Speaking of Holy Week

Welcome!

I've been doing two wonderful studies this week and I just want to share them with you. I must admit that I didn't do anything for the rest of Lent, unheard of for me. So when Holy Week came, I thought I better do something, because Easter is almost here!!

I am getting so much out this study by Rev. Drew Downs. I belong to his Facebook page and when I saw this post on Palm Study it just inspired me to follow him this whole week. He is right when he says we usually just rush to Thursday after Palm Sunday, but what about Monday - Wednesday?  I'm sorry I didn't share this sooner, but it won't take long to catch up, or you can just start with today.
https://drewdowns.net/2018/03/25/arrive-palm-sunday/

The other study I am doing came to me in an email from YouVersion. Have you been to their website? Lots of wonderful free Bible studies to take there. I'm doing the one for Holy Week based on the book, "My Utmost for His Highest," by Oswald Chambers.  I've owned this book for several years and just started reading it with this study. Now I wonder why I waited so long to open this book. It is a devotional gem!

I decided to use one of my Traveler's Notebook inserts to keep all my notes in. Here is what I did to it today.

I covered it with some paper from a pack I picked up today at Walmart. The pack was so cute I couldn't pass it up. I'm going to use some of the cutouts for Bible journaling. Here are some of the pages you get in the pack.

The pack of papers.

Some of the die cuts. 

More die cuts. I love the rain boots and sun! 

Cute alphabet letters, too!! Aren't they all adorable. The papers you get are cute, too and I love the colors. (How many times can I say cute in this post?) lol

I also picked up this pink traveler's notebook. I have fondled this 5 different trips to Walmart and each time said, No." I couldn't think of a reason to buy it and I don't impulse buy anymore, even if it was only $8.84. Today I had a reason; this study. It feels like moleskin. I'm a sucker for moleskin. My Bible is moleskin. Need I say more? *smiles*

Gratitude

1. Moleskin

2. Studies that inspire

3. Rev. Drew Downs

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this,

that one lay down his life for his friends.

Blessings,

Deborah

Weight Loss Bible Study - Check in/Backslide

Welcome to the Weight Loss Bible Study Check in!

I had a conversation with my accountability partner (SIL) this morning and it went something like this:

Me: I gained back the two pounds I lost last week.
SIL: Why do you think this happened?
Me: Fear of failing. Not tracking my points on Weight Watchers. Not exercising. I'm sabotaging myself again.
SIL: Read Job 3:25.

I did.
Job 3:25
What I feared has come upon me,
what I dreaded has happened to me.

Then we talked some more about how I hate eating different foods than hubby and MIL. I feel deprived and different. (I have issues about feeling different.) So she gave me these scriptures:

Daniel 1:8,15,17
8. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and defile himself in this way. (He requested only vegetables and water for himself and the young men with him.)
15. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished ...
17. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

SIL: Would you eat better if you knew you would become a prophet like Daniel did?
Me. Absolutely!

Now, we both know that won't probably happen, but we will be healthier and better nourished if we follow better eating habits.

And, by the way, we also talked about how being different is NOT a bad thing. God loves us all no matter how different we feel, because, let's face it, we all are different from one another in many ways. It is our differences that makes us unique.

And as Mr. Rogers always said, and I believe God does, too,
"I love you just the way you are!"

I feel stronger again. I'm tracking my food on W.W. today and plan to jump on that exercise bike when hubby is done with his nap.

I'm also rereading some of my journaling regarding weight loss and looking at my Bible scripture cards I made.

Use whatever helps you reach your goal!!
It is not easy losing weight.
Don't give up!
I believe in you!

Here's a link to a great article by Barb:
https://barbraveling.com/lose-weight/
Always remember to renew your mind!

Gratitude

1. Accountability partners

2. Scripture verses

3. Being different

Blessings,

Deborah

My Other Mother

Welcome and Good Morning!

It's a rainy day here in my mountains. I love the rain.

Cold, rainy days make me want Cream of Wheat for breakfast and when I eat some, like today, it takes me right back to my childhood and my mom's Formica kitchen table. It was grey and white Formica with chrome legs and matching chairs. Cream of Wheat is comfort food to me. Warms the tummy and the soul and brings back lovely memories of sitting at that table with Mom. Yesterday, I talked about my birth Mother, Hazel. Today I'm talking about the Mother who adopted me, Beverly. I am blessed with two loving Mothers. 

Beverly was a sweet, hardworking lady. She loved in a big way, with all her heart and you knew it. I never doubted her love for me. She was only 5'2" tall; Irish, German and French. She loved to laugh. Mom passed away almost thirteen years ago and the missing her is still raw some days. What I wouldn't give for one day to sit with a cup of tea and visit with her. Love you, Mom. 

Always makes me sigh and smile when I think of her.

A quilt I made for one of my grandsons a few years ago.

Gratitude
1. My two mothers
2. Rain
3. Cream of Wheat :) 

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. 

Blessings,
Deborah

Perspective

Welcome and happy first day of Spring!

