Looking Forward to 2023....Looking Back at 2022

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

I wonder how many of you are waking up today, asking the same question I am:

WHERE DID 2022 GO???

As I look back and reflect on everything that happened in those 365 days, I see God's hand in it all. He is a loving, faithful Father, no matter what challenges, changes, losses, and victories we experience in life. Thankfully that is still true, even with the flip of a calendar page and the ushering in of a new year. 

I've chosen the word Shalom as my word for 2023. Last year I chose the word Peace, and although shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, I've recently learned that shalom has a deeper meaning than what we might define as peace. 

In his book The Wonder of Advent Devotional, author Chris Tiegreen writes that shalom is "the Hebrew word we often translate as peace, and it does mean that. But it's so much more. It's a state of spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being that resembles the abundant life Jesus promised." 

Shalom is what we all crave deep inside. It can't be found in a job, a relationship, or a bank account. It isn't even that warm, cozy feeling we have when everything is right in our world for a day or two. All those things provide temporary peace, but it can't be sustained. Something is bound to happen that will steal that sense of peace away from us. I've had that happen over and over in this life, and I'm sure you have too.

Isaiah 9:6 declares that a child is born to us, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Shalom. This year I'm going in search of the deeper meaning of Shalom. I'll be journaling the things I learn about shalom through scripture and other readings as well as getting honest about the things I don't understand about it. If you're interested in going deeper with me, shoot me an email to receive my brief monthly update on how my journey is going. I'd love to hear your thoughts on shalom, too.

                 2022 WAS A REALLY GREAT YEAR...in spite of!

We have much to be thankful for as we look back on 2022! 

Even though our sweet boss passed away on December 26, 2021, we didn't lose our jobs. Her son and daughter-in-law, whom we love as much as we loved Miss L, have taken over the farm. In January we moved back into the house where we first lived when we came to Tennessee in 2017 and resumed our responsibilities here on the farm. 

I also learned that my older brother passed away--the first of my siblings to die. Death is so final, yet the hope of eternity with God is what keeps us going in times like this. My husband and I traveled to New Mexico over the Christmas break to attend a memorial for Mark. While it was a sad occasion, it was good to be with my family. 

The Lord continues to bless my writing endeavors, for which I'm very grateful. My novel COUNT THE NIGHTS BY STARS released in March, and just last month it won the 2023 Christianity Today Book Award for Fiction! I'm excited that I'll have new books release in 2023, 2024, and 2025 with Tyndale House Publishers, and I'll have a short story included in a compilation book published by Guideposts, publication date TBA.

 

One of the most exciting things that happened in 2022 was our oldest son proposed to his beautiful girlfriend, and she said YES!! We are over-the-moon happy for them and look forward to all that God has planned for these two! 

All in all, I feel incredibly blessed and hopeful as I head into a new year. Only God knows what awaits in those far-off tomorrows, but just knowing He is already there brings the peace, the shalom, that my soul longs for.

Blessings to you and yours,

~Michelle  

LISTEN: My word for 2021

 Happy New Year!

I hope 2021 has started well for each of you. Many are still feeling the effects of all that happened in 2020, and my prayer is that this new year will bring peace, joy, healing, and everything else this hurting world needs. 

For the past few years, I've chosen a word to meditate on in the new year. TRUST in 2017 when we lost our jobs and moved to Tennessee. REST in 2018 after surviving the craziness of 2017. HOPE in 2019 as I began writing a new book. COURAGE in 2020 as that book, Under the Tulip Tree, went out in to the world. 

The word I've chosen for 2021 is LISTEN. 

Listen is such an interesting word. To listen is different than simply hearing. We hear things--music, voices, birds, traffic, etc-- all day long, but we don't necessarily listen to them. The Pharisees heard Jesus speaking, but they didn't listen to what he was saying. The same is all too often true when GOD speaks to us today. Whether it's through His Word or through our spirits, listening to him--not just hearing--is vital! To listen also requires action. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!"

With the new year underway, I'm determined to listen more. I looked up a few verses to keep me on track: 

"Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone." Deuteronomy 6:4 NLT

"This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him." Luke 9:35 and Mark 9:7 NLT

"Listen to me and remember what I say." Luke 9:44 NLT

"Pay attention to how you hear." Luke 8:18 NLT

And my favorite, the verse I've chosen for 2021:

"My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27 NLT

Listen. 

