I love to bake.  I try to bake at least once a week, but today was all day baking.  First of all, today is a very special day!   My baby boy, Adam, turns 23!!!  (yes, I realize how old I am.)  He requested a new cake for me to bake – a red velvet cake.  I just pulled two very red cakes out of the oven.  (We will not celebrate till tomorrow, so I will frost tomorrow, but am still not sure what kind of frosting – do you have a suggestion?  a favorite one?)  More on birthday boy in a minute.

Tomorrow morning, I am blessed to help give a bridal shower for a very special girl – a daughter of one of my very best friends on the planet.  I’ve so been looking forward to this!  So, today I also baked a batch of brownies, a blueberry cake, and these cute little baby cupcakes – so adorable – strawberry cake, from scratch, with fluffy strawberry icing.  That’s right.  Good stuff.  As I began my day, imagine my delight to discover that my water had been shut off!  We have construction occurring on our street, and it’s been challenging, for sure.  I visited with our friend, mr. construction dude, and he assured me the water would be back on soon.  It took about 3 hours till it was back on, then the bake-a-thon began!  I had so much fun.  Seriously.  And I think, finally, we are all ready for the shower.

Now, for the birthday boy!  Adam – you have made your parents so very proud!  Ohmygosh, how blessed we are that you arrived 23 years ago!  What a big year you have had – about to graduate (look for another post in the near future), engaged to be married, and already have a job waiting for you.  This is a very pivotal year, for sure.  I thank God for you – and ask Him to continue to lead you, and give you wisdom and discernment for the year ahead.  I pray His presence in your life, son, each day, and that you prioritize Him first in your life, and in your day.  Love Him dearly, and love others well.  You have much to look forward to, and I know it will be such an wonderful adventure.  Happy happy birthday!  I look forward to seeing all that God has in store for you!

“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”  1 Corinthians 2:9

The weekends this fall have been pretty busy, and promise to continue to be so for a while. Let me tell you about a couple of recent ones.  This past weekend, we took our beloved Sara on a college trip, just the three of us. It was a trip wrapped in much prayer, as we desperately need God’s leadership and direction in such a big decision.  Though formal decisions have not been made, I am confident that God has been, and is, directing her steps.  We had a great visit, and have much to think about and pray about. Still more steps to take, and we pray God closes any door to something not right for her. However, today, now, she is definitely excited about what lies ahead for her. Exciting times for our family, for sure.

Last weekend was Sara’s Homecoming weekend – so it was also very busy and full of activities.  Is it boasting to talk about how stunningly beautiful she was in her dress?  With her hair done up so amazingly?  Oh!  My grown up girl sure did amaze me all dressed up!  She was a vision indeed.

my sweet girl in her dress

patrick and sara

I must also report that through these most eventful activities, I have not shed many tears.  (much to her delight, I’m sure!) I have felt God’s hand on me, calming what could be such emotional times.  Perhaps it is a good thing to be so very busy, that I don’t stop to fully process the finality of each senior milestone?  I don’t know, but here’s what I do know. . . . my girl is exceptional.  In so many ways. I have so much to be thankful for.  She loves Jesus.  Her faith walk is her own, and she is striving to honor Him in all she does.  (at least most of the time!)  She makes great choices, she has great plans for the future ahead of her. The time is coming that she will begin a season apart from her parents home.  Though I’m quite sure there are tears ahead for me, I truly trust my God with her.  With each of my children.  It is the only way I can truly rest.  In Christ. I trust Him. (and please, God, help me when I don’t!) Can you say the same?  I certainly pray you can -

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week.  Trust HIM – He is faithful.

Psalm 9:10 “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 28:7 “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.”

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Psalm 5:11

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”

Psalm 16:11

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Psalm 28:7

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

Psalm 71:23

“My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I, whom you have redeemed.”

Psalm 126:3

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

John 15:11

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

John 16:24

“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Acts 2:28

“You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.”

Romans 12:12

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 15:13

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 8:2

“Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16

“Be joyful always;”

1 Peter 1:8

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”

Do for Others 
What God Does For You

by Max Lucado

You and I have the privilege to do for others what God does for us. How do we show people that we believe in them?

Show up. Nothing takes the place of your presence. Letters are nice. Phone calls are special, but being there in the flesh sends a message.

Do you believe in your kids? Then show up. Show up at their games. Show up at their plays. Show up at their recitals. It may not be possible to make each one, but it’s sure worth the effort. Do you believe in your friends? Then show up. Show up at their graduations and weddings. Spend time with them. You want to bring out the best in someone? Then show up.

