My drink of choice is Hot Tea. I find it very comforting. I am one of those who likes a black tea and I like to drink it strong. I leave the tea bag in the whole time I am drinking it. Earl Grey is my favorite; even the scent of it is delicious.
What is great about tea is that if it cools off or gets downright cold it still tastes wonderful, unlike coffee when it turns lukewarm, yuck.
I am not against coffee and I do enjoy a Starbucks latte, with sugar free hazelnut or their sugar free cinnamon dolce latte. Yum.
For a cold drink it is iced tea. Did that surprise you?
I know I don’t drink enough plain water but why drink it plain when you can take a simple tea bag and make the water something special, something that can take you away from the everyday.
I always seem to have a cup sitting by my laptop or by me when I am reading. Even when I go out of the house I have my travel mug of hot tea.
What about you. Do you have a favorite drink that hangs around you? One that has become your constant companion?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Days of our Lives
Tuesday was a discouraging day for me, and by the next morning I really needed a word from God.
Wednesday morning I opened my daily devotional book, Daily Moments in His Presence and it opened with this scripture: “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.” Isaiah 45:2
I read on and I was truly amazed with what God did for me. The devotion read:
O my child, I have need of you. Have I not called you and blessed you?
Have I not laid My hand upon you and shaped you for My purposes?
Why, then, do you doubt?
It is only patterns of the past that bind your thoughts. They can exert no
power over tomorrow except as you deliberately give them life. With
every task I assign, I also give the enablement.
I have tested your faith many times, and I know it is strong. Why do
you falter? Rise, and go in My Name, knowing it is I who thrusts you
forth. It is not man. This is My plan for you. The way should be easy
when you know this.
I am overwhelmed with wonder when I realize that before any of my time began on this earth God knew that this day, Wednesday March 25, 2009 I would need this exact word of encouragement.
In His infinite ways He drew me to this devotional book in December of 2008. He placed this word on the page for March 25th, not the 24th or the 26th.
I know for a fact that he does this because Psalms 139:16 says: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book all the days of my life were written, before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.”
God is the ultimate planner!
Have you experienced God ordered incidences like this?
Wednesday morning I opened my daily devotional book, Daily Moments in His Presence and it opened with this scripture: “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.” Isaiah 45:2
I read on and I was truly amazed with what God did for me. The devotion read:
O my child, I have need of you. Have I not called you and blessed you?
Have I not laid My hand upon you and shaped you for My purposes?
Why, then, do you doubt?
It is only patterns of the past that bind your thoughts. They can exert no
power over tomorrow except as you deliberately give them life. With
every task I assign, I also give the enablement.
I have tested your faith many times, and I know it is strong. Why do
you falter? Rise, and go in My Name, knowing it is I who thrusts you
forth. It is not man. This is My plan for you. The way should be easy
when you know this.
I am overwhelmed with wonder when I realize that before any of my time began on this earth God knew that this day, Wednesday March 25, 2009 I would need this exact word of encouragement.
In His infinite ways He drew me to this devotional book in December of 2008. He placed this word on the page for March 25th, not the 24th or the 26th.
I know for a fact that he does this because Psalms 139:16 says: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book all the days of my life were written, before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.”
God is the ultimate planner!
Have you experienced God ordered incidences like this?
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Conviction
Why do we hesitate to help someone in need, worrying about what they will think if we approach them? If we sense a need and ask to help and are pushed away, chalk it up to experience. There are those who will never take help. But what if a person is crying out and you ignore them? How does that show the love and care of God?
Yesterday I was at a meeting and when I came out of the building there was a man in a wheelchair who had arrived at his vehicle. I thought about going to him to ask if I could help him and my mind said “don’t embarrass him, he is used to doing this, he doesn’t need your help.” I walked to my car and got in. I was opening a drink that I had just purchased and looked up and watched him. He could not see me. He stood up with his cane and struggled to open the back of his minivan. It had one of the doors that lift up. After he got the door opened he struggled to pull the seat off of the wheelchair so that he could collapse it. He folded the chair and struggled to lift the chair into the van. He was very unsteady on his feet so it made it difficult to keep his balance and lift the chair. He had it partway in the van and it fell out.
