Always RIGHT on!

Thank you Oswald... you are alway so timely!~


April 29th.
THE GRACIOUSNESS OF UNCERTAINTY

"It doth not yet appear what we shall be." 1 John 3:2


Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere. Common sense says - "Well, supposing I were in that condition . . ." We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in. Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness, it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our life with surprises all the time. When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only believe our belief about Him. Jesus said, "Except ye become as little children." Spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.
"Believe also in Me," said Jesus, not - "Believe certain things about Me." Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come. Remain loyal to Him.

Hmmmm... an offer, interesting!

Mr. D got a phone call yesterday regarding the clients that viewed our house on Saturday and our realtor said that they want to buy it. Mr. D is going hunting for a week soon and so our realtor said that we could expect an offer before he leaves for his hunting trip. We are excited that the 2nd people that viewed our house want to buy it. We are also relying that God will go before us and make it clear to us on how to proceed once we get the offer. Please agree with us in prayer that we will sell our house... if it be to these people or not. Also, please pray for God to impart His wisdom and peace to us so that we are not anxious and are able to approach the upcoming offer with peace and understanding. We are so thankful for how much God loves us and that He is more than willing to answer the prayers of His children according to His Will for our lives. Through this whole process we have learned to live in peace and trusting that God IS in control and that in HIS timing we will sell our house. We are happy to be living in the time that God has us right now. We have a wonderful church family that we meet with every Tuesday night...(I can't imagine leaving that group right now) and we have been sharing some great times with friends lately too!(shot out to B~J~S~S~E). It is as if God is preparing us and teaching us tools to be able to make friends when we move into a new town. We have never really had to do that since we have lived in the same 40 mile radius. We will know only a few people that we met when we were back there in January. We miss them and miss that town too...! Interesting times!~ THANKS!

Look here for some yummy cookies

Chunky Sweet Ranger Cookies

...my twist on the betty crocker "ranger" cookie recipe

11th paper back edition page 385
~

½ cup butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup dried cranberries
~

1. Beat butter 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda: beat till combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in oats, coconut and dried fruit.

(I ran the fruit through the food processor to break it up a little bit)
2. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375` oven about 8 minutes or till edges are golden. My oven cooked for about 12 minutes till the cookies edges were golden. The first batch was gooey at the 8 minutes mark. I found about 12-14 minutes was about perfect…depending on the size of cookie.
Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.
I doubled the recipe… because it never makes what the cookbook says it should.
They are super good… and low fat. Only 60 calories per cookie.

Scores this morning!

We had an appt this morning at 10 am for someone to come and show our house. On our way home from dinner last night I saw an Estate Sale sign leading to a place up past our road. So since we needed to be gone while our house was shown we headed to the Estate Sale. There is something kinda weird about rummaging through someones entire home and looking for a good deal. I found a huge stack of construction paper for 1.00 and then a few books (one that had some letters written to God in the back), some pruning shears and a few tools for Mr. D all for 3.00! Such a steal. So we headed home... checked the messages on the machine and it was the realtor confirming the showing for 11am. It was 10:45 at that time so we needed to leave again! Lame.... I know that the appt was for 10am. O well.... we went to town to grab some lunch and then we needed to waste a little more time before we headed home... so we followed some signs to a garage sale. Mind you I have never been to a garage sale or an estate sale before in my life. Other then having my own garage sale a few weeks ago this is all very new to me. Well.... we stopped at 2 garage sales and scored 5 veggie tale movies (4 for free!), Nemo, 5 DVDs, Brand new Old Navy jeans, Miss D dress up outfit, 2 model cars, a some more books for 15 dollars! The DVDs were 3.00 each... and the guy had like 200 of them! It was FUN! I can see how this could get addicting!

Baby Bird Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes a few weeks ago for my cousin's baby shower. They turned out really cute. I found the idea and recipe on Martha Stewart website. (I actually had to get the recipe off Oprah's website because it wasn't on Martha's site... maybe some internet glitch or something... Oprah had featured them on a recent show so she had the recipe and how to put them together. Arn't they cute! Thought I'd share a little craftiness that I pulled out of my sleeve. I didn't use the recipe for making the cake. I just used a box of white cake mix and made my own buttercream..food coloring to turn it blue and then bought the yellow frosting in a spray can to make the beaks. You know that kind that has the tips already with the can. For the black I also bought the little tube of colored gel...for the eyes. I toasted the cococut in the oven on broil with a very close eye... it didn't take long at all to toast. I tossed it around about half way during the toasting to get it as evenly toasted as possible. I did follow the directions on how to assemble the cupcakes though...in the assembling directions it calls for chocolate buttercream. The only place I could figure out where they used that is the frosting under the coconut nest. I thought hmmmm... wouldn't the frosting that I already made work for that. So before I added the blue.... I frosted the cupcakes with the white frosting. You can't even see the frosting once you get the coconut on there... and you really didn't need to put that much on there. Just enough to get the coconut to stick. They turned out cute and where yummy to eat too!

