Diligence

TODAY IS THE DAY.....

To Be Diligent at Work

As the lowly ant demonstrates, life is a roll-up-your-sleeves proposition. God gives you the basic ingredients you need for your daily bread, but He expects you to do the baking. You can have lots of enthusiasm for the final product-a warm, tasty loaf of bread-but unless you are willing to do the work required to produce it, enthusiasm will not get you very far. When it comes to the tasks that lay ahead, roll up your sleeves and get to work! Diligent effort produces the satisfaction of a job well done.

Hands that work hard will rule. But people who don’t want to work will become slaves. Proverbs 12:24 NIV
The plans of people who work hard succeed ~ Proverbs 21:5

For the diligent the week has seven todays;
For the slothful, seven tomorrows!
Author Unknown

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing"
-Walt Disney

taken from Everyday Insights for and Extraordinary Life

A Still Small Voice

Well it's been a while since my last post, as life keeps us all very busy. It has now been 8 weeks since I had surgery, and I am feeling great. God is so incredibly good and I have so much to be thankful for! Thanks again for all of you who have kept me in your prayers.

As always, the Lord continues to teach me daily to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all other things will be given to me as well. It sounds so simple, and yet with the hectic pace that we all keep in our lives, it can be so difficult. So many things demand our time and attention, and if we are not careful, they can crowd out our time that we spend with our Father.

This week I was reading in I Kings 19: 11-12 about Elijah, and how he was on the mountain listening for God, and when the winds passed by they were so strong it tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces, but the Lord was not in the wind. Next there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and finally a still small voice...that is where Elijah heard God's voice.

How often are we all so busy with the noise of life, that we miss the still small voice of God speaking to us. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God." If we are not taking time to be still, we cannot hear that still small voice that is speaking to us prompting us to learn and become more like Him.

Can God speak to us through the noise of our lives? Certainly! But somehow I think he treasures the times when we are listening intently and hearing what He is whispering into our hearts. The times when our focus is on no one but Him.

Help us Father to seek you first in all we do, every day!

Closer to You

What an amazing day and age that we live in! Because of the technology of Facebook, I was reconnected with a good friend of mine, that I hadn't seen since I was a teenager. Both of our families were musical, and so we attended a music school together for several summers. A few months ago, when he found me on Facebook, we started catching up on each others families and lives and all that God has done through the years. Yesterday he was in Colorado, so my husband and I had the privilege of meeting with him over lunch and reminiscing about old times.

Little did I know way back then, that he would go on to write many award winning songs for groups such as 4Him, Phillips Craig & Dean, Point of Grace, Larnelle Harris and more. He has quite a story, and just had a book published about his life that released last week called "Healing In God's Time" by Donna Clark Goodrich

I wanted to share the words to one of his songs that he had just written when I met him, and it has always been such a blessing to me. We sang it so many times as a family, and even sang it last Thanksgiving at our family reunion. It reminds us all to keep our eyes focused on the only thing that is truly important in this life, and that is spending time with God and getting to know Him better each day, so we can be a reflection of Him to those around us.

Closer to You

I know that I've failed you Lord
Time and again
But each time, you've always stayed true
And that's why I kneel at the Cross once again
And ask to draw closer to you

Closer to you Lord,
Closer I pray
Help me draw closer to Your will today
It doesn't matter what others may do
I want to draw closer to you

Lord I surrender all that I am
For whatever you'd have me do
I've faith in your promise
And I know that you'll show
A way to draw closer to you

Written by Dave Clark

Daylight Savings Time!

Just a quick reminder to turn your clocks ahead tonight.

Daylight Saving Time

By Nancy S. Kerns

He set the clock in the bedroom,
But not the one on the VCR.
I set the one on the stove,
But not the one in the car.
No one changed the clock
That hangs on the kitchen wall.
That’s why we missed church.
I hope we do better this fall.

Daylight Savings Time

by Phyllis McGinley



In Spring when maple buds are red,

We turn the Clock an hour ahead;

Which means, each March that arrives,

We lose an hour 

Out of our lives.



Who cares? When Autumn birds in flocks

Fly southward, back we turn the Clocks,

And so regain a lovely thing--

That missing hour 

We lost last Spring.

Climb Til Your Dreams Come True

Often your tasks will be many,
and more than you think you can do
Often the road will be rugged
and the hills insurmountable, too

Always remember, the hills ahead
Are never as steep as they seem,
And with faith in your heart start upward
And climb 'till you reach your dream,

Nothing in life that is worthy
Is ever too hard to achieve
If you have the courage to try it
And you have the faith to believe...

Faith is a force that is greater
Than knowledge or power or skill
And many defeats turn to triumph
If you trust in God's wisdom and will

Faith is a mover of mountains,
There's nothing that God cannot do,
So start out today with faith in your heart

And Climb Until Your Dream Comes True

by Helen Steiner Rice

Look Up

In honor of Paul Harvey who passed away at the ripe old age of 90 yesterday I thought I'd share a story of his. It's a great reminder in life. I hope you all continue to "Look Up"!

Newscaster Paul Harvey once related a story about a woman from Michigan who vacationed in Florida. She found a secluded spot on the roof of her hotel to soak up a few rays of sunshine, and in order to get a "total" tan, she removed all her clothing. Within a half-hour, the hotel manager was beside her insisting that she cover up. She argued that nobody was in sight. He agreed. Problem was -- she was stretched out over the hotel skylight!

It occurs to me that the hotel's problems began because somebody was looking up! Which normally is an excellent thing to do. At least in attitude. And what a surprise lay in store that day for those who were looking up!

You see, some folks spend their lives looking down. Downcast in spirit, they hang their heads and lead negative and joyless lives. Others are constantly looking out. They live in fear and watch vigilantly for problems, real or imaginary, that threaten their happiness.

Still others seem always to be looking around. Forever searching for a better partner, a better job or a better deal, they keep a watchful eye out and seldom experience a lasting commitment.

But a few vibrant folks can usually be found looking up! These resilient individuals have learned how to look beyond problems to solutions; beyond discouragement to hope. And quite often, the pay-off is joy.

No matter if your habit is to look down, look out, look around, or look up, the only important question is, in which direction will you look today?

One of my favorite verses is:

I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from GOD,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
Psalm 121:1-2 (The Message)