Last night was the final night of our special writing classes called, "Writing From the Heart." Some people invited family and friends to hear us read our stories and poetry. Afterward we shared a potluck meal of all sorts of wonderful food.

I read three of my poems. Two of them fit in the category of "Me, too" and I ended with a funny one. Always leave them laughing, they say. They were well received, which always humbles me. And makes me smile. I'm a writer. I can finally say that and believe it. I've wanted this for so long.

My mother writes poetry. Her name is Hazel and she is back in the hospital. I found out when I came home from class last night. Kind of puts everything back into perspective. Please pray for her.

Some of my sisters write and some of my nieces. We all have a little Hazel in us; this gift of writing. I call us "The Hazel Girls." We are strong women, surviving various kinds of pain in this life. We are poets, novelists, musicians, song writers. We dig deep into our pain and it opens us up to share our lives in hope of inspiring and comforting others.
Lately, my pen just won't stop. The ink flows out in ways that is even surprising to me.
It seems I've been given a gift.
Passed down from Hazel, my birth mother.
I always wondered where if came from.
Now I know.
I'm a Hazel Girl.
Get well soon, Mother.

Gratitude
1. Having two mothers who love/d me.
2. The gift of writing
3. The gift of prayer

2Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are competent
in ourselves to claim anything
for ourselves,
but our competence comes from God.

Blessings,
Deborah

Balancing Act

Welcome and Good Morning!

Life is a constant balancing act for me and maybe, for you, too. Right now I'm trying to find my spiritual balance. It's funny how something not so big, like a friend on vacation, can throw you off balance spiritually. But when it is a spiritual mentor, well it just does.
This spiritual quest I am on is being fed by God, in one way, through a series of meditations by Fr. Richard Rohr. They are speaking to me in a deeper part of my soul. I like when that happens. I feel full; like I've eaten a very satisfying banquet. This year Fr. Rohr is focusing on the Divine in Nature. I'm sharing today's meditation with you. I hope if feeds your soul as well.

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action and Contemplation

Week Eleven

The Natural World

The Substance of God
Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Many indigenous spiritualities, Franciscans, and Celts saw creation as good, as a theophany or revelation of God’s very being, just as Genesis taught. How did Christianity come to be so divorced from nature? John Philip Newell (b. 1953), a poet and scholar known for his work in the field of Celtic spirituality, traces the roots and impact of the doctrine creatio ex nihilo. He offers an alternative, still orthodox, view of creation based on the writings of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon:

Irenaeus [130-202] . . . taught that the whole of creation flows from the very “substance” of God. [1] All things carry within them the essence of the One. Irenaeus . . . signaled his concern about the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, creation out of nothing. . . . This was to become the standard of Western Christianity’s approach to creation. Creation would be viewed not as coming forth from the substance of God but as fashioned from afar by a distant Creator, made out of nothing from on high.

Irenaeus intuited that this would be a disaster, that to neutralize matter, to teach that creation does not come from holy substance, would lead to the abuse of creation. It was a convenient “truth” . . . [meaning] that the empire could do whatever it wished to matter. Matter was not holy. It had not come forth from the womb of God’s Being. Rather it was made from nothing. It was essentially devoid of sacred energy. So, every imperial mind could ravage the earth’s resources with impunity. It could disparage the rights of creatures and subordinate the physical well-being of its subjects. Religion had become the accomplice of the state’s subordination of the earth. It had sanctioned the separation of spirit and matter.

Irenaeus . . . passionately taught that the substance of the earth and its creatures carries within itself the life of the Holy One. God, he said, is both “above us all and in us all.” [2] God is both transcendent and immanent. And the work of Jesus, he taught, was not to save us from our nature but to restore us to our nature and to bring us back into relationship with the deepest sound within creation. In his commentary on the Prologue to St. John’s Gospel, in which all things are described as spoken into being by God, Irenaeus sees Jesus not as speaking a new word but as uttering again the first word, the sound at the beginning and the heart of life. He describes Jesus as “recapitulating” the original work of the Creator, as articulating again what we have forgotten and what needs to be repeated, the Sound from which all life has come. [3] Jesus re-sounds the beginning. He resounds with what is deepest in the matter of the universe.

. . . The Christ story is the universe story. The birth of the divine-human child is a revelation, a lifting of the veil to show us that all life has been conceived by the Spirit in the womb of the universe, that we are all divine-human creatures, that everything that has being in the universe carries within itself the sacredness of Spirit.

 "Just as Genesis taught." 
That is what Genesis teaches us, isn't it? He gave everything he created to Adam and Eve to care for. As a whole, we are not doing a very good job of that command, are we? Many individuals, yes. As a whole, not so good.
Good food for thought.

I happen to agree with this meditation that says nature comes from God's very being, His sacred energy. How could you read Genesis any other way?

And the Psalms tell us that, too.
Psalm 33:6  By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.
Heady stuff.

Gratitude
1. God's creation of nature.
2. Starry nights
3. Animals

Blessings,
Deborah

Routines

Welcome and Good Morning!