Interested in Revival?

Tired of stale religion...
Do you have DirecTV... tune to channel 365.
GodTV
They are playing it right now.......................

Florida Healing Revival - LIVE
With Todd Bentley
USA (ET): April 21-25 at 7pm, April 26 at 10:30pm, April 27 at 7pm

This email is from a friend in another great state....

Hey everyone,
A TRUE move of God is flaming up in Lakeland, FL. Todd Bentley came to a church to do a few night's meetings earlier this month, God showed up in a BIG way, and they have been meeting every day at 10 AM and 7 PM. Thousands are being saved, healed and delivered. AND . . . you can watch and/or listen to every meeting LIVE on your home computer at www.ignitedchurch.com. In additon, if you have God TV, they are airing re-runs of the revival meetings nightly at 10 PM on Directv, channel 365. Last night, in our Wednesday meeting here at River Life, a 13 year old girl, Alisha, was healed of bad eyesight as we watched people being healed in the "Glory Realm" of blindness and poor eyesight in Florida. Could this be the hour that we've heard prophesied about in which revival FIRE encompasses all of North America and leads us into the 3rd Great Awakening? Let it be so, Lord!

Blessings,Matthew

Do you feel it?

April 21 Lesson

April 21st.
NOW DON'T HURT THE LORD!

"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?" John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us - astounded at how un-simple we are. It is opinions of our own which make us stupid, when we are simple we are never stupid, we discern all the time. Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the One Whom he knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be, it is now; we look for it presently, in some cataclysmic event. We have no reluctance in obeying Jesus, but it is probable that we are hurting Him by the questions we ask. "Lord, show us the Father." His answer comes straight back - "There He is, always here or nowhere." We look for God to manifest Himself to His children: God only manifests Himself in His children. Other people see the manifestation, the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God; we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and remain sane. If we are asking God to give us experiences, or if conscious experience is in the road, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not the questions of a child.
"Let not your heart be troubled" - then am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe the character of Jesus, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to perturb my heart, any morbid questions to come in? I have to get to the implicit relationship that takes everything as it comes from Him. God never guides presently, but always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the emancipation is immediate.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
To go along with this Utmost is something that I'm learning to do everyday... Seek the relationship with God and the encounters with Him surely follow. As I seek the close knit relationship with my most loving God... I have the most amazing encounters when He touches my heart. It is as if I'm rocket propelled into His Glory and I'm just floating in His river of Glory that leads straight to the throne of God. I love to be there and to just be filled. We as broken human vessels LEAK... so I have to go there often to be filled. It is a daily choice for me to chose to disregard the whispers of the devil and to take EVERY thought captive and analyze it to determine where the thought came from. Then to choose to make an agreement or not. Most likely if I have the choice to make an agreement.... or if I have to think about it.... the thought didn't come from God, because if it did I wouldn't have to make the choice... it would be automatic... a task that is very hard, but very rewarding because as I keep my thoughts on Jesus... The Holy Spirit has the reigns and I don't have to worry that I'm taking the lead away from Him. The first clue that I get when I start to take away the lead from the Holy Spirit is when I feel a load on my shoulders that is heavy. That is a sign that I'm taking my life and living out of my own strength and bearing the worries and thoughts of the future on my own. Then I get a check from the Holy Spirit that jolts me back to reality and I surrender the control back to Him. We has humans have a very hard will to break (speaking for only myself) and I have been in control for the last 28 years.... but since January of this year I have come to that realization and God is drawing me back to the basics of His Word and the great work of the Holy Spirit here on Earth (as a person in our Tuesday Night Group put it "Earth Guy"( Holy Spirit) (love that)).

Me and My Girl.

