New Years

New Years is often a time of reflection of one's past and current life and the hope and excitement for a chance at a better life. Its a rebirth that occurs every year; a new start, new beginning, a chance to "do over" those things which haven't worked out very well in the past.

Every year at this time, I join millions of others and make my New Year's Resolutions; often repeating the same resolutions as the year and years before, knowing full well that I will have given up on every single one of them within one or two weeks and laugh it off as a silly little game that I play and that it has no real meaning and there are no real consequences to blowing it off. Things are what they are and I'm not going to change just because the calendar says its time for me to.

Each year I read the horoscope for the coming year to see what the stars think will be my future for the coming year. It always sounds great. It makes me smile to think, even for a brief moment, that I could have a year like that. This year's said for me to do what I've been putting off and it will make the second half of 2011 very rewarding, both emotionally and financially. That one is tempting to follow up on.

Another new year's "thing" that I do is to make sure I have money in the bank and food in the pantry, because one time I read that was a tradition to insure that you would be able to provide for your family throughout the coming year.

This year is different, though. I've been very deep in thought and very melancholy. At the beginning of the week, I started my mental list of the usual resolutions: lose weight, exercise, get organized, be neater, makes lots of money, be more spontaneous and outgoing, learn something new, maybe even a new vocation, pamper myself, enjoy each day like its my last, etc., etc... Then I realized that none of that was going to happen and none of it is even remotely important. It occurred to me that I'm scared of the coming year. I don't want it to be 2011. I want to cling to 2010 where its safe.

You see, my husband of 25 years has stage 4 colon cancer. There's a very good chance that he will not survive 2011 and that just looms over me like a dark cloud. So I bounce around like a pinball between doing what I do every year (with the thought that tradition and consistency will comfort me, as well as being caught up in New Year's projects to keep me busy) to shrugging my shoulders at the whole thing, like 'what's the point?'

I was hoping in typing all of this out that I would come to a happy breakthrough, but I don't think that's going to happen today. Over the coming days, weeks, maybe even months I'll be working through my mental state and my life, but for now, my New Year's Resolutions will be put on the back burner. I did however come up with a New Year's theme as talked about in several blogs:

http://petsjubileebox.blogspot.com/2010/12/happy-new-year-resolutions.html which led me to this site:
http://makegreatstuff.com/whats-your-theme/ which led me to this site:
http://thirdhandworks.com/classes/guest-guide-series/laura-burkey/

So, after much thought and soul searching, my "theme" for 2011 is

Faith, Hope & Love
I Corinthians 13:13

and my tagline is:

Prayer
Matthew 21:22

Lastly, I want to leave you with this. It brings me comfort :)

2011 - May it be filled with miracles!

How I spent New Year's Eve

I spent New Year's Eve this year with my husband (a rare opportunity, because he usually works all day and then wants to go to bed early), playing Wii Sports, drinking chocolate wine, and sneezing.  I have a cold, and it seems to be getting worse instead of better.

However, I didn't want to miss posting my philosophical approach to 2016...
I see New Years as a chance for a new beginning.  My sins of the past are dead and buried, my hopes for the future are just within my grasp.  Like the old saying goes, “today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Technically, I gave up on New Year’s Resolutions many years ago, but I can’t quite help but think about what they would be, if I were to list them.  One of my old blog posts was somehow, magically, emailed to me this morning, and I thought, “that sounds pretty good.  I’ll do that.”  So, I’m making a New Year’s “Theme” (actually, 2):

  “Do It” and “Be Myself”.  

Both parts of these themes have a history to them, which I might go into later.
From my 2013 blogpost:

"Rules to Live By"

(in no particular order)

Only eat if I'm hungry.

Stop eating when I'm full.

The couch and laptop are not bodily parts, 

so make an effort to break away from them once in a while.

Go for a walk.

Take care of tasks as they come up instead of adding to the never-ending "to do" list.

Just "be"; live in the moment.  Quit reliving the past and worrying about/planning the future.

Forgive.  Let go.

Try new things.

Do what makes me happy.

Say what I feel.

Relax.  Meditate and pray.

Learn.

Be kind.

Help others.

Listen.

Appreciate.

Count my blessings.

For the full post, click here

What did you do for New Year's Eve?  What are your themes, resolutions, or goals for the new year?

