January 8, 2010

Always Near
The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.
Psalm 145:18

Just keep on smiling
Whatever betides you,
Secure in the knowledge
God is always beside you.

Father we commit this day into your hands, thank you for being by our side in all situations. give us a concept of your presence. Father help us to read your word and give us understanding, and then help us to apply your promises to this day.  In Jesus name.  amen.


I have been reading about all the promises in God's word and how we need to live by them.  I believe we are into times when we need to cling very closely to what God's word is saying to us.  You will find that what you didn't understand last week or a year ago, God may be speaking into your life.  Listen as he speaks to you.  apply it to your day.

You might like to read Psalm 119:9-16 today.

January 7, 2010

Daily Renewal
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 RSV

You are ushering in another day,
Untouched and freshly new,
So here I come to ask You, God,
If You'll renew me, too.

Father help me to be an imitator of God, to live a life of Love, help me to love with actions and in truth, help me to give all that I am to honor and serve God.  Father, I know that I can not do it myself and so I pray that you would pour your love in me so I can love others.  Help  me to be kind and have compassion towards my family first and then toward those who cross my path this day.  We are your chosen people, clothe us with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Help us to bear with each other, to forgive as you have forgiven us.  Help us to put on love which binds us together.  Only then will we live a victorous life and be a conquorer.  In Jesus name.  Amen

Yesterday was a normal day, we are working on final tests for the online classes.  We didn't have Bible Study so we were here at home in the evening.

January 6, 2010

No Unmet Needs

The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs.
Isaiah 58:11 NIV

God only answers our pleadings
When He knows that our wants fill a need,
And whenever our will becomes His will,
There is no prayer that God does not heed.

Today, I know know that some and likely all of you have needs, life may seem overwhelming, I do not have answers for you, I know that God cares and is listening when we call.  I do not know the path he wants to take you.  I can only pray for you and hold you up to his thrown of grace.

Yesterday was a school day, and the student finished the letters so we could get them on the quilt, I sewed for about 1 1/2 hours around the letters, but the task is done and I do not need to do any more work on it.  I went and visited Frank and Dorothy for a bit and then we were here at home.


Father we commit this day into your hands, we ask for your guidance in all that we do, and pray that you would show us your will for this day.  Guide our steps and direct our paths and lead us in the way you would have us to go.  In Jesus Name. Amen.

January 5, 2009

Gateway to Joy
Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things:
this is known in all the earth.
Isaiah 12:5 KJV

Birthdays are the gateway to
An endless life of joy for you
If you but pray from day to day
That He will show you the truth and the way.

When I read this I thought, we have some birthdays, Amanda on the 2nd, Sabine today and Julie on the 8th.   Happy Birthday to each of you.

Helen Steiner Rice, has some very simple thoughts, but they say what is important.  We had ought to specifically ask God to guide our steps this day and then walk on believing and trusting that he is.  When we have connected our line with heaven we know that he is with us.

Yesterday we were back to school.  it was a good day, I rested in the afternoon, when I have a break and no one in a study hall.  After school we did some visiting and then I drove to Devils Lake and took back the samples to furniture store and ordered the chair.  I visited with Edna for a while before coming home.  We ate together and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

January 4, 2010

Bright Tomorrows

I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will sing praise.
psalm 101:1 NIV

God has told us that nothing can sever
A life He created to live forever.
so let God's promise soften our sorrow
And give us new strength
      for a brighter tomorrow.

God's Sovereign Hand

Both riches and honor come from thee, and thou rulest
over all. In thy hand are power and might; and in
thy hand it is to make great and to give strength
to all. And now we thank thee, our God,
and praise thy glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:12-13 RSV

Accept what the new year brings,
Seeing the hand of God in all things,
And as you grow in strength and grace,
The clearer you can see God's face.


God is with you and he cares about what is happening to you, he is guiding your steps and directing your path.  He doesn't promise only Roses there will be challenges and we will not necessarily find things going the way we want them, but that doesn't mean that he has left us or forsaken us, he is waiting there and wants us to come to him,

Father, we give you this day and thank you for the rest we experienced last night, as we start this day, we ask for your guidance in what we say and do, first to our family and then to those who come across our path.  Help us to be gracious and sensitive to their needs, too.  Father help us to experience your peace in this day.  In Jesus Name. Amen


Yesterday we had Sunday School and Church, we had a missionary, he is former Heuterite from SD and is a missionary in India, he spoke in Sunday School and then in worship service.  after church we took down decorations and ate pizza together. I came home and slept and then we ate with Sr. in town.  Men played pook and I watched the ladies putting a puzzle together.

January 3, 2010

Beginnings
Thou crownest the year with thy bounty
Psalm 65;11 RSV

What will you do
With this year that's so new?
The choice is yours--
God leaves that to you

A lifetime of Favor
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is
but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime
Psalm 30:4-5 RSV

If you meet God in the morning
And ask for guidance when you pray,
You will never in your lifetime
Face another hopeless day.


I am using a new devotion book this year, which I actually bought yesterday.  The poems are by Helen Steiner Rice. 

I feel like she has some good thoughts for us to think about each day.  What are we going to do with this year, and are we going to ask God to guide our day?

Jack and I drove to South Dakota on News Years Day.  We started out by stopping in Devils Lake, we ate at the White Couse Cafe and then walked over to the St. Micheal's Furniture Store in the Mall. We had been looking at a sofa and had the fabric samples so we could match it to the floor cover in our living room.  They had the right colored sofa, but we took samples home because we are going to get a chair, and I wanted to get something that would look o.k. with the lazy boy that is in the room.  Then we took Highway 1 and drove down to Janets.  We were driving the maroon pickup and had the sofa loaded in the back that is going to Janet's house.  We got there and had a really good turkey dinner together, there was time to do some visiting.  The sofa looks really good in their living room.  Yesterday after we ate together, we started for home, My favorite place to shop is in the Mall at Jamestown so we stopped there, I found some fabric and the backing for the t-shirt quilt.  and then we came home.

Trusting that you have had a good week.  We did, we mostly traveled, etc.

January 1, 2010

Wow a New year and a new decade!

In the beginning, God.....
Genesis 1:1a

God has been there since the beginning, evidence of his hand is all about us, but today we are thinking about a New Beginning.

We have the opportunity to make choices and changes, the opportunity to face this year and realize it is like a new beginning.  A few years ago I wrote down somethings I wanted to accomplish that year and put the list away, later at the end of the year I went back and read what I had written, amazing I saw that it had happened, and I hadn't realized how very much I had desired it to happen at the beginning. 
I suggest that you think about it today,  What in your life would you like to see change, be realistic, and ask God to help you.  Writing down our thoughts is a good idea, they become more concrete that way.  I don't think of these thoughts as resolutions because then we tend to focus on what we resolved to do, we try to do it ourselves and lets face it we fail, but when we do what we know that God wants us to do, it will happen.

Father, search our hearts what are you saying to us today?  What would you like to see happen in our lives over the next months?  Help us to hear from you and to listen to yur voice.  In Jesus Name. Amen

Yesterday we were at home.  I don't remember anything significant, just finishing some letters, etc.  Dad went for lunch and visited with Chuck.