Harvest Time!

Hi friends!

It's been seven months since I last shared LIFE with you!  Where has that time gone?  

Since my last post, I can say I have been rejoicing, praying and giving thanks in ALL circumstances  and not in any particular order.   If you haven't read that post, go to the Featured post Rejoice, Pray and Give Thanks and get connected.  God has truly blessed me and I can not thank Him enough for his showers of blessings that he poured out on my life!  

Five, beautiful grandchildren have touch my heart beyond what I imagined!  Having children is a blessing but grandchildren?  WOW!  They are ALL such a joy to Papa and Oma! (That's my Grandma name.) 

 So in birth order, my little loved ones are: Logan, Mackenzie, and Madison, In March and June welcomed Emma and Piper into our family and in our hearts!

Today I want to talk about harvesting.  Galations 6:9  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

As August ends, I reflect back on the past seven months.  It's like a garden of  activity growing in our life.

Beautiful babies were born and some friends past on...
               I endured work challenges and a job change...
                              We had birthday celebrations, (Yeah Mom "M"- 80 years old and still Sassy and                                    sweet!)
Our holiday celebrations included honoring all the mother's and fathers, a Easter egg hunt, and fourth of July pool fun...
               We splashed in many pool parties...
                                 Had a great family reunion!...
                                                and to top it all off, many weekends camping and relaxing!

All this planting, watering and growing our family "memories" made me so busy and exhausted.  I failed to stay in the Word!  I got tired of some of my "Church" activities and took a sabbatical. I got distracted and failed to read and nourish my soul.
Friends, there is only one thing that I can do - get back into working the soil of my heart and feed it with God's word.

These past months God shined down His love and  poured out His grace on our family!   Now it's time to give back!

It's harvest time!
           Time to get dirty and busy for Him.
                      Time to plow deep into God's word.
                                     Wait.  Wait for His voice to speak to me.
                                                 Pray and communicate to Him the desires of my heart.
                                                                Listen for direction and guidance.
                                                                         Praise Him for his blessings and care!
                                                                                     Give Thanks daily!
                                                                                                  Honor the Sabbath - Get some rest!
                                                                                                           Don't give up.  Don't get weary!
                                                                                                                       It's harvest time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joani

Rejoice, Pray and Give Thanks!

Happy February loves!

This past year has been a whirlwind of busyness!  I have skipped many months of sharing what God is doing in my life, so lets catch up a little!

Let’s begin with  “ Rejoice, Pray, and  Give thanks.”

God’s word says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18  “Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

Rejoice because I am now a grandmother of  three beautiful grandchildren!  My daughter “Mary” had a little Girl “Madison” in November!  We are truly rejoicing with the family for God’s grace in a beautiful, healthy baby!  My other two little ones are a joy for “Papa” and “Oma”.  What a delight it is to hear them actually call us that!  They are not quite 2  and we love on them whenever we can! 

God continually shows us that He is listening and answering our prayers.  We learned that we will again be grandparents  with not one of our daughters, but 2 of our daughters—Again!  Both daughters are due again with children in the spring of this year!   We found out that baby “girls” will be joining our family!  So “Papa and I continue to pray for them  and their families.   So We rejoice again with good news and still pray trusting and believing God will  hear them being lifted up.

“Give Thanks in ALL circumstances”  Yep! I got that covered too!  We have a wonderful summer filled with camping and family adventures, worked through some tough days at work and always, ALWAYS thank the good Lord for another day to live life together!  So we continue to DAILY thank God for  all  the joys, and pains of life!

I hope you  remember to “Rejoice,  Pray and Give Thanks Daily!  Thanks for visiting!

 Joani

Happy Retirement

Happy Retirement to a special friend/Co-worker!  This past week we celebrated "Her" Retirement and  I made this Retirement Survival Kit for her.  It turned out beautiful!

Inside the Large sand bucket  were a lot of goodies and quotes attached to them and wrapped them all in clear cellophane.  When she opened the gift, I had previously numbered them and had her read them to our group.  

