Feb 01

Five Minute Friday: Afraid

afraid

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself” Easy to say, harder to live.

What am I afraid of? What’s the worst thing that could happen? Follow a decision or a circumstance to its logical conclusion. Sometimes it’s the only way to stay sane – to talk it out.

Being afraid starts young. Children are afraid of abandonment, of not getting their physical needs met, of being neglected.

Being afraid usually trumps being mad. Safety trumps control.

The Bible says, “Perfect love casts out fear”. Do I believe that? Yes, because it is God’s word. Do I understand it? Not at all. God is love. And His ways are higher than our ways. Hallelujah!

#FiveMinuteFriday

Feb 01

Pattycake???

Jan 31

Come As You Are

He’s not mad at you
He’s not disappointed
His grace is greater still,
than all of your wrong choices
He is full of mercy and he is ever kind
Hear his invitation, His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,
with all your broken pieces
And all your shameful scars
The pain you hold in your heart,
bring it all to Jesus
You can come as you are

Louder than the voice that whispers your unworthy
Hear the sound of love,
that tells a different story
Shattering your darkness and pushing through the lies
How tenderly he calls you,
His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,
with all your broken pieces
And all your shameful scars
The pain you hold in your heart,
bring it all to Jesus
You can come as you are

You can come as you are

You can come as you are with all your broken pieces
And all your shameful scars
The pain you hold in your heart,
bring it all to Jesus
You can come as you are

Jan 25

Five Minute Friday: Again

again

Practice makes perfect – or so they say. Why is it that the same things that trip me up keep coming…again? Today, I’ve said ‘yes’ when I mean ‘no’. This is a pattern. Paul said (my paraphrasing) I do the things I don’t want to do…again and again and again. What does it take for a true change?

Not that every aspect of ‘again’ is negative. Not by any means. When God gives us life and breath and hope and encouragement and provision and love and freedom – it’s AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN.

Again symbolizes repetitiveness – like my piano practicing of days gone by. Learn to do it right! Use motor memory to burn in good decision-making, good life choices, good thoughts, good words.

Rejoice, and AGAIN I say rejoice.

#FiveMinuteFriday

Jan 24

Book Review: Proverbs Reconstructed by Gus Dallas

This book is basically a topical resource of verses in the book of Proverbs. They are presented in alphabetical order – with a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ label. Sometimes the same word is used in one verse in a positive way and negatively in another. For example, the word ‘commandment’ is presented as a positive requirement by God in several verses – earning the label ‘good’. Commandment is presented as ‘bad’ in another Proverbs verse to reflect a negative perspective or result of disobeying a requirement or command.

My expectations were not met by the book. While it might be useful as a resource for finding Proverbs with a specific word in it, the availability of online Bible programs as apps or through a website like www.biblegateway.com make owning this resource unnecessary. Several free Bible software applications provide this  information at your fingertips without purchasing or opening a separate resource.

Jan 23

Book Review: The Forgotten by David Baldacci

This book was a gift.  I’ve never read a Baldacci book. A friend thought I would like it because it deals with the issue of human trafficking. She was right!

 

While the characters and subject matter may seem, at first glance, larger than life – I find that this story could absolutely happen. It is set on the Emerald Coast – the Gulf beaches of Florida and Alabama. We know that there is a huge problem with labor trafficking in that area now. There is no reason to think that this plot is far-fetched. The danger, the unjust and inhumane treatment of people as slaves, the greed – it’s all very real.

 

I enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was a fast, easy read – with short chapters that outlined a portion of the story line or defined a character. This may it easy to read for a few minutes at a time without losing continuity of the story.

 

I would recommend this book for entertainment value – as well as general knowledge about human trafficking.

The human trafficking hotline number 888-3737-888. Please report any suspicious activity.

Jan 21

Human Trafficking

human_trafficking_definition

Jan 17

Moments…

moments_FBcover

Jan 05

12 Types of People on Facebook

All of us on Facebook have at least one of each of these types of friends on our list:

1) The “Rooster” — Always tells Facebook “Good Morning” every day.

2) The “Lurker” — Never posts or comments on your post, but reads everything, and might make reference to your status when seeing you in public.

3) The “Hyena” — Doesn’t ever really say anything, just LOLs and LMAOs at everything.

4) “Mr/Ms Popular” — Has 4,367 friends for NO reason.

5) The “Gamer” — Plays Words With Friends, Mafia Wars, Farmville, and Bejeweled Blitz, and bakes virtual cakes and stuff, etc. (ALL DAY).

6) The “Cynic” — Hates his life, and everything in it, as evidenced by the somber tone in ALL of his status updates.

7) The “Collector” — Never posts anything either, but joins every group and becomes fans of the most random stuff.

8) The “Promoter” — Always sends event invitations to things that you ultimately delete or ignore.

9) The “Liker” — Never actually says anything, but always clicks the “like” button.

10) “Drama Queen/King” — This person always posts stuff like “I can’t believe this!” or “They gonna make me snap today!” in the hopes that you will ask what happened, or
what’s wrong … but then never finishes telling the story.

11) The “News” — Always updates you on what they are doing and who they are doing it with, no matter how arbitrary.

12) The “Thief” — Steals status updates … and will probably steal this one …

Jan 01

ENOUGH

Definition of ENOUGH

1: in or to a degree or quantity that satisfies or that is sufficient or necessary for satisfaction : sufficiently
2: fully, quite
3: in a tolerable degree
4: occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations

 

Examples of ENOUGH

Have you got enough money?
That’s enough talk for now; let’s get started.
There’s enough food for everyone.
I couldn’t run fast enough to catch up with her.
She’s old enough to know better.
Are you rich enough to retire?
That’s good enough for me.
Oddly enough, they’ve never actually met.
As if the crowds aren’t bad enough, the parking situation is terrible.
Have you had enough to eat?
He hasn’t had much Spanish, but he knows enough to get by.
It’s enough to drive you crazy!

 

Synonyms: adequately, satisfactorily, sufficiently, suitably