Breakfast

Ending the 2nd week of my fast.  Woke up this morning wondering what I should eat for breakfast.  I can have oatmeal, but I have been having my oatmeal with bananas and a sprinkle of nuts.  I've run out of bananas and nuts.  Time and money are limited this morning.  I just don't like plain old oatmeal.  Ugh!

As I sit here writing this blog now, though, I'm not starving anymore.  No, I don't feel full.  I just feel satisfied. Jesus said, 'I am the Bread of Life.'  Spending time with Him and His Word has satisfied my need this morning.

What are you hungering or thirsting for this morning?  What needs do you have?  God can and will meet those needs.  Feed on Him.

Love ya!

Deuteronomy  8:2-3
Matthew 5:6
Luke 11:2-4
John 6:31-33
Philippians 4:19

And if you are REALLY hungry:
John 6 (Entire chapter)
Philippians4 (Entire chapter)

Light Up the Sky

Light Up the Sky by the Afters
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LQH6UDi15s

Yesterday, I got up feeling a 'slight' sense of dread because after 2 days off from work, I was going to start my work week, my Monday, again (I don't work on Tuesday and Wednesday).  To be honest, I felt a little sad.

Then, while my fifteen year old granddaughter and I were in the car later yesterday morning, this song came on the radio.  My granddaughter started singing along with the radio and, for the first time, I really listened to the words.  As we turned into my apartment complex parking lot, I looked at the sky.  After the Wednesday's 'gray day', God had painted such a beautiful picture of blue, sprinkled with splashes of white fluffy clouds.  He had literally lit up the sky.  In that moment, I sensed the presence of God.  He literally lit up my life and my mood changed.  I realized that no matter what I faced on my job that night, whether it be technical difficulties or difficult customers, He would be with me.

God can and will bring light to the dark places in our lives.  After all, He is light!  How awesome is that?  Let Him light up your life today!

I John 1:5


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dodmTXarNFs

Seasons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADWBpYD4e9Y 

Today's forecast (according to WXII.com):  Rain mixed with and possibly changing to wet snow (2"-4" accumulation in the mountains).  Wintry mix possible tonight, then clearing and colder.  Patches of black ice possible. 

Ugh!  I don't like winter! Lifeless looking trees.  Cold quietness.  No bees buzzing and very few birds chirping.  Ugh!   I don't like gray days!  Gray days are not fun.  Gray days are depressing sometimes, especially when the weather prohibits me from getting out and doing what I want to do (like possibly tomorrow morning).  Gray days make me feel isolated.  I'm easily agitated and aggravated.  I feel bored and if I can't get out of the house for long periods of time, I begin to get a little stir-crazy.  SUN,  where are you?  Please come out and rescue me!  Hurry up, springtime!

Ah, spring!  The season of new life!  One of my two favorite seasons!  Trees begin to bud and flowers begin to bloom.  The earth begins to live again.  A beautiful type of serenity hangs in the air.  Can you feel it?  Peaceful.  Oh, I know we will have rainy days, but the rain has a purpose.  It helps to give life to what was dead.  Knowing why it is raining makes it more easy to tolerate.  No more isolation.  I'm out and I'm moving.  I am alive again!

Then comes summer.  Long days.  I wish the day would be over quickly.  The heat and humidity are exhausting sometimes.  It's so hot sometimes, I think I can't breathe.  Then night comes and brings a respite.  The coolness of night allows me to rest and get up the next morning refreshed...ready for whatever the day may bring.  Still those long, hot days of summer make me feel uncomfortable sometimes.

After summer comes my second favorite season...fall.  The beauty of fall is amazing.  God paints a beautiful kaleidoscope of deep colors against a pastel blue sky.  So refreshing.  It's as if nature is having its last performance before succumbing to winter.

Each season brings change.  Each season is necessary.  So it is with our lives.

