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Blessed by everyday blessings

these are a few of my favorite things

~smiling faces~

~hugs and kisses from grandchildren
and hearing the name Nanny from far away places~

~mostly old sometimes new~

~quilts with love stitched through and through

~Babies and butterflys and all things created~

~To know you are loved makes life sweet with grace traces ~























recipes

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

In this life there shall be JOY!

Think very quickly of 5 people in your life in these catagories, church friend or co-worker, spouse, friend, sibling, child..... and add yourself to the bottom of the list.  Now ask yourself which one do you think radiates joy the most? Can you pinpoint what it is about this person that speaks joy to you?  Did you pick yourself?
Do you think that some people are born with a greater dispositon for Joy?

 Here is the definition of Joy from webster's dictionary.  To define joy seems simple enough but let's just see what it says. " Excitement or pleasurable feeling caused by the acquisition or expectation of good; gladness; pleasure; delight; exultation;  exhilaration of spirits; the cause of satisfaction and happiness- To rejoice; to be glad; to exult."

Following Easter and having a wonderful day with my family I am still riding the tailwinds of joy.


Yes we had a little easter bunny action here....
but there is more to the joy shared here.

  I am filled with Joy because I believe that Jesus died for me on the cross. He endured so much pain just because he couldn't bear to leave earth without taking me with him to heaven.  I am a part of the family of God because I believe Jesus took my sin and the punishment I deserve upon himself  so that I could be forgiven. When I look sin straight in the eye there is no doubt I am in need of a Savior.  We had a great day celebrating his triumph over the grave. Salvation is a free gift.  The blood has been shed, the price has been paid , I encourage you, don't leave earth with out opening this gift.

 Beth Moore says in her book "Praying God's Word Day by Day" " The greatest joy in our lives is the very thing we have deserved the least. It is an absolute gift of grace."  That thought alone should make me forever joy-filled.    But I know as the days pass further away from Easter, life will return to ordinary days and  the exhilaration of spirit will be struggling to surface.  Back to the 5 people up above......6 including me...I did not choose me  to be the one with the most joy.

  Have you heard the saying, Everyday may not be a good day but there is good in every day.?  How about Joy?  Everyday may not be a joy filled day but  can  joy be found in every day?  Lately in my search to be joy-filled  I have laid in bed at the end of the day and  tried to identify places of joy in my day. When I read my Bible the word "JOY" is jumping off the page.   This is proof to me that when i am seeking something that God would want me to have, he will help me find it and understand it.    I believe that joy  is something that God would want everyone to have in this life including me.


So I guess that means the theory that some people are born with a greater disposition for joy might not be true.    As a child of the heavenly Father, God intends for me to live with joy.  "As children of God , we are rightful heirs to the blessing of overflowing joy.  God has declared us worthy.  As a result, we have a calling, a responsibility to express and demonstrate joy by the way we live."  Tommy Newberry

"Oh the joys of  those who do not follow the wicked,....  But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.  They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.  Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do."  Psalm 1: 1-3

" Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in  Christ Jesus" 1 Thessalonians 5 : 16-18

Today is another Wednesday ......
I am  using this book based on Philipians 4:8  to help me in the search for more joy in my life.



THREE things I am going to THINK about from chapter 1 This week.

1. " Being joy filled does not mean your life is perfect. Who could claim that? It doesn't mean your life is great. What it does mean is that you emphatically trust  God and believe that he has great plans for your life, regardless of what is happening right now. Joy is the infectious and uncontainable fruit of divinely inspired growth.  It's a deeply entrenched, unshakable belief, the result of sustained right thinking and dwelling on the nature and character of God.  Joy is an outward sign of inward faith in the promises of God.  It is a way  of acting, and it is evidence of spiritual maturity.  Joy is not a distant destination at which you arrive; rather, it's a path you choose to travel each day."  Tommy Newberry

BABY STEP:  Pick another character of God to ponder and a promise of God that I can choose to apply to my days this week. " God is my shield,saving those whose hearts are true and right." Psalm 7:10

2."Mental discipline is the ability to keep your thoughts consistently focused. When you use the 4:8 Principle as a filter for your thinking, you focus on God and goodness to the exclusion of all else."  "When you keep your thoughts fixed on God, the things of God will naturally permeate your life, and thus your goals will be in line with his will and his kingdom." Tommy Newberry

BABY STEP: exercise those mental muscles...... pick one chapter of the Bible to focus on this week and memorize 5 verses from that chapter.    I really need your help here  Lord because I am a lazy girl when it comes to exercising.

