Scripture in Action

NOTICE: Next Tuesday I am starting a new segment on my blog. I'll still be posting devotions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - but will now also post "Tuesday Tips." This will be a chance for YOU to join a blog carnival every Tuesday, and increase the traffic on your site. For more information on Tuesday Tips, click here.

Now on to our regularly scheduled blog:

I remember the moment that scripture became real for me. Do you?

I was in my mid 20's. I believed in God, but had no personal relationship with God. I went to church on Sundays. That was about it. But soon I was invited to join my first bible study.

Each week they shared prayer requests. I never had any because nothing "important" was going on in my life. And I thought you could only pray about "important" things - like sickness and dying.

One week one of the gals asked us to pray that she could find a babysitter for her son. Say what? That didn't seem like pray-able material to me. So I politely asked her (really, not in a snarky way) "Are you allowed to pray about stuff like a babysitter?"

She said "Kelly, you can pray about ANYTHING!" She then directed me to my life changing verse Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (emphasis mine).

So I did share a prayer request. I had been promoted within my company, and I was unhappy in the new job. I prayed that I could get another job where I could be as happy as I was with my former boss.

Shortly thereafter I ran into my former boss. It seems his new assistant didn't work out and my old position was open again. Say what?! To make this long story a bit shorter, I soon was back working for my former boss.

God didn't just give me a job where I could be "just as happy" but that very job. And from that experience I realized that God is very real, and very available to hear our concerns and needs. And respond to them.

Today, I'd love to hear the verse or experience that took your faith to the next level. Just click the words "Chatty Comments" below.

Tuesday Tips - - Coming Soon!

Hello Bloggie Friends. I thought it would be fun to start a new segment on my blog. Every Tuesday I'll host Tuesday Tips. This will be a chance for you to link to my blog (I will have a Mister Linky) and you can put a tip on your blog about anything: marriage, parenting, housecleaning, organization, bible reading... you get the idea. Anything - that is G rated.

Here are some tips on how Tuesday Tips works:

1. What is Tuesday Tips?
Tuesday Tips is a "blog carnival" (that concept is explained here). On Tuesday you post a tip you've learned on any (G-rated) topic. You post a link back here to my Tuesday Tips post, and enter your link in the "Mr. Linky" form at the bottom of my post.

2. You do not have to ask me first before you participate

3. You are not required to use the Tuesday Tips icon, though you are more than welcome to do so.

4. Link to your Tuesday Tip post, not to the front page of your blog. This is helpful when people browse days later. If you link to your front page, they won't be able to find your tip. For an explanation on how to do this, go here.

5. Enter a small description of your post, in parentheses, after you put your name. Make it brief, for example "Chatty Kelly (coupons)"

6 . I reserve the right to delete any links that are inappropriate. I reserve the right to decide what is inappropriate.

7. This is a great way to increase readership on your blog and mine as folks surf around to read the tips, so be sure and participate.

8. Questions: Email me at Chattykelly@comcast.net I am not a techie. So I may not be able to answer any technical questions.

Tuesday Tips will begin on Tuesday, August 19th. Be sure to come play!

Love Songs

Love Hurts. Love Stinks. Love is a Battlefield. No, I'm not fighting with my husband. These are songs by the Everly Brothers, J. Geils Band, and Pat Benetar, respectively. They all share the topic of the pain of being in love and getting hurt. I think the reason they are all very popular and recognizable songs is that everyone has experienced a wound in love.

It doesn't have to be romantic love either. There can be great pain in the relationship with parents, children or in-laws. We have the expectation of what love means, and when our expectations are not met...Love stinks! (yeah, yeah).

God is love. His love is perfect and never fails. How does this translate in this world we live in, where love stinks? It is really incomprehensible that we can realize what this means...God is love. Cause love hurts, love stinks, love is a battlefield. (whoa, whoa, whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa, love is battlefield).

The Everly Brothers sang "Love hurts, love scars, love wounds and mars." (Don't you bet they were fun on a date?) In Jesus case, this is true. Because he loved us so much, he died on the cross, wounded and marred. After his resurrection, he showed his nail scarred hands to Thomas.

The bible tells us the true definition of love. God is love. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

Don't be like Waylon Jennings and go "Looking for love in all the wrong places." You only need to look to God to find true love. And then you'll discover another heart looking for love.

Psalm 33:18 -- But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love

Psalm 136:1 -- Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever

John 3:16 -- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.


Click "Chatty Comments" to leave a comment about your favorite love song or about God's unfailing love.

No Satisfaction - Part 2

I saw on the Olympics the other day that Michael Phelps (swimmer) eats 10,000 calories a day. TEN THOUSAND!!! And his stomach looks like this....

I on the other hand, eat between 1,000-2,000 and my stomach...does NOT look like this.

Then I tell myself, well he is only 24 years old, and I am 40 - so what do you expect! Then I see this photo of Dana Torres (swimmer) who is 41. And yes, she has had a child.

The sugar-free pudding is NOT doing the trick.

I think I might take up swimming.

I Can't Get No Satisifaction....

(with my apologies to the Rolling Stones).

I've discovered a delicious, sweet, and low calorie treat! It is Jello-O Rice pudding in Creme Brulee flavor. And it is mmm-mmm-good. It is sugar free and only 70 calories. I've been enjoying it each night as my evening dessert. It is completely satisfying.

The other night I sat out my pudding, and then proceeded to make each of my girls an ice cream cone. I took a lick off of the ice cream cone before I gave it to my daughter. It was sweet, creamy and so delicious. I then sat down to my "delicious, sweet pudding." Suddenly it didn't taste sweet at all. It was no longer the sweet, creamy treat I'd enjoyed all week. I was like Mic Jagger, unable to get any satisfaction...from my pudding!

Our lives are often like that. We're going along, happy and satisfied. And then we get a "taste" of what our neighbor has. Then we are no longer content. This can happen in an instant. We can drive home in our brand new 2008 vehicle, only to find out that our neighbor's 2008 came with the "Limited Package." Suddenly, joy can be stolen.

Maybe cars aren't your thing. If you're a mom, perhaps its the honor student or football hero next door that makes you and your mothering feel inferior. If you're married, maybe its the romantic trips "her" husband takes her on. It can be something as small and insignificant as another woman's beautiful french manicure that makes you & your natural stubby nails feel "less than."

Paul said he had learned the secret of being content. He learned to focus on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) Maybe I need to change my focus. From what I don't have to what I do. Then Paul says the God of Peace will be with me.

Please comment on the things that rob your contentment, or the way you fight off becoming discontent. Or even on your favorite low-cal dessert (I love comments!) Me, I'm going to go enjoy some sugar free pudding - - the satisfaction will come when I step on the scales. :-)

To leave a comment, click the word "Chatty Comment" below. You can then write your comment in the text box. Click anonymous if you don't have a google account (you can include your name or initials if you wish.) Thanks for commenting!

Exodus 20:17 -- You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Philippians 4:12 -- I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Hebrews 13:5 -- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."