• The winters in our lives are usually the most painful and difficult.  Emotions may be cold.  We may feel isolated or choose to be isolated because of the pain.  Something in our lives is dying or has died.  It is hard to believe that we will live again.  But it is only through this processing of dying that we can move on the newness of spring.
• The springtimes in our lives brings new hope and new beginnings.  It is a time to begin to live again.  Start fresh.  Renew.  And when it rains, we know it is only to help us grow.
• Our summers can be challenging.  Life brings struggles that tend to weigh us down.  We become exhausted by our trials and challenges, but God in the midst of it all brings peace...if we let him.
• Then there is fall.  When we finally see the beauty of Who God is in the midst of the changes of our lives.  We look through His kaleidoscope and see life as He intends it to be.  We allow Him to prepare us for the next season with the assurance that no matter what changes life brings, He will be there with us.

What season are you in?  Maybe you are in more than one.  Maybe you are transitioning to the next.  Remember seasons come and season go.  Challenges come and challenges go.  Change is necessary so that we may grow and become all the God wants us to be.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Jeremiah 29:11-14

Love ya,


Lolly

Introducing Panning for Gold

 Who me?  Blog?  Who'd ever thunk it?  Just to let you know...I may not always be grammatically correct.  Not planning to dot every 'i' and cross every 't'.  I'm just planning to be me.  Wow!  I made a rhyme already!  This is good!


I'm excited about blogging.  Why?  I don't know.  I have always enjoyed writing.  Never any complaints from me when the teacher would assign an essay in school (btw, that was a long time ago).  It has been hard for me to focus long enough to write nowadays, though.  I guess this season of fasting and prayer is teaching me to become more focused and disciplined, hence I think I can handle this blog thing.  We shall see!


What will  I be blogging about?  Glad you asked.  Let's see.  The purpose of this blog.  The why's, the what's, the who's?  Let's start with what I DON'T plan to do.  I don't plan to use this blog as a virtual pulpit. I don't plan to preach (I used to preach behind a pulpit, but most people don't know that...so shh...).  I just want to share and I want you to share, too.   As God gives me nuggets, I DO plan to share them.  In fact, I believe that God has already given me several little nuggets to share.  More about that later. Back to what I don't plan to do.   I DON'T plan to use this blog to verbally lash out at any person, place or thing.  Opinions are fine.  Everyone has at least one or more.  Opinions, though, are just that.  They are thoughts, feelings, even conclusions that may or may not be valid or based on facts.  Opinions can be harmful, though, if they are expressed to berate, belittle, tear down or discourage.  I am an encourager by nature, or so I have been told.  I want to build up, not tear down.  I DON'T plan to use profanity on this blog, so consequently, any comments or posts by others on this blog that contain profanity will be DELETED!  Okay, enough with what the blog isn't.  Let's move on to what I envision this blog will be, do, become...whatever.  You know what I mean (I hope).


One of the definitions I found for the word 'blog' is an online diary/journal.  Wikipedia says:  


"The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life..."

With that being said, and for those of you who like lists or short, concise statements, here goes.  My blog:

• Will be a place where everyone can participate.  I'm interested in what you have to say.  Hence the name of the blog, 'Panning for Gold.'  I want you to share your nuggets.
• Will be about life.  Life happens everyday.  Transparency is not a problem for me.  I want to share life with you.
• Will give me, as well as you, an opportunity to share a smile, a warm-fuzzy, even a tear.
• Will be informative.  I will share the who, what, when (I might not always know the 'why') of my life.  I will post upcoming events happening not only in my life, but in yours, the community and the church.  Please feel free to share any informative posts.
• Will share golden nuggets that I believe God has given me to share.
• Will be a place to share Life Lessons.  If I had a penny for all the lessons that life has taught me so far, I would be rich.  I want to share the wealth.
• Will be a place of fellowship/community.  A more intimate kind of 'facebook.'
• Will be a place to share the funny stuff of life.

My blog will be a place of encouragement and love.  A place of acceptance and understanding.  A place where it is okay to take the mask off and be real.  It will be a place 'just to BE.'  What else will this blog be?  Only time will tell and only HE knows.

Bedtime.  First blog coming soon.  Keep checking back.

Love ya!

Lolly

Oh, I haven't completed my profile yet.  Will work on that soon!