A line in the closing song sings about God sending angels to guard the door, referring to when one partner tries to leave.  It made me think about challenges in the early years of my own marriage and times when I contemplated leaving, but Praise God, He sent angels to guard the door!!

Even times when we feel like quitting at life, at our job, at our church, even in our walk with the Lord sometimes, God sends angels to guard the door of our hearts to keep us from making wrong choices.  Oh sure, sometimes we still make wrong choices, but I praise God for times when He kept me from doing things that were outside of His will, times when He gently and lovingly steered me back in the right direction.

How about you?  Can you testify to times when you saw God’s angels guarding the door in your life?  Thank Him!!  His love for us is so amazing!

Psalm 91:11-12 in the NIV says “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 

The Message Bible says it this way, “He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go.  If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling.”

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she said, “Tell me what you see.”  “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled; as she tasted its rich aroma the daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting in the boiling water, its insides became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which one am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Author unknown

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America .  If you would like to participate, every evening at 9:00 pm EST, stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation.

Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.

“The last hope of human liberty in this world rests on us.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” ~ Samuel Adams, 1776

I often think of the words from 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Christians…all who claim the name of Jesus Christ…all who love this land we call America…if we don’t fight this spiritual battle with prayer for this land, who will?

I believe God is calling His church to rise up and pray and intercede for our nation. For far too long, many Christians within the church have felt that Christianity and politics do not mix, but if you look at the way our nation was founded and read quotations written by our Founding Fathers, you will see that this nation was founded on Godly principles and we were warned from the beginning by those same Founders to always seek God and put Him first in our laws and our lives.

Ted and I have been participating in a 12-week Truth Project study where we have become more and more enlightened to falsehoods prevalent within our society today.  There has been a slow but steady decline throughout my entire lifetime where God has been removed from the public sector of our society one step at a time.  In fact, the myth of “separation of church and state” has been taught for so long that people misunderstand the meaning of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Read for yourself what the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The early settlers came to America to live free from the British government’s control over the church.  These men and women wanted to worship God and to be governed by His laws according to His word not according to governmental dictate.  As stated in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I think of the song from the 1990s by Carman, “We need God in America Again.”  How this song still applies to our nation today.

Rise up church, and pray!!  Rise up fellow Christians, and pray!!  Rise up all you who follow Jesus Christ, and pray!!  Pray that we bring God back to America again!!

If we don’t, who will?

The only way for the High Court to rule in favor of ObamaCare’s individual mandate would be to essentially rewrite the Constitution and ignore its text and history. 

Please let your voice be heard to REPEAL OBAMACARE!!

God is like.
A FORD …
He’s got a better idea..
God is like.
COKE …
He’s the real thing.

God is like.
HALLMARK CARDS …
He cares enough to send His very best.
God is like.
TIDE …
He gets the stains out others leave behind. …

God is like.
GENERAL ELECTRIC …
He brings good things to life.
God is like.
WAL-MART…
He has everything.
God is like.
ALKA-SELTZER …
Try Him, you’ll like Him

God is like.
SCOTCH TAPE …
You can’t see Him, but you know He’s there.

God is like.
DELTA …
He’s ready when you are. God is like.
ALLSTATE …
You’re in good hands with Him.  
God is like.
VO-5 Hair Spray…He holds through all kinds of weather

God is like.
DIAL SOAP
Aren’t you glad you have Him?  Don’t you wish everybody did?
God is like.
The   U.S. POST OFFICE
Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from
His appointed destination. 
God is like.
Chevrolet. . . the heartbeat of America. 
God is like.
Maxwell House… 
Good to the very last drop. 

God is like.
B o u n t y . . . 
He is the quicker  picker  upper… Can handle the tough jobs…
And He won’t fall apart on you.

 It would be great if everyone knew what God is like…….

God is like.
The Energizer Bunny…
He Keeps Going, Going, and Going

At the end of the article, Denise says ”It’s just a half hour — you can afford a daily 30-minute break to just enjoy yourself!”  Read her short article.  Great advice!!

Enjoy your day!

In a culture where manners, consideration and customer service seem to be almost a lost art, I am thankful for those who still remember the importance of these things, those who learned them perhaps from their moms.

Then I got to thinking about my mom…

Mom taught me the value of the “Golden Rule.”  You know, the one that says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  I know this originated from the words of Jesus, and it was always the way Mom taught us to live.  Mom also used to say, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”  Great advice for uplifting and encouraging rather than tearing down or discouraging another person.

Mom taught me ways to look after myself and protect myself too, sometimes even to the extreme…but for these, today I am thankful.  Thanks Mom!

As I walked, I thought about today’s generation of young adults, many raised by Daycare providers instead of mom and thought perhaps this is where the manners, consideration and customer service got lost.  Thanks Mom for raising me to value these things.  Thank you God for enabling me to raise my children with good morals, standards to live by, and to instill in them manners, consideration and customer service.

Let’s all strive to put more manners, consideration and customer service into the lives we live.  We will all be better for it!