3. Pity parties not allowed.   Replace every can't with a can . There will always be a circumstance in life that has the potential to steal my  joy  if  I  focus on the wrong thing.

BABY STEP:  Make a list of things I  CAN do this week.  And add a smile to someone's day while I'm at it.


I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;
 I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.  I will be filled with joy because of you.
  I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2

Have a week blessed with joy!
thanks for stopping by
Janita

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Sewing Sewing Sewing....
Love...Love...Love...

what ever it might take to get my daughters to catch the sewing bug i'm all for it!

I had almost given up having a daughter that would enjoy sewing  but hope has returned!

Ariann (oldest daughter) needed some help with a "little" project.
The wheels started turning after she saw  thisand this
She wanted to take some 
"un- loved" sweaters  from the good will store
and work some  sweet-love back into them.

So with a combined craftyness of mother and daughter and  day at the sewing machine

here are our new little loves that have now been passed on to create more love.


Three little pillow pals made to be donated to a charity fund raiser


wee little lamb with  floppy felted wool ears and tail
I wanted to keep him.


miss piggy  has a knotted tail and playful ears

Each one we make makes us a bit more giddy !
                                    

Alphabet pillow with felt letters and buttons


Emmy received our practice hippo (not pictured  here) and she loved her !
She named her Tulip!  Isn't that sweet .
I wonder where she came up with that!

She felt so lucky that her mommy made something just for her!
And  she gave her a great Big thank you with a Hug!
That ought to keep the sewing bug alive :o)


We didn't get a lot of time to love on those sweet  little treasures before we passed them on
I Miss them!

But we still have a whole basket of sweaters!
 I think that means we will be making some more!
they really were so cute .

TIPS:
Iron on  light  weight  fusible interfacing to back side of sweater
Shorten stitch length and raw edge applique faces on with ears under face
We added ears and tails for little fingers to play with
Cut pattern out of freezer paper and iron on to interfacing side of sweater
Cut a rectangle around pattern with some margin around pattern
Sew around pattern piece using freezer paper as your guide
Remember to leave an opening for turning inside out
Cut  around pattern ONLY after sewing around pattern is complete beause it makes life so much easier!

We went to bed that night with smiles on our faces.
My girls may or may not learn to enjoy sewing but I love it that they are trying to be creative.
It is a blessing .... a reflection of the One who created us!

Do you have a craft buddy?
It is a very good thing to have   :o)

 It felt good to be a blessing to someone in need.
It does the body good to Love One Another!


Sweet dreams!
Janita


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Finding space for JOY in this day.

This little light of mine,
 I'm gonna let it shine,
 Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!


I've got the candles burning today Just Because candles makes the room come to life and I like that.  No company is not coming today thank goodness, the state of my house is pleading, "Please Clean Me" but that seems like an even better reason to light a candle.

It is a reason to find space for JOY in this day.

Candles should be burned more than they are here lately but life doesn't seem to stand still long enough to just let them burn all day. And I am kind of concerned (Picky) about getting the most bang for my buck when it comes to candles.  I am not one to just light a candle if I can't let it burn for a couple of hours but last night I was treated to that simple pleasure of precious minutes of  glowing smiles by candlelight and it was delightful. I should find more reasons to light candles!  Bryce and I ate dinner at Ariann (oldest daughter) and Billy's house....... By Candlelight :) because Emerson who is 4 1/2  wanted to light the candles for supper. It made My heart smile. I can remember when my daughters were little I decided we would eat an "every day" meal by candle light on occasion. A candle makes you linger a little longer at the table and seemed to create peace at the table which we desparately needed.

