Through the Storm

It seems like I have been doing a lot of defending God lately...there are so many people hurting and are angry at God. I tell them my story that there were times in my life that I was angry at God because He didn't heal me, he didn't take me out of the emotional or physical pain or abuse that I endured in my life and even the fact that a close friend died at an early age was hard on me.

 but I realized that God loves me unconditionally. He is always there through the hard times that I struggle. Yes I would love to be healed; Yes I would have loved to be raised in a loving family environment, and yes I would love for everything to be great... but it's not....and if it was, I wouldn't need God.

I have learned that suffering happens and is no respecter of persons. Life can be hard. But we have to deal with it and not avoid God because of the suffering. He didn't take me out of a life of pain, but he brought me closer to Him through it. He gives me strength through the suffering...He helps me help others because of it.

and He can do it for You.
So it's okay to be angry at God for a season, but then let it go. Grieve your losses and deal with what was handed to you. And cling on to God for being the ultimate Father, Friend, and Encourager you can lean on for strength.  Don't let the suffering you experience and the suffering you see others experience get between you and God.  HE DOES CARE !!!

What Do You Smell Like?

I was reading a devotion today about being the fragrance of Christ as in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 and my brain starting thinking about how we smell like Christ.

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Cor 2:14-15


When you smell something, it can make you feel good or bad. How do you feel when you smell a skunk? Do you want to cuddle with that skunk, and spend hours with that skunk? Do you want to make that skunk your indoor pet? Does the skunk bring you great memories? Do you want to smell like the skunk? Do you want to be like the skunk? If you do any of these, I can find you a counselor. lol.

Now, how do you feel when you smell a bottle of nice perfume or a blossoming flower? Do they make you feel good? Do you want to be around them? Do you want to dab the perfume on you or add a bouquet of flowers to your home? When you take a deep breath, does it makes you feel good and warm on the inside? (Well, it does for me).

We (as believers in God) are the fragrance of Christ, to God. When we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we tend to be like him.  We may start looking like him, smelling like him, and doing the same things that he does. I don't mean that we will end up being more hairy, sweaty, or taller. I mean, our spirit will begin to change. Our character will change. Our soul will change. We may even have a glow on our face. We will be more Christ-like.

Are you striving to be more like Christ? Are you spending quality time with God? Remember, we have the opportunity to spread out this fragrance of Christ to everyone we meet. 




scripture from NKJV

pic by  tk Expressive Praise

Circle of Events in One Very Long Sentence

The other day I was trying to get more sunlight for my cat and I so I decided to move a tray table that I use for my plants because it was blocking the sunlight spots in my living room; well I accidentally tilted the tray table, which made the plant fall to the ground, which made the soil fall on my carpet, which made me have to re-pot that plant, which made me re-pot 2 other plants, which made me get the vacuum out to clean up the dirt, which made me notice the dusty inside window sill that was near the fallen plants which I then decided to vacuum, which made me notice the other dusty living room window sill, which made me vacuum that one, which made me think since the vacuum is out, I need to vacuum my apartment.

And all I was trying to do was get more sun on my aching body. 

I learned from my cat, that when I can't get out of the house, I lay in the sunlight because it feels good on my body. He does it all the time, I didn't understand it until I tried it out...lol... it feels good.

Will You Take the Path to be Born of God?

Are You Born of God?

When people ask this question, they don't literally mean that you were birthed and

came out of the womb of God, like a baby comes out of the womb of his mother. 

They are talking about it spiritually.



1 John 5 verse 1 says: 

" Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him." KJV 

or if you want to read it in an easier standard, let's try the NIV:

 "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well." (1 John 5:1)

and then there is John 3:16 (NIV) says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

In other words, If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God a.k.a. being born again (spiritually). Our father God and his son Jesus Christ are one, so if you love one, you love the other.  It's kind of like eating ice cream, you like eating the ice cream and all it's ingredients that make up the ice cream. They are all as one.

that concludes being born of God 101



note: all scripture is from www.biblegateway.com
photo is by Expressive Praise by Tanya Kirkendall

Be Careful What you Promise to God

I was reading a book the other day and it mentioned Judges 11:30-39. So I got my old Student Bible out that was given to me around 1986 from my Sunday School Teacher. Do you ever read something in the Bible and you are surprised at what you are reading?