My little Miss D is growing up so fast. She is speaking in full sentences now. Yesterday she was in her chair at the bar having a snack and Mr. D was in the recliner taping his foot. Miss D looks at me and asks "What is that stomping?" I just looked at her in amazement... she knows what stomping is???? She will just throw statement out like that and Mr. D and I will look at each other and be so amazed at her. She is so perceptive. She is also very sensitive. She also has the biggest belly... all her shirts are becoming to short. I keep having to tell her to pull her shirt down because her tummy is hanging out. She can put on her own shoes (crocs) and put on her own socks too! We were at some new friends house last night and they have a almost 5 year old and Miss D and her played so well together. We had never been to their house (interesting fact... we could see our house from theirs across the valley and about as the crow flies a mile or two) and Miss D had never met their daughter but they just clicked and Miss D was smitten. They played downstairs by themselves for almost 2 hours. It is a nice change because Miss D is learning to play with others and not just next to others. It is heart melting to see her play with friends. Just to watch her when she doesn't know that I'm looking and see her interact with playmates is to cute. She has been playing alot with another friend over the last few months and they call and talk the phone and Miss D will hold the phone and they actually have a conversation. TOO CUTE!

Through the Tulips with Me.

Last Sunday we needed to get out of the house and so we were racking our brains trying to think of something to do. I suggested the local festival that was going on here in our town. Mr. D thought that was the lamest idea ever! But hey it was an idea... so we headed out. I had gone last year with a friend when we were both prego... and without Mr. D. So this we had some family time. We poked around in the windy cold weather of this lame April and had an ok time. We were out of the house and that was all that mattered. Miss D had fun looking at the flowers as did I. I can speak for Mr. D and say that it did NOTHING for him. When we were done tip toeing through the tulip we headed back to the festival part. It was definitely small town fun. A few food stands, a cute little place to get pictures and some music. It was pretty fun. We didn't stay to long.. we hit the grocery store on the way home (which was a huge help so I didn't have to make a trip to the store during the week).

Omelets...have it your way!

At the second installment of garage sale mania that we had this last weekend, I was given a new little toy. A dear friend and I were cleaning out boxes and putting out MORE stuff to sell on Friday because it was a slamming garage sale day, even though it was FREEZING! She found 2 of these pans and since we had just eaten omelets the night before at their house I was really into them.... I am not nearly as an accomplished omelet maker as she was so we rarely eat them in omelet form. They tend to be a bit messy and all over the place. Well I just have to tell you that I'm a pro now that I have my cheating pan. The first try was a scramble. I used margarine in the pan instead of butter... bad idea. The egg stuck and made a mess of the pan. That omelet attempt was mine which was fine because I just added tomatos and cheese so a scramble was fine. The next attempt was going to be for Mr. D so I was really under pressure. It had to work with butter. So I loaded the two sides of the pan with butter and added my eggs... 2 per side. A four egg omelet loaded with chili and a mix of cheddar and mozza cheese. The pan did all the work and boom...........perfection. Once I felt like the eggs were cooked enough I closed the pan and hoped that the side fell down on top of the other one and IT DID! Thank you butter for doing your job. I know that you are fattening and artery clogging... but you pulled through for me in a pinch! Mr. D was in omelet heaven and Miss D was begging him for a bite.

Sale o' Stuff.

I decided to go for a garage sale last Friday. I needed tables! My wonderful neighbor pulled threw for me. She had enough and I used my patio table and I set everything up. It was a beautiful day. I had the garage sale on Saturday. We had a great turnout! I had some girlfriends up to keep me company while Mr. D went in to work in the morning. We had coffee and the kiddos played. It was fairly steady all day and I made about $400.00! Whoohoo! I think I sold about half of my stuff that was out there. The rest will be carted down into town to a garage sale planned for this weekend.

So long stuff and clutter!

When the end of the age comes.. I say bring it on!

Yesterday was a great day at BSF....
here is a recap.

Are you afraid or fearful of death?
Do you fear the end of the world?

Knowing the signs of the approaching end... read Matthew 24

As believers we have nothing to fear at the end of the world. We know the end of the story as we keep in God's word and continue to follow the current events. I don't like to get to wrapped up in current events though. To be honest I RARELY watch the news. It is so depressing and I would rather spend my time other ways then watching the news. I figure if it is that important I will find out somehow. Like that pregnant man... what the heck is that all about... actually as I sit here and remember what I read in my BSF notes last night some scripture comes to mind...

Matt 24:12
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
Loose morals and degeneration of family life and ethics.

