Trust me. I know what I’m doing.

September 2, 2016September 2, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Has anyone seen August? Now, where did that guy go? I turned around & he was just up & gone. May I also be the bearer of ~~bad~~ good news that Christmas is only 17 Fridays away. Lord help us all.

I did want to make mention of something that’s been on my mind lately. I believe if you take a poll with Christians everywhere, I bet everyone would say they trust in God. They trust in God’s providence, they trust in God’s ability, they trust in God to take care of the world. But really do they? Y’all, I’ve always heard people say,

“Your actions are speaking so loud, that I can’t hear what you are saying.”

When we get in a bind, do we pray? When we aren’t in a bind, are we praying? Are we complaining about our blessings? I think sometimes, I would be right in there with the children of Israel, sadly.

The children of Israel were quite a fickle group. Even though, Moses, through the power of God had just parted the Red Sea for them to walk over on dry land. Safely. From the Egyptians. (Exodus 14:21-24) Even though, God gave them everything they needed. Their clothes never wore out, (Deuteronomy 29:5) they never had to worry about shelter, & they had food every morning (Exodus 16:35). Even with all of these miraculous happenings , they still weren’t happy. They just didn’t get it. They grumbled & complained. And when they did, God heard them & made sure they were provided for(Exodus 16:13) But you know what? Their needs weren’t met right when they thought it should happen or in ways they thought it should be, it was on God’s time.

We have to remember that, too. But just like the children of Israel, I know how desperate a situation can become before it gets better. And then what do we do? We start to question God, y’all. That is just the human side of us. Our trust might just need a little dusting off every once in awhile. (I know mine does.)

Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. (NKJV)

We might need reminding that God is able to help us every day of our lives. We just have to do our part by obeying & asking.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (NKJV)

Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.(NKJV)

I hope you all have a blessed Labor Day weekend. We will be doing the norm, cooking, eating, & visiting with friends & family. My Daddy’s birthday was this past Thursday. So, we will throw in a little birthday celebration in the mix. Until next time, I love all y’all & will be thinking about ya while I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: http://www.lovethispic.com

Happy New Year from I should be washing clothes

January 1, 2015December 30, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

clothes line mittens Wishing you a Happy & Safe New Year from I should be washing clothes.

photo credit: Pinterest

Singing to the top of my lungs & leaning on the everlasting arms

September 10, 2014September 9, 2014 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

What would you do if you didn’t know how to sing? There would be no singing in the shower, no happy noise around the house, no entertainment in the car. There would be no sayings like,

“He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Bless his heart.”

One time we were having a Ladies Day at church & I was asked to lead singing. I was so excited! My family was full of people who could sing well. My uncle is a song leader at his church.

I asked him, “What do I need to do? Which songs should I pick out? I can’t even read music. Is that going to be a big deal?”

He said, “I am going to tell you something a lot of people don’t know. Our family sings by letter. We just open up our mouths & let ‘er fly.”

Whew! I’m so glad I got to carry on my family tradition. Because that’s exactly what I did. And I think it worked out ok. I had a lot of fun, I know that.

We had a missionary come to church Sunday. He gave a report on work he & his wife were doing in Italy & Ukraine. He showed one picture on Powerpoint & said,

“This is a time we were teaching the people how to sing. They didn’t know how to sing church hymns.”

Well, don’t that beat all? Since I have been singing in church since I was a wee thing, I can’t imagine not knowing how to sing church songs. I remember thinking my job was to sing louder than anyone. When I was 5 or 6 years old, I can remember my mama telling me she loved hearing me sing, but it was not necessary that I was the loudest in church. Do tell.

When making trips to town, as a young girl, my grandfather & I would sing Old MacDonald, in his old Corvair pick up truck. My grandmother used to sing to us kids. It was mostly songs she had made up. She would rock us & sing. It was better than anything you can imagine. She had such a way to comfort us young’uns. After church on Sundays, at my Papaw & Mamaw’s house, one of us kids would grab a song book. We would stand in the den, with my grandparents, mama, daddy, aunts, uncles, cousins, & one of would be the song leader. All of us would sing our hearts out. My brother would sing, “Leaning on Jesus Everlasting Arm” just like my Uncle Frank did at church. Everybody would “request songs” & we would sing them. Good times.

