How long? How long are we doing to do this?  Can we keep it up...this living for the Lord and praising Him with our lips and lives?   How long?  (Will we keep keeping-after the Lord?) Are we tired today?   Well, buckle back up and let's not give up on God.   How long ?   ...as long as we live, and till our dying breath.  Let's keep praising God until then .  He sure deserves it. I will praise the Lord as long as I live.   I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.  ~Psalm 146:1 How long?  Until we can't no more.   That's how long we as God's sons and daughters ought to be fueled and encouraged to praise Him.   ~~~ D on’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.  ( 4) When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.  ~Psalm 146:3-4 You don't need me to explain or develop these verses.  First...

I have been spending some evenings lately making salsa.  The Summer weather has produced Summer vegetables, including tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, green peppers, cilantro and garlic.  If you combine (any combination) of these harvest items--they create a tasty salsa, which has been a favorite snack/condiment/meal-topping in our home lately. The first batch of salsa that I made took hours , literally, because it takes time  to cut and core tomatoes and to chop peppers, onions, garlic and cilantro.  (And we had a hearty harvest of items!).  It took time (and love), but my husband and kids enjoyed the salsa-result, and so of course it was worth it. But when a second bunch of salsa-making-ingredients found its way to my kitchen counter-top to be "processed"...I felt exhausted just thinking about the process. But then I had an idea.   I got out my food processor, and veggie by veggie, I quickly threw in (almost-whole) items, which too...

Sometimes we learn what TO  do by learning what not  to do. ~~~ The prophets in the Bible tell of things to come (and the prophet  Zechariah is no different) ...but what do  Zechariah's words  mean for us as we live in the world today ?   The visions that God gives  Zechariah  define what will be  one day .   But what else is within Zechariah 's words... for us today? If we read the Bible and look beyond literal meanings (which will come to pass), we can also interpret and receive what else God is saying--as is the case with the verses in Zechariah 11.   It is not so much what  Zechariah is saying...as it is the  opposite of what He is saying.  God gives  Zechariah the idea, the timing, even the shepherd ...but nothing about that shepherd is what God prefers.   And so, s ometimes we learn what to do by learning what not to do. Zechariah Chapter 11  highlights a poor (negative) sh...

During church service over the weekend, our pastor got off topic.  And there was  rejoicing in Heaven because of it! I don't just mean that the pastor lost his place in his sermon notes, or went down a "rabbit hole" with an unrelated story.   I mean that as he was speaking  about the assigned Scriptures, he paused and shared with us that he felt the Holy Spirit leading him to discuss salvation: and so he did. The pastor left his (Biblical) topic), and he switched-gears mid-sermon (and mid-sentence!) into the Lord's (at that moment) topic. Some thing and  some One spoke to his heart about getting off topic, and he obeyed.   Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  ~Isaiah 30:31 Our pastor discerned (in real time) the voice and  the way ...and he  walked in it .   Somewhere during the sermon the Holy Spirit whispered to our pastor that ther...

A blessing over the people of the Lord today. God's promises over our families, the extensions of our families, and over us , who are His children. God's promises for us today...written in the Bible.   We love you Lord.   We are your children.   Our children are Your children and our families are Your families. You will always be with us, if we will seek you.  Your promises stand, and will hold.  A blessing over the people of the Lord today. The people of Israel will become like mighty warriors, and their hearts will be made happy as if by wine.   Their children, too, will see it and be glad; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord .  ( 8) When I whistle to them, they will come running, f or I have redeemed them.   From the few who are left, they will grow as numerous as they were before. ( 9) Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations, they will still remember me in distant lands.   They and their c...

One of my favorite things to prepare for a trip (airplane or car) is the snack bag(s).  If we are going on a flight, I like to pack little (person-specific) bags, filled with goodies and small things that cannot be opened by the recipient until we are in-flight.  I love the “aha” or “ooooh” moment when they open their bags and are blessed… by me. In the car, the snack bag that I prepare always grows larger than it should with sweet treats, salty items, and homemade goodies that I hope will “hit the spot” with one of our car members.   I want to bless them, but (if I am honest), I also want to be seen as a blessing. Our latest car trip was no different.   Popcorn and peanuts, chex mix, and homemade tropical-fruit scones with orange glaze (can you tell that I am proud of them?) were tucked in my snack bag, ready to rescue the hungry at any mile-marker of our trip.    I was especially excited to “reveal” the scones, and I hoped others would be wowed by th...