WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Interruptions...or Divine Appointments?

This past Thursday morning, as I was having my Quiet Time with the Lord before leaving for work, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me during my prayer time to pray that I would be an encouragement to someone that day that needed encouraging. The last thing that I wrote in my journal that morning was asking God to bring someone across my path that day that I could be an encouragement to.

Shortly after arriving at work, I placed a call to a business colleague and God CLEARLY answered that prayer.  He had me call a person I had not spoken with in at least 3 months and this person, on this very day, was dealing with extreme loss, grief and pain and just needed a "shoulder to cry on" and a listening ear.   God had scheduled a "Divine Appointment" for me!

I had an opportunity to share the love of Jesus and the comfort of the Holy Spirit to this person experiencing so much hurt and pain in her life right now.  I was filled with compassion and my heart broke as she shared with me the circumstances that she was currently facing in her life.

Have you ever had a coincidence that was so special that you felt like God was in it?

I believe many times those "coincidences" are divine appointments -  "meetings" which are God led or inspired.

God is Sovereign. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He knew that on this very day that this person would need a call from me...to listen to her, cry with her and most importantly, covenant to pray for her. He knew that I ALSO needed this appointment! The more that I shared with her about my faith...the more MY faith increased!

I couldn't help but wonder about how many appointments that God may have orchestrated for me in the past that I was "too busy" to see.  


Those divine appointments that I may have viewed as "interruptions" to my already busy schedule. 


Those situations that came across my path that I ignored because I didn't have time to "get involved".

As I thought about this encounter throughout the rest of the day, the Holy Spirit convicted me of the times that I have not allowed my daily life to be led by the Spirit.  I was challenged to slow down long enough to see, REALLY SEE, the people He has placed in my path; people that need to experience the love and compassion of Christ.  To take a second look at the "interruptions" in my schedule and see possible divine appointments orchestrated by my Heavenly Father.

I was reminded of the lyrics to a popular Christian song by Brandon Heath:

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity.


Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones who are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see.


I pray that, as I go about my daily life, that I would be sensitive to the divine appointments that God, in His Sovereignty, has arranged for me. I know that if I am willing to be led by the Holy Spirit, GREAT things are possible!

Make me willing, Lord....


Give me YOUR eyes....
                                       YOUR heart....
                                                                 YOUR arms....    
                                                                                            Give me YOUR love, Lord! 

Siesta Scripture Memory Team - Verse #2

In 2009, I joined the Siesta Scripture Memory Team (SSMT) for a one year plan of scripture memorization with Beth Moore. God used His Word to speak to my heart in amazing ways that year!

I have been looking forward to the beginning of 2011 so that I could make another commitment to memorize 24 passages of God's Word over the next 12 months. I found in the year 2009 that the accountability of memorizing scripture with other ladies was such an encouragement.

So.....On January 1rst, I decided to join the Siesta Scripture Memory Team again this year. I've got my spiral bound index cards and and I am already on my second entry for 2011. 

The verse that I have chosen for my memory verse for January 15th is:

Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm, 

NOTHING is too hard for YOU.

Jeremiah 32:17 NIV

I listened to this interview yesterday on the LPM Blog and I could hardly believe that in just 1 short month (from Dec. 13 - Jan. 13) LPM has mailed out 8009 Spirals for their 2011 Scripture Memory plan! Isn't that incredible to think that over 8000 people have committed to memorize at least 2 verses of scripture per month over the next 12 months! LPM also has developed an "App" for those of you that are IPhone or IPad users! How awesome is that! So check it out here if you're interested.

And...don't feel like you can't participate because you don't have your cute little Siesta Scripture Memory Spiral. I don't have one of those, either...I am still just using my plain index cards I got from Walgreens. If I end up ordering a "Siesta Spiral", I will just transfer them over to the new "cute" one later.

So...come on, Siestas....won't you join in with me and over 8000 others and commit to hide God's Word in your heart this year? He promises that His Word will NEVER return void, but will accomplish what He sends it forth to do!

Happy Birthday, Walt!

Today is my sweet husband's birthday!

I can hardly believe that this is his 34th birthday that we have celebrated together!

Walt, I hope that your special day is as special as YOU are to me! 
May God grant you the deepest desires of your heart this year.

