Karen's Kids Korner

Mountains

2012-01-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

Here in Central Oregon we call these mountains the three sisters with Mt Bachelor seen to the left of them. The names given the three sisters are Faith, Hope, and Charity. Today I'm going to rename them Marissa, Aubrey, Brooke, and Mt. Bachelor gets the new name of Anthony as I talk about mountains. Mountains not in the form of dirt or clay and trees, but rather the large obstacles that life's issues, adventures, and struggles come in.

In Joshua 14:10-12 As Caleb said when he was 85 years old so I say, “…here I am today, 53 years old. I am still as strong today as the day Penny Penhollow sent me out. I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me that mountain (the welling being of my grandchildren) that You promised me when You took upon Your lap my grandchildren.

Lord you were the one that said, “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. When Jesus had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.” Mt 19:13-15

I am standing by Your promises Lord to never leave nor forsake them. That You are the Father to the fatherless who helps them, does justice for them, defends them and relieves them. These are as much Your children as they are ours. We trust in You and our hearts are helped.

As I stand at the bottom of the mountain waiting for you I promise not to collect gold to make myself an idol or something that stands between You and me. Indeed a collection of “gold” that comes in the form of worrying, impatience, disobedience, and acting on my own. I promise Lord to not walk around and around the mountain following the same behavior that got me nowhere in the first place.

I stand here in the faith You have provided me with to move mountains and shout one more time, “Give me that mountain!”

As everything else in life it's all about our attitude. We can demand something or we can ask for something. We can be bold in our faith or obnoxious in our wants. With the right faith, the correct motive and the power that comes from the Holy Spirit we can move mountains thanks to God. We have to operate within God's will, not our own wants and follow His lead alone.

The key is, "Not our own." What we do should be done through Jesus. What we accomplish should be credited to Him. What we gain is for His glory not our selfish needs. Each of us has that ability to shout, "Give me that mountain." From there as our voices echo in the canyons of life we need to wait patiently for the Lord to either lead us up that mountain in victory or direct us to another mountain where victory can be found.

Ps 121:1-3 “I lift my eyes to the hills where does my help come from, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

They call me grandma

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T20:48:00.001-08:00

If you think about it every day is the beginning of a New Year. Each are day's that need to begin and end with the Lord blessed with family and friends in between. It's important that we don't wait for the calendar to turn to decide to live our lives for Jesus instead of ourselves. Too often we think we have a certain number of years entitled to us to party and do whatever we want then we can accept Christ into our lives.

It doesn't work that way because we never know when our year or time will end. I know a few people that didn't make it through the year 2011. One was my precious grandma that I miss dearly, another was the husband of a co-worker. Neither had any say on when they were going to died but both had to be prepared to meet with Jesus on the other side.

No matter what happened "last year" we need to make a choice to work on improving what we can for this year. Filling our lives with Jesus, surrounding ourselves with family and friends, doing what will count for all eternity not for one calendar year.

Happy Birthday Jesus, Merry Christmas Everyone Else

2011-12-20T06:08:00.000-08:00

Every year for Christmas I gather my grandkids up and take their pictures. We have some pretty wild and crazy pictures that have been taken over the years.

Each photo session takes several pictures because you never know who is going to be looking away, have their tongue stuck out, or covering their face. Once the perfect picture is picked out the Christmas cards are ordered.

This picture was one that wasn't chosen because Jayleena's santa hat was covering her face. To me its cute but to her it wasn't.

No matter how hard we try to get the perfect picture its always going to have its flaws in it for someone. That's why Christ came as a babe in a manger and died a man on the cross. He did it to take care of our flaws and to let us know we are loved in spite of them.

This holiday belongs to Jesus. We need to remember that and not leave Him out. God included us in His plan of salvation now its up to us to make the choice to include Him in our lives. It doesn't matter if the date we've picked to celebrate is the exact date He was born, what is important is the celebration of Him and the invitation for Him to come into our hearts.

Merry Christmas everyone............. Happy Birthday Jesus. We love you!

Wonders of God

2011-12-10T09:18:00.001-08:00

Eclipse of the moon. This morning as I stood outside to watch the eclipse of the moon I raise my arms to God as I marveled over what I saw and heard.

It was all totally God. It was His design. His creation doing this. The sound of the rooster crowing. The owl hooting just gave more glory to God. The stars and the darkness all came from Him. The sun and moon doing their duties all were following what God designed them to do. The eclipse wasn't an error someone happened to notice. Scientist told us when to look because of the precise timing God used to create it

We need to look at this and give glory to God for it. Glory for His design of our eyes that allows us to even see it. We are not a mistake of nature just like the eclipse wasn't. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We need to marvel over that and give God the glory due His name. I love Jesus.

Dressed and ready

2011-12-04T09:52:00.001-08:00

Teaching the preschool kids at the church the fun thing they like to do is dress up. Each Sunday the clothes that are stored in the closet come out and the dress up game begins.

For the kids that's what they seem to be there for but as the teacher that is my goal as well in a different way. My job as a teacher, mom, grandma is to get the kids dressed and ready for Heaven.

Although their game last for an hour my task is for all eternity. It’s a job that needs to be carried on and shared by others to get our youth ready for their journey to Heaven. Dressed up to be like Jesus, to imitate Him instead of the police officer, doctor, or teacher they like to dress up to be.

Cute outfit Luke and your sister Gracie too.

roads

2011-11-20T11:29:00.001-08:00

Driving home one day I must have been bored or something because I got to thinking about the road and how it stays where it is. Duh! Yep, the path to the grocery store, church, or work is always there for me to take. It may be torn up and changed once in awhile for construction purposes but it still gets me to the location of my choice.

If you think about it the road to Heaven never moves either, it remains the same, the path of the cross of Christ. People may try to move it, tear it up for construction purposes but it is unchangeable and remains the same just as the destination it leads to.

We are the ones who make the mistake of not taking the road we need to take to get where we need to be. We delay the journey of turning our lives over to Jesus in order to have a little “fun” along the way. We figure the destination will never change so we can play first then get where we need to be last.

Never take for granted the roads ahead of you, especially the road to Heaven. Just because the road there is secure and will stay the same doesn’t give us the right to delay asking Jesus into our hearts and lives.

Destination, heaven! Christ secured.

They call me grandma

Best barn

2011-11-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

The preschool class on Sunday was almost empty. It was just one student and I. After the lesson we proceeded to play with the wooden blocks. The object of choice to make was a barnyard.

Block by block we created our barn. The light brown square blocks worked well for hay bales and the blue ones were used for the pond the animals drank from. Although the roof idea we had didn’t work to well the made up pickup with a loading ramp for the animals to walk up did.

As the finishing touches were added Adison marveled over his creation. Over and over again he was anxious to show it off. “I wish Duggan was here to see this,” he kept saying. The more I heard him praise what he saw, the more I thought about how Jesus told us to become as little children.

Content with the wooden pickup, the blocks for water he was pleased with what he had. Unfortunately as we grow up our contentment seems to go away. We start to want bigger and better things. Made up hay bales and wooden sheep just won’t do it anymore. It would do us well to learn from the little kids and get back to true contentment. The one we had at our made up tea parties, thrown together Halloween costumes, and sticks for a pony to ride.

Be thankful for what you have. More isn’t always better. It depends on the attitude in which it is received, taken, and kept.

They Call Me, Grandma

Letting our light shine

2011-11-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

In the Bible it tells us that Jesus is our light. He is the one we look to for everything we need. He is the brightness, hope, guidance we need in a world darken with the bad things sin has created. The sin of anger, the sin of selfishness, the sin of telling lies, the sin of picking on others, the sin of not doing the things God tells us to do in the Bible.

One of those things the Bible tells us to do is to let our light shine for Jesus. Did you know the moon at night does not have its own light? The light you see from the moon is the light of the sun reflecting off of it. We need to be like the moon and reflect the light of Jesus. We do this by living as Jesus would want us to live.

Let your light shine. Don’t let the darkness of the bad stuff around you put your light out. Like a candle, a wind can come up and blow it out but you need to light it once again and make the choice to continue on.

It’s all in your attitude, its all in your choice to stay positive and look to Jesus for the source of your shine.

They call me grandma

Doing the Impossible

2011-11-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 I will rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ

In this verse for the day it seems like all the things listed seem impossible. There’s no way we can “rejoice always” after all have you seen some of the things that have been going on lately! And what about this pray without ceasing. I can’t be down on my knees praying, I have to go to school, sleep, and eat.

Then the last one seems the most unworkable of all, “in everything give thanks” that’s the craziest thing in the world. How can we give thanks for our parents fighting, the bully at school, the attitude of people around us, and so much more?

Alone these things are impossible that’s why we have the Holy Spirit on our side to help us through these things. It’s a help that comes to us through reading the Bible, praying, getting to know Jesus, and being obedient to God’s words.

We don’t have to rejoice or give thanks about the bad things that are happening to us. What we need to do is look for the positive. If all we have to be thankful for is the air we breathe, the birds we see flying, or the dog we hear barking then so be it. It’s all about our attitude and whether or not we are going to control it or allow it to go on controlling us.

They call me grandma

Kid DEES God,the driver. We, the passengers

2011-10-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

My grandson at the age of seven thinks it’s funny to jump in the car first and get behind the wheel and pretends he’s driving. He looks as goofy there as our black lab does when he gets in that same seat.

As excited as most people are to start driving soon they learn it’s nice to have someone else behind the wheel at times. Spiritually is no different. All we have to do is board the bus, sit back and watch the scenery go by, trusting God knows where He is going.

Recently my husband and I went to a big city to visit our niece in the hospital. In order to get to the hospital we had to ride the community bus system. Our job was getting to the station on time and finding the right bus that would take us where we needed to go. When we boarded the bus we noticed a sign at the front that said, “Do not disturb the operator while the bus is in motion.” Once we got where we needed to be all we had to do was sit down and allow the driver to do the rest.

That is the way we need to be with God. Our job is coming to Him. Showing up at the right time at the right station and being still while He takes us where we need to go spiritually. We may have to put up with a few of the characters on the bus as they put up with us but that’s okay as long as we get to our final destination of Heaven with Jesus.

Cooperation with the driver is the key. Following the rules of the bus and being patient with the journey itself is important too. We may not understand God’s logic when He makes a left or right turn or frequent stops but that is where trust comes in.

It would do us well to, “not disturb the operator while the bus was in motion” as well. The operator being God and the bus is our life in motion with Jesus as our destiny.

They call me grandma

Picture DEES #45 Cleaning up the mess

2011-08-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Before After

It sure doesn’t seem like it takes long to get a room dirty. My grandkids can do it quicker than quick. Perhaps they learned it from their grandma who is known as a “pack rat.” That is someone who likes to collect things and hold on to more.

What’s interesting is the fact that things pile up and pile up before we even realize it. It takes a great deal of effort on our part to clean it up and get it looking as it should. Perhaps if we would do that as we go along the task wouldn’t be that hard.

We do that with our personal lives and the junk we allow to pile up in it. Before we know it we have a mess because of the choices we have made, the attitudes we have held on to, and the emotions we’ve allowed to control us. At first glance it looks like it would be impossible to ever be able to straighten it all out but with time and effort we can.

With the help of the Lord we can clean up the messes we have made. It is to Him we need to run to and seek forgiveness and guidance going forward. If we stay strong before we know it we will find our way moving from the “before” picture to the “after” picture. A picture made perfect in Christ through our weaknesses.

To some it may take longer to get the job done but if we stay with Christ all things are possible. In other words, we need to make sure that we don’t give up until the job is done!

Picture DEES #44 Maze of Mirrors

2011-08-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

At a carnival there is a ride you can go on that is a “maze of mirrors.” It is set up to where it can be difficult to get through as you frequently bump into mirrors that block your way. It seems like you are constantly running into one dead end after another.

Recently as I watched a young child go through it the man in charge of the maze was standing outside telling the little girl which way she needed to turn. “No, no,” he would shout. “Go that way or go this way.” It took her awhile to get out but eventually she did.

Life is like that as well. Its set up as a maze of mirrors to where it can be difficult to know what way to turn and which way is out. God is the man who knows the way out. He gives us the directions we need to take to accomplish getting through the best way possible.

We can either listen to His advice or we can continue to bump in to the dead-end paths we take. Paths of disobedience, thinking we can do it our own way. When we do that all we are doing is postponing a trip that could have been much quicker and a lot less painful.

Father God we praise You for being there for us to see us through the maze of life. Forgive us Father for the times we don’t listen and decide to go at it alone. Help us to be patient as we trust in Your guidance instead of our own desire to “do it ourselves.” Amen

They call me grandma

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Future storytellers

2011-07-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Kids with a story to tell about Jesus.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Picture DEES #43 Caught in the Act of Love

2011-07-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Caught in the Act

In a previous picture DEE #41 I talked about getting “caught.” That was about how we often get ourselves “caught” or tangled up in things by the choices we make. Today’s picture DEE is about getting caught in the act of love.

In this video some of my grandkids and me got caught in the act of love singing Happy Birthday to my mom who turned 78, “Oh I mean 55, mom.” Behind the curtain no one knew what to expect when we came in front of our audience. As the crowd of five people laughed at our silliness I could see the sparkle in my mom’s eye as she laughed.

There are some things in life that are worth getting caught doing and the act of love is one of them. What a treasure it is to see a young child put on a floor show for their parents while someone nearby smiles. To see that hand full of flowers freshly picked from the flowerbed while someone near by smiles. The pretend tea parties, the dare devil bike tricks thru the mud while someone nearby smiles. Refrigerator artwork, made up creations, playhouses made under the dining room table while someone near by smiles.

Jesus was one who was caught in the act of love many times. Even His death was a symbol of His love for us. Never be afraid to get caught in the act of love. It’s a treasure for those you love and an act worth committing.

Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dee #42 Lost signal

2011-06-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

Having no radio in my car I rely on this clock radio for my radio station. Unfortunately frequently it loses the signal and it needs to be readjusted

It’s not the radio tower that moved but me moving further away from it. Just a slight move to the left or right is all it takes to get back the signal I need to hear my music.

In our Christian walk we face a similar situation. We tune in to God and then as we move away from Him going around life's corners we lose our signal sometimes. It’s not because God moved, we did.

Just like we would immediately do whatever we could to get a good radio signal we need to do the same with God. Doing whatever adjustments it takes to hear Him clearly once again. Reading our Bibles daily and praying is a good way to get the signal we need to stay connected to God.

Dear Heavenly Father thanks for giving us a way to stay in tune with you. May we do our part to adjust the signal and keep the communication clear between us and You forever and ever.

They call me grandma

Kid DEES Growing Fruit

2011-06-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

“I see fruit!” are the words I speak when I see my grandkids doing things that are right, good, and beneficial for themselves and others. Fruit is something that is produced. When we have Christ in our lives we need to be producing all the right qualities to be able to see Christ-like produce growing in our lives. Fruit that comes in the form of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and more.

Being kind to your brother or sister is good fruit. Doing what mom and dad ask you to do is good fruit. Cleaning your room without being asked is good fruit. Giving up your place in a line at school for someone else is good fruit. Having a good attitude is good fruit. Telling the truth is good fruit.

To visualize the idea of growing fruit, draw yourself a tree on a large piece of paper. Every time you see the kind of fruit growing we are talking about here put a sticker on your tree. If you’d ask your mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa or

whomever I’m sure they would be happy to let you know when you have done something that leads to good fruit.

Just because we get lots of stickers on our tree we have to beware of the fact that bad fruit can show up as well. If you are kind to your sister one minute and later are mean to her that adds bad fruit to your crop. When that which is bad is allowed to stay with the good fruit it soon spreads its rotten-ness to the good to the point that the whole bowl or tree can wind up ruined.

Learn to recognize fruit that has gone bad and deal with it, don’t let it continue on where it affects other areas of your life. Don’t waste your time trying to examine other people’s fruit and what they are growing. Stay in your own field and take responsibility for that which you are producing in yourself.

It’s important you don’t let someone else put up a fruit stand near yours by allowing what they do to affect your outcome. Their bad fruit of anger doesn’t have to become a part of your crop. It can if you allow it, so beware.

Be a fruit inspector taking charge of your own fruit-stand, producing for Christ that which is good, all natural, and truly organic and pesticide or sin free.

