Uncategorized – Page 2 – His Heart, My Desire

Kindness….

Posted onApril 10, 2015February 11, 2016

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, longsuffering, kindness…” Galatians 5:22

Kindness is the next fruit to talk about. If you have seen my posts on Facebook during the month of March, you would have seen a “kindness tip” each day. Everything from how we can show kindness to those in our own home all the way to the stranger on the street corner.

I just love the word kindness. To me it says so much. If you describe someone as kind, I picture someone that naturally cares about others. They care about the words they speak, the tone of their voice and making sure others feel comfortable. Don’t you just love being around someone that is kind?

Are you finding it easy to memorize Galatians 5:22-23 by taking a portion of the verses each day?

Be conscience at being kind today to store clerks, waiters, clients, neighbors, strangers, EVERYONE you come in contact with. *Especially, our own family members.

When we teach our children to be kind to one another, we are doing something great! Don’t miss the opportunity to instill kindness into your children!

Is there a difficult person in your life? Have you heard the term, “kill them with kindness?” That means, be so kind to them that their unkindness can’t survive. Granted, I know personally that there are some really unkind people around! They need your kindness the most. As I’ve said many times before, “we are responsible for our own kindness, not someone else’s.”

Have a blessed day and go be kind to someone!

Give Me Patience! Now!

Posted onApril 8, 2015February 11, 2016

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, longsuffering…” Galatians 5:22

Welcome back, as we continue with our discussion about having the evidence of “The Fruit of the Spirit” in our lives. We were all deeply grateful and encouraged by Shawnna’s writing on how having peace has helped her to get through this sad time of losing her beautiful much loved daughter.

Today, we will take a quick look at the fruit of longsuffering; which is, patience.

We live in a world where everything is fast. Have you ever stood by the microwave while waiting for something to heat up in 30 seconds and it just wasn’t fast enough? What about being in traffic that just isn’t moving fast enough for us? I’ve been in both of those situations and it let me know that this is an area that I have to be aware of and I am working on having more patience in my life.

I recently read an article by the Navigators. This article was speaking on having the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives; how it isn’t like a fruit salad to just pick around and decide which fruit we want. This list that Paul gave us in the book of Galatians are the qualities of having Christ in our life.

“This kind of life, a life that exhibits character qualities that reflect Jesus, is attractive to those around us. A life full of the fruit of the Spirit points people toward God.” –Carla Foote, editor of Disciple by The Navigators

Isn’t that our main goal and purpose in life; to point others to Him?

May today, we show a glimpse of Jesus to those around us by the patience that we display in our life.

How are you doing on memorizing Galatians 5:22-23?

If you haven’t read the previous posts on love, joy or peace, click on each fruit and the link will take you to that post. Also, click here, to read the very beginning.

Challenge:

When you are in a situation where you can feel the impatience coming on, ask the Lord to give you patience and concentrate on showing patience on your face and in your actions. I was in a store yesterday and I was a little overwhelmed and a bit tired. The lady checking me out was so kind and friendly. So friendly that she talked for at least 10 minutes while holding my money to give me my change. I was really wanting to just go after our already 45 minute visit while shopping in the store. 🙂 The entire time I was asking the Lord for patience and I concentrated on not being in a hurry and I really did have time to listen and visit, I was just tired and that is no excuse to be rude and cut someone off. I did enjoy the visit, but I almost let my selfishness ruin an opportunity to show and share Christ. I would love to hear how your patience is working today.

Have a fruit filled day!

Peace in the Storms of Life!

Posted onApril 6, 2015February 11, 2016

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace….” Galatians 5:22

We have talked about the fruit of love and joy as we are doing a quick discussion on the Fruit of the Spirit. How are you doing on memorizing Galatians 5:22-23?

Today, we will touch on the fruit of “peace.”

Baby Jax — So peaceful seeing a little one sleeping.

In our world today, there is so much troubling news, not only in other countries, but in our own country. It can get a bit scary, can’t it? Heartache is at every corner it seems. Some of the most tragic situations are occurring. Sometimes these tragic things happen to us or to someone that we know and love. Have you ever met someone who has been through a hard time in their life and yet, they seem to have a peace about them. Yes, they are hurt and devastated, but there is still something about them that you can see that is a bit different. It is called peace. Peace that only can come from our Heavenly Father.

