Check the Guages

In the recent cold snap we had our furnace worked hard. It ran constantly but it only got colder in our house and the heat unit that sits outside became ice encrusted. My hubs called our repairman friend and a few days later he was able to stop by with his gauges. Once the ice was off (it took the torpedo heater for that!), he put the gauges on and checked the freon level in the heater. There was so little it didn't even register on the gauge. No wonder we were cold!

It's made me think of my life recently. I've been feeling down in the dumps and it's just no fun. I feel like the furnace of my life has been running constantly but it's not putting out. It's left me exhausted and cold. So I tried the repairman's trick and put some gauges on my life—yanno, those little check and balances that we think to look at when things get out of whack.

You know what I found? There's no freon in my pipes—the Scripture level is too low. In the midst of some changes I've been implementing, I've neglected my Bible reading and Bible study and it's left my pipes running low. There's not enough to regulate my internal temperature because I've not been constantly replenishing it like I need to. Sure, I've been in the Word, but it's been hit-or-miss with more misses as time passes. No wonder I've been dreary and cold!

Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ~Colossians 3:16 NAS

It's time to put the freon of God's Word in my pipes so it can work through my heart and life and regulate me.

How about you? How's the Scripture level in your life right now?

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Shining

When I looked out the window awhile ago, this is what I saw.

The trees where shining. The sun had peeked through the heavy clouds and was making all the ice encrusted trees glisten. It was beautiful, especially with all the dark, stormy weather we've been having.

But yanno, the sun often peeks out and shines on the trees like it did. What made it so noticeable and beautiful was the coating of ice on each and every branch and twig. The ice that was a big part of the storm. The ice that was weighing down the tree limbs and rattling with every hint of a breeze. Without the ice there would have been little beauty—just winter trees in a patch of sunshine.

So often when storms overtake our lives we cry out because of the ice that seems to coat us and weigh us down. When a breeze goes past we rattle, thinking only of uncomfortable and heavy the ice is. Yet when others look at us they may see the radiance of the Son shining off us and through us. Sometimes we need the ice to reflect the Son.

Heavenly Father, help us keep our eyes so fixed on You that when the ice comes into our lives we wait eagerly for the Sonshine so we can sparkle and dance for you. Help us to accept the ice and shine for You so that beauty can come from the storms. In Your Son's Name, amen.

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Shattered

This last week, when we went out to warm the car before hitting the road, we discovered the back window of the car was shattered. Talk about surprised! We were instantly thankful for insurance to cover the bulk of the expense. We were also thankful for God's timing—if it had happened the week before we would have been in a pickle since we had been going in four different directions thanks to the kids' college classes—but the day the window shattered was the day of their last finals. Not only that, but it shattered here at home, not on campus, where it had been for a few hours the night before. Isn't God good? Yes, the window shattered and we had the hassle of rearranging things since we only had one car, and we had the expense at a “bad” time for us, but things could have been so much worse!

So why did it shatter? We checked for bullets. Honestly, that was my first thought. Living here in the country there are times when car windows get shot out accidentally. But there was no evidence of it—thank goodness! The car was parked in front of the living room bay window and it gave me shivers to think of what could have happened. Jim called the insurance agent and the window repair people and they weren't surprised. Thermal expansion from the cold snap we had go through our area. The sudden extreme shift in temperature was too much for the glass and it shattered under the change.

Have you ever felt like that? Like things were changing too fast and you were about to shatter? Maybe you did shatter.

Something I noticed when I got in my car and took off after the window had been replaced—I could see through it so much better. The rest of the car was had road dirt on it, but that back window was crystal clear and oh-so clean. After the repair men had put in the new window, they sprayed it with a special cleaner and made it sparkle.

God does that for us too when we shatter. He doesn't always just repair the window, sometimes He replaces it and when God replaces what was broken or shattered, the change is so remarkable that it sparkles and shines. You can't miss it and things appear so much more clear than ever before.

Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, o virgin of Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines, and go forth to the dances of the merrymakers. ~Jeremiah 31:4 NAS

If you're feeling shattered by changes in your life,  let God replace things for you.

