Friday January 22 2016  HIDDEN TREASURES OF MEMORY

It’s not even lunch time and I am already at my upstairs rickety table writing my blog.  I have so much on my agenda this day that I am trying to shorten everything just a little to get everything in.  Remember, I am preparing for guests on Sunday.  Somehow it doesn’t make much sense to get the house ready too many days ahead of the guests arrival because it will just get dirty again.  Well, maybe your house doesn’t get dirty, but mine does.  Remember we live in the country, and dirt and leaves and spiders and bugs abound.  Even in winter.  I think winter may be even worse due to the fact that’s when we have MUCK.  We still have the floors covered by the paper the contractors taped down from one end of our house to the other.  Maybe it is so they don’t forget how to get to where the damage is. 

So today is soup making day and house cleaning, step one.  Today we dust and vacuum the carpeted area and tomorrow we do the tile floors.  I’m so tempted to take up that paper but they would probably just charge us to put more down when our vanity comes in for the repair (and that might be another month).  The dirty paper cannot be mopped (which is a benefit). 

Now an update on “our quandary”.  Our quandary was determining whether we should turn the claim into the insurance agency or pay out of pocket.  Four years ago we had a large claim from a broken water valve in a bathroom (the same bathroom) wall that did damage to five rooms of our house.  That was an expensive insurance repair bill.  We even moved to a hotel for two months of the summer because we could not use three of our bathrooms and the other bathroom had no shower or tub.  We moved back into our house when one of our bathrooms (the one downstairs, on a different floor than our bedrooms) had a working tub.  The predicament we are in is the possibility of losing our insurance.  We have used this company for twenty plus years for insuring our house, our vehicles, (including the kid’s vehicles when they lived at home), my business, business liability, home umbrella policy, and for travel coverage for all my camera equipment.  We are hoping they will take that into consideration when October rolls around for renewal.

Now that we have decided to go through the insurance it will have to be approved, then supplies ordered, and all the repairs done.  In the meantime we are using our time to clean out areas involved in the rooms damaged.  We are trashing, donating, or giving away various items.  Our house has a lot of built in cabinets that are easy to forget about.  We are digging deep.  Well, we are now looking at “stuff” with new, and enlightened eyes.  The less stuff we have, the less cluttered our life will be.  We have so much tucked here and there that it is sort of like finding new little pockets of treasured memories everywhere we look.  It is both fun to discover them, yet bittersweet to discard them.  Will I ever need it again?  Will I ever really use it again?  And then I realistically answer the question with reason, since I didn’t even know where it was for the last 10 or 15 or 20 years, or even remember that I owned it, it should no longer dwell at this address.  It sounds good written on the computer screen but a bit more difficult to do than you might think.  Hmm…maybe I need therapy?

Well, back to today.  There is so much I could tell you that has already happened today, but I won’t, due to time.  It just seems like every day we are alive, life happens.  

I will finish by transcribing a poem from my journal that was written this morning during my quiet time with the Lord.  Different rooms, different environs, create different kinds of poems.  Today was a time of worship for me and my poem reflects that.

HOW CAN I EVEN FATHOM

By Kathleen Martens

January 22, 2016

Lord, You are so awesome!

How can I even fathom how great thou art?

How is it that You love me beyond comprehension?

That You have even chosen to live in my heart?

You made it so simple for me to invite You in.

You, the creator of the universe in all Your glory

Sacrificed Your life, though unblemished by sin

To clothe me in righteousness so I can share Your story.

Oh how sweet is the story of Your love

As my heart sings praises to the King of Kings!

You, and You alone are the GREAT I AM!

And You and You alone salvation brings.

And You are great and greatly to be praised!

You are gracious in all the works of Your hand.

Your glorious splendor I cannot comprehend,

Yet someday in Your beauty, I will stand.

And then I will bless You forever and ever,

And Your holy name will be lifted on high.

And I will praise You from the heights of heaven

And never again will there be a goodbye.

Inspired the scriptures in Psalm

Have a great rest of your day!  God bless you!

P.S.  IT’S SNOWING!

Part 5 of 8 Keys to Finding God’s Will For Your Life

Sorry I forgot to include #5 in yesterday’s blog.

5) Pay attention to how God has wired you.

God has created you to fulfill a specific role in this world. There is no one else who can achieve completely what God has purposely created you to do.

The Apostle Peter gives us this admonition:

1 Peter 4:10

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

God has gifted every one of us to perform a special mission for which we alone were created. How amazing is that? Wow!

So, when you seek to discover God’s will for your life, pay attention to how He has gifted you. His plan for you will always be directly related to the gifts that He has bestowed upon you. The great news is that you will automatically be good at whatever it is that He has called you to do!

http://www.biblestudytools.com/blogs/chris-russell/8-keys-to-knowing-god-s-will-for-your-life.html