.jpg)
Winter is definitely coming! I have removed all of the flip flops from the wicker bin by the door and filled it with hats, gloves, and scarves. It has snowed a few times already but none has really stuck to the ground. We had a real foggy day last week with 20 degree temps and it sure awakens the sleeping ice crystals. Everything had crystals on it, the horses wiskers, every blade of grass, even the horse hairs that hang from the arena (the picture above). Only God could create such beauty in it's perfection. What a difference from southern California, I love the beauty that each season brings, it's own beauty that no other season has.We have all been sick around here with the flu's and colds. Aaron, Tuyet, Myles, and I have been ever so lovingly sharing all of our viruses with each other. Myles and I are trying to get our animals ready for Christmas but as you can see in the pictures, that they don't have that Christmas spirit YET. Love from us.
16 comments:
God Is Eternal
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
“God is…greater than we can understand! No one knows how old he is.”
Job 36:26
Scripture says that the number of God’s years is unsearchable. We may search out the moment the first wave slapped on a shore or the first star burst in the sky, but we’ll never find the first moment when God was God, for there is no moment when God was not God. He has never not been, for he is eternal. God is not bound by time.
But when Jesus came to the earth, all this changed. He heard for the first time a phrase never used in heaven: “Your time is up.” As a child, he had to leave the Temple because his time was up. As a man, he had to leave Nazareth because his time was up. And as a Savior, he had to die because his time was up. For thirty-three years, the stallion of heaven lived on the corral of time.
WOW, Beautiful. The animals look great! I can't imagine what my Dog Madison would do if we put anything on her! She'd rip it off in a second. She's a CRAZY German Shorthair Pointer. Beautiful crazy dog. We love her. She just had her 2nd birthday. She shares the day with her Uncle Tom:Nov 30th
Much love and continued prayers for all!
K8
Magnify Your Maker
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
“If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified.”
I Peter 4:11 NKJV
God endows us with gifts so we can make him known. Period. God endues the Olympian with speed, the salesman with savvy, the surgeon with skill. Why? For gold medals, closed sales, or healed bodies? Only partially.
The big answer is to make a big to-do out of God. Brandish him. Herald him. “God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well… Then God will be given glory” (I Pet. 4:10-11 NLT).
Love so that “he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!” (I Pet. 4:11 MSG). Exhibit God with your uniqueness. When you magnify your Maker with your strengths, when your contribution enriches God’s reputation, your days grow suddenly sweet.
That is an awesome message!!! Much love to all!
k8
The Master Plan
Thursday, December 06, 2007
“It was the LORD’s will to crush him.”
Isaiah 53:10 NIV
The cross was no accident.
Jesus’ death was not the result of a panicking, cosmological engineer. The cross wasn’t a tragic surprise. Calvary was not a knee-jerk response to a world plummeting towards destruction. It wasn’t a patch-job or a stop-gap measure. The death of the Son of God was anything but an unexpected peril.
No, it was part of a plan. It was a calculated choice. “It was the Lord’s will to crush him.” The cross was drawn into the original blueprint. It was written into the script. The moment the forbidden fruit touched the lips of Eve, the shadow of a cross appeared on the horizon. And between that moment and the moment the man with the mallet placed the spike against the wrist of God, a master plan was fulfilled.
Snow arrived in Northern Virginia yesterday and into today. It really was just a dusting, but you would have thought we had a BLIZZARD. Schools are closed, people drive crazy, it's hysterical.
It does look like a winter wonderland. It's beautiful.
Much love and continued prayers for ALL
Deliver Christ to the World
Friday, December 07, 2007
“I work…using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me.”
Colossians 1:29
The virgin birth is more, much more, than a Christmas story; it is a picture of how close Christ will come to you. The first stop on his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep within Mary for an answer.
Better still, look deep within yourself. What he did with Mary, he offers to us! He issues a Mary-level invitation to all his children. “If you’ll let me, I’ll move in!”…
What is the mystery of the gospel? “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27 NIV)…
Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Christmas. You, like Mary, will deliver Christ into the world.
We've awakened this morning to sleet . ..looks a little like your ice covered tree. It's so cold, but BEAUTIFUL. Shopping til I drop this weekend.
Much love and continued prayers
k8
What Friends Do
Monday, December 10, 2007
“A friend loves you all the time.”
Proverbs 17:17
One gets the impression that to John, Jesus was above all a loyal companion. Messiah? Yes. Son of God? Indeed. Miracle worker? That, too. But more than anything Jesus was a pal. Someone you could go camping with or bowling with or count the stars with…
Now what do you do with a friend? (Well, that’s rather simple too.) You stick by him.
