Tag, I'm it. :)

I'm rather slow at blogging this week, since school has kept me busier than a bee.  But, I just realized I was tagged by Debbie at Heart Choices.  ;)  Yippee. .

Let me see if I can answer her questions.

Here are her 7 questions:

1. If you could travel anywhere with no thought to cost, where would you choose to go?  ~~ Oooh.  This is a good question.  I honestly have always let "the thought of cost" keep me from even dreaming.  Sad isn't it?  So this question catches me off guard. .  .But I have to say, that from pictures I've seen, I'd like to take a trip to Alaska.   Then, there's the little dreamer-girl in me that would like to go to the very mountain that "Maria" weaved in between those white-trunked trees on The Sound of Music, singing "The hills are alive..."  :)   (No, I'd not attempt to sing!!)  LOL 

2. What song would you choose for someone to sing at your funeral? ~~ Another good question.  Music is close to my heart.   I'm finding that "No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus" has a special place in my heart---and for anyone at my funeral that may not be saved, I'd just like to tell them that no matter what I went through, the Only True Friend that cared enough for me to give His life for me is Jesus, and I would like to tell them about Him and what He has done for me ~~ and for THEM TOO.

3. If you could spend a day with anyone, (dead or alive) who would you choose? ~~ My sister, Sherri.  She passed away at the age of 22 in 1997.  To be able to spend another day with her would be a blessing, for sure!  Someone would probably have to scrape me up off the floor from having a heart attack first--because the thought of seeing her again makes my heart POUND almost out of my chest.  "I miss you, Sher-Bear." 

Sherri, 1997. Before she passed away.

4. What do you want people to remember you by? (since I got a bit morbid) ~~ That no matter how imperfect I was, my desire was to seek the Lord and be the daughter He wanted me to be, using whatever abilities He equipped me with for His glory.  How I tried to look to Him in everything that happened, and hopefully He helped me grow to be more like Him with each passing day.



5. Are you a early morning person or a night owl? ~~  Hoot Hoot...Does that give you a clue?  I'm a night owl.  Always have been, always will be.  :o)  

Where's my coffee??





6. What is your favorite meal to prepare? ~~ Ok....now this is hitting below the belt, Debbie. LOL I'm no Martha Stewart. . .so don't be 'xpecting a fancy-schmancy entree here. :) It's gotta be the old fashioned Chicken Pot Pie that is my husband's grandmother's "classic" recipe! :) But, now that I'm thinking about it, I had a blast cooking up Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings last year! (Ended up in the ER with a messed up back after being on my feet for so long, but hey, it was worth it!) LOL

I recommend wearing supportive shoes or slippers while
being on your feet for hours on end, especially on a hard
ceramic tile floor.  "Back support~~It's a good thing."  LOL

7. What would a perfect day be like for you? ~~ Weather: No humidity... sunny, a cool breeze, but not too hot.  Blue Sky.  People to be with:  Not having any time to be with Bryan, just the two of us, lately---I have to say that a perfect day would be just a day of Bryan and me "taking a chill," being together, ANYWHERE, with no stress or physical pain to put a damper on the day. 



Okay, Debbie, I've answered the questions..thanks for tagging me and letting me join in on the fun.  I'm glad I realized I was tagged.  :)   Now, if only I could figure out how to tag you back.  LOL   Oh...I'll just send a hug instead. .  MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The Pierced FOIL



He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Col. 1: 13-14 (NIV)

Foiled Again!

Have you ever made plans or set goals, paying careful attention to every little detail as to how you would arrive at that goal, only to have something happen to "foil" your plans?   Ugh!  