I think it's a great way to start a new year! This song by Chris McClarney, I'm Listening, is the perfect song to go with it. "Quiet my heart, I'm listening."

Blessings, 

~Michelle

Finding HOPE in the New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The last few years I've chosen a word to sort of embody the new year. I try not to simply pick a word I like, but rather a word that is on my heart and in my spirit. A word I need to learn more about, to really dig into.

2017 was a year of TRUST. On January 1st I wrote that word on a rock I found on the property in Texas where we were living and working. I also included the scripture reference I felt God had given me to remind me to trust Him: "Taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who trusteth in Him." (Psalm 34:8) I had several things in mind that I needed to trust him for and set about praying for them. As you may have guessed, they were NOT the things I truly needed to trust God with. In August of that year we lost our jobs. We spent the next eight weeks learning to trust God's plan and His provision. Our faithful Father knew what our future held when I chose the word Trust, and He taught us that no matter what challenges we face in life, we are His children. In October we left Texas and moved to Tennessee to begin our new jobs working as Caretakers of a beautiful farm owned by a beautiful widow who truly loves and appreciates us. I look back on 2017 with joy and gladness of heart because I learned the deeper meaning of trust.

2018 was a year of REST. After all the excitement and stress of 2017, I needed rest. Rest of body. Rest of mind. And rest of soul. I claimed Hebrews 4 in the Message Bible for the new year. The word "rest" appears in this passage ten times! King David also spoke of rest in Psalm 62:1 & 5: "My soul finds rest in God alone; my hope comes from him." I learned that rest doesn't mean being lazy and laying around. It means pausing from life's worries and busyness to remember that God is God and we are not. We can safely rest in Him and His love.

Because I rested so well in the LORD through 2018, I find myself raring to go in 2019! As I pondered what word to chose, I kept coming back to Expectation. While we were in Texas over the Christmas holiday, we took our boys to the coast for a family vacation. I found a sweet little rock on the beach that would be perfect for my word of the year, and suddenly I knew what it was: HOPE. The definition of hope is "a feeling of expectation and a desire for a certain thing to happen; to expect with confidence; trust. I don't know exactly what I'm expecting, but I know it will be good. God is our Father and He loves pouring out blessings on his children. Yes, he also disciplines when we go astray and disobey, but His heart is that of a loving Daddy, our Abba. He already knows what 2019 holds, so I'm heading into it with expectation--with hope!--willing to go wherever He leads.

My heart's prayer for 2019 for myself and for you is found in one of my favorite verses:

"May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Blessings to you and yours in the New Year!

~Michelle

P.S. Here are some more of my favorite verses that talk about Hope:

Psalm 33:18-22
Jeremiah 29:11
Psalm 42:11
Isaiah 40:31
Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 10:23

Rocks, Words, and a New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Wow! What an amazing year we've had! I look back and see God's fingerprints all over it, and that truly makes me smile! We went through some rough waters and made some major changes, but God was with us through every minute and every mile, and folks ... it doesn't get any better than that!

Last year I decided to join the "word picker crowd." You know, the people who choose a word to sort of represent the year ahead. Of course, it shouldn't just be any ol' word, but rather a word that is impressed upon you by the Lord through prayer and Bible study. A meaningful word just for you. As I thought about what my word would be in the days leading up to the new year, "Trust" kept coming to mind. I trusted the Lord, but I sensed He wanted to take me deeper. As the old hymn says, "Oh for grace to trust him more." Psalm 34:8 was perfect to go along with my word: "O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him." On New Year's Day I found a rock and wrote my word and my verse on it. I've kept that rock where I can see it every day of 2017. It serves as a reminder that my trust is in the Rock. When our jobs ended in August and we were unemployed for eight weeks, we trusted God had a plan. When that plan was revealed, we knew we could trust it. I never dreamed I'd be writing a blog on January 1, 2018 from a cozy little farm house in Tennessee, but here we are and we love it! Trust took on a whole new meaning for me the past year, and I'm ever so grateful for the faithful lessons God is teaching me.


A new year means a new word, and I'm already ahead of the game. Back in November I was reading in Hebrews 4 out of The Message Bible. The word "rest" is all over that chapter. I felt the Spirit telling me that was my word for 2018: Rest. So despite the frigid temperatures outside yesterday -- 17 degrees with a nippy wind! -- hubby and I set out to climb the hill behind our house and find a new rock for a new year.

