# 5 Ever Lasting Gospel.

So last Sabbath it was quite chilly here in Texas - with temps barely going over freezing point. 

This Sabbath our high will be in the low 70's ~ This is just one of the reasons I love living in Texas!  

Hope you are blessed by todays sermon :O) 

A Late Open Christmas Letter to You!

 An open Christmas letter- sorry it is late. 

So I know that many times people write out letters of what all they have done and such. But I would like to do something a little different. I would like to share with you what I learned this year. I hope that it blesses you as it blessed me.

 

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
²³ They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Lamentations 3:22-24

 

Just as God’s mercies are new every morning –in a way so is our brain because we get new baby brain cells each day. And it is our choice what we will do with them. When we think negative thoughts it actually damages the brain cells, but when we choose to think positively it is actually helpful to our brain cells and also to our health.

 

When the negative thoughts come into our thoughts – we have a choice right then of what we want to do with them. This verse in Deuteronomy shows us what choices we have:

 

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

 Deuteronomy 30:19

 

Our choice is between

life and death,

blessings and curses.

 

Ever since I learned this important lesson – I have had many challenges trying to test my resolve. Will I choose life? Will I choose blessings? Sometimes I have found myself saying “I choose life!” or “I choose blessings!”

 

9 years ago when I lost my hair do to chemo – I had a very challenging time when shower time came – I had no hair to wash and it would be a very emotional time for me. But I began to sing a little verse over and over when I would feel the sad emotions welling up.

 

Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship Your Holy name

 

I didn’t realize it but I was choosing life! And I truly believe that this mindset is one of the reasons why I was able to get through 6 sessions of 2 powerful chemos without having my blood counts dip too low. I am so thankful that even though I did not realize that dwelling on the negative things would only bring my health down, that God led me to choosing life. That He helped me to turn my focus off of me and onto Him and by doing so I was choosing life.

 

I still sing the above chorus now and then and have added this as well.

 

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

 

The closer we come to the end of time the more and more challenges we will face but God calls us to choose life and to choose blessings.

I hope that you, too, will choose life and blessings.

 

May God bless you in a special way today and draw you closer to Him as you choose life! And I hope you are blessed in the process. :O)

Best Deal

How fitting that today - Christmas day - my best deal would be a beautiful Christmas decoration! 

I found this at my favorite little nearby thrift store. It is only open 3 days a week for only 4 hours a day and so it is a bit of a challenge for me to get there sometimes since I am taking care of our grandson at least one of those days and on another day I end up with appt, running errands, or taking MIL to Dr apt. But thankfully I was there and able to get this great item! 

The older I get the more picky I am getting about my Christmas decorations. Over the last year or 2 I have actually gotten rid of at least half of the things I had- only keeping things I really like a lot! 

This treasure was new in package - sorry I didn't get a photo of that - I was in too big of a hurry to pull it out and put it up. 

I found it on ebay and other places as well - but I took a screen shot of this find:

So what was my deal?

One Dollar! Yep - $1.00! 
What a Deal!! 

Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you! I hope you are blessed this Christmas season. :O) 

 

# 4 Christ our righteousness

A Little Catch Up and Look Forward

 Good evening. I hope you all are doing well. Well I am sorry for being missing in action. Just really busy. You know how it is. I am sure you, too, have extras on your plate right now as well. I have not forgotten that I have a best deal that I promised, something from Ikea. Oh and I also have a "Tupperware" best deal to share with you and one other. I can't wait to share these great things with you. I am hoping that I will get a chance to get on the computer and type up some posts soon. 

We have a cold snap going through Texas right now- it is 8pm and currently it is 13 degrees and feels -6 degrees. Of course this is Fahrenheit- I watch a youtube video that is from London and she has been talking about how cold it is there- It may sound colder for her to say 0 degrees - but when talking Celsius -it is actually 32 degrees Fahrenheit.  I know to them it has been colder than usual - and I can relate - we don't usually get this cold in December. The cold snap will stick around through Sabbath. If we can just hold on - looks like temps will be in the 60's by Wednesday! Yay! I am looking forward to that. 

I also would like to do an update on the book I have shared a few things I have learned from it. And what I decided about it. I might even share my "Christmas Letter" with you all. If I can get to my desk top - I maybe able to share it by Christmas! 

I have one favorite artist - and this week I was lucky enough to find another favorite artist - it will be one of the "Best Deals" coming up. What a blessing it was to find this treasure - no it isn't worth a whole lot of money- but to me it is a treasure. I can't wait to share it. 

Ok - so I better close - tomorrow I have to wake up extra early so I better close so I can get a few things done before bed time. 

I hope you all are doing well and staying warm. :O) 

# 3 God's incredible love

I didn't know, but I chose life

 So 9 years ago I got the devastating news that cancer had been found when I had a hysterectomy. I ended up having 6 rounds of chemo- carbo/Taxol. 14 days after my very first chemo treatment - I started losing my hair. I know I have shared this with you before but I needed to share this part to give a back drop to what I wanted to share today. 

As a woman, losing your hair can be a big deal. So as you can imagine showers were a bit of a hard thing -because I was reminded that I had no hair. It would be a very emotional ordeal. And I began to sing the chorus of the song "10,000 Reasons" :

I probably sang this songs hundreds of times through the 6 months without hair. When I began to feel emotional I would start singing this over and over. 

As I was showering one day this week - I was reminded of this memory and it struck me - how I had faced these emotional times and I choose life. I had no idea that this was what I was doing at the time but as I look back over this time period I believe that by keeping my focus on God and worshiping Him- I was able to keep a more positive outlook. No those 6 months were not roses and sunshine- but when the emotional times can I tried to keep from falling too far into the pit. And I truly believe that by choosing to sing this chorus helped me to choose life and to choose blessings. 

I had no idea that we have that choice to make. And it depend on where we allow our minds to dwell- as to if we are choosing life or death; blessings or death. But God led in this area of my life as well. I had no idea - but I still chose life. I still chose blessings!!