So, F.A.R. has been on a bit of a hiatus for a few months. I regret having to do that without explanation, but I hope it will suffice that I have been dealing with some things that, I hope, are settling down for now. Please be patient with us and especially with me.
Today's post is from Amy. Thanks for getting us started right, Amy!
-Erica
5 Scriptures for Comfort
There are so many people right now, this very moment, who are hurting - they may be sick and dealing with their own illness, they may be dealing with the illness of a loved one, they may be heartbroken and grieving the loss of a loved one or they may be dealing with any number of problems that are out there. The Bible is full of comforting verses. I wanted to share 5 that might help you or someone you know today. May we all look to God and Jesus and the Bible when we need comfort.
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Psalm 37:24
The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Matthew 11:28
Showing posts with label by Amy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label by Amy. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2013
Friday, August 17, 2012
Friday Five for 8/17/12
Today's Friday Five is from Amy! Yay, Amy!
Five simple things to do or say to someone today to make their day:
1) SMILE! Give them a big ole heart felt smile and say hello!!
2) HUG! Give someone a hug today! You never know, that hug may mean the difference between a good and bad day.
3) Say "I'm thinking of you and praying for you." You can give no one a better gift than to bring their name to God.
4) Say "I love you because __________" and fill in the blank with something appropriate for that person.
5) Give someone a compliment. Something simple as "I like your shirt" to "You are my hero". A sincere compliment can make a gloomy day much brighter.
- by Amy
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Five simple things to do or say to someone today to make their day:
1) SMILE! Give them a big ole heart felt smile and say hello!!
2) HUG! Give someone a hug today! You never know, that hug may mean the difference between a good and bad day.
3) Say "I'm thinking of you and praying for you." You can give no one a better gift than to bring their name to God.
4) Say "I love you because __________" and fill in the blank with something appropriate for that person.
5) Give someone a compliment. Something simple as "I like your shirt" to "You are my hero". A sincere compliment can make a gloomy day much brighter.
- by Amy
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
To Be Honest
To Be Honest (or TBH for short) or Truth Is..….Have you played this game on facebook yet? Apparently it’s a popular status game that (seems to me) younger folks are doing. I think you know what I’m talking about but just in case not, here’s how I think it goes. They put To Be Honest or Truth Is as their status and if you click ‘like’ then they go to your facebook wall and post something truth or honest about you. Or something like that. I may have it totally wrong, but basically it gets people sharing their true and honest thoughts about others. I’m going to play this game with you guys right here right now and you don’t even have to click ‘like’.
Truth Is – I play the comparison game and it’s not fun. I don’t even realize I’m playing it sometimes, but then eventually I realize that’s what I’m doing. For example, right now lots of people are going on summer vacations. I hear about it all on facebook and to be honest I am happy for them. Truth is though I just wish I could go on one too.
I hear about people building a house or remodeling their house and truth is sometimes I wish I could too. Don’t get me wrong, I love my house. To be honest though there are some things I would like to change and for different reasons (financial mostly) just can’t do it right now.
Truth is when I see other kids eating anything and everything, I just wish that mine would do so too without having all his texture/sensitivity issues.
To be honest – it makes me feel terrible when I see how organized and clean and clutter free other people’s homes look. I posted something on facebook the other night about stuffitis. I don’t like it. It’s a terrible condition. I’m trying to clean my 6 year olds room and let me tell you, I have to do it little by little, step by step. I’m talking baby steps. I literally got dizzy in there the other night working.
I could go on and on with examples. I’ll mention one more. Truth is – I wish I could write a lovely article like others that I read. But then I think, wait a minute. I’m writing one right now. Calling it ‘lovely’ may be stretching it, but it’s an article. I didn’t even plan to write anything tonight but came across some verses in I John that started the little wheels in my mind turning just a bit. I will share these verses here and maybe you will see where I’m trying to go with this.
