I had all intentions of going to the annual Leesburg Fine Art Fest this weekend, but those plans got washed away - literally!
Saturday morning I was in the living room doing my yoga - ahhhhhh, nice and stretched - relaxed to the core....so I thought!
I'd noticed Bill going in and out a few times, and when I finished up my workout, I headed down the hall to get showered and ready to start my day. I noticed some water about midway down the hall and yelled out to Bill to get him to come see if he could figure out where all this water was coming from. It was under the door where the A/C unit is, so I thought maybe it had gotten backed up or something.
Well..............Bill goes into the bedroom, with me just steps behind him, and my entire bedroom floor was under water! The "tawlet" in the small bathroom off the master had run to overflowing, and it had to have been doing so for about 10 - 15 minutes. I can't even guess as to how many gallons of water were not only in my bedroom, but had also gone under the wall and into my sewing room as well.
Out came the Shop Vac, and I'm thinking that this might not take so long afterall - WRONG! The vac holds about 5 gallons, and I think I lost count when Bill had dumped it out 10 - 12 times. While one of us was using the vac, the other was diligently putting down chamois to sop up as much as possible.
What I thought was gonna be a couple of hours of very intense manual labor, ended up going til well after supper time, and continues even today. I've got all the windows open, fans blowing full speed, and we've even resorted to turning on a small space heater on some of the areas that were closest to the geyser of water from the bathroom.
I tell ya - those guys like Stanley Steamer, Chem Dry, etc., SURE have a whole lot more respect from me than I ever thought possible! Every muscle in my body hurts and I've got bruises all over my legs from moving furniture, and hauling that shop vac full of water around from area to area.
NEVER again do I want to have to do this kind of labor again! It also has given me more compassion for those who fall victim to flooding - I never fully understood the devastation they faced when all they own is under water and destroyed.
So I guess my weekend wasn't wasted afterall - I learned appreciation and compassion - two things that I think we can all use a little more of!
Have a blessed Sunday........................ Janelle
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
For Such a Time as This
Ever wonder what that statement means in your life? It is the most notable passage from the book of Esther, and we all have our "such a time as this" moments in our life.
We are all who we are and where we are for a reason, and although we might not know at the moment what that reason is, it is up to us to each search out our purpose from the One who created us.
God sees the whole picture - he orchestrates circumstances to fulfill his purposes, and wants us to be right in the middle of his perfect will, so we will know exactly what our "time as this" really is.
I so want to know more about what my purpose in life is - what has the Lord got in store for me today, tomorrow, next week, next year? Whose life will impact me, and whose life will I make some kind of impact on?
I like this statement made by Beth Moore, who wrote this Bible Study on the book of Esther: "You can't amputate your history from your destiny; your destiny is tied to your history".
To me, one who loves jigsaw puzzles, this statement helps me to see that life is like a big jigsaw puzzle - we are all a vital part of it, and each piece has it's place. When all fitted together, it makes a beautiful picture, and is signed by the Creator of Life - Jesus.
We are all who we are and where we are for a reason, and although we might not know at the moment what that reason is, it is up to us to each search out our purpose from the One who created us.
God sees the whole picture - he orchestrates circumstances to fulfill his purposes, and wants us to be right in the middle of his perfect will, so we will know exactly what our "time as this" really is.
I so want to know more about what my purpose in life is - what has the Lord got in store for me today, tomorrow, next week, next year? Whose life will impact me, and whose life will I make some kind of impact on?
I like this statement made by Beth Moore, who wrote this Bible Study on the book of Esther: "You can't amputate your history from your destiny; your destiny is tied to your history".
To me, one who loves jigsaw puzzles, this statement helps me to see that life is like a big jigsaw puzzle - we are all a vital part of it, and each piece has it's place. When all fitted together, it makes a beautiful picture, and is signed by the Creator of Life - Jesus.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
In Him We Live
I'm excited that tonight, Bill and I go to our first practice with the choir at First Baptist here in Leesburg. I love to sing, as does Bill, and we both felt led to the ministry of music.
Today I want to share from Acts 17: 24-28.
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ' We are his offspring'".
It is only by the grace of God that each one of us wakes up to life each morning. He created each of us for a plan and purpose, and once we come to know him as a believer in Christ, he comes to dwell in us by his Holy Spirit; our body becomes the temple - the dwelling place of the Lord Almighty. It is then that we begin to seek Him to find out just exactly what our purpose in life is. There is no promise of smoothe sailing as a Christian; there are trials and difficulties we must all endure to enable us to grow and mature. Remember though, he is constantly with us - closer than the very breath we take.
We need to honor the temple by being careful how we take care of it - what we put in for nourishment, and also, and most importantly, what we feed ourselves spiritually. Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him". That teaches us that we need to hunger and thirst for the word of God - that is the best way to get to know him better and to find out what his will in our life is.
I challenge you to take a few minutes each day to read a portion of God's word - if you don't know where to begin and want to know more about this Jesus I speak about - start in the New Testament with the book of John. Ask the Lord to open your eyes and your heart to truth, and to show you what your purpose here on earth is. That's all he wants from us - a relationship to where we tell him our need for him - he will change your life!