I asked a sweet friend, Shawnna, who I met several years ago at church, to share her story. Shawnna lost her precious daughter suddenly only two weeks ago. Shawnna knows where her peace comes from. She is a beautiful testimony of the grace of God.

When hard times hit, may we know and display this kind of peace.

Thank you, Shawnna, for sharing with us and encouraging others even when you have been through one of the hardest things for a parent to go through.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

On Tuesday morning, March 24th, my world changed forever. I received a phone call that my 42-year old daughter had passed away. I was in the parking lot of a grocery store loading groceries, when I received the most horrific news I would ever hear in my life. I don’t think I even made a sound, but 4 women who were loading their own groceries, or gathering baskets from the parking lot immediately circled me, asked if they could pray, and just stood around me praying over me as I talked on the phone hearing all the details as to what had happened to my beautiful daughter. God went before me, placing these four Angels there to be His hands and feet and extending grace in such an amazing way. Over the next several days, as we had to make so many decisions, I had no strength but, I always had peace. Peace that only God could give. When I would feel myself loosing all control, God would give me another “God moment”. I came to a place that all I had to do was say I need a God moment and He would provide one. My peace would return. My God moments were things like receiving verses from friends through texts, people that God would place in my path at particular moments, or silly things like seeing my grandsons name written on the side of a truck. My list is pages long and it has only been two weeks since that phone call. God’s peace is with me as long as I keep my eyes vertical and not on the circumstances around me. I keep my eyes looking up to Him, knowing He has me in the palm of His hand

My peace comes from knowing that God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

None of us are exempt from suffering, loneliness, discouragement, unjust criticism, or death, because God is developing within us the character of Christ, and, in order to do this, he must take us through all of the circumstances in life through which he took Christ.

Does this mean God causes tragedies? No. God is good, and he will not cause evil or do evil. But God can use dark and stressful times for good. He’ll use them to teach us to trust him, to show us how to help others, and to draw us closer to Him.

“We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we are expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Thank you, Shawnna, for sharing your story with us. We will continue to pray for you!

Challenge:

When things are getting rough, ask the Lord to give you peace in the situation. Several years ago, I went through a situation where I was deeply hurt. Hurt by some that I considered my friends for life. I looked up and admired them as a young teen until this happened. I had a choice; I either could get upset, mad and give up. Or, I could look up and give it all to the Lord and when I did, He gave me a peace that assured me He was with me and my family and wouldn’t leave me. Granted, it was hard and those feelings still pop out every now and then and once again, I give it back to Him. I learned some very valuable and serious lessons through all of that and how thankful I am to have the peace that passes all understanding. What is it in your life that you need to give back to God and rest in His peace?

How’s Your Joy?

Posted onApril 4, 2015February 11, 2016

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy….” Galatians 5:22

In my last post, we talked about the Fruit of the Spirit and focused on love. Today, we will take a quick look at joy.

We all know people who we would describe as joyful. They are happy, funny and always excited about something. These types of people are fun to have around and be around. The joy that this verse is talking about is a bit different.

When we have Christ in our lives and have realized what He did for us on that cross many years ago, we can’t help but have joy. Joy in knowing we are sinners saved by grace! Joy in knowing that He loved us so much, He sought us and called us to Him. This is a joy that is deep within us. When life has its bumps, we can still have that joy. We know who we are in Christ and nothing can take that away. We may be sad or discouraged, but we still have joy.

Don’t let life get you so far down, that you can’t find the joy. If you are struggling with having joy in your life:

*The first place to go is to God. Ask Him to put that joy back in your life.

*Get into the Word of God and be reminded of who God is and how much He loves you.

*Listen to music that is uplifting.

*Read a book that encourages you to live a life devoted to God.

*Be careful what you watch and put before your eyes.

*Surround yourself with people that are living a life for God. Encourage one another.

Have you heard the saying, “We are excited that you have joy in your heart, but you might want to tell your face.” In other words, let the joy be shown in your countenance. You have something in you that you need to share, but, if your face doesn’t know about it, you might have trouble convincing others about this amazing love.

Next time, we will talk about…..Peace.

In the mean time:

Memorize Galatians 5:22-23

Read James 1:2

Thank God for your joy!

If you are struggling, ask God to give you a true joy!

