On the road again--just can't wait to get on the road again.......

PS Dancing with the Stars has started its new season. So far the women rock.

I love the fall.

anticipation

possibilities

dreams

Thank You

Thank you Columbus/Franklinton "community" for sharing your lives with me through your blogs. They bless me.

Hey I just customized my colors and template--maybe I am catching on after all

blogs & time

This blog is getting to be more work than it is worth. When I tried to post yesterday they told me my email address was not valid. Then they wanted me to create a new password. So here we are trying once again and hoping I will be able to get back to this site in the future.

The weather has cooled down nicely. I don't like hot weather. Next holiday that comes is Labor Day and after that the fall progresses quickly and before you know it the holidays are here. How's that for making six months of your life fly by!

technology

All I wanted to do was add a post...but no because they decided to upgrade I have to remember what my gmail account is..which I didn't create in the first place..why do they think I created a nice litte icon on my desktop to access my blog??? Isn't this some kind of invasion of my privacy? I had an account and they decided to change things without asking if I wanted to? As a result we may not have dinner tonight as I had to spend the allotted time to prepare our crock pot dinner to update my account!!!

Well to get back to my post:
Had a really nice weekend. Visited with my entire family--not all together which works out better--each group has their own "center" and sometimes they don't blend well. As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy conflict it works out better to visit this way. I got to scooter board for the first time. It was a lot of fun and good exercise. Also got to play basketball and actually got the ball in the hoop. Good food, good company. All this even when situations are not the best in people's lives. I have a saying by my computer--Happiness is NOT having what you want but wanting what you HAVE.

Time to get ready for work.

We can compete with God’s plan and pursue our own agenda. Or we can converge with God’s plan and join the winning side. The choice is ours. —Joe Stowell

Choose not a path that God can’t bless,
For it will end in sure defeat;
But choose God’s path of victory
And with His plans you won’t compete. —D. De Haan

Vacation is coming up fast. Leave Saturday for Florida. Trying to avoid getting sick--lots of people around me have one thing or another.

Trying a new group Thursday night and my Wednesday night group is finishing up the section we were doing. Need to decide if we will start a new one or end till September or possibly not start up again. Taking a leadership class because of small group I lead and most of what it is talking about is not something I want to do. Decisions, decisions-----

Reason for prayer

This is from today's reading of OUr Daily Bread--

We prayed. Quietly sometimes. Aloud other times. For more than 17 years we prayed. We prayed for our daughter Melissa’s health and direction, for her salvation, and often for her protection. Just as we prayed for our other children, we asked God to have His hand of care on her.

As Melissa rolled into her teenage years, we prayed even more that He would keep her from harm—that He would keep His eyes on her as she and her friends began to drive. We prayed, "God, please protect Melissa."

So what happened? Didn’t God understand how much it would hurt so many people to lose such a beautiful young woman with so much potential for service to Him and others? Didn’t God see the other car coming on that warm spring night?

We prayed. But Melissa was killed.

Now what? Do we stop praying? Do we give up on God? Do we try to make it alone?

Absolutely not! Prayer is even more vital to us now. God—our inexplicable sovereign Lord—is still in control. His commands to pray still stand. His desire to hear from us is still alive. Faith is not demanding what we want; it is trusting God’s goodness in spite of life’s tragedies.

We grieve. We pray. We keep on praying. —Dave Branon

I question not God’s means or ways,
Or how He uses time or days,
To answer every call or prayer—
I know He will, somehow, somewhere. —Whitney

God may deny our request but will never disappoint our trust.

You are rich when you are satisfied with what you have.

From our daily bread:


Driving through Ireland to a Bible conference, I saw a fascinating billboard. It was large and white with nothing on it but a woman’s red shoe and the bold caption: "Is Shopping The New Religion?"

The pursuit of possessions continues to be one of the most powerful motivations that people can experience. But can the accumulation of things bring true satisfaction?

In Luke 12:15, Jesus answered that question with a firm and uncompromising "No!" During a discussion on material wealth, He said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Life must always be more than just the inventory of the things we own.

King Solomon also attempted to find satisfaction in the pursuit of things. He discovered it to be full of emptiness (Eccl. 2:1-17). If we have placed "the abundance of the things" we possess at the center of our lives, shopping may, in fact, have become a substitute for God—a new religion. But such endeavors will always result in emptiness.

David prayed, "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Ps. 145:16). Only God is able to bring real satisfaction to our lives. —Bill Crowder

O Lord, help us to be content
With all that we possess,
And may we show our gratitude
With heartfelt thankfulness. —Sper

You are rich when you are satisfied with what you have.

happiness

At Harvard University, you can take a course in happiness. This popular class helps students discover, as the professor states, "How to get happy."

That’s not a bad idea. In fact, the Bible even suggests on several occasions the importance of being happy or joyful. Solomon tells us that God grants happiness to us as a privilege (Eccl. 3:12; 7:14; 11:9).

Sometimes, though, we take the search for earthly happiness too far. We see it as the most important pursuit, and even believe that our happiness is God’s highest goal for us. That’s when our thinking gets confused.

God’s Word tells us that true happiness comes by keeping God’s law (Ps. 1:1-2; Prov. 16:20; 29:18). God demands holiness and has called us to live a holy life—one that exemplifies His moral character (1 Thess. 4:7; 2 Peter 3:11). In Peter’s first letter we read, "As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

When we face decisions about the way we should act or how we should live, we must keep in mind that God’s command is not "Be happy," but "Be holy." True joy will come from a holy, God-honoring life. —Dave Branon

In all I think and say and do,
I long, O God, to honor You;
But may my highest motive be
To love the Christ who died for me. —D. De Haan

There is no true happiness apart from holiness and no holiness apart from Christ.