Spirit Rising by Jim Cymbala

"The prophet Nehemiah said, "The joy of the Lord is (our) strength" (Neh. 8:10) We require that joy for survival. We will never stand victoriously against Satan's daily assaults if our souls are filled with anger and resentment. (Taken from Jim Cymbala's new book Spirit Rising....foreword by Francis Chan)
His point here..."But let's remember how vitally important joy is to our spiritual growth" (Phil. 1:25) "Paul linked our progress and growth in the faith with the joy that increases as we mature in Christ. Faith grows best in the soil of a heart that rejoices in Jesus despite what's going on around it."
So grateful to be reading this right now. Listening to talk shows on the radio, watching TV news, and reading blogs all affect me in one way or the other. Not all is bad, but most is negative and I think about what I have heard throughout the day and then I repeat what I have heard and it's mostly negative!!! Yikes...Lord please forgive me for my bad attitude and critical and complaining spirit. Thank You for the reminder that "The joy of the Lord is my strength". Jesus first, others second and myself last. I love you Lord!

Psalm 131:2

"To wait is to learn the spiritual grace of detachment, the freedom of desire. Not the absence of desire, but desire at rest."

"St. John of the Cross lamented that 'the desires weary and fatigue the soul; for they are like restless and discontented children, who are ever demanding this or that from their mother, and are never contented.'"

"Detachment is coming to the place where those demanding children are at peace. As King David said,

I have stilled and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:2)

"Such a beautiful picture, a young one leaning against her mother's breast, There is no fussing, no insistent tears. She has learned to wait."

-John Eldredge (The Journey of Desire)

D.Frahm's FB-Journey of Desire-John Eldredge

"Life is loss and I must grieve regularly, so as to give up trying to possess. I will not arrive in the golden place until I am home with God."

"The paradox of grief is that it is healing; it somehow restores our souls, when all the while we thought it would leave us in despair. Control is the enemy; grief is our friend...Grief is good. It is cleansing. It undoes my world--and that is the best part of it. I need to be undone; simply undone. No regrouping. We need to mourn; it is the only way our hearts can remain both free and alive in this world. Why? Because it, like nothing else, puts a stop to the constant striving."

"I believe we must add two spiritual disciplines to everyday life. The first is worship. We must adore God deliberately, regularly. The other is grief. We must allow time for sorrow to do our own personal sowing. I see no other way to care for our hearts."

'Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
(Psalm 126:5,6)

-Eldredge

Wow....this is just what I need to hear right now. "Control is the enemy" (whether it's me trying to control or someone else trying to control me)!! "And so I am grieving....Lord help me!

grief is our friend...Grief is good. It is cleansing. It undoes my world--and that is the best part of it. I need to be undone; simply undone. No regrouping. We need to mourn; it is the only way our hearts can remain both free and alive in this world. Why? Because it, like nothing else, puts a stop to the constant striving."

Do I even remember how to blog?

It's been about 4 years since I have even been to this site...Fishing Without Worms.
So much has happened...not even sure if I can remember it all.
September 12th, 2007. Kaylee Joy was born and what a joy she is. Brianna made her a little quilt (24"X24") of blue and pink squares and she still has it today and she is almost 4 years old.

In February 2008, I was on my way home to the country, driving through a windy thunder storm, on a warm night. When I arrived home, a huge tree was covering most of our driveway and the whole road. I called John and asked if he would come down and help me move the tree. We couldn't budge it, so he went back up the house to get the chain saw....but after about 15 minutes...I walked up the drive way and found him sitting in a chair...very pale. He said he got lightheaded and so I called the fire department and they cut the tree in pieces so others would not run into it in the dark. He seemed fine after that. At the end of February I went to Spain on a mission trip and came back about a week later. John went to have a stress test and the following week he went to the hospital for another test......and they kept him saying he needed a quadruple by-pass operation. That was Tuesday March and he came home the day after Easter on Monday...weak and sore. Steve Chachula and Jimmy McCarthy brought him home and he sat at the kitchen table for about an hour. The next morning he shaved himself and washed up even though he was so weak and in pain. What a man!!! The next two weeks were very hard on him. After only about 2 months...we was riding his tractor cutting the grass. Wow, I was so amazed at him.
In August we sold our house to a family that wanted no inspections and were paying cash....however we had less than a month to get out. What an amazing time that was. Ladies from our Bible study helped in so many ways. Packing up dishes, pots and pans...cleaning and scrubbing each room including bathrooms....South Hills Movers (Michelle Lee) gave us such a break in price....amazing friends.
We moved to a fixer-upper house in McM and started remodeling. The girls were "in shock" and looking back I can understand why...but at the moment it kind of surprised me. I thought they would be happy we were moving closer to them. It took us over a year...but we had the family over for John's birthday on April 26th 2009. It was a challenge to say the least...but God gave us the strength to get through it. Well...this is as much as I can write for now. I will fill in the blanks next time.

