A SPECIAL DAY OF JOY.

My friend . . . okay, it's actually a high school classmate's mother, but I still call her "friend" . . . sent me an early morning Facebook message out of the blue this morning.  This is part of that conversation:

"Jodee, are you really up and on f.b. so early?

Me: Yes

"Always an early riser?"

Me: No, just the last few years.

"Hope this is a good day for you . . . "

Me: Thanks. I have a feeling today will be special.  Thanks for making me smile so early. You have a wonderful day, too! . . . And you have been prayed for. I thanked God for your faithful example, your friendship, and I asked Him to bless your day.

"Thank you so much Jodee. You are very special. I must tell you that in the Sunday School class that I teach . . . a few months ago I was remarking about the negative things on f.b. and said there was a person that I had seen nothing but blessings and godly remarks coming from their posts. And then I said..."Well, I will tell you who that is..It is Jodee Whitworth!" Thanks for your example.

Me: Oh, wow! Thank you so much. That's always been my goal with Facebook! I've even prayed many times before posting that I want to be His light in the world.  See, I told you today would be special.

End of conversation . . . on with my normal day, right?  Wrong.  The following is what I sent my friend later that day:

I told you today was going to be special!

Last night at our first night of the new women's Bible study, I told the group when the preacher's wife asked if I was sure I had time to lead it, I answered with "I have to make time. I'm doing this because I need it." I went on to tell the group I was in a "valley", which later I realized was NOT true. When in the "valley" I'm seeking God with desperation - usually for help . . . when on the "mountain" it's easy to praise God, to worship and be grateful . . . I realized I'm currently not in either place. I'm on a plateau. I did tell the group that even though I've been doing my "little devotion" every morning, God and I haven't really been communicating very well. And that usually means it's not God that's stopped communicating!

So . . . I thought I was starting my morning late and I couldn't get my ink pen to work. I know that's stupid but things aren't always clear before sunrise! So I just threw my hands up, take the pen I really wanted to use, and say "I'm sorry God. You're going to have to fix this. I've really got to get started on this Bible study before it's time to leave the house!" I walked by my clock to see that it was only 5:30 when I thought I woke up at 5:55! I went to start my study and my pen worked perfect! MY FIRST BLESSING OF THE DAY!

Then you came along with MY SECOND BLESSING OF THE DAY! (See the above conversation. Duh.)

My work trainer did her monthly ride along with my first client of the day. That went fine. But then we went out to eat and had a wonderful lunch together. Lunch included conversation about our Bible studies we both just started. She just started the Beth Moore study that I was supposed to be leading but got changed at the last minute. I still don't really know what that had to do with my day, but I figured God had something to tell me in that message. I told my co-worker to keep me updated on that study. We both really enjoyed our time together - MY THIRD BLESSING OF THE DAY! (My time with that lady is always a blessing so I'm always on the look out for that blessing!)

I go to my second client's and I left something in the car. When walking back into the house to talk to "mom and dad", "grandma" stops me on the porch and says, "You are always so happy. What makes you so happy?" I said, "Oh, I don't know. I guess today it would be lack of sleep." Grandma says, "You mean you're a Christian and you don't know what really makes you happy?" I answered, "Well, actually that IS the real reason." Someone actually noticed my joy enough to comment on it. And then she really knew where my joy came from! - MY FOURTH BLESSING OF THE DAY!

(Side note: I don't ever talk about my faith, church, God, etc. until my clients ask. I think all but one or two clients have asked me about one of those things or something similar.)

My third client went okay, but I was so ready to be home! I'm exhausted after Challenge Day at the high school yesterday . . . but that was a blessing in itself and "a whole 'nother story". But my drive to and from work is almost always a blessing and today it was a chance to reflect on my day. I was able to realize everything that I just typed above . . . and count my blessings!

I was sooooo exhausted, like I said, so I came home, got some popcorn, and sat down to watch TV thinking, "DONE! MY DAY IS DONE! My brain and body can't take anymore. Just let me watch my show and do nothing and think nothing.

But wait . . . there's more!

I watched CSI. It was stupid . . . until the end. I had to rewind it several times thinking, "what did that just say?"

"We're given a choice, a choice between the hopelessness of despair and the everlasting promise of faith. Faith that there is a plan. And that in times of doubt, God will speak to us in a voice that is clear and true."

Not that I ever had doubt nor was I in a place of despair. I just needed to wake up and listen to God when He was talking. I KNOW that God talks to me all the time. It's just really cool when I actually listen to His voice that is clear and true!

And there it is, MY FINAL BLESSING FOR THE DAY!

. . . or is it? It's only 7:30!

So that was my conversation with my friend today. Oh! By the way! My friend's name is "JOY"! Yep, my day began and ended with Joy and joy . . . and lots of joy in between! Any day can be special when you open your "eyes and listen" to that Voice that is clear and true. "Count your blessings name them one by one."

But Wait! There's More!

"Penny for Your Thoughts . . . "  Leave comments below.  :-)

Shoe Peg Salad

"Penny for your thoughts . . . "  Please leave comments below.  :-)  Thanks!

Shoe Peg Salad

Heat and set aside to cool:

1/4 cup oil (I used Canola)

1/2 cup vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teas. salt

Chop:

2 green onions

1 bell pepper

1 cup celery

Drain 1 can each of:

English Peas

French Style Green Beans

White Shoe Peg Corn

1 small jar of Pimentos makes this salad pretty, too!

Combine all of the above and refrigerate over night.

Yummy!

Rest? Sleep? Really? That's not funny!

"Penny for your thoughts."  Please leave a comment or a :-) below.  Thanks.

I start my day MOST mornings by reading "Our Daily Bread".  It's had short little devotions just long enough   for a cup of coffee and a good jump start from the Word of God.  As with any devotional, I can put little effort into it and make it a 5 minute devotion or dig a little deeper and stretch it out as long as I want.  Either way, what better way to start my day to focus on God?

Today's devo. came from Heb. 4:11-16.

This passage contains a much preached on verse:  "The Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword . . . "  Now I could really dig into that verse.  That's pretty powerful!  God is VERY active in my life . . . when I allow Him to be.  Just like any of my other friends and family, I've been know to not pay close attention to God when He speaks or get busy and not talk to Him.

The devo. could have gone on about God's Word being relevant for anyone and anytime.  Have you ever been in a Bible Study or listening to a sermon and thought God was speaking directly to you about one thing and later you found out your friend thought the same thing but neither one of you "heard" the same message? Amazing how that works, huh?

But today's devo. was focused on verse 15:  "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."  Pretty cool to know Jesus has "been there - NOT done that".  The illustration was about following a recipe to make the perfect cookie.  But life has no simple recipe, doesn't always turn out the way we thought it should, and WILL have temptations and heartaches along the way.  Trust Him with our tears and grief.

But did I pick up on any of those wonderful thoughts and lessons?  Nooooooo!  All I could focus on was PART of verse 11:  ". . . make every effort to enter that rest . . . "  This particular verse wasn't talking about sleep but that's all I could think about!  Sometime when life leaves me "burning my candle at both ends" I have to have a "wake up call" (yes, pun intended).  I have to remind myself every once and a while that "On the 7th Day God Rested" isn't just a message of "Remember the Sabbeth and Keep it Holy".  Yes, that IS the most important part of the message, but it's more than that.  God designed our bodies to take a rest - to "Be Still and Know that He is God."  How can a person KNOW anything when they're too tired to think?  Just like we put meetings and events on our calendars, it may be necessary to put "rest" on our calendars.

So, there you have it - I'm tired . . . and late . . .

Where's my calendar?  I need to write "something" in it!

Hashbrown Casserole

"Penny for your Thoughts" - Please leave comments or a :-) below.

This post shows the casserole without sausage but it's great with sausage!

• 1 - 32 oz. bag of Hash browns
• 1 - 16-24 oz. Sour Cream (or Greek Yogurt)
• 1 - package Ranch Dressing Mix
• 1-2 hand fulls of Cheese
• 1-2 lbs of Sausage (optional)

Mix all together.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 - 50 minutes.

We eat this for breakfast often but we'll have it for a sidedish, too.  Yum!

A couple of things of beauty:

"Penny for your Thoughts"  Please leave a comment or a :-) below!

Just a couple of things of beauty today:

"Redirecting . . . Redirecting . . . "

"Penny for your Thoughts."  Please leave comments or a :-) below.  Thanks.

"Redirecting, redirecting . . . "  Have you ever wanted to just throw the map, phone, or GPS out the window?  I bet we've all "been there, done that".  (Well, I hope you haven't already DONE that!)  One time the GPS was trying to get me to drive off a cliff!  Did I do something to offend the GPS?  Why was it sending me off of a cliff?

Talk about the World Wide WEB!  My computer got stuck in a WEB of  "Redirecting . . . Redirecting" once - and it was not nice!  Several years ago when one of my kids was a preschooler, she came to me while I was getting ready and said, "Mommy, I can't get all of the squares to go away on the computer."  I said, "I'll fix it later.  We have to get to church."  By the time I got home my computer was such a mess it took me over 2 hours just to close all of those "Redirecting" boxes!  (I've learned how to fix that since then!)  I had to ask my daughter what all she saw.  I was sure glad at her answer of "money stuff" because that was NOT all some those little boxes were about!  In part of those little "Redirecting" boxes there was not "X" to close those boxes.  They just kept redirecting me where I did not want to go.  What a mess!

Yes, life is like that - constantly "Redirecting . . . Redirecting".  I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining last night but I must have been.  I made a comment about someone not showing up for a meeting where I was supposed help them, my husband "Redirected" me by saying, "Isn't that why they need help?"  Yeah, yeah, yeah . . .

If I'm getting "Redirected", how do I know if it's right?  I did a complete "180" change in employment 7 months ago.  How did I know that was the right thing to do?

⁵ Well . . . Prov. 3: 5-6 is my guide:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct^[a] your paths." 

I think God is telling me to "Redirect" today.  First my husband's "redirecting" last night and now I've already read, not 1, but 2 "redirecting" articles this morning.  Guess I better open my "spiritual eyes" and pay attention!  I sure don't want to be driving off a cliff!