Hubby searching for his rock

Although I don't necessarily make resolutions each year, I'm determined to keep the word rest as part of my daily existence.  Hebrews 4 reminds us that God gave the Israelites the promise of rest, but they didn't accept it. They constantly disobeyed God, so he basically said, "Exasperated, I vowed, 'They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest.'" (v. 6) I don't want that to be me! I absolutely want to get where God is taking me, do the things he has planned for me, and be the woman he wants me to be.

In this new year, I am going to rest in God's ...

• Power
• Peace
• Presence
• Provision
• Protection
• Possibilities
• Purposes
• Plans
• Promises
• Partnership
• Grace
• Mercy
• Love
• Salvation
• Discipline
• Instruction
• Word
• Strength
• Healing
• Help
• Holiness

Truthfully, the list is as endless as God's love, but you get the idea. Rest. It doesn't mean I get to be lazy and lay around for a year. I've got a job, a husband, responsibilities, and two new books releasing in February that all need my attention. But I will rest in knowing my Lord and my God has things under control.

Do you choose a word each year? I'd love for you to share it.

2017 was a year of Trust. 2018 will be a year of Rest!

I pray 2018 is a year full of God's presence and blessings in your life! I'm excited to see what the new year holds!

~Michelle

No Resolutions....Just Gonna Live Life

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

My hope and prayer for you is that 2016 will be one of the best years of your life! True, some years hold more problems than we can bear: heartache, pain, sorrow, illness, financial woes, relationship woes. But one thing I've learned as I've aged is that each of those situations can be overcome when you have Jesus Christ in your life. Allowing Jesus to be Lord doesn't mean you'll never experience bad or sad things. It simply means you don't have to bear them alone. He is willing and able to carry you, heal you, restore you, provide for you, etc. How do I know? Because I've experienced it! Life can be messy and downright mean sometimes. To the point there is no way to make it on your own strength. So before the year gets underway, if you are struggling with life issues or maybe you've never invited Jesus to be Lord of your life, today would be a GREAT day to let Him have control of your future!

2016! 

Wow! Hard to believe yet another year has come and gone. 2015 was a good year for us. Lots of changes, but good ones. Our oldest son graduated from college in December -- Whoop! -- and is now busy sending out resumes. Our youngest son joined the Army in November -- Whoop!! -- and is in the throes of Basic Training. We are beyond proud of both of them and pray God's perfect will for their futures!

What will the new year look like? Much like the previous year, I imagine, but with different changes sprinkled in here and there. I've never been keen on making new year's resolutions, mainly because I don't stick with them very long. A month or so at most. Weight loss. Eating healthier. Spending more time in the Word. All the usual suspects.

So instead of starting the new year with a list of "to do's," I thought I'd instead start with a list of "right now's." More like a list of blessings and Hoorah's than a list of "get 'er dones or else feel like a failure." Below is my Top Ten List. Feel free to share your own in the comments.

1. I have a Savior who loves me unconditionally.
2. My Bible is my favorite book!
3. I'm married to my very best friend. We will celebrate 29 years of marriage this year!
4. My two sons are becoming amazing young men with amazing futures. Trusting God to make His plans and purposes fulfilled in their lives. 
5. All four of us are healthy. 
6. I'm down 15 lbs from where I was last year at this time. 
7. We are making healthier food choices most of the time. 
8. We have a really good job that allows us to work together on a beautiful ranch in the hill country. 
9. Despite a mound of bills, we always have everything we need and many things we want. 
10. I am loved by family and friends. 

I hope you'll make your own list. Focusing on the positives definitely helps when the negatives come up, as they tend to do.

I'll leave you with a favorite passage from Psalm 139:23-24. It seems appropriate for the beginning of a new year. Kinda makes you want to start out with a clean slate.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

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This week's Prayer Shout Out countries area:
USA, Germany, China, Taiwan, France, Kenya, Poland, Russia, Malaysia, India, Romania, Portugal, Luxembourg

"Everything Is Meaningless!"

I'm not sure if those are the best or worst words to start a new year off. I will let you decide for yourself.

"Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!"

Those words come from Ecclesiastes 1:2. The author was most likely King Solomon, a man often given the honor as being the wisest man in the world. God himself gave Solomon his wisdom in 1 Kings 3:12. Solomon understood he couldn't rule a nation without it (wouldn't that be refreshing?!), so instead of asking for riches and the like, he asked God for wisdom. And you know what God did? He gave him wisdom AND untold riches. Pretty cool, huh?

