Queenies Little Kingdom

Look, I'm not a sissy!  Really, I am a brave woman.  I don't live in fear and I don't ever plan to.  I know that God is always watching over me and that fear?  It comes straight from another source…..the devil!  (2 Timothy 1:7)

That's why I believe my dog is working in cahoots with satan to wreck my life every single night.  Like clockwork!  Every night as soon as the sun is hiding away for the long dark night….

SHE GROWLS

SHE BARKS

SHE JUMPS UP AS IF……

SHE STARES KNOWINGLY AT WINDOWS AND DOORS

It sounds like a barrel of fun, huh?   Except that I do watch the news and believe it or not….people are lurking around innocent people's houses.  Some of them even practice home invasions and never get caught!

So, tell me.  What in the heck would your wild imagination do to you?  If you were in my shoes?

Dang dog!  She better get it together or she's going to end up on a WANTED: FREE TO A GOOD HOME poster!

Lord,

I know you are always watching over me and that NOTHING can happen that you don't know about.  Calm my fears when my brain plays tricks on me.

Amen

Ever judge a book by its cover?

Of course you have.  I've done it too.  What about another person?  Maybe by the way they looked or something they said that didn't rub you right?  You don't have to answer because I know…..

We all judge one another.

What if I told you that Jesus himself instructs us to judge?  It's true.  In John, when Jesus is teaching at the temple courts….the Scribes and Pharisees are questioning him about who he is and where he got his power (sort of a WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE situation).  They judge him for healing a man on the Sabbath and he confronts their anger with the truth; "My teaching is not my own.  It comes from the one who sent me." John 7:16  He goes on to explain that whatever HE does comes directly from God (His Father) and that it isn't for them to decide if it is right or not but if they are genuinely seeking God's will…..they will see who deserves the glory.

People today are no different than the Jews in Jesus' day.  We look at a situation or person and make assumptions, usually way off from reality.  But our hearts deceive us and we oftentimes get it all wrong.  Jesus understands.  Just like He did at the temple.  That's why He instructs us to NOT judge by appearances but to judge correctly.

What is correctly?

Jesus knows our heart.  He knows we know our heart.  Our motives flow directly from that same source, our heart.  Each of us have a capability of justifying our actions, thoughts and the resulting judgement that comes from them.  What might be wrong for someone else…..we know how to twist it to be okay for ourselves.  Some might call that righteous indignation.  The Scribes and Pharisees that were drilling Jesus that day, were doing exactly that.  They weren't interested in truth, they were plotting His death and LOOKING hard for any little thing to trap him.

How often do we do that to other's?

We look for reasons to pick them apart or to find fault.  Our ability to see what we THINK we see prevents us from seeing what GOD SEES.  We end up missing their heart.

So, today……Look beyond what you think you see in those around you.  Don't look at their surface…..seek what's really inside their heart.  That's the kind of judgement Jesus was talking about.

Lord,

Forgive me when I misjudge others.  It's not my job to weigh right and wrong, it's Yours.  I'm called to love.  Help me to always extend grace and to see with eyes like Yours!

Amen

I've always been a "Yes" girl.  Until recently.  Perhaps…..it's my age.  Or maybe the ages of my grown up kids.  I see how quickly time passes by.  The important stuff?  Isn't at all what we think it is when we're jumping on board with every little busy thing life offers us.

Time robbers.

I don't have to tell anyone about lost time.  Every single person has experienced it in their own lives and in their own way, personally.  It's easy for me to let my mind slip to a place or time that I wish I could live, just once more.  Maybe it's a person I'd love to have just one more conversation with or to hug so tight.  Or a moment lost that I gave my time and attention to instead of what was genuinely eternal for mine or my family's lives. 

Just to please…..who?  Someone else.

I read a story yesterday of a man who made a choice to go to a meeting with a client while his wife and new baby were at the hospital.  In his mind, he didn't have the ability to say NO.  Fear of what the client would think of him for pushing business aside drove him to the decision to go but in his heart he knew, he was in the wrong place!  Strangely, the meeting never landed him a bit of good but the choice he made that day is forever etched in his and his family's heart.

Each of us have the choice to say no.

