How God Speaks

Recently my brother posed the question, "Does God speak?"

Since I know that God does speak I guess to me the question is, "How does God speak?"

As I thought more about this and the various ways we each let God lead in our lives I came to this idea of conclusion.

Could it be that God is as active in guiding our choices as we let Him be?

One person believes God has given him the wisdom to make wise choices and as he seeks to please God he believes that God has so guided his choices.

Another person is continually going to God in prayer throughout their day- trusting every little worry and concern to Him.

God leads both persons, but in different ways. In the ways that person has let Him do so- in the way that person needs.

What do you say, how does God lead you?

Fragile

Last night I heard about the death of a four year old . I didn't know her personally. Though we all know her daddy here. I was shocked, stunned and moved to tears. 

I stood in my children's bedroom and thanked God for every moment he gives me with them. I thought about what I want out of my life and the mom I want to be. 

Today I heard that little girl had choked on an apple, and then seemed fine. I guess the apple came out. She then went on to play and collapsed. 

How quickly she was gone isn't important. But a life, a precious child was snatched from her parents in a matter of minutes. 

I was stunned. I reeled. I cried. 

That could have been my four year old. 

Children are always choking, that is a part of life. 

No apples, no dangerous food I thought, EVER!

That is not the answer, I cannot protect my children from everything. 

Life, these precious lives God has entrusted to us.

Treasure every moment, live a focused life on the things that matter.

 Life is a gift,

 a precious, 

fragile gift.





Addition:
This post is the way I heard the story, I do not know the actual facts. 
This evening I found the testimony of the Daddy who is mentioned in this post.
Bella

Nia Peeples

 So excited to share with you the scarf I gifted Nia Peeples. I am part of a group called The Artisan Group. And through them we have the opportunity to gift celebrities. Here on the tweets she posted last night.

 

Honey is sweet, but the bee stings!

Today as we were enjoying a lovely walk home with my kids after church we stopped at a couple playgrounds along our route.

My husband had stayed at church for a meeting. It was a lovely late summer afternoon- the evenings are already so chilly here and we are basking in the last rays of a summer sun.

As we were getting ready to leave the playground something bit/stung me on the leg, under my skirt. I gave a few quiet hoots of pain, what can one do when there are huge apartment buildings on every side? I couldn't exactly lift my skirt up and see what bit me now, could I? I lifted my skirt a bit on one side and shook it hoping to dislodge whatever had caught in my skirt.

I had seen a yellow jacket buzzing about me and even on my skirt, I had assumed he had flown away.

A few more steps and an even more painful sting on the back of my other upper leg left me howling (under my breath) so as not to scare my kids are be thought of as a weirdo. I dashed behind the nearest bushes, just to the right of the drive and between the huge apartments- hoping no one was looking. Then I lifted my skirt as high as I dared and away flew my torturer.

Man, oh man do bee stings hurt. I was at a loss as to know what to do. Here I was with 3 small children, yelping in pain. Should I call my husband out of his meeting? Should I run to the nearest pharmacy and get something to put on it to take away the pain? But how would I get up the stairs with the buggy. Then, my mom's old method came to mind, baking soda mixed with water makes a fantastic paste for bee stings- we always used that as kids. We dashed to the nearest grocery store and got some baking soda. I was praying God would ease the pain.

By the time we checked out and had made it to the nearest cafe I was able to tolerate the pain. Whew, that was an adventure I hope never to repeat!

Have you ever had a bee under your skirt?! I hope you never do!

He Answers Prayer

Sometimes it is easy to think God isn't listening as well as we would like or He isn't answering the way we would like. It is easy to get so caught up in our lives that we fail to see how He is working. And then there are the times we pray and He answers, and we realize maybe we hadn't really wanted that certain thing to REALLY happen. Sometimes I think we fail to think of all the details of what our answered prayers would mean.

Lately I have seen God answering prayers at a really fast pace in our lives and it is so amazing. But yet hard to accept at times.

1.  Visit to my Homeland: After my parents returned to the US after their short visit here in May I was really worried and concerned as to when our family is ever going to pay another visit to my homeland. We now number 5 and tickets are so expensive. I was praying and worrying about this alot and even praying that someday we could pay a longer visit to America so my husband could learn more about the culture I grew up in. The Answer: My parents offered to pay 2/3 of our ticket price to America. So after much searching of good prices we will get to pay a visit to my parents. Yay, God! 
2. Allergy:  My 2 year old has had a rash on her hands for the last year- we have been at a loss to understand what she was allergic too. The Answer: We finally discovered that she is allergic to strawberries. What a relief to finally know the source of her allergy.
3. Coal: We heat our house with coal and are in need of a new supply for this winter. My husband told me it is going to cost about $1000.00. Yikes, we need to pay back that much to my Dad by next year. How are we going to afford it?! The Answer: My husband had put an ad out as he does every year that he is looking for coal (sometimes people switch their heating method and don't need their supply). He hadn't gotten any calls, but today someone called and said he can have their coal for free as long as he can come and get if off their hands! It may not be enough, but it is a start. 
4. Luggage Rack: My husband had lost one side of his luggage rack on his work vehicle and was searching for a replacement- which would have cost $100.00. He was bummed to have somehow lost the left side rack without having even realized it. The Answer: Today an acquaintance called my husband and said he had the missing rack and that it had fallen off in front of his house and he had watched my husband drive past and realized it belonged to him since he was missing one side! Yay, God.
5. Secret: I have a huge answer to prayer, but since this one is not my news I will save it for another time until the new comes out more publicly. Suffice it to say God is doing great things in my brother's life! 

It is amazing to see the handiwork of our Father in our lives. What is He doing in your life?

School Time

As the approach of the new school year shines ahead of us I am eagerly beginning to choose some supplies for D-boy. I have always loved new crayons, pencils and notebooks and choosing ones I know he will like is so much fun.

This will be the first "real" school year for D-boy. He is four now and we have decided I will start him with the preschool material "Little Hands to Heaven." I am so excited to begin teaching him. He has been showing more of an interest in letters lately and loves watching one kids film called "The Letter Factory." He has been learning some of the sounds by doing this.

Wishing you all a happy beginning of the school year.