A New Year's Revolution

It's a "revolution" because it's time to change the status quo.  It's time to take a firm stance that I'm going to improve.  I learned that some of the problems with New Year's resolutions are that they need motivation in order to work.  We can only motivate ourselves for so long and often times, its not long enough to turn a new way of life into a habit.  You need at least 6 weeks for that, and even then, its easy to slip back into our old ways.  We have this mental block towards New Year's resolutions.  They are usually a big departure from our normal way of living, and we give ourselves a lot of slack to fail, because, they're "just" New Year's resolutions; not to be taken seriously.  Knowing this and being somewhat of a hopeless optimist (sometimes), I'm trying a little bit of a different approach, and starting a bit later too, to avoid the rush at the gym.  So, my New Year's resolution is to devise a list of:

"Rules to Live By"
(in no particular order)

Only eat if I'm hungry.
Stop eating when I'm full.
The couch and laptop are not bodily parts, so make an effort to break away from them once in a while.
Go for a walk.
Take care of tasks as they come up instead of adding to the never-ending "to do" list.
Just "be"; live in the moment.  Quit reliving the past and worrying about/planning the future.

Forgive.  Let go.
Try new things.
Do what makes me happy.
Say what I feel.
Relax.  Meditate and pray.
Learn.
Be kind.
Help others.
Listen.
Appreciate.
Count my blessings.

Diving in

I downloaded this image from the YouVersion app and saved it to my phone as my lock screen wallpaper. People see it and comment which gives me an "in" to start a conversation. One person even said, "pray for me."
     I still consider myself fairly new at sharing my faith especially face to face with people I don't know. I pray for help with this, for courage, direction and even for the words to say. But, since God knows me and knows that fear and lack of confidence hold me back, He allows me some tools to make light of the work until I get my sea-legs, so to speak.
     Speaking of tools, I'm starting out the New Year with these three books:

Women of the Word, How to study the bible with both our hearts and our minds by Jen Wilkin, 2014, Published by Crossway.
Prayer Journal For Women, 52 week scripture, devotional, & guided prayer journal by Shannon Roberts, 2019, Published by Paige Tate & Co.
Jacob's Walk, A week-by-week devotional journey in faith by James Dickey, 2019.

    So far, I'm on week 1 of the Prayer Journal (a gift from a dear friend) and of Jacob's Walk, but haven't started on Women of the Word, yet. My goal is to study these resources for the entire year, week by week, and see how God uses them to teach me and guide me. I'm guessing He will even intertwine the studies of both so they complement each other and help me with whatever I'm going through, or studying, or praying about that week.
For example, in the Prayer Journal, the lesson is centered around James 1:19

My brothers and sisters, take note of this:

Everyone should be

quick to listen,

slow to speak and

slow to become angry.

and Psalm 145:8

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

     Jacob's Walk is about turning a new leaf and focuses on Phillippians 3:13-14

But one thing I do, 

forgetting those things which are behind, and 

reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 

I press forward the goal for the prize 

of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

     I see all of this as a reminder to focus on the future. My theme for this new year is "Faith and Devotion" which means constantly reminding myself to let things go, to be a better image-bearer for Christ. I'm still working on my New Year's blogpost so the whole "theme" thing may not make sense until you read that post.

     Lastly, in the back of the Prayer Journal is a section for "Answered Prayers". I've intentionally blurred the pages so you can't read the names, just see how many there are after only two days. There's a date requested column and a date answered column. The highlighted line is a prayer answered already (praising God!).

 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

John 15:7 NKJV

Pray for EVERYTHING.

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Please join me this week in praying for a life of prayer. God wants His children to come to Him with our needs, with praise, with thanksgiving. He wants us to be unceasing in our prayers. Talk to Him. He's always there for us.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

A future and a hope

 

Each year I write about the coming new year, usually choosing a theme instead of a resolution. I don't always post these to my blog, because sometimes I don't finish writing it, or sometimes I finish writing but just don't get around to posting it. For 2020 I had trouble settling on a theme and wrote about a couple of ideas but never finished them. Then, March came and blew everything out of the water anyway. There was no way I could have planned for that, and definitely no way I could have adhered to any pre-2020 "ideal" of how I should handle such a tumultuous year. 

     As of this writing, there have been 19.1M cases of the virus in the U.S. and 333,000 deaths. There have been 80.7M cases worldwide and 1.76M deaths. Countries all over the world have had to be in lock-down to slow the spread of this virus. Economies have tanked. Unemployment has soared. Businesses have gone under. Hospitals and funeral homes are overwhelmed. 

