Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Storm has passe

   Big storm came through yesterday.. Weatherman predicting 4 to 8 inches... Well ~ we got 6 inches and the storm was finished by afternoon.. There was suppose to be strong winds and drifting snow.. Was so happy to not get the winds and today it's going to be a beautiful day~!  Sunny...It's already 28 and that is good.
     I'm leaving here in a little bit to go to Illinois to take care of my Illinois grandchildren (4).. Son, Rich and his wife,Lisa are in Las Vages for their anniversary.. They have been sending lots of pictures and looks like they are so enjoying themselves.. They will be back in Chicago on Friday afternoon... Lisa's mom has been there for 2 1/2 days and I'll be there for a couple days until they get home..
     The pheasants (3) are at the feeder this morning.. One has lost all his tailfeathers.. I looked it up to see why he has no tail feathers. It said that they when birds lose their tail feathers it's called fright mold.  It's a survival mode that occurs during trama.  All the tail feathers pop out to confuse their predator. The feathers will grow back about 4 to 6 weeks..   That is good because this bird looks funny without his tail feathers..
       This morning in my devotion it talked about Spiritual Maturity comes by degrees..
How would you describe someone who is spiritually mature? Leonard Wedel says: "A mature person does not take himself too seriously...keeps himself alert in mind ...does not always view with alarm every adverse situation that arises...Is too big to be little...never feels to great to do little things, and is never too proud to do humble things...never accepts either success or failure in themselves as permanent...is one who is able to control his or her impulses...is not afraid to make mistakes...has faith in themselves which becomes stronger as it is fortified by their faith in God."  So measured by that standard, how well are you doing ?  Are you able to evaluate your progress,without getting discouraged or feeling condemned?  Can you look at how far you still have to go, yet be able to appreciate and celebrate how far you have already come?  The Bible says we are changed "from one degree of glory to another."  Notice, spiritual maturity takes place by degrees.. In small steps, not giant leaps.. You must learn to live by God's Word, not by how you feel , for His Word states that as long as you believe, God is working in you:  "The Word of God...is effectually at work in you who believe (exercising it's superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it) " (1TH 2:13)  There is a direct connection between your daily intake of God's Word and your maturity level.. And the good news is, God hasn't left us to do it on our own. "We...are being transformed...from glory to glory...by the Spirit" (2Co 3:18)
Have a Blessed Day~! ta ta for now from Iowa

Monday, March 04, 2013

Come to the Light~!

This week-end was our Women's Retreat in Wyoming , Iowa.. What a great time we had.. 25 women came and what a joyous time we had. The picture is how our tables were decorated.. I loved the tulips...and the spring decorations..~! 
Friday evening we had a great supper served by some ladies at the camp. I showed the girls how to make candles.. They really liked this project and was able to take a candle home with them...Then we had worship time and sang songs.  We watched 3 videos from Women of Faith, Nicole Johnson.. Oh she is so awesome,,,we watched a funny one ...one that was a little funny....and then a serious one.. We had a candle ceremony to show how much God loves us and we need to show our light...our Holy Spirit light.. We then all went to bed after singing lots of worship songs.. The full moon was out and it was shining on my bed in the middle of the night.It was so beautiful.
      Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast.. sang more worship songs and then Nancy Griffith game us a message called "Come to the Light".. She is a fantastic speaker and we had 3 girls come forward to accept Christ into their lives... I cried and thought it was just wonderful.. I'm sure God was happy too.   After lunch all the girls gathered their things and packed their cars to get ready to go home.. We all gathered into the dining area and we just sat and talked about our week-end.. They didn't want it to end.. course neither did I... 
     When we parted we had lots of hugs to give to each other and we all got into our cars and went home... It was a successful week-end and God blessed us with another Ladie's retreat..~! 
ta ta for now from Iowa:)