I love you very much and look forward to celebrating the next 34 birthdays with you!

Praying God's richest blessings on you today and throughout this year!  

May this be your BEST year YET!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

Snow Day Thoughts...

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, 

and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is My word that goes out from My mouth:

It will not return to Me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55: 10-11

Thank you, Lord, that You are the one who tells the snow when to fall...

You appoint when it should come,  and to what degree and how long it shall remain. 

Job 37:6

52 Weeks, 52 Letters - A 2011 Project

I have always had a love for handwritten notes, cards, and letters, but with the fast pace of our current society and the advent of email, cell phones, text messages, Skype and Google Talk, I feel like handwritten letters are a dying art.  I just recently was talking with a friend about this and began feeling impressed in my heart that I wanted to do better in 2011 about writing more handwritten notes, cards and letters.  There is just something very special about letters that are actually handwritten and mailed ... and not delivered to the desktop of a computer!

I think that someone taking the time to write you a handwritten note means so much.  It shows that they put a lot of thought into the perfect card or note, they had to plan ahead to have postage stamps on hand and they carefully thought out exactly what they wanted to say... from their heart to yours!

Who doesn't enjoy getting mail from a precious friend or loved one?  I don't know about you, but when I go to the mailbox and find a handwritten envelope in the midst of the plethora of bills, I immediately grab that card out and rip it open - FIRST!

I am also one of those people who save EVERY card, note or letter that I receive from my loved ones and friends.  I have a card box on my dresser that is OVERFLOWING with precious memories that I have received just over the last couple of years!  I have at least TWO other such boxes in the floor of my closet right now!

I also have another VERY special box that contains every "love letter" that my husband and I exchanged when we were dating - while he was away at college in NC and I lived and worked in GA.  As you can see....I am a little sentimental when it comes to handwritten cards, notes and letters.

When I started back blogging recently, one of the first blogs I revisited was my sweet friend, Anita's, at A Woman, A Wife, A Mom.  I saw this post on her blog and I felt that it was another confirmation that I was supposed to write more cards and letters this year...and what better way to do that than to commit to writing a handwritten note to someone for EVERY week during the year 2011!  52 Weeks, 52 Letters!


The details from the blog that Anita linked to in her post were,

“One piece of “real” mail sent out each week. It can be a letter, a postcard, a care package, a thank you note, handmade art, etc. I’m searching for all of the cards and stationary I have collected over the years and gathering them into one place with pens, envelopes (regular & padded), lots of stamps (.28 & .44), a glue stick, unlined index cards (great for making postcards), and a few USPS Small Flat Rate boxes. Oh, and I’m updating my address book.”

So...Thank you for giving me the extra "nudge" I needed, Anita.  I think this is going to be such a rewarding goal for 2011!

Now.....how about you, my friends?  

Would you like to be the recipient of a nice surprise letter in 2011? Share your mailing address with me, if I don't already have it, and who knows what might happen!

Or, maybe this sounds like something you would like to commit to with me this year? 

I would love to have you join me in bringing some much-needed love and encouragement to others this year ...

52 Weeks, 52 Letters in 2011!

MiMi Gets A Makeover

MiMi's Making Meals got a makeover yesterday from my very-talented daughter, Faith at A Design of Faith Blog Designs! I have known since I recently started back blogging that I wanted to update AT LEAST my photographs, since they were several years old, but  after someone that was new to my blog last week said, ..."Now..the pictures at the top of your blog are not YOU, are they?"... I KNEW it was time!

My blog designer, Faith, is just so busy... designing other blogs, working full-time outside the home and working with the youth of our church...I hated to ask her to change it. I was originally hoping that all she would have to do was to update my photos, but since my old blog design was on an old computer of hers that she did not have access to anymore, she had to completely redesign it.

She asked me several times what kind of design, colors, etc. that I wanted and I told her that I totally trusted whatever she picked out for me because she is SO talented in this area --- she has such an eye for design! She said that it needed to be wider anyway and after seeing her new design I TOTALLY agree!   I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

Thank you so much, Faith, for not only giving MiMi's Making Meals a complete makeover, but also for the recent redesign of MiMi's Making Memories! You've helped to motivate me to jump back into blogging...that I have missed SO much!

If you have a minute....hop over to MiMi's Making Meals and let me know what you think!