Operation: Asa Joy

I have spent two days working on this blog post. We have had eye appointments this week down at Fort Bragg. We live an hour away from the base and appointments started at 9:00. Made for some early mornings. I adjusted my devotion time to get up earlier. What a victory for this momma who likes to sleep in! It was the Lord because I could not do it in my own strength. I got up at 6:00 every morning this week. Praise the Lord. December 27, 2017 Every time this year I start to think about what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year. It is a time for me to evaluate the things I would like to change and to praise the Lord for the good things that happened the previous year. I always try to make a list of resolutions for the new year. Don’t we all. Then when we get to the end of December we look back and see that we have failed. Miserably. Every year. It is very rare that I keep all my resolutions. One or two may become habits but for the most part we fail to keep our ...

"The best of all, God is with us." Last words of John Wesley This is what it is all about. We can hang all the lights and buy all the presents our loved ones want. We can fix all the traditional meals and make sure everything is in its place. We can go to all the places we had on our list and check off every box on our to do list. But, if we miss the fact that God Is With Us, then we have lost the whole message of Christmas. When I began my Advent journey on November 27 I had no idea where the Lord was going to take me. I had no idea that in the midst of it I was going to have to make a major decision or that our family would go on a week long trip last week. I just wanted to focus on Jesus and the reason why we celebrate this month. God has drawn me closer to His side more than I could ever imagine. He has convicted me of changes that NEED to be made in my life. Changes about habits I have and the words that come out of my mouth. Changes about how I treat people. ...

December 16, 2017 We are currently driving on Route 64 heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The children are all quiet as the just ate lunch and are listening to Lamplighter Theater You Are There – Christmas. A few weeks ago Carl and I were discussing what we wanted to do for Christmas. Were we going to give the kids gifts? How much for each kid? What? It is always so stressful around Christmas. Even if we spend just $50 per kid that is $400. We had tossed around the idea of buying them a gift and then giving each kid $5 to buy gifts for each of their 7 siblings. That alone would cost us around $450. All told it would be almost $1000 for Christmas presents. The more I thought about it the more I just did not feel right spending the money on things that they will forget about or break before the next Christmas. We have been so blessed. Our children do not lack for anything. They have plenty of toys and clothes. They do not really NEED anything else. Carl and I...

December 14, 2017 I like to imagine the wise men seeing the bright star in the sky. A light that caused them to travel hundreds of miles to search for a promised king. A light that caused them to risk the wrath of an evil king to go home another way. I like to imagine the shepherds seeing the bright light from the angels in the sky. A light that caused them to leave their sheep and run to find the promised king. In this day and age I believe that we have no idea what true darkness is. Physical darkness, that is. On our 6-month journey we were able to see great examples of this. We were deep under the earth in Mammoth Cave when our tour guide had us sit on benches and told us to get ready to experience the eeriest thing we would ever experience. I did not believe him until he turned out ALL the lights in the cave. We were in true darkness. It was one of the weirdest things I have ever felt. It was oppressive. It was SO dark. It was almost as if I could not breath. I...

December 13, 2017 “What am I seeking this Christmas?” That was a question that was asked this morning in my Preparing My Heart For Christmas Prayer Challenge by Heather Bowen. I have been dwelling on this question all day today. The scripture passage was from Jeremiah 29:13: 13  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Many people look at this verse and wonder why they do not feel the Lord is near to them. There is a condition to this verse. You cannot just read the first half. You must finish the verse. You find Jesus when you seek Him “with all your heart.” He needs to be what we seek above all else. What are my idols? What is it that I am putting in the throne of my life that should only be occupied with God? What does it mean to seek Christ “with all your heart”? I think it looks different for every person. For me it means not being on my phone as much. It means getting up early in the morning to spend time with Him. It means droppi...

December 12, 2017 I spent most of last week and the weekend in prayer over a decision that I had to make. It was a tough decision. I was torn between what I wanted and what I knew God wanted me to do. God had given me clear guidance on where He wanted me, but I went back and forth because it would mean giving up something that I wanted. You all can probably tell from my posts that I love theater. Acting is one of the things I love to do most in the world and getting to do it when it brings glory to the Lord is one of the greatest gifts and blessings that God has given me. The first adult production at Spiritual Twist Production last year was Cinderella. I played the stepmother and my husband was Sarge, the dog. We had a wonderful time and even got to perform with two of our boys, William and Nathan. It was such a blessing. We had a small cast but we all grew so close to one another. After the play so many adults came up and expressed a desire to do another play. The int...

December 7, 2017 One of the devotionals that I am going through this Advent season asked a question today. I have been dwelling on this question all morning long. Can others look at my life and see God’s heart, alive and unrivaled, in me? I think it was the unrivaled and alive part that has me really thinking today. Is God unrivaled in my life? Merriam-Webster defines unrivaled as “having no rival: INCOMPARABLE, SUPREME.” They included the caps, not me. Some of the synonyms of this word are excellent, unequaled, unsurpassed, perfect, superior, outstanding, and unmatched. Wow! I have just been dwelling on whether this describes God in my life. What else in my life am I holding on the same level as God? What are my idols? What is sharing room on the throne of my life and trying to push God off His rightful place? All of these things have been on my mind this morning. My mind immediately goes to what I do when I first wake up in the morning and what I am doing before...