JOY-THE RIGHT PATH

WAIT! STOP! That willow tree and the purple flowers is so gorgeous.

It reminds me of my childhood when I would swing on the branches of tree. FREE! FREE! FREE!

I love this childhood memory, I picture me hanging on, run, leap and swing! Fun! Whee! (I could hold my weight back then and the branches could too!)    

lol!

I have to explain: I was on my bike ride and I had the choice to take the path left or right. You know I stopped and got teary eyed. I had decision to make and prayed and was not sure. I am sure you have done rationalized or reason that tends to confuse the decision. But in this moment I prayed and said, "God please just help me to go the right way which will bring me joy." Now I can't explain but I it was , "Go left." Then this beautiful scene appeared. I need to mention also I heard within me, "You will meet someone along the way." Sure enough right after this scene I met a man on the path. I told him my childhood memory of the willow trees. He looked as if someone had not talked to him in a while. Then he walked on...I questioned the small talk but then I knew just that small conversation made a difference for this man.

The human spirit need contact and small talk with others. It lifts up the spirit. I felt deep within me again that this happened for a reason and I will never know what the effects of that encounter would be. I leave that for God. I did meet another man who was working on his lawn. Small talk again. I have to say he had a long extension cord from his house out to the front of his lawn in which he could play his boom box. Yes! The news was on and it was reporting something I had been concerned about. Interesting Godcidence! I knew that was a sign to follow through with a phone call I was feeling prompted to make regarding that news report!

See God is working things together for those who love Him. According to HIs purposes. Wait. Listen. be quiet. If you are a follower you know deep down which way to go. Trust God with the promptings. Stop asking so many about what to do. Just do what you know deep down. Trust the Lord with all your heart. Let Him build your confidence. Then trust yourself.

the bible says:

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so."

REMEMBER TODAY, GOD SAID! NOT ELAINE BUT GOD!

JOY-

I recently got a dog! Guess what I named her?

If you guessed JOY, you are right!

I take her for a ride in the car, we are going for a JOY ride!

I wrote a sign in my house saying "JOY has arrived!"

We are on a JOY adventure.

I walk into my art class and another lady said she got a puppy and she named her GRACE. She declared, "We needed some grace in our house." To which I responded, "We needed joy." We laughed! I said, "Now we need some hope!" 

In walks another lady and says, "I believe we never met my name is Hope!" I kid you not it was only seconds after I said we needed, hope!

Truly crazy?!

JOY-STEADFAST

 "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffereed a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." NIV 

"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." KJV

"In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation." NLT

1 Peter 5:10

I want to be steadfast...the journey one day began.

After completing the use of the word steadfast and its meaning this is how the verse when expanded could read.

Expanded look at the verse after the study:  And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself, restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast, (established, He will lay a basis, or erect, consolidate, a foundation, substruction.)

My conclusion is: Jesus revealed God’s grace for us. He loved us so much that He calls us to this eternal hope for rich purposes. We have momentary troubles, but we all need to know, after the troubles He promises to restore us, makes us strong. Most importantly, we must be so sure that we believe at the core of our being there is a foundation established that no trouble or storm of life can destroy. When a storm is approaching, we REST ASSURED that God has prepared us, laid a basis for, a foundation of rock so strong nothing, I mean nothing can cancel that plan. The world is cancelling all sorts of worldly things that we have grown to depend on, things that we cannot even take into eternal glory with us, things that are not in the core foundation of God’s foundation of truth, from the beginning of time. The Lords asks us, Do you realize He’s got this?! You’ve got all you need to exist.

YOU DO NOT NEED ANYTHING ELSE UNLESS HE SAYS SO!

 Psalm 57:7 

"My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast" NIV

"My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident." NLT

"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.

The psalmist JOY overflows and he continues I will sing and give praise (make music).

This word of the soul brings us JOY and always gives us a sense of confidence.

JOY-DON'T JUDGE ME-ONE THING I KNOW

 "Don't judge me", I forced the words out in the middle of a hysterical laugh. I said this to a young gentlemen as I got to the window at the McDonalds drive-up. LOL! I had just waited in a line hyper focused on the  CRUMBL COOKIE box sitting in the passenger seat next to me. Like a dog waiting for a treat I was dreaming of biting into one of the deluxe cookie. I rolled the car through the speaker where I would have ordered, taking pictures of the box and content to send to my family members via text, for I knew I had beat them all by getting to the newly opened shop! I was so excited to brag that I missed the speaker and my order. 

I woke up to the reality of what I had done and all I could do is laugh hysterically. Thus when I got to the window I could pay for nothing because I had not ordered. The boy responded with a laugh, "I won't judge." I just had to come clean that I truly was in line yet forgot to order, "Can I order now?" "Sure", the boy graciously accepted my order and I paid.

Do I even ask you if you have ever done this?

"It is such a Lainey thing to do", declared all my family members!

Maybe a better question to get to the point. If you were given the opportunity to do anything in the world you wanted, what would you choose to do?

I am constantly writing about our fast paced lives filled with many choices. Like the amount of stores, restaurants, baked good shops and travel destinations.

David the psalmist wrote, "ONE THING I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple. Psalm 27:4."

David the man after God's heart sums up his existence by this catchy opener "ONE THING". This has got a grip on me since I read it a week ago. In fact I woke up last night with the phrase on repeat in my head. 

I'm sure you know someone who died recently, end of life situations is always a wake up call!

We must not race through the grieving process with out asking ourselves, "Death, what is after that?"

#eternitymatters

#crumblcookies is fun! God gave us fun! 

BUT

ONE THING, sums up what really matters.

Pray with me: Lord help me to put things in perspective with "One Thing." 

Don't get crumbled up in the lies that a job, food, travel, bigger house, better car etc. really really matters in the end.