Joy in the Journey

     What a terrible blogger I am!!  I maybe a twice a year blogger, not a daily or weekly blogger.  But, I think I'm finally getting around to it again. 

     Why don't I blog more?  Well, I usually think I don't have anything to say that anyone would spend their time on, no little ones living in my household, and then there's the time factor.  So why blog today because none of these things have changed?  I want to write about this journey of life I'm on and the things God is teaching me on this journey.

     One, He's teaching me that He is my joy.  I have spent a year reading and journaling from Hab. 3:17-19.  The Lord won't let me leave this place.  I find those scriptures everywhere I look-in my devotions and it seems in every book I'm reading.  The Lord is shouting these words to me saying, "Your joy is found in living a life of praise to me, not in circumstances, situations, people, or plans. 

     Two.  I began this year making a list of 1000 blessings.  I read Ann Voscamp's book in December and the Lord really laid on my heart to write down my daily blessings.  Some days it was an easy task, some days very hard.  But I kept going.  It took me from Jan. 1 to Oct. 2 to write down 1000 blessings but I arrived at that point on Sunday morning and God was there.  He flooded my soul with rejoicing in a way that I have not known.  I wrote this verse down because it expresses how I felt on Sunday morning.  Rom. 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow."  What a powerful verse this is. 

     Three. God is reminding me of a goal I wrote in the fly leaf of my Bible when I was a young mother.  A godly woman had adopted it for her goal and it spoke to my heart then and now.  This is what it said:  " My goal is God Himself.  Not joy or peace or any other blessing.  But Himself - my God."  Today, I want to recommit myself to just knowing Him.  Because "in His presence is fullness of joy."

"Happily Ever After"

     As woman, we all love the stories that end with these words, "and they all lived happily ever after."  We long to live in the happily ever after time and somehow we expect that to happen on earth in our everyday life.  But, often we fail to see it.

     I've been studying the life of Abigail in I Sam. 25.  What an amazing woman!  She was married to a foolish man, Nabal, and encountered David acting foolishly in a situation.  I just wonder how many times she may have asked herself, "Where is the happily ever after?'

     These last 6 months have been trying times for our family - our daughters and their husbands.  Difficult diagnosis, job situations, house to sell, relocation, more job situations and on and on it has seemed to go.  Honestly, I have felt a lots like Habakkuk.  He asked the Lord lots of questions and he really just didn't understand what God was doing in his life.  But God replied and said, "Look around at the nations; look and be amazed!  For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it."  Even if God explained all He is doing in my life and in the lives of my daughters, I doubt I would understand it all.  Habakkuk didn't.  The Bible says that God's ways aren't our ways and His thoughts aren't our thoughts.  So what am I doing and what must I do in my current situation that surely isn't  "happily ever after."

     Well, the answer is in Habakkuk - I've learned to love this book.  In Chap. 3:17-19 he gives the answer to what I must do in the meantime.
     Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
     though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
     though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
     yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
     The Sovereign LORD is my strength, He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    He enables me to go on the heights.
     So, I will rejoice!  He is an ever present God.  Emmanuel.  My Shield and Strong Tower.  He also reminds me that this is not our home.   "Happily ever after" is coming.  In the meantime I am to rejoice.  Count my blessings.  Rejoice over each victory.  Glance at my problems and gaze on Jesus.  I must give Him my disappointments, difficulties, trials and triumphs and KNOW that Romans 8:28 is more than just words in the Bible.  I MUST  "KNOW that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." 
     Do I live this way every moment of the day?  Sure wish I could answer "yes" but I'm afraid that's not the case.  I have times of being overwhelmed and wishing for some "happily ever after" right now.  I do know this, God has been present, close, intimate, my Father Abba during this hard season and often "His blessings come as raindrops."  Listen to the song, Blessing, by Laura Story and let God bless you as He has blessed me with the beautiful words of this song.  "Happily ever after" is coming and it will be out of this world.

new blog

share the love and welcome Mimi back to the blog world!!

love you Mom!

Hijacked from her youngest and expecting posts now! :)

christmas card

Three Wise Men Religious Christmas Card

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Shutterfly Christmas cards

Christmas cards in the Moore family have come in many different forms. Sometimes it was a Christmas letter explaining what our year looked like. Others times a poem, picture or a simple Merry Christmas Hello. Sometimes they came a bit early, while other years they came a little late. I think as long as I can remember.. they came!

This year, shutterfly's adorable cards peeked my interest. Their quality is great and the fact that they can come right to my door ensures they may actually make it out this year. There are so many different styles and I did not have a hard time finding multiple ones I liked. I think so many are cute, but here are my favorites. Can you imagine a slew of grandkids on the front of this card with their Mimi and Papa on the end? I can!

Here are the favorites..

Here's one..

Here another..

But this wins...

Merry Christmas!

The Mountains

During the past three months I have been able to spend some time at the mountains. It all begin in July when I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua(first picture). We will able to observe beautiful mountain ranges all over the area where we were serving.

Then a week after I returned, Jack and I headed up to Ridgecrest, NC(picture 2). I LOVE Ridgecrest. My favorite part of being there is to get up early and head to the prayer garden. I love the waterfalls, flowers, and beauty of the area.

My last trip was to Portland, OR, to visit Jessica, Ryan, and Titus. Jessica and I went to Multnomah Falls and hiked up part of the mountain. What an amazing site!

I have developed such a love for the mountains. The fresh air and beauty of the mountains reminds me of our Creator. If earth is this beautiful under the curse of sin, HEAVEN MUST BE OUT OF THIS WORLD!!

A Right Perspective

Why do I not blog more often? Well, I could say I'm too busy; but that's really not the truth. I could make time to blog. I usually think I won't blog because I don't have young children to write about. Most bloggers do. But I decided to blog as a place to record my thoughts and write about what the Lord has been speaking to me about for the last few months.

Perspective - my head has been trying to get the right perspective on life. After spending a week in Nicaragua, it changes your perspective. Bigger isn't better. Newer isn't nicer. Things don't really matter a whole lots. What really matters is living life with an eternal perspective. I now am friends with some precious Nicaraguan people who have NEVER had a warm bath, never had indoor plumbing, never had a car to drive and live from day to day. But, the believers that I met love the Lord, seek to serve Him, love people and warmly welcome you into their modest homes. They live with an eternal perspective.

So, I ask myself this question - do I? Do I really live with an eternal perspective? Is my focus on Christ and Christ alone and the things that matter to Him? As you can see, a week in another country changes your focus.

So how has my focus changed? Again, I am reminded of my love for my family. It was hard not talking with my husband or children for a week. The Lord has given me a genuine love for the Nicaraguan people. I am praying that the Bibles that were passed out with change the lives of the readers. But most of all I am reminded again that Christ must be my life, His Kingdom must be my focus, reaching the world with the gospel must be my service and loving all people must be my passion. I pray this will be my perspective as long as I have life within me. Only with the enabling of the Holy Spirit can I EVER reach these goals but as Paul wrote, "I press on to win the prize......"