More of My Life Notes #2

I'm looking through old journals today and found notes from a writer's conference.
I'll share a few things I jotted down.

1. Never write about anything you don't love
2. Gnaw your own bone - write about what you know best
3. Stalk your calling by observing what consumes your thoughts the most
4. You are what you read - find writers who drive you to write better sentences than yesterday
5. Get down on your knees - search your heart for heart - and ASK Him to show you how you are wired.
6. Your pen is a pen of promise
7. Write

At the time I attended this writer's conference,  I was Jan's caregiver.  Caregiving and heart ache were what I knew best and I desired to write about our journey.  I find jotted under the above notes these thoughts:

"God is so economical, give Him half an opportunity and He will use everything in your life and turn it into Glory for him.  Father, use our difficult situation for your Glory."

  

Good that has come from Jan's life that I am aware of.

1. I have become much more sensitive to other's needs because of Jan
2. I've realized, on a new level, how precious life is
3. I've determined Jan's life won't be wasted.
4. When I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself, I think of others who have suffered more
5. I've learned to take some things off my self to make life easier
6. I've determined to profit from the pain by being aware that  God is walking through the fire with me and am trusting Him to help me work through the hard places
7. I realize the Pam before Jan, didn't know what life was all about.

Another Note I wrote to God:  The things I never said Thank you for!

Lord, forgive me that I never said thank you for being able to:

1. Scratch an itch
2. Take a step
3. Ask a question
4. Say hello
5. Write a Word
6. Wipe a hair out of my eyes
7. Call a name
8. Eat a steak
9. Ride a bike
10. Crawl
11. Sit
12. Pick up a penny
13. Open a purse
14. Read
15. Feed myself
16. Hold my head up

Of course these were written in light of Jan not being able to use her hands,  talk, walk, or see.  

More notes to live by:

1. When you're in trouble, do you go to phone or the throne?
2. To have a testimony, I have to go through a test.
3. God may not work on our time table, but He is never late. 
4. Do what you can do -- God will do what you can not do!

More of My Life Notes

I'm still digging through my stash of notes and transcribing a few more.  They're jotted down from Speakers, Books, testimonies, etc so they're not my words.

Note on Bad Things:
  I can't control what bad things come into my life, but I can control how I react to them.
  Someone asked C.S. Lewis why the righteous suffer?
  C.S. Lewis replied, "why not, they're the only ones who can take it.

  "Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." - African Proverb
 

Note on Prayer:
    Not overcoming God's reluctance but laying hold of God's willingness. 

Note on Joy:

  We shouldn't confuse joy with pleasure or happiness.  Happiness happens, but joy abides in the heart that is fulfilled with Jesus.  

Note on Husband and Wife: God made woman out of man's rib

          Not from his head so she could top him

          Not from his feet so he would trample her

          But out of his side, under his arm

          So he could hold and protect her

          Close to his heart so he would love her.

Notes on God: God is an opportunist--He takes pain, suffering, and tragedy and works it to our good. ---God never said if you don't attend church you can't please Him, or if you don't do lots of works you can't please Him, but he said without Faith it is impossible to please Him. 

-God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Notes on Faith:  
      Faith is an act - acting on God's Word

      Faith is now - it is present tense

      Faith is God's antidote for fear

      Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word.  

      Faith is rejecting the feeling of panic when things seem out of control

      Faith is thanking God for the specific thing that upsets me.

      God uses storms of correction & storms of perfection to increase our faith.

Note on Fear:
     Opposite of faith

     False Evidence Appearing Real
     Fear sees the circumstances – Faith sees the word of God and its answer

Notes on the Bible: 
   Seven days without reading the Bible, makes one weak.

   Sin will keep you out of the Bible, the Bible will keep you out of sin. 

   The Bible - Scrutinize(read), Analyze it, Personalize it.
    Old testament - Root of God's word
    New Testament - Fruit of God's word

Notes on Goals:
       Set goals - aim at nothing and that is what you'll get.

                             

Note on Self:
   Deny self - Take up your cross and follow me.  

   Give up that which you can't keep for that which you can not lose. 

   How do you know when self is on the throne?  

   When you haven't denied self - when self is in control, there is: 

       1. A desire to indulge (Lust of the flesh) 

       2. Desire to possess( Lust of the eyes)

       3. Desire to impress (Pride of Life)

Note on Wisdom:
     The ability to use knowledge
      Confusion- opposite of wisdom
      God's Word applied              

Note on Strife:
    Opposite of love

Note on Tomorrow:
  Only when you release your yesterdays will you receive the promises of tomorrow.

