A blessing for a birthday gift....

 Today I read an article about a favorite birthday gift.  The article was written by a person who said her favorite birthday gift ever was a blessing from her grandmother.  The grandmother, year after year, would give this birthday blessing to each grandchild on their birthday.  

Many happy returns on the day of thy birth,

May sunshine and gladness be given.

May God in His mercy prepare you on earth

For a beautiful birthday in heaven. (Jacobs and Lincoln)

The author of the article said she waited all day for the blessing.  Sometimes her grandmother would call, sometimes she would give the blessing when she saw the child that day, or sometimes it was given at the family birthday party.  She said it was the same gift every year and one that she carried with her all year and now gives to her family.  

I just thought this was a great idea and an idea for a family tradition that could be used by us. 

"Our grandchildren need hopeful, encouraging, inspiring words from the people they love.  I pray the Lord will give us the eyes to see the significance of even the smallest word of encouragement.  May we renew our efforts to share simple, special moments with our grandchildren and reassure them that they are loved and never alone." Kay Swatkowski

Praying aloud with your spouse and grandkids...

 I want to share with you all a couple of ideas for praying at night before the lights go out with your spouse and or your children and grandchildren.

    Gail and I began praying together aloud as a couple at night before we went to sleep many years ago.  Someone wisely gave us this advice when we were a young couple.  We have kept doing this now for fifty years.  It has been a wonderful thing to do. By praying aloud and together you know what your spouse is thinking and concerned about.  It helps you to know their thoughts.  It lets you pray in agreement for your concerns. There have been a few times that we were struggling in our relationship and it was very difficult to pray together.  But having committed to doing this we were able to settle our differences and mend our relationship before we prayed.  Just couldn't sleep on the couch!

    We also prayed aloud with our children as we tucked them in and are now trying to do the same with our grandkids when they get to stay all night at our house.  We usually pray and then let the child pray.  This is such a blessing!!!  Sometimes the grandchild will be in our bedroom on the floor in a sleeping bag and we all three get to pray aloud before we go to sleep.  Such a huge honor to have the grandchildren praying with us.  Sometimes we may have several grandchildren staying with us, I am tired, and I am thankful it is bedtime.  Sometimes I want to just say goodnight and turn off the light!!! But (I am preaching to me) don't miss an opportunity to pray with those special little ones, to know their hearts, to hear their prayers to our God!  This is an honor and privilege and a way to help the grandchildren cement their relationship with our Lord!

Hope these ideas can help your marriage and family! God Bless You!

My thoughts about Halloween...

 Thoughts about Halloween from an old granma.....Just saying....

It is that time of year again already.  Just want to tell you the older I get the more I feel the need to steer clear of this holiday.  It has such a dark spiritual feel to me.

I can think back to enjoying Halloween as a child.  One year, now to my horror, I was dressed as a witch and we had a party at my grandmother's basement.  Now it bothers me that I was dressed like that.  You see, I do not want in any way to open myself up to let the devil have a foothold in my life.  

Your actions now can affect not only you but your children or grandchildren.

We also need to be watchful about what we let into our homes.  Is there anything in them that would attract Satan and his evil spirits?  It is a good idea every once in a while to look around and clean things out that don't honor God.  

As Christians, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Let us do all we can to keep them clean and honoring to Him. I Cor. 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.   

I am asking you to listen to the nudgings of the Holy Spirit in your life. Don't harden your heart but seek what God has for you as you decide to celebrate or not celebrate this holiday. 

A couple of questions you could ask yourself are:

Would I do this if Jesus was with me?  

Will this action honor God? 

 Will this help or hurt my Christian witness?

Will this activity help me to grow spiritually?

Just saying .......because I love and care about you all. 

TRUTH....or....LIES? What will you believe?

One of my granddaughters recently posted this picture on her Facebook page.   It brought me a lot of joy to see that she saw the value of this sign:

Then my grandmother's devotion this morning addressed these issues.  There are so many thoughts we let roll around in our minds that are not true.  No one likes me.  No one loves me.  Everyone else has friends but me. God only loves perfect people.  I should make everyone happy all the time.  It doesn't matter what I think or how I feel.  It is all my fault.. . . . . . 

Many of us believe lies about ourselves because of our past.  Maybe we have someone who has abused or neglected us.  Some of us believe lies about God or His Word. Maybe we don't know the Truth of God's Word and have believed lies instead.  Maybe we have had a spiritual battle and have let Satan have the victory.  These 'things/battles' can cause us great pain and distress.  

At these times - when you have these thoughts and struggles - remember that God is with you.  These are lies and we can be free from them.  First, surrender your life to Christ and accept His salvation. Then accept the freedom from the 'lies' that you have been delivered or are thinking.  Correct the faulty beliefs.  Don't accept them.  Remember YOU ARE LOVED BY GOD.  YOU ARE HIS PRECIOUS CHILD!

Remember no one is perfect.  We are all sinners. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  

We can have forgiveness for our sins when we ask.  I John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.

Know God's Word and stand by it.  Ephesians 6:14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.  

Guard your thoughts.  2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every lofty opinion, raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Don't conform to the world but be transformed and changed through Christ and the Bible. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  

Think about those things that are true and pure and good.  Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  

KNOW YOU ARE LOVED AND VALUED!!