Maybe that is why John is the only one of the twelve who was at the cross. He came to say good-bye. By his own admission he hadn’t quite put the pieces together yet. But that didn’t really matter. As far as he was concerned, his closest friend was in trouble and he came to help.
“Can you take care of my mother?”
Of course. That’s what friends are for.
Hey!! Crazy crazy weekend. Trying to get ready for Christmas. Gosh! We make ourselves MAD with rushing. Much love to all!
k8
Hi all!
Sometimes I miss the snow, but then there are times I don't. We are spoiled here in AZ in the winter, but our brutally hot summers seem to balance it out. Christmas is different when its 70 degrees. I love the pictures. It's amazing to me how fast Myles has grown, and how much he has grown up! I see a lot of his mom in him, and a lot of his sister too! I hope you all are well and enjoying the Holiday Season.
Love to all,
Kathy
God’s Ways Are Right
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.”
Isaiah 43:2-3 NASB
God knows what is best. No struggle will come your way apart from his purpose, presence, and permission. What encouragement this brings! You are never the victim of nature or the prey of fate. Chance is eliminated. You are more than a weather vane whipped about by the winds of fortune. Would God truly abandon you to the whims of drug-crazed thieves, greedy corporate raiders, or evil leaders? Perish the thought!
We live beneath the protective palm of a sovereign King who superintends every circumstance of our lives and delights in doing us good.
Nothing comes your way that has not first passed through the filter of his love.
Reading Kathy's note is funny. I have NEVER been anywhere at Christmas except at home. It's usually always cold, sometimes even snowing. Much love, and continued prayers for all.
Kate
Prophecy Fulfilled
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
“Those who look to the LORD will praise him.”
Psalm 22:26
The fulfillment of Scripture is a recurring theme in the passion.
Why, in his final moments, was Jesus determined to fulfill prophecy? He knew we would doubt. He knew we would question. And since he did not want our heads to keep his love from our hearts, he used his final moments to offer proof that he was the Messiah. He systematically fulfilled centuries-old prophecies…
Did you know that in his life Christ fulfilled 332 distinct prophecies in the Old Testament? What are the mathematical possibilities of all these prophecies being fulfilled in the life of one man?
1/840,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
(That’s ninety-seven zeroes!) Amazing!
It is amazing, just knowing that someone out there is good enough to write about it, and point it out. It's important. Hope you all are enjoying this holiday season. Much love and continued prayers for all.
K8
A Well of Optimism
Thursday, December 13, 2007
“You must change and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:3
Bedtime is a bad time for kids. No child understands the logic of going to bed while there is energy left in the body or hours left in the day.
My children are no exception. A few years ago, after many objections and countless groans, the girls were finally in their gowns, in their beds, and on their pillows. I slipped into the room to give them a final kiss. Andrea, the five-year-old, was still awake, just barely, but awake. After I kissed her, she lifted her eyelids one final time and said, “I can’t wait until I wake up.”
Oh, for the attitude of a five-year-old! That simple uncluttered passion for living that can’t wait for tomorrow. A philosophy of life that reads, “Play hard, laugh hard, and leave the worries to your father.” A bottomless well of optimism flooded by a perpetual spring of faith. Is it any wonder Jesus said we must have the heart of a child before we can enter the kingdom of heaven?
that's also why i love to watch children at Christmas time, they still see the JOY!
Much love and continued prayers.
K8
Facing the Facts
Friday, December 14, 2007
“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!”
Psalm 139:17 NKJV
Aging is a universal condition. But the way we try to hide it, you would think it was a plague!
There are girdles which compact the middle-age spread for both sexes. There are hair transplants, wigs, toupees, and hair pieces. Dentures bring youth to the mouth, wrinkle cream brings youth to the face, and the color in a bottle brings youth to the hair.
All to hide what everyone already knows—we’re getting older…
Just when the truth about life sinks in, God’s truth starts to surface. He takes us by the hand and dares us not to sweep the facts under the rug but to confront them with him at our side.
Aging? A necessary process to pass on to a better world.
Death? Merely a brief passage, a tunnel.
Self? Designed and created for a purpose, purchased by God himself.
There was that so bad?
As another birthday for me approaches, this was good timing. Much love and continued prayers!
Aunt K8
God’s Love
Monday, December 17, 2007
“God is love.”
