Count Your Blessings

Since this is that time of year, let's count our blessings. Even when things look bleak, we do have daily blessings. The Bible tells us in Psalm 68:19, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation."

Look at that verse again, o daughter of the king: our Lord, the God of our salvation daily LOADS us with benefits. Not just one...but loads ~ every day!!! Wow! What are some of them in my life?

~ my salvation...the God of gods, the Lord of Glory saved ME!!!!
~ my husband...what a wonderful man the Lord gave me. I consider myself blessed many times over to be married to a man who loves the Lord with all his heart.
~ my son...still growing and learning, but I thank the Lord for my boy (actually young man, now!).
~ my church...thank God that He has seen fit to place us in a church where the Word of God is taught, preached and practiced!
~ my friends...I am so thankful for Christian friends who I know pray for me.
~ my ministry...I am thankful for the opportunity that we have as a family to minister in a nursing home every week. What a blessing those folks are. And then on Sundays I get to work with third graders in Sunday School. Love those kids!
~ my health...I have some health issues that can cause problems, but praise the Lord for the health He has given me!
~ my breath...one of those daily benefits ~ God gives me breath.
~ my warm house...it's not the biggest or fanciest, but it's home; it's a roof over our heads in the winter weather; it keeps out the rain; and my family is there with me.

And on and on the list could go. I praise and thank God for His blessings. What about you? Care to share?

"I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high."

Links didn't work...

The seven links I posted didn't work...here goes a correction.

Neubauers http://www.jamesneubauer.blogspot.com/

Julie http://juliesjewels062694.blogspot.com/

Jennifer http://7moorespaces.spaces.live.com/

Suzi http://mom4boyz.blogspot.com/

Rachel http://joyfuldevotion.blogspot.com/

Jerry http://faithfulmenofgod.blogspot.com/

The Senz Family http://whythesnowbelt.blogspot.com/

Sorry for the inconvenience, and hope this works (I am not too swift on this type of thing!!)

I've Been Tagged...

I've been tagged by Kim at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/momofneb

The Rules are simple:

~ Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog

~ Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself

~ Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs

~ Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a message on their blog

So now...

1. In the last 2 years, I have had two cats...and both of them have disappeared!

2. I work in a musuem that is run by a library.

3. My favorite color is green.

4. My favorite flower is rose.

5. I love to cook and have guests over.

6. I don't enjoy baking!

7. We moved so much that I went to a different high school every year.

Now it's my turn to link to 7 blogs. If you don't want to do this, feel free to pass it up.

The Neubauers at God is so good

Julie at Julies Jewels

Suzi at 4 sweet boys...40 loads of laundry

Jennifer at The Moore the Merrier

The Senz Family at what do you mean, plant a church in the snowbelt?

Rachel at Joyful Devotion

Jerry at faithful men of God

My son joined the Indiana National Guard in August of this year, just a few days before he turned 20. He won't be going to Basic until 2008, but is training at the monthly drills. He felt strongly that God would have him do this. I'm proud of my soldier boy.

Holy Club Questions

This was posted on a forum recently. I think these are some good questions to help take inventory of our spiritual lives.


John Wesley's Holy ClubQuestionsThese are 22 questions the members of John Wesley's Holy Club asked themselves every day in their private devotions over 200 years ago.

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I relly am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
4. Can I be trusted?
5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
7. Did the Bible live in me today?
8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
9. Am I enjoying prayer?
10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13. Do I disobey God in anything?
14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
17. How do I spend my spare time?
18. Am I proud?
19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
22. Is Christ real to me?

Let's take inventory of our spiritual lives...

Are we wise or are we foolish?

Proverbs 14:1 states: Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

As I read that this morning, the question hit me - am I building my house or am I plucking it down? That led me to wonder how we, as women, as daughters of the King, can build or destroy our houses. Let's look at just a few ways...

~ Attitude ~ What is our attitude toward people and circumstances in our lives?

Do we grumble and complain? It is so easy for women to do that, isn't it? But should we be murmurers? Let's look at 1 Cor. 1-10. I will just pull out a few phrases here; it would be good to read the entire thing on your own. "Moreover, brethren, [I think this includes the sisters, here, too! =D] I would not that ye should be ignorant...now these things were our examples...neither murmur ye... God doesn't want us to murmur anymore than He wanted the Children of Israel in the wilderness to murmur. Remember that murmuring is the same as complaining. When we gripe and complain, we are tearing down our house...our spouses suffer, our children suffer. What do we gain out of complaints? Our family wants to avoid us, friends don't want to spend time with us, and no lost person is going to believe a grump who tries to tell them about the joy of salvation!! Net gain: Zero!

~ Action ~ Do our actions glorify God?

Are our actions in line with scripture? The Bible tells us in Colossians 3:23: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. All of our actions are to be done to the Lord. Hmmmm....that means when we dust. When we do dishes. When we iron. When we do laundry. When we vacuum. When we change those diapers or wipe those runny noses. When we cook that huge meal. When we do dishes again. When we dust again. When we iron again. When we wash those same clothes AGAIN!!! Yes, sometimes a wife and mother's job can be tedious, repetitive, BORING....But if we are doing it heartily, as to the Lord, our daily tasks will lose that tediousness, that boredom. As you wash dishes today, remind yourself that you are building a home...you are building lives, and helping to build the future homes of your little ones (if your little ones are gone, maybe you have grand little ones...), you are building your house for your spouse, no matter how long you have been married. Is your house being built or is it being plucked down?

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Daughters of the King, let's be wise women and build our houses...