Listen up. You don’t have to speak to encourage. The Bible says, “It is best to listen much, speak little” (James 1:19 TLB). We tend to speak much and listen little. There is a time to speak. But there is also a time to be quiet. That’s what my father did. Dropping a fly ball may not be a big deal to most people, but if you are thirteen years old and have aspirations of the big leagues, it is a big deal. Not only was it my second error of the game, it allowed the winning run to score.

I didn’t even go back to the dugout. I turned around in the middle of left field and climbed over the fence. I was halfway home when my dad found me. He didn’t say a word. Just pulled over to the side of the road, leaned across the seat, and opened the passenger door. We didn’t speak. We didn’t need to. We both knew the world had come to an end. When we got home, I went straight to my room, and he went straight to the kitchen. Presently he appeared in front of me with cookies and milk. He took a seat on the bed, and we broke bread together. Somewhere in the dunking of the cookies I began to realize that life and my father’s love would go on. In the economy of male adolescence, if you love the guy who drops the ball, then you really love him. My skill as a baseball player didn’t improve, but my confidence in Dad’s love did. Dad never said a word. But he did show up. He did listen up. To bring out the best in others, do the same, and then, when appropriate:

Speak up.

You have the power to change someone’s life simply by the words that you speak. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21 NKJV). That’s why Paul urges you and me to be careful. “When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger” (Eph. 4:29).

Earlier I gave you a test for love. There’s also a test for the tongue. Before you speak, ask: Will what I’m about to say help others become stronger? You have the ability, with your words, to make a person stronger. Your words are to their soul what a vitamin is to their body. If you had food and saw someone starving, would you not share it? If you had water and saw someone dying of thirst, would you not give it? Of course you would. Then won’t you do the same for their hearts? Your words are food and water! Do not withhold encouragement from the discouraged. Do not keep affirmation from the beaten down! Speak words that make people stronger. Believe in them as God has believed in you.

From A Love Worth Giving
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado

I never got my chili made.  It changed back to summer shortly after the previous post.  As a matter of fact, I’m watching the news right now, and the weatherman says we could break a record tomorrow – 92degrees!  It Feels like 97 right now, and it’s 6:15pm!  (I’m not doing very well keeping my complaining to myself, am I?!!)  i just returned from the Homecoming Parade, and had a blast, but am truly too hot for it to be October!

Honestly, I know it is only for a little while longer.  (24 hours) I can do it.  The weatherman is actually using the term “cold front” for this next one.  With lows in the 50s this weekend, I am checking out my sweaters to see which one I want to wear first!

That said, I have several people on my “immediate need” prayer list and have a hard time concentrating on anything else.  Will you pray with me?

~My friend Jamie is in Haiti right now, working hard still (it’s been over two years now!!) on adopting two children.  They are precious, and each visit for her is mixed with great joy, and great sadness.  She does not want to leave them behind when she heads home next week – she needs them home with her!  Pray that God moves in mighty ways, and her paperwork gets completed, and those darlings will get to come home for good. Check out her blog – it will definitely bless you.  (see over there on the right?  click on Jamie)

~Another friend, let’s call her “J” – has overwhelming challenges right now.  God knows the details. Pray God meets her every need, and is a very present Support for her through all this.  I’m working on specific ways to bless her through all this.  Please pray.

~This one – “E” – a new, very serious health concern.  May it be nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  In Jesus’ name.

Thanks so much – may God bless you abundantly for your prayers!

We are told to rejoice in all things.  I’ve tried.  And I have really tried and tried to NOT complain in this blog about the weather!  I truly have fought the urge to write to you about how HOT it was in June.  in July.  We always know it will be hot in August, but we had extreme heat all summer.  By the time we arrive each year to September, we actually have renewed hope of cool.  And if not cool, at least cool-er.  And we did have it briefly.  very very briefly.  like maybe two hours one day in September.  :)

By October, finding the air still oppressively hot and humid, I must admit I was fighting bitterness!  Then we arrive to this week, and find each day was overwhelmingly HOT.  still. Honestly, I was running early in the morning, way before dawn, and it was already 80 degrees?  99%humidity.  I’m not exaggerating. During the day,  high temperatures were in the mid 90s again – heat index at least 105-110.  dude. Still, I didn’t want to complain.  I just really really needed fall.

