By God...For God

God gave each of us unique characteristics. We are unlike anyone else in this entire world. Each of us is different and exclusive in the eyes of our Creator. The way we love. The way we walk, talk, smile, and write…the way we praise, worship, and adore our Immanuel is special and unequal to each other. Only you can give back to Jesus the unique traits He blessed you with. If we could only understand, this is why He created us! We were created by God…for God! He longs to hear from each and everyone of us; because… what He gave you… can only be given back to Him by you!

Please take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Give back to your Savior in response to His great love! In this precious time spent with Him, you will taste the victory of Heaven’s home and enter His presence in moments of solitude. He longs to be adored with the sweetness you can only give. He waits to lavish His grace and love upon you if only you will sit awhile with Him and breathe in God and exhale Jesus!

May we praise our Lord and say as Job…

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away; may the
name of the Lord be praised.”
~Job 1:21

Kindled Light

I’ve got this candle in my kitchen which I purchased from Cocalico Creek while shopping with a great friend of mine. I fell in love with the smell…oatmeal raisin cookie. I brought it home, put the big cake candle in a primitive candle holder, and decorated it with a berry wreath. I placed it in the kitchen at the small round café table at the bay window.

I hardly ever light the candle since the purchase…usually only when I know company is coming because I want to save the beauty of the lit candle for special occasions. As I cleaned up the kitchen the other evening, I moved the candle to wipe beneath the place it sat. I had a thought, why not light the candle. Several minutes passed. No one was coming over for a visit, but I decided to light the candle and admire the beauty of the flickering flame and take in the sweet smell.

I stared quietly at the candle with a warm cup of java warming my hands. Why do I wait for guests to light the wick? The glow of the candle brought a tranquil moment to my otherwise busy day. It was peaceful and soon became a God moment as my eyes glazed over in a day dream state staring at the illumination of kindled light. It was a sweet time between me and my Lord and I thank Him for the inspiration to light the flame and spend some precious time with Him!

Who Am I by Casting Crowns

God's Chisel

Please Pray for Jake

I’m just writing. It’s been a stressful day. The day didn’t start off stressful, but has developed into a sick gut full of angst. At one point, I just had to walk outside and tell myself to breath and when I exhaled I shot little arrow prayers up to heaven; angry little arrow prayers full of frustration.

Nearly one year ago we moved to Pennsylvania from Iowa. In Iowa, we owned a beautiful home, The Taft House, steeped in history. We had no idea the real estate market would take a nose dive due to the economy last summer. We still have not sold the home. Even after $50,000 dollars worth of repairs this spring due to a pipes breaking in the second floor of the home, it still has not sold. We thought we had a buyer last week, but they decided on another home. We are in the process of my husband’s company buying the home from us, but know in doing so we will take a VERY big loss on top of the financial loss we have suffered thus far in not selling the home for such a long time.
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A few hours have passed.
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I have just gotten off the phone with my cousin. Her son has been sick and they have not been able to diagnose him. She took him to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh last week and a team of doctors took on her son’s case and are playing live “House” (TV drama about a doctor who tries to solve medical mysteries) on him. Yesterday she found out that her son may have had strep go through his entire body and damage his heart in the process. He will be a senior this year and will be 18 in December. Tomorrow he goes to get and echo-cardiogram to determine if there is damage and the extent of the damage if any is found.
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I’m such a schmuck for even stressing over the money. God has always taken care of us and I don’t think He will stop now.
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Money is nothing. A young life is everything. Please pray for Jake!

Do you have a hard time accepting compliments from others? When someone gives you an accolade do you turn around and put yourself down in the very next breath? I know I do this to much and too often. I have come to realize this is just as much a sin as it is for one to be prideful in themselves, talents, or gifts.

Think of this...God sends someone to build up and edify the very gift He gave to you. Through this person, God encourages us to continue on the good work which He has set upon our heart to do. Immediately, we take and tear down exactly what God wanted to build up in us...confidence. We rip to shreds the unique creation God made in His own image.

I once did this very thing after receiving a compliment from a pastor's wife at a church in Iowa. She really liked the outfit I had on and the way I had done my hair that day. I quickly spoke and put my body down, the clothes as old rags, and my hair well it just wouldn't cooperate. I'll never forget what she said to me,

"Shannon, just say thank you ."

As women, we are hard on ourselves. We always seem to think we just don't measure up or we could be better. How about we stop putting ourselves down and making our Heavenly Father cringe with disappointment. Let's accept a compliment with a simple...."thank you" and then also thank our God for who He made us to be...His wonderful creation!

