When I started blogging I purposed in my heart to be as honest and vulnerable as I felt God would allow me to be. BUT it has been so amazingly crazy that I’ve needed to kind of process my emotions and just get things taken care of. Anyway- it’s piling up- so I thought I’d better share as well as ask for your prayers. I’ve attached a section of an e-mail I sent to a good friend below. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for Lessons I'm Learning
Resisting or Embracing?!?!
“No not that, not me, not this!!!”, squealed the lump of clay. “I want to be amazing and have people oooo and awww at the grandeur of my beauty and stature. I simply refuse to just be some old ugly terra-cotta!! I’m expecting paint, glaze, maybe a few jewels– You know the WORKS!! Listen here Potter, if you want to have any business with this here lump you better push and squeeze on your little spinning wheel thing to MY direct specifications!!”
—— can you imagine the audacity of that concept, what’s being created telling the Creator how to do it?? Yes, very audacious but I know I do it.
The whole clay vs. potter concept is such a rich reminder that life is a constant process of molding and shaping. I do not have the privilege of choosing my molding of trial or blessing.
I remember growing up I was taught there are 10 Unchangeables. Read the rest of this entry »
sweet things I’ve heard today…
“I love you, Mom…. I’m your darlin, right?,” that’s what I heard while I was putting Eli down for a nap. PRECIOUS!!!
“Draw nigh to me and I will Draw nigh to you.”(James 4:11) are the words the Holy Spirit keeps whispering in my heart. I think it’s to remind me that I have a choice in the matter. I must purpose my will, emotions, and thoughts to be surrendered in every aspect of my circumstances. Once I’m obedient, the Lord will reveal Himself.
“Obedience is doing what you’re told to do, When you’re told to do it, with a Happy Heart,” once again Eli. He quotes it in a little sing-songy voice ALL the time when I tell him to do something. I’ve heard it at least fifty times today.
Put that with what God’s been telling me and it makes for a DOUBLE sweet thing…
Not alot today, but these have been my little “sunshiny rays.”
What happens when we fail the test?
My coffee was starting to wear off. I moved to grab another Red Bull from my stash hiding in the closet. Yikes!! I’d been up all night!!! Boyle’s law, Extreme value Theorm, homogeneous differential equations, and more caluclus terms were crowding my brain. Hyperbeloid of one sheet was the same thing to me as the hyperbeloid of ten sheets let alone the whole bed for that matter!! The test was tomorrow at 8:00 and there’s was no way I was going to pass. I’d studied and crammed until I was floating in Theorum’s but it wasn’t going to happen. Failure was headed my way with a BIG smile on it’s face.
soooooooooo ummm- no I’m actually not taking a test tomorrow. And I’m so bad at calculus that I don’t even know what those terms up above mean. I googled calculus terms to find them- hee! hee!! But I have faced some tests before that life has thrown my way and as they loomed I knew no matter how hard I tried failure was eminent. Read the rest of this entry »
Before / After
Yesterday was a big day!! I’ll spare you the list. However, despite the non-stop of it all when bed time came around my mind was still reeling. I just couldn’t shut it off. Soooooooooo instead of fighting it, I got up and made myself comfortable in the Living Room. Everything was clean since we had the party. Dim Lights, soft music, no toys strewn across the floor, and completely by myself– VERY nice. The surroundings made me feel like I was back in college. Loved it!
Words were tumbling in my head and in the quiet they came out like this– Read the rest of this entry »
more–
Okay so I’ve been thinking on the names of God I posted yesterday. Steven and I were talking about it and he reminded me of something I learned years ago. It may be old news to you, but I had forgotten to be reading like this so I didn’t think it was a bad idea to post it.
Have you ever noticed that in Scripture the word “Lord” is written two different ways? You will find it like this “LORD”- all caps- and “Lord”- lower case letters-. Go ahead- check it out!
The first one is the proper name of God- it is the English word for Yaweh. The second one is actually the noun for Master or teacher.
So it’s like this- as Stephanie L. Smithson is to me, LORD is to God. It’s His name above all names. In other words it’s the name on His “birth certificate” (that is if He had one and hadn’t existed forever with no beginning or end=).