They call me grandma

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture DEES #41---Caught

2011-05-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Often in life we get ourselves into situations where we wind up getting “caught.” Caught by our parents, by our teachers, by other people in the act of doing something we shouldn’t. Our first reaction is blaming others for something we did or cast anger at the one who caught us.

What we fail to look at is the one who is holding the trap, the net, the device or act that got us caught. When closely examined like in the case with Anthony in this picture we find we are the ones who have their hand on the device. In other words we are the ones to blame by allowing it to happen out of poor choices, lack of discipline, and the desire to “go along with the crowd.”

We are the ones who need to take responsibility for our own actions. The devil can’t make us do what we do, our brother or sister can’t make us do it, getting caught by mom or dad didn’t do. We are the ones who set ourselves up for this and we are the perfect person to stop it.

Father God, creator of all, help us this day to watch for and stay clear of the traps life has for us that we may remain free in Your name alone.

Kid DEES "Rest Here!"

2011-05-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew 11:28, 29 Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Christ when He was here on earth sent out an invitation to all. He invited us to come to Him especially when we are feeling tired and worn out. His invitation included a promise for us to find rest in Him.

The best way to come to Jesus is through prayer and the reading of His word, the Holy Bible. There are a lot of places to go. Often if you search your Bible enough you will find the scriptures that help you the most in the situations you find yourself needing rest.

For example:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Feeling weak and trampled down by things going on in life this is a good scripture to hold on to. Claim the promise here that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. It doesn’t give you the power to leap tall buildings in a single jump but it will give you what you need to endure and go on.

Joshua 1:5 …as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” God may have been talking to Joshua there but that promise is for all of us to claim and hold on to. God will not leave us or forget us. Satan will try to make it seem like He has but He won’t. There is tremendous rest for your spirit to know and believe that this is true.

Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. One of the big things that drain us of strength that leads to the lack of rest is trying to lean on your own understanding. Stop it! If you do that you’ll be way ahead of a lot of adults. Just trust the Lord with ALL your heart, not parts of it, not when its convenient for you but ALLways with ALL your heart.

The treasure chest of scriptures useful to give us strength and rest is endless. Get in the treasure chest of God’s word today and find more to take along in your journey through life.

Now that we got our scriptures to travel with let’s now take the time to pray to round off the perfect start to a long journey, the voyage of life itself.

OUR PRAYER: Precious Heavenly Father, the King of comfort, strength, and giver of rest we pray this day that we will take that first baby step towards You and accept Your invitation to “Come.” We come running into Your arms Lord God seeking the kind of rest and strength You promise. Thank you Lord that we will never find Your arms closed or Your back turned. Forgive us Father for the times we listen to the lies of Satan telling us You don’t care, You forgot about us, that we are not important to You. We know better Lord and we claim Your promise to never leave us nor forget us as we learn to trust in You. In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

They call me grandma

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES It's Not Fair

2011-05-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

“It’s not fair Grandma, it’s not fair,” were the words being expressed by my two granddaughters. They were words I had heard before from them, from their mother when she was little, and from my very own mouth.

What is it about life that we seem to think it should be fair? It would be a wonderful thing but that is not the way it is. Back in the days of the county fair I remember hearing my Aunt inform her two boys that the county fair was anything but fair.

Instead of wondering why the world is full of unfair things we need to learn how to handle these situations. Crying out in anger, getting upset in disappointment, pouting in a corner will not change a thing. If you think about it most of the things we label “unfair” are the situations where we don’t get our way.

Like it or not we have to learn to take the good with the bad, the fair with the unfair. We don’t need to go out of our way to make things unfair for some but we don’t need to go out of our way to make everything “fair” either because it’s impossible.

Is it fair that when I’m on a diet others can eat chocolate and I can’t? Honestly and truly the answer is yes. It’s not other people’s fault I need to lose weight. We need to learn to be thankful for what we get and have and stop looking at things through such negative eyes.

They call me grandma

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

The time is now

2011-03-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not here. The time is now.

The time is now to follow the Lord. The time is now to respect and love our parents. The time is now to do what we are called to do as children of God. Too often our thinking is the time is NOW for ME. We were never meant to be number #1 in our lives. We are to put God first, others second and then us.

As you notice time often goes by quickly while other times it can travel rather slowly. It only travels slowly when we want it to go by quickly. Odd isn't it! It’s a quick little thing that slips by before we know it.

Putting things off till tomorrow is something we should never get in the habit of doing because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. One day I was living a healthy life, the next day I found out I had cancer. Just that quickly my life changed.

We are not here to get all we can in for ourselves first then start the, “God first others second” phase. No, when you put God first you’ll be surprised how much you will get out of it yourself. Now is the time, now is the place.

They call me grandma

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Playdough madness

2011-03-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ethan and his playdough pet
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Picture dees~~~~Flyswatter of our Emotions

2011-03-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Its important in life when we come up against things that we learn how to deal with it properly. Swatting at it with the flyswatter of our emotions isn't going to solve anything. We need to be strong and in control of our emotions. Tell them we're the boss not let them boss us around. We do this by turning to Jesus and leaning on Him for the strength and guidance needed to endure. The results of handling things that way will end up in better solutions with lasting results.

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~ Don't Blame Me, Blame My Mouth

2011-03-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

As I sat in McDonald’s with two of my granddaughters, the youngest who was the last to finish looked up at me and said, “Grandma, don’t blame me blame my mouth.”

Coming from church where the sermon topic was about telling lies verses telling the truth her innocent little
statement about her food said a lot. Too often in our lives we like to blame anything but ourselves for our actions. Blame my mouth, don’t blame me is our way of thinking. God tells us it isn’t easy to tame the tongue but it’s possible.

I heard a lady in her 50’s once shout out that it was her “God-given right to say what she pleased.” Wrong, it is not our God-given right to say whatever we feel like saying. If you look in the Bible you will not find any place where God gives us that right. What we are told to do is control our tongue, to say only that which is beneficial to others, and to let our words and meditation of our heart be pleasing to God.

Just because we have ability to speak doesn’t give us the right to speak whatever we want. Turning 50, 60, 15, 10, or 5 doesn’t give us that right either. What comes with age should be maturity not the attitude that now that I’m older I can do whatever I want.

We need to take responsibility for our mouths. Like it or not its connected to our heart, it’s a part of us. Just like you would never get away with slapping another kid in school and say, “Don’t blame me blame my hand,” it doesn’t work with the mouth either.

They call me grandma

Kid DEES---Navigating the Storms in life without capsizing

2011-02-22T06:31:00.000-08:00

We need to know how to navigate the storms in life without capsizing

Have you ever been in a storm? I’ve been in a few that sent me quietly and fearfully to a corner somewhere in my house to ride it out. No matter how terrifying they can be storms eventually end. What we do during these storms is important.

In life we see many storms. Such as the storms caused by a family breaking up, an unexpected illness such as cancer, a sudden accident, or other circumstances. As people give lessons on what to do during an earthquake we need to know how to navigate the storms in life without capsizing or turning our lives totally upside down.

The best thing we can do is not panic. Don’t take matters into your own hands by trying to run away, turning to things such as alcohol, drugs, or sex. When we do these things it’s like suddenly standing up in the boat that is rocking in the ocean. One sudden move and we throw it totally off balance. The end result is the boat will capsize or turn over and we wind up soaking wet.

No, what we need to do is put our trust in the Lord and decide to sit quietly until the storm passes. It’s scary but it’s possible to endure. The wonderful thing about God is the fact that He has more faith in us than we do in ourselves. God is the skipper, we are the passengers. How we navigate or find our way through life’s storms is by having faith in the One we have placed in charge of our life boat, Jesus Christ.

Future Writer in the Making

2010-12-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

On Sunday my ten year old granddaughter Aubrey arrived at church with her book that contained a poem she wrote last year in grade school. Holding tightly to the published book of poems with both hands the instructions from her mom and dad echoed in her ears. “Better not forget it at the church,” they told her as she beamed with delight. “My poem is on page 32,” she told me.

Ice Cream by Aubrey Evans

Ice cream
Cold, creamy
Cone, three scoops, ice cream
Eating, giggling, and licking
Cold, creamy, ice cream

The poem last year in school wasn’t her only accomplishment in her future writing career. She even wrote a story about what she hoped to see in the future and won an award for it from the city where she lives. The writing was placed in the time capsule at the city park with the instructions for it to be opened in 100 years. A ceremony was given for putting the writing and other things into the time capsule. Once in, everyone got to sign the capsule. At last what Aubrey had written was tucked away safe and sound ready to make its 100 year journey.

Taking the time to autograph the time capsule was fun as I thought about this very ceremony in reverse. Instead of sealing the capsule away in a 100 years people were going to be opening it up. Who would be there? What would they be thinking? Would the town be any different than what it was today?

As I pass the time capsule every Sunday on my way to church it will always remind me of her. What a blessing our kids are and what a wonderful contribution they can be to us. All it takes is a few sentences or other things. Just the joy they bring to others hearts, the smile they wear, the innocence they portray is a great contribution to the hearts of those around them. Whether they are the hearts of love ones, friends, total strangers or people in the future it doesn't matter.

We'd probably be surprised just what kind of contribution we are passing along in the time capsules of our hearts. Treasures that will be sure to come out many years from now long after we are gone simply because they were passed along from generation to generation.

As a mom and grandma what I hope to pass on to the next generation is the news of Christ's love for them. Well over 100 years ago He was here to give us the good news. It's news that has traveled from many a time capsules, through many a hearts and will continue on. Praise the Lord.

Job well done Aubrey. Grandma's proud of you!

Picture Dees #40--Onion Layers

2010-11-30T07:56:00.000-08:00

As you grow up in life you will notice that people are often made of all sorts of layers. God starts us out in life with a spiritual heart that is tender and sweet. As we grow up we tend to add our own layers. When we get into school we think we need to add a layer that impresses other kids. Later we find ourselves adding a layer that hides what we don’t want others to see about us like our short temper or our grumpiness.

Eventually over time we have several different layers we have used to cover ourselves up. The layers we add won’t last forever like the picture I drew on my onion. After awhile it fell off.

We may fool a lot of people but we don’t fool God. He is the one who sees past those different layers. Sooner or later one layer at a time He gets down to who we really are and we need to do the same. The best thing to do is to never start adding them in the first place.

The layer we put on to try and get other kids to like us needs to go. The layer of disguises we put on to hide who we are needs to go. The layers of wrong attitudes and bad choices need to go.

You are as unique as the snowflakes that carry their own designs. Don’t try to cover that up by adding what you think needs to be in order to copy someone else.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for taking the time to show us who we can be when we allow You in our lives. You bring out the special things we carry in our hearts. May we always remember “being ourselves” isn’t an invitation to do and be whatever we want. No, it’s a blessing to be the child You created us to be by Your Design. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!”

© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rejoice and be Thankful

2010-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

In the book of Philippians in the New Testament it talks about how we are to rejoice in the Lord always. It then tells us to be anxious for nothing but in everything pray with thanksgiving.

Rejoice! Thanksgiving! Those are the keys that will open many doors for us. Doors not to get us what we want but doors used to get us through good times and bad. It doesn’t matter how things are going we are told to rejoice in the Lord always! There should be no half ways, part of the ways, when the mood strikes us way but ALWAYS.

Our rejoicing is not for the bad that are going on. Our rejoicing is for a God who loves us and will no abandon us. Our rejoicing is not for the lack of things we may need but our rejoicing is for the things we have no matter how few.

If you can learn this lesson early in life you will be way ahead of many adults. I struggled with this myself in my young adulthood. I couldn’t see a reason to rejoice. What in the world did I have to be thankful for? I was covering my own eyes to the blessings God had for me if only I would look.

Drawing near to God doesn’t get us out of trouble, rough times, hurt, and pain it gets us through. It helps us to come out ahead in life instead of further behind. The choice is ours. We can move forward using rejoicing and being thankful or allow life to hold us back via grumbling and complaining.

Dear Heavenly Father my rejoicing today is rejoicing in Your watchful eye. I love knowing You are there to walk me thorough the obstacle course of life. I’m thankful for the paths You have opened up. Forgive me for fighting against the ones You closed. Thank you for Your love. Thank You for patience. And most of all thank You for caring enough to send Jesus into my life. I’ll love you always, thank You for loving me!

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture DEES #39 Crumpled Piece of Paper

2010-10-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

When we come to God most of us look like a crumpled piece of paper full of wrinkles, flukes, and flaws and past scars, mistakes, and poor judgment. What a wonderful blessing to us that God sees that crumpled heart in us and He doesn’t toss it aside. No, He takes it. He saves it and stretches it out into something of great beauty.

This is a process that doesn’t instantly happen the minute we come to Christ. Its something that takes time and cooperation on our part as God restores our heart to what it needs to be in Christ. How much He can stretch and straighten out our spiritual heart depends on how much we lend a hand.

It’s important to realize that crumpled paper (our spiritual heart) seems to have a memory of its own. It will want to go back to the way it was before Christ but we have to work together with God to avoid that from happening. Once stretched and straightened out God begins to write a love letter on it directly over those flukes and flaws, scars, mistakes, and poor judgments we’ve made in life.

We don’t have to stay that crumpled up piece of paper the world tosses aside. We can go to Christ and restore what once was crumpled or what can become crumpled in the future.

Like the paper we use in school is worth recycling so is our heart and Christ is the perfect place to go to, to get the job done.

They Call Me, Grandma

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid Dees---See you at the pole, God revealed

2010-09-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone, did you make it to your school’s function called “See you at the Poles?” Some schools may have done something while others don’t. Anyway it’s a time to gather at the school’s flag pole and pray for the school and the kids as well.

Every year a topic is chosen. This year it was, “God revealing Himself to us.” What does that mean? Well let’s look together and find out. Revealing is what is done to make something known, to expose it, to open, show, and make public.

What’s great about God is He will do just that. The important thing is we need to be ready to look and see what He reveals to us. The greatest way God shows Himself to us is in His artwork or what some call “mother nature.” It’s really God’s nature that you are seeing. You can tell by looking at how the butterfly is formed, how a rose can open and close on its own, the sparkle in the stars, the colors of the rainbow, the sound of ocean waves and so much more. Each and everything reveals the Creator who made them possible in the slightest of details. The Bible also reveals God to us if we would just take the time to read it.

When someone at school says they are going to reveal a secret to you you’re all ears, or I should say you pay attention really close. You can’t wait to hear what they have to say. We need to be that way with God as He reveals Himself to us in various ways. Eager to hear what He has to say, anxious to see what He has to show us.

There may be some things about God that will remain a secret forever but not everything. Praise the Lord He lets us know who He is and what He stands for. Our job in the process is to be looking for God revealed.

Praise you Lord God that You don’t leave us totally in the dark. We can see You everywhere we look if only we would. We can feel You in the wind that blows across our face. We hear You in the ocean that roars across the sand. We can see You in the birds flying across the sky and it doesn’t end there. We get our own painted picture of You written across the pages of Your Word, the Bible. Thank you Lord for caring enough to show us who You are and invite us to come to You. God revealed. Amen! Forever and ever!

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #38 The Donut

2010-09-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

One day as my grandchildren and I were looking through the donut selection at the local bakery I got to thinking about the connection between donuts and life. Something beyond what can wind up on our hips if we eat too many of them. Ha Ha.

Think about it. In life we have the tendency to bypass looking at the things we do have. The things present in our lives. Things that may be plain to the eye or nicely decorated like Brooke’s donut.

Instead we look for what is missing like the center hole of a donut instead of being thankful for what we do have. When we do this we miss out on the best part just because we were thinking too much about the part that was missing.

Instead of wishing for what we don’t have let’s concentrate on what we do have. There’s a beauty to be found in everything if we look hard enough. For example, the hole that is missing in your life may be a parent who has moved away due to a divorce or died. Look at what you do have like a parent who is still there, a grandparent who is giving their all to you, a friend nearby, a youth pastor at the church or someone else.

We need to stop looking at life through the donut hole and get our eyes focused outward on the greater things around it. Concentrate on what is there. What is missing will take care of itself. Turn to Jesus. He will help you where you struggle to see what needs to be seen and let go of what needs to be let go of. Learn that lesson early and you’ll be way ahead of a lot of adults. God bless.

