I Am Ready to Be Humble

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

This was the closing scripture to the movie a saw today, War Room.  I am humbled after seeing that movie.  Sometimes we need a reminder of what the Lord can and more importantly WILL do if we humble ourselves before Him.  

War Room Trailer:

It's very rare that I get emotional for a movie (although it seems to be happening more lately!) but this one really touched me deep in my soul.  The struggle sounded so familiar to me and to some others that I know.  Why is it so hard to believe that all we need to do is really humble ourselves before the Lord?  Why is it so hard to believe that He still answers prayer?  I don't know the answers but I know what I will be attempting to do over the next few months!  

Have you seen the movie?  What are your thoughts?

Love & Blessings!
Margaret

Christian Book Review: Finding Our Way Home by Charlene Ann Baumbich

Finding Our Way Home: A Novel by Charlene Ann Baumbich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You work your life for one dream and in on moment it's gone forever. This is what happened to Sasha Davis when she was dropped during a premier performance. At age 38 the only career she has ever had is over and not only that, she can't even walk much less dance. She believes the "Lady of the Dance" from her snowglobe tried to warn her and this is her consequence for ignoring the warnings. Sasha has to give up everything she thought she wanted to find what it is that she needs.

Evelyn doesn't know why her parents are so mad! She's only postponing college not giving it up forever! And beside she's and adult... and ENGAGED adult at that! When the opportunity to be a live in assistant for Sasha Davis arises, it's the perfect answer to her problems. Moving out of her parents home, even temporarily, will give them all some breathing space, especially her father. Her relationship with her fiance hits some snags and Evelyn begins to wonder what exactly it is that she wants from life.

Sasha and Evelyn are the unlikeliest of pairs but yet they seem to complement each other. While they are complete opposites, they manage to work well enough together to help each other through some difficult times. I enjoyed the interaction between the two which was serious at times but also humorous at times. It added to the flow of the story to make it realistic and smooth.

From the extra characters, I loved Gramps and Donald the most. Gramps accepted Evelyn for who she was without judging her like her parents tended to do. Donald was a loving, devoted husband he felt shut out but persisted with his wife.

This is a Christian novel but I did not find it to be preachy. The references to faith are subtle and focus more on living a Christian Life rather than preaching to others about the Christian Life.

Overall I thought the book was wonderful and well-written.

Love and Blessings Always!
Margaret

View all my reviews

Blogging weekend! #blogathon2

Hello everyone,

I just want you to know I've really been taking steps to clean up my blog and provide better content for you.  So this weekend I will be participating in the Biannual Blogathon Bash.  The Bash is set up with mini challenges that will help me improve my blog and make it a better experience for you the reader when you come visit.  The blogathon started yesterday, June 22, but we had severe thunderstorms so I'm just getting started today.

I will be around and blogging most of the day today.  My family is off for a day of fishing, Mom is staying home to do laundry, read and blog!  Some of the activities I will be doing for the blogathon are:

Learning to write a better book review
Learning to write better tweets
How to make photo collages
So much more!!

Tomorrow me and my daughter are taking in the movie Brave then off to church!  I'll be here in the afternoon though!  

I hope you'll check in periodically to see how I'm doing.  Or maybe you even want to join in!

 

So that's the deal and I hope to see you around this weekend!

Love and Blessings Always!
Margaret

Power Outage! #christian

Yesterday I got the dreaded call at work.  My brother in law called to let me know that we had lost power in our home and they didn't know when it would be restored!  He was working to find a generator to keep our basement from flooding.  Of course, right after the call, it started raining in earnest.  Yes God, you DO have a sense of humor don't you?  Luckily, our neighbor had one we could borrow and we just swapped it back and forth.  Also of course (I know, not proper grammar!) I had just done some grocery shopping the day before.  Sigh...

So hubby arrived home just before I did and the kids had a leadership meeting.  We couldn't cook, we couldn't watch TV, so we had to keep each other company!  So hubby and I were sitting and chatting, and in walked the children... who were soaking wet from the rain... who decided their Momma need a hug... a soaking wet hug... and thought it was hilarious!  Oh how I LOVE those children!

