Good morning.

First off ~

to our sweet daughter-in-love

Danalyn!!!

We love you and hope you have a great day!!!

This is what I saw first thing this morning.

These are taken from our deck looking out over Branson.  

Isn't God a beautiful master artist?

It was quiet and peaceful out on the deck with the birds chirping and making their own sweet music. So  that is where I decided to sit while I spent time in God's Word and pray for the stuff laying heavy on my heart and give thanks for the many blessings in my life.

What an encouraging verse this morning.  

What it reminded me of  is a Daddy's love for his child and the security and safety a child feels in the loving arms of their Daddy.

Here is Opal getting reassurance from her Daddy.

And Alexander with not a care in the world snuggled in his Grandpa's arms.

And I am reminded that no matter what is going on in my life

I can  crawl into the arms of Jesus

like this little girl

And HE will hold me close and comfort me.

Thank you Lord for your Word this morning that you are never too busy for me.

You are always right here, beside me, ready to take my hand or let me

climb up into your lap for a hug that no one can duplicate.

And that because God is Faithful, always Available

that I need to be faithful to Him

all the time!!!

And then I decided to read in Psalms

Psalms 16:2B

My goodness is nothing apart from You.

I am blessed beyond measure because of You.

and

and

And I am reminded that God provides for all my needs,

not my wants but my needs.

I need to remind myself that God 

has always provided for us,

sometimes in ways that we would never have imagined

and to be thankful each and every day 

for every blessing, big and small,

and most importantly

to remember 

foibles and all!!!!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, not just because the sun was shining but because I was trying to enjoy and be in every moment of the day.  The day was filled with regular Monday morning paperwork, helping a new friend travel through the maze of setting up a new business and then spending over 3 hours with a bunch of girlfriends, sharing our lives and how God is working in our lives.  And being reminded it is okay to BE STILL and in the moment with the Lord when He is nudging us.

Then it was time to get home and get things ready for our 

potluck here in the campground.  I made chicken enchiladas (they didn't turn out the way I wanted them too but they were still tasty), bean and cheese enchiladas and then my favorite cottage cheese, jello, cool whip & mandarin oranges salad...not a bite was left...bummer no left overs.  Also enjoyed at the potluck was a cheese nacho dip & chips, taquitos (not sure how to spell it), guacamole, lots of fresh fruit and a very chocolatey chocolate cake for dessert.

It was a beautiful day and our potluck was held at the upper picnic pavilion.  The kids could play and the adults were able to get in lots of visiting.  We began at 5:30 and some visiting went on till after 8:00 pm!

It was great!!!  We were also able to visit with one of my RV Sista's, Linda C., her friend Ken and Cathy. 

It was lots of fun 

I had a bit of a rough night, still dealing with some indigestion and my phone kept going off due to messages and updates ~ finally about 12:30 PM I just turned it off...I needed to get some sleep.  I woke up at 5:07 this morning...it is so quiet and peaceful...I love this time of the morning when I can sit and read my Bible, talk with God, share my concerns and sit and listen to Him speak to me.

My little devotional book "The Duck Commander Devotional" began with

and the commentary on it said this verse is not talking just about how and what women are to wear but that we, a woman is a gift to our husbands and it made me stop and think about this for a bit...and I realized this is just another reason why I should and need to take care of myself...I want to be presentable and beautiful to my sweet hubby.    I want to be the perfect gift to Ron.  Sometimes I find myself just going through the motions of each day...but this morning I realized each new day is a new and wonderful day for me to be a special gift to my hubby.  A gift that is beautiful inside and out.  Thank you Lord for this gentle reminder, that I am not here just for me but to bless others and especially my hubby.

As I was sitting here just thinking about the Lord, my life and praying for friends and family I found myself thinking and praying for a sweet friend who is going through some really difficult times right now and how I struggled with life during one of my hard times and how the love and care of family, friends, pastor and counselor and the strong love and protection of the Lord got me through some very difficult times I opened my Bible to 2 Chronicles 20:11-17 and these two verses jumped out at me

 and

and gave thanks to the Lord for giving me these comforting verses that my sweet friend is not fighting this battle alone, that Jesus is right beside her, standing tall and supporting her just as He did for me time and time again.  And so I prayed for the Lord to be REAL to her, to bring her comfort, to surround her with family, friends and helpers to stand firm with her, holding her up as she can't do it alone for herself today and also giving thanks for the personal reminder to me that even though I face struggles, like we all do at different times, and we may feel alone in reality we are never really alone especially if we seek God and ask Him to hold us a  little tighter, stand beside us, holding up our arms when we aren't able and that with Him and through Him we (I) can not only get through the day but come out the other side whole and rejoicing in his love.

