Abba's Girl

2017 you were a long hard year, filled with death and destruction. Texas was the recipient of a hurricane which devasted a wide swath of the State and when the winds died down, the rain seemed never-ending. Then a few weeks later - a horrifying church shooting in Sutherland Springs. Recovery from the hurricane continues, many are still in tents and RVs, many are living in gutted homes, I am sure there are a huge # of FEMA trailers along Harvey's path as well. The people of Sutherland Springs continue to recover. Please continue to pray for them as well as Harvey victims.  I noticed out of town news reporters were astounded by the love demonstrated during Harvey as ordinary citizens rescued people who needed rescue. We had little looting compared to other locations ravaged by hurricanes. People were kind and loving, taking strangers into their homes for the night, for a week, for 3 months.  Generous Facebook friends sent money, Walmart gift cards, and coats to be distribu...

Beautiful crisp morning, fire in the fireplace, Bible in one hand, coffee in the other. As I settled in to read the last few chapters of Deut. I totally lost focus and began to think about what needs cleaning and the flowers I want to plant this afternoon. And now I am blogging... Come Holy Spirit, settle my mind, help me focus, show me what I need to ponder and keep as I read Scripture today. To all of you: Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Frohe Weihnachten So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.    Now when they had seen  Him,  they made widely [ d ]  known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.    And all those who heard  it  marveled at those things which were...

Every once in a while I feel perfectionism trying to rear its ugly head in my life. I think it developed a firm place in my life when I was a ballet dancer, after all, I was striving for perfection. There was always someone better than me and always someone coming up behind me who had the potential to surpass me. In my late 20's it finally dawned on me, perfectionism should not be a part of my life especially after I re-established my relationship and walk with God. Something about decorating and planning a meal for a few family members seems to give the thing license to attempt to make an appearance. Christmas Cards sitting unaddressed on the kitchen table. Maybe next year. (I've let go of something!) Finally got the outdoor lights up and working yesterday. When I focus on getting everything just right, perfect wrapping, perfectly baked cookies and treats, my house so clean you could eat off the floor, every ornament placed perfectly on the tree...where is Jesus in all t...

Today the Salvation Army is coming to pick up part of our surplus to requirement as my English godson likes to say. I did not finish going through my books, I will schedule another pickup in January. How have we accumulated so much stuff!?!?!? I am donating fake plants, Christmas ornaments, and decorations, slipcovers, throws, comforter sets, throw pillows, curtains, Christmas lights, fall decor, paintings, and 15-20 books. I donated clothes earlier in the year...getting rid of the excess seems to be a process with me instead of a singular event. Oh well, as long as it completed soon. I said all that not to attract attention to my "good" deed but to say many of us have so much excess in our physical lives - too many possessions we no longer use/see, we walk right by them as well as the excess in our spiritual lives because we have not taken it to the Lord for 1 reason or another and left it at the foot of the Cross. When we ignore sin, stuff it down, or decide in our case...

When I was young, we bought our Christmas tree the day school was dismissed for the Christmas holidays. No matter the weather, that was the day my mother and I tromped around the tree lot. It smelled so good! We never bought flocked trees to my chagrin. Every year I asked for a second tree, flocked in either black or hot pink, I wanted to decorate with silver ornaments and silver garland. Again my parents said no. When dad returned home from work he put the tree in the stand and put the lights on the tree. Mom and I would hang the ornaments and carefully place the icicles on the tree. I did fight the urge to throw a big glob of icicles on the tree at times.  Did anyone else decorate with them? I kind of miss them. Finally, when I was 12 or so, my mother bought a little artificial tree for my bedroom and a strand of lights. She then handed me ribbons, sequins, beads, and construction paper and said make your decorations. I spent a lot of time making the decorations and enjo...

The weather forecast last night was a low of 40, a little sleet, and a few snow flurries. Imagine everyone's surprise to awake this morning to a couple inches of snow on the ground and a temperature of 28F! What a nice surprise! I can report many people were outside in PJs taking pictures at 5:30 a.m. and back out at 6:30 a.m. and so on to capture as many pictures as possible before the snow began to melt.  Everything looks new, fresh, and clean. When we make Christ our Lord and Savior, we may still like our old self on the outside, not so new, not so fresh, and relatively clean, but on the inside where it counts, we are new, fresh, and clean.  II Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) says it all:  Therefore, if anyone  is  in Christ,  he is  a  new  creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become  new . We must always remember it is about our heart not our looks, I Samuel 16:7 is one of my favorites: But the...