A crazy day...

Today was a crazy day...  

     A day of not enough hours to do all that needed to be done.
               A day with keys locked in the car.
                       A day that didn't go as planned.
                                    For a moment I looked at the lives' of others and thought theirs' looked pretty good.

But then,
    I thought my life may not be what I thought it would be,
                                                                   it may not be just as I would have planned it.
                                                                                                      
God has a better plan:  

Jeremiah 29:11 ~ "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."                                                         

                      
When I reflect on the day, it was also a day of many blessings. It is easy for the blessings of each day to be lost in the stress of each day.   Take time to be still and thank God for the big and small blessings in your life.

Blessings ~ Karlee

A Hymn of Faith

In a visit with a good friend, he mentioned the below scripture.  A well known scripture, he told me.  I had never heard before.  Now that I have, this is what I want my hymn of faith to be:

Habakkuk 3:17
"Though the fig tree may not blossom,
                                        Nor fruit be on the vines;
              Though the labor of the olive may fail,
                                                         And the fields yield no food;
                                                                        Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
                                                                                                  And there be no heard in the stalls -
                         Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
                                                       I will joy in the God of my salvation.

   The Lord God is my strength;
               He will make my feet like deer's feet,
                          And He will make me walk on my high hills."

To have a faith that rejoices in God in the good times, the bad times, and the 'I don't think I can make it through this' times of life...that is what I want my hymn of faith to be!

Blessings ~ Karlee

"My Soul Magnifies the Lord"

(Today we find ourselves in Luke 1:46, the beginning of the Song of Mary.  Mary knows that she is carrying the Mesiah and has gone visit Elizabeth.)

Mary says: "My soul magnifies the Lord!" Wow!  We can learn a thing or two from Mary...

When she saw Elizabeth - Mary did not say:
     "My back hurts."
                  "I had to leave home and travel far."
                              "I cannot do this."
She did not focus on her self or her weaknesses, she magnified the Lord's greatness!

When we are called to do something we often focus on our weaknesses and shortcomings and end up talking ourselves out of doing what we are called to do.  Instead, let's turn our eyes from ourselves to Christ.  Let's magnify the Lord and trust in His strength to bring us through what we are called to do!

Ask yourself today: How can I magnify the Lord in all I say and do?

Sidenote: The very hairs on our heads our numbered (Matthew 10:30).  If God knows all the hairs on our heads, he also knows all of our weaknesses and ALL OF OUR UNDISCOVERED POTENTIAL!!!  Trust in Him. 

The Gift of Each Day

Recently I read the following quote that made me take a good, hard look at my life and how I live it out:

"On every levle of life, from housework to heights of prayer, in all judgement and efforts to get things done, hurry and impatience are sure marks of the amateur." ~ Evelyn Underhill

Hurry and impatience are marks of the amateur! In our society they seem to be the marks of the pro, the more you can cram in a day...the more impatient and demanding your are..the more you accomplish...the better you are...right? There is a cost to all of this rushing around.  The still, small moments, the true blessings in life, are lost in our daily hustle and bustle.  

Consider the sunrise.  The sun does not rise into the sky in a matter of seconds screaming, "I'm late!!! I have so much to do today!  Get out of my way!!!!"  No, the sunrise is a beautiful gift from God.  The sun rises slowly - unfolding a beautiful display of colors as it ascends the heights of the sky.  It is like the unwrapping of a gift...the gift of another day from God to us. 

How will you spend this day?

Blessings ~ Karlee

BLOOM Where YOU Are PLANTED

So often we say things like: "When this happens..." or "When I move here or there..." or "When I do this or that...", then I'll get it done...  Excuses don't accomplish anything!

Why wait? Flower seeds don't wait around in the ground for years before they grow. When they hit the ground, they start growing.  They know their time on earth is limited and the seasons of life are short.

Just like flowers, our time on earth is limited.  Don't wait for tomorrow.  Do what God is callling you to do today.   Don't worry about failing...God will never give up on you.  :)

Blessings ~ Karlee

GOOD SEEDS

An old saying goes, "You reap what you sew."  If you plant good seeds: kindness, love, peace, gentleness, patience, self-control, joy, contentment; You will walk through a garden of daisies. 

If you plant bad seeds: anger, discontentment, lying, gossip, strife, mean-sprit, sarcasm; You will walk through a field of thistle.

What are you planting in your life?

The Storms of Life...

As I look out my window...ALL I SEE IS WHITE.  A North Dakota spring blizzard is raging outside.  Flights are cancelled, roads are closed, and events scheduled for today will not be held as planned. 

It reminds me of the "storms" we face in life.  Things happen...plans change...dreams die...and there we stand in the midst of the storm:
      -unable to see the hand in front of our face for all the snow swirling around us
                     -unable to hear the voice of God due to the roaring wind
                                     -unable to think clearly due to the chaos around us

In the midst of the storm we are never alone...  
God's promise in Joshua 1:5 holds true for us today:   "I will never leave you or forsake you."

First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 states: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Let that verse settle into your soul....
     -God has all we need
               -His strength is made perfect in our weakness
                         -We don't have to do it alone

Look at the two verses above:
                     God will never leave us ~ His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
How is that for comfort in the storms of life!  :)

A few years ago I observed a duck on a large body of water during a storm.  The whited capped waves were rolling one after another.  The duck sat calmly on the water and rode each wave as it came.  The storm raged around it, but the duck was calm and unruffled. 

That is how I want to live my life:  Peaceful ~ Grounded in Christ

The storms of life will come with varying intensities, but when they come I will deal with each wave individually knowing that I am never alone and God's strength will see me through. 

Love always,  Karlee