Restored Relationship/Sermon

Another great sermon for you! I hope you are blessed! :O) 

oops

 So I do have a special freebie Friday post but don't have the time to give it the proper amount of attention to put the post together today - so I will do my best to post sometime next week. 

I do want to say that although last week we were snowed/iced in and frigid temps this week has been beautiful! We had temps in the upper 70's Monday - Wednesday! Just beautiful weather. 

I hope you all are doing well. Hope to get on here at a later time and get some more things typed up. :O) 

10 of 17 items

On Tuesday - almost 2 weeks since I had been grocery shopping - I went to Walmart to get some groceries. I had hoped with waiting a few extra days after the weather cleared up would help me have a better chance of getting the things I needed. But alas, that is not exactly what happened. 

This is where the milk normally is: The worker that walked by while I was taking a photo said that they were expecting a shipment of milk the next day. 

Here is where they normally have bananas- none! 

I was disappointed. 

Out of the 17 things on my list - I was not able to get 7 of those items. 

I have a list for Aldi's and will be going there later in the week. Hopefully they have at least the basics that I need. 

By the way - milk is usually cheaper at Aldi's anyway and we had a carton or whole milk - like the shelf stable stuff so we are good. 

I was very happy to have a decent amount of things on hand that we are not desperate for anything. We may be disappointed not to have some things, but we have plenty to eat. 

If the last year has taught us anything it is certainly - that we can't depend on stores to have what we want to buy. We have to look ahead- by buying an extra bag of this or an extra can of that on each trip to the store. That way we have extras- to cover when ever we go through situations like this past couple of weeks when we could not get to the store. We need to have back ups. 

I have a few other things that I have learned and will be sharing some of them soon. If you have learned anything over the past year - leave a comment and let us know - it may be something that the rest of us have not thought of yet. I have been so thankful to hear other people share things they have learned - it has helped me be more prepared. :O) 

 

The Beatitudes... series ... Feelings of Expectancy

  Feelings of Expectancy 

On the part of the multitudes from all sections of Palestine and its surrounding countries, this great gathering had a semipolitical aspect. The fame of Jesus had filled the people with new hopes and aspirations. They hoped that He was the Messiah, and they expected Him on this occasion to proclaim His mission and make an announcement regarding the setting up of His kingdom. Indeed, they were looking for the least excuse to proclaim and crown Him king. The disciples shared these feelings of expectancy, and their hearts were also filled with thoughts of the future power and glory of Israel, when it would again become the chosen of the Lord, and when Jerusalem would become the center of a universal kingdom. These were the ambitions and expectations that had brought together this mighty host. 

The expectation of His audience gave Jesus the theme for His sermon. He must correct the popular conception of the nature of the kingdom He had come to establish; for that conception wholly unfitted the people to receive Him and His teachings. The only kingdom that Jews seemed to know anything about was an earthly and temporal kingdom. The disciples had the same conception of Christ's mission, and never fully lost it till after Pentecost. There is danger that modern Israel will become so thrilled over the prospects of the coming kingdom of glory to be established at the second advent of Christ that they will lose sight of the spiritual phase of the kingdom which must first be established in the individual hear. We can never enter the kingdom of glory until the kingdom of grace has entered us. The first phase of the kingdom of heaven is the enthronement of Jesus Christ in the heart to be king of the life.  

While the sermon on the mount is a summary of the Bible, the beatitudes constitute a summary or prologue of the sermon on the mount. Like the decalogue and the Lord's prayer, they are of universal application and appeal, and apply to all races in all ages. A large crown gathered at a railway station in India to see Mahatma Gandhi, and hear his speak. After greeting the people, he opened a New Testament and read to them the beatitudes, and then said: "This is my message to You; act upon it." That was all the speech the Indian leader made, but it contained volumes. 

Be sure and come back next week when we will study the section : The Beatitude Ladder. This section was very eye opening to me - and gave me a new appreciation for the beatitudes! :O) 

An Old Fashioned Skill....But probably a very useful skill to have...especially now

"How I Darn Socks"

If you will look in the description box below the video - you will see a link to Amazon some of the special yard that is used to darn socks. It will at least give you an idea of what to look for, if you decide to learn this useful skill. 

If you have a problem with threading a yarn needle - with yarn - come back next week, I will be posting a video that will help with that very problem! :O) 

the time above all others to trust in God

 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  

Matthew 17:20 

Throughout the history of God's people great mountains of difficulty, apparently insurmountable, have loomed up before those who were trying to carry out the purposes of Heaven. Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord as a test of faith. When we are hedged about on every side, this is the time above all others to trust in God and in the power of His spirit. The exercise of a living faith means an increase of spiritual strength and the development of an unfaltering trust. It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power. Before the demand of faith, the obstacles placed by Satan across the pathway of the Christian will disappear; for the powers of heaven will come to his aid. "Nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matthew 17:20  PK595 

The Lord allows trials to come to us to test our faith. They help us see that our need for Jesus in our lives is greater than we often realize. The trials also help us see our need to put our whole dependence on Him. And they help us build our trust in Him. He allows things into our lives to slowly build our characters to more and more reflect Him. 

My Best Deal!

 So I have been stuck at home since February 10th ( got out that day thankfully but once I got home I have stayed home)! And so of course no best deals - at least not the type that are found at a store. I would say that my best deal this week is that we were lucky with all the major issues here in Texas - we did not have to go long term without power like some people did. Three hours was the longest stretch without power- and that may not seem bad but of course the power went off in the evening of temperatures in the teens...ugh. And when the power goes off you have no idea when it will be back on. That is tough. If there was some rhyme or reason to it - like several of our other power outages - at set times and only for 30- 45 minutes at a time. That is much more doable for sure. 

Another great deal is that our cold water at our kitchen sink froze up. And I was able to take a towel and an old sweatshirt and I went and wrapped them around the store bought insulated faucet cover and then I got a box and put over that. Within an hour of doing that - the ice stopping that faucet thawed and we had water! Praise the Lord! I can't complain much at all though because there are out there that lost their water and even some that may still not have any water. Please keep all these people in your prayers. 

Oh and another great deal - that God encouraged me after all the mess after Covid reared it's ugly head - that I needed to make sure that we had what we needed here at the house at all times. Because other wise I might be stressing about now. It has been since the 10th since I have been to get groceries and at that point _ I just picked up a few things that we were low on - I didn't do a major grocery haul that day by any means. But I am thankful that we are doing alright. My list to get from the grocery store is getting longer by the day but I will not be going to the store any time soon - here is why: 

These photos were taken by a friend when she went to HEB at 1:30pm on a Wed or Thursday. This is just the produce and some of the meat department - but she said that quite a bit of food was gone. I do think she said that they bought 100 dollars worth of stuff. 

I can about guarantee that the stores will be a big mess for quite some time as people try to restock their pantries. So I am holding off for a few days. 

Anyway I am thankful for all of the blessing of this week and also of the things we learned. I will do my best to get on here sometime this week and share a few things that we learned and some things that are great to have on hand...just in case. Hope to see you soon. Take care :O)