MY NOTES MONDAY

RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST...seek and find

THIRSTY? delve in His Holy Word, drink in His Living Water

REJECTED? abide in His Peace surpassing all understanding

EXHAUSTED? rest in His loving arms as He speaks through His Word

BOMBARDED? cuddle into the palm of His hands, rest heads on the scars of His providence

SUFFOCATING? breathe in deeply His breath of Life

SURRENDERING? persevere; He'll crown us with eternal life through his love

INACCESSIBLE? open mind and heart; He is our God, we are His people

HOPELESS? look to His new heaven/earth; our eternal, righteous home

DENYING? know the Lord's Words will be accomplished

IGNORING? know, not one of the good promises He gave us has failed

REJECTED? His marked seal is upon us...the promised Holy Spirit

WITHERING? grow on His vine, heirs with Israel, one body sharing Christ's promises

NEGLECTED? let Him renew our 'inner'; He will show on our 'outer'

Blessings,

HIS TENT...30X5 PHASE II's FINISHLINE(?)

In response to a question posted by Peace-for-the-Journey's Elaine, I read and then pondered the chapter...read some commentaries...read different Bible versions. It was the very first verse that caught my attention.

1 Chronicles 17

God’s Covenant with David

"And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, "Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under curtains." Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

Notice--God never gave a request to build a temple...(this was brought up in the BIBLOS commentar I read...which noted David couldn't rest in his dwelling knowing the ark of covenant was sitting among curtains--in the tent!) David would, from a human perspective, believe it would not be protected there and so he wanted to remedy the situation...and he continued talking to God about it.

However, the ark was where God intended it to be at that time...He would protect it...all God-centered. While pondering on that thought...where has God set up my ark? In my house? no
In my church? no In my heart! yes! In our hearts!

So...I must keep his temple "in my body" healthy so I can effectively be His hands and feet while I am in the world...healthy eating, exercising, sleeping.

Even though Liddie's 30x5 Phase II has "crossed the finish line", I must "stay the course".

To get my tent better maintained I must continue on through the desert

...where the path is hard to find when the winds of laziness blow...especially without the encouragement of my SWEET CHALLENGETTES, "You know who you are!"

...and even though my camel keeps sinking in the sand due to weight I dumped into this tent, the slow and steady pace of diligence allows for the sand to settle long enough for small steps to be made toward the goal: HEALTHY!

Even one of my FITNESS TIPS stated to "Aim for a healthy weight" and "people needing to lose weight should do so gradually, at a rate of one-half to two pounds per week." Everybody now, SING with me to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell"...

Turtles we must be,

oh, turtles we must be

high pounds to low we go,

turtles we must be!

This fragile, yet wonderfully resilient, "tent" he has TEMPORARILY given me definitely needs maintenance as I sit it down, get it up, push to exercise it, discern what to feed it, travel around with it and then sleep in it. :)

HOW ARE YOU MAINTAINING YOUR TENT, HIS TEMPLE?

APPRECIATE COMMENTERS...4 Tomorrow They Twitter!

Greg's post made me think...

about how the personalities of people drive blogging habits

...whether or not people comment

...whether or not they post pictures.

Have you ever studied the 4-quadrant personality assessment tables?--charts used in human relations departments throughout the world to teach people how to "read" personalities, others' and their own.

The major quadrants: "askers", "tellers", "task-oriented", and "people-oriented". (Falling in the middle of the quad is me...an amiable/expressive. I worked hard during class to learn to be more demonstrative and telling, especially since I was headed to a new management job when I took the class.)

Greg and I agree comments are valuable, especially for people-oriented bloggers wanting to interact and understand others' points of view.

Comments are also valuable to task-oriented bloggers wanting to challenge themselves with each blog. Several "drivers" I know won't blog because it's a "waste of their time"...have you ever heard that from anyone?

From MY HANDS...HIS GLORY!

So, with all the personality types in mind and the possible loss of bloggers to TWITTER, copy and post "Lizard Man" on your site as a reminder, then take the Blogger Vow with us :

I vow to:

• appreciate visitors
• read visitors' comments
• visit visitors' sites
• leave comments on their sites
• share Christ's love
• encourage, challenge and inspire myself and those I read

Don't leave us for Twitter...it wouldn't be the same without you!

ARE YOU CONTEMPLATING LEAVING BLOGGER FOR TWITTER??

Psalm 63:8
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

EVIDENCE SPRING'S A - COMIN' . . .

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY HERE...ONE OF THOSE CRISP, DRY DAYS STARTING OFF WITH BEAUTIFULLY BLUE SKIES AND A SLIGHT BREEZE. CAN I STAY INSIDE WITH THE OUT OF DOORS ENTICING ME EACH TIME I WALK BY THE DOWNSTAIRS WINDOW?

NO...ITS CALLS TO ME ARE TOO POWERFUL AND SEDUCTIVE TO MY SUNSHINE-DEPRIVED EXISTENCE. WALKING SLOWLY AROUND THE EDGES OF THE FRONT ISLAND AND SEEING THE GREYS AND BROWNS OF THE OFF SEASON, THERE ARE LOTS OF BRANCHES CALLING OUT TO BE PRUNED. (I'M THINKING OF DH WHO RECENTLY PRUNED THE BUTTERFLY BUSH, THANK GOODNESS, IT'S LARGE AND WOULD HAVE DONE ME IN HAD I TRIED TO DO IT ALONE. )

THE PLUM TREE AND THE MAPLE TREE CALL ME TO THEIR SIDES...(THIS IS MY FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO USE A NEW "BREAST CANCER" SET OF PRUNING SHEARS I BOUGHT RECENTLY TO SUPPORT RESEARCH.)

PRUNING AWAY DEAD AND OVERGROWN LIMBS, I'M THINKING OF THE PRUNING GOD MUST DO WITH US..."MY ARMS ARE HURTING AS I REACH HIGH AND PULL LIMBS DOWN TO ME."...GOD'S HEART MUST HURT AS HE REACHES FOR US BUT WE TURN AWAY FROM THE MOMENT...CRUSHING ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR SHARING HIS LOVE.

I'M GROWING WEARY AS I CUT AND STACK, BEND AND STRAIGHTEN. " I AM SO THANKFUL OUR LORD DOESN'T GROW WEARY AS HE KNOCKS AT THE DOOR OF MY SOUL." IS HE IS YOUR ROCK, YOUR STRONG TOWER? HE CAN BE IF YOU ASK HIM TO BE FROM YOUR HEART.

I'M SHARING MY PICTURES AS A "BEFORE", SO I CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND MY THANKFULNESS COME SPRING WHEN I WILL POST THESE SAME LOCATIONS (THEN WE'LL SEE CONFIRMATION, TOO, OF HOW HE RENEWS, GROWS, AND STRENGTHENS...HIS FRUITS WILL MAKE THEMSELVES KNOWN IN THE LEAVES, THE FLOWERS, THE COLORS, AND EVEN HIS BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES COMING TO TAKE PART.)

ENJOY THIS TIME OF REST, LISTEN TO HIM IN THE QUIET OF THE WINTER CHILL AND IN YOUR SLEEP... FOR SOON, TOMORROW, WILL GROW INTO A NEW SPRING BURSTING WITH HIS GLORY AND BLESSINGS!

NOW TO THE POST OFFICE...(HAVE YOU NOTICED?)

Finished my Christmas cards today...now to the post office to probably stand in line with the masses who haven't mailed their gifts yet. It's one of those things I'd rather not do...Lines seem to be a common thing for me these days...I was in line longer than 3 hours for the presidential election...it was outside in the COLD, WINDY morning air. At least when I go to the post office I'll be indoors.

There are things about lines that can sometimes be very worrisome......general health hygiene becomes a concern as you stand in and amongst those others who have waited late in getting their post office chores completed

..."sneezes and coughs" being blown across the room with no attempt to suppress their effects...put you shirt over your nose, wrap and elbow around your face--or even hold a tissue over your nose and mouth--there's an idea!

...Considering WHO it is in front or behind you...Overall cleanliness works great in a line if you've had a bath within the last three days or so, but sometimes I wonder if some people know what a bath is...

Yes there are times when your job requires you to get dirty, and I love DIRTY JOBS with Mike Rowe; however, unless it's Mike Rowe in front or behind me, I'm not going to have much fun standing next to a grown-up version of Linus! Kids seem to not smell so badly when they're dirty, but adults are a whole new category.

So, wish me well as I depart for the USPS to encounter the unknown length of line, the myriad of smells, the chorus of personal sounds being emitted by those in the general vicinity, the sights of digits busy in oh so many ways, and the deflating of my wallet as I pay for postage for my stack of Christmas cards....

I'll covet your prayers for safe journey, that no sneezy germs come my way, and that I'll keep a smile on my face to one and all, remembering that I am very blessed to have a home, a family, a church home, good neighbors, food on our table, and most of all good health, generally speaking...maybe I'll see Mike Rowe!

What do you notice when you stand in line with the general populace?

UPDATE:  Well, I returned from the mail center about 10 minutes after I left home! There was NO line...so I didn't encounter any sneezes, coughs, or Mike Rowe (shucks, for this one).  Is God good or what?  I even was able to confirm my packages were guaranteed for delivery before Christmas morning!

Well, Monday I'll be going to the grocery to gather my list for Christmas, so I'll let you know then if I run into Mike! Enjoy your last weekend of shopping before Christmas Eve!

Psalm 64:2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,

from that noisy crowd of evildoers.