The second one is as girl is to me, Lord is to God. It’s what He is. He is the master and teacher but it’s not his personal name.
The excerpt below is the first three verses of Psalm 100 – try reading it knowing that it is God’s personal name that is used. See if it makes a difference to you.
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD (yawheh) , all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD (yahweh) with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD (Yawheh –not mu hammed, Buddha, Joseph Smith ect.), He is God;
I LOVE that– I’m on a first name basis with Yaweh in every passage that “LORD” is used. Very humbling! What a great reason to lift my hands in worship!
God and who He is–
We had a 
powerful service today at church. The choir special was a song called “Lord You’re Holy.” Pretty much it’s the names of God put to music- people were standing before we ever made it to the middle of the song!!! I can reflect upon so many different seasons of my life and remember different names of God that I called on. Each and every one of us is in a different season and wonder which name might mean the most to you right now. (The writing at the side of the page is the Hebrew lettering for Yaweh.)
I thought this list of God’s names was extensive so attached it here: Read the rest of this entry »
“Had”
Life is filled with so many blessings like funny children and sunshiny days. We serve a very gracious God that desires to show us good things and does so on a daily basis.
But as so many of you know life isn’t always a happy journey. There are often times of incredible suffering. Sadly, I’ve learned from personal experience, I can easily inflict some seasons of suffering upon myself . It’s not that our Father forsakes us but He allows us to endure these times so that we may experience Him in ways that we could have never understood before. I read these verses just last week, “Am I only a God nearby?” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?, Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:23-24
Someone very dear to me is in this very intimate place. It’s a fragile place, a place of returning and rest. A place of getting to know God in such a tender way but also a place very new and unknown. She shared with me an excerpt that ministered to her encouragement. It’s something Beth Moore wrote after making an exodus herself from a time of bondage away from God. It’s a bit long but I thought it was worth taking the time to type. Maybe the Lord wanted me to write it just for one of you. Here it is… Read the rest of this entry »
Extra-ordinary Me
As you read my blog– I hope you will see I live a very ordinary life, filled with ordinary struggles, on a very ordinary plane just like everybody else. But I do want you to know there is something very extra ordinary about me and it is that God’s love has transformed my life and given me hope for a future! He is what sees through my selfish and sinful heart and loves me as His child. I found this beautiful clip that shows in an earthly way what Jesus has done for me…
I hope you know Him. He wants to know you – he sacrificed his Son so you could have eternal life. if you ever wanted to talk about Him– I’d be so humbled to do that with you!
Info overload– do you suffer?
Well I’m back…
I’ve had a good weekend and hope you guys have too. We’ve gotten shopping, laundry, and a few yummy meals cooked over the weekend. Other than two sweet trips to the local park we’ve not done too much exciting.
I did read an interesting article this weekend. I’ve been amazed at the power the Internet has for good!! God has blessed me with some sweet friendships around the world that I might never have been able to form had not this technological marvel of search engines entered my life. However, I think the expression “too much of a good thing” can be applied to this just as much as anything else. This article was a great warning sign that reached me just in time. let me share-
It’s been adapted from the January 2008 Reader’s Digest article “Don’t Be Overwhelmed by Technology —Get a Grip” by Ron Geraci
~ The average American worker receives 108 e-mails every day
~We now get more info in 72 hours than our parents likely received in a month
~Research show that the constant information stream is addictive and exhausting. Our brains become trained to constantly flit around the universe of messages and information, seeking brief “hits” of excitement
~The ability to multi-task is really a myth. Research shows that multitasking is just a series of constant micro-interruptions and stop-starts, all of which tend to reduce mental and motor performance
HOW TO FIGHT INFO OVERLOAD
1. Set limits: Try an e-mail signature that reads, “I answer e-mail at 10 a.m, 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. If you need a quicker response, please call.”
2. Stick to a schedule: Handle recreational web surfing and e-mail at set times. Dipping in and out is classic self-interruption.
3. Hit the “Off” button: Once a week , shut off your phone, computer, and electronic gadgets for the day. Read, worship, relax, and recharge.
I’m praying about any adjustments I need to make to my computer habits. I can totally see myself in a few of these points. Hopefully I’ll get a few of the unhealthy habits ironed out before I’m a goner!!
