Author: ObtainingMercy

What a Treasure!

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope

Deuteronomy 7:6-8 "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth.
 The LORD did not set his
love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any
people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
 But because
the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had
sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty
hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt."

 

These words were written to the children of Israel; but do you think God loves us any less?

 

Galatians 3:28-29 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

 

As saved believers, we are the Lord God's special people.  He has chosen us.  He has set His love on us.  He redeemed us.

We are His treasure.

No matter what the world may tell us, we are precious to the Lord.

May our lives reflect this wonderful truth!


Happy Fall, Y’all! (A Little Late)

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Household, Isaac Update, Managing My Mondays, What's Happening

Shanda'sautumntrail

I love that it is finally autumn!!!  Of course, we won't be able to tell it here in Florida for another month or so.  Nevertheless, it is nice to know there are cooler days ahead!  This picture was taken by one of my bloggy friends, Shanda.  She lives up north, of course. 😉

Well, we are a-l-m-o-s-t fully recovered from our bout with the cold/flu thingy at our house.  My hubby is still sniffling quite a bit, but the allergens are still rampant here, too, so we think it is more allergies than cold.  We hope so, anyway.

Isaac is continuing to get his days and night mixed up.  Saturday night, he never did go to sleep.  He stayed awake until 5 a.m. Sunday morning!  Sigh…that's not very conducive to getting to church on time, is it???  In fact, he and I didn't make it at all to the morning services.  (I've been dealing with a lot of pain this weekend, so I stayed home with the Sleeping Handsome One.) 🙂

Doug begins another tutoring session today, and we are quite grateful for this bit of extra income.  I do, of course, still have my shop on Etsy, but it seems like nothing is selling there lately.  I'm hoping that things will pick up nearer the holidays.

I was able to make it to church last night, and to choir practice.  We have started work on our Christmas cantata!  Yay!!!  I love Christmas music and I love to sing with the choir – it's like 2 of my favorite things all rolled up together.  So fun!

My goal this year is to actually sing IN the Christmas cantata.  Usually I end up sick during December and have to watch the cantata from the audience or on the internet.  It is very discouraging, I can tell you, after doing all that work, practicing all those songs, and to end up not being able to perform it together with my choir friends!  I am going to be working very hard to get myself healthy and well and STAY THAT WAY for the next 3 months!

I guess that's it for today's update.  I leave you with a picture of Kepler in her favorite new hiding place:

Keppiehiding

;o)

Blessings,

Alesha

 

 

So Many Channels

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope

Doug and I shared our freshman year of college with four young men from the Bahamas.  They were each a pleasure to be around, with their distinct personalities and characteristics; but it was when they were together, singing in our chapel services, that they blessed me the most.

They often sang that old hymn, Channels Only, and the chapel room would ring as their voices blended on every verse, with their lovely Bahamian accents.

This verse was my favorite:

 

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,

A clean vessel in Thy hand;

With no power but as Thou givest

Graciously with each command.

Channels only, blessèd Master,

But with all Thy wondrous power

Flowing through us, Thou canst use us

Every day and every hour.

 

I had no idea at that young idealistic age of 17 exactly what it meant to be "emptied" by the Lord; and that's probably just as well. 😉

However, these many years later, I can look back and see how much work the Lord has done in my arrogant, naive and self-centered heart.

It's no fun being emptied by the Lord; but I am so thankful for the work He has done.  I am especially grateful that every time He removed something from my heart, He replaced it with Himself.

Less of me = More of Him

When I am emptied of self, I become a channel, a vessel, that God can flow through.

It is a lofty goal that should be actively pursued by every child of God.

 

"Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me…"

Amen, Lord.

 

Psalm 42:1-2 "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God…"

A Link or Two or Three

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Links to Share

I think everyone at our house may – possibly – be recovering from this latest malady – finally!

Isaac actually woke at a normal time yesterday, was happy and noisy most of the day, then slept all night.  He had gotten into the habit of waking up around 3:30 a.m. each morning for the past week or so.  Of course, that played havoc with everyone's sleep patterns.  Last night was much better.

I surprised myself last night and stayed awake until after 1 a.m. reading a book.  I thought since going off all caffeine, I would conk out every night; and so far I have done that, around 11:30 p.m.  But last night I finished one book and started another around 11:00 p.m.  I knew better than to start a new book at that late hour, but…I don't always do what I should do. (heh heh!)

So, yeah, I am blurry-eyed and dragging a bit this morning (but am enjoying the new book!).

Let's see…Oh, I have a few links to share with you:

I watched this movie over the weekend, and enjoyed it very much!

I have set up this page as my home page on the computer, having abandoned this page when it – astonishingly – had not one article about the Chick-fil-A situation that took place a while back. 

I loved the format of the old page, but really – You claims to post all trending articles, but conveniently filter out a hugely controversial national story???  I think somebody is not being very honest!  (I know, why am I surprised?)  At least The Christian Post tells you exactly what you are going to get – Christian news – even in its title.  I can live with that.

Doug baked these cookies over the weekend.  They were so yummy and just the "taste" of fall that we had been craving. 