     In our country alone, we've seen division and violence like never before. People are getting killed for asking customers to wear a mask. Health and political officials are receiving death threats for doing their jobs. I never thought I'd see and hear the things that have transpired this past year in a country like ours. If I weren't a child of God, I honestly don't know how I would have survived the year.

     I haven't settled on my theme for 2021 but someone said that the word for 2020 should be "perseverance," because even with everything I stated above and all of the things I didn't include (aka Australian bush fires, Black Lives Matter protests, the explosion in Beirut, murder hornets, West Coast fires, Nashville explosion, etc...) we're here, doing the best we can, adapting day to day, and praising God for His sovereignty through it all. 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, 

plans for welfare and not for evil, 

to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for the new year. Pray for physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Pray that through the turmoil, we will see an unprecedented number of people come to know Jesus and that God will be glorified through it all. Pray for the Church to be united and of one mind so that non-believers may see the peace and hope we have in Jesus.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #Jesus #NewYear #2020 #2021 #new #hope #God #sovereignty #perservere #survival #plan

Annual Post

It seems my good intentions (aka "resolutions") start out pretty well with each new year, but, by the end of the year, it's all "try again after January 1st." So, now that the first of the new year has rolled around, it's time for all of my do-overs. I'll try again to do things that I deem important, but most of which are just day-fillers; things to worry about, focus my attention on.

This new year's focus, and daily focus, I want to be rooted in the bible, and I'll tell you why.

I wrote a sort of "poem" the other day, or maybe it was just a ramble, about death. Towards the end of the piece, it was clear to me that I was the "Observer." The focus of the poem was to show how dying looked to two different men. The one man, named "Hope", didn't want to die, but towards the end, he saw hope, he saw his family and friends who had passed before him, and he was at peace. The second man, named "Dread", thought he wanted to die, but when he saw the gates of hell open before him, he was terrified; he could find no friends or family because in hell, there is only isolation. I picture it as an eternal sensory deprivation chamber, but maybe that's just me. The thought of anyone I know dying in that way, and especially, spending eternity that way sickens me, especially if there were something that I could have said or done to prevent it. We're all called to be witnesses and disciples for Jesus, but I've always felt uncomfortable coming right out and saying anything for fear of offending someone, or angering someone, or being questioned and not knowing the answers. By being merely an "observer" to this life, I have no purpose. God has given me the gift* to write and create (or at the very least, the gift to believe that I have such a gift), and there's no excuse for not using that to tell what I do know. If anyone has any questions, I can find someone to give you an answer, or, surprise of surprise, I may know the answer.

So, we'll see if my newest, latest resolutions last past today. I'll post that poem tomorrow (at least, I intend to.)

Happy 2017.

*To learn about Spiritual Gifts, read 1 Corinthians Chapter 12.

Encouragement for the new year

I've been wanting to say something to you to comfort you or inspire you, but the words just haven't been flowing recently. With this being the last day of 2018, I feel like it's important to leave this very difficult year behind and face the new year with words of encouragement and hope. I'm thinking of you, lifting you up in prayer, and holding you in my heart. I empathize with your pain and suffering and understand the depression and anxiety that results from everything you've been through. I also know that it seems like your suffering is compounded daily by many smaller problems, problems that at any other time would be manageable but are now too overwhelming to deal with. Know that you will get through this, that tomorrow will be a little bit easier, and the following day a little easier still. Once you stare down one problem, the next one will be a little more manageable. You will heal. You'll find a new normal.

The above note is addressed to you, my family, friends, acquaintances:
To you who lost a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4 NIV

To you who are facing divorce.
"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18 NIV

To you who no longer have a place to call home.
“And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Matthew 8:20
“O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear.” Psalm 10:17

To you who live in poverty, including the working poor, the retired, or the disabled.
“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me” Phil 2:12-13
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19

To you who know someone in jail.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

To you who have been abused physically, sexually, verbally, or emotionally.
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. Isaiah 42:3-4
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. Psalm 33:5

To you who cannot speak up for yourself, seek advocacy. Advocates:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9

To you who live in a dysfunctional family.
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:20

To you who suffer from physical or mental pain/disease.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4

To anyone and everyone in need of encouragement.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

Rivers in the desert

This year, when the ball drops and the clock strikes twelve, we'll rejoice like never before for having survived a year like none other. Because we are God's children, we have the assurance of knowing that whatever 2021 brings, we'll persevere, adapt, and continue to praise God, our Father who loves us and cares for us.
     This is Google's 2020 video. I love that the word most searched for was "why". To me, that says that people are searching for something deeper, and it's my prayer that maybe in that search, they'll find God.