Challenge:

Think on good things today. Do you have a tendency to look at just the bad things and wonder why you don’t have any joy? Many years ago when we were serving at a church in a very small town and had two small children, I struggled a bit with getting down. I had to search for my joy many times throughout that time. The church we were serving in had been through some hard times and just a handful of people were left. Many…okay not many, maybe most, didn’t have any fruit of joy…..at all. I would find myself becoming almost depressed due to the circumstances we were living in and the people that were around us. I determined I was going to make the best of it and I had to realize where my real joy came from….not my home, not the people, not the church, not from the neighbors, not from the grocery store clerk, not from those that I hoped would reach out to me, but from my Heavenly Father. That is how I made it without becoming depressed. Is there something in your life circumstances that you are having a hard time finding that joy? It’s there…..if you have put your faith and trust in Christ…that joy is there. Begin a list of all the things Christ is and has done for you and I have a feeling, your joy will show up.

Until next time,

Do You Have Love?

Posted onApril 2, 2015April 8, 2015

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love….” Galatians 5:22

In this passage the word love is speaking of an Agape Love, (unselfish commitment) which is God’s love. When you have God’s love in your life, it will bubble out in every situation. Yes, even the not so pleasant events of life. This love will give you a joy and a peace within! People around you will see it, feel it and know it!. Some may find it hard to comprehend and understand why you have the love that you do.

The world’s love is conditional. God’s love is infinite and unconditional. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Have you stopped and really pondered that? God’s love is so vast and overflowing! He chose to give His Son to save the world. He gave His Son to save you and me!

sc00372b85 — I was 14 when I learned of God’s love for me! I made Him Lord of my life and have never looked back. I’m truly grateful!

When we read in I Corinthians 13:1-13, we find a listing of what this type of love is.

Love:

Is longsuffering

Is kind

Is not jealous

Is not boastful

Is not arrogant

Is not rude

Is not selfish

Is not resentful

Does not think evil

Rejoices in truth

Bears all things

Believes all things

Hopes all things

Endures all things.

How are you doing in the love department?

If you are like me, you have some failings. Have you heard the saying, “God loves you just where you are, but…He loves you too much to leave you where you are.” The first step is to spend time talking to God about it. If you are struggling with one or more of the things listed in the I Corinthians 13:1-13, don’t say, “oh, that’s just how I am!” or “you just don’t understand what I’ve been through!” If you have made Christ your Lord and Savior, love will be evident.

So many times, we see people ministering to others and yet their family members are left with something other than God’s love. Don’t let that be you. Begin with your family. Do they see God’s love in you? If God’s love is real in your life, your family and those closest to you should be the first to notice!

Tomorrow we will talk about the next fruit; joy!

In the mean time:

*Work on memorizing Galatians 5:22-23

*Read I Corinthians 13:1-13

*Read John 3:16

*Join me in searching our hearts, confessing our sin of not showing God’s love to the world, which includes those closest to us…our family members.

If you are reading this and you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, you have come to the right place. As you read previously; God loves you so much that He gave His Son to die for you, to save you from the depths of hell. He wants you to live eternally in Heaven with Him someday. Just bow your head and pray this simple prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I do believe You are the Son of God and that You died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin.

I invite you to come into my life, forgive my sin, and make me a part of the family of God. Come into my life and take control of it.

Thank you for Your gift of eternal life and for Your Holy Spirit, who has come to live in me.

I ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen!

If you prayed this prayer, I am so excited for you and I would love to hear from you!

See you tomorrow!

Is Your Fruit Showing?

Posted onApril 1, 2015April 8, 2015

During the month of March, each of the 31 days on my FaceBook, I posted a “Kindness Tip.” I was encouraged to be more intentional in being kind to others. I will be listing those on my blog soon for those that don’t have FaceBook. I was challenged by a friend to carry on with the tips, but, use the “Fruit of the Spirit” from the book of Galatians.

I had a plan with another project, but as I was reading through Galatians, I thought, I might give it a try. So, here we go…..

Reflections of Christ

When we see a tree and notice that it has apples on it, we say to ourselves, “that’s an apple tree!” We see the evidence with our own eyes of what kind of tree it is.

When we meet or see a Christian, we will hopefully, see the attributes of Christ.

In the New Testament Book of Galatians, we find where Paul wrote a letter to the Churches in the Galatia region. This message is also for churches in every generation. Paul has three main themes that he wants us to know and they are:

*Justification is by faith, not by keeping the Law;

*Christian freedom, which is freedom from the Law and freedom for service to God, is declared; and

*Guidelines for Christian living are given.

