Thursday, January 2, 2014

Words

Found these words in my devotion book today. Boy, does it apply....to me

Guard my speech today so that I only say what builds others up and never tears them down.

Help me to realize the power of words and to use my words for good and not evil.

Help me to learn to listen before I speak.

Average words  per person per day  30,000
I may be above average

Question
Do my words serve people in a positive way?
Help me:  to speak with wisdom
                to know and apply His word to life
                to build up and encourage
Give me wisdom to speak the truth in love.

A great  prayer for me daily .... and maybe you

Lord, bring to mind the words I have spoken today and how they impact others.
Show me how I could have said something differently that would have helped in
a positive way.  Forgive me for speaking words that are not pleasing to you and
hurtful to others.  "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight"  AMEN

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year

Jesus has given us everything that we need in order to believe, serve and live for Him.  He gave us His Holy Spirit and His word.

June the 29th, I received a devotional book from First Baptist Church Chipley Fla at a festival. I began this book on July 1, the second half of the year for the first half of the book.  I have constantly been amazed at how often the day's lesson was just what I needed.  God is good and His timing is perfect. I am very excited to begin the second half of this book tomorrow and see what blessings God has for me this year.

To summarize this book and to use it to form New Year  Resolutions  for 2014, here is my list:

1) Begin each day praising and worshiping God and ask Him to open my eyes and heart to opportunities to serve Him daily by serving others....Pay it forward".   "Lord Make me  a channel of your blessings today."

2) Make me a person of  Prayer:
to pray out of desire, not duty
to pray about everything and before everything
to pray with a humble spirit that reaches your heart
to pray in the name of your Precious Son, Jesus.

To recognize that:
Prayer restores, heals and gives rest to my soul
Prayer puts me near the heart of God
Prayer is essential to the Father/child relationship

Lord, teach me to pray according to your will and character for what will bring honor and glory to you with an obedient heart; asking and believing, by Faith with persistence and determination and a forgiving heart

3) To Study and Apply the Word of God.
Help me to apply your wisdom to: My work, my walk and my worship.
Help my to fall in love with you more every day by falling in love with your Word.
Help me to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.
Help me to hide thy word in my heart so that I may not sin against you
Help your words to direct my path

Lord help me to:
Love and be Loved
To be encouraged and encourage
To forgive and be forgiven
To know truth and speak truth
To Trust and Obey
To Trust God and do good
To delight in your Word and
To delight in You  Lord.

Happy New Years
Tomorrow begins a new Chapter

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Very Blessed this Christmas Eve

This is a very quiet Christmas Eve for Mark and I.
Gone are the days of shoving a chair  under the doorknob
 so that the kids can not catch us up late on Christmas eve
No more trying to figure out how to put "this thing" together
and wondering what to do with extra parts.
No more looking for a  strange red light in the sky
No,
this year, Christmas Eve is strangely quiet

We had family Christmas early this year.
Saturday, we had a wonderful day at Mom's.
Sunday, we had all of our children and grands
We love watching them enjoy each other
and we feel blessed.

Monday, I got up early, my Quiet time was almost over....
and the phone rang....
My Mom is heading to the hospital and I am scared
We quickly pack a bag and head to Tallahassee,
thinking about my wonderful Mom and praying.
We find her in the emergency room looking very vunerable.
My strong Mom who feeds the masses and takes care of every one,
can not catch her breath and her numbers look bad.

We all  rally  around the matriarch of our family.
So proud of my family as we crowd into small  rooms to
hear what the staff is telling us about our precious Mom.
The cell phones are working overtime
as we keep every one informed.

She is a remarkable woman.

Even surprising the staff with her
rapid improvement.  They were able to get
most of the fluid off her lungs. After many test,
she was able to go  home with the promise that she
 will follow-up with her doctors.

She is one tough, determined lady

Tonight, we are back home with the Red Cross ERV
in our drive way.  There has  already been a fire in this county
today  with no  injuries and a call about a lost child,
where the child was found safe and sound.
Too many blessings to count.

So, even though this Christmas Eve is different
and so much quieter than usual, I realize that
We are truly blessed.

Merry Christmas to all
and to  you young parents
have fun
 this time goes by very fast,
and hide the extra parts,
 in case you need them later...






Trust and Obey

The words  for today seems to be trust and obey.
Makes me think of the old hymn
"Trust and Obey 
For there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus
But to Trust and Obey"

I Found this in my daily devotion book
"God promised to bless Abraham and  
to make him a blessing to others.....
If He obeyed Him"

The same promise applies to us today.
We need to ask God to make us more
sensitive to each and every opportunity.

When we encounter those who are 
hurting or  despondent or desperate, 
 let us speak words of encouragement.

Ask God to give us the right words to say
and to be open to what He tells us to do.
God blesses us so that we can be a blessing.
Remember, obedience proceeds blessings.

Then I picked up my Franklin Graham book
The chapter title is "learning to Obey"

This lesson
 comes from the unsung  hero of the Nativity

Joseph

Over and over in the gospels we read...
"And Joseph obeyed the command of the Lord"
Joseph is described as a righteous man
righteousness = living by faith, believer,
 trusting  God, doing what is right.....Even
 if we do not understand or know the end result

 Trust and Obey
Joseph heard the message and did what he was told
God knew that He could trust Joseph with the enormous
 responsibility of  raising His son.
God saw a heart of faith and obedience 

Joseph obeyed God and saved His family.

Maybe we can learn from our unsung hero







Thursday, December 5, 2013

How to start the Christmas season

We finished the busy Fleetwood Fall  season.
Then, it was time to take a breath and reflect
 on all of our many blessings  and thank God
Thanksgiving or Giving Thanks.

Now, we are in the Christmas Season.
Our life has become very simple.
We are not into the hustle and bustle
of Commercial Christmas
No Malls
No crowds
No hassles
I pick up little things all year
that I think the kids might like.
Buy something for Mom.
a little something to charity
and I am done!
Our gift to each other is:
Time and Travel.

So, today we travel north
I am studying my Bible
I found a great way to start
this season in Psalms.

"Praise the Lord...Praise God
Praise Him for His mighty acts
Praise Him according to His excellence
Let everything that has breath
Praise the Lord

We were made to worship.
So, we will find something to worship
Worship the one true God who is worthy.

If you sense emptiness in your life,
especially during this season.
Then, find time to Worship God
It satisfies that empty place in your soul

Worship comes in many forms
praise, prayer thankfulness
nature, song, Bible study,
acts of kindness and love.

You will receive joy of the season
that will last a life time.

Begin Today

This Month I plan to read Psalms
to help me worship God.
And
Read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark
Luke and John) 
To spend time with Jesus


Sunday, November 24, 2013

The table by the kitchen

We love eating at the Square.

 When we walk in,
 we are greeted by the hostess
.
  Often this will be our new daughter-in-love,
 Meagan looking beautiful  and working
 hard on her second job of the day.

  Or it may be her sweet sister
 who is taking her new job so serious
 and doing a great job.

  It may even be our own granddaughter
 Becca looking all grown-up and lovely.
Where did the time go?

 We see a busy busboy who slows down
 from helping everyone in the building long enough
to give us a hug on his way to opening the door.
That would be our Riley with a new hairdo.

Carrie is fluttering around talking to all the folks,
 making sure all is well.  Where does she get that
energy after a full day at the studio.

  Phillip is the man in charge of the front,
 no job is too big or too small for him to do
. You can that he is in his element.

We walk past the beautiful tables that Drew
 made out of hundred year old cotton carts
 with the help of a talented neighbor.
  Past the exposed  brick walls.
 Past the bar that is made out the
 reclaimed wood from the same carts.

 All the way to the back to our table.
 The small table by the kitchen.
 Some people think that this is the table
 that you get when you have made the table host mad.

 But we are just where we want to be.
  In the middle of the action.
  We can see into the kitchen at all of  the
 fascinating activities that is going on
 to make the magic happen.

 We watch  the servers or runners
 quickly walk into one door
 and out the other with
 lushes  looking food,  beautifully plated.

 We can hear our youngest son
 Drew  call out the orders
  that result in culinary delights
 for all who visit the Square.

  The staff is fast and efficient.
  We have come to love all of them
 and love seeing  their smiling faces
 when they speed by us
 to serve this wonderful food.

 We are so proud to see their dreams
 coming alive before our eyes.

 So, when you come to the Square,
 and  if you want to be
 where all the action is,
we will be glad to share
 the best seat in the house.

  The table by the kitchen.  

Saturday, November 16, 2013

New beginnings

We have just come home from the last of the Fleetwood  family Fall  new beginnings.
 
This  Fall we have:

Moved into the new little  house of my dreams and
 turned a stable into a new family gathering place

Helped Clint and Anna move into our old  house
so that His family can have a new beginning
to raise their growing family at the homestead

A huge show at the art center beginning  a new
adventure for Carrie decorating the new wing
for our local hospital. So proud of her.

We got us a new daughter
Drew married Megan giving
us a new daughter to love.


The Square opening.
A new adventure for our family.
Drew, Phillip, Carrie, and Megan
and their staff are working so hard
to bring something special and new
to downtown Moultrie.

Our remarkable Anna
with her quiet strength
has given us a new grandson.
Mark Edward Fleetwood
has joined our family.

Mark and I have added a few new shows and
continue doing some of the old shows that we enjoy.

We have both lost weight with new lifestyle changes

We are working on a new Bible Study and prayer chart.

Life is good
We are truly blessed.
I can not stop thanking God.