Have a blessed Wednesday!
Today I want to share from Acts 17: 24-28.
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ' We are his offspring'".
It is only by the grace of God that each one of us wakes up to life each morning. He created each of us for a plan and purpose, and once we come to know him as a believer in Christ, he comes to dwell in us by his Holy Spirit; our body becomes the temple - the dwelling place of the Lord Almighty. It is then that we begin to seek Him to find out just exactly what our purpose in life is. There is no promise of smoothe sailing as a Christian; there are trials and difficulties we must all endure to enable us to grow and mature. Remember though, he is constantly with us - closer than the very breath we take.
We need to honor the temple by being careful how we take care of it - what we put in for nourishment, and also, and most importantly, what we feed ourselves spiritually. Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him". That teaches us that we need to hunger and thirst for the word of God - that is the best way to get to know him better and to find out what his will in our life is.
I challenge you to take a few minutes each day to read a portion of God's word - if you don't know where to begin and want to know more about this Jesus I speak about - start in the New Testament with the book of John. Ask the Lord to open your eyes and your heart to truth, and to show you what your purpose here on earth is. That's all he wants from us - a relationship to where we tell him our need for him - he will change your life!
Have a blessed Wednesday!
Friday, October 31, 2008
It's a Wonderful Life!
Yesterday I did some major cleaning and rearranging of furniture in my living room, and when straightening up a bookshelf loaded with dvd's, I found my copy of "It's a Wonderful Life".
My top 3 favorite movies of all time are: 1. "Miracle on 34th St" (the one with Natalie Wood) 2. "It's a Wonderful Life", and 3. "White Christmas". They all bring back warm memories from my childhood, and they just don't make movies like those anymore!
There are two critical points in "It's a Wonderful Life" - the first is when Jimmy Stewart, as George Bailey, is suicidal, and is out on the bridge in the cold. He tells the Lord, "Father in Heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're out there and you hear me, I need your help, because I'm at the end of my rope".
The second critical segment in the movie is when after being shown what things would have been like had he not been born. He had taken for granted all the blessings the Lord had given him. His life had been spent chasing the dream of getting out of his little town, going out into the world and searching for happiness in travel and education. He ended up having to take over his father's sometimes failing business, and was bitter about that. He didn't have all the money and material things that some of his friends had; he didn't have the honors and acclamades that his brother had gotten, and deemed his life a failure. It was when he ran back to that same bridge, realizing that he did in fact, have a wonderful life, he again prayed. He said, "God, I want to live...I want to live".
He came to the point in his life of realizing his priorities had gotten out of line. His faithful wife had been supportive of him all those years, praying for him, and the children even asked her, "Should we pray for daddy"? as he ran out of the house on Christmas Eve, in a rage.
Life is good, even when times are tough - if we have our priorities right - putting God first, then everything else will fall in line.
What blessings in your wonderful life are you taking for granted? Is God your first priority, or are you running about chasing "things" to satisfy the void?
Take the time today to sit back and think about all the goodness and blessings the Lord has surrounded you with. You might not have as much as your friends, but I bet you have more than many in the world, who don't even have the basics of food and shelter as most of us do.
May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace
Janelle
My top 3 favorite movies of all time are: 1. "Miracle on 34th St" (the one with Natalie Wood) 2. "It's a Wonderful Life", and 3. "White Christmas". They all bring back warm memories from my childhood, and they just don't make movies like those anymore!
There are two critical points in "It's a Wonderful Life" - the first is when Jimmy Stewart, as George Bailey, is suicidal, and is out on the bridge in the cold. He tells the Lord, "Father in Heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're out there and you hear me, I need your help, because I'm at the end of my rope".The second critical segment in the movie is when after being shown what things would have been like had he not been born. He had taken for granted all the blessings the Lord had given him. His life had been spent chasing the dream of getting out of his little town, going out into the world and searching for happiness in travel and education. He ended up having to take over his father's sometimes failing business, and was bitter about that. He didn't have all the money and material things that some of his friends had; he didn't have the honors and acclamades that his brother had gotten, and deemed his life a failure. It was when he ran back to that same bridge, realizing that he did in fact, have a wonderful life, he again prayed. He said, "God, I want to live...I want to live".
He came to the point in his life of realizing his priorities had gotten out of line. His faithful wife had been supportive of him all those years, praying for him, and the children even asked her, "Should we pray for daddy"? as he ran out of the house on Christmas Eve, in a rage.
Life is good, even when times are tough - if we have our priorities right - putting God first, then everything else will fall in line.
What blessings in your wonderful life are you taking for granted? Is God your first priority, or are you running about chasing "things" to satisfy the void?
Take the time today to sit back and think about all the goodness and blessings the Lord has surrounded you with. You might not have as much as your friends, but I bet you have more than many in the world, who don't even have the basics of food and shelter as most of us do.
May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace
Janelle
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Patience of Faith
Today, I'm taking from Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" devotional journal.
Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hand of God like a bow and arrow in the hand of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint can't see, and He stretches and strains and every now and then the saint says, "I can't stand anymore". God doesn't heed - He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hand!
It's hard to give over control to someone other than ourself. We all have the tendency to think that we can do it best, and most of the time it leads us down a road of self destruction.
Like the analogy above, an arrow has to have the bow to give it direction; without it, the arrow is can't soar - it has no power on it's own. So are we, when we try to go about without putting ourselves in the hand of God.
God wants us to soar - so put yourself in His hands and enjoy this incredible ride, we call life!
In the movie, "Parenthood" the old grandmother recalls her younger days when she would go to the carnival and ride the roller coaster. She mentioned how some people were to scared, so they stayed on the easy rides like the merry go round - going nowhere but around and around. She liked the roller coaster - the thrill and the unexpected were exhilarating - the ups and downs, the unexpected turns.
Put yourself in the hands of God today - take the ride - enjoy the unexpected!
Janelle
Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hand of God like a bow and arrow in the hand of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint can't see, and He stretches and strains and every now and then the saint says, "I can't stand anymore". God doesn't heed - He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hand!
It's hard to give over control to someone other than ourself. We all have the tendency to think that we can do it best, and most of the time it leads us down a road of self destruction.
Like the analogy above, an arrow has to have the bow to give it direction; without it, the arrow is can't soar - it has no power on it's own. So are we, when we try to go about without putting ourselves in the hand of God.
God wants us to soar - so put yourself in His hands and enjoy this incredible ride, we call life!
In the movie, "Parenthood" the old grandmother recalls her younger days when she would go to the carnival and ride the roller coaster. She mentioned how some people were to scared, so they stayed on the easy rides like the merry go round - going nowhere but around and around. She liked the roller coaster - the thrill and the unexpected were exhilarating - the ups and downs, the unexpected turns.
Put yourself in the hands of God today - take the ride - enjoy the unexpected!
Janelle
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Keeping Watch
Today's passage from proverbs is taken from verses 20 - 23. It speaks of the vital importance of keeping God's Word active in our lives, and in our hearts.
"My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are LIFE to those who find them, and HEALTH to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life".
Let's break down some of the key words here -
BODY - The Hebrew word for this is "basar", which means: the pudenda of a man- the body; the flesh and the skin. It also means to be full, to announce good news, to be a messenger.
God is saying that His Word brings us life and health - this isn't just our physical life or health, but also our spiritual life and health, and when we have those in line with his Word, it gives us the strength in our physical body to be able to go out and be a messenger of good news. Even if one is sick, God will enable them with HIS strength to go out and be a messenger of the Gospel.
I saw this in my own life when my Mother in Law was suffering with cancer. That is when she turned her life over to Jesus, and although she was gravely sick - she was able to lean on God for strength and became a very strong witness to His love and grace, and brought others to know Him. She was able to use her sickness to reach out to others who were suffering and her life was FULL.
HEART - again, I go to the Hebrew to get the full meaning of this word, and it refers to the heart as the mind or inner being. God is saying that THIS is the most important thing to guard, for God's Word can and will change our way of thinking (our minds) and change our heart(our inner being) to place of health - calmness and peace of mind.
WELLSPRING OF LIFE - this refers to our spiritual vitality.
No matter what you are faced with today, turn to God's Word. Ask Him to speak to you, and to lead you to places in His Word to give you the answers you're looking for. Keep his words in your heart, and when you are faced with difficulties, His Holy Spirit will bring those words to your mind and strengthen you.
Have a very blessed Sunday!
Janelle
"My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are LIFE to those who find them, and HEALTH to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life".
Let's break down some of the key words here -
BODY - The Hebrew word for this is "basar", which means: the pudenda of a man- the body; the flesh and the skin. It also means to be full, to announce good news, to be a messenger.
God is saying that His Word brings us life and health - this isn't just our physical life or health, but also our spiritual life and health, and when we have those in line with his Word, it gives us the strength in our physical body to be able to go out and be a messenger of good news. Even if one is sick, God will enable them with HIS strength to go out and be a messenger of the Gospel.
I saw this in my own life when my Mother in Law was suffering with cancer. That is when she turned her life over to Jesus, and although she was gravely sick - she was able to lean on God for strength and became a very strong witness to His love and grace, and brought others to know Him. She was able to use her sickness to reach out to others who were suffering and her life was FULL.
HEART - again, I go to the Hebrew to get the full meaning of this word, and it refers to the heart as the mind or inner being. God is saying that THIS is the most important thing to guard, for God's Word can and will change our way of thinking (our minds) and change our heart(our inner being) to place of health - calmness and peace of mind.
WELLSPRING OF LIFE - this refers to our spiritual vitality.
No matter what you are faced with today, turn to God's Word. Ask Him to speak to you, and to lead you to places in His Word to give you the answers you're looking for. Keep his words in your heart, and when you are faced with difficulties, His Holy Spirit will bring those words to your mind and strengthen you.
Have a very blessed Sunday!
Janelle
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