Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

There aren't really any lions or tigers or bears here but I wanted something catchy and that's what I came up with.

I have so much I want to share about my trip to India but finding the words to speak or write have been really difficult.  Also, I had some technical issues (camera not working) and so I have to wait on other people to either post or send me pictures.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

I have two or three book reviews that I need to write up and post too.  I thought I'd have more time in India and on the flights to read, but I was so focused on the task at hand (or being miserable on a plane) that I wasn't able to read too much.  (I did read 2 really good books and will get those reviews up soon.)

I have two people I'm supposed to mail books to from last month's (or was it the month before?) giveaways.  Bear with me ladies!

My roomie in India has gifts of prophecy, discernment, prayer, and more.  She told me that my verse is Psalm 27 and that I need to really read Proverbs (for the wisdom it holds).  I told her that out of all the things I saw in Ps. 27 was that I need to wait on the Lord.  Of all things - who wants to wait??  Wait on Him I shall do.  But, I will not be idle in my wait.  I will continue to pray and study and mediatate on His word.  I can sense changes around me and I can't wait to see what He has in store!

Over at Beth Moore's place, she's recouperating from surgery.  Her daughter, Amanda, was asked what Beth's favorite verse was because a friend wanted to have the verse by her in the hospital.  Guess where the verse is from? Psalm 27:4.  Well, I want to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord forever too, which is why I'm going to wait on Him.  I just love the little threads that weave my spiritual quilt together.

Sophie over at All Access wrote about the last Deeper Still conference.  One of the topics, which she shared, is discernment.  I've been praying for discernment!  I'm going to post her post here.  Thank you Sophie!  (I love a post that includes the word skeedaddle - thanks Sophie!)

The Power to Know

by Sophie - December 14, 2009

When I found out that Beth Moore was teaching on discernment at last weekend's Deeper Still, my ears perked up a little bit. Because I'll be honest: discernment, especially in relationships, is one of those things that's been sort of tough for me in the past. I do not like confrontation EVEN A LITTLE BIT, so there have been lots of times when I've ignored a flag in my spirit for the sake of keeping the peace.

So, a lesson on discernment? Yes, please. Bring it on.

Beth began her session with 2 Corinthians 2:6-16, and she said that if we as believers are going to learn to "mind our spiritual gut," so to speak, we desperately need divine revelation in our human encounters. But before we can have confidence in that spiritual gut, we need to know whether or not we can trust what we sense.

This is where a how-to list would be super helpful, wouldn't it?  Well, I am so happy to provide one.

Beth said that there are four questions we need to be able to say "no" to before we say "yes" to our spiritual gut in a given situation.

Remember: 4 NOs = 1 YES.

Here are the four questions:

1. Am I a critical or suspicious person by nature?

2. Am I jealous or do I feel threatened?

3. Do I have anything selfish to gain from this?

4. Are my emotions clouding my discernment?

Beth reminded us that discernment is NOT a critical spirit. A critical spirit is carnality, but discernment operates within the fruit of the Spirit. She also said that we're not called to love blindly; we need to remember that "being entangled with somebody is not the same thing as being in fellowship with them."

Oh, that's a good word.

Anyway, if you answer "NO" to all four questions, and if you know that you know that you know that the flag in your "spiritual gut" is legitimate, what do you do?

Well, according to Beth, when you truly discern that something is off in a situation, you pray and listen for one of four instructions:

1. Run (2 Timothy 3:5). Have nothing to do with them. Obviously if this applies to a situation in a marriage where someone is in physical danger and needs to leave, that person should also seek Godly counsel about what the next step should be once he or she is in a safe place. But if it's the sort of deal where you sense an emotional danger with a friend or acquaintance - or if, heaven forbid, you find yourself thinking about doing things you know you shouldn't do - then SKEDADDLE. Get out of there.

2. Take a step back (Proverbs 4:23). Watch. Listen. Pay attention to what's going on. The flag may be so you don't move too quickly in a situation or in a relationship.

3. Ask questions. If the answers don't add up, ask God if you are to lovingly confront. But do not - DO NOT - do this over the phone. Loving confrontation should always be done face to face. (I missed the Scripture reference here - sorry!)

4. Learn to love with eyes wide open (Obadiah 1:3).

Beth closed by saying that we should be careful not to be cynical (Psalm 116:11), and we must always remember Philippians 1:9-10: "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."

That's some mighty good wisdom, isn't it, girls? Yes, it is!

Random Things - Tagged by Linda

I've been tagged by my friend Linda on this post - Mocha with Linda Random Things. She wants to know more about me (and really who can blame her), so I'm willing participant! Linda, I hope after you read mine, we'll stay friends!

If any of you who read this blog want to participate, PLEASE DO! I won't tag anyone since I'm still having an identity problem (with the blogs) and I'm not sure who of my followers over there is actually seeing anything I post.

Here's some random things about me that you might not have known (and you might wish you hadn't learned!).

1. I have drawn a complete blank (my choo choo train has derailed).

2. I'm an email junkie. I'm constantly checking my email and clearing out any unread items. Problem with this is that if I don't respond immediately then I sometimes forget to respond at all. I check my email on my phone (through my web browser) and that can cause some very forgetful issues.

3. I wanted to be a nurse when I was growing up and I even went to school for about 2 years. Somewhere along the way, I figured out I don't like the blood and gore that goes along with being a nurse, so I changed my mind. BUT, what's so random, is that I LOVE watching medical shows that might or might not show blood and gore.

4. I wish I knew how to do the nifty "strikeout" word feature on Blogger. I really like it and find posts with it used particularly hilarious. I figured it out *cough* or maybe Linda told me!

5. I have blog envy which is one reason I change the design of mine frequently. I've been trying to find one I really like but not copy someone else's.

6. I have no trouble piping up in a meeting and talking but I get really nervous talking in front of a big group of people. I also do better speaking when I just sort of go with the flow instead of planning something out. There's a lot of prayer involved in those moments (by me and the people listening too!).

7. When I was growing up, I lived in 3 places all within a mile of each other. When I was 5, we moved from an apartment to a house down the street. When I was 11, our house was victim to a fire so while it was being fixed, we lived in another apartment close by. (We still had to go check on our hound dog!) After I graduated from high school, I moved to Atlanta and lived in three different places within a year and a half! From there, I moved to New Jersey, back to Alabama, then to Charleston, SC (where I can't even count all the moves we made 4 moves) to Alb. NM (1 place) back to Charleston (3 more moves) to Seattle, WA (3 moves) and then back to Birmingham, AL. (3 moves) I've been happy to live in the same place for the past 4 years! PHEW! (SEVENTEEN MOVES! I can't even blame the military for most of those moves!)

8. Since # 1 wasn't really something random, more like something that happens all the time, I'm going to add one more. I'm a reality TV junkie, but not like Big Brother or those types of shows. I like the home improvement, clean house, buy houses, etc. type of shows! I also really like the crime and prison shows!

Ok, Linda...still hanging with me? Thank you for tagging me!

Cathy

Wow...

I was just looking over my previous posts and except for the precious post about my new grandson (29 is really too young to be a grandmother - work with me here), I have only been a copy/paste blogger of late. Well, I did post the snazzy picture of my husband in his uniform all decked out.

I have so much going on, and yet not much going on. You know what I mean? (A lot of busyness...)

(I love the picture of Santa praying to baby Jesus. I have a beautiful figurine and ornament like this. I think I even have a bell!)

Let me just say that I have done not ONE BIT of Christmas shopping. Do you see that - NO CHRISTMAS shopping has been done at my house! You probably wonder why - well financial is one reason and my girls don't know what they want!!!!!! James said he doesn't want anything (that's what he always says) and I don't know what my mom wants. (We don't buy for extended family anymore. Both of my grandmothers are in their mid-80's and are constantly giving stuff away. Why do they want MORE stuff??) We buy for James' youngest son and his mom (the ex-wife, not James' mom - she died when he was 6). Actually we go to her house for Christmas Eve. She has a big shindig (I typed "sindig" at first - I hope that's not a sign of things to come lol.)

I didn't participate in BooMama's tour of homes because our tree isn't up! The girls were going to decorate it this year (after calling me Scrooge) and yet the half assembled tree has sat since Thanksgiving. Who are the lazy ones now??

I was so happy I got my Secret Santa and my Siesta Fiesta stuff out yesterday. I know I'm late, but I always am...Sorry ladies! Mary, I mailed you a book too! I opted not to send Christmas cards this year. If you're on my facebook friends' list, then I sent you some holiday flair!!

Well, I guess that's all I have for now. I hope all is well with you. Thank you for stopping by!

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Tagged!

I've been tagged by TCKK so I'm gonna give this a whirl. (But, I don't think I have 7 peeps I can tag to carry this forward.)

Seven weird or random things about me (wow, I'm glad it's only 7):

1. Last time I did one of these, I had a hard time coming up with 10 but as I read other people's lists, I kept saying "oh yeah, I do that too". I guess I'm a little more random or weird than I think (or like to admit).

2. My whole house can be turned topsy turvy but my silveware drawer will be in immaculate condition. Everything must be facing the same way and be in there neatly.

3. After a shower, I have to close the shower curtain. It'll bug me if I leave it open. (This goes for the shower curtain in my girls' bathroom...if I go in there, I have to close it. If I come to your house and it's open, I'll close it. Just doing my part to help out - you know?)

4. I change into my jammies as soon as I get home, and then I won't leave. If I have something to do after work, I try to just stay out till it's time to show up.

5. As confident as I might seem in a small group of folks, I'm just that "unconfident" in a big group of people. I'm not shy but I am not overly confident either! In a big group setting, I almost become like a wallflower.

6. I can't seem to finish this because I keep watching TV. So there are times it takes me forever to do something b/c the idiot box keeps distracting me.

7. I don't like to have "new" email messages in my inbox. I don't necessarily read the messages, but I have to mark them as read. It's really annoying that I do that because sometimes I overlook things because I think I've read them when in fact I haven't!

Cathy - I did it! Now, who can I tag?

DeeDee
Patty
Kim
Lisa
Mary
Sallie


Ok, that's 6 and I don't know if any of them will do it!

Thank you for thinking of me and including me, Cathy!


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." Jer. 29:11