When you get to Chapter 5, verses 16-21, you read about the works of those that don’t live for Christ. When you reach verses 22-23, you find what we call the, “Fruit of the Spirit.” Many of us taught this to our children and helped them to memorize these verses. As adults, this is a good way to do a heart check and make sure we are truly walking in the Spirit of God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is:

love,

joy,

peace,

longsuffering,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV

For the next nine days we will take a look at each “fruit” listed and we can see how we are doing.

I hope you will join me as we can encourage one another to “Have a Heart Like His!”

In the mean time, I have homework for you.

*Read the entire book of Galatians. Don’t worry; there are only 6 chapters.

*Underline the verses in 5:22-23 and memorize. If you have never memorized scripture before, this could be your first!

*Take note of verses 16-21; if any of the deeds listed, are in your life, you might need to work on those asap. Just sayin’. (*yes, I’m talking to myself, too!)

Showing Kindness to the Homeless

Posted onMarch 11, 2015August 11, 2017

If you follow me on FaceBook, you’ve followed along as I am sharing, 31 Kindness Tips, for the month of March. Today, I wrote the following:

“Kindness Tip #11 – Yesterday I saw a man on the corner with a sign that said he was needing help. What struck me was how healthy and young he looked. It broke my heart as I passed in thinking that he had reached the point in life where he had to be on the street corner begging for money. Many times they have signs saying they will work for food. I don’t know about you, but I’m not taking anyone home and asking them to work and then feed them. I don’t think that is too wise.
What I believe to be the kind thing to do is to care and remember what my role is.

1. Have compassion. See what their life has become in the way of standing on a corner all day expecting to get money from people. That makes me sad.
2. Pray for them as I pass. I always wonder if they have children somewhere that know where they are. What must their life have been like growing up. Only the Lord knows where they have been. Pray that they can find their way.
3. Offer help. Give them money or food when I can. I don’t worry what they will do with it. When we give in Jesus name, we just give and trust that it will help.
4. I decided that I’m going to make some bags to carry in my car with some items that may help. I’ll use a large ziplock bag and put a water bottle, snacks, and some money. I’ll put the money in clear site in case they want to throw the bag away. I’m also going to put a note of phone numbers to local shelters, police, etc. with quarters taped to it. Do pay phones still exist? I thought of a small Bible, but may just put a track in it instead.
With warmer weather coming, I’m sure the corner will be filled with opportunity to show kindness.
I know there are people out there who are not honest and are not safe. But, when someone looks right at you and is asking for help, how can we just ignore them? I’m responsible for me, not them….I want to have a kind heart, not a hard heart.”

I was determined to complete this project today. I did and prayed over each bag and now they will go in a larger bag in my car. Hopefully, they will be a welcomed gift for those that are on the streets asking for help.

The items that I included in my gallon size Ziplock bags are:

1 Small Water Bottle (I wrote, Jesus Loves You! on the label)

1 Package of Hand Wipes

1 Protein Bar

1 Chapstick

1 Scripture Card

1 Track

1 Mini Bible (very small Bible with key scriptures in it)

1 $1.00 Bill

1 List of phone numbers/addresses for Police and area shelters with 2 quarters taped to it.

I wrote on the Ziplock bag, the words, “Someone Loves You!”

This is something small that I can do and maybe it will make a difference somehow.

I would love to hear what you have done or plan to do to show kindness to the homeless.

Intentional In Our Bible Reading!

Posted onJanuary 14, 2015

Being intentional about spending time in God’s Word doesn’t come easy sometimes. Especially, for people like me, who can procrastinate anything away.

Have you ever gone a long time without reading your Bible? How did it make you feel? Did you feel distant from God? Were you constantly yearning to get into your Bible and hear from God? That’s how I feel when I let the things in life get in the way of my time with God.

I am choosing to be intentional about my reading of the scriptures and memorizing the verses that I want to hide in my heart.

Several years ago, I noticed the Bible that my sweet friend, Iris, had. I asked if I could look through it and I loved what I saw. I tried to order one and they were no longer in print. I wrote Rhonda Kelley, who is a co-editor of the Study Bible for Women. She happened to have one and I was able to purchase the Bible from her. She even wrote an encouraging note in it. I have loved using this Bible. Dorothy Kelley Patterson and Rhonda Harrington Kelley also edited the Old and New Testament Commentary for Women.