But it is the words in Ecclesiastes that have me pondering this morning. A new year always does this to me. I wonder what the next twelve months hold for me and my family. I look back and wonder what I should have done differently in the year gone by. But more and more, the older I get, I find myself in total agreement with the Teacher.

Everything is meaningless.

To get the full meaning of the author's words, I encourage you to read all twelves chapters of Ecclesiastes. Not to be rendered hopeless, because he sees everything as meaningless, but to understand what he had discovered through all his years of  living life. A life full of "great projects" that included building houses and reservoirs, planting vineyards and orchards, owning slaves and having servants, keeping huge flocks and herds, and amassing more silver and gold and kingly treasures than anyone on earth. He had singers and entertainers and more wives than one man needed (700 to be exact!). His was a life of ruling over people, studying nature and science, and enjoying the fruits of wealth. He was not idle or lazy. He tried a life of "folly" and found it lacking.

But still, at the end of the day, he found everything in life to be meaningless.

"What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?" (v.3)

"I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (v.14)

It would easy to become depressed if one took the Teacher's words to mean life as a whole had no meaning at all. That everything we accomplish, dream, attempt, fail at, strive for, hope for, is meaningless. But to me, that isn't what he is saying. To me, he's saying everything in life is meaningless without God.

"I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (3:14)

"Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God." (5:7)

"When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift from God." (5:19)

And ultimately, his conclusion in chapter 12, verses 13 and 14:

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."

My conclusion is this:

All the "stuff" we think is so important, the things that take up so much of our time -- jobs, relationships, money, material possessions, vacations, movies, clothes, cars, houses, books, pets, even dreams and ambitions -- are meaningless...without God. As the Teacher says, we all have the same destiny, which is death. God will judge every deed we do during our time on earth. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be standing there in the puddle of a meaningless life.

My NIV Bible sums it up like this: Life not centered on God is purposeless and meaningless. Without him, nothing else can satisfy. With him, all of life and his other good gifts are to be greatly received and used and enjoyed to the full. This book contains the philosophical and theological reflections of an old man, most of whose life was meaningless because he had not himself relied on God as he should have.

I am a wife, mother, sister, employee, friend, author and dreamer. None of those things are going to make a huge difference in the masses of this world. All of those things in the grand scheme of life truly are meaningless. But because I have declared God as LORD of my life, they take on an eternal meaning that is worth far more than any earthly praise or compensation could ever begin to satisfy.

So my New Year's resolution? To continue to live my meaningless life to the best of my ability, serving and loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and body.

How about you?

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This week's Prayer Shout Out countries are:
USA, Poland, Germany, France, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Philippines, India

No Fences in 2014

Last year I told you about a little orphaned deer who somehow found herself living with a herd of goats a few miles from the ranch where we work. Here is the pic I took that day:

Not long after I took that picture, the farmer who owns the goats sold the herd. But he must have a soft spot in his heart, because he kept one mama goat and her kid to keep company with the deer, who obviously couldn't be sold along with the rest of them. Here is a picture of the little family I took just the other day:

She's grown, and so has the kid. Hubby and I look for them each time we pass the farm on our way to town. When our boys come down to visit, they look for them too. It always makes me smile when I see the three together. Like I said in my original blog Not One of Our Own, these goats allowed someone different into their world. They accepted her even though she didn't look like them. It truly is a picture of how all of us need to be a little more goatish when we meet people who are different. 

But there is one thing that is sorta sad about her story.

Because this little deer believes she's a goat -- I am convinced of that! -- she has no idea that she could easily leap over the fence that has her boxed in. She's never seen anyone jump a fence, so it's not something she would even attempt. She has no idea of the freedoms that await just on the other side of those barbed wires. The company she chose to keep -- the goats -- definitely became her family, but they've also, in their very nature of being goats, prevented her from learning the skills her mother and deer family would have taught her. It's a safe life, to be sure. There's no fear of her being hit by a car or, hopefully, no fear of hunters. She'll live out her days as the spinster aunt of that ornery kid who tried to headbutt her when he was younger. 

Yet I can't help but wonder what life would be like for this little deer on the other side of that fence? What would happen if she left her comfort zone and leaped into the life she was meant to live as a deer? 

I don't want "fences" to keep me from living out the glorious life God has planned for me. I don't want to stay in my comfort zone and miss out on some truly wonderful blessing that would have come had I taken that leap of faith. My fences may not be wire with sharp barbs, but they are just as real. 

