bits and pieces...

Wow-can you believe it is 2010 already?!  I've always said, once I turned 21 the years have flown by--yes, I sadly wanted to be 21 so very much-I knew there was a whole new world out there I was missing--such foolishness, I hope my children will be wise enough to know better!

So this got me thinking on the bits and pieces of wisdom I've been given or been blessed to learn...

~My grandmother once said to me in my young days, being a new wife and then mother, "there is always enough food..."  This was in response to feeding others at my home, such as surprise visits or simply thinking there wasn't enough food for so and so to come over.  She has always been right-it may not be an exquisite meal but you'd be surprised what you can come up with when in need...and it is more about the fellowship than the actual meal.

Mark 6:37-42

But he (Jesus) answered, "You give them something to eat."

They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

38"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."

When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."

39Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42They all ate and were satisfied, 43and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

~My mother said to me before I got married, "never use bad language towards eachother."  I am so grateful for these words, especially since I didn't have a relationship with the Lord when hubby and I were first married.  I'm thankful for the respect we've given eachother with this and now know the importance of it...we must guard our tongues...just words out of a mouth in a moment of heated emotion but like daggers in the heart, and satan will use these words to continue to cause strife and division in a relationship unless forgiveness is present.

Proverbs 10:19

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

~A precious friend once said to a small group of us girls (at IHOP of course!) early into our marriages that if we said there was "something" we as wives couldn't forgive our husbands for, then we were setting our marriages up for failure and giving satan a direct line of attack.  Let me say, first, again this has been such a blessing to my marriage.  Our precious Father is mighty to heal and love and guide.  Please, know that He desires us to be safe in all ways and we must seek His will to respond to situations.  With that said, this has been a place to stand on His word and be accountable to my treatment and behavior as a wife, mother and Christian woman.  It has been the starting, the foundation of prayer for my husband and our marriage and of my actions as a wife.  It has reminded me to pray in the good times,  to not let my guard down against the enemy because things are going "well."  Secondly, this precious friend has been a beautiful example of seeking God with her face on the ground, sprawled at His feet for her marriage.  Her life has been a testimony of the amazing grace of our Father, bringing her to the woman He created her to be, through tears, laughter, pain, peace and more tears.  She is an example of a wife lifting up her husband to our most precious God, leaning not on her own understanding but on that of the LORD and His strength when she has none left.  I know God is working something mighty there and I have great hope in His plan for this precious family.

Proverbs 31:25-27

²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;

       she can laugh at the days to come.

 ²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,

       and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

 ²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household

       and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Through all things the Lord provides...if there is one thing He is laying on my heart heavily...it is my heart attitude.  My heart towards Him and those He has placed in my life... and myself.  More to share about this later :) 

John 6:35

226. Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.John 6:34-36 (in Context) John 6 (Whole Chapter)

Seek Him first...spend time with your Heavenly Papa.  God bless you!