Everyday Blessings...

A friend posed this question, "What is the opposite of fear or stress?" She replied, "Peace." He said, "No, really it is Faith. Through faith you can handle fear and gain peace because of complete trust in God. Trust in Him no matter what your circumstances are in life." Think of it this way, God knows right where you are and what you are dealing with. If you are a child of His, you are not alone in anything you are going through.  He has you in the palm of His hand and is  in every situation if you let Him be there. Peace is Faith. I love that. Let's really let go and trust. Blessings on your day. Amy

Isaiah 1:17-18 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.   “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord . “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson,     I will make them as white as wool .

 Good morning! The lovely picture above is how our breakfast table looked in Hot Springs for THREE days in a row. Yum. It was scrumptious and I know that there are a lot of other more fattening foods we could have been eating (like cupcakes and cinnamon rolls) but eating like that has caused me to go into healthy eating mode. I made these lettuce wraps last night and they were actually really tasty. Tasted kind of like Pei Wei's lettuce wraps, and oh how we love those! Lettuce Wraps: Ingredients: 1 pound of chicken or turkey, cut up in small chunks 2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled, grated. (I just use ground ginger in a jar. 2 tea. Much easier.) 3 cloves of garlic half a cup of chopped up water chestnuts 4 carrots, shredded half cup of chicken broth 2 Tab. Sesame seeds Iceberg lettuce Directions: Heat large skillet to medium and cook chicken Add in garlic and ginger, chestnuts, carrots, broth and sesame seeds Spoon into lettuce and eat like a taco. Enjoy! ...

 Wonderful to see the sun this morning. Love the green around us but am praying the pollen count will go down soon or just go away. Does it ever happen to you that everything you read points you to something you need to work on in your life? Lately it seems the subject of Thanksgiving keeps jumping out at me. This morning while reading "Jesus Calling" these words once again talk about thankfulness. Thankfulness lifts you up above your circumstances. I do my greatest works through people with grateful, trusting hearts. Rather than planning and evaluating, practice trusting and thanking Me continually . This is a paradigm shift that will revolutionize your life. Ps. 9:10- Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You. Phil. 4:4- Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice! Blessings on this gorgeous Spring day! Amy

Hi. In the mornings I have been reading short segments of this book: I have to read it slow and carefully because it is deep and thoughtful. It has been blessing me. Causing me to think deeper about scripture and about thanksgiving. (Her thoughts are in bold.) Here are some thoughts from my reading today. Profound, to me. Maybe not to you, but to me. Profound because I learn when I seek God. He meets me. I am dry when I don't seek Him. He waits for me. Eucharisteo- thanksgiving To live in thanksgiving is to live the full life. Our very saving is associated with our gratitude. I think the full life comes in complete surrender even in the hard stuff. Surrendering enough to give thanks for everything...even the hardest of things. Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace. There are no words for the hard times. A word to seize and haul up out of a terminal nightmare, a word for fearless dying, for saved...

 The boys made it home on Friday night from Haiti.   I can tell that they will never be the same. I believe that a big chunk of their hearts were left in Thomazeu with these precious orphans.    Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! For more information about the Haiti work: http://www.mmdr.org/index.html http://www.livebeyond-tamu.org/index.html There were so many wonderful groups of college students and church groups that spent their Spring Break on mission trips. I am SO thankful for people that love to spend time helping other people. They are a blessing but are in turn so blessed themselves. Have a wonderful Sunday! Amy

Dogwoods too..

 Here is a heartfelt Sappy Spring Break Salute to you from Hot Springs, Ark.!!  We enjoyed a few days in this quirky, strange, interesting, funky...place. Quite the place to people watch, eat, take baths, learn about gangsters and look at flowers.  The Buckstaff Baths in the above picture is part of the Hot Springs National Park and offers bathing just like they did back when it first opened in the late 1800's or early 1900's I think.  This adventure is not for the inhibited person by any means. Bathe in the waters, sit in the steam room, enjoy? a sitz bath, endure a hot towel soak and love the massage.  Whew...glad, so glad it is divided women on one side and men on the other.  Bath House row...  This huge building is an old VA hospital that is now an insane asylum...err...rehab hospital. I promise it is an insane asylum. Spooky.  Hot Springs...see!  I loved all of the old buildings. So quirky and cool. Like ...

Psalm 91: 1-16 1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you ...

Psalm 28:7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Good morning. Do you ever have one of those days, or a string of them that you are just struggling to be positive? I am sure you do.  My husband and I are fighting a really nasty bug right now. Yucky upper respiratory stuff along with fighting allergy  problems from every gorgeous plant and tree in our part of the country blooming.  I am not complaining about the lovely flowers and blooms but we really need to get well.  Sweet husband has pneumonia and really needs to take a turn for the better.  He is not a happy camper. :)  Throw in the need to see the sunshine and sit in it... which will not happen for days... we are struggling, trying to be positive. Times like this I need to get my 1000 gifts list out and start writing down the things I am thankful for. I believe I will. Something else on my mind today: These two precious boys. They leave on Sat. for Haiti for a week. They will be helping MMDR and ...

Good Monday morning to you! I don't know about where you live but here in East Texas the flowers are popping out all over! Even at this early date the Azaleas are starting to bloom. It won't be long until we will be making the trek over to Tyler to see the Azalea trail. Our sweet little town also has their beautiful share of these exotic flowers.  LOVE this time of the year and the splashes of color everywhere. By the way... What a difference staying in the Word of God makes in my life. Night and Day difference. When we dwell in the Word...we see things from God's eyes and not our own. I think that is so important because I just don't see things right most of the time through my own eyes. I am usually skewing things from a very selfish point of view. Yes, I like seeing the world through God's eyes much more than through mine. Today's Jesus Calling devotional had these words of truth: Make friends with the problems in your life. ...

 Favorite gifts: Fish mug  Bonsai tree: It is done...happily. Thanks for coming home Chauncey. Love, Mom

Wes is home and it is his day of birth! Woo hoo! Remember the little Disney cups above? For years they were all he would drink out of when he was little. I found them sitting on the counter top yesterday after he had been here for a few hours. I have no idea where he found them. I can't find anything in this house since we moved. They make me smile. Wes has spent hours helping his Dad mow the yard this morning. Thankful he was here to help. It's a BIG yard. Nothing like working on your birthday...  My Mom makes the best Strawberry cake. It has always been THE Birthday cake. The tradition has been passed down and it is the cake of choice in our house now for Birthdays. It smells SO good. Will  and lots of Aggie friends are having a huge garage sale in CStat. today to raise funds to help support the orphanage they work with in Haiti. If you are in College Station today...stop by!  So proud of all of our Aggie college students with huge he...