I also created a "Do not Disturb" door hanger and attached it to the pail handle.  

Here is the list of items and quotes that went with each item.  I printed this list and pasted it to a pretty scrapbook paper.

1. Smiley Face Cookie :  We’re wishing you a  “Happy Retirement” 

2. Markers:  Retirement “Marks” the beginning of a new journey.

3. Toothpicks:  When your retired you can “Pick ‘n Choose” what you do... (and when you do “it”)

4. Tootsie Rolls:  May your retirement “Roll Along smoothly”

5. Crayons:  May your days be colored with sunshine and love.

6. Cotton Balls:  This is for the day you need to cushion your rocking chair while you enjoy sitting on the front porch. 

7. Tea Bags:  Relax—because retirement is one looooooooooong “Tea” break!  No more watching the clock for "5 o'clock.

8.  Aqua Spa Bath Soak:  Don’t worry about the time anymore... take the time and relax the stress is over!

9. Seeds:  (Beets, Lettuce and Forget Me not seeds)  Don’t “Beet” up  yourself for sleeping in every day and don’t “Forget me Not” (your co-workers).  Remember “Lettuce” get together once in a while.

10. Light up Balloon:  Retirement holds  a bright future!

11.   Sponge:  Remember to soak up all the happy memories that you had here at work.

12.   Marbles:  These marbles replace all the ones you’ve lost while working here!

13.   Reeses Pieces:  Retirement means never going to “Pieces” again!  Now you have the time to follow your dreams.

14.   Bananagrams:  Leave the “Going Banana’s” to one who now has your job!

15.   “NO!”:  Here are 10 fun ways to tell people “NO”  when they ask you to do something, because you are retired now and too busy doing nothing! 

16.   Go  Fish Game:  Take time to relax and  maybe “Go Fish”- ing. 

17.   Swedish Fish:  Even the little fish are fun to catch, - remember retirement is suppose fun!  Enjoy the little things in life!

18.   Candles:  Light up the room with  a happy memory of what the future holds

19.  Clown Nose:  Take time to goof off and “Clown around” because you can!

20.   Mints:  To remind you that you are “Worth a Mint” to others!”

21.   Neon Fiesta String:  Let the party begin!

22.  Nice! Trail mix:  Happy adventure trails await you!

If you would like more information on this kit, please send me a message. I hope you have a beautiful

day filled with God's blessings!

Joani

Display Case Creations

I am active in the church I worship at and find that I love to use my gifts to create and decorate.  Of course, many times I find that this is very difficult for me to come up with ideas and I lack vision.

I struggle with trying to "FILL" the display case, but I was told sometimes just a simple image gets the message across just as well as filling the white space.  So here are some images of what was created in our display cases.  (There are lights inside the display cases and so I apologize for the poor photography...not one of my strengths).

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Recently my church did a new series called "LIFE: its not just a game".  I created this display case  and peg people for the series
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If you would like to hear the messages of this series go to Grace Church web site and scroll down to LIFE : It's not just a game.  http://www.gracechurchlansing.org/about/listen.cfm

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I hope you enjoy these...more to come.

Blessings,

Joani

Eternity

My hubby and I are in a small group of friends studying Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Angels” book.    If you have never done this study I strongly recommend reading this.  As we listened to his cd, and read God’s word, we learned that “Angels carried Lazarus to Abraham’s side. (Luke 16:22) Where? In eternity with God.  

Eternity...have you ever thought of what that means?  Time without end, infinite time, forever.  Many times I think about eternity and even more so when a person dies, and always during holy week.  Life on this earth has an ending date, and I don’t know when that will be for me, but I do know what the Bible says about eternity.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – 14 “I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.  That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.  I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.”