• Fear of failure is one of the biggies. I've struggled with this my entire life. Self-doubt kept me from doing a lot of things I now wish I would have tried. And it still has a hold on me at times.
• Another fence is worry. I come by worry honestly. My mother was the World's Greatest Worrier. Although I try not to let worry eat away at me -- worry about my kids, our health, our finances, etc. -- I wake up a lot at night, worried. Yes, I pray about them, turn them over to the Lord and trust Him to take care of us...but the worry never completely goes away.
• Procrastination is another fence of my own making. I think this sometimes goes back to my fear of failure. If I don't attempt something, then I won't fail at it. But...that's failure anyway, isn't it?

So even though I'm not one to make new year's resolutions, I'm claiming the phrase, "No Fences!" for 2014. I don't want anything to keep me back from experiencing God's richest blessings for my life. Not fences of my own making, or fences that someone else might unknowingly (or knowingly) put up. God doesn't fence us in. He's given us freedoms and talents and blessings beyond measure. It's up to us to take that leap of faith and go after them. 

How about you? You wanna jump the fence with me this year?

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This week's prayer Shout-Out countries are:

USA, Russia, China, Ukraine, Germany, United Kingdom, Indonesia, South Korea, Poland, Australia, Canada, Philippines, Slovenia, Netherlands, France, Malaysia 

New Year + Old Habits = Failure to Grow

I always approach a new year with a sense of expectancy. What does the new year hold for me and my family? What will all our tomorrows bring? As Anne of Green Gables put it: "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet." And that's kinda how I look at the new year. It's full of promise, of hope. There are no mistakes in it...yet.

But one thing I've learned as I've grown older is that if I bring into the new year all the not-so-great habits of the old year, I've fallen behind before I even got started. Habits like eating too much junk and not enough veggies and fruit. Not getting enough exercise. Not spending enough quality time with my husband. Wasting too much time on the Internet and TV. Making "resolutions" is fine--I've sorta made one for this year that I've sorta kept so far--but making real change is the key.

The greatest and most important change for every single one of us in 2012 is to gain a deeper walk with God. Every year, no matter how long we've been a Christian or if we are a Christian at all, we have new opportunities for spiritual growth. Every year God wants to take us deeper, draw us closer to Himself, but all too often our old habits get in the way. We're too busy to spend time in the Word or serve in the church. We're too distracted to pray more than a quick "Hi, how ya doin', God?" type prayer before we hurry out the door. Maybe going to church isn't a priority even though you know it's a place to regenerate and help you get ready to face a world where sin is the norm. Sometimes our own opinions about God are the very thing keeping us from knowing Him more.

Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Made new!

Put on the new self!

Those are awesome words for a new year, don't you think? I'm going to do my best to put away old habits that may have kept me from going deeper in my relationship with Jesus Christ. I've been a Christian all my life, but it wasn't until the age of 28 that I truly surrendered everything to Jesus. Since then I've learned so much, grown so much, but I'm not "there" yet. I haven't learned everything there is to learn. I haven't reached a place in my spiritual maturity where I can sit back and say, "Ahhh, made it!" And honestly, I don't think we ever do, no matter how long we live or how long we serve God.

Here is my list of how I plan to go deeper in 2012. Most of these I already do now or try to do on some level, but it's a good reminder to stay faithful. I encourage you to make your own list today!

• Start every day in the Word! Every. Single. Day!
• Spend more time in prayer talking to my Lord. Can't have a relationship without conversation!
• Listen more! We often can't hear God because we're talking so much and not listening.
• To be like God in true righteousness and holiness. That's big!
• Stay faithful in my tithe, no matter the stacks of bills.
• Go to His house at least once a week. (If you don't have a church home, I encourage you to find a Bible-believing, growing church in 2012!)
• Look for more ways to serve in the church.
• Look for more ways to serve outside of the church in our community. 
• Turn off the TV and read more books on the Christian life, whether fiction or non-fiction.
• Share what God has done for me with others.
• Smile! Be a happy Christian!

Let's make 2012 the best year ever!

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Canada, Germany, Russia, China, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia, Pakistan, Israel, France

Belonging to God

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name..."