Google - year in search 2020

As we get ready to say goodbye to 2020, let go of any ill-will and focus instead on the road that God is laying out before us. Through Him, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26b)

 

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 

Behold, I am doing a new thing; 

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? 

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for the new year. Pray for physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Pray that through the turmoil, we will see an unprecedented number of people come to know Jesus and that God will be glorified through it all. Pray for the Church to be united and of one mind so that non-believers may see the peace and hope we have in Jesus.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #Jesus #NewYear2021 #new #hope #God #sovereignty #perservere #survival #plan

Faith as a mustard seed

I love this phrase, "if you have faith as a mustard seed..." Jesus was saying that as long as we have faith, no matter how small, we can do great things.
     Yesterday morning I had a God experience and I'd like to share it with you as best as I can. My faith has been all over the board throughout my life. As a youth, I was very involved with my church, I took my bible to school with me, I shared my faith, invited people to church. Then, for some unknown reason, when I moved away to college, I moved away from God. For twenty years, I went through life without Him although He never left my side. Then, one day I had chest pains. I thought I was having a heart attack. My immediate response wasn't to call someone but instead, to get down on the floor and pray, which is what I did. Later, when I went home, I dug through my bins of memorabilia until I found my bibles. I plunged into the word and have stayed there ever since. Like the Prodigal Son, I guess I thought I could go it alone, and God let me go out into the world without His comfort, but when I hit rock bottom, I knew that the only place to go was back to Him.
     This past year and a half, I've finally worked through some pride issues and have been praying that God leads me to do His will. My New Year's theme this year is "Devotion and Faith" (blog post still to come) and I have jumped in with both feet. I wish there was a way to convey the change it has made in me.
     Yesterday, I was singing in the shower, "I believe in God the Father, I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in the Holy Spirit, who's given us new life." Those are the only words I know to the song and so I just kept singing them over and over again. And then, God reached out to me. He started putting statements and images and memories in my head like a, well, like I guess it would be if your life flashed before your eyes. Anyway, it's impossible to describe the feeling, but what He was telling me was how all of these events of my past have led to this point and what I'm to devote my time to now.
     What this means is that I'll be writing more and praying more and sharing more and I may sound a little crazy at times, but I just want to shake the world up and let people know that God is real and He really is with us day in and day out. I can't understand why He would communicate so effectively with little 'ole me because I'm a nobody; I don't have a big following, no "platform" or anything. I'm not special in any way, but the only thing I can think of is that I've been listening intentionally and intently lately. I pray out loud so Satan can hear me and know that I'm pushing him out the door and that I'm all in as far as what God has planned for me. I pray in the morning, while I'm driving, whenever God does something for me, I say 'thank you', and I pray before bed. And I try to listen for Him when I'm finished in case He has something to say.
     I'm just overwhelmed and want to share this with the whole world. If you think I'm crazy, I'm sorry, but I'm not. So, I'm urging you again today to pray without ceasing. Pray fervently and intently. Keep God close.

Please pray that these brothers and sisters in Christ be healed:
D.D. who is having double or triple bypass surgery this Tuesday or Wednesday
D.A. who has leukemia
B.F. who is dying from cancer
S.S. who has pancreatic cancer
M.W. who has a lung or respiratory disease
T.H. who has stage 4 cancer
G.&P.T. a couple with multiple health concerns
A.N. a newborn with a possible vascular tumor in her hand. She's having an MRI done Wednesday morning. Please pray that the doctors figure out what's wrong and that it's not life-threatening.
S.S. suffers from chronic pain due to CRPS and damaged nerves
J.F. heart condition in hospice
D.I. diagnosed stage 4 prostate cancer, great pain
C.T. seeing the surgeon Tuesday, 3 more chemos before surgery
P.B. a friend of hers, Dad is sick
H.C. chronically ill
W.C. severe diabetes

Send me anyone you would like for us to pray for this week to archadia7@yahoo.com and put in the subject line Prayer Request.

