted my baby’s room. He was only one year old at the time. I did a Noah’s Ark theme. (I redid that room last year.) But the second project was the boys bathroom a.k.a. the guest bathroom. I found (what I thought then) was a great looking shower curtain with water and fish on it appropriate and enticing for the boys. Well I went to work on the paint. I wanted to paint a river on the bottom portion of the bathroom wall with sunshine on the top portion. I got the river to look alright (so I thought 9 years ago), but the sunshine part didn’t look so great. I went several times to the paint store and had them remix the yellow. I’d paint it again and I still didn’t like the yellow. They told me at the paint store if they had to add any more color to the yellow they were going to start charging me as they wouldn’t even know what to call that color anymore—it lost its name. So I had some creamy white paint left over from another paint project and decided to dab white on the wall to tone down the yellow. I still wasn’t happy with it. But decided that’s what it was going to be. Here’s what it looked like:

Yeah, I know—bad. But we got used to it and just didn’t even notice it anymore. After my baby turned 10 years old this year, I went in there but this time I noticed how bad it REALLY looked. I decided it was time for a bathroom make over!

I made all the plans and went to work scraping the walls from the ceiling to the floor. Sanded (thank God for power tools) the ceiling and walls. Decided to have more space by pulling out the counter and paint the cabinet white. After a week of work and unexpected work (it’s amazing what you find behind the walls that get wet—mold). Now all the mold is gone. We used concrete boards for the lower walls and mold resistant paint as a defense against future attempts of mold manifestation.

Finally after removing all the yucky stuff we found inside and made the repairs, I got to paint! I enjoyed the painting part, but hated the waiting for the primer to dry. Then waiting for the coats of paint to dry. Then we got to put in all the nice things I wanted in the bathroom. This is the final result

I like the make over bathroom much better! And I know it is clean from the inside of the walls and out!

As I worked on this bathroom project, I thought and pondered with the Lord about what is hidden inside of me. Seeking those things that need to be cleaned out.

Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Lord through His Son, Jesus, works in us to make us over. It hurts some times with all the scraping, cutting and sanding. He works on us, area by area, to make us a new creation.

2 Corinthians 2:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Let’s let the Lord work on our beauty from the inside out.

1 Peter 3:4

Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Blessings in Christ--

Lesson Remembered

Today as I was working on laundry and regular household chores, I missed the days I had a housekeeper. When I worked full-time I hired a full time housekeeper/nanny to stay with my then baby boy. One day at lunch I came home crying in despair over some event that was taking place in my life. I asked my housekeeper, Bertha, to pray for me. At that moment she showed me something I will NEVER forget. In her broken English she told me, “Shonda, I pray for you and your family everyday.” Then she walked me over to where she had the ironing board set up with clothes ready to iron. She said, “Every day as I iron your clothes, I pray for you.” She walked me over to the dishes in the drainer and said, “When I wash your dishes, I pray your meals be blessed.” She walked me to the bathroom and showed me that when she cleaned it she prayed for us. She walked me over to the bed and said, “Each day I make your bed, I pray for your marriage.” She opened the closet and said, “Each day I put your husband’s shoes away, I pray for him and his work.” Everything she did in my home was prayed over! I realized that the Lord has blessed me with a full-time intercessor in my home. I knew I could never pay her what she was worth. But each day that I did not have other commitments at lunch, I came home to have lunch with Bertha. I learned so much from her.

Well the time had come five years ago that the Lord answered my prayers to be a full-time stay at home mother. Bertha had been preparing to go into full-time Christian counseling. This season for both of us was over. I had learned from the best intercessor how to take care of my home.

So back to what happened today. I started to feel overwhelmed with all the laundry, ironing and mundane household chores. Then I remembered what I learned from Bertha. I realized earlier and was reminded today that this is a ministry. I am blessed to be a full-time intercessor in my home. Today I prayed over my husband’s laundry, the boys’ laundry, the towels, over the dishes, the groceries, when I made the bed, and when I prepared the meals. I will strive to pray for my husband and children as I work in the home. This is the ministry work the Lord has entrusted to me at this time and I should perform these duties with joy in my heart.

Scriptures for thought:

Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Colossians 4:2 (NIV)

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1 Peter 4:7 (NIV)

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.