I was so excited when I heard that the Old Testament Commentary and The Study Bible for Women are now available. I received my copies from Broadman Holman Publishers. You can click here for more information on the Study Bible for Women. Click here for information on the Commentaries.

Do you have a certain time and way that you study and read your Bible each day?

What kind of Bible do you use?

I enjoy reading the New King James Version. I have other versions, but I alway go back to my NKJV.

Do you have a favorite version?

If you haven’t made reading God’s Word part of your daily life, I encourage you to begin today!

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)

Friends Are Forever

Posted onJanuary 9, 2015January 4, 2022

May I introduce you to my friend, Karin Naylor?

I’m pretty sure the year was 2000. Our family had moved to Edmond, Oklahoma with our family business. We leased a house since we didn’t know how long we would be there. It was a beautiful house and in a very nice neighborhood. I loved living in Edmond. The neighborhood didn’t seem too friendly, but I stayed busy with homeschooling, exploring the Oklahoma City area and trying to get situated in a new church. Other than the neighborhood, Edmond folks were very friendly.

Our daughter and I were interested in learning how to cook healthy and we found a co-op that you could order organic food from. When I made the phone call to get information, little did I know that the lady that answered my call would turn out to be a dear friend who has inspired me for the last 15 years.

I drove to Karin’s house to pick up my order and she lived several miles outside of town on a ranch. I was intrigued with her and her entire family. Karin and her husband Scott have 9 children. The talent in this family amazed me. Everything from cooking, gardening, horses, chickens, wood working and they even had a family band. We would go out and all the them would pull out their guitars and all kinds of instruments and do a concert for us.

I could talk forever about how amazing Karin is to me and all the ways that she has encouraged me with her life. I wanted to share her with you. Enjoy my interview with Karin Naylor.

Beverly: Karin, thank you for allowing me to introduce you to everyone. Can you share a little bit about you and your family?

Karin: I’m married to a wonderful Christian man, and I have 9 children and 3 grand-children. I started home schooling in 1985 when my second daughter was in 6th grade. We were not happy with several things that were happening at the school she was attending, and when my daughter brought home a very inappropriate book that her class was to read we confronted the principle about it. He stood up for the book, and consequently, we took her out of school in the middle of the year. The next year I also taught my son who was in 9th grade and my third daughter who was in third grade. I have never regretted our decision. Our family kept growing and we kept learning and in 1998 we started playing music together and traveled around sharing the gospel for about 10 years. My youngest son graduated from home school in 2008, and that is when I began learning to paint.

Beverly: Will you share how you became a Christian?

Karin: My story with Jesus begins when I was married the first time. I was not raised in a Christian home, but I had a very wonderful childhood. My parents were good to my brother and me. I was influenced by the “peace and love” hippie movement in the late 1960’s/ early 70’s. When I was 19 I was in Europe traveling with a band and became pregnant with my first child. We returned to the US and got married a month before I was due. I gave birth to a beautiful little boy. When I was pregnant with my second child, my father died,and we moved to Hawaii where my mother lived. There we became involved in the New Age Movement, and with another couple moved to the Big Island to rebuild an old Buddhist temple in order to house some Buddhist teachers who were coming from Tibet. It was here that the marriage began to break up and we separated. I went back to my mother’s house with my two children. This was a very tragic time in my life and I don’t know if I would be alive today, except for my two first children and what Jesus did for me. My neighbor gave me Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth …and after finishing the book I went to my bedroom and dropped down on my knees and asked, “Jesus, If you are real, please show me.” The whole room lit up and was glowing and I felt a warmth flood my body from head to toe. In front of me I saw a vision of Jesus’ face and I just knew that I knew that I knew that the Word was true. I went and found a Bible and could not stop reading it. A week later Hal Lindsey came to Honolulu and spoke in a large auditorium. My neighbor and I went to see him. When they called for the invitation to come to the front, I ran up to tell the world that I had been saved. This is how my journey began. There have been many ups and downs, but Jesus has always been faithful and true. He erased all the New Age religion from my mind and filled it with longing for Him and His ways.

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Psalms 40:2

Beverly: What has been your greatest joy in motherhood and what has been the hardest?

Karin: I have always loved being a mother. My first child gave me a purpose in life. Each one is such a treasure to me. My greatest joy is seeing my children come to know Jesus in their own way, to watch and stand in awe at the incredible maturity they have spiritually. The hardest is when my children have turned from God. My first child turned 18 and told me he did not know if he believed in God or not, and to this day has refused Christ. One of my other sons was a prodigal for 6 years, and I am so praiseful that he has reconciled with us and with God. I began a ministry at that time called Mothers of Prodigals, and a blog Helping Hurting Parents of Prodigals. My heart goes out to parents with prodigals.