One simple act...the Lighting of a candle ......what a difference it can make.

JOY can be found in gratitude So Today I'm thankful that my daughter is passing on the JOY of  a burning candle to her family with a little short and sweet tea light magic. As soon as we were done eating, Emmy blew out the candles because that is the other half of the fun of lighting them!  Anyway.....  Today is one of those Burn all-day kind of days as it is just my dog Molly and I here enjoying a peaceful day.


 After making some memories with little Emerson last week


 need I say again, Things are a bit undone and out of control here today. I Love it that she absolutely loves to visit and I try to make her time here special but also love the calm after the "storm" when I can think my own thoughts again.  I doubt that anyone will be gifting me with a cleaning fairy today or the next, so the candles creates  a place of calm to focus on until I can get everything back where it belongs. Can't blame the mess all on Emmy though I've got a quilt in progress as well...... and at my house creativity is messy!


 Prayer ...........Oh Lord, life is so short,  Please bless the mess!


 Since today is Wednesday and I'm also Wondering......like one candle, I am One Life....what difference can I make in this day??  I don't have a long list of earth shattering accomplishments to hand out and doubt that I ever will, but I do have people of influence in my life and I am leaving a footprint here so today I am thinking about this difference.... Am I passing JOY on to the the next Generation?   Am I spreading JOY to a room and the people in it when I am present much like a candle spreads JOY?


personal journey notes follow..........read at your own risk....... I'm not preaching  or trying to bore you, but I am realizing this post is getting lengthy.  I am trying to learn.  Here are some thoughts I'm trying to process in this whole matter of being JOY- Filled.



A couple of weeks ago i left here with the challenge of focused thinking. I was hoping to Increase my JOY  by trying to think like God thinks and taking a BABY STEP in thinking about a character of God. I chose to focus on, God is HOLY.

Later I came across a devotion with this scripture.  "Blessed is the (WO)man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands."  Psalm 121:1     Delight...Joy......can these words be  interchanged here?

The question for me was, if God is HOLY then how do I think and become more like Him in holiness and find JOY in the process? God's word also says, "Be Holy for I am Holy".   Holy  means having qualities compelling worship and adoration. Does my everyday life look like worship to God? Does my life as a saved person look any different from someone who has not received Jesus as their Savior?   Falling back into patterns of sin steals the joy of salvation.  Some days can be frustrating.  I think being a saved child of God should change me. What would enable me to break out of the sin patterns that hold me and allow me to grow in holiness?

"The greatest turning point in a believer's life-after salvation,that is- is when pursuing God's righteousness changes from an obligation to a delight. Trying to be holy always results in failure after failure.  Falling in love with a righteous God results in progress.  Failures still happen, but there's a noticeably different approach to them.  Instead of obsessing about shortcomings, we begin to obsess about God's goodness.
We can put sin behind us as the exception when we press on into our love for a holy God.  Our focus is taken off of our works and placed appropriately on our Savior. Law no longer consumes us; grace does."
"That doesn't mean that the rules for living a godly life become less relevant. It means only that our method of growth changes.   Instead of trying to eliminate all unrighteousness with legalistic rules, we focus our faith instead on the Righteous One.  A fascination with His goodness has remarkable power to change us.  A dread of the Law has none."  "Supernatural Delight" 7/21/08  Walk thru the Bible INDEED

It seems to me the question is not, Will I find more Joy if I trying harder to do everything right today, but rather am I worshiping HIM, adoring HIM? Am I  Making space in my day to be guided by HIS word  so that I am not living by what others say I should be doing but I am seeking to do what He says to me?  ...........there I  will find JOY  to add to my days .

  BABY STEPS......  BABY STEPS ...
  Read my Bible today and let God speak to me    

                      
May my faith be exercised today, may my prayers be lifted up to the only one who knows the purpose he has for me.  Holy Spirit thank you for  the blessing of JOY today as I delight in you. Strengthen me to EnJOY your commands as I practice loving you.

seeking JOY
Janita

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