January 2nd

Still upward be your onward course:

For this I pray today;

Still upward as the years go by,

and seasons pass away.

Still upward in this coming year,

Your path is all untried;

Still upward may you journey on,

Close by your Savior's side.

Still upward although sorrow come,

And trials crush your heart;

Still upward may they draw your soul,

With Christ to walk apart.

Still upward till the day shall break,

And shadows all  have flown;

Still upward till in Heaven you wake,

And stand before the throne.

Charles H. Spurgeon

2015

"The Lord your God cares for (it); the eyes of the Lord.... are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end."  Deuteronomy 11: 11 - 12

The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today.

It will be a good and blessed New Year!

dewy kind of morning and odb

It's cool out.

Feels like fall.

We had rain in the night and now everything is covered in a dew.

So pretty.

Truman and I took a walk.

These are mornings I enjoy.

No chaos getting the girls out the door.

No drama.

Lots of hugs and kisses.

The weather is alot like my morning in how the rain and cooler temperatures are kissing the plants.
Leaving them glistening.

 I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy it.

My ODB for the day {Our Daily Bread}

I'm finding my devotion time is much better once the girls are out the door and things are quiet.

I liked this mornings devo, I bookmarked it.

'As God becomes our sanctuary, we'll more readily turn our hearts toward Him in prayer.'

I tend to lean towards the side of me that wants to control the situation, instead of stopping and praying, laying it down at his feet.

I stumble on my words in prayer which used to bother me. 

I guess I felt I needed to sound eloquent. {HA!}

God must have been up in heaven shaking his head at me (lovingly) and giggling at that.

He knows my thoughts, he doesn't need to be impressed.

He loves me and my words as they are.

Mostly simple and clumsy.

I know he wants me to come to him, as I am.

I know he is my sanctuary.

Imperfect, simple, clumsy Nyla needs to live this way.

Everyday.

When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek." - Psalm 27:8

Psalm 23:4

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for YOU are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

This is my devotion for the day.  I'm finding comfort in this scripture today.  Praying it over loved ones who need security and comfort.  God knows my needs each day and today, reading this scripture is his way of using me to pray for my family.

A recent e-mail has reminded me once again how great a family I truly have.  Generations past paved the way that I might have a personal relationship with Christ.  I love to hear stories of my ancestors, to get a glimpse into what their lives were like, how they worked hard, how they loved.  Truly inspirational to know I came from that.  Makes me want to do my best to leave the same legacy with my descendants.  It makes me worry for the future as well.  GOD IS MY COMFORT, he is my family's comfort, I must remember this. 

joy at midnight

"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!" Philippians 4:4.

This was yesterdays devotion.  Philippians was written by Paul to express the Joy he felt towards the Christians at Philippi.

In my world, as of late, one might think it is hard to rejoice.

Last night I laid in bed, in pain, thinking of those on my prayer list. Feeling sorry for them and myself.  I was sulking when this verse popped in my head.  "Rejoice dag nab it in God, and again I say rejoice!"  **The dag nab it is of course not from Paul, just my oww Missouri version.**  Paul used an exclamation mark (!) at the end of the verse.  So as Grace has learned this year, he said it with excitement! He said it with JOY!

So who was I not to follow the scriptures command?  I started rejoicing right then in the fact that I had food in my belly!  I have my healthy, loving husband of 20 years snoozing next to me!  I have two sweet girls to give me joy each and every day! Dag nab it I will rejoice!

So I rejoiced, at midnight.

Then I fell peacefully asleep.

I wonder what today's devotion will bring?

beautiful feet?

It is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!"  Romans 10:15

What's the best news you've ever heard?

That's the question I was asked on my daily devotion the other day.  My answer - finding out I was pregnant with Grace.  It was a surreal moment.  I asked the nurse two more times if she was sure.  Getting to that point was a long process and to know it was real was unbelievable.  Lots of JOY.  Good news.

How easy it is for us today to communicate the good news.  E-mail, texting, cell phones etc...  In ancient times, messages were carried the old fashioned way: by couriers.  Our communication devices are our tools as their feet were their tools.  We have a responsibility to share the good news, of God's love, God's forgiveness. 

In the ancient world, thankful, thrilled people would say to those who brought good news, "Your feet are beautiful!"

Made me stop and look at my own. 

Are they beautiful? 

Am I sharing?