Free2Be Me...

My Blog has been getting ignored lately.  I've been busy with other blogs.  I'm editing at JournEzine, Daily Manna for Jeanice McDade.  I gather up devotions from authors or find them from blogs or websites and edit them and place them in the site.  It's pretty time-consuming but I love it!  It's a good fit for me because when I don't really feel like doing anything else, I can edit or browse the net or look for pictures to go with posts.  There is always something for me to do.  I like corresponding with our authors too.  They are a great bunch of people. I love when I ask people to write for us and they are thrilled to do it too.  That's fun.

I hope all of you read JournEzine.  There's so much to it that I don't even have time to explore.  Also, right now there's a Christmas Story Contest going on.  Here's the link if you're interested in submitting.  http://www.journezine.com/journezine-sixth-annual-christmas-story-contest-2/ 

I was looking at my awesome blog tonight because I miss it and because Mari changed my commenting area. I tend to get tired of the way things look but I've had the very same header for a long time now and I'm not tired of it.  It's perfect.  It's me.  Mari's a great blog designer.  She helped me figure out exactly what I wanted.  I have to tell you, it was kind of painful.  It was like a therapy session.  Weird, right?  I believe God used her to get to me.  There is so much more there than meets the eye.  More than anyone can know.  Anyone that knows me, really knows me, will kind of get my header.  And as you read my blog, you will come to understand it too.  If you're wanting your blog redesigned, Mari's your woman! 

I have so much I'm supposed to be doing, such as book reviews, but what am I doing?  I'm writing about things I'm doing and should be doing.  This is the last of my Thanksgiving break.  It's been wonderful having all our kids home.  Now it's time to get back to a routine again.  Monday's coming quickly.  Way quick.  Too quick.  And another day will find me Free2Be me in Christ.

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Posted on Joe Today

My thoughts about faith are on Joe Blog today:  Bumper Faith Living.  I don't know how theologically sound it is, but it is straight from my heart and life.  :)  I hope you'll follow me over there and share your thoughts too.

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Posting today at...

I posted on the Joe blog today.  It must have come from a place of deep fatigue:)  I hope you will go and read it.  See you there!

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Y Here? Y Now?

My Y post today is something that has been on my mind, probably for most of my life.  Y am I here?  Y was I born in this time?  Y was I born in this place?  I also write about it in much more detail over at the Joe blog today.  I hope you'll go read it too:)

Have you ever wondered that?  For all the complaining we sometimes do (sad to say) there are places who have it so much worse than us, even in our own United States, even.  I went on a mission trip  to West Virginia a couple of years ago, and there were houses there with dirt floors still.  I met people who were poor to the extreme.

Y am I so blessed to be born here in the U.S. in Central Illinois with a fair amount of money to keep me fed and clothed with a roof over my head?  Y wasn't I born in Africa?  Y wasn't I born a different into a different race?

Y wasn't I born into a different period of time?  I could have just as easily been born in the 1800's or maybe during the time Jesus walked on earth.  Can you imagine?  Y now?

Take some time to enjoy this video by Chris Rice and a young guy named Bobby:) Be sure to check out the other Y posts at Peej's blog and see you next week for the very last letter...Z!

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X Marks the Spot!

I'm a little late for AzZ post this week.  Go see Peej's blog for other 'on time' X posts.  And now, my post that has been on my heart all week but I've been squishing it down because I had no time or energy to write it.

X marks the spot.  Actually, not on a pirate map, though.  It marks the place on my heart from all the times it's been touched this week.

I've been missing church lately.  When school starts, I get slammed down physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Because of that, it's hard for me to get there.  With harvest  full force the last couple of months, Jim hasn't gone, and with no kids at home, I've been staying in bed asleep.  You know, the longer you don't do something, the harder it is to start doing it?  It is true.  Last Sunday, honestly, I could have gone.  I didn't feel quite as bad as normal.

Complacency hit me.

I was pretty safe in my bed.  I was secure knowing the extra sleep would help me get through my work week better.  I was placing my trust in myself instead of placing it in God.  What I needed more than anything was to get my gas tank filled up with the Word at church.  I needed to be around Christian friends and family.  I needed the hugs and back poundings (even though they make me wince.)  I needed that physical contact.  I needed corporate worship no matter how I felt.  I've gone to church barely able to walk before.  I've held onto Jim's arm.  I've wilted onto his shoulder.  I've sat through worship.  I've done what I've had to do.  I've been present or maybe not so present.  I've been there.  Complacency beat me this time.

Anyway, tuggings right at the heart are drawing me back.  One tug at a time.  One FB writer friend shared some verses from Psalms with me on my wall.  It was very timely and she had no idea what was going on.  Well, she will  now:)  A close friend from church who keeps me accountable, texted me last Sunday to check on me.  Another close friend asked me out of the blue if I went to church that day.  I had to admit, no, I didn't.  It made me feel good to know that she reached out of herself and her own hard circumstances to hold me accountable.

One morning, as I was getting ready for school, a FB PM popped up from my pastor.  He wanted to encourage me in the Lord.  He knows I have health problems and I hadn't been there in a while.  That really meant lots because our church is so big.

You see, X marks the spot right to my heart.  People reached out to me, each in his/her own way, and drew me in.  God used them to draw out the complacency.  It was like an antibiotic for my soul.  I am so very grateful for them.

So, X marks the spot.  God used lots of people, more than I wrote about here, to touch my heart.  I'll be sitting in church this week, no matter how I feel.  You can count on that.  And now I'll be ready to be hit hard by the old trouble-maker himself.  I might need some prayer.  Yikes!  Anyway, X marks the spot.

I'm trying to Nano my way to 50,000 words this month.  I can use some prayer for that too.  Until next week for the letter....ummm...Y - See ya!

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