My delightful children when they are NOT wet!

After their loving greeting (NOT!!!), we sat and ate pizza (the one good thing about no power is you HAVE TO ORDER OUT!!!), then we started telling "ghost" stories.  It was HYSTERICAL!!  Then we did a round robin story where each of us would do one sentence of the story.  It got sillier and sillier the whole time!! We ended up having some great family time (and we ate a LOT of ice cream! To keep it from going to waste of course!).  It's not often we are all sitting in the same room!  It took a power outage to remind us how much fun we have as a family with our silly antics and games. Even my Mom (whom I called for a pity party) got into the fun.  She reminded me that Emma Yoder from the Half-Stitch Amish Quilting Club manage quite well without electricity.  Remind me to never lend my mom any more books! (Just kidding Mom!).

But this whole situation reminds me of another;

Does it take a "power outage to get you to spend time with your Father?  

Do you realize, that when you are experiencing a temporary loss of power, that all you have to do to "plug in" is pray?  Jesus tells us in John 14:13-14 (NIV):

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 

He even tells us WHAT to pray in Matthew 6:9-13:

After this manner therefore pray ye: 

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, 

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 Give us this day our daily bread.

 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Wait a minute, do I see the word POWER!!  Yes, He is our power and to put that power to work we just need to ask him!  We don't even need to wait until there is a full power outage.  Even if it's just a "brown out" or a partial loss of power, we can be recharged by just seeking Him, asking Him. 

It didn't take long for our power to be restored, much earlier than they said it would be thank God!  But when it did, my son went to his room, my daughter went to get ready for a school trip, hubby flicked on the TV.   In other words, we left each others presence.  

You see where I'm going with this right?  Just because your power is restored, be careful that you don't leave HIS presence.  We still NEED HIM! He is our constant power supply.  It's only when we step away, no matter how brief, that we experience that power outage.  Stay close and stay charged!

I hope this has blessed you in some way.  If it did, leave a comment telling about recent power outages in your life and how you recharged. 

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway for My Big Bottom Blessing by Teasi  Cannon here.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by the Holy Spirit.  The only compensation I received was the blessing of being able to share this.  Scripture share belongs 100% to God!  

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

ARE YOU A SELL-OUT? #Jesus #God #bible

Well are you?  Sold out for Jesus?

I've been doing a lot of bible study recently and it seems all of my lessons are pointing to being sold out for Jesus, not holding anything back.  But I have a confession to make...

I have serious trust issues. It's hard for me to let people see my heart, it's easier to let them judge me on my outward appearance. And because of the human experiences I have had, it has taken me a LONG time to trust Jesus with everything.  In other words, I'm a CONTROL FREAK!

Through my reading and studies, I'm learning that Jesus, was not concerned with outward experiences.  He was not looking for perfection, because he knows there is no perfection here in this world.  Jesus looks at my (your) heart:

1 Sam 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

No matter what has been done to you in the past, no matter what you have done in the past, once I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, once YOU accept  Him as your Savior, it's all new.  None of those things matter.  But try telling your feelings that!

When you have been

• bullied
• abused 
• rejected 
• betrayed 

by those here in this world,  your feelings tell you that there is no one who cares.  It's hard to accept that there is One who will never bully you, never abuse you, never reject you, never betray you.

But Jesus gave us His WORD that he would never leave us comfortless:

John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

So what I'm learning is that I can trust Jesus with everything.  I don't have to worry that one day He will leave me, I don't have to worry at all because He will take care of my every need, he will give me the desires of my heart, but most importantly I can rest in the JOY that I find in Him.

I'm ready to be a Sell-Out, how about you? Are you ready to take that next step of faith?  

If you'd like to know what I've been using for study, check out these books on Amazon:

Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate - This is a fiction but has great examples of being sold out for Christ.  It releases in June 2012

You're Already Amazing: Embracing Who You Are, Becoming All God Created You to Be by Holley Gerth - Holley Walks you through being your amazing self that God created you to be, giving you questions to help you understand more about your unique skills and talents.  Review will be posted soon!

