The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His Hands. Ps. 19:1

This is the sight that greeted me Friday evening on our drive to our daughters house. Wow, it was so spectacular to see so clearly. I am so thankful I got to see it-I was reminded that all things are His.

A New Game

Firstly, to all those dear friends who stopped by SUM yesterday and left me nice comments about my post, please know how much you touched my heart and how much I appreciate you. A big hug from me to you.

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Last night hubby and I went over to our youngest daughter's house to play a new board game, The Settlers of Catan, that all their friends are hooked on. Generally we play cards and love the time together; it helps daughter and s-i-l to unwind after living a full busy life with 3. Over the holidays they were invited to our pastor's house to play this new game, which we had never heard of before. In fact both our daughters have played it and it sounded so intimidating to me as well as them that I was surprised yesterday when we received the invite to come over and play. As son-in-law explained the strategy and objectives of the game I sat there feeling like I was never going to get the hang of it. For those who haven't heard of it, a person is accumulating goods-such as rock, brick, wood, sheep and wheat in an effort to win the game. Once we started playing though it was very easy to catch on to and although I'm sure I missed much of the strategy, it was a lot of fun. It only took a bit over an hour to play with just 4 of us so it makes a quick evening. I was a tad concerned because it really seemed like a "guy" game but it isn't and I just want to encourage you that if you get the chance to play this, try it you'll probably really enjoy it. I'm looking forward to our next game night.

Blessings to you this weekend.
Noreen

Without A Word

Last Friday I asked you, dear friends, to go visit Spiritually Unequal Marriage to read a story written by my daughter that tells of her childhood. I pray that you were blessed by her reflections. Today I am sharing some of my testimony there as well.

Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and join me here. http://unequalmarriage.typepad.com/

He Will Open The Door

Last night hubby and I decided to watch a movie our daughter lent to us, "Facing the Giants".
We have been told by many what a good uplifting movie this was and had just last week hubby had declined watching it. However, last night nothing was on so we watched it-and I was so glad we did. Not only did it exceed my expectations of being a enjoyable, feel-good movie it was filled with God's word. At one point near the beginning of the movie a verse from Rev. 3 is quoted and I truly felt like this verse was for me, given our situation in house hunting. It brought tears to my eyes and so I immediately wrote it down so that I can quote it as my own word from the Lord.

"He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut and who shuts and no one will open. I know your deeds, behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have a little power and have kept my Word and have not denied my name". Rev. 3:7b,8

I am so very thankful for this Word-because the Lord certainly closed the door to one house and now we just need to wait until He opens the door to the house He has for us.

For each of us the Lord has a word to encourage and bring hope; may He bring you one such word this day.
Be blessed. Noreen

Faith

This weekend I was reading a book by William MacDonald that I've picked up from time to time but don't read it on a regular basis. This weekend, though, one chapter reverberated through my spirit, probably because I've been mulling over our current housing situation and where the Lord might lead in it.
"Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends. George Muller explained, 'The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and where sight and sense fail.'
Faith says, "If 'impossible' is the only objection, it can be done!'
C.H. Mackintosh put it this way:
"Faith brings God into the scene, and therefore it know absolutely nothing of difficulties-yea it laughs at impossibilities. In the judgment of faith, God is the grand answer to every question-the grand solution of every difficulty. It refers all to Him; and hence it matters not in the least to faith whether it be six hundred thousand dollars or six hundred billion; it know that God is all sufficient. It finds all its resources in Him. Unbelief says, "how can such and such things be? It is full of hows; but faith has one great answer to thousand "hows"and that answer is God." William MacDonald~True Discipleship chapter 6, page 48

So I now am choosing that, even though 5 weeks is quite near when we are to vacate our rental, with God nothing is too hard and He already has all the details worked out for the house He has for us.
Blessings to you this day.

The Treasure Chest

When you talk about treasure chests a host of images come to mind, depending on your reference. If you have boys in the house a mom will often think of games involving Tom Sawyer or pirates. Thoughts might even involve digging on a island in the sand or some fun game. Several years ago we went camping with our girls and their families and my hubby buried one on the river bank. But this story is of another kind~more centered towards girls and young ladies.
If you remember I was a teen in the 60's and my morals were pretty indicative of the time. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.
When I had my two girls I immediately knew in my spirit that I did not want them to go through the heartache I did and that I would need to teach them deep truths grounded in the Lord.
At this point I had never heard of the chastity movement and as far as I knew there were no books about this type of training.
One day the Lord gave me a story to tell them and I have shared it often with other moms; I thought it might benefit some moms out there. Over the years some embellishments has been added but does not take away from the story. You may or may not agree and that is your prerogative but if you do I pray you might share it with others.

I saw a treasure chest, beautiful and intricately carved with rich gold and many jewels on it.
As beautiful as the outside was the inside was filled with the most precious and rare jewels of all types. This was a gift for a groom at the wedding, more costly than all else and more to be desired than any other gift. I saw two brides-one would carelessly open her treasure chest and grab a handful of gems and give them to whomever she fancied over the years while the other bride took such care of her chest and kept all the contents safe. The year came for the brides to give their grooms the chest but the one who had given so many of her treasures away, I noticed, the beauty of the chest had diminished so that it was ordinary while the bride who had cared and protected hers presented her groom with a beautiful chest. When the first groom looked at the chest, he was puzzled because it was just an ordinary box and as he opened it there was nothing inside while the second groom took his in awe and gazed at his wife. Slowly he opened it to find that all that were originally placed were still there and he was touched beyond words.
You see the treasure chest represents the bride-all the purity that she is born with; her hugs, love, loving looks, kisses and touch were the jewels on the inside that she had kept safe for her husband. You may think this is far fetched and that hugs and kisses don't need to be kept but it is in giving those away carelessly that one is apt to give more and more away so that there are no precious gifts left for her husband. I can still remember my girls being in early elementary school and seeing neighbor girls "making out" with jr high age boys and my girls innocently saying "Mom she is giving all her treasures away." This story has been told many times over the years and it is the Lord's. Once you give yourself away so carelessly there are parts of yourself you never can attain again. Having said that, the Lord is able to redeem what has been lost, as He did in my case. May this story impact one girl to save herself until marriage.

To God Be The Glory

Reflections on a Childhood

I am blessed with the two most amazing daughters in the whole world. I never had a close relationship with my own mother and God in His graciousness and mercy answered those heart yearnings in my life. His grace was especially evident because there was one dynamic of our home that left me longing for His touch on our family. Today, my oldest daughter,Carrie, is sharing some of her memories of growing up in our home.
Carrie's post today is part one of two and next Friday I will have a post over there for any who might be interested. Please join us for hearing of God's Hand in our lives.

To Read The Story go here.