Because you prayed & fall is in the air

September 8, 2016September 8, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Y’all. When we left church last night, it was dark outside. I didn’t know what was going on. Normally, it’s still daylight & hotter than a firecracker. However, a sweet lady, that was walking out with me, knew exactly what it was.

She said, “The seasons are changing. The days are getting shorter.”

AND THIS HEAT. Surely, there’s an end in sight. (Happy dance inserted here). I know I have sweated more this year, than I have in a long time. And I don’t even hardly ever go outside. Ever.

I came across a wonderful devotional in Our Daily Bread. I wanted to share it with you.

What do you do with your worries? Do you turn them inward, or turn them upward?

When the brutal Assyrian King Sennacherib was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, he sent a message to King Hezekiah saying that Judah would be no different from all the other nations he had conquered. Hezekiah took this message to the temple in Jerusalem, and “spread it out before the Lord” (Isa. 37:14). He then prayed and asked for help from Almighty God.

Soon afterward Isaiah the prophet delivered this message to Hezekiah from the Lord: “Because you prayed about King Sennacherib of Assyria, the Lord has spoken” (Isa. 37:21-22 nlt). Scripture tells us that Hezekiah’s prayer was answered that very night. God intervened miraculously, conquering the enemy forces outside the city gates. The Assyrian army didn’t even “shoot an arrow” (v. 33). Sennacherib would leave Jerusalem, never to return.

Three words in God’s message to Hezekiah—“Because you prayed”—show us the best place to go with our worries. Because Hezekiah turned to God, He rescued him and his people. When we turn our worries into prayer, we discover that God is faithful in unexpected ways! —James Banks

Father, please help me to turn my worries into prayer. My problems are better in Your hands than in my own

Wow! If that’s not incentive to be in prayer, I don’t know what is. I have a prayer journal, that I write names in to pray for. I am thinking of revamping it to be more in depth with it. I am hoping it will make me more aware of people & situations. Y’all, I am so guilty of getting caught up with my problems & not thinking about what others are facing. Hopefully, this will be a good way to keep other’s needs fresh on my mind & heart. I will share this with you, when I put it together.

I hope everyone has had a great week so far. We had a nice Labor Day. My husband out did himself, again. He grilled ribs, fish, a pork butt, & bar-b-que bologna. Everyone was definitely full, when they left the house! Hope the rest of your week is just wonderful! Until next time, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

If it looks like the younger is taller than the older, well, it’s no optical illusion. Miss Neenee has finally passed her sisters in height!

Got to see this lovely young lady. She is truly, truly one of us. She “gets” our sense of humor & loves us, even though we are a bunch of crazies.

And on Labor Day this guy ate so much we about had to roll him out the door. Unless his heart doctor is reading this, then, we made sure he only ate salads and not pork to clog up the rest of his arteries. We are just caring people like that.

photo credits- tumblr

We made it another year, y’all & 5 (maybe 6)things to make 2016 the best year yet

December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

Y’all….We made it! Christmas is behind us & 2016 is before us. Looking back we had an eventful year. From a grandbaby turning 1 year old, to news of a new grandbaby, to my sweet E.A.’s journey to getting married, Miss Neenee turning 12, her playing the trumpet in the band & lots of other wonderful things . We clearly have been blessed beyond measure. And one thing is sure. Time is not slowing down for anyone.

Year end is a time of reflection. However, it is also a time for planning & looking forward to the new year & all it has to hold. This is a perfect time to take inventory of things in your life. It’s also a time to make goals & focus on making the next year the best one yet.

Today, I want us to focus on our spiritual life & doing some cleaning out & dusting off. Here are some noteworthy things to focus on this year:

Prayer-Melanie over at Southern Melle has made a 31 day scripture writing challenge on prayer. I emailed her & asked could I use her scripture challenge for all of us. And y’all, she said yes & I was clearly delighted! What an awesome way to start the year, or anytime you want to focus on prayer.
Reading your Bible– Ok, so Melanie at Southern Melle is on my radar today! She also has made a weekly Bible reading plan for 2016. I love this because I have tried to do the daily Bible reading before. Then, I would get behind, never to catch up. And I would just quit. I am super excited about this one. It will be a better fit for me.
Applying the Word to our lives– The thing that comes to mind first are 3 “let us” verses.

Hebrews 10:22-24 let us draw near with a true heart…

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope…

Let us consider one another…

Also, what about your monetary giving? (II Corinthians 9:7) I kid you not, when I say, when I am giving like I should, to the church, things just seem to go a lot better for me as a whole. I have no great explanation for that except when you obey God, you have His favor. And who doesn’t want that?

