Names

You know that sometimes a name will conjure up pictures in your mind. Past experience will start the mind computer and run the video.

A rose will conjure up this -


For sewers the name Bernina or Singer brings something like this to mind -


Let's just say "Paducah" or New York City, what do you think of?? Well if you have been to Paducah, and you are a quilter, you think of the annual Quilt show. Or New York as the City that never sleeps. We don't tend to think of all the historical background.

Or if I were to say Ford or Chevy, somehow I don't think this is the picture that you would conjure up in your mind ..........

And of course there are some double meanings for certain names.

Names are important. They hold in place either a person, a place, or even a thing. And they bring to mind a history or a memory.

I have read somewhere that a person's name is the sweetest sound. Have you ever noticed when you are in a crowded room, that if someone calls your name, you will turn and look. Or respond in some way.

I have an unusual name. It has always caused a tongue stumble for most people. I remember when I was a little girl how people would stumble over my name.  I've learned through the years to just answer if they are anywhere close. I have a nickname that I'm called by my family and friends, but there is always an explanation that goes along with it.

I guess for years I did not like my name, but it was mostly because it was different and people would butcher it. I liked my nickname as it was easier and I felt like it could just roll of the tongue. So much so that now when people call me by my "real" name it sometimes feel odd, or like it isn't really me. As I have gotten older, I am feeling more comfortable in my own skin and now I enjoy my name. It is unique, and you don't hear it everywhere you go.

So I hope you don't mind my little bit of banter :-) It's nice to have a place to share thoughts.

Have a wonder filled day.

God's unlimited promises

Prayer is such a powerful tool.

We pray to communicate with God our Heavenly Father. I have a lovely little book called "For the Family" by Sylvia Gunter. She shares Steps to Powerful Prayer.

1. Worship God -
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise" Psa 100:4

2. Be Still -
"Be still and know that I am God" Psa 46:10

3. Confess -
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord the Lord will not hear me." Psa 66:18
"But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

4. Submit -
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." 1 Pet 5:6

5. Believe -
"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." Heb. 11:6

6. Do battle in spiritual warfare -
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms." Eph 6:12

7. Listen to the Holy Spirit -
"no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him - but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." 1 Cor 2:9-10

8. Ask God what He wants you to pray about. -
"I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it." John 14:13-14

9. Join together in agreement with other believers -
"If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them. Matt 18:19-20

10. Persist until the answer comes! -
"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find, keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you." Matt 7:7

11. Praise the Lord that He has heard -
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him." 1 John 5:14-15

12. Act on what God has revealed to you -
"Do whatever He tell you" John 2:5
"If you abide in me and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will and it shall be done unto you in My name." John 15:7

I hope these verses are an encouragement to you. Remember that God's promises are unlimited, but God's fulfilling it may depend on our abiding in truth (2 Cor. 10:6)

Writing conference

Have you ever been to a writing conference?

 

I have not, although I had always hoped to be able to attend one day. I've taken an online course, and have read many books on writing. But the truth is, I don't know that I'm ready. I don't know any authors. And since I wrote my two manuscripts, I've not been able to find help with cleaning them up.

So when I read about this opportunity, I wanted to take a chance and see if I could win the set of mp3's of the 2019 ACFW conference being held in Texas.

So tell me are you planning on attending? There is still time to sign up.The dates are September 26- 28 in San Antonio Texas. You can find the link here ACFW

Hope you see you there one day!

 #2019acfw

Do not be anxious

Every single morning when I get up, I have to decide what I am going to wear. Sometimes it is an easy decision, other times it is tough. There are days when I look in the mirror and sigh (hurmph). Do I look sharp or frumpy.

But each and every day, the garden is dressed with no cares. The seeds were planted, and they know what they will produce. We water and fertilize and wait for the beautiful show. Some of the fruit are beautiful, and some can be a little wonky. But they taste delicious just the same.

"Therefore, I tell you, don't be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
 

See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they? 

"Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin,
 

yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
 

"Therefore don't be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?', 'What will we drink?' or, 'With what will we be clothed?'
 

For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
 

But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
 

Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself." Matthew 6:25-34

Happy 4th

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

God Bless America.

God's Secret Agents

As Soon As You Begin to Pray
James 5:16 Daniel 9:23

Prayer sets spiritual forces in motion, although the effect is often invisible, perhaps for a long time.

In the first year of the reign of Darius, Daniel was reading and reflecting about the seventy years of Jerusalem's Iying in ruins. He turned to God in "earnest prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes," confessing Israel's sins and beseeching God for forgiveness and restoration. The angel Gabriel came close to him in the hour of evening sacrifice, "flying swiftly."

"As you were beginning your supplications a word went forth" (Dn 9:23 NEB), he said. The answer was already beginning to be processed when the prayer was offered. It took a very long time. Periods of weeks and years for the nation, and times of mourning, solitude, weakness, and fear on Daniel's part were required before the answer could come to pass.

We should take heart from Gabriel's message. Though our prayers seem feeble and sometimes appear to have gone unheard, a word has gone forth. Spiritual agents from the throne room of the King of kings are mobilized against spiritual forces from the headquarters of evil, and there will be ultimate victory.

"Tremendous power is made available through a good man's earnest prayer" James 5:16 JBP

~ Elisabeth Elliot ~

The Reluctant Warrior - a review

The Reluctant Warrior by Mary Connealy takes place in the High Sierra Mountains during the late 1800. The former army officer, Cameron Scott, barks out orders to his family and friends, as if he were still in the army. With his own daughter frightened of him, as well as his nephew, he finds they always run to Gwen Harkness, a woman with a tender heart.

Life during pioneer days was hard and dangerous, and this story lines up in the telling of it. Overcoming danger, and the adventure of it, sums up this novel. Making the westward journey, men and women had to become more courageous, facing the adventure of tragedy along the way. With a touch of faith and romance, Cam and Gwen learn to get along, caring for the children, building trust along  the way.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.