In I John 15-17, the Bible states “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
It simply states do not love the world. How much clearer can that be? Or the things of the world. I am not on vacation right now, but I live a vacation every day compared to so many folks. I have food, a house, a job, a car, a family, air conditioning, and on and on I could go. And it’s not like I’ve never been on one or will never go on one again. I’ve just been playing the comparison game. I may not live in a big ole house or mansion, but I have a mansion OUT OF THIS WORLD prepared for me in heaven. My child has some food issues, but he’s tall and growing and healthy. My house will never be like what you see in Better Homes & Gardens or those lovely magazines that make me feel so inadequate, but I have a house, a roof over my head. I have a family who helps me LIVE in my house. Living is dirty sometimes. It’s all about perspective. I’ve got to quit comparing myself to others. I need to be more thankful for my blessings each day.
I told my husband earlier tonight (when I needed the laptop from him) that I wanted to jot some thoughts down for an article, but that I wouldn’t write the whole thing. And here I am, finishing the whole article in one sitting. Now if I could just do that with my housekeeping tasks. Oh well, to be honest, the world is passing away and it won’t matter in the end anyway.
- by Amy
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Failure
"Do you ever feel like you're failing at everything but failing?"
I read this somewhere recently. I think I saw it on facebook. Do you ever feel like that? Like you are failing at everything you do or try?
Random House Webster's College Dictionary lists several definitions of the word 'fail'. One is "to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved". Another is "to be or become deficient or lacking; be insufficent or absent; fall short". And still another is "to lose strength or vigor, become weak".
Have you ever experienced any of those definitions? I sure have! There are many times that I feel like a failure. I think we all have at some point. We need to remind ourselves though that it's okay to fail at things. We are not perfect. We just do not need to let it destroy us or discourage us from 'keeping on keeping on' as they say. I could list many examples in my own life, but I will only mention one. One thing that I fail at a lot is in the realm of housekeeping. I only have 1 child, a 6 year old son, but if you were to walk into my house on any given day, take today for example, you would think that I had a brood of kids. I've accepted that I am not a perfect housekeeper. I've accepted that my house will never be 'guest ready'. We have to accept our failures in life and move on. We can not dwell on them. Yes we can work on them, but we don't need to let them define who we are and what we are about. It's like when taking a test. If we fail the test, it doesn't mean we are dumb. One failed test (or anything) doesn't mean it's the end of your life. Don't let your failures define you. Keep trying. Don't give up. Accept that failure is a part of life. I think accepting our failures helps us. It helps to be realistic. We just don't need to be pessimistic.
Always remember that even though we fail at things, there is One who never fails. There is God who will always help us. Deuteronomy 31:6 says "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Also, Deuteronomy 31:8 says "And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." Joshua 1:5 says "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Even though I may fail at things, I trust that God will help me through the failures and He will never fail me.
These are just some thoughts I wanted to share. I hope they made sense and I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well.
Some quotes on failure:
"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."
Truman Capote
"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."
Dale Carnegie
"Failures are steps in the ladder of success."
James Allen
"For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour."
Mary Kay Ash
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm."
Winston Churchill
"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."
Winston Churchill
"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it."
Will Durant
"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."
Helen Keller
"We cannot choose the things that will happen to us. But we can choose the attitude we will take toward anything that happens. Success or failure depends on your attitude."
Alfred A. Montapert
"Failure is delay, but not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street."
William Arthur Ward
- by Amy
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I read this somewhere recently. I think I saw it on facebook. Do you ever feel like that? Like you are failing at everything you do or try?
Random House Webster's College Dictionary lists several definitions of the word 'fail'. One is "to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved". Another is "to be or become deficient or lacking; be insufficent or absent; fall short". And still another is "to lose strength or vigor, become weak".
Have you ever experienced any of those definitions? I sure have! There are many times that I feel like a failure. I think we all have at some point. We need to remind ourselves though that it's okay to fail at things. We are not perfect. We just do not need to let it destroy us or discourage us from 'keeping on keeping on' as they say. I could list many examples in my own life, but I will only mention one. One thing that I fail at a lot is in the realm of housekeeping. I only have 1 child, a 6 year old son, but if you were to walk into my house on any given day, take today for example, you would think that I had a brood of kids. I've accepted that I am not a perfect housekeeper. I've accepted that my house will never be 'guest ready'. We have to accept our failures in life and move on. We can not dwell on them. Yes we can work on them, but we don't need to let them define who we are and what we are about. It's like when taking a test. If we fail the test, it doesn't mean we are dumb. One failed test (or anything) doesn't mean it's the end of your life. Don't let your failures define you. Keep trying. Don't give up. Accept that failure is a part of life. I think accepting our failures helps us. It helps to be realistic. We just don't need to be pessimistic.
Always remember that even though we fail at things, there is One who never fails. There is God who will always help us. Deuteronomy 31:6 says "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Also, Deuteronomy 31:8 says "And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." Joshua 1:5 says "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Even though I may fail at things, I trust that God will help me through the failures and He will never fail me.
These are just some thoughts I wanted to share. I hope they made sense and I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well.
Some quotes on failure:
"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."
Truman Capote
"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."
Dale Carnegie
"Failures are steps in the ladder of success."
James Allen
"For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour."
Mary Kay Ash
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm."
Winston Churchill
"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."
Winston Churchill
"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it."
Will Durant
"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."
Helen Keller
"We cannot choose the things that will happen to us. But we can choose the attitude we will take toward anything that happens. Success or failure depends on your attitude."
Alfred A. Montapert
"Failure is delay, but not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street."
William Arthur Ward
- by Amy
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Waiting in Line
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Now we are just a few days away from Christmas. Crazy, huh? Speaking of crazy, were you one of the ‘crazies’ that were out on Thanksgiving night waiting in a parking lot somewhere? When I say ‘crazies’ I mean it in a good way and I am also referring to myself. My niece and I went to Best Buy around 8:00 and there were about 100 people in front of us. And of course throughout the evening, people were behind us wrapped around the building. We waited until 10:00 when they passed out tickets for certain items. We didn’t get the ticket we went for, but we waited until 12:00 since we had already waited so long and ended up getting a few good deals. This got me to thinking about the waiting in line people do, especially on black Friday and of course now on Thanksgiving night. People were camped out at Best Buy since Wednesday! So they spent Thanksgiving day in a parking lot. They must have taken shifts or something. I don’t know. But people, myself included, will wait in line for hours for stuff – material items that will not matter when this life is over. Matthew 6:19-21 says “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroys, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” As I was saying earlier, this got me to thinking. We will wait in line for a material item for hours. I wonder if we would wait in line for hours to hear the gospel preached? We will sit and watch a movie with no problem, even a long movie, but we have a fit if the preacher goes over a few minutes. I wonder if we would wait in line for hours to help people in need? Or are we like the priest and Levite who passed on by, not even lending a few minutes let alone hours to help someone in need. I wonder if we would wait in line for hours to see Jesus? Luke 8:40 says “And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.” The verse doesn’t say how long they waited, but the fact is they waited. If we can wait for hours for a ‘thing’ why can’t we spend hours (or even one hour) in reading the word of God? Now you may do so and that is great; but, shamefully, I admit that I do not spend hours in the word of God on a daily basis. I write this to encourage myself, and if it encourages someone else along the way, then wonderful. Come next Thanksgiving, you will possibly find me in a parking lot somewhere waiting for something. I just hope that between now and then I would have spent that same amount of time and hopefully lots more in the things that will really matter when this life is ore. Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you. I would love to hear your thoughts as well. I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2012!
Proverbs 8:34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.”
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By Amy
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
God’s Providence
The word providence is defined in more than one way in The Random House College Dictionary Revised Edition. The first definition is the foreseeing care and guardianship of God over His creatures. There are people who claim they can predict the future, but no one knows the future. Only God knows the future. He knows what our future holds. He knows what we have needed in the past, what we currently need and what we will need in the future. Just think, things in our life may be happening today because of a future need that He sees. Does that make sense?
Another definition of providence in the aforementioned dictionary is a manifestation of divine care or direction. I believe in the providence of God. I have seen the providence of God. I have felt the providence of God. I know that God has cared for and directed me in the past. I know that my Redeemer lives and still cares for and directs me in this life.
Romans 8:28 is a favorite verse of many people. It says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” There are many examples in the Bible where God worked providentially in people’s lives. There are many examples today where He is doing the same thing, working providentially behind the scenes in our lives for future good. What are some ways that God has shown his providential care in your life?
One example in my life and my family’s life is the adoption of my niece. Things happened in my sister and brother-in-law’s life that led to her adoption. They look back at those things and realize it was God’s providence. I’m sure we can all think of a chain of events in our lives that led to something wonderful, a blessing from God. I firmly believe in the providence of God with reference to my wonderful husband. I won’t go into detail, but God worked behind the scenes to make our paths cross. I don’t see how I would ever had met him had it not been for God’s providence.
Another more recent example is when my husband lost his job a few short months ago. It wasn’t just my husband, it was his entire department, across the state, that was being cut. At first, of course, everyone thinks that is terrible. We thought the same thing. But looking at it now, it actually was a good thing. He now has a job at a great place that he likes. This new job is more flexible. He can work from home now some, which gives him more time with our son. He actually was going to have to go to work somewhere that he didn’t really want to, but it was a job, so he was going to do it. But within a matter of days, this other opportunity came up and was finalized. Well, I don’t believe it just came up. I believe that God answered our prayers and had been providentially taking care of us all along the way. When we first heard about the job loss, of course there were mixed emotions. I recall however not being that worried. I knew that things would work out for the best. During this time I had posted on facebook these words to that familiar song… “There are things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand, but I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand”. I feel like things happen for a reason, whether we know and understand that reason or not. I knew that God would provide. And as always, He did.
I am reminded of a song “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me”. Part of the song says, “Chart and compass came from thee, Jesus, Savior, pilot me”. I want Jesus to always be my pilot. I am thankful that he is my chart and compass through life and that he is guiding me and providing for me. May you see God’s providence in your life today.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Are You Serious?
When I was approached via email by Erica about becoming part of Far Above Rubies as a contributing writer, my initial reaction was ‘are you serious?’. I actually typed that question to her in an email. Of course she (and the other ladies) were serious, but it really caught me by surprise that I would be asked to write. I was shocked, excited and honored by that offer from The Ruby Sisters. I never have considered myself a writer. Yeah, I’ve written a few poems, but haven’t we all? Then I got to thinking that EVERYONE has SOMETHING to write about. Yes, it may not always appeal to every reader that comes across it, but there will be some (at least your mom or husband or sister) who will enjoy reading what you write. Everyone has their own personal experiences from which others can glean valuable lessons from, or you know, at least a good chuckle. We all come from different backgrounds with different perspectives and different experiences and trials and emotions, etc. We can learn from each other though despite these differences. We’re all different, but yet we’re all the same too. For example, I may be going through one type of loss while another person may be struggling with a different type of loss, but we’re still both experiencing LOSS. The experience may be different, but the feelings are the same. So it is through these lenses, that I am going to share my words on Far Above Rubies and hopefully someone will enjoy reading it or possibly benefit by reading it, or you know, at least get a good chuckle for the day.
I want to thank The (original) Ruby Sisters for allowing me to be a part of this journey with you all and I can’t wait to read what the new Ruby Sisters have to share. Have a blessed day!
"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." Proverbs 16:24
I want to thank The (original) Ruby Sisters for allowing me to be a part of this journey with you all and I can’t wait to read what the new Ruby Sisters have to share. Have a blessed day!
"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." Proverbs 16:24
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