Remember to pray with your whole heart and believe that God will heal these people!

...if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Matthew 17:20b-21

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Please join me this week in praying for healing for these brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering from disease or illness. Pray boldly and with your whole heart, knowing that whatever we ask for and do not doubt, God will do.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

A new creation

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for the new year. Pray for physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Pray that through the turmoil, we will see an unprecedented number of people come to know Jesus and that God will be glorified through it all. Pray for the Church to be united and of one mind so that non-believers may see the peace and hope we have in Jesus.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #Jesus #NewYear2021 #new #hope #God #love #mercy #faithfulness

Voting in the 2012 Election

Today I stayed home from work because I've got a flu/sinus infection and so to gear up to go vote took a little coordinating of rest, food and medicine.  I think I timed it pretty well.  I got there just after 11 am, thinking there would hardly be any line, but was I ever wrong.  The line snaked and turned and seemed to be endless.  I asked a poll worker about it.  Why did they change the way they use to do it?  Before, we were all divided into separate little groups into separate little church classrooms and voting never took more than 10 minutes.  Another year we were divided into 4 groups alphabetically and then another year into 2 groups alphabetically, so I guess, in hindsight, I should have seen this coming, however, to do it this way for a presidential election was just pure craziness. 

Being sick, running a low grade fever, and suffering hot flashes, coupled with standing in a long line and sweating to death made me feel like passing out and I almost turned to leave, but then the lady in front of me started talking to me.  She said her husband said it was only about a half hour wait this morning and it was about the same length of a line.  So, I'm thinking, 'half an hour, I think I can do that.'  Then, she said, 'you know, its amazing people will stand here and complain about this line, yet people wait in much longer lines at amusement parks just to ride one ride.'  She had a point there, so I decided to stay and if I needed to sit, I would ask the people behind me to save my spot.

The people behind me were very offensive in the things they were saying about the candidates, past elections, people in general, and I tried not to listen.  For the life of me, I could not tell if they were democrat or republican, because they bashed both equally.  The couple in front of me then started talking to me more and more and then I found out they weren't a couple; they had just met in line.  I thought that was so great.  The man, it turns out, was a bodyguard for Presidents Ronald Reagan, and George Bush.  Very interesting and exciting.  I never met a bodyguard before, especially not one for two U.S. Presidents.

He bought me a cup of coffee, which I thought was really nice.  People just don't interact like they use to, so it was wonderful to meet such nice people.  It was a delicious Boston Stoker Cinnamon Twist.  The church where we voted had a cafe which I'm thinking is an excellent idea for all voting places.

Well, that was the adventure for today.  I think its wonderful to meet new people and strike up conversations.  It made the line seem not as long.  The whole process took half an hour, which, I'm understanding is not very long this year.

Get out and vote :-)
If you don't know where to vote, search online for your county's board of elections website.  Take your driver's license or other picture/state issued photo id and if you've moved and not been able to change your address, take your license and a utility bill with your name and address on it.  You will have to fill out a provisional ballot, but at least you'll have the opportunity to vote (but, please, don't take my word on it; check with your board of elections).  Those in New York and New Jersey have some options because of the hurricane.  This is the latest article I found on it:


www.newsday.com/long-island/voting-begins-tuesday-across-long-island-1.4...

Praying for whomever is best suited for the job(s) to triumph.

Let's celebrate

During the past year we have prayed for:

• bullies
• salvation for the unsaved
• those struggling with an addiction
• the lonely
• those suffering from physical pain
• government
• victims of hate
• veterans
• we prayed with thanksgiving
• the Church
• the elderly
• those going through a divorce
• our needs in order to bring us back into focus on Christ
• Christ
• for the New Year
• caregivers
• widows and widowers
• the homeless
• for Jesus' love
• our Pastors
• for a changed heart
• to listen
• the power of words
• anger
• those who abuse alcohol
• eternal life
• family
• jobs
• money
• the terminally ill
• those facing a life change
• for patience
• to become a servant for Christ
• those who moved home
• emotions
• the military
• survivors of a natural disaster
• graduates
• parents
• our faith
• no fear in sharing the Gospel
• those who are judgmental
• for parents to raise their children in a Godly home
• missionaries
• the disabled
• to put an end to violence
• family
• that people learn to forgive one another
• for perseverance
• for the protection of our children
• for the people who support us