Of course, now Doug is determined to bake his mom's fabulous pumpkin bread next.  It is honestly the best pumpkin bread we have ever had.  I just love the balance of spices in her bread.  So, I suggested we do the pumpkin bread, but also make the caramel icing from the other recipe!!!  Pumpkin Bread with Caramel Frosting – now doesn't that have a nice autumn "ring" to it??? 😉

So, how about a verse for today?  Here's one I read this morning:

 

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In
the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world."

 

Now, there's a good bit of comfort in those words, when you dwell on them a while.  Are you meditating on a specific verse of Scripture today, or maybe this week? If so, I'd love to hear about it. 🙂

Wishing you a Happy Wednesday,

Alesha

 

 

Taking Captives, First Thing This Morning

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Just My Thoughts

Do you ever wake up, before your feet even hit the floor, and feel defeated?  Or sad?  Or angry?  Or despondent?

It's not a good way to start the day, is it?

For me, the two things that can start my day off in a very negative way are pain and dreams.  This morning, it was a dream.  About Isaac.  About someone hurting Isaac. 

I woke up angry and sad and feeling unequal to the task of starting a brand new day.

These are the mornings that I must immediately begin to practice the truths of Scripture, particularly this one:

 

II Corinthians 10:5 "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ;"

 

Bad dreams are not reality.  They are imaginations.  And if they are contrary to reality, they are contrary to the knowledge of God.  They must be brought into captivity.

 

How can we bring a thought into captivity?

  1. Ask the Lord to remove the images from your memory.
  2. Pray for forgiveness of any waking thoughts or fantasies that could have encouraged the dreams.
  3. Deliberately refuse to relive the scenes of the dream in your mind.
  4. Begin to quote Scripture or sing a song of praise to focus your mind on true things.
  5. As soon as possible, find time to read God's Word so that the Lord can fill the emptiness left by the dream you have cast down.

I know these seem very simplistic, but this is the only process I have found to combat the negativity that can overwhelm me when I wake from a nightmare.

Finally, let me encourage you that today can be a day of victory and peace for you.  You simply must ask the Lord for courage to face the day, resting fully in the truth of the Word:

 

Joshua 1:8-9 "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt
meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according
to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
 Have
not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest."

 

Those are bold words, aren't they?

Let's begin our day by trusting in these promises of God…by leaving behind the things that weigh down our spirit…and by meditating on His Word to find the good courage that will lead us to success!

I am praying that you have a great day, despite the way it started,

Alesha

Content, With Practice

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope

Happy Monday to you!!!

 

Philippians 4:11 "…for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."


Or, as the pin on my Pinterest board says,

Always

 

I know that – on certain mornings – it is hard to feel content, especially when I am sick.  I asked my friend "Why is it that I can handle off-the-scale pain in my back, and never lose my sweet spirit; but give me a cold and I am a grouchy mess???"

Sometimes, I'm so immature that I annoy myself!

I'm so glad for the verse above.  It reminds me that contentment is a learned response.  It is not a virtue or even a fruit of the spirit.  It is something that is produced as we practice it.  My old choir leader used to remind us,

"Practice makes permanent…not perfect." 

We can practice something over and over in the wrong way, which then becomes fixed in our mind.

The trick is to practice contentment – in the right way!  These verses are good reminders of how to do that:

 

Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee."


Part of our deep-seated contentment comes from the promise that our Heavenly Father is always with us.

 

I Timothy 6:6-7 "But godliness with contentment is great gain.
 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."


The other truth that will help us learn contentment is that we have nothing on our own – everything is from our Heavenly Father.

Focus on these two truth today.  They will help your contentment grow.  As you become content, you find more things for which to be thankful…and a lovely spiral effect of contentment and gratitude will swirl through your heart and life.

Then, even on a Monday, you will yourself content and grateful…and ready for whatever the week may bring!

Wishing you a day of profitable practicing,

Alesha

 

Plans of a Grandiose Nature

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Household, What's Happening

 

Gee…I picked quite a day to go "decaf":  Our caregiver called in sick! :o(

I am feeling better, but I still can't care for Isaac by myself, as my back is not strong enough for his growing length and weight.  He is right at 70 pounds now!

So, Doug will be shuttling back and forth from school on each of his breaks, and we will adjust Ike's feeding schedule to go along with Doug's.  Let's just pray that his (Isaac's) going potty coincides with Doug's being here! :o/

I'm thankful that I feel like sitting upright this morning…and I don't have that…

"Oh, deah, I must lay down befoah I am ovahcome with the vaypahs"

…feeling (said in my best "Scarlet O'Hara" accent). 

I was actually able to clear my desk so that I can sit and do a little work today.  Doug does not deal well with "junk" mail, so while I was sick, he had been putting all the mail on my desk.  I had a massive pile of catalogs!  "Tis the season" you know! They have all been put into File 13, and my work surface is clean and organized.

With that task finished, my plan for the rest of the day is to stay awake and upright.

It's ambitious, I know, but I reeeeally think I can do it!!!

;o)

Here's to a productive Friday!

Alesha