Go To The Rock

 

Where do you go when you are afraid?  Where do you go when you are stressed?  Where do you go when you are overwhelmed?  

The world is moving so fast.  Things are happening in the world faster than the newscaster can report.  

The changes I am experiencing are not pleasant and I would opt for different circumstances if it were in my power.  BUT it is not in my power but in the hand of God.  For that I am thankful too! I know beyond a doubt that I can’t trust myself BUT I know who I can trust with all my heart.  

As I typed those first sentences a song came quickly to mind that I sang often when I was young.  It was very popular.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=76mdvsPI9mY&si=jEswoqfcdtgkCffb

Hugs and Blessings,

Mèmére

Home Sweet Home

Quarantine sounds like such a negative word to me.  I hear and read of so many people complaining that they have to stay home!

Not me! Not for one minute.  

"Home is where the heart is"  has always been a favorite quote of mine and now it is being put to the test.  I pass with flying colors cause there is no better place I would rather be than HOME, SWEET HOME!

Blessed to share my nest with my Precious Husband and now one of my adult children.  It is truly a blessing and honor to get up each day and do what it takes to create a home for my loved ones.

Quarantine, empty grocery shelves, no TOILET PAPER, oh my!  We are living our lives right now sheltering in place and wondering what the future holds.

This world as we know it seems to be turned upside down and topsy turvy but I know that my Lord has it all in His hands just like the song I sang as a little girl.  "He's got the whole world in His hands, the whole wide world in His Hands, He's got the whole world in His hands!"

I know no matter what happens I can trust the heart of my loving Heavenly Father to see His Children through whatever comes about.  That is a fact that brings peace and confidence to my heart as I shelter in my HOME, SWEET HOME!

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Yesterday Precious Husband reminded me to go check our cactus because it was ready to bloom at any time now. The pictures below show you what the cactus looked like yesterday.

Today I got up and grabbed my cup of coffee along with my phone to capture the beauty of the fully bloomed cactus flowers.

Seeing these flowers and knowing that tomorrow the beautiful pink blooms will be limp and hanging down toward their pot and dirt.  Such a short lived beauty they are. 

Such is our life.  So quick and fleeting are our days.  So beautiful but so delicate and fragile in so many ways.

I am reminded by this beautiful fully bloomed cactus that life must be appreciated now, today.  We have no promise of tomorrow.  Truly I remember that I know not what the future holds but I know Who holds my future.  I am so glad I can trust in the love and goodness of God and I will strive to see the beauty of each day He gives me. 

❤  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: 

BUT the word of our God shall stand for ever. ❤ 

 Isaiah 40:8 

Hugs & Blessings,

Mèmére

Annie Johnson Flint

Please take a few minutes today to meet Annie Johnson Flint and I believe you will come away with fresh encouragement and blessing.

You may not recognize the name at first but I believe you will recognize her writing.

Annie Johnson Flint was born in 1866 and died in 1932.  

Here are a couple of reference links:

http://www.homecomingmagazine.com/article/he-giveth-more-grace/

http://www.homemakerscorner.com/annie.htm

But God 

by Annie Johnson Flint

I know not, but God knows; 

Oh, blessed rest from fear!

All my unfolding days

To Him are plain and clear.

Each anxious, puzzled “Why?”

From doubt or dread that grows,

Finds answer in this thought;

I know not, but He knows.

I cannot, but God can;

Oh, balm for all my care!

The burden that I drop

His hand will lift and bear,

Though eagle pinions tire —

I walk where once I ran —

This is my strength, to know

I cannot, but God can.

I see not, but God sees;

Oh, all-sufficient light!

My dark and hidden way

To Him is always bright.

My strained and peering eyes

May close in restful ease,

And I in peace may sleep;

I see not, but He sees.

Blessings & Hugs,

🦋❤️🦋Mèmére🦋❤️🦋

Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding.  

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

This verse has ministered to my heart many times through the years.  It is a verse given me when I adopted my first son over 46 years ago as a single woman.  Everyone thought I was crazy BUT God had a better thought.

Now 2018 and the verse is being put to the test again.  Fresh reasons to trust God and fresh faith to know He will prove Himself faithful again.

What do you need to trust God for today?

Hugs and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

After 33 Years of Marriage . . .

There is a big announcement to be made.  

 Can you guess what we are announcing?

Drum roll please.

↴

↴

↴

Is the suspense getting to you yet?

After 33 years of marriage Precious Husband and I have adopted again.

Welcome Miss Daisy Grace Langlois born December 6, 2016 and adopted February 9, 2017.

Her name came by suggestion of this cutie:

our youngest grandson 4 year old Tanner Paul King.

When I showed him the new puppy he suggested BonBon and said it was a name from Disney.  

"Disney huh?  Well how about Daisy?" I asked.  

"Sure Daisy is great!" he said.

I chose her middle name, Grace.

Daisy Grace has a special adoption story just like our other children of course.

I have been absent for a long time but our new baby definitely brought me back to blogland.  

I will share parts of her adoption story soon and more about her name Grace.

Her Daddy, my Precious Husband, loves her and Daisy completely loves him as you can see.

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Beauty In The Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say.  

This is used to express the fact that not all people have the same opinions about what is attractive.

The yellow roses above came from my backyard and they are beautiful.  They were left is this condition when we left the house to return to our motorhome.  Returning we found they were dried and brittle.  When they appeared in a new arrangement I continued to see beauty.  Precious Husband, not so much.  He even inquired a few times about when I was going to throw the dead flowers away. (Later he did admit it was not the dead flowers as much as that they were hindering his view of the TV.  😍

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder the world says.