How many of these did you pray for? How many of these did you see the fruits of your prayers?
If you didn't notice an answer to prayers, did you open your eyes and ears to see and hear the Lord? He answers all prayers. Some are 'yes', some are 'no'. He answers in His time, not ours. Some of the people we prayed for we may not know what happened in response to our prayers, but rest assured that something did happen, even if it was that a seed was planted, or a plan was set in motion.
This week, let's revisit those we've prayed for over the year. Meditate on them, pray for them again, contact them and follow up on our prayers. Then, if you feel inclined, share your stories. You can send them to me for me to post anonymously, or use them as testimony when you speak to others about your faith. This week is all about gratitude for what God has done in our lives and in response to our prayers. We have an awesome God who loves us and cares for us! Let's celebrate!

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

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Please join me this week in gratitude for our Lord and Saviour. Let's give thanks for His love, mercy, and grace. Let's rejoice for His answers to our prayers.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

New each morning

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness. 

“The Lord is my portion,” 

says my soul, 

"therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for the new year. Pray for physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Pray that through the turmoil, we will see an unprecedented number of people come to know Jesus and that God will be glorified through it all. Pray for the Church to be united and of one mind so that non-believers may see the peace and hope we have in Jesus.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #Jesus #NewYear2021 #new #hope #God #love #mercy #faithfulness

Your new self

 

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for the new year. Pray for physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Pray that through the turmoil, we will see an unprecedented number of people come to know Jesus and that God will be glorified through it all. Pray for the Church to be united and of one mind so that non-believers may see the peace and hope we have in Jesus.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #Jesus #NewYear2021 #new #hope #God #love #mercy #faithfulness

Today

Today is the beginning. I've had so much that I've wanted to write but didn't. Either I didn't have time, or the energy or desire to walk across the room to the computer. At this point, I can't remember what I've written here, or in my notebooks, or in my notes on my flashdrive, but I do know where I need to start.

A. Name the 3 most important things of your life:
1. God
2. Family
3. Friends

I'll prioritize the other aspects of my life later, but for now, I'm focusing on these 3 things. So, step one of my New Year's theme (Faith, Hope and Love) is to make sure my actions and decisions are based on what is most important.

I've already spent a lot of time on this one this past week with everything going on in my personal life which I'll write more about later, but you can probably get the jest of in the About Me section.

I heard that it takes approximately 4 weeks to learn a new habit and its virtually impossible to learn more than 1 habit at time; 2 simultaneous habits are possible, as long as they are closely related.

I'm going to start with the following format. I feel my first task is the biggest one and hope that all following tasks throughout the year will fall into place from this one.

2011 Theme: Faith, Hope and Love
2011 Tagline: Prayer
January Goal: Focus on what is most important: God, family, friends
Step one: Get closer to God.
Actions: Learn to meditate; (as my friend Pauline says:) walk with God, give everything up to God; keep a journal (this blog) and read the Bible.
Habit: meditation - includes time to reflect, to walk and to read
Related habit: journal entries
Hope to accomplish: inner peace and understanding

New Years Theme

I spent a lot of today thinking how to incorporate my New Year's theme into my day to day life. Too many "things" kept swirling around in my mind and became very overwhelming. The problem with New Years and the feeling or need to completely change yourself, your life, your habits is its too much at once. Its taken me 47 years to become the person I am today and if I want to change that, it certainly isn't going to happen the first week of 2011. What popped into my head and has been swimming around in there all day long is part of a wonderful song from the "Sound of Music":

"Let's start at the very beginning
A very good place to start
When you read you begin with
ABC
When you sing you begin with do re mi"

It occurred to me, that's the answer. Start at the beginning. So that's what I'm going to try to do.

The new self

It's scary praying some things like asking God to show you His will for you, or (even scarier) asking Him to show you your sin. Once He does that, then we really don't have an excuse to keep doing the sin, so it means having to give it up; but, that's difficult because we are sinners. We lie, get angry, lust, have trouble forgiving others ... but if we want to be more Christ-like, we have to at least try...