Maybe it's late, and my brain is a bit "fried" from all the studying this week, but it seems a bit ironic to say "foiled" when referring to my plans being "Ruined," and yet we use "foil" to cover food (to "keep it from getting ruined" for the time being.)  LOL  

Oh, anyway, when I was younger, my childhood friend, who was VERY creative, was over one night and asked me to "get out a roll of aluminum foil---bring it in here to the TV!  I've got something 'cool' to show you!"   So, with mom's permission, I brought the foil in there and wondered "what in the world" she had come up with now!  :)  Based on the excitement in her voice, the anticipation began to grow so much that my little sister "got in on the action" and had to see what was going on!   Well, Marsha--my friend, took a pin and began to poke holes in the foil . . . .of course I thought, "What is she doing?!"  But the smile on her face made the wait worth it. . . I knew it had to be good.  Finally, after what seemed like "an eternity," she got some scotch tape and began to tape the poked foil onto the front of the old TV screen.   Then she said, "Turn out the lights!"  Hardly able to contain her eagerness, she began to smile really big!  "Click"---lights were out...then she went over to the TV (we didnt' have remotes back then!  LOL)...she turned on the TV and VOILA!  There was "a million" twinkly, colorful lights reflecting from the TV!   With all the "OOoooo's & AAAhhhhhh's!" heard from her "audience," you'd have thought she was a magician!   My parents even "watched the TV show" too! :)  

This was before "Must See T.V."

Sometimes when our plans get "foiled," we become discouraged, even falling into the pit of despair.  "This was NOT supposed to happen!"   I know. . . I know.  Trust me.  But~recently the Lord opened my "eyes" to something:   "Is the servant greater than his Master?"    We can be assured that He understands EVERYTHING we are going through, because He has walked on this earth---endured suffering beyond our imagination.  Anything He allows us to go through is to teach us something about Himself---to make us more like Him---draw us closer TO Him...and just purge us of the "US" in us. (the "Ugly Sin" in us.)    To suffer is no fun---to have plans "foiled" is disappointing--maybe even painful!   But let's allow Him to pierce us--to pierce this "foiled" plan, or maybe even this "foiled life" we may feel we are living---pierce it through--and then in turn, we'll begin to let His LIGHT shine through us!   

WOW! What a Picture!

One pin hole poked through the "TV Foil Display" was "just okay"---but MANY holes revealed the MOVING COLORS that were on the TV screen behind the foil.  OH!  It was just the "coolest thing" ever!  MOVING COLORS!  Think of it!    Our "Foiled" plans, even the temporary "Veil of Darkness" being pulled over us, is just a tool in God's hands to pierce our hearts, tenderizing us to His Love, allowing HIS COLORFUL, MOVING LIGHT to SHINE through so others around us can say, "Ooooo!  Ahhh!   Why are they so COLORFUL?"  And we can say, "it's not why, but WHO!!"    

Our Lord's hands, feet and side were pierced on that cross, to cause a Fountain of Life to flow~~ Let's just be sure to get Plunged INTO His precious blood.  Guess what happens when I am plunged into the MIDDLE of the Fountain Of Life!    F O I L    THE ENEMY's PLAN to destroy my life is FOILED!!!!!!!     

Can we picture the HAPPY DANCE going on here?? 

So, it may seem like you're plans are getting poked through---and everything is just falling apart!   Be sure that YOUR plans are HIS plans!   Be plunged into HIS Fountain of Life--that's the first step to having His and YOUR plans to coincide.  Then~let these "piercings" remind you of Your Master and HIS piercings---We, after all, are NOT greater than our Master--so when He allows us to suffer, He's allowing us to fellowship with Him!  And when we fellowship with Him, we'll begin to beam HIS LIGHT to others!

One day the VEIL is going to be pulled, we shall see Him face to face.
And the only piercings left to behold will be the ones
on His dear hands, and feet and side!

Thank You, Father, for reminding me of that simple "foil" craft from many years ago, and turning it into a special lesson.  It's so hard to have "our plans" be "foiled again!"  But that's just it!  These are "OUR PLANS!"  Let our plans mesh with Yours, and let Your light Shine through the piercings in our hearts each day.  These piercings keep us tender!  Thank YOU Jesus, for enduring the cross, and being pierced for me!  For US~~the "Ugly Sin" in all of us!  We love you!!  In Your Name, Amen.