At church, there were Sunday singings after our dinner on the ground. That’s where the men of the congregation would take turns singing songs. We would go around the room & whoever wanted to lead a song could. Young, old, it didn’t matter. We just loved to sing.

Did you know one of the things we will be doing in heaven is singing? That makes it mine & your responsibility to be a practicin’!

Revelation 15:3

They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! (NKJV)

It’s a known fact that everybody can sing. Some may read music. Some may sing like a bird. Some may make the dogs howl when they commence to singin’. Like us, some may sing by letter, but it’s all beautiful to God, when we worship the Lord. Even though my mama thought it not proper to sing to the top of my lungs, when I was a young lass, that didn’t damper my spirit at all. I still love to sing along with our congregation. It’s hard to sing & not just feel better. And don’t think I have not taken the opportunity of teaching my kids & grandkids to love singing. I sing to these babies & Mr. Sweetie Pants sings back to me. He can belt out, “Jesus Loves Me” or “Rock Me Mama Like a Wagonwheel” in just a split second.

I hope you are having a good week. We are going to be having some cooler weather closer to the weekend. Oh yeah! I got to see all my grandkids this weekend. We had a big ol’ time. What fun things have you done lately? I want to hear all about it. But for now, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: pinterest, keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk, fumctroy.org

Do you want a piece of me? & what a wonderful life it is…..

July 31, 2014 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

As I get older, my life gets more full & blessed. I am so thankful for the people in my life. I am so glad our family is close knit & loving. Even though my daughter is married, with a baby & my middle daughter has a busy life, we still can’t hardly go to town without calling each other to see if the other one wants to go. Just the other day, I asked my 10 year old daughter if she ever felt like I didn’t give her enough attention. You know I got these grandbabies, now, that we just gush over. Then, the older girls, my 2 sons, my daughter in law, my sweet husband & I try to keep up with my Daddy, as well. I work full time, teach a Bible class at church, try to keep a house, cook, clean (sorta) & sometimes, after all that, I feel like she may get a little left behind. But when I asked her if she felt left out, she looked at me in utter surprise.

She said,

“No, I love my life. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”

Whew,nailed it.

Isn’t that what we all strive with our kids? We just want them to feel safe, loved, & well, happy. Now, ask her how happy she is when she can’t keep Mr. Sweetie Pants out of her room messing with all her stuff & you may get another answer!

Nonetheless, with my big family, something is always going on. Ne’er a dull moment. My oldest daughter got her degree in May (Yay!) She has gone to work for a school district. They had a 2 day kindergarten camp with the kids to get them ready for the school year. She said there was one little boy that was a mess. On the first day, he kept asking her,

“Miss K.K. do you want a piece of me?”

She kindly reassured him, she did not.

On Tuesday she finally had to get on to him. She said,

“If you don’t stop doing that, you are going to have to come stand beside me & hold my hand. Do you want to have to come hold my hand?”

He sweetly replied, “Maybe.”

Looks like she will have her hands full & heart full by the end of the school year!

I am so proud of my daughter & her love of children. Her grandmother loved children, too.

Jesus had encounters with children.

Matthew 19:13

Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. (NKJV)

Jesus knew the value of children.

Matthew 19:14

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (NKJV)

We should be ever mindful of these little fellows. They have an innocence & trustful, loving, heart just like we should have. Those are the kinds of things that will get us a 1^st class ticket to be with Jesus.

I am so glad you came by today. I hope your week has been full of good days. If you have not had the grandest of days I want to share this quote I saw this week:

You were born for a purpose,

You are here for a purpose.

When live knocks you down,

Remember your purpose.- Billy Cox

Now, go out & make it a great day! As for me, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Because I’m happy……

June 2, 2014 / kstrick7 / 6 Comments

Faces that make me happy.

How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m just not happy.” Have you ever heard someone say “I’m just not happy because of….” (my husband, my wife, my boyfriend, my girlfriend, my job, my dog, my cat, the president, the boy that mashed my bread, when he was sacking my groceries,) It’s always about putting the blame on someone or something else besides themselves. Or the one that gets me every time,

“God wants me to be happy.”