Note on Gossip: 
   If I'm not part of the problem or part of the solution, then I shouldn't be talking about it.  

                            

                          

Notes on Life

Since I last wrote on this blog, many changes have taken place in my life. I started singlewivesclub as a widow who was grieving and in pain and now I write again, as a bride who is loving her new life.

I've been married two years to a wonderful man but I never want the memories of my thirty-three years with Mike to be lost. Today I'm sorting many of the remnants of that life.  I have an old trunk that was my grandpa's.  I want my son to have it one day and I've started adding things to it that document that other life I also loved. Some are tangible items like Mike's Bible, and some are old golfing hats with logos that our son would remember his dad wearing.  Then there's the Real-estate papers to our first house that cost $15,000,(my grandkids may find that interesting one day) Mike diplomas, and the letters he wrote me when he was in college, just before we married.  One of them says "I just found out that my draft is #288 so I'll probably never be drafted."  Other letters talk of his job interviews with Citgo and Gulf.  At any rate, as I sort the fragments of 62 years of living, there are years of notes. I'd love to say they are organized and categorized but they're jotted here and there haphazardly--a scrap of paper here, scribbled in the cover of my bibles, pages torn from notebooks, whatever was handy to write on the minute I heard whatever.  You get the picture.  Many are quotes that I heard that impacted my life and some I still live by and have memorized.  Some come from books I've read and others via testimonies I heard.  No one will ever want to sort such a mess so I'll post some of my favorites.   It will make it easier for me when I want to read them too. : )

Note for writers:

All need the message we have within us.  Let's not take this message within to the grave...let's write.

Notes about Faith:

Faith is nothing but one small step of obedience after another.

Stay in faith because without Faith it is impossible to please God.

Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word.

Faith is based on our relationship with God not our performance for God.

Note about Obedience: "Obey one step at a time, then the next step will come into view.  God will not give us a blueprint of the future; He still insists that our walk be step by step in faith.  As we practice obedience, the Voice becomes clearer, the instructions more definite.  Perhaps it shouldn't surprise us that with guidance, as with anything else, we learn through practice." Catherine Marshall

Note about Forgiveness:

Forgive - to cease to feel resentment against.

             - to pardon

             AND renounce any form of retaliation

             Love by choice, not by circumstance or feeling

             Forgive daily those who have sinned against you

             Forgive yourself - let go of your past failures.

             Forgive God - sometimes we blame God for a situation

             Forgive your family, husband, sister, brother,

                     parents children, friend, etc.

                 Do a heart check.   DO YOU RESENT anyone?

                 FORGIVE THEM. Forgive them NOW.

Note on Contentment:  Realizing that God has already given me everything I need for my present happiness. I Timothy 6:8

Understanding that if I am not satisfied with what I have, I will never be satisfied with what I want.  Ecclesiastes 5:11

Knowing that the more I release earthly possessions, the more I can grasp Eternal treasures. 

II Corinthians 4:18

Note on Prayer: Do we want our prayers answered?   We must let go of ALL resentment, bitterness, grudges--no matter how justified we think they are--these wrong emotions will cut off our flow to God.

Note on Peace: Peace is an inner "knowing" that your actions are approved by God.  "Let the Peace(soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually)in your hearts(deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state) to which...you were called (to live).  Colossians 3:15 Amplified Bible

Problems are inevitable, but joy & peace are optional. They come when our mind is renewed in His Word and we become doers of the Word, not just hearers.

Note on Pride:  Taking God's glory for yourself

Note on Motherhood: A Mother's highest calling is to raise Godly children--pouring out your life sacrificially into a child that will grow up to serve God.

Notes on this life: "Although this world is full of suffering, it is full of the overcoming of it." Helen Keller
Do you wonder if God is finished with you yet?  Are you still breathing?  If so, He isn't finished!
Our actions are controlled by what we have on our minds.  IS my mind on Jesus and His Word?
God isn't looking for ability but our availability.  

You don't get to choose how or when you are going to die, but you do get to choose how you are going to live.

Notes on People:  It's not my job to see through people but to see people through.
Others will not care how much you know until that know how much you care.

Notes on Love: Preoccupation with another's needs

Notes on Grace:  God's grace keeps pace with whatever I face
Corrie ten Boon - "Daddy, how can I bare to go through persecution?"
 "Corrie," he said, "when do you get your ticket to ride the train?"
"As you get on the train."
"That's how God's grace is, when you need it, you get it."

AND TO THAT, I SAY AMEN!
PS  many more to come but that'll take more hours of sorting!