They Call Me, Grandma

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES Shield of Faith continued, God's love for us

2010-08-24T07:28:00.001-07:00

As we talked about last time we were going to take a good look at our shield of Faith God has given us for protection. The part in which comes first, that we need to tightly hold on to is our faith in Christ. Once we have properly put our faith in Christ we soon find all the other little things in life falling into place.

When God said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” He was talking about you and me. We can have faith in the fact that in spite of whether we are feeling loved by the world, by our parents, by our siblings, by other kids we need to know God loves us. That love will never waiver although our choices in life can draw us away from it if we allow it.

Instead of going out of our way to fill the missing feeling of not being loved, or dreaming of a love others have with each other we need to seek God’s love first. The love of a friend, parent, boyfriend, girlfriend, sister or brother may come and go but God’s love for us is there to stay.

Unfortunately we are the ones that tend to move away from it. We get to thinking because He loves us we therefore get to do whatever we please whenever we please. From there the first thing that goes wrong in our lives we blame God for not loving us.

God’s love for us doesn’t assure us a pain free life with all we could ever want and ask for. It’s our reassurance that we have someone who cares near by. Someone to cuddle up against when we are scared, a guide to follow, a teacher to learn from, and friend we can confide in.

His love is here to stay. It’s strong enough to withstand anything the world throws at it. As long as we don’t move away, it won’t either. Praise the Lord.

Dear Heavenly Father thank you Lord for the faith in knowing we are loved by You. Too often we walk through life believing the lies Satan tells us that we are not loved by others or ourselves. Praise you Lord that we will never get that from You. Help us to recognize the lies as we run quickly by them into the comfort of your loving arms. We love you Father, and again thank you for loving us. In your son’s most precious name we pray, Amen. (So be it)

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid Dees Shield of Faith Eph 6:16

2010-07-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV) In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

In the book of Ephesians the writer Paul gives us a list of spiritual armor we need to wear in order to stand up against the bad things in life. Although all the pieces are vital, the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation I think the shield of faith is very important.

A shield is something you hold out in front of you to protect yourself. Paul tells us it’s the one piece that will put out all those flaming arrows coming your way. The flaming arrows full of anger from another person, a bully at school, a brother or sister at home. Flaming arrows of criticisms telling you you’re no good, you’ll never amount to anything. The flaming arrow of temptations telling you its okay to do this, don’t worry about doing that, it’s okay to steal something or lie about stuff if we keep them “little.”

Whenever you feel those flaming arrows coming your way hold up your imaginary shield in front of you that really isn’t imaginary and stand strong. Tell yourself I have faith in Jesus. I have faith in His love for me. My faith is in His promise to never leave me nor forsake me. I have faith in what God said about being my help and stronghold. “I stand behind my faith in knowing I am something in God’s eyes even though others don’t see what He sees in me.”

Faith in Jesus is the handle we hold on to attached to the shield. The shield itself is built with all the other things attached it. The shield grows as our faith grows as we stand behind the promises of God. There are a lot of them and you need to get into God’s treasure chest of the Bible and look for them. I’ll help. For the weeks ahead we’ll be looking for the promises of God we can stand behind and build up our shield of faith.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you Lord God for giving us this tool we can use to fight off the bad in this world. What a blessing it is that by simply having faith in You and Your promises we are protected by Satan’s flaming arrows. It doesn’t stop them from coming, it doesn’t stop the sting of them when they hit but it will stop them from doing further damage beyond the sting. May we never lose heart and drop our shield knowing Your strength will keep us strong enough to hold it up high before us. We love you Jesus. In your precious name we pray. Amen (So be it).

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #37 Hole in the Cloud

2010-06-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

Picture Dees are devotionals with a picture. Read them alone or share them with your family and friends to get the opportunity to talk out what God wants us to learn through the simple use of pictures and words.

Picture Dees #37 Hole in the Cloud

In life there will be days when it seems like everything is clouded over dark and stormy with things going on at school, problems in the family, parents splitting up, and so much more. No matter how stormy life gets we need to know there is a hole in the cloud, a break in the storm, a ray of sunshine if we would only look and wait.

The clouds don’t have to part for us at our command like grown-ups think they can do with a traffic light getting it to change at their demand. In the midst of the storms we need to hang on to Jesus, get into His Word which is the Bible and stay close. Before we know it there will be a break in the clouds. Like the tree in the picture pointing to the hole in the cloud there will be something out there pointing to that hole in the cloud in your life.

Like it or not, there’s no such thing as a life that is storm-free, we all go through them. Its how prepared we are that matters. We don’t need to chase after them for the thrill of it. We don’t need to hide from them either. Jesus is our guide through them, our hope to hang on, and our strength to endure.

We need to be watching, waiting, and willing to hop on board with Jesus.

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES devotion from John 3:16

2010-05-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJV)

Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to know when someone loves us. Don’t you agree? It makes us feel good inside not only to hear those words but to see them in action as well. It’s an important thing for all of us to know if God, our parents, grandparents, friends, and relatives love us or not.

Straight from God’s spoken words in the Bible He tells us He loves us. There is no reason to doubt that at all. He not only said it but He showed us how much by sending His son to die for us on the cross and forgiving our sins.

Too often, we think because He loves us He will let us get away with anything we want because God is a God of love. Right? Wrong. Try that on your parents and see how far you get.

God gave us His Son Jesus Christ to get us away from sin (doing what is wrong is God’s eyes) not to do it more. Our chore or job is simply to believe in Him. Believe what He tells us in the Bible, believe He exists, and believe He cares and does love us. Believe there are penalties to suffer if we do not do what we are told to do by God.

“Dear Heavenly Father thank you so much for loving me as You do. If there is any unbelief in me Father God take it away and replace it with trust and faith in You. Help me that my life will show just how much I do believe by the attitude I have and the things I do and say. I love you God and again thanks for loving me.”

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid Dees---Joy and Trials James 1:2,3

2010-03-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

Kid-DEES are devotionals for kids from Bible verses in the word of God. On March 8, 2010 I asked the Lord to lead me to a name for my devotionals when He told me “Kid Dees” as in kiddies. Get it? I did and here they are. The Picture DEES we do are devotional thoughts from things we see and Kid DEES are from things we can read when we open up God’s word and allow it to enter our hearts. The third thing I write about is “Words to Live By” which are thoughts or devotionals coming from quotes I’ve heard that carry a good message to share. Perhaps you can help me name those something that goes along with the “DEES” as in ‘devotional’ line of writing. Anyway, read on and enjoy.

James 1:2,3 (NIV) Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials (difficult times, temptations) of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance (firmness, determination).

Being young and just starting out in life you may not know what a trial feels like or maybe you do. If your parents ever separated, you were picked on at school, or you have a brother or sister that is always trying to get you into trouble you have faced what can be called a “trial.”

God tells us we need to consider it a good thing when we go through these types of things. That sounds kind of odd doesn’t it? It’s because of what we learn from these times is why we should be happy. They prepare us for things that might come along in the future. The more we learn how to properly handle these times the better at it we get.

Take for example going through an earthquake. I’ve never been through one before, have you? If you have then you already know what to do to get through it. You’re one step ahead of me because I wouldn’t know.

One of the biggest lessons we learn during these times is how to trust the Lord to see us through. As our faith and trust in God grows so does our spiritual maturity. We don’t need to wish bad times on us so we can grow and learn more. Those times will come invited.

Prayer and learning verses from God’s word will help see you through these times. Following your emotions won’t. Getting mad, upset, angry, depressed will lead you away not towards where you need to be.

Precious Heavenly Father, forgive us Lord for the times that the trials we are going through don’t seem so joyful. Help us Lord to keep our eyes on You and not on the situation. May we always know in our hearts that sooner or later this moment also will pass in our lives. Praise you Lord for giving us the avenue of prayer we can use to stay in contact with You to walk us through and carry us around life’s trials and temptations. An path opened up through the blood of Christ shed upon the cross. We love you Father, In Jesus’ name we pray in His name. Amen.

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

To All Parents

2010-02-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

A week ago our second grandchild turned 10. She finally hit the double digits her Auntie Robin told her. It was a joyous occasion for us all. Several days after the event as I drove her to my house Aubrey spoke up and had a question for Grandma. "Grandma,' she said all so soberly, "would my twin be 10 also?" Beating the words out of my mouth were the tears from my eyes.

While still snuggled in the womb where the two of them lived temporarily together Aubrey's twin was lost in a miscarriage. Aubrey started out with someone at her side but she would go on to face the world alone without the twin brother or sister she played together with in her mother’s womb.

After explaining to her that they too would be 10 I thought of an old poem I had found when Aubrey’s mom was just a little girl. The poem called "To All Parents." Indeed an old treasure with strong words that still held their meaning.

To All Parents

“I’ll lend you for a little time a child of mine,” He said
For you to love the while he lives and mourn for when he’s dead.
It may be six or seven years, or twenty two or three,
But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you, and should his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.”

“I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return
But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true
And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes. I have selected you
Now will you give him all your love or think the labor vain
Nor hate Me when I come to call to take him back again?”

I fancied that I heard them say, “Dear LORD, thy will be done,
For all the joy thy child shall bring, the risk of grief’s we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness; we’ll love him while we may,
And for the happiness we’ve known, forever grateful stay;
But should the angels call for him much sooner than we’d planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.

Author, unknown

Grandma loves you Aubrey, Happy Birthday Girl, Happy Birthday. God bless baby twin!

Kid DEES~~~Great doors are swung on tiny hinges

2010-01-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

In the world of electronically operated doors there are still some hung on hinges. If you’ve never noticed, they are the metal things that keep the door swinging. It doesn’t seem to take much of a hinge to swing the biggest of doors. How well they swing depends on the hinge.

In life many doors of opportunity are opened on the tiniest of hinges. A simple little act of volunteering at a nursing home can open the door to a job working with the elderly. A writing assignment in class can open the door to future writings as you find something you’re good at and enjoy. The tiny hinge of being good at whatever you do can open big doors of great opportunities. It doesn’t matter the talent, the gift, or the hinge its what we do with these hinges.

Doors will open and doors will close. Some will swing fast and others will take their time. It’s important to be patient and to not give up or expect all doors to be the same for everyone. I had a door once in my car that seemed to take its time to open so I sprayed oil on it to make it swing better. It swung better all right. It swung so fast I was never able to move quick enough to get out of its way. OUCH! Later I used that same oil on a door leading into my laundry room hoping to get that door to swing just as well and stop squeaking. It never did work as the door continues to make noise.

Since we never know what hinge will work or what will make it work even better we need to keep on trying. Trusting in God to show us what opportunities are best is a good way to catch those moments. We need to trust His judgment when doors are opened and others are closed.

There’s a saying you may have heard before that goes like this, “When God closes a door somewhere He opens a window.” In other words He may stop us from going one way but He will open other opportunities for us through the tiny windows of bigger and better things. Our job is to stay alert and be looking for these moments instead of sitting around pouting outside closed doors that were never meant to be in the first place.

It’s our job to be on the lookout for tiny hinges of bigger opportunities as we allow God to be our doorkeeper. Its up to us to stand ready to trust Him to open the ones that need to be opened and close the ones that need to be closed.

Thank you God for the door of Jesus Christ and the way He opened for us to enter Heaven. Opportunity has knocked, may we all take the time to enter, embrace, and enjoy eternity with God our Father.

Copyright 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Merry Christmas to ALL

2009-12-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas can be a very exciting time of year. We anticipate gifts and goodies and fun with our families. For some that is not the picture they see. They see lack of food, no money for gifts and divided families split because of divorce, death, or absence.

We’ve made the focus of Christmas be something totally different than what it should be. When we focus on the true meaning of it, the birth of Jesus who came to save us from our own habits of sin and wrong doings Christmas can be the same for everyone.

We are all equal in the eyes of God. No one person has more of Him than the other. There are no gifts that need to be purchased only accepted in our hearts. Jesus came to fetch us home to Heaven but we need to accept that gift before we can get it.

Like you would never leave an unopened gift under your tree, don’t leave unopened the gift of having Jesus as the main focus of your life. Invite Him in to stay. Make room in your heart. Look forward to the true family gathering that will happen when we all get to Heaven to be with Jesus.

The story doesn’t start and end at the manger where Christ was born. It goes beyond December and it needs to go beyond that in our hearts. Don’t put Jesus away with the Christmas decorations. Keep Him front and center year around as you get to know the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords who left the comforts of Heaven just for you.

Merry Christmas to All and Happy Birthday to You, Jesus!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Thanksgiving: A Beginning that Has no End

2009-11-24T07:11:00.000-08:00

If you look back in history you will find that Thanksgiving Day was created out hardships, misfortune, and difficult times. The crops the Pilgrims had planted that year were failing. They were having what we would call, “A bad day or several bad days or even a bad year.” Their crops were their source of food for the year. They didn’t have a Wal Mart to run to, a Safeway to shop at, they had to grow what they needed to live off of.

It definitely was a time period that was very rough and it was because of that they decided to have what is called, “a fast of praying.” It would be a time period in which they would go without food in order to dedicate all their efforts to praying to the Lord their God. It was God who had brought them to this new country in the first place and they knew He could see them through this as well.

It was from the first idea that someone thought of something better to do. It was suggested that instead of a fast they needed to have a feast in order to be thankful for what God had already given them. This was the birth of Thanksgiving.

Try as we might to change that part in history to be something its not, such as calling Thanksgiving Day, “Lucky Thursday” the birth and purpose of the holiday remains the same. It’s a time to stop and instead of showering Heaven with our complaints through our actions we flood Heaven with our thanks.

Being thankful doesn’t come once a year. It’s not reserved for only the situations in our lives that are good. It’s a time that should be lived year around no matter what. It’s where we put our focus. It’s what we have placed in our hearts.

This Thanksgiving…..

If your brother or sisters beat you to the table first and take all your favorite goodies you can be thankful you have legs that get you there whether you’re first or last.

The meal may be small but you can be thankful you have any food at all.

The house may be lonely because a love one is missing but you can be thankful for the love ones that still remain.

The whole thing is all in how and where you look. If you look for the negative, bad things in life you will find them every time. If you look for the good in all situations to be thankful for it can be found as well.

Look and live out your gratitude daily. It will get you further in life than you can even imagine! It’s a task we will be doing for all eternity in Heaven so start today on this action that has a beginning but indeed no end.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!!

And thanks to you Jesus for who You are and who we can be thanks to You!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES~~~It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.

2009-11-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say the world out there is full of kind and gentle people but I would be lying. Unfortunately kids often get bullied at school and it doesn’t always end there, adults do it to each other as well.

Frequently it’s done simply because someone is labeled “different” than all the others by the standards the bully has chosen to measure them by. They use all sorts of excuses like a girl who doesn’t wear make-up or own a cell-phone like everyone else. The constant picking and pecking and shoving of others around gives great pleasure to the ones who are doing it as it brings tears to the one being hurt.

After enough beatings we often begin to think it really is because we are not like everyone else. We begin to doubt who we are inside and it begins to hold us back. We can’t play the part of the bully and pick on ourselves for not being “like everyone else.” Honestly take a good look around. Are these bully’s really as great as they think they are. What has their makeup got them? What has their ownership of a cell-phone achieved them? The right to bully? The right to pick on others? No way!

Know who you are inside. God created each of us to be different, unique, and worthy of His love. It is by His standards we need to go by in our hearts. The bully at school may never stop, in fact, if they think they are losing their game they will only increase their pressure. Although harsh words can pierce even the strongest of hearts it’s important to stay strong and pride yourself in who you are, not who they are trying to make you out to be.

No one is perfect, we all have our areas where we could use some improvement but that is up to us to decide not the one doing the browbeating. Learn to walk away and to stand strong. Make up your mind before hand that you will not let it wound you to the point you begin to make the mistake of actually listening to those harassing you.

For now you may be their target physically or emotionally to pick on but you don’t have to remain their target as long as you stay strong. You will have your weak moments when it can really get to you but don’t allow yourself to lie down to be their doormat to walk over. Walk away, stay strong, and lean on those worthy of the title called, “friend.”

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

They Call Me, Grandma

Picture Dees #36 Window Seat

2009-09-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about you but when my grandkids were young the seat of choice in the car was the one in the middle. They liked being able to sit there and see out the front window. As time past the place to sit would change to the window seat. As much as we would all like to be able to see out there are only so many windows in a car to go around.

As we travel through life it would be great to have the window seat that shows us what is coming, what’s out there, what’s next but it doesn’t work that way. Just like the patients who have cancer that sit in this chair next to the window getting their chemotherapy treatment they can only hope and wonder what life has in store for them next.

As we trust the driver of the car we are sitting in we need to put our trust in God that He knows what He is doing as well. Things will come at us unexpectedly, good things as well as bad but that doesn’t mean God is not in control.

It’s not up to us to see, it’s up to us to trust.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks

2009-08-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

In this area we are replacing “please and thank you” with Praise and Thanks to God. It’s important to learn how to be thankful for the blessings God bestow upon us daily. We are here to train our hearts and eyes to be on the look out for things around us we can praise the Lord for and to give Him the thanks He deserves.

Our praise and thanks for today is….

Praise you Lord that one day with You beats a 1000 days any where else.

****Instantly people can give you a long list of places they’d rather be or would at least like to visit. My co-worker would list Hawaii as her number one choice. I’d like to see Yellowstone National Park and Australia. As much as these places are wonderful to visit or live there the best place to be is with the Lord. One day with God doesn’t mean you have to die and go to Heaven, no you can spend every day of your life with God. Walking with Him, communicating with Him through prayer, taking Him with you to Yellowstone, Hawaii, Australia or wherever else you may go. If you do this you will truly find that one day with God does beat a 1000 days else where. Some day we will be with God if we choose Him in our lives for more than just a thousand days but for all eternity, what an awesome things that will be. Praise you Lord that being with you gives us joy, happiness, peace, protection, love, strength and so much more. It’s an adventure we should never miss out on.

Thank you Lord for fluffy fun furry funnies, oh I meant bunnies!

****Just recently my four grandchildren got four little bunnies. When they scratch and bite they may not be so thankful for them but they are a lot of fun. It was God who created these creatures. It was Him who designed their furry coat, who chose to put long ears on their heads and a fluffy tail on the opposite end. Whether it’s a bunny rabbit, bird, kitty cat, puppy, or even a skunk we need to stop and be thankful to the One who made them all possible, our Lord and Savior. The Creator of all, the Designer of you and me, the artist behind such beautiful artwork, Thank You Lord, Thank You!

Remember…
We are exchanging please and thank you with Praise and thanks to God. Praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, for the things around us, things given to us, gifts hidden all over the world for us to find. Often we put an X on something as a symbol of a place of focus, a central point, the area of attention. When you do that and you make an X just right and tilt your head you see a cross, that’s why we say:

X marks the spot as we focus on Jesus!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #35 Playgrounds and Battlefields

2009-08-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

Picture Dees are devotionals with a picture. Read them alone or share them with your family and friends to get the opportunity to talk out what God wants us to learn through the simple use of pictures and words.

Picture Dees #35 Playgrounds and Battlefields

When we ask Jesus into our lives we think that life is going to be a playground of endless fun and laughter. Being on the winning side with Christ it can be just that thanks to Jesus. However, there is a battlefield we all will go through as well. It’s a zone where we find ourselves fighting against the local bully of the park, Satan himself, the one who comes to cause trouble for as many people as possible. It’s important to remember it won’t always be battlefields or always playgrounds. Either way we need to stand strong in Jesus in order to come through both areas of our lives stronger and better children in God. Learn how to fight to win with Christ and learn how to play in praise to the One in charge of both our good times and bad, Jesus Christ himself.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Adventures of the Gilvanstone Family

2009-07-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hello out there in cyberspace land. We are starting a new adventure today. We have our picture dees, words to live by, in the news, it is written and praise and thanks adventures and now we start a new one. Welcome the adventures of the Gilvanstone family consisting of Marinka, Alleonna, Brockenia and Antorian as they walk with Jesus through the stories of Him in the Bible as they get to know Him better and better.

Story #1 Marinka Meets the 12-year-old Jesus at the temple Luke 2:40-52

It was the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Ever since Marinka was a little girl she loved this time of year. If she had known it was going to be different this trip she would have brought her sisters Alleonna and Brockenia along to give them a share of the adventure. Her brother Antorian would have loved to be there too.

The feast was pretty much the same but it was who she was going to meet that made it different. It was a young kid at the temple among the teachers. Gathered around discussing various issues this boy was not only listening to what the teachers had to say but he was also asking and answering questions of His own.

Listening intently from afar Marinka found their conversation very interesting. “What did I just hear them call him?” Marinka thought to herself. They called him Jesus. Jesus, that’s what she heard. Her guess was he had to be around 12 years old which was right around her age. Wow, he wasn’t like the other 12 year old boys she knew. He seemed to be a lot smarter and more mature for His age and it was down right amazing to hear Him speak.

In the midst of the conversation going on Marinka noticed a man and a woman showing up. It didn’t take Marinka long to figure out that the couple was Jesus’ parents showing up after frantically looking for Him. What Marinka didn’t know at the time was Jesus was suppose to be traveling back home with His family when they noticed He wasn’t with them.

“Son,’ the woman said, ‘why have You done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought You anxiously.” Oh boy He was going to get it now Marinka thought. Acting in the same maturity He was speaking in previously with the teachers Jesus’ reply to his mom was, “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Marinka noticed a kind of puzzled look on His mother face as if she didn’t understand what He meant. She wasn’t the only one puzzled as Marinka was unable to comprehend also what He meant by that. Was his dad the local priest in the temple? Was he one of the teachers? What did he mean about going about His father’s business?

Who was this person Marinka had just met? Would she meet up with Him again next year at the feast? What about her sisters and brother would they meet Him some day also?

Stay tune for further adventures of the Gilvanstone family.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #34 The Backburner

2009-07-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

In the busy, busy, busy life we live often the thing that winds up on the backburner of our lives is Jesus. “Oh I don’t have time to go to church today. I want to sleep in. I’ll pray later. I’ll read my Bible when I get to it next week perhaps. I want to do what I want first then maybe if I have time I’ll think about Jesus later when I’m old and gray.”

For each step we take towards the things we “want” we place God further and further back to the point we almost forget He’s there. Soon things happen and we wonder “where was God?” Sadly enough He was right where we placed Him in the priorities of our lives, in the far back.

Daily we need to make the choice to put God first. Keeping open the spot upfront for Him by the choices we make and the attitudes we display as we let the other burners or areas of our lives fill in around Him. God should never be a side-dish but the main course of our lives.

It’s a choice you will never regret and a blessing you will never want to live without once you have experienced the wonders of putting Him first. What we consider our “needs” is often what we “want” not what we necessarily need. Learn the difference and watch God at work as you turn the cooking and the providing over to Him.

It’s not ALL about me, its all about God

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees 33 Waiting for Harvest

2009-07-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

As much as we would like to get instant results whenever we plant something it just doesn’t happen. The only person who managed that was Jack and the Beanstalk not Grandpa Don and his granddaughter Brooke who just planted their garden.

As all farmers can tell you there is a time between planting and harvesting that requires patience on our part. A waiting period that cannot be skipped, shortened, or ignored. It’s during this time that what was planted has its chance to grow. Our job is not only to patiently wait but we have to supply the necessary nutrients to enhance its growth. After all try planting a garden and then not water it. You know what you will get? A dead garden.

Daily in our lives we do things that plant seeds that will eventually grow into something. We tell our love ones we love them, we are kind to the neighbor, we do our homework, we obey our parents, we take care of our bodies by feeding it properly and not starting any bad habits such as smoking, drinking or drugs, or we break a law or rule or cause trouble at school.

These are all things that will grow a harvest in our lives. Sharing our love to our love ones will reap love in return. Being kind to a neighbor will bring in peace in the neighborhood and kindness given back. Doing our homework will reap good grades, the benefits of self-discipline, and perhaps a college scholarship in the future. Obeying our parents reaps knowledge, respect, and self-discipline. Taking care of our bodies and not starting any bad habits will harvest good health instead of lung cancer, heart attacks, or liver damage. Breaking a rule or law and causing trouble in school will get you expelled, jailed, or in further trouble.

It’s best to think about what you want growing in your life and plant what it takes to accomplish this. Next you need to wait patiently for the results to come your way. It could be within days, months, or years depending on what it was. Sitting in the garden with a plate and fork is not the way to wait. Think before you plant, water and feed what you started, weed out things that could choke out your seeds, and give it time to grow.

You may not like what you reaped but it’s exactly what you sowed or planted. The responsibility is yours. You are the one that picks the crops you grow by your actions and attitude. Check the seed packages and make sure it’s what you want to grow.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

In the News~~~ Valedictorians In School

2009-06-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t pass this one by as I listened to the morning news. Somewhere in the United States a school has decided to do away with the honor of “valedictorian” because it hurts the feelings of those not receiving the award. In case you don’t know what that big word stands for it is an honor given to top A students who have done well and accomplished great things with their grades throughout school. Therefore they are given the honor to give the commencement or farewell speech at graduation.

Unfortunately there are people who think that things like this should be done away with to help spare the feelings of those who don’t get such an honor. I never got it in school and it didn’t seem to harm me or at least I don’t think it did. In fact I had two sisters above me that was given this privilege. They earned it over the years. They worked hard for what they accomplished. Both of them even made “American’s Teen of the Year” award broadcasted in a book nation wide.
I was way too busy being “me” that I didn’t care what they did. As much as my parents probably wondered what in the world happened to “Karen” their third daughter they never brought up the subject of being like my sisters. My listed accomplishments were chasing boys, playing volleyball, dancing on the drill team, and running around with the church youth group.

The answer isn’t taking away from one person’s accomplishment to compensate for those who don’t achieve the same thing. I would never want my sisters to lose their honor because I didn’t care about achieving what they did. Bringing them down wasn’t going to bring me up any higher than what I wanted to be.

That’s like saying no one should have the honor of being president of a country or organization because others can’t be on that same level. The achievements of others give us something to strive for. It should never be used as a stick to beat ourselves down with. That unfortunately is a choice we make for ourselves.

Put the stick down, if you don’t make it all the way to the top that’s okay too. If others pick the stick up and try to beat you over the head with it wondering why you aren’t better, walk away but look back. Ask yourself, “Are you trying as hard as you possibly can? Could you do something better?” “What can I learn from this to help me in the future?” If you are doing your best and applying all you can to accomplish what you can then hold your chin up high and walk forward.

Don’t ever anchor yourself at the doorstep of “if only I could be like them,” “if only I was smarter,” If only I was prettier, smarter, richer, or more outgoing.” “If only they wouldn’t honor people like them I could feel better about myself.” Wrong, you can feel good about yourself no matter what others are achieving.

The true valedictorian or honor student is the one you are in your heart and your attitude. No one can take that away from you. Following Jesus and being obedient to His word will help you accomplish that in a very big way. Don’t bring others down, lift your own self up with Jesus.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #32 Interwoven with Christ

2009-06-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

I love looking at a birds nest. They are so fascinating how they are made. They have God’s name written all over them because He was the one that created the bird to do such a thing. He didn’t send them to bird nest weaving classes or anything else it’s a natural instinct that is built in them. It’s amazing the detail you see. I have yet to see a lopsided bird nest, they are all well rounded. Smooth on the inside yet rough and rugged looking on the outside.

Kind of like people, we can be smooth on the inside yet rough and rugged looking on the outside. Unlike the bird we have to be taught how to walk and to talk and other things. Life seems to be one learning process after the other.

Thanks to God we can end up well rounded in the middle where our soul is connected to Jesus although we have a lot of rough and rugged edges yet to go. No matter what, God reassures us that we are worth more to Him than the sparrow or any other creature no matter what their nest weaving skills are. (Mt 10:31)

We matter to Jesus and He needs to matter to us. He is the One who should be the center of our focus, the One we fear, the One we look to daily for our guidance, love, and forgiveness. It’s not good enough to take one semester of Bible Study 101 we need to inter-weave Christ into our lives in every area whether it’s at school, home, the grocery store, playground or wherever we go.

Where we go Jesus goes and our lives need to reflect that as the bird’s nest reflects the result of God in the bird’s life. The choice is ours, choose God and you will see the rough places become smooth as you allow Jesus to be interwoven throughout your entire life. It’s a daily process, a life time of learning.

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh MY God, my love, my hero

2009-05-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

2 Samuel 22:2,3 And he (David) said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.
The God of David we read about in the Old Testament of the Bible is the same God we serve and love today. Everything God was to David He is to us today if we allow it by following Him and being obedient to His will. Take a look at the David’s list and the others we find in the Bible and make this list your list as well.

God is MY:
Rock—He is solid, something I can build my life upon that won’t move
Fortress---a place where I can dwell
Deliverer---saves me from the potential dangers sin can cause
Strength---He can be counted on to prop me up when I’m weak
Shield—protection when I need it the most from Satan and his ways
Salvation---my source of eternal life in HeavenStronghold---something I can hold on to that has an iron-grip hold on me
Refuge---a place of safety and rest and shelter
Savior---rescuing me from the things that I need rescued from, mainly Satan and sin
Others we find in the Bible are:
Glory—we don’t need our own glory He is all the glory we needKing---we have a King on our side, someone watching over us
Defense---our defense against the enemy of Satan and the enemy we often can be to ourselvesRedeemer---the one capable of turning our lives aroundHope---something we can look forward to, count on and trust in, our reason to go on
Trust—someone who is very trustworthy, a person we can rely on and have confidence in

Next time you hear someone use the phrase, “Oh my God,” use your heart to finish their sentence. Borrow the words from David’s list that will come out sounding something like this, “Oh my God, my Rock, my Fortress, my deliverer, my strength, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my Savior, my glory, my King, my defense, my Redeemer, my hope, my trust, my friend, my love, my hero and the list goes on and on.

He is our God but we need to claim Him as such in our lives not once a week, not only when we want to but on a daily basis. Say it loud, claim it as real, and demonstrate it frequently. We indeed serve and love the same God as David, Praise the Lord.

Psalm 71:22 Also with the lute I will praise You and Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.”

© Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #31 Snowdrifts of Life's Troubles

2009-05-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Oh the beauty of God’s artwork continues to amaze me. As I looked upon the snowdrifts left by months of winter storms I saw the flowing water able to cut through and make its own path.

That same beauty if found in the Living Water of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter what life’s storms have piled up around us. If we allow Christ into our lives He is able to cut through and make His own path into your heart and into your lives. Never doubt the power of God and the purpose of that power.

A week after this picture was taken the snow was totally gone and the creek continued to flow. God does that for us. He doesn’t just cut and run He is there to stay. Our job is to come to the Water. To quench life’s thirst with Him instead of trying to find it in other things such as other people, drugs, drinking, sex, video games, hobbies, habits, sports, or anything else.

Allow Him to flow freely in your life, don’t build a dam of bitterness, mistrust, and a “me first” attitude that stops Him. Let Him flow, He can cut through anything. Eventually life’s difficulties or troubles will be gone but He will continue to flow. Stop and look. Stop and allow Him to flow in you.

© Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #30 Asleep at the Wheel

2009-05-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2009

The last thing you want to do or have someone else do is fall asleep at the wheel. Many accidents have been caused by people who fell asleep while they were driving. People often accuse God of falling asleep at the wheel Himself. Dosing off and not answering our prayers or paying attention to our aches and pains, neglecting His children while He takes a nap.

That is not the case no matter how much Satan would love to get us to believe this tremendous lie. The Bible promises us in Psalm 121:3 that the One who watches over us will NOT slumber. He doesn’t go off duty. He is there for us day and night.

Unanswered prayers don’t mean God is asleep at the wheel. His answers come when He is ready to give them. That may be within a week, a year, or when we reach Heaven. Some answers we recognize and others go by unnoticed because they’re answered in a different way than what we were expecting.

We are the ones capable of falling asleep at the wheel by not paying attention. At one point or another we all find ourselves dosing off at the wheel and neglecting what we need to be doing to be the kind of children God wants us to be. We are the ones responsible for staying alert. Demonstrating in our lives faith in action by watching over the needs of others, obeying God’s commands, heeding to His discipline, or making sure we’re dressed and ready for Heaven at all times.

Don’t miss the journey to Heaven just because you fell asleep halfway there. Being a backseat driver and telling God how to drive won’t do either. We need to wake up and turn the wheel of our lives over to Him to do the steering.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES~~~~~~~~~~Our portion

2009-05-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Psalm 73:26 (NKJV) My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Whether we want to admit it or not our flesh or physical “body” is going to fail or give out and eventually die some day. As much as we would like to find the one thing that will keep us young forever it will never happen. We may manage to add a few years on to our lives but the end result remains the same.

Modern medicine has given us all sorts of gadgets such as pacemakers and open heart surgery to keep our hearts beating properly but again the end result remains the same. We are all just one heartbeat away from eternity.

Since we have very little control over the physical our concentration needs to be on our spiritual heart that does live forever. The health of that heart is up to us as we equip it with what makes it strong, Jesus Christ. It is Him who needs to be our portion, our piece, part, segment, quota that keeps us going.

Our portion in life can’t be the games we like to play, the reputations we’d love to build, the number of friends we have hanging around us, the fun of drunkenness, the cool keen feeling of smoking with the crowd. Those are things that can often add to the destruction of the physical heart instead of the strength of the spiritual.

Eternity awaits us all. Where we want to spend it starts with choosing God as the strength of our heart our portion here on earth, our portion in Heaven forever. We should be excited, anxious to get dressed for the journey to meet our Lord. The creator of a beautiful earth, the sun that shines, the moon man got to walk on once, the ocean that waves, the clouds that form, the snow that falls, the heart that beats.

It’s not, “party today because tomorrow we may die.” Its “my portion today is God for tomorrow may be my day to meet Him and I want to be ready.” We can’t keep our physical heart beating forever but since our spiritual heart goes on forever we have a choice. Stand before God in judgment for what we have done or in grace because we allowed God to be the strength of our heart, our portion forever! The choice is ours.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES~~~~~~~~Close to God

2009-04-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

Psalm 73:28 It’s good for me to draw near to God; I put my trust in Him, I will declare all His works.
Have you ever thought it was good to be “near” your mom or dad or someone? Admit it; your first reaction was probably, “no way.” For some there is truth in that because of neglect and abuse but let’s set that aside and think of those in your life that are good to you.

There are times when you are scared, in need of protection, guidance, love and attention that make it good to be near them. We never seem to have a problem drawing near them when we want something or have a need we’d like them to fill. Once that need is fulfilled we can’t get away quick enough, we want to be on our own, doing it our way.

Just as we make a choice to “be near” our family and friends emotionally when it suits what we want, we do the same to Jesus. We have the tendency to draw near at our convenience when it suits what we want. However as soon we get what we are after we put a great distance between us and God.

The next thing we know when something goes wrong and we don’t feel like God is near we wonder where He went. The truth is we are the ones that moved not God. Drawing near to God is a choice we need to make and keep on a daily basis. It’s a choice only we can make for ourselves. One we will never regret.

It starts with spending time adventuring through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John found in the first part of the New Testament of the Bible. Put yourself on the boat when Jesus calmed the storm. Imagine yourself as the crippled man on the mat whose friends lowered him through the roof of a house to be healed by Jesus. The more you read the more you will get to know Him. Don’t try to live out a relationship with Him through some else like your mom or grandma, establish one of your own. Talk to Him daily in prayer and praise. Consult Him when you are sad, reach out to Him when you are lost, turn to Him first when you are seeking. Before you know it you will feel and see the nearest you share because of the efforts you were willing to put in to it.

OUR PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father thank you for being there for us to draw near to You. Forgive us Lord for thinking You are the one who has to make the first move. Help us Lord to put our trust where it needs to be in You. We declare all Your works and give You the praise for what You are doing and can do in our lives as a result of staying close to You in our hearts, thinking, and actions.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks #7

2009-04-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Our praise and thanks for today is….

Praise you Lord for your glorious splendor and wondrous works. Psalm 145:5

**If you were to ask many adults what some of God’s “glorious splendor and wondrous works” were they may or may not be able to come up with a good list. Its not that there is none to name the problem is we don’t try to look. We have our own idea of what would be a “great, brilliant, wonderful” act. Making us instantly rich, loaded with all the toys money could buy would be a good start we figure. Maybe throw in a trip to Disneyland or one that takes us around the world would be nice.

Sorry…… wrong measuring stick. Its one we should never use to see if God fits what we think He should in our hearts. The very tool other kids will use on you to see if you are “cool” enough to be their friend. “Hip” enough to talk to. “Good looking” enough to be seen with.

You should never allow yourself to measure up to that tool, or use it yourself on God and others to see if they fit what you think they should. Put it down and get to looking directly at God and see Him through a heart that wants to see His splendor instead of eyes looking for faults.

Let’s get started together on a list of God’s wondrous works and splendor. Add to it, build upon it. Revisit it daily when someone comes along and tries to lift before you that old measuring stick you chose to throw away.

God’s glorious splendor:

His creations He created: the world, atmosphere, animals, plants, water, you and me. The detail of each piece and how they world is marvelous thanks to God.
His love for us: Its a love that doesn’t overlook our faults but a love that helps us overcome where we are weak and walks us through life.
Peace within our hearts: In a world struggling to find peace we can have a built in peace if we allow Christ to dwell in our hearts. It’s a true peace that will carry us over into eternity.
Answer to prayers: What a glorious thing that the God of the entire universe is willing to listen to you and me. What a wondrous work in itself that He sets aside time and love reserved only for us. We don’t need all the answers to life’s questions, we know the one who has the answers, Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness; Praise the Lord through this wondrous act God is willing to forgive us when we willingly repent or are sorry for the things we do wrong.
Guidance: What a magnificent thing it is that we are not left alone here, God gives us the guidance we need through the Bible and the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is be willing to listen for the instructions that come from Him and Him alone.

Keep on going, don’t stop there, keep on naming them and looking for those wonderful works of God: _________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Thank you Lord for your artwork, the beauty of tall trees, rolling hills, singing birds.

**In our praise for the day we talked about one of God’s wonders being the world He created. That right there is enough for our eyes to observe to keep our hearts full of thankfulness until the end of the earth. Don’t overlook the beauty in what He himself has designed not only in nature around us but the person He designed in you. You are the only You the world will ever know. With Jesus you can be the best, don’t leave home without Him.

Remember…
We are exchanging please and thank you with Praise and thanks to God. Praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, for the things around us, things given to us, gifts hidden all over the world for us to find. If you make an X just right and tilt your head you see a cross, that’s why we say:

X marks the spot!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks #6

2009-04-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

Our praise and thanks for today is….

Praise you Lord for remembering us in our lowly state. Ps 136:23

**Often when we get our eyes off of God and on to ourselves we think that God has long since forgotten us. We figure we have proof at our fingertips because of all the things we don’t have. For the pain and suffering we are going through, it must be because God has forgotten us, right? Wrong. It’s not God’s job to police the skies and give us everything we think we need. His eye is on a bigger and more important issue and that’s our eternal salvation. Our lowly state the Bible talks about is our behavior as sinners. We all have sinned, done things against God’s will, and fallen short of the glory of God but He doesn’t turn His back on us. He sent Christ to die in our place giving us a way to lift ourselves out of that lowly state thanks to the help of the Holy Spirit. Eventually God will give us over to that lowly sinful state if we continue in it on purpose and the outcome will not be pretty.

Since God remembers us we would do well to remember Him. His card for our birthday, His package for our special occasions is found in His word, the Bible. The promises within it, the instructions it gives us, the demonstration of love it portrays, the warnings of potential dangers it flashes before us. They are all there for you and me. Praise the Lord God, the Creator of all, recalls my name and yours a true blessing indeed to look upon and grasp in our hearts. We are not abandoned nor ever will be. See to it that you don’t abandon Him in your attitude and actions.

Thank you Lord for the beauty of music that sings your praises.

**Although we all have our own taste or “feel” for what music we like it is a beautiful thing to listen to the praises of God being sung. Words that tell our own story, tunes that carry our own beat. Throughout the Bible it talks about singing praises to the Lord. It doesn’t matter if we can sing well ourselves or not or play an instrument the music our hearts can make is what counts the most. Listen to the words. Use them to send your own songs of praise to the Lord above, the designer of our voice, the carpenter behind the intricate working of the ear. It’s not about how loud the bass is or the roll of the drums or the sound of the keyboard what’s important is the message behind the words that tell the story of praise and worship to our Lord and Savior, Christ Himself. Between here and Heaven the beat of the drums or vibrations off the guitars eventually will fade out but the message in the words will make it all the way if we sing it from heart. You don’t have to be the actual writer of the music but you can be the sender.

Thank you Lord. Thank you for this path of worship, love, adoration, and respect we can all use to express our love to You. May we never forget or doubt that for every prayer and song of praise we send they are heard by God Himself. It’s not a daily chore we “have” to do but an every day privilege, honor, and blessing we should never live without.

Remember…
We are exchanging please and thank you with Praise and thanks to God. Praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, for the things around us, things given to us, gifts hidden all over the world for us to find. If you make an X just right and tilt your head you see a cross that why we say:

X marks the spot!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #29 The Trap

2009-04-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

The assignment given to my 9 year old granddaughter and her classmates on St Patrick’s Day was to build a leprechaun trap. Because legend has it that leprechaun’s are crafty and like to break the rules the kids needed to set a trap where if the leprechaun broke the rule they would fall into a trap. On one side was a door with a piece of gold used as the door handle for bait with a pot of gold inside. The rule for him to break was the “Exit only. Do not enter.” Inside in front of the pot of gold was a leprechaun fly swatter that was rigged to swat the little guy once he opened the door.

Around the corner of the box was a window that said, “Keep window closed” and “do not climb the pink rocks.” Inside was a slide with a piece of gold at the top. The slide was covered with slippery stuff that would send the leprechaun down the slide into the super glue at the bottom. Glue guaranteed to hold any leprechaun until you got the information you wanted of where their gold was.

Sure enough it worked, she took it to school and the next day there was leprechaun tracks all over the top of the box and the gold pieces were gone. The whole project was done in fun and games and the challenge to try and make the traps work.

Once completed as I looked at the box I thought about Satan and how he does that same thing to us. We are his little leprechauns sort of speak. People who seem to like the challenge of breaking the rules and falling for bait guaranteed to make us go for it. On the other side awaits a trap as Satan cackles in the background thinking its funny he got us to fall for his trickery once again.

Familiar bait he uses are smoking, drinking, drugs, sex, stealing, over-eating, disrespect, being cruel to others just to be cool or part of a crowd, to fit in where we think we want to belong. To be “up with the times,” they say. The traps on the other side are cancer, failed livers, diseases, jail time, bad health, and an emptiness we thought these things would fill.

Satan’s good at what he does. He knows exactly where we are the weakest as we quickly grab for his slimy bait. It’s up to us to watch out for the traps and be aware of the potential dangers ahead.

God is there to guide us through these moments in our lives. He won’t stop us from falling for one of the traps if we willingly walk in to them. As I tell my grandkids, don’t get into these habits or things in the first place then you don’t have to go through the agony of trying to get out of them.

Praise the Lord, God is there to help us out. He’s there before the trap, trying to get us to be alert and “pay attention” however we are too busy ignoring the warning signs. Instead of reaching for the bait and falling for the trap, reach for Jesus, the choice is ours. The end result is eternal blessings with Him.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

In the News ~~~ E-Prayer Offer

2009-03-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

Recently in the news was an advertisement for a new website that offered “e-prayer.” For a small fee each month a computer will recite out loud the Lord’s Prayer in your name. A very thoughtful solution to the busy lives we lead but not well thought out.

God doesn’t want to hear from a machine He wants to hear from us. Prayer is more for those who are saying them than they are for God. It’s our communication line between us and our Heavenly Father. It is the avenue in which our relationship will grow if we allow it.

How would you feel if mom or dad took a tape recording and recited on it, “I love you Sue” and that’s the only time you heard it. They never said it to your face. They never showed it to you in their actions. You only heard it when the programmed recorder recited it out loud once a month. Trust me, you wouldn’t like it, I wouldn’t like it.

I carry in my purse a recording of my granddaughters saying “I love you grandma.” It’s fun to hear once in awhile, I even used it once when I was feeling pretty down to help lift my spirits. However, I would never want that to be the only thing between me and them. The contact we have weekly, the fun we share on weekends, the treasure of good times, and the lessons from bad times is what makes that recording truly come alive. It brings it from just words to something far more precious.

We can have that with our Lord if we would just talk to Him. Learn the Lord’s Prayer for yourself. Say it as you walk to school. Recite it while you ride in the car with your parents, repeat it in your bed at night, in the shower in the morning. Soon you find you do have time to talk we are never too busy.

Connecting with God doesn’t come through our Christian parents, a programmed computer, the local pastor it comes through us and what we are willing to put in to it. It’s no different that any other relationship such as the one between you and your friends, the one between you and your parents, the one between you and your classmates or co-workers. It’s what you put into it not what you get out of it. God is listening and it’s us He expects to be hearing from. We can pray for one another for their health, well-being, dealing with difficult circumstances but only WE can say OUR prayers to the Lord.

Our Father which art in Heaven,
Hallowed (praise) be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, (not MY will)
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread (our strength, spiritual food and guidance)
And forgive us our debts (our sins) as we forgive our debtors (those who sin against us)
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

The prayer starts with praise to God for who He is and it ends in a time of worship, respect and adoration to the One whose kingdom and power and glory is forever. We can be a part of that forever, the choice is ours.

Many of us will never get the chance to talk to the President, Queen or the one in charge of our particular country but we all have been given the privilege to be in contact with the one who created the universe, God himself. Think about it, God himself thanks to Christ who opened that contact when He came to die for you and me on the cross. Don’t shut Him out, don’t give that privilege away. A quick text message won’t do it needs to go further as you talk to Him daily. Give time to God and He will give time to you.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

In the News---Public Prayer in School

2009-03-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

March 24, 2009

Making the news back in October of 2008 was a college out West. A student was caught praying for a teacher who wasn’t feeling well. Viewing this as some horrible act the college threatened to expel or kick them off the campus if they were ever caught doing this again.

I’m not that old but it use to be the act of doing drugs or drinking is what got you kicked off the school grounds. Now prayer has become the reason to be expelled. Reason or not, never stop praying. Prayer is our connection to God. It is what Christ modeled for us to do as example set for us to follow. You don’t have to be good with words, all that’s required is a heart pointed towards Jesus.

The world may be successful at shutting down public prayer, prayers in the classroom, prayers spoken out loud but they can never stop the ones going on in your heart. Find a place to pray and never stop. It can be in the car as you go down the road, in your bedroom, out on the playground as you swing in the swing, at a local church, as you walk the mall or are sitting in a crowded gymnasium filled with yelling fans.

As I tell my grandchildren if you never start smoking, drinking, doing drugs or other bad habits in the first place you will never have to worry about trying to quit them later. With prayer start young in life, make it a habit and it will become one that will never stop. It’s a habit you will want it to grow instead of go away that has a great ending instead of a tragic one.

Never doubt the fact that your prayers make a difference because they do. Not only for those you may be praying for but for yourself as well. It’s a door to God that only you can open or shut. Use it to communicate with God not send Him a daily wish list of “give me this and give me that.” Prayer is our cell-phone connected to God’s throne in Heaven. The only way we can lose the signal is if we ourselves allow it to be lost.

Praise the Thanks #5

2009-03-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

Our praise and thanks for today is….

Praise you Lord for healing our broken hearts. Ps 147:3

*** There are all sorts of things that can break our hearts. The cause can be anything from not getting our choice of birthday presents to the death of a loved one, the breaking up of a family home through divorce or separation all the way to the loss of a favorite pet or a fight with a friend. What we don’t think of on our list of things that can break our hearts is the list of sin. Living our lives outside of God’s commands and boundaries causes a great deal of brokenness in our spiritual hearts that God wants to heal. We have our cure, Jesus Christ but we need to want our hearts repaired.

You can stay mad at mom and dad over not buying you what you want or you can forget about it and go on. You can cry over your grandparents dying forever or you can accept the fact that God has them with Him if they were believers. The breaking up of a home may never repair itself but God can repair our hearts and heal the hurt that comes from this tragedy affecting our families today.

Feeling sorry for ourselves is not the answer. Opening up the part of our heart that is hurting over and over again is not the answer either. God is the answer. He does not promise a hurt-free life no more than your parents can promise you that you will never fall and scrap your knee. What He promises is healing, praise the Lord.

Start the healing process today and go to Him. Learn to trust that He knows what medicine it will take to get you the healing needed. Go with God and He will go with you. Don’t put a stop-watch on Jesus thinking He needs to heal you in the time frame you give Him. We’re on God’s time not ours. Healing will come if we allow it to arrive through Jesus.

Thank you Lord for fruits and veggies you created for us to enjoy.

**I think we can safely say that not everyone is so quick to thank the Lord for veggies. “Yuk! I don’t like to eat my veggies,” they complain. Whether we like spinach, broccoli, corn, carrots or any of the rest doesn’t matter, we can still be thankful for the food God has provided for us. How mom cooks them may be better than how grandma does it but that is not the point. The point is being thankful for what God has provided for us. It doesn’t have to be an apple, orange, green bean, or turnip that we are talking about it can be other foods we get to eat from God’s marketplace. Foods to eat with our mouths as well as the food we get to digest from His Bible. His commands He has given us to obey. We may not like what His rules are that He expects us to feed on, “Yuk! I don’t like that rule. Why can’t I hate my brother he deserves it the jerk!” we complain. Try as we might to rearrange it to fit our taste it doesn’t change what God originally had to say. We can dress up carrots with salt and butter to suit our taste but we can’t with God’s word. God’s word stand on its own it doesn’t need ketchup or salt. Feed on it, follow it, and enjoy the results of what it has to offer.

Remember…
We are exchanging please and thank you with Praise and thanks to God. Praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, for the things around us, things given to us, gifts hidden all over the world for us to find.

X marks the spot!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Kid DEES~~~God will change you but you have to do your part

2009-03-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since we've had one of our "Kid DEES devotionals." Here we go to get back on track.....

The first order of business when you think about this quote is the issue of “Do I need to change? Why should I be the one to change? Why not the other guy, they are worse than I am?”

I hate to burst any bubbles you’ve built around yourself but we all have things about us that need to change. Like the clothes you pick out for the day. Depending on what you did for the day at the end they are more than likely going to be dirty. Our attitude, habits, minds, and thinking are no different. By the end of the day we more than likely have picked up some habit or attitude that needs to go as it’s not what Christ would want us to be wearing.

If we truly want to get rid of the things we have picked up along the way God is more than willing to help us get changed. Taking off only our dirty socks and keeping on the T-shirt that is heavily soiled isn’t going to make us “clean.” It all comes off. Don’t keep back what you “kind of like” or don’t want to deal with.

The process doesn’t happen over night. You don’t come to Christ today and are changed tomorrow. It takes time and effort on your part. The process doesn’t start when you are a kid and ends when you become an adult. It’s something that goes with life at any age. You can do it and don’t ever let Satan tell you otherwise. You are the one that grades your efforts. If you want an A+ day you need to make A+ decisions and choices. You want to be an A+ person get rid of the things that can drag that grade down.

Go with God and He’ll go with you. The first step is yours.

They Call Me, Grandma
Copyright 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks #4

2009-02-24T06:21:00.000-08:00

Our praise and thanks for today is…..

Praise you Lord for caring enough to listen to my cry Ps 40:1

***As far off as God seems to be sometimes, He is there listening to our every cry. Often our cries are selfish as we feel sorry for ourselves not getting our way. Just imagine how many times God has probably heard us cry over what someone else did to us and why didn’t He stop it from happening.

The true cry that He should be hearing is not over the IPOD we didn’t get for our birthday but over the wrongs we commit in our lives but a cry for His help, guidance, love, companionship, and forgiveness. A cry directed towards others not because of what they did to us but what we may be able to do for them through our prayers. People we see or know are out there such as the homeless, sick, those who don’t know Christ, the kid at school, or the stranger on the street in need.

We like the idea that God is listening to our cries but when we are told He also listens to all the other things that comes out of our hearts and mouths we don’t like to hear that. It’s true and you need to live your life remembering that. Nothing you say or think is getting past God. He’s not listening to your cries and ignoring your snotty remarks to other kids. Say and think, knowing God is listening and cares about what He hears. Listen to God as He listens to you.

Thank you for the beauty of fresh fallen snow.

***Living in an area where it occasionally snows it can be something of great beauty and we need to be thankful for that beauty. It doesn’t matter if we get a lot of it or just a little we can be thankful for this gift from God. It’s a part of a cycle that has a purpose. The purpose is not to drive us crazy because we’d rather have sunshine instead. There’s nothing like the brightness of new snow lighting up the ground like a glow worm squeezed to activate its light. This beauty from God is found everywhere if we would only look. Just watch the rain as it falls, the sun as it rises and sets, the wind as it sways the trees. When looked at through the eyes of appreciation and gratitude beauty can be found anywhere. You’d be surprised.

Remember…
We are exchanging please and thank you with Praise and thanks to God. Praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, for the things around us, things given to us, gifts hidden all over the world for us to find.

X marks the spot!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dee #28 The Missing Piece

2009-02-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

“Teacher, teacher, the puzzle is missing some pieces,” I heard from my 5 year-old Sunday School class. Looking at the puzzle they were putting together I could immediately see their dilemma. All the pieces of the puzzle went in just right except for the last piece. To them something had to be missing but it wasn’t. They had put one of the alphabets into the wrong place. The Y was in the V spot with no problem, however, the V piece wasn’t quite as cooperative. It wasn’t fitting just right where the Y belonged.

We do that with the spiritual hole that is designed in all of our hearts. God created it there to lead us to Him. He’s the piece that isn’t missing but temporarily misplaced. In His place we use sports, hobbies, food, relationships with others, and material items such as TV, IPODS, cell-phones and so much more to fill the hole but they just don’t work. They may give us a sense of “fulfillment” but they are only temporary solutions to what needs to be forever.

Put God first in the place He belongs in the center of your heart, life, thoughts, actions, and attitude and watch the other pieces of the puzzle fall in place. Expose the lies of Satan he is telling you that other things will do the trick because they won’t. Go for what will last, the best fit, Jesus Christ. Not the temporary that is here today but gone tomorrow.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks #3

2009-01-27T06:02:00.000-08:00

Our praise and thanks for today is…..

Praise you Lord for your salvation and strength (Ps 37:39)

***Too often we think its God’s job to stop all this bad stuff we need deliverance from. “If He wants to save us then save us, praise the Lord. I kind of like the sin life. I’ll live it then get saved later, He’ll forgive me.” Wrong attitude. The salvation or deliverance He has to offer is a rescue from our sins and their destruction that needs to happen now because later is too late. Praise the Lord He is willing and wanting to do such a thing. The issue is we have our part too. We have to be willing and wanting to be saved. The lifejacket is there, one size fits all. We are the ones who have to put it on. Praise God He will supply us with the strength needed to follow and survive whatever it is Satan will throw in our paths to stop us from God’s salvation. God cares about us. Satan is just out for a trophy to bring to Hell with him as many people as possible. We have praise in Jesus, the praise of His salvation and strength, use it!

Thank you Lord for our family, for their love and care.

***What a treasure it is to have a loving family. It’s a gift not everyone gets to open and enjoy. A gift that tends to get broken, lost, or taken away long before we are ready to let go of someone we love. Treasure them now, don’t wait till they die to honor and appreciate what you use to have. The dad or mom or grandparent currently in your life may be a neighbor down the street, a couple at church you absolutely love to spend time with, a youth pastor that filled the shoes of a missing parent, or someone else it doesn’t matter. What matters are you giving thanks for what you do have instead of dwelling on what you don’t have. Looking and longing to have what other kids have as far as family will not solve anything it will only create bitterness in your heart. Creating a family whether physically or spiritually is not an easy task. Whatever the role, mom, dad, brother, sister, grandparent, aunt, or uncle we all have our roles to play our duties to help contribute to this unit. Don’t be worrying about the others not doing their part. Just see to it that you are doing yours. God will help.

Remember…
We are exchanging please and thank you with Praise and thanks to God. Praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, for the things around us, things given to us, gifts hidden all over the world for us to find.

X marks the spot!

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks #2

2009-01-20T05:18:00.000-08:00

Our praise and thanks for today is…..

Praise you Lord for helping us and being someone we can put our trust in Ps 37:40

***It’s a wonderful praise to know that the Lord is there to help us. It’s up to us to seek that help in all the right ways for all the right reasons. This is done through prayer, reading His Word and listening to what He has to say to our hearts. He can help us through problems at school, problems at home. He may not make the situation go away, that isn’t the promise here, what He does is help us through the things we find ourselves in the middle of. He can be trusted in a good and wonderful way, we can never get away from that particular praise as its through that trust that we are helped.

Thank you Lord for our animals, for the love they have to offer and the memories they put in our hearts

***Animals are a wonderful gift from God. They are full of unconditional love for their owners as they give us memories we will cherish for life. Each with their own special characteristics built in by God Himself and for this we are thankful.

Remember…
X marks the spot. We are creating a point of focus to direct our minds too when times get tough, or we are feeling depressed, happy, excited, sad, lonely, fearful, or whatever. Whether it’s the first thing in the morning, in the middle of the school day, or the last thing at night it doesn’t matter it’s a point of focus we need to train our selves to do.

When life gets negative and you feel your spirit being drawn down by things going on in your world make an X on a piece of paper. Once you’ve done that look at it and turn your head slightly and you can see your X turn into a cross. The cross of Jesus He died upon to get your life focused on what truly is important, a life with Him. With the right training of our eyes we can see Jesus wherever we are, in everything we gaze upon and it starts with the proper focus.

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Praise and Thanks

2009-01-13T05:33:00.000-08:00

January 13, 2009

A Point of Focus

In the world of good manners we have the words, “Please and Thank you” being taught and hopefully practiced on a daily basis. The affects of these words can be very dynamic when said properly, sincerely, and consistently. They are there to use on a daily basis not just when we want or feel like being polite.

In our Christian lives we need to change those words ever so slightly to “Praise and thanks.” This is done not for the sake of “good manners” but as a point of focus for our hearts and food for our soul. They are things that need to be taught no differently than teaching a child how to walk, run, or jump rope so let the lessons begin….

Praise is used to Praise the Lord for who He is. Reading through the Bible you can find all sorts of things that demonstrate things about God that we can praise Him for. Starting with the Book of Psalms we will pull out praises to God to lift before Him in our hearts and to focus on in our minds.

Next thanks is used to thank the Lord for the things that He has done for us or given to us. Instead of focusing on all the things we want or would like to have or don’t have we need to take the time to say thanks for the things already given. When you have invited Jesus to live in your heart, be a part of your life, to walk beside you through life’s adventures you don’t have to be a part of the “give me, give me” world. Stop and give thanks and you’d be surprised of the blessings you will find that you never saw before.

Our praise and thanks for today is…..

Praise you Lord for being someone we can fully trust in (Psalm 27:3)

**In a world where we are surrounded by people and things we can’t trust it’s a big praise to know that we can trust in God fully 100% of the time.

Thank you Lord for our life you gave us and all its trimmings, all the things that come with it.

***Our life doesn’t have to be one full of riches, we may have health problems, family troubles but we can be very thankful for what we have, the air we breathe, the food we eat whether we like mom or dad’s cooking or not.

X marks the spot. We have created a point of focus to direct our minds too when times get tough, or we are feeling depressed, happy, excited, sad, lonely, fearful, or whatever. Whether it’s the first thing in the morning, in the middle of the school day, or the last thing at night it doesn’t matter it’s a point of focus we need to train our selves to do.

When life gets negative and you feel your spirit being drawn down by things going on in your world make an X on a piece of paper. Once you’ve done that look at it and turn your head slightly and you can see your X turn into a cross. The cross of Jesus He died upon to get your life focused on what truly is important, a life with Him. With the right training of our eyes we can see Jesus wherever we are, in everything we gaze upon and it starts with the proper focus.

Copyright 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

In the news: "Abstinence Teaching"

2008-12-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

December 30, 2008

Making the news today was the subject of abstinence. The abstinence they are talking about here is not having sex before marriage. Recent study shows that the abstinence teaching that is being done in schools are not working. The purity ring some wear to show the vow or promise they made to themselves, to God, and their future spouse is not working as the “study shows.”

Some have broken their promise and found themselves in situations that birth control would have been a better solution than abstinence teaching one lady said. Her logical advice was to stop abstinence teaching that doesn’t work and is just a waste of money.

Kids don’t listen. It works if you make it work. You will get yourself into situations where you may fall away from your promise to be pure. We all have our moments of stumbling, being weak but that should never stop us from doing what we know is right in God’s eyes. Our lives must never be based on what the “study shows” but what God wants for us.

If we went off the logic of the world we should be shutting down all Alcoholic Anonymous clubs, gambler addiction organizations, diet programs, drug rehabs, and anything else because they just don’t seem to work. In a day or two it will be entering a new year. A time where people make New Year resolutions to stop smoking, lose weight, do this or do that.

The fact is most of those resolutions are broken in less than a month. Does that make them a waste of time and effort? They can be if we don’t discipline ourselves to move forward and deal with these things in our lives. A lot of these represent areas of weakness that need to be strengthened not given in to.

Our resolution should be to learn self-discipline and how to apply it to our lives in a healthy manner using the Lord Jesus to see us through and give us what we need to succeed. Using God, through the help of His Holy Word and Spirit, to teach us how to stand up to Satan and the temptations he puts our way.

If you stumble, get back up, repent to God for your shortcoming and seek to learn from your mistakes that they will not be frequently repeated. You are a temple of God, a dwelling place where He wants to live, take care of that temple. Don’t measure yourself against the kid next to you on how easy they seem to bounce back from something they do. We all have our areas of weakness and strengths. Deal with your own not someone else’s. The avenue of prayer is a good place to start. Pray that God will help you where you are weak while using your strengths to glorify Him.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #27 The Right Tongue

2008-12-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

One day as my 7 year old granddaughter began to grumble it made me think about how for such a young thing her life didn’t seem to be so good at the time. Hoping to apply a little lesson on gratitude and having the right attitude or outlook on life I tried to help her assess what the problem may be.

“Perhaps your belly button is too tight,” I told her. Or perhaps her knees were on the wrong legs or her ears were loose or maybe it was because she had an extra rib. Upon checking out each spot I found that wasn’t the problem. She was extremely ticklish in those areas but everything appeared to be in place.

Perhaps it’s your tongue,” I questioned her. That’s it, when you were born they gave you the wrong tongue in the hospital. Your tongue must have been switched at birth.” The solution sounded like such a logical one as I asked her to stick out her tongue so we could see. Probably to her the logical solution was Grandma was a little on the goofy side as she read the note Grandma wrote to her dentist just before her appointment:

"Dear Mrs. Dentist, while you are fixing our granddaughter's teeth could you fix her tongue too. She got the wrong tongue when she was born. She needs the correct magnetic pull of positive speaking instead of negative talking. Thank you very much, signed Grandma. P.S. She’s a doll so please go easy on her.”

We’d like to blame our tongue for being all wrong, too loose, too tight, or too long. But the real issue is the magnetic pull of our heart. We are the ones who should be in control of our tongue instead of the other way around. It’s an instrument we are responsible for training just like we had to learn how to speak, whistle, walk, jump rope, or ride a bike.

The tongue can say things that are hurtful. It can say things that are helpful. Once again we are the ones responsible for its training. The place to start is in your heart. Often what’s in our hearts (bitterness, anger, rudeness, selfishness, love, joy, peace, forgiveness) shows up in our tongue in the things we say and how we say them.

Read what God has to say about how to handle your tongue and mouth. Practice the tips He gives you and take control instead of giving over control to your tongue:

Psalm 19:14 (NKJV) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Psalm 34:1 (NKJV) I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 39:1 (NKJV) I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me.”

Psalm 71:8 (NKJV) Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with Your glory all the day

Psalm 78:36 (NKJV) Nevertheless they flattered Him (God) with their mouth; and lied to Him (God) with their tongue.

Proverbs 21:23 (NKJV) says, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

Summary: You need to make the decision that the words of your mouth and the things you are thinking are going to be acceptable to God. Man’s approval of them doesn’t count. It’s what God approves of. Learn to bless the Lord at all times with your mouth. Too often we are quick to complain and slow on praise, we need to reverse that process.

Each person is responsible for guarding their own tongue. Even though someone else doesn’t do their part it doesn’t give you the right to join them. Know in your heart there are a lot of sins that can be committed with your tongue, the sin of bitterness, anger, revenge, rudeness, hatred, and so much more.

We hold the power to restrain. We are without excuse if we don’t. Flattering God with our mouths yet lying to Him with our tongues doesn’t work. He sees right through it. Bottom-line, if we guard our mouth and tongue we will keep our soul from trouble.

It’s not our tongue that is wrong. It’s our heart and our willingness to discipline our tongue where discipline is needed. Look to the good, dwell on the positive, praise the Lord, and be thankful at all times and you’ll have the right tongue installed.

Picture Dees #26 Where are the Adults?

2008-11-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

Years ago….uh oh…attention shut down. I can feel it! Whenever adults try to make a point they talk about how it was when they were kids. Bear with me kids and you’ll get the point.

Once upon a time…does that sound better…my sister and I took our three daughters down to the irrigation ditch below where my sister was living. Bringing back memories of “years ago” when we were kids we told our daughters about all the fun we had playing in the ditches. We played a game called alligator we told them. The object of the game was for everyone to get in the ditch and crawl along on their bellies acting like alligators. Not to far into the memory my sister and I looked at each other and suddenly jumped into the ditch fully clothed pretending to be alligators.

After several moments of rolling laughter my niece interrupted our trip down memory lane by saying, “Are there any adults here?!” Opps I guess we were acting kind of childish remembering back to the good old days.

As I watch the news today and hear the things that are going on in our society today I find myself in the position my niece was asking “Are there any adults out there?”

Everywhere you turn it seems like the adults now-a-days are acting just as childish as the kids are. Parents shooting other parents at school sport functions. Adults beating up each other in protest over costumes selected for a school program at Thanksgiving. Disrespect at its highest being role-modeled to the younger generations via television, home living, schools, and road rage.

Kids use to be taught to respect the flag, God, the law, and each other. Now the adults are burning the flag, taking the pledge of allegiance out of school, making up their own interpretation of the law and expecting people to honor it. Knocking down others and running over them at local convenient stores only to stampede to the nearest bargain table. Greed seems to be on the rise and self-worth is on the decline.

Where are the adults? How is the next generation coming up suppose to know how adults are to behave when there doesn’t appear to be any adults out there? In the cycle of life eventually the children we raise are responsible for taking care of us when we get old. Let us not start the process early by having them be the adults because of our own childish behavior.

When God created the cycle of life as it is He put the adults in charge and made them responsible for teaching the younger generation. It’s up to us to see that it’s done and done right!

Sorry kids, you’re probably wondering why I was talking more to adults than you. I hope you didn’t run get mommy and daddy and say, “See you need to do this or that.” The thing of it is you are responsible for your actions just like they are responsible for their own.

When we all stand before Jesus some day the excuse of “Well my mommy did it, or this is what my daddy did,” will not excuse us from unacceptable behavior in God’s eyes. Learn from God Himself through His Holy word the Bible what is right and wrong and then make your choices using the wisdom we all have within us if we would only use it.

Some day you will be an adult before you know it, may they never ask “where’s the adults” as you make wise choices and Godly decisions using Christ as your standard instead of those around you.

Up Up and Away, Thank You Jesus

2008-11-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Being thanksgiving season the pre-school children at Sunday School and I decided we wanted to be like the one leper in the Bible story that was healed. Out of 10 who were healed only one came back to thank Jesus for all He had done. Last Sunday we made thank you cards for mom, dad, sisters, and brothers. We even managed to slip a thank you card into the preacher’s office while he was busy preaching in the Sanctuary.

This Sunday it was God’s turn to get a thank you from our class. After writing thank you notes we tied them to the string of a helium balloon. The 4 and 5 years olds thought for sure that would get the messages to God. Written on the side of the balloon was the biggest reason we are thankful for God, His son Jesus Christ. God sent us Jesus to die in our place to conqueror sin and for that we should be forever thankful.

After releasing the balloon we went back in to pray to God to see if the balloon message had arrived. Jayleena in her soft 5 year old voice prayed, “I hope you liked your balloon, I know I did.” Meanwhile Kade was anxious to go back outside to check to see if the balloon was truly gone. Sure enough it was. Jesus had gotten our message.

Some day this class of 2008 will understand what an awesome God we have. We don’t need to send off our messages tied to helium balloons. He hears them straight from our hearts. He knows what we are thinking, He sees it in our faces, and it shows in our attitudes. Indeed long before the balloon was even released the message it carried had arrived in Heaven via our hearts.

Your message has been sent kids. Listen quietly for His return reply.

In The News: Pledge of Allegiance

2008-11-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

The pledge of Allegiance was originally written in 1892 by a Baptist minister. In 1954 the words “under God” were added. Over the years a few of the original words have changed slightly but the meaning and loyalty to what was said should never. What use to be a requirement to recite at the beginning of each school day now becomes a choice for those who choose to say it as long as they go some place else to say it.

In the news this week a grade school was making headlines. In order for the kids who want to say the pledge of Allegiance they are required to walk up to the second floor on their free time to do so. It was set up that way so the kids who don’t want to say it won’t feel left out if it’s done in the classroom.

When the adults set up this kind of system it gives you a choice you need to make. Remaining loyal to the flag and what it represents is a good choice. Even if you have to walk up two, three, or four flights of stairs then do so. We have a wonderful country and we need to keep our pride in it. You may not always agree with what goes on, decisions being made on your behalf but that should never take away from the loyalty and the pride we should feel in our hearts.

The same with prayer, one day the adults decided it needed to be taken out of school so kids wouldn’t feel offended by those who do it. If it takes going up flights of stairs to say it, be strong and do it. Praise the Lord you don’t need to go up flights of stairs, you can say your prayers and express your pride in your Country in the depths of your hearts.

The choice is yours just like it was the choice of others to not say these things. Changing the Words of God or the words to the pledge of allegiance to suit your way of thinking is not the answer. Don’t be afraid to choose God. Don’t be ashamed to choose to express your pride in your country through the pledge of allegiance.

It's showing respect for God and respect for our country, don't ever lose that no matter what others do around you!

Picture Dees #25 Getting the Stains Out

2008-11-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

“Do this in remembrance of Me,” Jesus instructed us.

Those words were one of the last instructions given to us to follow. We are told to use the bread and cup as a reminder of what Christ did for us when He died for us upon the cross. It was there that He took with Him our sins in exchange for His forgiveness.

Different churches do this time of remembrance differently but the meaning behind what is being done never changes. I remember when I was young I couldn’t wait to be a part of the communion service, have you ever felt that way? I was anxious to see what the little piece of bread tasted like plus it gave me a chance to drink the juice mom didn’t like me spilling on the carpet.

Time past and I learned it was more than a mid-morning snack. What mattered was remembering that Christ died for a reason. We needed a door to open in order for us to get to Heaven and Christ was it. His forgiveness is the door handle that opens that door.

The sins we commit in the form of our anger, telling lies, cheating at school, picking on other kids, bad attitudes, disobeying our parents, and other disobedience put Christ on the cross. His blood took the stain out of our sins. As your mom works hard to get the stains out of your clothes, she doesn’t do it just so you can purposely get them stained again I’m sure.

Well the same with the stain removal of Christ’s love for us. He didn’t die just so we can get the stains of sin removed so we can purposely go and get dirty again. He knows we are far from perfect but thanks to Him we are able to be better. His blood for our sins, Him for us, right there is something we need to remember.

If you are partaking of the communion cup, after you drink from it put in the empty cup a piece of paper with the sin written on it you may have been struggling with this week. As you do, watch the juice (representing the blood of Christ) soak up your sin as you ask for the forgiveness that comes with it removing the stain from your life to start anew.

The only thing that should be stained is the sin left at the cross. Our lives don’t have to be thanks to Jesus, do this in remembrance of Him who remembered you long before you were even born.

Prayer for Protection

2008-10-28T06:36:00.001-07:00

Prayer from Kari Jo and Fluffy…

Dear Heavenly Father, today we lift before you a prayer for our children as well as ourselves for the protection from evil. Preserve our lives, Lord. Guard us against the attacks of Satan both physically as well as spiritually.

With the Halloween season quickly approaching may Your angels forever be on duty this day and always standing between Your children and those who would like to harm them. To a small child Halloween is all about the goofiness of dressing up like a clown, tinker bell, cheerleader, or superman and receiving a feast of candy that surpasses life’s daily treats. Protect them in their innocence that some day they will understand what it’s all about. That they will turn to You for their feast of treats and blessings that surpasses any thing life itself can offer.

Help us as parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors or strangers to show the younger generation the blessings of trusting in You. What it means to lean on your hope and to rely on Your strength. What a great comfort it is to know that You are there watching over us, may we live our lives on that truth. Not as something we don’t want because of what You may catch us doing but as a blessing to know You care enough to keep an eye on Your children. We love you Father God, we love you. In Jesus’ most precious name we pray, AMEN!

A touch of History:

On Nov 1, 1165 Pope Gregory IV declared this day the Feast of all Saints from there things were added to the celebration over the years piece by piece leading to what we now call “Halloween.” All Hallow Eve came the day before All Hallow Day like Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve being the day before those major holidays.

Hallow means holy or sanctified. Some say that people dressed up in costumes the evening before all saints day to scare off any evil spirits that may be there to ruin the feast of all Saints. Other people have their explanations of the costumes as well.

A letter Pope Gregory I sent to Bishop Mellitus in the 6th century, made the suggestion that places of non-Christian worship be adopted and consecrated to serve a Christian purpose. It is when you start mixing the Christian with the Non-Christian that you are heading down the wrong pathway.

Satan often works that way in our lives taking what belongs to God and claiming it for himself. Sadly enough we sometimes help by allowing it to happen. Allowing him to overtake what he has no business touching. It happened to Halloween and it can happen to Christmas, and to our own individual lives as well too as we allow “Happy Holidays, and Merry Xmas to replace Merry Christmas.” And “it’s all about ME to replace its all about Christ.”

Stand up to Satan and keep the claim on your life where it should be, with Jesus the only Door to Heaven, the only path to a fantastic eternity with Him. Don’t leave earth without Him!

Picture Dees #24 Following Jesus

2008-10-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

“Mom, Bobbie’s following me wherever I go. Mom, tell Susie to leave me alone. She won’t quit following me. If you don’t stop following me I’m going to tell Dad!”

You’re kids, you can relate to this kind of thing. Sometimes kids follow others out of curiosity. Sometimes its because they simply want to bug the person they are following. Other times its because they want to be a part of what they are doing.

If you think this is just a kid’s issue you’re wrong. Adults have a problem with following people, things, ideas they shouldn’t just simply because they are curious, searching for something to be a part of, or tricked into following something they shouldn’t have.

Young or old we need to take the advice of Jesus and “follow Him.” The best place to start is reading your Bible and getting to know Jesus. Know where He would lead you. Know where He would want you to go. Know in your heart where He wouldn’t go.

Don’t get caught up trying to “follow the crowd” because you want to be popular. Or follow a belief because it’s appealing to you. Whether you’re 7 years old or 70 years old you need to take charge right now on deciding what or who it is you want to follow. What you are going to stand for, believe in, and put your trust in.

How could a 7-year-old possibly know who they want to follow? How silly! No not really. If you are reading this note you probably already know about Jesus. You know that following Him leads to heaven. If you didn’t know that you know it now.

Your parents have their rules they have laid out for you to follow and you know if you don’t you will be in trouble. If you can understand that you can understand what it means to follow Jesus to heaven. To do what He tells you and stay away from what He doesn’t like.

At the age of 7 or 70 mistakes are going to happen, disobedience has a way of sneaking into all of our lives. However thanks to the Lord’s forgiveness and grace we can keep on following even if we mess up along the way.

The words you will hear out of Jesus as you follow Him are not, “Hey Karen’s following me. Tell Karen to stop following me. If you don’t stop following me Karen I’m going to tell on you.” No the words you hear is “Come. Welcome aboard, Glad you’re here. Watch your step. Keep coming. Keep following. I love You. I care about where you are heading.”

The time is now to follow Jesus. Not when we are 70 or have lived out what “we” wanted to do with our life first. We need to live for Jesus now! Follow His path to Heaven. The door is open, there is no age restrictions only behavior boundaries as we learn to live our lives according to His rule book not our own. “Come, follow,” He tells us. Are you listening?

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

In The News

2008-10-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

I’m just dropping in to let you know to watch for “In the News.” There are a lot of things that happen in the news we need to discuss. Its amazing what you can learn from other people both for the good and bad. Jesus wants us to learn for the good of course. Our goal through “In the news” is that you do just that. Learning daily how to learn for the good of you in your walk with Jesus. How you succeed or fail in life depends on you and how willing you are to strive for your goals and make the right choices to achieve those goals.

Lesson 1: In the news “SPELLING”

Recently in the news a school teacher suggested that the school take off the “wrong” list some frequently misspelled words. To the teacher it was too much of a bother to deal with words the kids were never going to get right in the first place. To put these words on the ignore list would make grading papers a lot easier. After all, they figure, the kids were making the same mistake over and over so why bother.

Why bother? You bother because you need to care about yourself. Even if others are ready to give up on you, you should never give up on yourself. You may misspell a word or two the rest of your life but its no excuse to give up on yourself. I’m well over the junior high, High School and college years and I still struggle with the word “potatoe” no its “POTATO.” If it wasn’t for spell check I’d probably keep getting it wrong but some day I may suddenly stop the habit of wanting to add an E on the ende, just kidding… END.

We need to do all we can to learn as we apply ourselves to improve where improvement is needed. If we manage to fall short in one area of our life then that’s fine too. It’s just going to take a little extra time and effort to do better. Giving up on yourself won’t get you there. It’s not an option, it’s not an excuse.

If it takes you well into your college years or beyond to get certain words straight in your head then so be it. Don’t ever give up on yourself. Try your best to learn those words and learn from your mistakes. At the same time do all you can to better yourself instead of accepting yourself where you are.

God loves us where we are, Praise the Lord. However, our love for God should be the driving force that makes us want to better ourselves. God certainly doesn’t want us to stay the way we are simply because He first loved us that way. He expects us to be obedient to His Word and mature into the children He would have us to be. Even when others want to give up on you never give up on yourself as God won’t give up on you either. Satan will try to make you think He has but He won’t. So keep on speelllin or I should say SPELLING! I Love Jesus!

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Iron sharpeneth iron

2008-10-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, Grandma’s blushing this morning!!!! As I wrote this morning on my “In Other Words Tuesday” about mirrors and candles I found that I was nominated for a Brillante Award by Esthermay. Boy if I had a mirror close by I’d find my cheeks enhanced with the red that comes with blushing. I am honored and may God be glorified. He's the one who is number ONE! I LOVE JESUS!

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. ~Proverbs 27:17

What encouragement, I love it. Thanks Esther for letting me know that I am making a difference in God’s kingdom. That there are kids out there being touched, held, and encouraged in the same way. Sharpened to stand where the ground isn’t so level, enhanced to shine where the darkness would rather settle. Making them the shining lights for Jesus they can be no matter how small or young.

This weekend as my grandkids worked on their playhouse and tree house my 11 year granddaughter was amazed at her grandma. Although she’s been going to my house on the weekends since she was born she marveled over the fact that Grandma would take the time to go move some rocks, rearrange some old tires and worn out hubcaps to beautify their area. “I thought Grandmas always sat around and knitted all the time, you are so awesome,” she said.

We can’t sit around, we need to be taking the time to encourage and enhance the young and old and that is why I thank Esther this morning for thinking of me. I better get on the stick, or on the web and see who I can pass this honor on to!

Glory to God!

Karen

Picture Dees #23 Pick your Own Clothes

2008-09-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

As you travel down the road you may notice several different signs encouraging you to stop and pick your own corn, fruit, or veggies. You will even see wrecking yards for cars that permit you to “pull your own” car part needed to fix your current vehicle. You can stop and pick and pull or go to the local store and buy what you are after. The choice is yours.

When it comes to getting dressed for Heaven you won’t see the sign “pick your own clothes.” God has given us specific instructions on how we are to dress for Heaven. We are to clothe ourselves with Christ in order to walk as He walked, behave as He behaved.