Beverly: Did you have a role model growing up of a healthy marriage, motherhood and family life?

Karin: My mother and father were great parents. My mom stayed at home with us. Being that my parents were not Christians my life was void of scripture, so I didn’t have a Christian role model in my growing up years.

Beverly: What are your hobbies?

Karin: There are so many things I love doing…gardening and art would have to be top on my list. I love picking bouquets of flowers from my garden and painting them. I also raise chickens and paint them too. 🙂 I knit and occasionally spin on my spinning wheel. I have in the past been a song writer and musician in our family band.

Beverly: When did you become interested in painting?

Karin: I’ve been interested in painting since the third grade when my teacher singled out a finger painting I had done and proudly showed it to the class. It’s amazing how much influence someone can have on your life. I remember trying out watercolors in my 20s after I became a Christian. I didn’t get serious about it though until my youngest child graduated from my home school which was about 6 years ago. I did take a watercolor class, then moved on to acrylics before I started experimenting with oils. Now I’m just really loving oil painting. I’m self taught, but some day I would love to take a class with the right artist at the right time and the right place. My goal is to glorify God with my paintings. As I am learning I have found that I love to be able to capture in art the joy of a moment in time, like a snowflake falling on an eyelash…

Beverly: What does a typical day look like for you?

Karin: I usually get up earlier than the rest of my family, so it is the perfect time to pray and read my Bible in quiet. We always have a Bible time together to start the day around 7:30 or 8. My husband started this when our children were little as we are told to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 So whether it is all of us, or just the two of us, we begin our day this way.

We still have a lot of young adults living at home, so everyone makes their own breakfast and gets off to work or whatever they are doing for the day. I usually try to do some kind of exercise in the morning either walking at the lake nearby if the weather is nice, or doing stretches and a video tape exercise, or garden chores. After the house quiets down, I do my daily cleaning chores and visit my 95 year old mom who is living next door. We usually chat a while and have coffee. Oh, and I almost forgot my chickens, they need to be fed and have their water.

Twice a year January and September I participate in Leslie Saeta’s 30 Paintings in 30 Days along with hundreds of other artists. So these 2 months I paint everyday. The rest of the time I try and put Thursday aside for my painting day. This last year having my mom come live with us has changed my schedule a lot. It has been a time of adjusting for all of us, and I have to say that it has not been easy. There are times when I am too stressed or depressed to paint. But I know the Lord is working on all of us to be more selfless and this is a good thing.

We all usually gather together for dinner at 6. My daughter is a gourmet cook and loves it, so I don’t have to worry about cooking, and we have delicious healthy meals. In the evening I catch up with my blogs and knit, or we might watch a movie. We haven’t had a television in our house for over 30 years, but we do have a screen that we can watch movies on.

My husband and I typically wait up until all the young adults are home and safe, and then we go to bed. I don’t know why it is always easier to sleep knowing they are all safe.

Beverly: Where is your favorite vacation spot?

Karin: I love the mountains. My in-laws had a vacation home in Colorado, so we were able to go up there a lot. Unfortunately they sold it, but the mountains will still be my favorite place to go.

Beverly: What do you love the most about this season of life that you are in right now? And what is the hardest?

Karin: I think a year ago I would have answered this in a totally different way. Things were pretty mellow then, and I was really enjoying being able to paint when I wanted. Then when my step-father died and my mom came to live with us life changed dramatically. I would say the hardest thing right now is dealing with aging parents who have dementia.

My greatest joys are my grandchildren.

Beverly: What would be your best advice from your life experiences that you would like to share with us?

Karin: Everyone has hard times in their lives. One of the best things that I read years ago and still remember to this day, is from Elizabeth Elliott, “Do the next thing.”

Another great little saying to remember is to “Let go and let God!” His ways are not our ways… 🙂 Isaiah 55:8

I would advise every Christian to follow after Jesus. Don’t put preachers or teachers up on pedestals – they are just people like ourselves.

Don’t seek after material things, but put God first in your life and He will supply all your needs and more.

Be content with what you have… determine what are wants and what are needs. He will provide all our needs.