I John 4:16
The supreme surprise of God’s love? It has nothing to do with you. Others love you because of you, because your dimples dip when you smile or your rhetoric charms when you flirt. Some people love you because of you. Not God. He loves you because he is he. He loves you because he decides to. Self-generated, uncaused, and spontaneous, his constant–level love depends on his choice to give it. “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you” (Deut. 7:7-8 NIV).
You don’t influence God’s love. You can’t impact the treeness of a tree, the skyness of the sky, or the rockness of a rock. Nor can you affect the love of God.
1 of 365 devotionals in Grace for the Moment, Volume 2
Originally printed in Come Thirsty
WOW, No that's unconditional! Much love and continued prayers to ALL!!
K8
God Uses People
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
“Happy are those who are helped by the God of Jacob.”
Psalm 146:5
Until he was eighty years old he looked like he wouldn’t amount to much more than a once-upon-a-time prince turned outlaw. Would you choose a wanted murderer to lead a nation out of bondage? Would you call upon a fugitive to carry the Ten Commandments? God did. And he called him, of all places, right out of the sheep pasture. Called his name through a burning bush. Scared old Moses right out of his shoes! There, with knees knocking and “Who me?” written all over his face, Moses agreed to go back into the ring…
The reassuring lesson is clear. God used (and uses!) people to change the world. People! Not saints or superhumans or geniuses, but people. Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars—he uses them all. And what they may lack in perfection, God makes up for in love.
I love the present tense of the word . . . USE> he uses people. See what a blessing you've been to a LOT of people Myles!!
Much love and continued prayers.
Kate
When the Time Comes
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
“God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Matthew 6:34 MSG
The last phrase is worthy of your highlighter: “when the time comes.” “I don’t know what I’ll do if my husband dies.” You will, when the time comes.
“When my children leave the house, I don’t think I can take it.” It won’t be easy, but strength will arrive when the time comes.
“I could never lead a church. There is too much I don’t know.” You may be right. Or you may be wanting to know everything too soon. Could it be that God will reveal answers to you when the time comes?
The key is this: Meet today’s problems with today’s strength. Don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet. You simply have enough for today.
Boy did I need that devotion today. See Myles! I need to read these as much as you do!! As much as we all do! Much love, and continued prayers for ALL!!
Aunt K8
Made By the Master
Thursday, December 20, 2007
“You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13 NIV
“Knitted together” is how the psalmist described the process of God making man. Not manufactured or mass-produced, but knitted. Each thread of personality tenderly intertwined. Each string of temperament deliberately selected.
God as creator. Pensive. Excited. Inventive.
An artist, brush on pallet, seeking the perfect shade.
A composer fingers on keyboard, listening for the exact chord.
A poet, pen poised on paper, awaiting the precise word.
The Creator, the master weaver, threading together the soul.
Each one different. No two alike. None identical.
Look in the mirror Myles! what a glorious piece of art you are. And cute as a button to boot! Much love and continued prayers for ALL!
Aunt k8
Gifted to Give
Friday, December 21, 2007
“A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a mean of helping the entire church.”
I Corinthians 12:7 NLT
When you place your trust in Christ, he places his Spirit in you. And when the Spirit comes, he brings gifts, housewarming gifts of sorts. “A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church” (I Cor. 12:7 NLT). Remember, God prepacked you with strengths. When you become a child of God, the Holy Spirit requisitions your abilities for the expansion of God’s kingdom, and they become spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit may add other gifts according to his plan. But no one is gift deprived.
Lonely? God is with you.
Depleted? He funds the overdrawn.
Weary of an ordinary existence? Your spiritual adventure awaits.
The cure for the common life begins and ends with God.
Love it! hey Myles . . . . Santa's coming! Are you ready?!?!?!?!?
Facing Fear
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
“Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering.”
Luke 22:42
Jesus was more than anxious; he was afraid…
How remarkable that Jesus felt such fear. But how kind that he told us about it. We tend to do the opposite. Gloss over our fears. Cover them up. Keep our sweaty palms in our pockets, our nausea and dry mouths a secret. Not so with Jesus. We see no mask of strength. But we do hear a request for strength.
“Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering.” The first one to hear his fear is his Father. He could have gone to his mother. He could have confided in his disciples. He could have assembled a prayer meeting. All would have been appropriate, but none were his priority. He went first to his Father.
hey everyone. Merry Christmas! Hope you all had a great time together, and enjoyed the day. It was beautiful in Virginia. Crisp air, blue skies! Hope Santa was good to each and everyone of you. Much love, and continued prayers. K8
Post a Comment