My Big Bottom Blessing: How Hating My Body Led to Loving My Life by Teasi Cannon - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book so far.  The writing is very simple and there are questions at the end of each chapter to help you dig deeper.  Review is coming soon!

And on that note, I leave you with this song by Matthew West!
 
Love and Blessings Always! 
Margaret

Are YOU Waving? #christian

^{Hosea 6:3} Let us acknowledge the Lord;
    let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
    he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
    like the spring rains that water the earth.

Everyday I drove by and I didn't know if she saw me or not but I would wave anyway. Sometimes she would wave, but I wasn't sure if she was waving at me.

I didn't think she could see me because I was in the dark.  Well, not really in the dark, but I was driving past in my car and sometimes the sun reflects and makes it look dark inside the car.  So I didn't know if she could see me waving.

But I waved anyway.

This reminds me a lot of how God waves at me

every
single
 day

He doesn't care if I'm watching that day, or if I'm going to wave back, He waves anyway.

Sometimes it's dark and rainy, and I can't see Him that well, He waves anyway.

Sometimes it's a clear, bright day, and He waves... and I choose not to wave back.  He waves anyway.

Thank you Lord, for waving at me every day, trying to get my attention, trying to get me to wave back.  I love you Lord and I'm sorry for not waving back!  I can't promise that I will do it every time, but I will wave Lord.

Will you wave back too?  Will you wave when he waves at you?

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

Book Review: Church Missing Black Men - Women Going Alone: Get Saved Man! by Lydia Paul #christianbook

Get Saved Man! by Lydia Paul
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sorry I don't have a picture of the book cover for this one.

The premise of this Christian book is to show Christian women that there are many of us who have husbands who do not attend church regularly. What I was expecting was guidance in prayer and conduct for Christian women who want their husbands to attend, but not be overbearing or nagging. What I got was a book that described various situations the author faced with her husband who is not a church attender.

The book certainly had some golden nuggets. I love how she said nagging will not work, instead choose prayer and fasting. She gave some great advice on setting an example of godliness rather than using manipulative measures. I had to shake the pan to get rid of the dirt to find the gold nuggets, but the search was worth it when I found them! 

What I didn't like what that there was a LOT of information, but it was disorganized.  For example, there are a lot of links and references to books on Amazon in this book. That was very distracting to me, I would rather see traditional bibliography or footnote. In physical books, I rarely see a link unless it's directly related to the subject, not a reference document.  It seemed like the author got tired of researching the subject and just referenced other people's work. I really didn't connect at all even though I'm in a similar situation. This was certainly disappointing.

As a Christian book reviewer, I think the book needs a bit more work, maybe a review by a professional editor would have addressed my concerns. It definitely has potential and could be a good resource for women in this position. As a Christian reader, I would like to see a shorter version of this book that just sticks to the challenges of having a Christian husband who does not attend church and how she coped
with it.

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

View all my reviews

Umm God?

I know I said the other day to bring the rain, but God?  I was bluffing.  See, I really don't like being wet.  And my shoes are all sloshy and it's really uncomfortable and  I want ... what's that You say?

^{Jeremiah 29:11} 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. 


Oh yeah, I know that!  But what I'm trying to say is, uh,  I changed my mind.  I mean, I want you to do your plan and all, but can you make it a little more comfortable, a little less rain??  NO? What's that?


^{James 1:2} Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

OK, if You say so, but it's really hard to feel joy right now, I'm really trying to keep my head above all of this rain.  I'm paddling and paddling but it feels like the water level just keeps getting higher and higher, something is weighing me down.  I just wish could drop whatever it is and just float.  I CAN?

^{Matthew 11:29} Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 


Does this mean you will do the paddling for me????  Ok, Lord, show me how to let this burden go, I'm ready... boy am I ever ready!!  Because I'm really tired and I need that rest you are offering!  

One last thing to remember?  Oh, I guess it's not about me.. it has always been about You.  I'm sorry Father, thank you for your grace.

^{Job 29:20} My glory will not fade; the bow will be ever new in my hand.’  

^{2 Corinthians 12:9} But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

Love and Blessings Always,
Margaret