2 Timothy 3
Perilous Times and Perilous Men
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

2 Peter 3
God’s Promise Is Not Slack
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us,[a] the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us,[b] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

This degeneration will increase toward the end of the world until even Christians become so absorbed in seeking creature comforts, and so ignorant of God's Word and of the power of God's Spirit within them, that they are deceived by false doctrine and their love of God grows cold. It is so sad to me... but what I do have peace in is that in Matt 24:14 the Word says that...
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

EVERYONE will have a chance to hear that Jesus is the only way. I don't know how close that is to happening or if there is billions of people yet to get a chance to hear. But as I sit here today I know that there are people out there who have heard and think..."I've got time" or "Jesus isn't coming back"... well, He is coming back and when He does judgement comes too and just being a "good" person ain't gonna get you anywhere but somewhere I wouldn't want to be for eternity...
Luke 13:28
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

As in Noah's day, people today marry, go to Costco, wash their car...etc. (Well nobody went to Costco in Noah's day but you know what I mean)... Then knew nothing until judgement came. Christ's return will take our generation by surprise. Judgement will strike all who refuse to receive Him as their Savior and Lord (read 2 Peter 3 again). If Christ came today, would you be like the unbelievers of Noah's day, absorbed in ordinary human activities, unaware of how near Christ's return is or where you will be for eternity? If you belong to Christ, you need not fear His coming. Really I would rather be with Jesus in Heaven than here on Earth wondering all my earthly concerns...
I do however look forward to His coming as a bride looks for her husband's return or as a child looks for the return of a beloved father. Christ Himself makes everyone cleansed by faith and committed to His cross worthy and ready for is coming.

Read Matthew 24:36-44
No One Knows the Day or Hour
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[e] but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour[f] your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Now read 1 John 1 :9
Don't worry about mistakes, past sins and past failures. God is faithful to forive us our sins. All we have to do is ask.

I'll end with some statements and questions....

Keep watch and remember God's word!

To be ready is to know Christ and be doing His work.

How can we change lives just by being who God wants us to be?

All of life is moving toward Jesus' return to Earth.

Only God knows all the answers!

Ahh, much better

Today I actually worked in the yard. It was one of the 1st times this year. We had so much snow this year that I would have already been out on weed patrol... but this year I'm behind. The two from mounds that are near the house and have shrubs on them are loaded with weeds. But they are the kind that you can only see if you are looking up close. They seem to have aged into black/dirt color. They do have little white blooms on them but I'm skipping them. They are about done in their season. What I was focusing on today was the back mound that is above the rock wall. I raided the lean-to and pulled out the leaf rake, the wheel barrow and the hula-hoe and I was on a mission. Miss D was down for a nap.. (side note she slept for 4 hours during nap time yesterday, so I wasn't holding my breathe for another nap like that today). I had to limited time to accomplish my mission. The task I had laid out for myself included hula-hoeing the entire back mound to free it of weeds and rough up the top layer of soil, so that I could easily rake out the weeds and the dirt clods that had made a sweet home over the winter. I also had to rake UP the dirt from the top of the rock wall because of the torrential downpours that we get over the fall and winter that erodes some of the dirt down. So in turbo mode I went to work. I could feel my protein shake for lunch wearing out about half way through my mission. That just means burning stored calories for energy! My arms were beginning to fatigue and I was getting annoyed with all the dry dirt that I was inhaling. Pressing on I finished and then I moved on to the raking. I raked the junk into piles and then I scooped them up with the shovel. I took the wheel barrow full of dirt/decomposed leaves/ weed mix and dumped it over the back edge of our yard. That is the beauty of living in the forest... I can dump and nobody could ever guess that I dumped there... it all looks the same. The mound looks so nice from inside the house when I look out now. Then I decided to tackle along the base of the rock wall that is next to the grass. We have a pile of wood chips that has been out in our field since last summer and I thought hmmmmm... chips would look good along the base of the rock wall. So I went on with the task. I had to fill the wheelbarrow up 5 times full of chips. I really didn't think that I would need that much. My back was really hurting after that. Way to much bending over and spreading piles of chips with my hands. I was done... I came in and got rid of the dirt caked clothes and laid down on the couch to let my vertebrae realign... I think I was down for about 10 minutes. Just long enough to start to relax when I hear a bedroom door open and a little rosy cheeked girl say "Mama, are you?"

April 2nd

April 2nd.
THE GLORY THAT EXCELS

"The Lord . . . hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight." Acts 9:17

When Paul received his sight, he received spiritually an insight into the Person of Jesus Christ, and the whole of his subsequent life and preaching was nothing but Jesus Christ - "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." No attraction was ever allowed to hold the mind and soul of Paul save the face of Jesus Christ.
We have to learn to maintain an unimpaired state of character up to the last notch revealed in the vision of Jesus Christ.
The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of the life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a man after God's own heart.
Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.
"Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,I've lost sight of all beside,So enchained my spirit's vision,Gazing on the Crucified."


...and happy birthday dad yesterday!!!