Slightly sidetracked - yet again!

The dog door was just installed, and I needed to teach all three dogs how to use it. This will greatly simplify things for all of us. Not that they can get clear into the house using the dog door, but, they can get into the screened in porch (when the screens are put on, that is, it will be a screened-in porch) - out of the elements.

Naturally, my border collie, Te, was the very easiest. Te just wants to play....so, I just had to make it a game.

But, surprisingly (or maybe not so, knowing my son's Jack Russell Terrier - Twister), our old (she is 12 in "people years") terrier mix, Tiggr, was the next one to figure it out!

She is losing her sight, and sometimes, I will find her clear out back, wandering (if you call her long enough, she will follow the sound of your voice). But, she did it - our old dog did learn a new "trick".

It's never too late. Never too late to learn, never too late to repent, never, ever too late to ask for forgiveness and live through the indwelling of the Spirit, saved and forgiven.

Dei gratia,

Dee

It's still not to late to sponsor In The Spirit of Grace's campaign for Blogathon 2005 - raising money for Heifer International. Simply look over to the right side of this page, and you will see the blogathon banner. Directly underneath, you will find a link that says "In The Spirit of Grace/Heifer International" - click on that to make a donation - every dollar counts!

Guess What?!?!

In the past 30 minutes, I actually accomplished another item on the list - my workspace is *clean*!! And, just to show you, I've included a picture!!

Well, it still needs some major cleaning (the glass is filthy), but, I can actually *see* it now!!

Now, on to the next task: Correcting this week's multimedia presentation for the church.

Isn't accomplishing things satisfying? It's even better when we are working under the guide of the Spirit - not pushing, but, rather, being lead. Then, it's no longer a chore, it's a walk with a friend and confidante.

Dei gratia,

Dee

You know, when I decided to do the Blogathon, I really thought this would be so great - I would be "forced" (for a good cause, of course) to be at my computer all day, so I would be able to get so much done that I've been putting off.

Nope.

I guess maybe part of the "problem" is that I can't seem to write anything short. I mean to. But, then, the energy starts flowing, and my fingers just take off! Ah, well, the life of a writer. <VBG>

I have went backwards with my cleaning. When I was looking for a scripture reference earlier, I got down a few of my bibles - which are now where the clean spot on my desk was.

That reminds me - sometimes, when we are determined to get back in step in our walk with the Lord - if we've allowed ourselves to get off track, it's hard not to get completely sidetracked again without realizing it, and actually stepping backwards, instead of forward. The Spirit is there to guide us back into step with the Living God. We just need to listen intently, and follow His lead.

Dei gratia,

Dee

P.S. There is still time to sponsor my campaign for Heifer International! Simply look over on the right hand side of the page, and you will see a link to sponsor this campaign, as well as the current donations & number of sponsors already.

Dei gratia,

Dee

Dei gratia,

Dee

Do you ever find yourself needing to stop and catch your breath? Maybe you are stopping to smell the flowers?

This sort of rest is important to us, and God WANTS us to have this rest. Even Christ rested while He was on earth with us - He even did "fun" things like eating and attending weddings! So, why is it that we think that we must have every minute of every day jammed full of *things to do*?

Since I'm doing this today, I decided to work while I was blogging (just got back from the Post office and I made it ON TIME!! The packages are now shipped! YIPPEE!!). But, I try not to work on weekends.

I just want to have some time with my kids where we can catch our breath - together - and revel in the glory of our Lord.

Take some time this weekend to catch your breath, and smell some flowers....your soul will thank you for it!

See you in a little bit!

Dei gratia,

Dee

Okay, this should be my last choppy, free flow post, as I'm heading to the post office as soon as this is posted! Yippee!!!

For the daily journaling prompt blog yesterday, I posted a great quote about discipline by Gary Ryan Blair....

"Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It requires you to connect Today's actions to tomorrow's results. There's a season for sowing and a season for reaping. Self-discipline helps you know which is which."

I think that, regardless of Mr. Blair's religious practices or affiliations, this is so true for Christians - well, with a slight modification. "Self-discipline" in this case is an act performed through grace - it's only available to us by an indwelling of the Spirit - and, in essence, it's rejecting living in the flesh.

Ever get the feeling that time has been on my mind quite a bit lately?

<VBG>

See you in a little bit!

Dei gratia,

Dee

Speaking of coming home....My son is officially over an hour past when he promised me he would be home this morning. What's a mom to do? Love him and accept him - even though he doesn't have any sense of time at all, of course! Oh yeah, and a little bit of discipline in the spirit of love is certainly in order since we spent about a half hour last night discussing how important him getting home on time this morning was!

I suspect I will need to stop by and pick him up when I go to the post office just shortly.

I called the post office earlier, and thankfully, I have about 35 minutes until it closes - so, I have time to package and finish shipping preparations for this journal set! Horray!!

See what I mean? To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose......

Praise God!

(and, by the way, my posts will get a little less choppy - at least for awhile - once I get these packages to the post office! <VBG> Stay tuned!)

See you in a little bit!

Dei gratia,

Dee

Have you ever felt like you were pushed for time? I certainly am feeling that right now. You see, I have a journal set that needs the finishing touches before shipping this morning - and, I can't quite remember when the post office closes (although, I think it's within the hour!).