I'm beginning a new/old routine for myself. I was inspired by two articles I read this morning.

One by Fr. Richard Peers called "The Solitary Life."
https://educationpriest.wordpress.com/2018/03/11/serious-christianity-the-solitary-life/

I was moved by the ideas in this article and how it can move me closer to God. Now, I can't live the Solitary Life being married and also living with my mother-in-law, but I can incorporate some of the routines, like solitary prayer and what and how they pray. I'm feeling drawn to this. It made me want do Morning Prayer from "The Book of Common Prayer," this morning and I feel refreshed by it.

Another article I came across, I found them both on Facebook this morning, is an article by Fr. Drew Downs called "Praying in the Dark," where he talks of Nicodemus.
https://drewdowns.net/2018/03/11/praying-dark/

This article also inspired me towards Morning Prayer and also toward Evening Prayer, as well. I used to practice Evening Prayer in my backyard one summer, sitting in my swing and looking towards the mountains. I found such peace in the nightly practice. Time to get back to it.

I don't have "my" church close by. I am an Episcopalian and the closest churches are an hour and a half away in each direction once I hit the major highway. I have tried a couple of churches in my area and wasn't inspired to return. So, I think this new routine of Morning and Evening Prayer, along with the internet studies I belong to, will do the trick of deepening my faith and my walk with the Lord. I will keep you posted on my progress.

I am starting to notice signs of Spring in my area. Although we  still need more snow on the mountains and rain, I look forward to this season of the renewing of the earth and myself. Maybe take some time for yourself today and look for the signs of Spring in your area. Share them with me in the comments below.

Drove by beautiful Mt. Shasta yesterday. Breathtaking....

Gratitude

1. Mountains

2. Routines

3. Peaceful feelings

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in every situation,

by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

Blessings,

Deborah

I'm Sticking With This

Welcome and good morning!

This format is not exactly what I wanted, but it will do for now. I really wanted another layout, but the "subscribe" button was hiding in an icon that didn't say, "Go here to subscribe." I wanted it to be out there for all to see. :)

Along with the new look is going to be new content as well.
I'm going to be sharing on a more personal level. Day to day thoughts and happenings. I will also share my poetry. I have loved to write poetry for years, but in the past 40 years it got hidden away in past trauma and buried deep within me. I've been working on that pain with a wonderful therapist who has helped me open up the darkness and the poetry is flowing within me once again. God is good.

My current Monday night writing class is ending this week, so I have signed up for two on-line writing classes and will be joining a local writing group that meets Saturday mornings. I will be anxious to share what happens in those, too.

This will still be a God blog. I'm a believer, so that will not change. I'll still be sharing insights and ah-ha moments as they come.

Thanks for hanging in here with me and for your patience as I revamped. I'm happy it didn't take that long.

Here's a photo of a new class I am taking with Robin Sampson called "The 12 Eras." More on that next time with links.

 This is how I  journaled the creation lesson in my Bible.

This is the creation story in my Traveler's Notebook.

I'm looking forward to this new journey with you!

Gratitude

1. Revamping of my blog and self

2. I'm writing again!

3. Singing birds

Jeremiah 29:11-13

"For I know the plans I have for you,"

declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future..."

"You will seek Me and find Me

when you seek Me

with all your heart."

Blessings,

Deborah

Revamping

This blog is being revamped.
Please have patience while I find what I like. :)
I will notify you when it is done.
Blessings,
Deborah

Weight Loss Bible Study - Check in

ATTENTION: Before I start talking about the Weight Loss Bible Study and wanted to let you know I will be revamping this blog. It has looked the same since I started and I think it is time for a facelift. :)
********************************************************************************

Weight Loss Bible Study

I'm sorry I haven't checked in more recently, but I had to leave town for a couple of weeks and help care for my ill Mother. Thank you for your prayers for her. She is doing much better. 

How is everyone doing in the weight loss department?

Being away for so long, I kind of slipped up and put some weight back on. I am happy to share that I am back where I was and working on losing more to reach my goal. 

I have been reaching for my memory verse cards when I need them and seems to really help.

Just to refresh your memory, these are the memory cards I made that Barb Raveling had suggested.

If you are having trouble staying on track, here are some verses from Barb's blog that might help you with procrastination.
https://barbraveling.com/2013/11/04/45-bible-verses-for-procrastination-2/

And here is a great article on stress. I don't think anyone can avoid feeling that way at any given time.
https://barbraveling.com/2012/06/18/seven-questions-that-will-help-you-let-go-of-stress/

I hope your weight loss journey is going well for you.
We all are human and life gets tough sometimes.
Remember to:
Renew your mind.
State your truth.
Stay in your boundaries.

If you have forgotten what those topics are you can always go back to Barb's blog and reread the articles. Just click on one of the links above and do a search for any of those topics.

Gratitude
1. The ability to always start over. It is never too late.
2. A God who forgives our failures if we ask Him.
3. Spring is near!

Hebrews 13:5
I will in no way leave you,
neither will I in any way
forsake you.

Blessings,
Deborah