Anchor Friday - Another Year

This was my first Anchor Friday post, one year ago, on November 21, 2008.

…we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure… Hebrews 6:18b-19a

A prayer went up to God for direction and guidance. I wanted to honor him and to encourage others. The answer came in the form of a picture. An anchor. Christ is my anchor. The visual was so stirring. Then the words started to come.

Healthy living can be a struggle. We know what we ought to do but temptation and the flesh can get the better of us sometimes. We all need accountability, encouragement, and resolve. We need each another.

Getting healthy and staying healthy is more than just a number on the scale or a dress size. To me being healthy is a form of worship to God. Honoring the way He created me. Respecting myself and taking care of the one body God gave me. Taking care of myself so I can serve Him better. Relying on God to fill me on the inside.

So today we launch Anchor Friday and I mean we not I. Together we will seek God's will for our lives in the disciplines of healthy habits, daily devotion, bible study, and prayer. Together with Christ we can succeed and give God all the glory. Together we can lift one another up in prayer and encourage each other to take it one day at a time and to never, never give up.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for being our Hope, our Anchor. Please bless the women who come here today. Give us a renewed resolve to live for you and to live healthier. We want to give you all the glory, in Christ Jesus, I pray.

Amen.

Are you ready to grab hold of the Anchor?

Let's make it another year together! Blessings,

The Blog Suffers...

If you have been following me for awhile you may have noticed that I'm not here as much as I once was, and my commenting is down somewhat.

It's not you!

Really.

It's me.

I've been doing more in the outside world than I had been doing and there are only so 24 hours in a day. Don't get me wrong, I love the Blog world. It is a real blessing to me to be able to write to you, read your comments, and read your blogs.

I have had many more opportunities to do things in the outside world this Fall and that blesses me too. I am doing more at my church and bible study, spending more time with girlfriends, and most importantly spending more time with my family. This weekend my in-laws are coming to visit and they will be staying with us till December 1. This will be a special time for us as a family and I'm looking forward to a big family Thanksgiving.

So I will be absent from blog world for a few days and probably back after the 1st. I may stop in from time to time, you never know.

Blessings

P.S. This Friday is the one year anniversary for Anchor Friday and I have a special post planned so stay tuned.

Thankfulness...

This is that time of year when we think of all those things we are thankful for. There are people listing one thing a day on Facebook. There are people with top 10 lists and thankful jars on their kitchen counter. I was thinking about this and how I could tell you what I am thankful for. Then it hit me.

This will be the first Holiday Season without my mom. I want to focus on good memories and not become a blubbering, depressed person over the Holidays. I want to focus on my blessings and not what I'm missing. So here are the things I'm thankful for.

There are the obvious ones like: family, freedom, health, home, my salvation, and God's provision.

There are the more personal ones: my Boaz (my wonderful husband, see the Book of Ruth ); my two beautiful daughters who think I'm interesting, cool, smart, funny, and still want to talk to me (and hug me in public); and my friends who I love to pieces.

I'm thankful for some odd ball stuff, too: my curly hair, my weird sense of humor, sunshine, chocolate, and the fact that I've done just about everything under the sun to mess up my life and God can still use that for His Glory!

I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to serve God at church, bible study, at home and right here on my little ole blog. I am also grateful for you my blog friends. So as we prepare for Thanksgiving, let us also prepare our hearts to give thanks to God for all his grace and mercy on our lives.

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20

Anchor Friday - Nourishment

I'm 45 years old. I'm still learning new things. I'm grateful that I can still learn at my age. The real trick is applying what you learn to your everyday life. It's taken years to learn how to do this with God's word.

My BSF study is in John this year. It amazes me how scripture, no matter how well I think I know it, still has something new for me. After Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, the disciples came to Him.

John 4:31-34 (NLT) Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”

Doing the will of the Father was nourishment to our Lord. Meditating on this I thought about the times when I was doing something for the Lord and got so into the work that I didn't think about myself at all. When I'm completely surrendered to doing God's will, I tend to do better with my eating.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help me to surrender my will for yours and to keep me mindful of what I eat. Amen.

For more information on Anchor Friday and what it means please go here.

...we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. Hebrews 6:18b-19a (NTL)

A Must See

If you have a minute go visit Jonesboes5. It will make you smile.

Have a blessed day!