So as I prepare to "go out in the world today" I ask the Lord to give me opportunities to share His love in one way or another with those I meet along the way.

And if you think about it, say a prayer for my friend ~ that she will feel God's love surrounding her even during these difficult days.

Blessings to each of you reading this.

Have you ever started something and then quit in the middle, get waylaid, time passes and then something happens and you find yourself questioning "what happened?"

That's where I am this morning...wondering why I do or don't do the things I KNOW that I need to be doing.  Last night I had a horrible case of indigestion...with the chest hurting, thinking this could be it ~ it could be a heart attack, the mind thinking the worst and the whole time belching like crazy from deep within and just praying it would go away.  This lasted till after 1:00 AM...so much for going to sleep at a decent time of 10:45 pm.

As I laid there I found myself talking to God, asking him why I am such a failure when it comes to doing the things that I KNOW I need to do ~ specifically in the area of getting healthy.  As I was belching and falling asleep I kept saying "Lord, why can't I do this?  Why do I eat the things I KNOW I should not eat and not eat the things I KNOW I should?"    I cried myself to sleep along with praying for the indigestion to just go away...my chest and right shoulder blade were hurting terribly.

When the alarm went off at 5:45...I even contemplated just hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep till the 2nd alarm goes off at 6:30 but I pushed myself to just get up.

And I am so glad I did.

I often write about how God meets me right where I am and today is no different.  As I walked into the living room I glanced out the window towards Branson, the sun was just starting to come up, the sky was all shades of pink, yellow, blue and orange...a beautiful way to say Good Morning!  Thank you Lord for your beautiful created sunrise this morning.

I sat down on the couch and gathered my Bible, 

my favorite purple pen, my notebook and opened my devotional to

and I was reminded that it's not about me...my life is no longer my own.  

I am God's child and my life is His. 

I need to die to self so 

I can live for Christ!!! 

And because I believe that, 

all I need to do is Ask God, talk to God,

cry out to God ~ like I did last night 

and He heard my cries ~

reminding me that I am not alone in this journey of life

BUT God is with me every step of the way!!!

And then I turned to the Bible reading for today

in my Women of Faith devotional Bible.

And the focus for the month of May is

And I found myself thinking about FAITH.  

And what it means ~

I don't have to walk this journey of life alone.

I need to BELIEVE, TRUST and have FAITH

that God is with me every step of the way

and I am not alone and never will be.

And the verse for today:

And this is what I heard the Lord telling me this morning:

1.  Be Strong and of Good Courage ~

Be BOLD, Exercise the authority I have been given.  Don't lose heart. 

I can take authority over what I put in my body AND I can 

call on the Lord to help me make good choices.

2.  And Do It!!! Three little words but three

very powerful words.  Just Do It!!

Don't allow other things to take the place of the Lord in my life.

Don't allow FOOD to be the EVERYTHING in my life.

Just

Do

It!!

Make one choice at a time,

live in the moment

and in that moment make it a healthy choice!!

3.  Do not get discouraged.

As I stepped on the scale this morning I was 

pleasantly surprised that I was down .2 of a lb...

Hey...that is down, not up,

Encouraging to say the least especially 

since I knew what I had eaten yesterday!!

I was Encouraged!!!!

4.  God is always with me.

He has never failed me

so why should I think today will be any different

He has never failed me

so why would He fail me today.

He Won't!!!

And my mind keeps going back to "And do it!" And I was reminded of a conversation I had with Margaret G. one day...I asked her "how do you know you are doing God's will?  How do I know that the decision I am making is what God would have me to do?"  She replied...Just Do It...take that step of faith and trust God that He will close any doors or windows if I am making the wrong decision and He will OPEN the path to move forward.

And so today,

I move forward.

One step at a time.

One choice at a time.

And I know

and 

HE 

WILL 

NEVER 

EVER 

LEAVE 

ME!!!