Our precious 80 year old neighbor in the RV park lives full time in a mobile home and she has a wonderful inviting front yard.  Recently we discovered her very distraught.  She had little yellow flowers that came up voluntarily and the park landscapers had sprayed them because they are actually considered weeds.  She was so upset telling us that she has made it clear that she knows they are weeds but she nurtures them and thinks they are lovely and has told the management not to spray them!  (Evidently the word was not passed down.)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder the world says.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder the world says.  But God's Word tells us where true beauty resides for women.  No supposition here.  Biblical fact.  God's Word says it and I believe it.  

 I pray God to help me daily be obedient to His Word.

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—

arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— 

rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, 

with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, 

which is very precious in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:3-4 

It's Your Choice

Not easy by any means but our attitude is 

a choice.

Today I will choose 

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy

Spread your protection over them

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Psalm 5:11

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Every Time . . .

 

"Christmas, my child, is love in action . . . 

When you love someone, you give to them, as God gives to us.  

The greatest gift He ever gave was the person of His Son, sent to us . . . 

so that we might know what God the Father is really like!  

Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas."

Dale Evans Rogers

Possible Basket Case

The picture above is just the over-flow.  These unused baskets sit in the Butterfly Room waiting for a purpose.  I love baskets - can you tell?  You might be tempted to even call me a basket case all in good humor of course.  

On a more serious note though sometimes life brings situations into our lives and we begin to feel that emotionally we are becoming a basket case and that is the inspiration for this blog.  

Situations in our family and in our church right now are threatening to bring great stress and anxiety into our lives.  This morning Precious Husband and I faced situations that were causing tensions to mount between us as and it would have been so easy to fall apart and allow myself to be a basket case.  To fall apart emotionally and allow anxiety and fear to take over.  But no!  I choose to be strong in Who I know God is and Who has called me to the life I now live.  Several times I heard Precious Husband on the phone this morning tell someone, "I serve a mighty God Who is able".  Hearing those words alone brings encouragement to my heart.  

We can allow the enemy of our soul to challenge us in our thoughts or we can stand and proclaim Who God is and live accordingly.  Yes, Precious Husband is right, we serve a mighty God Who is able.

2 Timothy 1:12 says " . . . for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day."

I will trust the Lord Almighty for my family, my loved ones and my church.

As for the baskets I will continue to be a positive "basket case" and use them as the occasion arises.  Just yesterday a basket was chosen to provide the transportation of a gift of encouragement to someone precious to my heart.

Along with the gift came the message that God is a God of hope.  That hope if allowed to will bring us great peace and joy.  May it be so in the life of the one that received this basket and also to all who will look to our God almighty.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  Romans 15:13

Plan B

Morning Sunshine

Cookies were all made last night - LOTS of cookies in fact.  Cookies are all packaged up for their destinations.  Mental list is all made of the things I planned to do today.  Tomorrow's day had been planned contingent on today's plans.  

THEN, the phone call came changing today's plan all together.  

First reaction, poor poor ME!  How can they do this to ME?  Doesn't anybody realize I have a life too?

THEN I came up short knowing God has a plan for me today and it has never been changed, re-scheduled, amended or been down-sized.   For this fact, I am glad.  So, now I will put plan B into action knowing it is God's plan A and the best thing for me.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future. 

Jeremiah 29:11

Pray And Bake!

There are situations in all our lives that arise and the best, the only, the important thing to do is pray!  We are told to pray in God's Word and it should not be the last resort but the first thing we do.

[The Prayer of Faith] Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. James 1:13

pray continually; 1 Thes. 5:17

So I am praying and desiring to encourage those right now in special need. 

Then I am baking.  Baking lots of cookies.  Tomorrow I will take Mom's love and care in the form of cookies to those in need of love and encouragement and also to those who I want to know that they are loved by Precious Husband and me.  Always on my mind is having Precious Husband sure that he is at the top of my list, so there will be fresh cookies in the cookie jar here too.   What more can a Mémère do  : )  

Pray and bake!

 

Feeding of the 5000

  

 At the beginning of August I blogged that I may have a modern 2010 version of the feeding of the 5000 as told in John.  Well this is that anticipated blog.   I had signed up to help in any way needed at our VBS.  Our young and very small church held vacation Bible school with the goal to minister to children living in the projects near the church.  Our pastor's desire was to feed the children both breakfast and lunch along with snacks and then at the end of the week to send them all home with a backpack filled with school supplies.  Of course this was in addition to the main purpose of telling them about Jesus through Bible lessons, music, games and crafts.  I was assigned kitchen duty and given the responsibility to make sure we could serve breakfast, lunch and a snack to about 60 children.   "Oh my goodness" was my first response and panic quickly set in.  BUT GOD - the source, the answer to my puny faith was there to meet every need and amaze us all with how He supplied our every desire.  It truly was a week that ministered to me along with many children.  Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding and to acknowledge Him and He would direct our path.  He graciously did!  We had food, water and juice in abundance and actually in excess.  At the beginning of the VBS we did not know where or how we would supply backpacks only to have them given by another church who had more than they had needed. 

  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

  

John 6:5-145 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" 10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.   Truly children's lives were touched during our VBS and I know for a fact that my faith was strengthened once again.  Thank You Jesus!!