This is normally followed by a decision to do something that person probably doesn’t need to be doing in the first place. Let me just tell you something. Life is not fair. Life is hard. I went to a graduation recently, where some elementary school students wrote advice to the graduating class. One of the comments was-

“College is tougher than high school, yes, but you are advancing into life and life is harder than college.”

Well one of those babies understood reality better than some adults!

The other day I came across something, I knew to be true. It was just a reminder. It was on a Mental Health Month calendar by Mental Health America. It gave tips on things you could do every day to help you keep your mental health, well, healthy. On day 24 it said,

“Call or email a good friend. Studies have found that the difference between happy individuals & unhappy individuals comes in the form of good relationships.”

Jesus taught about how important relationships are.

Mark 12:31 – And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”(NKJV)

By God’s inspiration the apostle Paul penned these instructions to the church at Rome:

Romans 13:9 – For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(NKJV)

Sometimes what we think happiness is, really isn’t what happiness is all about after all. You see a lot of times I think we try to put our cause for happiness into something tangible. Money & possessions are one of the big things that comes to mind. Many think if they had more money, a bigger house, a nicer car, more land, that their world would be a brighter, happier place. Those people will never find happiness in those things. Do you know why? Because Jesus wanted us to understand how we treat each other is an important factor to how happy we will be.

Jesus did not say,“ Love thy house.” He said, “Love thy neighbor.”

It’s these sins of the heart that get a person every time. Greed, pride, & jealousy- people with those qualities will never see the kingdom of heaven. (Galatians 5:21)

So, what do you do? Remember what our purpose is in this ol’ world. (To seek and save the lost.) First we have to understand & obey the gospel. Next we have to study the Bible & grow ourselves in faith. We are then able to go tell others the Good news about Jesus & what He’s done for us. If you do these things, kind friend, you will learn happiness that you never knew existed. You will be more worried about helping people, than hurting them. The desires of your heart will turn to what Jesus wants you to do. Remember that happiness is an inside job. If you change what’s inside your heart, everything else will fall into place.

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit with me today. I love it when you stop in. We have had some glorious weather, here in northeast Mississippi (sign me up for some more of that!). Just the right weather to sit out on my deck. I hope you have a great week. As for me, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

More faces that make me happy.

When nothing seems right

May 31, 2012May 31, 2012 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

There are times that it doesn’t take much to get us down, does it? Maybe some unkind words from a friend, bad news from the auto mechanic, a financial set back, or a misbehaving child can put a cloud of gloom over everything (even on the sunniest of days!). You know you should be joyful, but everything just seems to be against you, making the simplest task a struggle.

The psalmist David must have been feeling a lot like that when he wrote Psalm 6. He felt weak & sickly (v. 2), troubled (v.3), forsaken (v.4), weary (v.6), and grief-stricken (v.7). But he knew what to do when nothing seemed right. He looked up & trusted God to take care of him & see him through.

When we look up & focus on God, something wonderful happens! We get our eyes off of ourselves & gain a new appreciation of Him.

Next time you think nothing is right, consider looking up to God for guidance. He is sovereign (Psalm 47:8). He loves you (I John 4: 9-10), He considers you special (Matthew 6:26), He has purpose for your trials (James 1:2-4).

Keeping our eyes on God will make us happy!

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden & I will give you rest.”

He didn’t say go out & buy something to make yourself feel better. He didn’t say turn to eating, drinking, or drugs to help you cope with your problems. He said come to Him.

Yes, life can seem unbearable at times. But don’t let it keep you down. Meditate on God’s goodness, talk to Him, and know that He hears you (Psalm 6:9). That will give you the strength & courage to get up when nothing is right.

When life knocks you down, you are in a good position to pray!

Parts of this was taken from an article in Our Daily Bread, written by Dave Branon. It was such a great read, I had to share it with you all. Life is hard sometimes, isn’t it? But if it were easy all the time, what lessons does that teach us? How would you know how others felt, in their times of pain & sorrow, if you had not been through things similar. In that case, you can help another person who doesn’t think anything is right! That’s how Jesus wants us to be. Caring for each other. Thank you so much for stopping by. I would love to stay & visit but I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes!