Your Favorite Cup

I am an avid coffee drinker!  How about you?  I like to have a nice cup of coffee fixed just right - you know, with just enough sweetener and milk to make it taste super yummy - as I read my Bible in the morning.  I'm sure I could read my Bible without coffee!  But who would want to!!!

And I don't just drink from any ol' cup either!  I have a TON of coffee cups in my cabinet.  They are all special in their own way.  I have some that special friends have given me - I have some that my sweet husband has given me - I have some that I have made myself at Ladies' Craft Nights - and they are all treasures to me!

In fact, it's part of my morning fun to pick the mug or cup that best fits my mood at that moment.  Sometimes I want A LOT of coffee - so I pick that really big one we got from Starbucks while living in Texas.  Or sometimes, I'm missing my special friend from Houston so I pick the one she gave me - or sometimes I just want a small quick cup - so I pick the one that is short with lots of flowers all over it!

What I'm trying to say here is - my cup is a part of my coffee experience.  It really does make enjoying my coffee all the better!

This morning I found THE BEST cup ever... in God's Word:

Psalm 16:5-6 (ESV)

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

The Lord is my cup!  Now this is a cup I can take with me long after the coffee is all gone!  

If you're here from iFellowship - WELCOME!
I'm so glad you came today!  

Please leave me a comment so I can get to know you better!  

Let me know how you drink your 
morning coffee!
Do you have a favorite cup?  

Tell me all about it!  I love this kind of stuff!

Join the blog hop @ iFellowship - Seeds of Faith Women!

Need some inspiration?!

Hey Friends!

Do you have things in your life that you keep waiting to really take off?  You know the things I'm talking about - projects that you just know are going to bring you success...  promises from the Lord that you keep waiting to come into full vision?  You keep looking, but each day it seems they are either right where you left them yesterday - or perhaps it seems they got further away?

The children of Israel experienced this too - but you know what?  They finally made it and we see a beautiful picture of it here in Joshua.  Come over to A Woman Inspired to read about this incredible revealed promise!

(Click on the BLOG feature on the top right! - that's where you'll find me today!)

Today's Excuse...

Buzz... Buzzz... off goes my alarm @ 4:30am.  Don't freak out... this is the normal time I set my alarm for the weekdays.  Why you ask?  It's really important to me to pray & exercise BEFORE my children get up - and I have early risers in my house. 

Once I started doing this, I got rather used to the early hour and came to actually enjoy a quiet house all to myself.  It's actually what motivates me to get up!  I know that these are the precious few hours that our house will be quiet enough for me to hear from God and do those dreaded sit-ups and lunges without assistance from my daughter who, by the way, can do them faster and better than me - or free from juice and snack requests.

However, lately, I've been heavy on the prayer time and thin on the exercise time.  It all started with a hurt in my back.  So I took a few days off - "to let it rest".  Then our schedule just got plain crazy!  And I wasn't getting enough sleep.  So I took a few days off "to catch up on my sleep".  And you know the rest from here.

I finally realized that there will always be SOMETHING going on to keep me from doing what I KNOW I need to do.  If I wait for the time to be perfect for me to exercise - I'll still be waiting when Jesus returns!

This morning I read a great verse to motivate me back into what I know I need to be doing.  It's a rather famous verse - but I just love those "oldie but goodies".

1 Chronicles 28:20 (ESV)

Then David said to Solomon his son, "Be strong & courageous and do it.  Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you.  He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished."

Okay okay!  Be strong & courageous!  Get up from this comfy chair and get up and do your lower body weights!  Don't be afraid of the pain and do not be dismayed by the number on the scale!  My God will be with me until all the weight has been lost!

Silly, I know!  But it worked for me in the moment!  You know... making God's words more than just words on a page.

What are you putting off?  What is your excuse for today?  I say, "for today" - because you know there will only be another one waiting for you tomorrow!  Don't let Satan deceive you into thinking that you have plenty of time to do what God has called you to do! 

Be strong & courageous and do it!!!  No excuses!

Holy Ground?

Could your very kitchen be holy ground?

Read here to find out more!

I've written a devotional here under the Label:  Life's Challenges.  Come visit me here & leave me a comment about what you think!  I look forward to meeting you here!

Take Root & Write Devotions

His Words Sunday (July 18)

I don't know where you are this morning  - if you're busily getting ready for church, enjoying your calm Sunday afternoon, or gearing up for whatever Monday morning may bring you - but no matter what the circumstances of your Sunday happen to be - God's Word is the answer.

You may be wondering,
"but you don't even know my question!"  

That's right - and God's Word is still the answer.

Today's scripture for HIS WORDS SUNDAY come from Romans, Paul's letter to the people of Rome.

It is my prayer that these words meet you right where you are and truly bring you hope!

Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that sufferings produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit how has been given to us.

Just for a quick review:

SUFFERING - ENDURANCE - CHARACTER - HOPE

More than just words on a page

One of my most favorite things to do is bring God's Word to the here and now.  I love reading my Bible.  It's something that I do not sacrifice - even if I have to read it in my closet, in the bathroom or in the midst of cartoons - I still read.  It's that important to me.

But I never read for "just reading sake."  Or to check a box and tell God, "Okay, I got that over with - now I can get on with the rest of my day".

In fact, I never want to "get over" reading God's word!  For my personal devotional time each morning I read my One Year Bible.  I have been reading my Bible in this manner since 1998.  And after almost 12 years of spending time with God like this, I always find something new and fresh.

One of the things that I teach the ladies in my church is that I want God's Word to be so much more than just words on a page.  I want them to really mean something when I get up from my desk and close my Bible.  I want them to truly be applicable to my current circumstances.  I don't want to just nod my head in agreement, say, "Boy, that's a good verse" - and then just close it up and not even barely remember what I just read.

I want what He says to apply somehow to how I take care of our home, how I love my husband, how I parent and guide our children and how I live around those who don't know Christ.

So this morning I was reviewing some of the recent things God has shown me in my prayer time.  As I was doing this, I shared with the Lord that I'm really very tired.  I know that there is laundry to do and a Sunday lesson to put together - but I've got a big 'ol case of the "I don't wannas!"

Then I found this:

Proverbs 18:9 (ESV)

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.

Yikes!!!!

So... in the spirit of making God's word so much more than words on a page.  I thanked God for the kick in the pants that I needed, for the spiritual version of an energy drink - and I'm up and off to the laundry room!

If you don't hear from me tomorrow - will someone please call to check on me - just to make sure the washing machine didn't eat me or something?!

Today - don't be lazy - go and find the energy you need from the Lord and stay far far away from anything that destroys!!!

A very loved & trusted friend!

In the spirit of making new friends....

I thought I would introduce to you 2 of our family friends.  Please meet "Boppy", the small purple rabbit and "Bear-Bear", the vintage Pooh Bear.  Boppy came from Wal-Mart and was given to my daughter (who is now 6 years old) at a baby shower before she was ever born and "Bear-Bear" was delivered by Santa on my son's very first Christmas (he's now 3 1/2 years old).

These are very very loved friends and must accompany my children to bed - no matter where they go!  They bring them much comfort after a bad dream and ensure a restful night the rest of the times.  We've gone to great lengths to find them when they got lost and they have been washed in the washing machine more times that I care to recall!

I'm wondering... do your kids still "hang out" with their very best friend?  

What is your story with friends like these?   

What is their most precious child-given name?  

What is the strangest place you have lost them?  

And how long can I expect them to have this friendship?  

In other words... will they take Boppy & Bear-Bear to college?

I'm so glad you visited my blog - please join the blog hop at Seeds of Faith