So let's talk about words!

I apologize for not posting more often! And I can't use the excuse I'm too busy...there is always time to write a nice letter to my friends, right?

Actually we have been pretty busy since my last post from January!!! We had a great three months ministering in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and on our way home, North Carolina. We worked on our Florida cottage, took time to visit with friends, meet new friends; truly enjoyed our time south.

We have been back home (Wisconsin) since April! Since then we've been to many churches in WI, IL, IA, and MN! Busy!!! Had family gatherings, visits with my mom, and our oldest grandson graduated from High School. We had two weeks away from home. One was for vacation and one was to attend Bible Camp. We are both in good health and we are enjoying the warm 'up north' weather.

______________________________________________________

Awhile ago I was challenged on a social site by a friend to find one word for the day that would sync with their word so the two words coming together would make some sense! As you know there are 365 days in a year; using one word for each day! That's a lot of words to come up with! And the challenge is to come up with a new word every day! No repeats!

I have two little sheets of paper that I'm using to jot down the words for each day. I look at it because at my age I can't even remember the word I picked for yesterday. Two little pieces of paper that have, oh about...after using the calculator...190 words. Not a lot at all! We probably use that many words when we first get up in the morning. My personal challenge is to find the word from my daily Bible reading, wherever I am in the Bible that day! Try to find a word; sometimes not knowing what my friend's word is!

Believe me it's not easy! Especially since I can't reuse a word! It is amazing how the two words do come together though! My list contains the usual words we might think of like: love, praise, grateful, thankful, wait, endure; words like that. Some were different: riddle, cost, me, lips, snares, buy. Depends, like I said, on what my friend uses. One day they chose that long word from Mary Poppins: supercalafrag...etc. (I'm not going to spell it out); that's when I chose the word riddle!

My word-for-the-day challenge is to have it make sense but for it to also have meaning. Not just a random word from my reading, but for the word to challenge me throughout the day, or encourage me. Words like wait, stand, and know.

During Pentecost the words flowed together for three days! 'With one accord' from Acts 2:1. On June 7 (Saturday) I chose 'with' and they chose 'commence'. Together the two words are: commence with. On Sunday the word I chose was 'one' and they chose 'consecrate'. Together it's: consecrate(d) one. On Monday I chose 'accord' and they chose 'validate'. Together it read like this: validate (with one) accord! Interesting.

It may seem like a silly challenge, but I'm committed to it. Maybe at the end of the year I'll write a story using the word-for-the-day list and see how it looks.

Hope you enjoyed the story of my little challenge. Maybe you will be challenged in your heart to find a word for the day that will help you and encourage you to be stronger and better for Him.

Psalm 119:11: Your word I have hidden in my heart...

We Made It!

Actually we've been in Florida for about 3 weeks; I should have posted earlier! Our trip down was delayed by three days due to weather conditions. When traveling to our southeast ministry we usually try to schedule a service about one-third of the way down so we don't have two 10-12 hr. driving days. Because of two snow storms in the mid-west our services were cancelled. [We enjoyed attending our home-church service on Sunday though.] Then, or should I say--still, the weather was a brutally cold -20 as a real temperature, then add a wind chill and the temps dropped to between 40 & 50 below. That delayed us another day. Besides that our usual travel route through Illinois was covered in snow, with major highways closed.

We changed our route by traveling west to near St. Louis, MO then back east again into southern IL (past the 10" of snow). We did encounter snow covered roads and a few patches of ice, but Bill was driving so it was all good!

All that to say we are in Florida and enjoying our version of the polar vortex. I know, "don't whine", but it's cold here, too (for Florida). Freezing temps at night, wind chills; crazy. Having to wear cold weather attire in the Sunshine State is not by choice! Bring on the flip-flops, shorts, and sleeve-less tops... Okay, I'll stop now! Believe me when I say, though, that I feel for all of our family and friends up north who are dealing with this winter. Be smart, stay safe, and travel only if you have to!

_________________________________________________________

My main reason for this blog, though, is to say with utmost humility and sincerity that Bill and I have been on the Daniel Fast from January 1-21. Which means we did not eat any meat, bread, or sweets. Actually it's the Ultimate Daniel Fast (feel free to search under that name for more information). We fasted from many of our favorite foods such as coffee, dairy products, soda, processed foods; normal food for most of Americans! We did eat though! A lot of beans, rice, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Lot's of new recipes that I will incorporate into our normal daily diet.

How people fast is altogether up to the individual of course and there are a myriad of different ways to fast. Because of health issues, people who need to eat to take medications may fast from caffeine, soda, social media, TV, etc. It's not necessarily just food! Like I said, how people fast are as varied as people.

The purpose of fasting is to get closer to God by voluntarily depriving ourselves and showing Him we are sincere and committed to getting closer. The focus of fasting is not the deprivation, but the time of prayer that replaces the eating (or the 'giving-up'). The praying is how we get closer to God. And it's not to be confused with, "well I gave this up for you, now what are you going to do for me?"--NO! With a humble attitude we are thankful for the opportunity to show God we are sincere and willing to 'give-up' for His sake. Look at what He gave up for us!!!

What have I learned? That it's not easy, but it is easy!!! Make sense? The not easy part was knowing my dependency on certain foods had to be replaced by being dependent on Him. Not easy was taking the extra time to humble myself and pray during the day, instead of eating or snacking. Not easy was trying to fast but also trying not to be obvious about it when we were invited out to a meal. [As a side note: when driving down here we had a little difficulty finding places to eat that met the requirements of no bread, no meat, no sweets! On the two occasions when eating out we had to veer a little to accommodate the menu!!! Ask me about that when you see me next!!!]

The easy part was shopping and making the recipes for the foods we could eat. All these years of eating rather plain, everyday meals; it's not that hard eating healthier! Easy was doing it together as a couple, I didn't have to make two meals. Easy was meeting with God in prayer, being in His presence; realizing His love for me. Any denial or effort on my part is not to be applauded, it's just something you do. It's not to be compared to anything earth shattering or for accolades. It's to bring me closer to Him who loves me, regardless. That's just the way He is! His promises are true!

Here is a scripture from Matthew that may help. Jesus had just given the Sermon on the Mount and was talking about fasting.

• Matthew 6:16-18, "...when you fast...your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

We are grateful for the opportunity and experience of this adventure and we look ahead to all that will be accomplished because of it. Not of what we did, but because He is faithful.

Blessings!

It's a New Year and it's time to go South!

Happy New Year 2014!
 
We often say, 'how time flies', but it really does as we get older. 2013 was exciting, yes; but probably not too much different than yours. It was a normal year!!! Actually we are grateful it was normal. With all the miles we drive and places we go, we are truly thankful that no harm has come to us.

It's been an exciting and rewarding 2013 with all the thrills and chills we had, but maybe didn't expect. From January to December we have experienced so much that we are grateful for, that it out-weighs anything 'bad' that happened.

In comparison to others, though, our 'bad' experiences are nothing. We have so many friends that are dealing with cancer, illnesses that won't go away, deaths, and relationship difficulties. In all these situations we know that the heavenly Father is right there with them, helping them to deal with their pain.

Anyway, this time of year we are preparing, cleaning, packing, and getting ready to head out to the South for our winter ministry in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, & North Carolina. We'll be busy with ministry, yes; but will have some free time to work on our cottage, visit with friends, attend services at our home church (Pleasant Grove Assembly), and maybe do some sight-seeing.

We'll miss our family here, of course, but with today's technology we can keep in contact easily. A bonus again this year is my sister and her husband will be in Florida for a couple of months, too! That's always fun!

So begins 2014! A clean, new calendar. Every date that's important like birthdays and anniversaries are already marked. Sunday's are filled with services. Some special events are already scheduled.

As the year progresses, though, there might be some erasures of dates or plans cancelled or white-out when a service has been rescheduled to another date. Or that special event has been changed. Things happen, we know. Things change and we go with the flow.

It helps when we can go with the flow and be flexible. Less stressful that way. It's helpful not to be too controlled by our schedules and look for the opportunities to help one another in some way.

For me, that is a good start to the new year: look for the opportunities to be of help to someone.