Where is my Mind?

I am not proud of this confession, but I am also relatively sure that I am not alone in my tendency to daydream when I am reading the Scripture. I believe there is an enemy who does NOT want me to read God's word and he feeds numerous distractions to my mind that derail my thinking from the Word.

Every year I try AGAIN to read the Bible thru in a year. I try to read a different translation from the previous year, just to spark my own thinking from the variety of word selection.

It doesnt seem to matter what translation I choose, I have the same issue. It doesnt take long for my mind to wander, and I realize I have no idea what I just read. Makes me so angry at myself! I do not want to read, just to meet some personal goal, or check off a daily Bible reading....I truly want to KNOW God and His Word.

SO....I set up a plan of attack: When my mind wanders I make a mark on a sheet of paper beside me. Then I re-read what I just dreamed over. When my mind wanders again, I make another mark and once again re-read....hoping to get farther along each time. But in all honesty, and shame....my marks get pretty numerous.

When my reading for that day is completed, I do not shame myself with the marks. I do not tell myself how lousy of a Christian I am for not being able to concentrate on the Word of God. I don't self talk, or self blame or belittle myself......not anymore. [There was a day when I did.]

NOW I hold the list and ask God's forgiveness for my undisciplined mind, for my wayward thoughts, and ask Him to help me to be a better student of His Word, to have better concentration on what I am reading so my mind, heart and life can change to be more like Him. I use my "flaws" to be a time of confession before my Lord.....I need Him.

I am so thankful that God does not condemn me for my lack of perfection or even my faltering faith. God loves me.

I challenge you also, since you most likely have this same issue when you read your Bible. Use your faulty concentration on His Word to be a precious time to snuggle into the arms of your Savior and THANK HIM for meeting all of your needs....for you indeed are needy. I am indeed of NEED of Him.

Thank you Lord Jesus!

WE MISSED HIM!

This morning my husband and I were lazily, snuggling in...when we heard that familiar sound...the GARBAGE TRUCK. Immediately we went into action. We had deliberately NOT put out the garbage last night because we had alot of carpet pieces and we didn't want them to get rained on and thus be too heavy for the men to lift into the truck. We also had some smelly bags from cleaning out the frig and didn't want animals getting in to it over night. BUT we did not expect him SO EARLY! No matter how fast we moved, WE MISSED HIM!

My husband was able to load the carpet pieces into the car and track down the garbage truck. And we have a plan for the garbage bags to be picked up at another location. But I thought of how our tranquil morning was disrupted IMMEDIATELY at the sound of the Garbage Truck....and our negligance, our laziness, had caused us to MISS the garbage truck.

Now this is not nearly as tragic as it will be when the TRUMP sounds, Jesus calls His people to Himself and people are found still on earth. Well meaning people, Church going people, Good people....left behind. How sad that will be!

We missed the garbage Truck today.....but we will not miss the Rapture! When the trumpet sounds....Ken and I have our reservations securely made in the blood of Jesus Christ. We will be GONE in the twinkling of an eye!

A REAL Princess!

Like you, as Christians, we try harder every year to keep Christ in Christmas. We try to have meaning to our presents. We want to be remembered as the Grandpa and Grandma who gave gifts of meaning. Every year it is a struggle to do so.

One of the special gifts this year went to our 5 year old grand-daughter Aleaha who LOVES to dress up as all the Disney Princesses. So this year, we bought her a lovely pink princess dress and included this letter:

Dear Aleaha,
You became a real princess the moment you prayed and asked Jesus to live in your heart, April 13, 2011. And since He is the King of Kings and you are His daughter, that makes you His princess.
You will always be our little princess too.
We love you very much.

Grandpa and Grandma Lambert in Florida

A Special Gift for a Special Young Lady

One of our precious Grand-daughters was turning three. I asked her daddy if she was still in love with "Dora"...he said "No", she has started an interest in Barbie dolls.

IMMEDIATELY...my mind knew what I wanted to purchase for my grandaughter for her 3rd birthday. I asked my husband to join me in searching for the sign Language Barbie. I know I have one, but it is packed in storage somewhere, or I would have sent her mine. Surprised to see that it is now a vintage doll so the price was more than I would ever pay for a Barbie for a 3 year old....but she is precious, and this doll has such meaning.

You see, I am a deaf interpreter, so our family has been giving the "I Love you" sign to each other since they were born. Our grandchildren ALSO know the meaning of the hand sign.

Sometimes.....there is no price limit to a gift you know has special meaning. I told her to think of Grandma when she looks at Barbie's hand. I asked her to always remember that her grandma loves her.

Special Gift for a Special young lady.