Obedience Training

My dog Buddy is a Boston Terrier. Being a small (14 lb) dog with short hair, he hates the cold weather! When I take him out in the winter time, I have to catch him in the house, leash him up and drag him out. He quickly does his business and then runs for inside.

However, every time I open the front door (whether to answer the door bell, get the mail, or take one of the other dogs out) he darts out the door, regardless of the weather! Off he runs, and I cannot catch that quick dog no matter what I do. So I have to wait until he is finished frollicking, and then he comes back on his own terms. It drives me crazy!

I'm a lot like Buddy. When God opens a door for me, I'm hesistate to go through it. I don't know what God has in store for me, so I often back away. However, if I see a door open that I want to go through, I might make the mistake of dashing out without first checking to see if its really God's plan.

Just as Buddy risks getting hit by a car, or attacked by a larger dog when he runs ahead of me, I risk trouble when I run ahead of God.

Looks like Buddy and I both need some obedience training!

2 John 1:6 -- And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Proverbs 19:16 -- He who obeys instructions guards his life, but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die.

Jeremiah 7:23, 24 -- but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

Thankful Thursday - 1/14

Thankful Thursday is a meme that encourages people to think of 5 things, big or small, to be thankful for each week. This inspires an attitude of gratitude. Here are my five.

1. I'm thankful for medical science, which found yet another mole of mine to be abnormal. So I'll be having some more tissue cut out. Trading moles for scars seems to be my hobby, but it beats malignant melanoma skin cancer! So yay for finding stuff early. And y'all already knew I was abnormal, right?

2. Thankful to be back to blogging. I was so excited to take December off, but am enjoying catching up with all my blog friends.

3. Thankful that I live in a safe place in the world. With the recent earthquake in Haiti, I can't help but think how blessed we are in U.S., and in my little neck of the woods.

4. Thankful that God is always there for me. God loves me when I'm good, bad, happy or sad! And he loves you too! God is love.

5. Thankful for date night coming this weekend. Hubby & I have a black tie event this weekend! I'll be posted pictures and details next week, but should be a fun event! Woo!

What are you thankful for this week? Leave a comment, or link a blog post at Truth 4 the Journey by clicking the button below.

The Power of Faith

By now you’ve probably had a chance to take down some of your Christmas decorations and have reflected on the season. Christmas is full of wonderful things specific only to that time of year. Chances are you don’t have eggnog or fruit cake, except at Christmas time. You’ll never find mistletoe hanging indoors, except at Christmas time. And let’s not forget the wonderful Christmas classics on television. Whether it’s Charlie Brown and his pitiful Christmas tree, or A Wonderful Life’s George Bailey, we love those Christmas classics.

My personal favorite is “Miracle on 34th Street.” “Miracle” is a wonderful movie about a young girl who lives with her mother in New York City. The girl (Natalie Wood as Susan) has been raised to be practical; her mother doesn’t fill Susan’s head with fantasies such as fairy tales. However the man hired to be Santa Claus at Macy’s Store, where Susan’s mother works, claims to be none other than the real Santa. A neighbor who is a lawyer represents “Santa Claus” and ends up proving in a court of law that “Santa” is the true and real Santa.

Along the way Susan’s mother ends up believing and trying to convince her daughter to believe. She tells Susan “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.” Susan is disillusioned when Santa doesn’t bring the gift she wants, but she continues to chant, “I believe, I believe, it’s silly, but I believe” to convince herself. And Santa does come through in the end.

Aren’t we a lot like Susan?

To find out how, join me over at Titus 2 in Action by clicking the button below.

A Friend I've Never Met

Do you have any friends that you've never met? If you're a blogger, you know exactly what I mean. I have countless blog-friends that I've never met. If you're reading this, you're probably one of them.


Take my friend, Edie. She lives in Texas. I've never met her, but I consider her a good friend. We leave each other comments regularly. I imagine what it will be like if I ever get to meet her. Surely, we'd sit down over a big pot of coffee and share stories about her grandkids and my kids, all girls around the same age. We'd share stories of her dog Toby, and my THREE dogs! We'd laugh over funny stories about my sister and how much we both like her. I wonder what Edie's voice might sound like and what it would be like to spend time together.


I have countless others, but if I start naming names I'm sure to get in trouble by leaving out someone special, but you know who you are. We've prayed for each other, shared stories via email and blogs, laughed out loud at each others comments, and just thought "wow, a good friend I've never even met."


That's what I think about Jesus! Some people wonder how you can have a relationship with someone you haven't seen! But I haven't seen many of you bloggers and you are special to me.


I may not have ever seen Jesus in person, but He is most certainly my best friend. And just as it is so sweet to have the opportunity to finally be face to face with a special blog friend, imagine the blessed reunion when we finally get to be face to face with Jesus.


John 20:29b -- {Jesus said,} "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."


John 15:14 -- {Jesus said,} "You are my friends if you do what I command."


John 15:13 -- Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.