Life Coach

There seems to be a new buzz phrase...some amongst the wealthy and privileged.
I have also heard it in terms of those suffering from trauma...especially during important developmental points in life.  
But when I heard a successful actress use the phrase on TV the other day..stating her "life coach" advised her to apologize to an individual (though she hadn't wronged that person,  at least not intentionally)
My thought...
Hey!  I have one!! THE One!  The only Life Coach we should depend on!
And He doesn't charge by the hour! (He only requires we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength❤ and worth every bit!)

📖 “Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord.  Leviticus 22:31

📖 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

Our Life Coach has given us a strategy book to follow ...full of direction,  encouragement, correction, wisdom, and more!

📖 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Just as with anything in life we attempt, that we want to be productive, we have to be committed.
If we commit our life to the Lord, commit to reading His book and following what is in it, we will be better for it.  And have a healthier spirit! 
📖 And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  Hebrews 12:1b-2a

And it will never be in vain....
📖 And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.  
Philippians 2:15b

Because the reward is far more than any earthly thing....
📖 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him James 1:12 ESV
the end of the race, the Crown is Eternal life with Our Coach, Jesus Himself!

It may seem difficult at first, hard to establish the habit...but give it a try.
Set aside time each day...specifically, to spend with your Coach and His book...make it a habit.
And remember we can even can talk to our Coach ..in prayer 24/7, 365  ad ifinitum! Once we make that commitment our Life Coach takes the job for eternity, our contract never ends! 

I am glad I have already SIGNED UP!
🙏My prayer is that you have made that commitment as well!

📖 but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9b

Glow In the Dark

I am again going to share what I did for worship this past Sunday.
I hope that you don't mind and it touches a heart!
(just click on the link to watch the service)

Glow In the Dark

I Know You Are

Lord,
I know you are:
Listening
📖 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles. Psalm 34:17
📖 As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,  
and he hears my voice. Psalm.34:16-17

There
📖 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
📖 And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b

Working
📖 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
📖 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17

Loving
📖 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
📖 We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:18


Faithful
📖 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. Psalm 25:10
📖 They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23

Righteous
📖 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. Psalm 7:17
📖 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. John 17:25

Caring 
📖 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,  Nahum 1:7
📖 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Able
📖 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. Daniel 3:17
📖  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us Ephesians 3:20

Calling me
📖 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 
2 Timothy 1:9
📖 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28


📖 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his Commandments. 
Deuteronomy 7:9

I know you Lord!
I pray you do too!

Can They See It In Your Eyes?

One of the complaints I have had about this "wearing a mask every where" is that  you can't see people smile. As I was voicing that to a friend of mine, her very intuative, smart girl of 8 over heard and said "I can tell....I can see it in their eyes!"
What a great statement!  AND it got me thinking...
People should see our smile in our eyes!
 But if they aren't seeing a smile, what are people seeing in our eyes?
Compassion, kindness, empathy, Christ?
Maybe we feel like walking around with our eyes closed.
There is a quote from William Shakespeare..."eyes are the window to your soul"
Maybe we would rather not reveal what is stuck on our soul.
Bitterness, anger, ptide, fear, jealousy, complacency.
So we don't want to look people in the eye,  we avert our gaze...so no one can get a climps in the window.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6:22

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.  Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.” Luke  11:32-36

As the scripture says...the eye is a lamp...associated with light ...that light comes from Christ...and His love living in us...filling our soul. 

So as our eyes meet anothers...may they be a lamp...a light that shines with compassion, love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  joy, peace, hope.

Then mask or no mask...they will see you smiling!😊

Second Thoughts

I had a few thoughts after posting last Monday, Bucket Full of Grace.
So today can be considered a continuation, additional thoughts, and addendum.  What ever we call it...here you go!

First one....
I talked about grace being poured over us...and I..maybe even you too, have your minds go to a bucket full of water.
As verses and songs come to mind, about being "washed"

📖 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

📖 Our sins are washed away and we are made clean because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God. He did this once for all time. Hebrews 10:10 (NLV)

But it came to me after I posted
Grace and mercy and love .. God pour them over me like...honey or molasses!
that's right....honey!  or molasses!
So that I am completely coated and it sticks to me! Something that doesn't run off me easily and that is evident to all that I have been doused; with God's love, grace and mercy!

And my second thought I wanted to share was how acquiring, Out To Canaan, the audio book came about.
As I had said, I have read all the hard copies. My mom has the complete set...if I had wanted to read them that way again.  (She has been reading them again as well)
I prefer audio..so I buy the book AND audio version digitally through my Kindle account.
No problem...until book 4: Out To Canaan.  The audio version wasn't available on Kindle.
Went to Audible...there was a version but it was read by the author...and though that would be alright...it was abridged.
I could NOT do abridged!!!
One night while in bed, I spent quite a long time searching on line.  I found that John McDonough HAD done an unabridged version...but I couldn't seem to find it in any form!  I was beginning to wonder if I wasn't going to be able to listen to the John McDonough narrated version of this book. 
or maybe I was just going to have to read the digital book...or even borrowed Mom's hard copy......
But then....success!...maybe ...I found it through the library system's Overdrive app
in the Canadian library system! But none would let me get an on line card.
more searching...
Then I found it at a library in Huntington Station Long Island  and they let me get a library card! I was able to borrowed the audio book! ….for 14 days.😳  I haven't been doing THAT much driving!

What struck me after I had posted is; I had no idea how much that particular audio version of the book would touch my heart, move my soul and that it would lead to something I would be able to share it with you!
And IF I had read that book any other way I do not think it would have had quite the same impact.
I thank God He gave me the tenacity to look for that version of that book!
Please don't get me wrong....reading the written word can and does move us!
But in this instance it was how that particular book was spoken...and sung...that lead me in an amazing direction.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed how God weaves together the "little things", things that we deem insignificant, to bring glory and honor to Him, while feeding our souls!

📖 In their hearts humans plan their course,    but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9

I thank the Lord for establishing my steps and having a plan for me, even in the little things.

📖 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

🙏I pray that we all desire God's purpose above our own plans!❤

📖 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 hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.   Jeremiah 29:11-14