We train ourselves to say yes by the language we use.  Words like, "I have to do this.."  or "I have to send this message to…"  or "Just one more phone call…"  when the cold hard truth is that we CHOOSE to do what we ultimately end up doing.

So, what are your priorities?  What are the most important parts of your life?  Is it a job, a hobby…..a cellphone/social media outlet/hiding out in a book?  What is it that YOU CHOOSE over the things you end up feeling guilt over?

Learn to say, no!

Lord,

My life is important.  It's important to those around me but especially so, to You!  Thank you for reminding me that I need to prioritize the right things into my life and those around me.  I don't want to live or die with regret.

Amen

I feel I must warn you that I exercised last night (did some squats) and when I woke up this morning. …….

Nothing had changed!

I guess that means I have to do them again.

Oh, I kid.

Nothing reminds you how weak and out of shape you are more than hiking in the woods searching for stray limbs to start a fire in your fireplace.  I went to pick some up before coming home yesterday but the guy who sells it couldn’t get any to me until tonight (it’s snowing now).  You’ll be glad to hear that I did find something to burn but I was covered in the stickiest burs created and spent the rest of the evening picking them off of my fuzzy pj pants…..by the fire.

My life really is THIS glamorous!

Don’t worry about me though, winter has arrived and I will be danged if I’m giving up that easy!  I will have a killer pile of firewood and I will exercise every day……

I mean it!

Happy Thursday eve, friends.

Last week, I forced myself into Walmart because I had a ton of groceries to buy for the big birthday weekend.  As I walked in the main doors, I grabbed an empty cart and made my way to the restrooms.  My lucky cart banged and clanged as if it were planning to self-destruct right there in front of all the innocent shoppers checking out.  I held my head high and raced towards the restrooms.  Because, you know….dignity!

Once I made it to the bathrooms, I noticed a man selling something stationed right beside the doors.  He looked at me strangely (probably wondering what in the world I was doing making so much noise) so, I played it off as if I KNEW NOTHING and pushed my way into the bathroom.  Immediately, I thought…."What are all these women doing leaning up against urinals?" and like a punch to the face, realized that I was standing inside a very busy mens restroom!!!

Out I ran only to see the salesguy giving me the HAHA look for going in the wrong bathroom! 

Today, I was hurrying my way down to the grocery store near the high school for some lunch.  I waited patiently for my turn through the busy 4-way stop and once it was my turn (or so I thought) I accelerated on and a lady in an SUV took off at the same time.  I had to slam on my brakes and watch as she angrily passed in front of me, clearly shaking her head at my error.  I tried to give her the – "sorry, mercy" gesture and that's when I recognized the pretty face of my realtor!   🙂

I felt so embarrassed!

So, I've come to the conclusion that I need to sell tickets to anyone looking for a laugh during normal everyday activities.  The only catch is….you have to withstand a bit of mundane boresville to get to the good parts!

……it's only Tuesday, y'all!

I remember when the nurses excitedly told me, "You're pregnant, again!".

I was excited and scared all rolled together.  I never imagined having 3 kids!  But…

You were mine and I fell instantly in love with you!

You were the best baby of the family we could ever ask for…

You loved makeup….especially chapstick ALL OVER YOUR ENTIRE FACE!

Washing your own hair…

….cooking!

and of course, hanging out with your bestie!

But then just like that…..things started to change.  You grew taller, smarter and even more amazing right before my eyes.

As hard as I tried to sieze every moment……you raced on ahead of me, growing and changing into the young woman God would have you to be.

While we love to tease you that you got all the leftovers from our genetic pooling…the honest truth is —>

That, you really got the best of us.  Everything that's good and right inside of Dad & Me…..fills your every crevice.  You are kind, loving, caring, smart, fun-spirited, easy-going, helpful, forgiving, hopeful, accepting and a creature of pure beauty!  God didn't wrap you up with junky anything…..HE WENT ALL OUT on you!

And watching you turn 20 years old……reminds me, HE HAS CREATED YOU WITH A PURPOSE that I feel honored to be a part of!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GATES! 

I'm the most grateful recipient of your love and the luckiest mom in the world — because of you!