Life Is Short

The Bible says that life is but a vapor and that's the truth.  As a young girl, it seemed that this life was it. Death and the end of this life seemed so far away that I didn't give it much thought.  Now I know that on a timeline that extends thru Eternity(no end), our days on earth can barely be counted, compared to that endless life in Eternity----Eternity is forever and forever and forever.  Yet, what decisions we make in this brief life about Who Jesus is effects our whole Eternity.  God paid a huge price to redeem us. Our part is to believe in Him, accept what He did for us, and walk in the freedom He brings us.  In this short life, that choice will effect our destiny for Eternity and the destiny of possibly thousands.  He chose me and I've answered, "Yes."  He chose you too before the foundation of the world. Have you called on His name to forgive you of your sins and be your God?  He loves you and died for you, too.  Say "yes." to Him, if you haven't already.

Lessons Learned Along The Way

1. Life is short. Nothing, nothing, nothing is forever: Embrace today & count your blessings.
2. Jesus Christ is the only One Who is the same today, tomorrow, and forever. He will never change and neither will His Word.
3. Life may not seem fair, but it is still good. Praise Him no matter what.
4. ‘Do the next thing’, no matter how simple that next step is.  You can do this!
5. Keep moving forward and choose to let go of the pain.
6. Your spiritual gifting will bring energy and joy - Learn what energizes you then use those gifts daily.
7. Grief should only be for a season, don’t get stuck.
8. Don’t let anyone push you to do something that doesn’t feel right in your heart....No Peace, don’t do it. It’s not right for you.
9. God loves you...PERIOD. He won’t love you less when you fail or more when you think you’ve done it right.
10. Painful things are stepping stones to growth and will make you better if you don’t allow them to make you bitter. He can use it all but only you can choose to give Him the broken pieces of your life.
11. BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING! Anxiety will rob you of your health, your joy, and ultimately your life.
12. You’re never too old to change and grow - Let the Holy Spirit direct your path out of pain and darkness. It's an attitude.

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe

This is my signature dish, I guess I would say.  I almost always have dough in my ref so I can bake up a batch.  They're so easy and they always get rave reviews.

Mimi's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar(I use C&H)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
21/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 16 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips

I make these in my food processor.  I toss in the sugars and butter first.  (soften the butter by placing it on a plate and microwaving for about 25 seconds.....just enough to soften it a little unless you are organized and plan ahead and let it soften first)  I cube the butter up and toss it with the sugars.  I process and toss in two eggs and the rest of the ingredients, except of course the chocolate chips. Make certain all the butter is mixed in.  Stir in the chocolate chips after you're done processing.   NOW VERY IMPORTANT!.....they will not be nearly as good if you cook them now.  I always put the dough in the refrigerator and let it get good and cold.  It will harden up when the butter is cold again and will bake up much chewier.  If I'm really wanting cookies, I'll put the dough in the freezer for awhile.  Then when I'm ready to cook the cookies, I roll them into ping pong ball sized rolls(don't press them down) and place them on the cookie sheet...I use an insulated cookie sheet.  I place them in a 350 degree oven and bake til the edges start to brown a little....the middle will still be soft looking and light.   this part you'll have to learn on your own.  I've had four different ovens in the years that I've baked these....some were done in 111/2 minutes but the oven I use now, it takes 15 mins.  Why this oven takes so long, i'll never know....but once you learn what time it takes to make them perfect, set your timer each time you bake them and you'll have perfect soft cookies.  If you prefer a crunchy cookie, bake until it is brown in the middle.  Sometimes I double this recipe because my grandsons love to have these....they come over and it's easy to bake them fresh cookies. I'll keep this dough for a week or two and it's still good.  Sometimes I'll only bake five or six if it's just for me.   ENJOY!

God of This City

I moved from OKC after living in the area since my early twenties.  It was huge to leave my friends and start over in a new community.  A few Sundays after I'd gotten here, I sat in my kid's church wondering how long it would take me to settle in to a new life, new city, new church...etc.  I questioned if God could use me here.  As I sat in the service, they sang a song called "God of This City."   As the words pierced my heart, the tears flowed.  I tried to look very inconspicuous as the floodgate of emotion splashed down my face onto my Bible.  God's presence was sweet and His encouragement strong.  I knew He wasn't through with me yet.
    Today, a few months later, I sat in my new church.  The music minister told the story of the writing of "God of this City."  Again, I was blessed even more.  I came home and researched and found a link to the story on UTUBE.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXh_tgjnYJw  You'll be blessed to if you watch this story and then listen to the whole thing.   Chris Tomlin has recorded it.  Thank you, Lord, for Your Mercy and Love.  Thank you for Your faithfulness.