First we read, verse 30 and 31:

" And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands,  whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

That prayer may sound kind of reasonable, if you have a lot of animals in your house. Yet I couldn't or don't want to sacrifice my cat Buttons. I don't know what Jephtah was thinking when he asked that request. Maybe he was just desperate for winning. (Let's call Jephthah, "Jeph," for short.)

Let's read on in verse 32

"Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands..."

That sounds great. Jeph got exactly what he wanted from the Lord. 

Verse 34: "When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter."

Oh no, STOP!!! His daughter comes out of his house.That wasn't supposed to happen. I mean, Jeph, never even considered that his daughter would be the one to be sacrificed.  (I would have said, "oops, God, I made a mistake.) Remember what he said to the Lord. God, if you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of Jeph's door, I promise I will give it in a burnt sacrifice.

Let's continue:   

"When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, 'Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.'

(I think it's sad that he seems to blame it on his daughter; she had no idea that he made a vow to the Lord.)

“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.  But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

“You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.  After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin."

Wow, what devotion Jeph and his daughter had. I think I would have liked to say, "Just because you made a vow with God, doesn't mean I have to follow through with it. BUT she went along with it. That is devotion or dedication. That's amazing, yet strange to my human eyes and ears.  I don't know what kind of sacrifice he had to make because She says that she will never marry and I guess she will remain a virgin. It seems like maybe there was another kind of sacrifice he was going to do instead of killing her. She grieves because she will never marry, not because she will die. Interesting!!!

 So I am thinking maybe the sacrifice wasn't where he had to kill the offering. Whatever it was, they were both dedicated and I hope God blessed them for it.

How many of us made a promise to God and kept it, even when it affected others? Now that's something to think about.

scripture taken from: 

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+11%3A30-39&version=NIV

picture of sunset by Expressive Praise, a.k.a. Tanya Kirkendall

Lois Arneson...a True Legacy

Lois and Tanya (2005/2006)

I recently went to a memorial service for a dear friend of mine who had died on December 18, 2013. I have always thought of Lois Arneson as a loving person, a godly woman, a prayer warrior, and like a grandma to me. Every time I saw her, I sure would get a nice, big hug from her. You could feel her love through those hugs.  She also made me some nice items: a quilt, a soccer ball, scissors holder, and some pillow cases to match the quilt. I was also one of the many people she sent birthday cards too. I just looked in my recipe book, and sure enough, I did get her recipe for Pecan Pie Muffins, one year.

Then in July of 2011, she presented me with a special gift. It was a Christmas couch cover, or a couch quilt you can cuddle with. It is so pretty. She gave it to me in July because she had been working on it for awhile due to her failing eyesight. She told me she couldn't see very well, but she didn't let that stop her from making this beautiful Christmas blanket just for me. You couldn't tell that the maker of the quilt had any eye problems because it's nicely made.  It really touched my heart that she gave it to me at that time. Every year, when I pull out the Christmas decor, the Christmas blanket goes on the couch. It reminds me of her special love for me and for making people special.

After the memorial service, I talked to a few family members of Lois'. One of them said that "Lois was so loving to us (her family), and it was kind of expected since we were her family, but I had no idea that she was so loving to so many people outside of her family until we heard everyone talk about her here (at the memorial service). She gave love to a variety of ages (the young and the old)." 
Another relative, I think it was Lois' nephew, had a bag of Lois' items. There was a stack of papers that she had piled up in her room. He shared some of them with us. As I told him my first name, he asked if my last name was Kirkendall. After I said "yes," he pulled out a red card stock with a poem I had written in 2005. Lois had kept that poem I had written. It really touched my heart that she had that poem in her special pile.

She has taught me to treat everyone the same. Treat each one with special love.  And Pray, Pray, Pray. She sure loved God....

To me, it seems she treated everyone with that special love. As Chris Neal said, "Lois was the church 'Mom.'"  That was our Lois. She sure loved people and we sure loved her.  She definitely was the "Church Mom"... or in my case..., "The Church Grandma."

I heard someone recently say: "A Christian doesn't die, they just have a change of address."

by Tanya Kirkendall