You will recognize that line if you've ever watched the television sitcom "Cheers." If not, then it's just a true statement about human nature. It's nice to belong. It's nice to fit in. It's nice not to have to work at conversation and know that the people around you love you, warts and all. We're having some friends over to ring in the New Year tonight. A fire in our fire pit, S'mores, snacks and fun are on the menu. To me, that's a perfect evening, mainly because everyone there is considered "family" even if they're not related to us.

But I got a clear picture of God's family on Christmas Day. About what it means to really, truly belong. And it's funny that it was the ten people gathered around my own table that showed it to me. All ten of us share the last name Shocklee. But as I looked around the table, I noticed something interesting:

• Only five of us were born Shocklee's.

• Three of us are Shocklee's through marriage.

• And two of us are Shocklee's through adoption.

But make no mistake. We are ONE family.

Isn't that exactly how the family of God works too? Not all of us are born Jewish, whom the Bible makes clear are God's chosen people. Jesus was a Jew. That ought to tell us how important the Jew's are to God.

But if we aren't born Jewish, does that leave us out of God's family?

No way! And I'll tell you why.

"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." John 3:16 NIV

There are no racial limits on who God loves. There aren't even any bloodline limits. He will accept everyone into His family!

"Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ." Ephesians 1:5 The Message

God wants us to be part of his family! In fact, Jesus died so you could be! He wants us to be with him forever! And just like the folks on Cheers, God definitely knows your name and will welcome you into heaven.

But though God loved the entire world enough to send Jesus as the final sacrifice for our sins, only those who believe in Jesus Christ and accept him as their Savior are in God's family. Both the above verses---plus a lot more!---make that crystal clear. Some people have a real problem with this truth. They call it "exclusionary." But God is not being exclusionary. He simply wants people in his family who really want to be there and are happy and excited to be part of it.

If you haven't done so already, make it a priority to become part of God's family in 2012! If you aren't sure how, shoot me an email through my website "Contact Me" page. I'd be honored to share the experience with you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!!

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This week's Prayer Shout Out countries are:
USA, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Lithuania, China, India, Latvia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines

My New Year's Resolution: To Be Still

I am not big on New Year's resolutions. Probably because I don't keep them. If I'd stayed on any of the January 1st diets I've started I'd be a size 3. If I'd walked every day of every year I said I was going to, I'd have walked around the world by now. You get the picture. I'm sure I'm not alone.

So this year my "resolution" if you wanna call it that is very simple:

To be still.

Simple, huh?

I'm not a "go get 'em" type of person. I'm not always on the move, so I don't mean that I want to just park some where and sit still. It's more of a state of being still inside myself. A spiritual stillness, if you will.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God."

I think sometimes our busyness of mind, body and spirit get in the way of our knowing God. If my body isn't going somewhere, my mind is whirling. There's a lot to figure out in this life, especially if you're married, have a job, have kids, etc. Even all the "conveniences" of life---computers, cell phones, TV's---all those things that are supposed to make life easier create more busyness.

So this year I just want to be still. I don't want to miss God in the busyness of life. I don't want to neglect God in the busyness of life. I want to hear His voice and feel His presence in the stillness. I want to know that I'm on the same page as God. Things I'm certain I can't do if I'm too busy with life.

"Be still," God said.

I'm gonna try!

A New Year: With or Without God?

Happy New Year, y'all!

We welcomed the new year from the comfort and safety of our living room. Eldest son, hubby and I watched "Back to the Future III" with a brief glimpse of the ball falling at midnight on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. How's that for an exciting night? ;) But this morning I was thankful to wake up in my own cozy bed in my own cozy house instead of a hotel or a strangers bed, as some people no doubt did. I was also glad my head wasn't throbbing from too much alcohol and partying the night before. There's much to be said for a quiet new year's eve.

Yes, I'm gettin' old, but I'm also gettin' wise.

Which brings me to the question I think each of us needs to ask ourselves on this first day of 2011:

Will the new year include God in our lives?

Will you spend the next 365 days walking with God or walking without Him?

Will you seek God's advice and guidance on the plans you have for 2011 or will you go it alone?

The older I get the more I realize how very much I need God in my life. I need His love. I need His grace. I need His peace. I need His promise of hope. I need to believe in more than what this world offers. Read the news and you'll see what I mean. If I didn't have hope of eternity with God, away from all the ugliness and terrible things the world offers, I wouldn't want to enter a new year.

If you know the Lord, I encourage you to make Him a priority this year.

If you don't know the Lord, I encourage you to seek Him. Genesis 1 is a good place to start.