H.U.N.T. ~~ Hugs Until Next Time,

Are You in a 'F.O.G.' ??

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken.
Isaiah 62:4 (KJV)

Have you ever experienced what it felt to be forsaken?  By a loved one?  By a friend?  Have you (or I) ever felt that maybe, even though we KNOW that God will never leave nor FORSAKE us, (Heb. 13:5) that maybe He had?  He had become very quiet, and it seemed His presence was "not there" ??? 

Maybe unconfessed sin in our life had caused a barrier to come between us and the Lord, and therefore caused a strain in our relationship with Him ~~  How could He fellowship with us while there was something (unconfessed sin) between us?   I understand.  Maybe the GUILT from our past, even though we know we're FORGIVEN~has caused us to feel "as though we're still forsaken."  Not forgiving ourselves is a BIG reason why a lot of us don't experience the Abundant LIFE that God has given us through Christ.

To feel "forsaken" in the spiritual sense is a :

Feeling of being 

Oppressed and
Ruined because my

Sin and Shame

Are

Keeping me from

Enjoying my

New life in Christ. 

Whoah.   Ever been there??    Oh yes, I have..."been there, and DONE THAT!"  That's a sly trick from the enemy to keep us under his "thumb"~ and essentially "in bondage," even though we've been SET FREE through the atoning work of Christ on the cross!

To feel "Forsaken Of God" is to actually feel as if we're in a F.O.G.  Where is HE?  "The smoke and ashes from the piled up rubble of my collapsed life are blinding me from seeing His face!  Why, I can not even MOVE since I can't SEE anything in this spiritual F.O.G. !!"

I can't seem to SEE A THING here, PEOPLE!!!

Well, let's step out of this F.O.G. . . and hop right into another F.O.G. shall we?  No, we're not hopping from the frying pan into the FIRE!??   Well, maybe we ARE---into the FIRE of the HOLY SPIRIT's POWER!   

Watch this:  We can experience the Favor Of God by remembering:  

Faith in God brings the Forgiveness Of God.

Abundant and

Victorious Living follow, when we're

Overtaken and

Regenerated by His POWER to

Enable us to Enjoy HIS

Divine Life within!!!



Looks  like THIS FOG is lifting~~ MY SPIRIT anyway! :)



Cha-Ching!!!!  Now, THAT'S MY KIND OF FOG!!!!   When I was a SR in high school, our "Family Living" teacher used to tell us "Get out your notebooks, this is a meatball (or "important tidbit of info to chew on.")  Well, well well----this just puts "Cloudy with a Chance of MEATBALLS" into a WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE, don't ya think?!  LOL 

Anyway, I was actually STUDYING anatomy, and then the Lord reminded me of the verse in Isaiah and applied that to a situation I recently experienced.   So I thought I'd share this with you ~~because I KNOW that "what He tells us in darkness, that share ye on the rooftops."  (Matthew 10:27) OK, this blog is not a rooftop, but it is a platform of some kind.  :)    BTW, if I don't do well on this week's A & P quiz, I'll just tell the instructor, "My brain must've been in a F.O.G."  LOL 

Well I must get back to reviewing flashcards.   But before my next post, whenever the Lord leads that to happen, be thinking about "which F.O.G." you are in. . .we're all "in a F.O.G."~~let's make sure it's the GOOD FOG---to be FAVORED of GOD!  And the only "Light" we need to have SHINING ahead of us is HIS WORD onto our path!  Don't forget that He will NEVER leave us NOR FORSAKE US, no matter what!  So let's be FREE to enjoy the Favor Of God, since we're NO LONGER termed FORSAKEN!!   :)

H.U.N.T. ~~  Hugs Until Next Time!