I’m in a good place at the present time. I sense God near whispering softly to my soul. I want it to last forever, but I know forever won’t last in this earthly vessel. Trials will come. When they do, I’ll sit unwavering in the eye of the storm where peace still abounds as the winds blow around me. I’ll breathe deeply with my eyes lifted to the sky for my help comes from the Almighty. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He began a good work in me and will see it to the finish. But along this journey I now trod, I will rest in the presence of the one who makes my yoke easy despite the difficulties. For I am grafted into the power of the One who’s blood was shed for me…Jesus. I will rejoice in the victory He has already won. Christ’s love story for me is this; He defeated sin in His death to bring me life. So I will call Him my forever love and become a slave to righteousness which brings me freedom. Righteousness will lead me to holiness. Holiness points toward eternal life. Holy, holy, holy, art thou O Lord God Almighty! Worthy, worthy, worthy, is the Lamb that was slain!

“…but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:19-23

Rheumatoid Arthritis Healing Powers

This writing is off the cuff. No edits. Just purely from my heart.

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Aug. 29, 2007 -- Rheumatoid arthritis patients on Remicade or Enbrel have a small but higher risk of skin cancer, a new study confirms.

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In late January 2009, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I could not button clothes, help my children tie their shoes, open a jar, and many other simple tasks became nearly impossible to do. I'm only 42 and became a bit down thinking I was to young for such a disease. They say there is no cure and medicine with horrible side effects, including cancer, would be my only option to slow the progression of the hand and feet deforming sickness. It took me six weeks to get in to see a specialist and once there I had another round of x-rays and blood work.

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However, I had a much greater Physician on my side. I knew Doctor Jesus, as my faithful Grandma Bowser would often refer to Him as, could do anything...even heal me. I began to pray as did many of my brothers and sisters in the Lord that God would rain down His healing touch. I cried out to the Lord many nights when my hands hurt so badly,

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"Please Lord take this pain away!"

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It took me six weeks to get in to see a specialist and at that time in mid April 2009 they took many more x-rays and did more blood work. Prior to this appointment I had been feeling very good. In fact, even told the doctor I was not having any pain for the past four weeks. But given the fact the previous x-rays had shown deterioration of my bone structure in my left hand, the additional tests were done.

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I had done a lot of research on some of the suggested medicine for RA and had decided before going back to the doctor's for a follow up after all the tests...I was not going to take any of the medication, but trust my Lord to continue to heal me. I even took four sheets of printed off material to argue with the doc about why I shouldn't take the medicine. Needless to say, none of the arguments I had planned were used. The doctor said the blood work showed no RA and my x-rays showed no deterioration as previously diagnosed. WOW! It felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders and a huge smile came over my face. I looked at the doc and said,

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"That is a sure answer to prayer!" as the doctor smiled in return.

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I'm so ever thankful and grateful to my Lord! I am so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares for me so much! I just praise Him this day for healing my body and making me whole!

Fragrance of Grace

The windows were open and the lace curtains pushed back off the frame dancing freely in the spring air. The smell of the crisp soft gale was clean and rejuvenating from the rain that spilled from the heavens the night before. I stood in front of the opened window. The curtains almost touching me and the gentle wind swept softly against my cheeks. I took a deep slow breath trying to capture the beauty of the morning air. At the height of my inhale, I held my breath and closed my eyes seeking to hold onto the sweetness of the moment for as long as possible. I slowly exhaled and opened my eyes. I looked beyond the frame of the window to the pasture. I marveled at the color pallet of the brilliant green set against the peaceful blue sky.

I whispered softly to my sweet Savior,

“Thank you Lord for this piece of heaven revealed to me today. I’m grateful for the smell of your sweet presence in the refreshing rain and the touch of your gentle hand in the quiet breeze. Remind me of this moment today and quicken me to love others with the same love you have touched me with in the beauty of your creation!”

He Loves Us!

There is never a question whether the Lord Jesus loves us. He loves us! He loves us! He loves us! He loves us despite our bad choices, judgemental thoughts, gluttony, and all other sin we commit daily.

Even though He loves us lavishly and unconditionally, He still longs endlessly to hear our sweet voice. He desires silent solitude with our thoughts focused on Him alone. He wants the chance to lull your tender spirit into rhythm with His. His heart beats with the pitter pat of love as He waits for your acceptance of His invitation to dance with Him. He is sad when He is rejected by the one He truly loves, but then again, He is use to rejection. He remembers two words..."Crucify Him!"

When we forget about Jesus and all He did for us, we crucify Him all over again. Let us not put our Lord through such pain and anguish. He suffered enough to build a bridge to God for us. He longs to love us! We have a choice every day to let Jesus rule us and have peace or allow the world to dictate hurt and pain upon our soul. Sing this...

O how I love Jesus,

O how I love Jesus,

O how I love Jesus,

Because He first loved me.

Don't forget how much Jesus loves you and desires to bless you with the best of everything! All praise, glory, and honor to Him forever and ever!