Forgot the subject I wrote last night...when my comp shut off

Forgot the subject I wrote last night...when my comp shut off...

..but I know it was about my first quilt and I lost it all...not once but twice. I should really remember it...but I don't.
Well, here we are two days later...and I remember what this entry was to be: Last January 2006...I started quilting with a group called Sew & Sows...sew with thread and sow the Word. What a wonderful group of ladies with patience you would not believe. Quilting was an area that I knew NOTHING about. Susan helped me in her area of expertise...finding the right fabric. "Find about 8 colors that you like", she told me. So I did. Then she helped me find a few other colors that the pattern called for...blue and red. Excitement was building in my heart and when we met the next week...a number of ladies were.."helping".. me and making suggestions. I went home overwhelmed as I didn't understand anything they were telling me. It seemed I was visiting in a foreign country. The phone rang and Bev ( a S&S), said, "You looked a bit overwhelmed today, and I just wanted to let you know that we all have our different methods and everyone was giving you their method at one time and I just want to encourage you and let you know you can do this thing....one step at a time. Just bring your material again next week and don't be nervous. I must say that was one of the most encouraging phone calls I could have received. Will continue this next time!

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Saturday September 8, 2007 - 04:40pm (EDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Grandparents....NOT EVEN ONE!

Sometimes we think we know someone and really don't KNOW them! This evening I was talking to our sweet Aunt Dee Dee and she mentioned that when she was young, kids in school would talk about going to visit their grandparents...and she would think .."I wish I had one of those". Never did I realize that she didn't have a grandparent..not even one! Her grandparents lived in Oklahoma and had died before she was born. I have told this story before...Grandpap's favorite child was Emma and Grandma's favorite was Ann and then came my mother, Elizabeth......she was the whipping dog and had a very sad and hard childhood. However when her Uncle Joe came to visit..(not often) he seemed to take a shine to her....maybe because he was not a favorite child either.....but for some reason I had not even considered Aunt Dee Dee. Let's see if I remember the correct order of the children? Ann, Emma, Elizabeth, Sugey (like sugar)..he was the first boy and everyone loved him. He was not spoiled and my Mother used to say he was their "Angel"....he died at 5 years old....unexpectedly.
At the same time Grandpap's father in OK died and he was torn between going to see his Father and being with his grief stricken wife at the loss of their son. He stayed home to try and comfort his wife and deal with his own grief. Then came Babe..(spoiled rotten), then Aunt Dee Dee, then Aunt Dolly ....who was also spoiled by everyone ( she told me this just last week)... .....then came Joey. Babe taught Joey everything he knew...that was wrong! So Aunt Dee Dee was the forgotten one. She did marry very young to Uncle Johnny and in her own words to me this evening..."It was wonderful to have someone love me for me". Well...I feel so bad for her and now wonder what other heartaches is she caring. I need to spend more time with her. Lord be with her and draw her to Yourself...soon...please.

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Friday September 7, 2007 - 12:44am (EDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Waiting for the Phone Call!!!

It seems this pregnancy has been a long one...especially for Debbie. September 8th is when our baby girl is supposed to arrive but we thought for sure it would be an August baby. Brianna still has her birthday in August, Jeremy in December, Travis in June, and Corey in February. We are praying for a healthy baby and an easy delivery. I'm packed and ready to go and help where I can. The kiddo's are all excited and Corey thinks the baby is his..."MY baby this and MY baby that...until Travis set him straight saying, "Corey the baby is OUR baby"! Of course Travis didn't convinced Corey. Well...just waiting for the phone call! Lord please give us all strength!

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Tuesday September 4, 2007 - 09:09pm (EDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments