Advent Day 11

Carry these words with you today:

Stop, turn, look for God.

Maybe my constantly forgetting where I put something and therefore constantly looking for something is God's way of keeping Him on my mind.  I am constantly asking for his help to find whatever it is I'm looking for.  And then thanking Him when said item is located.

The theme in today's devotion is if you keep a look out for God you will be rewarded with many God sightings. I have a little different spin on it: if you live life, you'll have plenty of opportunities to call out for God's support.

Case in point, I have a class of 6 students in my pre-teaching class. My superintendent asked me if the class would "entertain" children on Monday night's parent night at school.  Parents go to break out session and we (my class & I) are providing child care consisting of games, crafts, and activities. I told the kids about it and here were there responses:

1. I have to work on Monday after school until 10:00 p.m.
2. I can't come because I am helping the FFA with the hot dog dinner for the parent night.
3. I'll be staying at my mom's on Monday and I have to watch her two toddlers.
4. My brother is having surgery on Monday and I don't know how long we are staying at the hospital.
5. I'm not coming because I don't want to.
6. If nothing comes up over the weekend, I'll be there.

I said a silent prayer.

Praise God for a good job, for kids who need His healing hand, for the opportunity to be a vessel for Him, and that He is always available.  Dear Lord, help me be more available to you.

Advent Day 7

The last day of the first week of Advent.

Going back to the first day of Advent 2013, my worries about a grueling week of work were unwarranted. My Monday gate duty, 6-9 p.m. is tomorrow, not last Monday. We got another big snow storm that resulted in school closing at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and all day on Friday. I also was able to skip work at the public library due to the snow and cold (it was 1 degree Friday night/Saturday morning).  This isn't the first time I worried about nothing.

This week's Advent theme has been hope and today is the last day of that theme.  I've recently experienced lessons on hope from two different sources, each with a very different presentation style.  Oddly, both people are called Beth.

The first Beth is Beth Moore.  We are watching her DVD series "Believing God" at a women's Bible study.  She is a loud, robust person, preaching God's word with authority. She was speaking about miracles and how God still performs miracles today just like he did in New Testament times. One of her statements, punctuated with volume, was that if you don't believe in miracles then you steal my hope from me." I'm not really sure how what someone else believes can steal anything from another person; but maybe I missed something when I stopped listening.

The second Beth is Beth A. Richardson whose Advent book I am reading. It's easier to absorb written information (for me anyway); for one thing, you can re-read passages if you need to. This Beth writes about spending time in silence with the Lord and the benefits of being quiet.  A gentle and peaceful spirit is evident in her words. This is the presentation style that most appeals to me.

There isn't a right way and a wrong way to share about God.  It takes many ways to connect with all the different people. The important thing is that we all find a way to find our way and then help others on their journey.

What Are Your Daily Reads?

My husband still reads the newspaper with his morning coffee. It's his routine. Then he tells me the important news.

Meanwhile, I'm at my computer checking email with my coffee. It's my routine. I see most of the big headlines when I open AOL. But it's the personal stuff I'm interested in. I read email from friends first then I go to my subscriptions. I share them with you here in hopes that one or more will be of interest and/or useful to you. I hope you'll share what you're reading with me.

Mystery Book Club You can sign up for just about any genre at Dear Reader. I read mysteries and it is great to start a new book every Monday morning. I read several chapters in my email during the week. If I want to finish it, I go to the library or bookstore to get it. It's somewhat of a social site too. You can leave comments about the book, send an email to the creator of Dear Reader (Suzanne Beecher), enter contests (once a year there's a writing contest) and click into subareas like authorbuzz.

CopyBlogger These emails are full of good writing tips. It is geared toward Business blogs but is applicable to any writing. It is usually funny and entertaining as well as informative.

HomeWord Devotionals HomeWord is a Christian family organization (with focus on teenagers and their youth leaders) started by my friend Jim Burns. Several people write the devotions which begin with a short scripture followed by an illuminating example and some comments. There are questions at the end for going deeper.

South Beach Diet Daily Dish is part of Everyday Health. You can sign up for a variety of health related daily emails from this link. Daily Dish provides information about foods (why eating fish is good for you), seasonal produce, recipes, etc. I lost 50 pounds following the South Beach diet. It's a no simple carb diet (sugar, refined flour) and very limited bad fat food. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is good, bacon is not.

A.Word.A.Day "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." --- Mark Twain A.Word.A.Day can help you learn that right word. The word comes with pronunciation, etymology, meaning and usage. There is also a daily quote, some are really good.

OK, it's your turn. What are your daily reads?