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A Highlight of the Season

So, how do you like this weather? brrrrrrr. I am sooo ready for summer but my kids aren't. Imagine that! *eye roll* This last weekend was our church Christmas program--the living Christmas tree. Jim built the original tree all those years ago, and although this is a different structure, it's still funny how many people remember that Jim built the old wood one. It's one of the joys of living in a small town. Well, okay. We don't live in a small town. We live in the middle of nowhere. LoL, but the church we attend is in a small town. ;-)

Today I'm posting at the Barn Door about the living Christmas tree and I'd love for you to stop by and visit me there.

The Book Loft is also opening today and there's a book giveaway going on. To be entered in the book giveaway, leave a comment (over there at The Book Loft) to be entered.

See ya there! =]

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Book Giveaways & So Much More!

I've been a busy beaver this week! And I can't wait to tell you all about it...But I will. At least until next Monday.

Nooooo.

I can't wait.
*eye roll* I'm too excited about this to wait that long. hehe. SO, I'm gonna make YOU wait until Monday. hehe.

Here's the deal. I love doing the author spotlights. Love it. But it's a lot of work and it cramps my posting style and my focus here at my personal blog. So, we (my assistant daughter, Esther and I) decided to move them to the Barn Door which was a great idea, except for the fact that we had people interested in joining us there and the spotlights took up two days each week. So then we moved them to Reflections in Hindsight. As Lisa and I tossed ideas around, I had the brainstorm of a Book Loft as a sister site to The Barn Door. I was so excited I about did a happy dance here in my corner of the living room!

Starting this coming Monday, author spotlights and book giveaways, just like I used to have here, will be posted at The Barn Door Book Loft. That's www.BarnDoorBookLoft.net Each week there's at least 2, usually 3, authors and their books spotlighted and given away. LOL. A copy of their book will be given away, not the authors themselves cuz we want them to keep writing books! ;-)

Joanne, the other half of my brain and a bff, has set up a Facebook page for the Book Loft for us and if you don't want to forget and possibly miss a book, you can subscribe to the Book Loft by email, by clicking here!

There. I feel SO much better! =] This is like having my cake and eating it too. And not only that, but the author spotlights finally have a home of their own. =]

Now, since I'm soooooo nice (I heard you laughing!) here's some fun to hold you over until next Monday:

Book Giveaways! 

Faith's Reward by Tammy Barley

 Meet Tammy Barley
an interview with Tammy Barley

A Path Less Traveled by Cathy Bryant:

meet Cathy Bryant

Cathy Bryant interview

Sarah's Christmas Miracle by Mary Ellis:

meet Mary Ellis

Mary Ellis interview

Be sure to visit those links and leave comments to be entered in the book giveaways!

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Twisted or Strong?

The other day, on our way to church, we passed a house with some wind damage. The play-set they have for their children was twisted and blown over. It was lying on the ground beside the slide and the four posts it had been on.

It made me think of what can happen to us at times. We'll be sitting there thinking all is good, but then a wind kicks up and twists us all around. It can sometimes twist us so much that we're blown off our legs. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can sink our foundation so deep in Christ that a storm can only shake us, not blow us off.

Remember the children's song about the wise man who built his house upon a rock? That's what we're talking about.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compare to a wise man who built house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house and it fell—and great was its fall. ~Matthew 7:24-27 NAS

Building on the Rock sounds like a smart thing to do!
Let's sink our foundation and footer deep so when the rains come down we'll stand strong.

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Spotlights

This week as I've been helping decorate our church for the Christmas season and program, I found myself in the spotlights a couple of times. Honestly. I was in the limelight. (Amazing, huh?!) My moments of glory came as I stood on the platform and looked for the next thing to do or listened to directions about bows and lights in the wrong place. LoL. That's as close to the lime lights as I wish to come, too! Those spotlights hurt the eyes! ;-)

But as I stood there in the spotlights I remembered I hadn't told you where the spotlights were and what's going on with them. This month the author spotlights are being hosted at Reflections in Hindsight. Come New Year's a new site is opening: The Barn Door Book Loft and it will be for author spotlights, interviews and book giveaways. I'll keep you posted, but it's gonna be a hopping site. =]

For now, here are the spotlights and book giveaways still open. Be sure to leave comments to be entered in the book giveaways!

Book Giveaways!

Enter to win A Path Less Traveled by Cathy Bryant:

meet Cathy Bryant

Cathy Bryant interview

Enter to win Sarah's Christmas Miracle by Mary Ellis:

meet Mary Ellis

Mary Ellis interview

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