That was it; I was out of my car and walking very fast over to him. I asked if I could help and he said “yes” with a tired sigh. I lifted the wheelchair into his van and asked how he wanted it to face so that it would be easy for him to get it out when he reached his next destination. He had dropped his cane and was bending down to pick it up and I asked if he needed help with that but he was getting it. He asked if I could close the back door for him. He didn’t need anything more from me so I walked back to my car.
Once I was in my car I asked God to forgive me for waiting so long to go and help him and I prayed that I would never again hesitate so long to offer assistance to anyone. What if that man was crying on the inside, “Lord have someone come and help me right now!”
The sad thing was I wasn’t the only person around. There were two women talking who were very close to his vehicle and must have seen his struggle.
There have been times when I have cried out to God for help when I needed right now and it didn’t come. Was it a failure of God, I doubt that, I think it was failure of the person that God spoke to who was too busy or just did not want to get involved. If we are his hands and feet and a light to the world we are doing a poor job. Maybe you are doing great in this and it is only me who has been slack but I don’t want to be slack anymore. The Word says we reap what we sow. I want to sow assistance where I can so that I can reap it when I need it and if I never need it I will thank God that I have the strength and ability to help others. Selah
Yesterday I was at a meeting and when I came out of the building there was a man in a wheelchair who had arrived at his vehicle. I thought about going to him to ask if I could help him and my mind said “don’t embarrass him, he is used to doing this, he doesn’t need your help.” I walked to my car and got in. I was opening a drink that I had just purchased and looked up and watched him. He could not see me. He stood up with his cane and struggled to open the back of his minivan. It had one of the doors that lift up. After he got the door opened he struggled to pull the seat off of the wheelchair so that he could collapse it. He folded the chair and struggled to lift the chair into the van. He was very unsteady on his feet so it made it difficult to keep his balance and lift the chair. He had it partway in the van and it fell out.
That was it; I was out of my car and walking very fast over to him. I asked if I could help and he said “yes” with a tired sigh. I lifted the wheelchair into his van and asked how he wanted it to face so that it would be easy for him to get it out when he reached his next destination. He had dropped his cane and was bending down to pick it up and I asked if he needed help with that but he was getting it. He asked if I could close the back door for him. He didn’t need anything more from me so I walked back to my car.
Once I was in my car I asked God to forgive me for waiting so long to go and help him and I prayed that I would never again hesitate so long to offer assistance to anyone. What if that man was crying on the inside, “Lord have someone come and help me right now!”
The sad thing was I wasn’t the only person around. There were two women talking who were very close to his vehicle and must have seen his struggle.
There have been times when I have cried out to God for help when I needed right now and it didn’t come. Was it a failure of God, I doubt that, I think it was failure of the person that God spoke to who was too busy or just did not want to get involved. If we are his hands and feet and a light to the world we are doing a poor job. Maybe you are doing great in this and it is only me who has been slack but I don’t want to be slack anymore. The Word says we reap what we sow. I want to sow assistance where I can so that I can reap it when I need it and if I never need it I will thank God that I have the strength and ability to help others. Selah
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Dreams
Robert Greenleaf has said, "Nothing much happens without a dream. For something really great to happen, it takes a really great dream."
I hope you have a great dream, one that you don’t want to tell your friends or family because you’re afraid they will laugh at you. God gives crazy, ridiculous (to the world) dreams and visions. He calls us to greatness for His glory.
Throw off the restraints and shackles and press for that dream. What will it take? Only you know because your dream is different from my dream, but every dream takes work. What are you willing to sacrifice to grab onto and hold onto the thing that God wants you to do?