So, here I was zipping along, and I looked at the clock - EEK! Time to post again!

My scripture meditation this morning was on joy. I was more than happy to spend some time with the Lord, pondering the joy He gives us, He has given me. I sang His praise, making sure to emphasize all the joy He has given me in the last week.

You see, things have been beyond awesome personally & in business lately. The Spirit is guiding me in every action, every day - I'm accomplishing so much more every day because of His leading, particularly with this new no-time management program that He has led me to. I'm running twice a day. My mom has been feeling a little better each day, as she prepared for her next chemo treatment this morning, and I've adjusted really well to the extra responsibilities involved with helping her and assuming a bigger caretaker role in the family. The kids haven't been perfect, but, I am so joyful that the Lord has so generously blessed me with them. My youngest daughter is coming up on her 3rd birthday - 3 years of defying all odds - 3 years of proving that miracles happen right in front of us. My new website is coming along really well - with a great big "Amen" yesterday when I saw one of the proposed designs. Everything has been really awesome. I think I would have to really search to find *anything* to complain about!

And, that is when it is easiest to rejoice in the Lord and appreciate the joy He provides. Not that I don't rejoice when things are difficult - there is always a reason to rejoice - sometimes, we have to find a reason - particularly when things are dark around us - but, there is always a reason.

Then, it happened....

Over the past week or so, the Spirit has been working overtime on me. One scripture after another has presented itself - full of fresh insight. I received an open letter from a trusted advisor containing the same message, and one of the books I'm reading happened to have the same message waiting for me tonight.

I don't believe in coincidence, and while my weary body can make my mind a little thick at times, I definitely knew that the Spirit was at work through all these small things.

The message I've been receiving is one of the importance of time. More specifically, how important it is to make sure that my time is spent on those things that matter most in my life - not spending too much time on other things that are not as high priority. Balance is key here, and that is one thing that I've been struggling with - particularly recently - but, honestly, it's a struggle I've had off and on for many years.

I have a tendency to be a workaholic. Now, with the nature of my business (in that it is where the Lord has called me to be to bring glory to the Kingdom), I can all-too-easily fall into the trap of saying that I'm working so much as a servant, and it's not my choice, but, my directive. However, that is not necessarily the truth of the situation. Not that I am intentionally misrepresenting why I work the hours I work, but, I was unknowingly falling for a lie from the great deceiver.

Recent family events have compelled me to think about my summer last year. I went through a high dose cytoxan treatment for my lupus - a form of chemotherapy. During the treatments, I was pretty much isolated. The point of the therapy was (very simplisticly) to completely destroy my immune system, in hopes that when it regenerated itself (from the baby stem cells), it wouldn't be in the overdrive state that lupus throws it into.

It was a hard summer for me - a social person. It's one thing to choose to be a hermit (and, even though I'm social, I have that tendency at times) and to be forced into "hermicy".

During that time, however, I knew that the Spirit was working on me. I experienced alot of growth spiritually, growing closer to Christ, experiencing a deeper relationship with God. And, I was thankful for that time. It was a true "wilderness time" for me, and even though it wasn't "fun", I was thankful that the Lord had given me that time away from the rest of the world to grow in my relationship with Him.

I knew the whole situation was for good - I knew there was a blessing there. Yet, I didn't understand the extent of the blessing until recently. And, quite honestly, I still may not understand the full extent of it - but, there was definitely more blessings there than what I was aware of then.

"Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.' Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel."

~Revelation 7:2-4 (NIV)

When I first read this scripture with open eyes, heard, and mind last year, I was in utter shock. Shocked! How could this be, I thought. Only 144,000?? That's it? Maybe there is something there that I'm not seeing. I read the scripture over and over, but, the number is unmistakable. At the time, I justified it in my head - well, that's the tribes of Israel - that doesn't count everyone else! Then, earlier this year, when I realized that "the tribes of Israel" meant more than people in a specific region of the world, this scripture returned to me - yet again.

I've read many estimates of the Christian population of the world. That is to say that the people in all nations who consider themselves Christians. There are over 2 billion. Yes, you read that right - 2,000,000,000. That number has weighed on my heart more recently than ever before.

2,000,000,000 self-described Christians and only 144,000 who will bear the seal of a servant of God in the end times. That's less than 1%! To be specific, that is .0072% of the world's population who proclaim Christ as their savior. Of course, the angel isn't here today instructing the other angels - maybe there will be a huge catastrophe that will seriously reduce the number of Christians....but, I suspect that is wishful thinking (I know, sort of an odd wish, but, the alternative is worse)

I don't want to believe it....

I want to tell myself that the angel isn't here today, this moment, instructing the other angels. I want to imagine that there will be some sort of huge catastrophe that will seriously reduce the number of Christians. I know that's an odd wish - but, the alternative is so exponentially worse, I want to grasp for any reason - any possibility - other than what is right in front of me. Less than .0082%.

But, my heart tells me it is true, I truly believe scripture is God breathed - theopneustos - there are no errors. There may be things we can not understand - or that people intentionally misconstrue for their own purposes. But, it is breathed from our unerring God.

How can this be, though? How can there be so few with the seal, when there are so many that proclaim their faith in Christ?