4. Finding your talents & sharing them– Do you love children? Teach a Bible class. Are you good at organizing? Be on a VBS committee. Do you like to cook? Sign up for a food team. Do you enjoy visiting with others? Start going to the nursing homes. Are you an encourager? Send cards to the sick & shut in. There are so many things at our church to be involved in. You can just about bet anything you enjoy or excel in, you will find a group of people already doing that same thing. You can do these things on your own, with your own family, as well. Just be involved & let your light shine. (Matthew 5:16)

5. Be more thankful. You just don’t know how the Lord will work in your life if you become immensely grateful. You get so much more. You become humble. You start to see that nothing is a sure thing. You begin to see how much you need the Lord. You have the reassurance you are not in this life thing on your own. You have Jesus to turn to & depend on for your every want & need. From there you will get the peace that you have no idea where or how it comes to you, it just does. (Philippians 4:7) And that’s a beautiful way to live.

6. Have faith. That sounds pretty easy. But is it? As soon as something bad happens we are questioning God like nobody’s business. Seriously though, God takes care of us in ways we don’t even know or understand. Just trust. No matter what. No questions asked. (Matthew 17:20)

Thank you for coming by & visiting with me today. Y’all just don’t know how much you bless my heart. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

**A BIG ‘ol thank you to Melanie from Southern Melle for so graciously letting me use her ideas. Go on over & visit her. She would love to have you.

photo credits: http://www.crosscards.com, http://www.southernmelle.com

What’s your prayer life like?

April 9, 2014April 9, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

My Daddy always says this.

Sunday at church, our associate minister preached. When he first started his sermon, I was sorta taken back. He posed this question:

“What would you do if you were told you couldn’t pray?”

Well, this did not sit well with me. I love to pray. It is comforting to me to know there is Someone that I can trust to take care of me anytime, all the time. To even consider for a split second that prayer would not be an option, well, that makes me feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest. Kinda like the times, growing up, when it would come up a cloud. My Mama Boyce would rush around gettin’ me & my brother to the storm house. Papa Clyde would come on down the hill & hunker down with us. Weepin’ & gnashin’ of teeth & a state a panic set in, I’m tellin’ you.
But before I could get into too big of a tiz, Bro. Andrew said what he wanted us to do is think about our current prayer life. Be thankful for it & take inventory on how to make it better. As I jotted down his points, I was thinking, I have a pretty good prayer life. However, I did realize I needed to work on some things.

1. Make time to talk to God, like a good friend. You wouldn’t go days, weeks, or months without talking to your best friend. Set some time aside to talk to God. Just you & Him. No interruptions. Seriously, it can be done. I have really gone back to my bathroom, in my closet, with the lights off & sat & prayed.

(Matthew 14:23) And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.(KJV)

2. Realize Who you are talking to. We have an avenue of prayer with the One that put 248 muscles in a caterpillars head. Currently, it has been said there are 100-200 billion galaxies. Not stars, vast groups of stars. The human body & how it functions is amazing in itself. However, an animal’s body works a lot of the same way. We were given the gift of a soul. We can reason, think creatively, & through Christ’s blood, be saved from our sins. We have the promise of heaven. The One who created all of this, is Who we are allowed to talk to anytime we get ready. Pretty mind blowing, huh? Kinda humbles you, doesn’t it?

(I Chronicle 29:11) Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all

3. Know Who God is not. God is not a genie. You can’t just ask & ask & ask & expect to receive, receive, receive right then & there every time. God has your best interest at heart. Things will happen on His time, not yours. Be thankful. You don’t have to go at God with a list of demands all the time. God is not Someone to be mocked. You can’t walk with God & hold hands with the devil. You have to take God seriously. You can’t straddle the fence. God is not Someone you only visit when you are in trouble. What if God were only there for you part of the time? You have to have a full time relationship with God. That’s what He has for you.

(Galatians 6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

I need to make time to clear my mind to talk to God. I need to remember Who God is. I don’t need to forget Who God is not either! Since my “One Word” for 2014 is Pray, I do need to make sure I am practicing making my prayer life better & better.
Thank you for taking time to stop by today. It is bright & sunny in Northeast MS today. I hope it hangs around a bit. I hope you have a great rest of the week. Shortly, I will be mailing in my registration for our town’s 10k run. I have never done a 10k, only 5ks. So ya’ll be prayin’ for me! But for now, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.