Myles Monroe said, “You will never be fulfilled until you understand why God made you. You will only walk around confused, thinking, ‘There’s gotta be more. There’s gotta be more.’” Have you thought that? I have.
You know that desire you have deep inside you, that ache to do something about something? That just may be what you are on this earth for. Write it down.
"Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others. But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” Habakkuk 2:2-3 TLB
Once you have that dream/vision written down the next step is to run with it. “A life frittered away disgusts God; he loves those who run straight for the finish line.” Proverbs 15:9 Message Bible
No detours my friend, run straight for the finish line. You may have some hurdles to jump over and you many need to build up your strength gradually but as long as you keep moving you are making progress toward your dream.
I hope you have a great dream, one that you don’t want to tell your friends or family because you’re afraid they will laugh at you. God gives crazy, ridiculous (to the world) dreams and visions. He calls us to greatness for His glory.
Throw off the restraints and shackles and press for that dream. What will it take? Only you know because your dream is different from my dream, but every dream takes work. What are you willing to sacrifice to grab onto and hold onto the thing that God wants you to do?
Myles Monroe said, “You will never be fulfilled until you understand why God made you. You will only walk around confused, thinking, ‘There’s gotta be more. There’s gotta be more.’” Have you thought that? I have.
You know that desire you have deep inside you, that ache to do something about something? That just may be what you are on this earth for. Write it down.
"Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others. But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” Habakkuk 2:2-3 TLB
Once you have that dream/vision written down the next step is to run with it. “A life frittered away disgusts God; he loves those who run straight for the finish line.” Proverbs 15:9 Message Bible
No detours my friend, run straight for the finish line. You may have some hurdles to jump over and you many need to build up your strength gradually but as long as you keep moving you are making progress toward your dream.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Spring is Here, Maybe Not
I just returned from walking my dog. The earth seems to think that spring is here. I noticed green blades of grass poking through the brown blanket that covers the yards. The bulbs are coming up, rising from their dormant state anxious to reach toward the warmth of the sun. I can’t tell if they will be tulips or daffodils with only an inch of green showing. Those tentative green shoots will be in for a surprise when the spring snows that show up every year in Colorado Springs, cover them with a cold white robe. I so want to throw off all of the heaviness of winter, put away winter coats and hats but I know that it is still too early for that.
The seasons outside are a mirror of the seasons we experience in our lives. God promised “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Every season has its wonders and its irritations. Spring is wonderful for the new growth and flowers but rains, tornados and floods come with that. Summer, the kids are out of school and that means days at the pool, and summer sports. The warmth of summer is healing to our bodies, we need to soak up that vitamin D. Summer also brings bugs and sun burn. Fall comes as a relief from the heat and the colors of the trees is magnificent. As the leaves desert the trees it is the reminder that winter is on its way. Ah winter, the cold stinging your face, skiing, snowboarding, making snowmen, fires in the fireplace and cars sliding on slippery streets. See, each season has its greats and not so greats but knowing that the season won’t last forever makes the not so great part bearable.
It is the same in our lives; the dry seasons will be followed by a watering of our souls, you can count on it.
The seasons outside are a mirror of the seasons we experience in our lives. God promised “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Every season has its wonders and its irritations. Spring is wonderful for the new growth and flowers but rains, tornados and floods come with that. Summer, the kids are out of school and that means days at the pool, and summer sports. The warmth of summer is healing to our bodies, we need to soak up that vitamin D. Summer also brings bugs and sun burn. Fall comes as a relief from the heat and the colors of the trees is magnificent. As the leaves desert the trees it is the reminder that winter is on its way. Ah winter, the cold stinging your face, skiing, snowboarding, making snowmen, fires in the fireplace and cars sliding on slippery streets. See, each season has its greats and not so greats but knowing that the season won’t last forever makes the not so great part bearable.
It is the same in our lives; the dry seasons will be followed by a watering of our souls, you can count on it.
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