Give, give and give some more…

One of my favorite songs with an incredible message is Blessings by Laura Story . Take a moment to read these lyrics, or listen to the song online. I think there is so much wisdom in this song…

“Blessings”

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

I love living the simple life… gardening, raising chickens, laughing with my grandchildren, walking with my daughters, having deep discussions with my sons, holding my husband’s hand as we walk through life’s journey, praising God for His salvation offered by the atoning blood of His son, Jesus. Jesus truly saved me from death – my life is an offering and these paintings are my praise offering of the talent that He has given me.

I think each believer is an epistle, a letter written by the Lord Himself. He is the one who orchestrates our lives. We can make mistakes, but He is there to turn those mistakes into good. Thank you, Beverly, for giving me the opportunity to share the epistle of my life.

My Website… https://www.karinnaylorpaintings.com

My Etsy Shop … http://www.etsy.com/shop/knaylorpaintings

My paintings and note cards are available on my website, my Etsy shop and Aunt Gertrude’s House in Guthrie, Oklahoma http://www.auntgertrudeshouse.com/

My Blogs…

Words of Life
http://shadowlilies.wordpress.com/

Helping Hurting Parents of Prodigals
https://helpinghurtingparentsofprodigals.wordpress.com/

Rosemary, Lavender, and Thyme
http://myhandsinfathersgarden.wordpress.com/

Simply Painting
http://30daystopaintinspiration.wordpress.com/

My Instagram…
http://instagram.com/knaylorpaintings

Beverly: Thank you so much, Karin, for sharing who you are. I am so thankful to have you in my life and will continue to pray for you and especially as you go through this time with your mom. What a gift you are to so many that are blessed to have you in their lives!

2015! I’m Ready!

Posted onJanuary 5, 2015December 29, 2021

2015! I’m Ready! (well, sort of)

I’m in the middle of putting away my Christmas decor. This is the part where I start second guessing myself wondering if I’m a bit out of control. I think I know the answer to that. Yes, I am. I love Christmas with all the lights and glitter and specialness that goes on. My vacuum cleaner thinks it has landed on Planet Glitter.

This was the year that I was going to go through all of my ornaments and get rid of things I’m tired of or just don’t work for me. I ordered a ton of containers to sort by color. After 17 plus containers, I’m a bit overwhelmed. I still have a counter full of things that I don’t know what to do with as far as storing. I have a huge closet in our garage that is for my Christmas. My sweet hubby went in there and organized all the shelves for me (he is the master packer). Even though I was scared he would be rough in stacking, etc. I just decided, if it breaks, it breaks, didn’t need it anyway. Except, for that cute cupcake Radko ornament I got this year…

I have my labels ready to print. I may work on it all during the summer when it’s nice and warm out there. I thought it would be so nice to hire someone to come in fix everything for me. Then I thought, (I’m spending more time thinking than anything), that is a good sign you are in too deep when you need to hire someone to help with Christmas decorating, organizing etc.

All of this “thinking” has brought me to my next subject.

My Word For 2015!

I’ve never picked a word for the year, but I am this year. My word for 2015 is…..drumroll…..

Intentional

The meaning of intentional is:

done by intention or design

I love the synonyms for the word intentional:

conscious, deliberate, intended, knowing, purposeful, purposive, set, voluntary, willed, willful (or wilful), witting

Let’s see what intention means:

in·ten·tion noun \in-ˈten(t)-shən\
: the thing that you plan to do or achieve : an aim or purpose
1
: a determination to act in a certain way :

I am a fairly easy going person and I love life. I also am a procrastinator. I can put things off and get to it tomorrow or the next day. But, not any more! I’m going to be more intentional in my living and hopefully will accomplish some things that I have been putting off until tomorrow.

I’m also thinking I’m on the verge of being a perfectionist. But, not in a very good way. I will put things off until everything is perfect.

Here are a few of my latest excuses:

I will walk my 3 miles but only when the weather is perfect.

I will play tennis when the wind isn’t blowing (In West Texas that is rare.)

I will organize my closets when the rest of the house is perfect.

I will read my Bible when I have everything done.

This will be a struggle, but I’m determined. Maybe, I should have chosen determined for my word? Maybe next year.

Have you ever had a scripture for the year? I thought about it, but I decided there are too many scriptures that I need to apply to my life throughout the year. Today, I will leave you with this verse:

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9 NKJV

Well, I’m ready, are you? Do you have a word for the year?