Knowing this, what wonder!  God set eternity in the human heart!  For believers, we have a spiritual thirst to be with Him eternally.  God wants us to enjoy life, but this is only a stopping point on our journey.  Heaven (or hell) is eternity.  It’s scary for many to think about death and where we will end up after we die.  But we also have a choice to make; accept the gift of salvation or reject it.  Really we are choosing our future journey…Heaven or Hell.  It is eternal one way or the other. 

As holy week approaches, I am reminded of the greatest sacrifice my heavenly father has done for me…He gave his one and only son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for me.  He gave his life so that I may one day live with Him in eternity!   (John 3:16)

I am eternally grateful and thankful that I accepted God’s greatest gift and will one day live with Him in eternity.  I hope and pray you make a choice to live with him too!

Blessings!

Joani

Waiting Patiently

I just returned from a week of extreme physical labor with my mission team.  My body ached and cried out to me every day that I climbed out of my bunk bed.  Knowing that I was part of being the “hands and feet of Jesus”, serving, praying, singing, clapping, crying, loving and rejoicing with my team and “Texas family” made me forget those physical pains.

Today I will share just a glimpse of what we did one day.  Our team went to deliver Christmas gifts to two Mexico churches that we are supporting.  It was an amazing joy and love that overflowed in my heart to see these children wait patiently for their names to be called. 

Once they received their gift, they had to wait and wait and wait and wait until every one of their names were called. For a child that must of seemed like an eternity!  Then, after a short word, they were given the go ahead and the room echoed cheers and screams of joy for the new gift they received.

Tears flowed from my eyes as I searched for the girl and little boy who would open the gifts I purchased.   I packed a school bag full of supplies into a medium size box and I purposely used red shiny paper so that I would be able to spot the gift.  I found the girl right away, so I hugged her and told her as best that I could in English, that gift, came from my heart to hers.  Here we are with our photo taken together, but then, finding the little boy was not so easy.  

I tried taking a photo of him receiving it, but he ran so fast back to his mother that I only caught the back of his head.  So I had to be a detective and search for the “striped, plaid shirt that was in my photo.

Remember the days when we had to take the film from our camera into Walgreen's  or a photo store to get it developed before we saw the photos?  We had to wait two or three days back then, or more.  Now you can get them developed within 24 hours.   My smart phone camera is awesome. I can see him instantly after taking the picture.  Finally I found him with his mother in the court yard, but he didn't have my red papered gift; he was playing with his brother’s new gift!  I don’t know his name, but he was so sweet!

Later I learned that for some of the children, it was their very first Christmas gift they ever received!  Wow!  That is mind boggling!  Well, after all that excitement we were even more blessed to serve the whole church a meal out in the courtyard!   I was too busy serving them for a photo, but God received the glory and we received Joy and hearts full of love!

Our children waited so patiently for their gift and just like them, we are waiting for Jesus Christ's return - God's greatest gift!  

Revelations 22:12 says “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done."

May we remember to be watchful and earnestly seeking Him for His return!  I hope you find Joy in serving Jesus as much as I am!

Blessings!

Joani

Go and Serve

I have been asked a few times "why do I want to serve on a mission field?

Why go to a place that is foreign, where there is sickness, diseases, war, troubles and poverty?

Isaiah 6:8 - "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?"  And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

I heard God speak to my heart many times, after listening to our pastor preach sermons about the “Great Commission”.  I wanted to be obedient and follow Him when I have that opportunity.  Many years went by as I said “No” to the opportunities because of “Life, jobs, family, children or fear”.   Maybe I had excuses but it was also God's plan and His timing of when I should go.  Five years ago I went on my first trip to Mexico and it was a eye-opening experience.

When the opportunity comes and I put excuses before God, how can I face Him?  I will be on my knees, crying and seeking forgiveness because He does not want one soul lost!  I want to be one who hears “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

A week ago "Grace Beyond Borders" Mission team was commissioned to "Go and Serve” in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to Texas and Mexico.  I am happy to be a part of this team!  Pray for us as we “Go and Serve”.

Blessings,

Joani