But, today.  Ah, today!  I ran early (81 degrees), then walked with a friend.  Then rode my bike.  Walked the dogs.  Hot, hot, hot.  But, then the rain came, and the cool. Right now it’s 59 degrees.  Praise the LORD!!!  I began the day in the middle of summer, and am ending the day finally in autumn.  finally.  I believe this weekend may be time to make that first pot of chili of the season! (I’d better hurry, a warm up is predicted by next week!)  Enjoy whatever season you find yourself in.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

” There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”

I’m sharing today from my “Our Journey” devo booklet through the ministry Walk in the Word, by James MacDonald.  Just so you know. 

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

Have you ever had someone you love forget an important occasion?  Maybe your spouse forgot your anniversary or your birthday.  Or maybe your children forgot you at Christmas.  Even when people forget you, you need to know that God never forgets you.  You are always on His mind.  Romans 8:31 says, ‘What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?’

God is thinking about you right now.  He is not thinking about you merely as a member of the human race or as a part of your church.  He is thinking about you as an individual.  The psalmist wrote, ‘Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.’ (Psalm 40:5 NKJV)

God’s thoughts toward you are continual and uncountable.  God Almighty, the One who holds the heavens in the span of His hand, the One who spoke creation into being, is thinking about you right now.

Not only is God the Father thinking about you, but God the Son in interceding for you.  Hebrews 7:25 says, ‘Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since He always lives to make intercession for them’ (NKJV).

God the Father is thinking about you; God the Son is praying for and interceding for you; and God the Holy Spirit is helping you and comforting you.  ‘Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’ (Romans 8:27, NKJV).

God is for you.  God is thinking about you.  God is on your side!

-Greg Laurie

It’s been rainy. And a little cooler. This morning was the first day I needed a thin sweatshirt on my bike ride.  I loved it.  Such a blessing after the hottest summer on record.  It wasn’t raining this evening, but the sky was thickly clouded still.  Sort of like my thoughts- and feelings.  It has seemed like almost everyone I have talked to lately has a really impossible situation to deal with.  Something honestly impossible.  The burden was too heavy to bear, as they stacked on top of each other in my mind.  However, while taking my very eager dogs on a long walk, I just rested my mind.  I observed life on the lake.  Watched for turtles.  Watched the birds.  And then saw this in the sky……..pink.

Not a sunset.  Not sun shining behind the clouds.  Just a hint of pink peeking through the midst of the clouds.  Kind of a soft shade of pink.  It didn’t really grow deeper. or larger.  Darkness soon overtook it.  But it was enough.  I could hear God whisper hope in my heart with that pink.  For each of the burdens I carried with me.  just a hint of hope.  a promise of a day without thick clouds.

Don’t ever forget – nothing is impossible with God.

Luke 1:37

“For nothing is impossible with God.”

“O taste and see that the Lord is good.”  Psalm 34:8

“He is good.  Trust in Him.  Know that all is well.  Say ‘God is good.  God is good.’ Just leave in His Hands the present and the future, knowing only that He is good.  He can bring order out of chaos, good out of evil, peace out of turmoil.  God is good.

I and My Father are One.  One in desire to do good.  For God to do good to His children is for Him to share His goodness with them.  God is good, anxious to share His goodness, and good things, with you, and He will do this.

Trust and be not afraid.”

~from God Calling, Sept. 20 date.

Do you trust Him?  Do you believe Him?  Do you believe He is indeed good?  Get in the Word, and settle this now.  His blessings on you as you rest in Him.

from my devo God Calling:

Quiet Strength

“Rest in Me.  When tired nature rebels it is her call for rest.  Rest then until My Life-Power flows through you.

Have no fear for the future.  Be quiet, be still, and in that very stillness your strength will come and will be maintained.

The world sees strength in action.  In My Kingdom it is known that strength lies in quiet. ‘In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.’  Such a promise!  Such glorious fulfillment!  The strength of Peace and the Peace of strength.  Rest in Me.  Joy in Me.”

amen.  Many of you have asked about this book – and it is a book.  It was written by two women, who wished to remain anonymous.  It was edited by A.J. Russell.  It definitely is not the only book I use in my morning devotional time, but it is a very important part of my routine.  I actually use four different guides in my morning time in the Word.  Not too obsessive, is it?!  lol….oh, well, it’s what works for me these days.  Anyway, enjoy this Tuesday devo, and make sure you are giving God the first fruits of your day.

Off to open house at the high school.  My very last open house ever. Been participating in open houses for at least the last 24 years – since Kyle was 4. Oh, don’t think for a second this is not a profound moment in my life, and heart!  Senior girl is having such a good year, and I’m so looking forward to meeting her teachers.  May you also have a profound moment ahead, that allows you to ponder afresh the marvelous ways and faithfulness of our God!  His blessings……