Long-time-no-post...

Hello! It's been a while. I have had ZERO inspiration for a while... Well, yeah. Since Thanksgiving LAST YEAR! Ugh.

I'm not sure I'm exactly motivated even now, but I feel like sometimes you just have to push through the dry times and DO IT.

Revelation 2:18-21

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

¹⁹ I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

²⁰ Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

²¹ And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

Our Pastor preached on this passage last Sunday. It was a great sermon, as usual. It was very timely. (He also set aside special time to pray for the hurting people in Boston and Texas.) The title of his sermon was Deadly Tolerance. Deadly Tolerance. That's what was going on in the church in Thyatira. They were tolerating a wicked presence, a woman who was leading people in the church astray and into sin. Sound familiar? It's the direction our entire society is heading. And when we speak out, we are criticized as being unloving and incompassionate. That's the what our society, says. But that's not what God says. He tells not to tolerate sin. He says to stand with the Bible and against sin. The tricky part is how to do that.

For me, it has been an easy thing to stand against sin. The difficulty for me, has been to show love for the sinner. I don't hate the sinner, but I am so disgusted by the sin, that oftentimes I have a difficult time showing the kind and loving side. I can do justice. It's mercy I have to work on.

Over the past few years, I see the necessity in being a compassionate Christian. I know that others will not be open to the love of Christ if they don't see it in us (ME). But at the same time, we must stand strong against the things the Bible says are wrong. It's a very slippery slope. But God took it very seriously and so must we.

As usual, I'm preaching to myself. This is a journey we're on. The destination is Heaven, so we're not finished until we get there. ;) Hugs and love,

Dawn

Happy Thanksgiving... even if...

Well, Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I sincerely hope you have an absolutely wonderful and special day!

We are spending the day as a couple. Just us. First time. It will be a special time. But, I'm also going to miss my kids. First year with all my kids gone. Hm. Feels weird. Feels wrong. But it's not. It just feels that way. :)

Our life is indeed a different life than I would have thought or had planned 12, 15, 20 years ago... There's been some bad stuff. Some really hard times. Some seemingly unbearable times. But through it all, God has blessed. He's cared for me and my kids and he's been there. Now, on the other side of sorrow, I'm very happy most all the time. Of course, I'm older and emotional and moody. But my life is good and blessed and I'm so very thankful.

It's so easy to wallow in the irritations and hurts, and forget to seek out the blessings of every day. I want to do that though. I want to be thankful in all of it.

Whether our life is going great right now, or whether it's kind of sad... God is still there and He wants our fellowship. He wants our honesty. He wants our worship. He wants our life.

(And BTW: I am in NO SENSE an artist. But I made this turkey on my own, in photoshop. :) I spent FAR too long on it, too. ;)

Be YOU!

Today I was reading through a couple of blogs I like. And what hit me about both of them TODAY is "individuality".

The first blog was about a life list. Do you have one? Well, I don't. But I am thinking about starting one. It's a cool thing. This amazing woman shared hers and it was really cool. It can be a private thing, but I applaud her bravery in sharing hers. It helped to read someone else's list. Not that you (I) will duplicate it, but it is a good example of how you can open your mind and think and dream BIG! So, I think I just might start one of these lists.

The other blog was about just being yourself. She was talking about blogs, most specifically, and that's good for me too. But I am ** years old and I still needed that reminder. Sometimes it is really difficult to not be too concerned with what others might think and just be me. Through the years, I really haven't felt held back. But in honesty, I think that my thoughts, ideas and free expression of ME have been. I'm just now realizing that, I guess. I am not talking IN THE LEAST about what God thinks of me and what HE wants for my life. He is life and I absolutely have to live a life that He approves of. But what does that look like? It's not about clothing and home and outward appearance in any area of life. It's really all about scripture, attitude, morals, and heart.

So -- I'm feeling a little more free today. Free to be ME! :) Hope you are, too!

[insta-friday] joy in the everyday

Isn't she precious? My DIL sent a cute, cute video this week showing Madison trying to talk and cooing up a storm! I did a screen shot and got this. Presh!

Here's our Maxie boy after the groomers. He looks stately, doesn't he?

I got a frosty at Wendy's this week. Oh-my-yum!! :)

Thought it wouldn't be too nice if I didn't get one for my sweet hubby too. Looks like he enjoyed it. ;)

And I re-edited this pic in Instagram this week, so I guess that means that I get to use it again. She's so cute!

Our boys at the top of the stairs (before Max went to the groomers...). (Notice: it appears pictures are out of order.)

I just LOVE Fall!! It's my fave!

This was for a photo of the day. Such a simple lunch, but very yummy!

Hm... I guess I snacked a lot this week. :)

Cooper giving me a big kiss. He got me!

The 5th movie in the Twilight series will be out next month. We'll see this on our birthday weekend! #funtimes!

I made stuffed peppers this week with our peppers from the garden!!

Sometimes even when we try to relax, we're not... ((sigh)) Need to relax more.

See our Fall trees?! Me neither.

These jars/bottles are SO CUTE! Yes, of course I'll drink the juice. But look at the bottles!

Saw this big guy when we went to lunch yesterday. We had the BEST sandwiches and went to a little part of the bay. It was really beautiful! I think this bird was hurt though. :(

Movie today. We saw Alex Cross. Mostly, we liked it. A couple of bad scenes we didn't watch. Wasn't great, but good. Our recent favorite movie is Argo. True story, too.

Cuppa tea. (Ahh...)

New profile pic.

I'm linking up with Jeannett!

A free gift, but so valuable!

The Gospel of Christ is free, but it's not cheap. 

The Word of God is clear, but it is the deepest "book" ever written. 

The message in today's service was a great example of that type of comparison. It was the most clear and yet the deepest message I've ever heard on dying to self.

So many people wonder how being a Christian can "be so simple". That's because they don't understand true Christianity. The presentation of the gospel of Christ: His death, burial and resurrection and our dependence on THAT and ONLY THAT for our salvation is a very simple "plan".  The thing is, you can say those words, pray that prayer and your life could never change. If the message does reach your heart and you are convicted and drawn to Christ, You WILL change. Scripture tells us that we are new creatures in Him. And as new creatures... well, we have a new life.

That new life is not even our own any longer. We are called to die to "self" (our own human desires and plans). As a Christian, and a human, it is so difficult to continually give the reins of my life to God and not hang onto them myself. But that is my calling and that IS my desire.

Today was such a wonderful and welcomed reminder of that commitment.

>>Breathe<<

Later in the week, you should be able to hear our Pastor's sermon here: http://www.goldenhills.org/