...To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV

     When I was saved, I was a teenager. I was on fire for Christ and told others about Him and tried really hard to be "good." But over time, it was kind of like a new year's resolution and I started slipping backward. I knew I was saved and therefore God would forgive me no matter what, but I was missing the whole point of being an image-bearer of God. People back then probably looked at me as a hypocrite, and they had every right to. Unfortunately, I can't go back in time and change the past, but I can try to do better each and every day. Yes, it's reassuring to know that if (when) I mess up, God will forgive me, but the goal is to do the very best that I can so that maybe He doesn't need to spend as much time forgiving me.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Luke 6:46 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying to be more like Jesus, being His image-bearers to the unbelievers of the world that they may see Him through us.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

A new life

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

1 Peter 1:3 NKJV 

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Please join me this week in praying for the new year. Pray for physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Pray that through the turmoil, we will see an unprecedented number of people come to know Jesus and that God will be glorified through it all. Pray for the Church to be united and of one mind so that non-believers may see the peace and hope we have in Jesus.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #Jesus #NewYear2021 #new #hope #God #love #mercy #faithfulness

Cushing's Disease update

Its been nearly a year since I wrote the first post about Velvet having Cushing's Disease, and wanted to share what's going on with her now.

What ended up happening last year after that post was that one Vet said it was Cushing's Disease, another Vet said it was Kidney Disease, and a third Vet said the tests were inconclusive. (There are 3 vets at the office where I take her.  I imagine if there had been a 4th one, I would have had a 4th different opinion.  The last vet wanted me to take her to Cincinnati for an ultrasound that would hopefully be more conclusive (the other 2 vets weren't 100% what was wrong with Velvet either, so still, no medicine).  I told him, that was just too much.  I'm not taking a 15 year old dog, on an hour+ drive to have a $200 test that may or may not give me a conclusive answer.  Velvet sheds like a I-don't-know-what just going from here to the vet.  By the time we would get to Cincinnati, she would probably be bald.

So, I did my own research.  I found that she has a lot of the symptoms of Cushing's Disease, and not so many of Kidney Disease.  She has the distended stomach, diluted urine, unable to control it sometimes, going often, losing a lot of fur, and drinking a lot of water.  More recently she has developed weak muscles, is panting a lot and seems more hungry (if that's even possible, haha).

What I did last year was change her food and treats to ones for older dogs, and with fewer ingredients.  Once she had finished her antibiotics (ended up being about 6 weeks worth), she was like a new (but still old) dog.  So, for a year, everything has been been fine, or at least manageable.  We taught her to use pee pads for when we're not home, and take her out more often.  She always has water available and I try to keep an idea of how much she drinks each day.  Some days she doesn't drink at all, so I add water to her food.

A few weeks ago, I woke up on a Saturday morning to a very sick dog.  She was panting non-stop, very shaky, and very lethargic.  So I took her to the vet, thinking "this is it."  It turned out to be an infection, and the Dr. said "due to her unresolved kidney disease."  I know he just said that to explain why she had the infection, but I couldn't help but feel that he disagrees with my choices.

More on that later.
To be continued...

*Note: these are just our own experiences and what we have learned.  Please don't take it to mean that I am knowledgeable about this subject, only how it affects my dog.

A New Month - A New Storm

The First Storm:
January, 2011
I didn't fair too well with my first month of goals. By mid-January, everything was lost, everything seemed to fall apart. It seemed anything I had to say would be depressing and despondent, so I just didn't write anything at all. Additionally, I had no time or energy to "reflect" or write.

I knew 2011 was going to be a rough year for me and for my family and it started out with a bang. My husband's health condition just suddenly plummeted. He entered the hospital on January 3rd of this year and was discharged a week and a half later. It turned out the cancer had spread to the nerve endings of his spine and had affected his ability to walk. By the time he came home, he was 3 days into radiation, which was going well, but he had decided not to continue with his physical therapy while he was in the hospital. At his discharge, he could barely walk. We were set up with home care to include a nurse visit 2x a week, an occupational therapist 2x a week and a physical therapist 3x a week. I could definitely see an improvement by the end of the first week. The next week, he fell and with family members trying to help him up and bruising from the fall, he insisted on having a week off to rest.

That week was full of questions, concerns and torment for me. I got no sleep. Caring for him was/is becoming more and more of a physical strain as well and it takes longer to do the same tasks we had figured out how to do the week before. I started questioning if its time to call in hospice? Should I just let him rest and not force him to exercise? Should I let him just eat and drink however much he wants?

I began noticing new "symptoms"; changes in his behavior, mood, physical appearance and mental abilities.

To be continued ...