It’s a task that requires action on our part as we “put on” or clothe ourselves in Christ. The clothes in your closet aren’t going to jump off the hanger and on to you, you have to pick out what you are going to wear and put it on. It’s no different when it comes to dressing for Heaven except we don’t get to “pick our on clothes” that we want to wear but we are required to put on what God tells us to wear.

How can we walk as Jesus walked if we’ve never seen Him stride down the street? What we are to look at is not His physical walk but the way He walked or behaved spiritually to pattern our lives after. It’s not like mimicking the walk Hannah Montana, Elvis, or any other performer does as they perform on stage. It’s the example Christ set for us, His character, and His attitude that counts that we should be after.

It’s important we don’t listen to Satan’s lies about how we do indeed get to pick our own clothes. That there is no uniform or standard dress we all have to follow. Satan never has got it right but we can. All it takes is putting on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and all the other things Jesus stood for. We can’t pick and choose which characteristic about Christ we want and leave the others behind in the dresser draw of the Bible. Wrong thinking!

The minute we try to put these items on in our lives they might not fit. But give it time. Learn to trust in God that He will help you out where you fall short in walking as He walked. If you learn to do that at a young age you are far more ahead than a lot of adults.

Dear Heavenly Father, praise you Lord that you have given us a dresser full of clothes that we are to wear in our lives spiritually. The Bible is full of them. Forgive us Lord for the times we find ourselves putting on something that shouldn’t be. Clothing such as anger, bad language, cheating, lieing, disobedience to our parents and other responsible adults and so much more. Help us Lord to be patient and to not compare how we look fully dressed to the kid next door. May we always know what truly counts is how we look in Your eyes wearing the clothes You picked out for us to wear. Heaven is coming and may we all be ready. Fully dressed and walking as You instructed us to walk. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

WTLB~NEWGod is not a component of our already in place stereo systems, there to give our life a boost

2008-08-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

How God went from being the Lord of the Universe, the King, the Creator, the Salvation in which we are saved by to merely a component of our already in place stereo system or life is amazing. God is not a component to be added, something to boost a system we already have in place. An added amplifier, an added speaker, an added sound system, or control panel. God needs to be the main system in our life.

When we have made Him the main system we go by, use, and rely on we will find that there is nothing that needs to be added. There is no need for a “boost.” The other things in life are just added pleasures. God like a great meatloaf, if you like meatloaf doesn’t need ketchup or other additions He is able to stand on His own.

There was a man in the Old Testament you may have heard of, his name is David. Through all his struggles, failures, and successes he knew who the main component of his life was, it was God. As a result instead of being an added piece, God to him was as he describes in 2 Samuel 22….. MY rock, MY fortress, MY deliverer, MY strength, MY shield, MY salvation, MY stronghold, MY refuge, MY Savior, MY God, MY support, MY lamp.

More things David said about Him were, He is trustworthy and praise worthy who hears us when we cry out to Him as well as rebukes us when needed. He will rescue us. He delights in us and rewards us when we do right. Indeed He is the best resource to enlighten the darkness surrounding us due to sin while giving us a bounce to our step, making our way perfect, and enlarging our path so we don’t slip. The very One capable of pursuing our enemies and giving us the armor needed ourselves to accomplish this in the battle against Satan. The tower of our salvation who shows mercy to His anointed those who have accepted Him into their lives and follow Him.

A boost? No, He is the main system we need in place in our lives. The same God who was there for David is there for us. We don’t come already attached to this main system, yet we come with a hole in our heart where only He will fit. We are the ones responsible for making the move to get God into our lives. As you would go after the stereo system of your dreams you need to go after God, you won’t be disappointed. It’s not what God can do for me but what can I do for God by the way I live my life, the choices I make, the attitude I carry. Like David, you will have your successes, failures, and struggles but like David you serve the exact same God. YOUR fortress, strength, rock, and the list goes on and on.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #22 Excited About Heaven

2008-07-29T20:28:00.001-07:00

"I'm bored! There's nothing to do?" Sound Familiar? It should, we've all been there at one point or another. It's not a kids only thing, adults suffer from it as well. What one person finds exciting another finds it boring and vise versa. That is often the opinion of Heaven. Some are excited about going while others think they are going to bored out of their minds.

Having never been there before it can be hard to picture Heaven. To some the picture painted comes out exciting while another thinks of Heaven as BORING! They can't imagine being there forever without their favorite food, activity, music, friends, and so much more. Its difficult for them to visualize life without a Nintendo hook-up, a computer connection, a direct route to a local bar, golf course, movie theater, or playground. After all what kind of life could someone have without a cell-phone? Just kidding on that one! How boring can you get!

The many questions that come up are: Are we going to eat food? Will the food have a taste? Will we be awake the whole time or do we get to sleep? How will we get around? What will we do besides sitting with our feet dangling off some cloud? Do we really have to listen to harp music 24 hours a day 7 days a week or 24-7 they call it?

If you look over the list, all the things listed people are questioning have to do with the flesh, worldly pleasures that have no spiritual value. What we need to be looking at when we try to view Heaven is the spiritual value of the choice we made to follow Jesus there. It should be more than a choice to stay out of hell.

The excitement is being with Jesus, living in a place that is free of tears, struggles, pain, sickness, and heartaches. No more temptations, pop quizzes in life to take, and physical handicaps and hang-ups. It will be a place of great beauty far beyond our wildest imagination. The joy will be immeasurable, greater than we ever experienced on earth. Love and laughter no longer drowned out by hatred, bitterness, and sadness. An adventure that has no end that began the minute we accepted Christ into our lives.

No matter what picture we try to paint in our minds the choice of going to Heaven falls on us. It begins with choosing to follow Jesus, being obedient to His word. Having faith in His purpose on earth, the death on the cross for our sins, His resurrection to heaven, and the rules and regulations He puts forth. Changing His rules to suit us won't do it. Just "knowing of Jesus" won't do it either. Even the demons know He exists but knowing Him personally and committing your life to Him while on earth will.

Thank God we can all be Heavenbound. The decision falls on us and the choices we make in life on earth. Getting excited now and living our lives that way prepares us for the excitement to come. I doubt if too many people think in their hearts, "I can't wait to die so I can eat popcorn and drink beer in Heaven listening to my favorite CD they slipped into my pocket to take with me."

No, they think about being with Jesus and the adventure of getting to know this new world yet to be seen. What we get to do or what we may or may not eat will, at last, play second fiddle to the joy of being where Christ is. There indeed, needs to be our focus. Boring? No way!!!! Adventurous, YES!

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

WTLB~~NEW---God is driving, all we need to do is get on the bus and cooperate

2008-07-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2008

To be perfectly honest and upfront over the issue, there is nothing worse than a backseat driver. A backseat driver can be anyone in the car other than the driver who thinks they know what they are doing. They are constantly handing out unneeded advice to the one who is driving as if it was necessary. They often cause more harm than good as they distract the one behind the wheel.

Spiritually we do that with God as we take on the role of the backseat driver constantly offering up to God advice on how to drive as if it was necessary. Because of this we wind up causing more harm than good. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to willingly accept that God is doing the driving. He’s the one that’s in control. No advice from us is required or essential as we put away our “How to drive in 10 easy lessons” advice we are so easily tempted to hand out.

Kind of like what they call a mass-transit system in the big cities all we need to do is get on board and cooperate with the One who is in charge, Jesus Christ. The man with the map, the one with the knowledge to get us where we need to be in the best way possible, the one who should be in control behind the steering wheel of our lives.

Starting young to learn how to sit back and relax and let God drive is a vital lesson for anyone. It’s a lesson worth taking, a principal worth learning as we apply it daily to the lives we lead. In other words allow God to be the GPS navigating system in your life. Watch out for false systems that promise to get you where you need to be. Go with the one true way, Jesus Christ. The Bible He wrote as our map is not an outdated resource but an updated one that has the path to a future yet to come, eternity with Him.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #21 Safely Ashore

2008-07-15T05:44:00.001-07:00

As this seal takes its place on the lava rock shore off the Pacific Coast, behind the scenes park rangers scramble to gather the necessary signs to put around it. Warning signs set out to give the seal its needed space to either go back into the water or live out its life where it was.

We often think that life has us washed ashore but in reality we are there for a reason whether it's a period of needed R & R by the ocean instead of being in it or whatever. Although we may never see the barriers or warning signs God puts up to Satan telling him to stay away or keep his distance God indeed is working behind the scenes on our behalf. As the seal crawled ashore on its own we need to do the same. Doing our part in trusting God will watch over us during these time periods in our lives as the park rangers scrambled to watch over this seal. Although the seal may not always hit the right shore to lie upon where there is a park ranger around to watch over it, there's not a shore we can land upon that God is not present to watch over us. Praise the Lord!

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #20 Power Source

2008-07-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Rising up early one morning prepared to start my day I found someone had beaten me to it. Somebody was already at work tackling the daily tasks that needed to be done. It was the power company that mysteriously showed up that morning equipped and ready to trim the necessary limbs off the trees that were growing close to the nearby power pole.

How in the world did they know that the trees needed to be trimmed? Perhaps it was the meter lady who revealed this, someone alert to the need as well as the danger of leaving it the way it was.

As Christians we need to all take on the task of being alert to the things that are growing too close to our power source Jesus Christ that can eventually be a danger to our own spiritual health. The local church, the next-door neighbor nor an angel mysteriously sent from Heaven is going to show up one morning to trim what needs to be done. They certainly can help but the task or awareness belongs to us.

Bad habits, unhealthy attitudes, selfishness, and disobedience are all limbs that grow from the wrong trees that threaten our power source. It’s up to us to pay attention, to not let these things get too far out of hand. They are things that need to be dealt with quickly and as often as it takes to keep our source of power, Jesus Christ going strong and uninterrupted in our lives.

No one likes to have their power cut off and we should feel the same about our spiritual power source in Jesus Christ. Stay alert. Recognize where your power source is and keep the lines clear and the source flowing freely. Even if it does mean that some things have to come down in order for Christ to come up in your life.

It’s our fingerprints that are on the switch that can turn Christ off or on in our lives. We have no one else to blame. It’s a bill that comes pre-paid thanks to the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is no disconnect notice to fear unless we allow it ourselves. Satan will do his best to camouflage what our true source of power should be and what is needed to be removed in our lives in order to get Christ to flow freely in our lives.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #19 Greener Grass

2008-06-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

An old familiar saying that started as far back as the Garden of Eden is the saying about "looking for greener grass. " Basically that was the concept Satan used on Eve when he convinced her there was more to be sought. That she was missing out on something. She fell for it and indeed she fell right into sin and she took Adam with her.

Looking for greener grass doesn't always land us in the middle of sin or trouble but it can. It’s a trip that can help or hinder us. It’s important we find balance in this area. The balance between constantly looking for something better, never satisfied with what we have or staying in places we don’t have to with very little room for improvement.

It seems like it’s a phrase that is more abused than properly used. We use it as an excuse to accuse as well as a reason to bail out. We claim it’s our fundamental right to have greener pasture to stroll upon. What it is is a primary blessing or privilege, not a right that we get to claim as if someone was going to hand us the keys to next available greener grass spot that becomes available.

As seen in the picture the getting to greener grass often requires obstacles to overcome. It’s something that is seldom just stepped into without some kind of effort on our part. Once over or through the obstacles in life we find that the greener pasture has its own brown, dead spots. If not properly taken care of the newly found “greener grass” can soon look like the place we just came from.

Getting half way over the barbwire fence and expecting to stay there to find our balance in this matter doesn’t work. Know in your heart what you are looking for, don’t be afraid to go after it. However, don’t throw away something you already have thinking you could possibly do better. Get that balance between the two and stay with it. Don’t listen to the lies of Satan as he offers you greener grass or better places that don’t exist. He’d also sell you ocean front property in Arizona if you were gullible enough to fall for it.

There’s no doubt about it there is greener grass out there. Just don’t stumble over your own efforts getting there, throwing away what should be kept, seeking what doesn’t need to be sought. Allow God to be the one to lead you to where you need to go, on His time, using His paths to help you up and over the barbwire fences in life that can snare us. Caught and torn up by such barbs as greed and discontent.

In the meantime, make the best of what you have. Adding the Water of life, Jesus Christ will green up any pasture with a lasting beauty that will never die.

Picture Dees #18 Deep Roots

2008-06-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

The root systems of a tree or plant are vital. It is the lifeline that keeps it living, the resource of all its food. Ruin the root system and you ruin the plant. It’s very important that the roots are deep and well established in the ground in order to withstand the elements of the weather as well as the normal wear and tear of simple daily existence.

If weakened in any way or not well cared the tree will die. The first big storm that comes along will take the tree or plant down as it did this juniper tree. It didn’t matter how many storms this tree endured over the years once the root system gave way the tree quickly followed.

Our root system in Jesus is just as vital. The deeper our root into Christ and His teachings the stronger and more productive we are. Therefore, giving us the ability to withstand the elements in life that can weaken and ruin our root system. Elements such as medical problems, financial struggles, family issues, addictions, stress, false teachings, and the basic wear and tear of daily living are sure to do it if we don’t watch out.

Jesus himself said that if we don’t have the right root system we would wither up and die scorched or burnt up by the kind of things that Satan uses to bring God’s children down. Things such as disobedience, doubt, temptation, discouragement, false beliefs, and lack of focus on the right thing, Jesus Christ himself. At the first sign of trouble or persecution those with no root system easily come down. Believing only for a short while merely to fall away.

We are responsible for our own root system. Therefore we need to start out in the right soil, the planting soil of God’s word called the Bible where He tells us what we need to do as He guides us to the harvest in Heaven where the growing ends and life truly begins. If we make the right choices we can be stronger than the elements in life. We can withstand the wear and tear of daily living as long as we stay established in the food source of God’s Word, rooted and grounded in the lasting elements of His love, discipline, and grace.

We may have to take a windstorm here and there. That may bend our branches but it can never knock us over, thanks to Jesus, thanks to His love. How deep the roots are up to us. It’s a daily choice, a lifetime commitment as we establish ourselves in Christ and stay there for lasting root health, for eternal blessings.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

WTLB~~~NEW—Faith believes that God can do what He says He can do

2008-06-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

Faith believes. Those two words put together say it all. Where it becomes complicated is when we begin to doubt or question what it is we are supposed to believe in. Even God tells us in His Word that we need to test the spirits to make sure that we are following and listening to the right one. The Right One being our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Reading through the Bible we find it full of promises of the things God says He will and can do. Our part is to have the kind of faith in Him that believes wholeheartedly that He is more than capable of doing these things.

It's important that we know in our hearts the Bible is not a suggestion box but one full of true, guaranteed to come true statements simply because God says so. We don’t need Him to “cross His heart,” “swear on a stack of Bibles,” or anything else to try and convince us that He means what He says. Faith believes. God says it, so be it. Read your Bible daily, keep it as your main source, and never wonder away from the truths in it.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #17 Soft Landing

2008-05-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Often in life we run into obstacles here and there that send us flying with our face in the sand. A choice not many people would make on purpose I'm sure. The choice of dirt in the face, sand in the hair, and all sorts of doubts on whether we would ever be able to get up and try again, definitely doesn't make a good list to choose from.

Thanks to Jesus in our lives we can get back up, whether our initial landing was soft or hard as He takes our hand and helps us up as Marissa needed to be helped up. However, we do need to do our part and be willing to go on with life and try again. Another log or obstacle may come along but we still have the same choice, lay there and let life stomp all over us or get up and dust off our clothes and keep on trying.

There's going to be times when staying down seems like a good option, a safe place, something that quarantees we wouldn't fall again because we're already down. Wrong thought, bad attitude. All that gets us is more sand in our face. The only way we are going to win is to be able to stand up and fight and not give in to Satan and his ways. God supplies the strength, we need to supply the willpower to do what we need to do and stop wishing for a soft landing, but a great take-off with Jesus as the head pilot in our life.

I see fruit

2008-05-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Fruit is something that is produced. When we have Christ in our lives we need to be producing all the right qualities to be able to see Christ-like produce growing in our lives. A good place to start is the Fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

To visualize the idea of growing fruit, draw yourself a tree on a large piece of paper and every time you see fruit growing put a sticker on your tree. Being kind to your sisters, helping mom without having to be asked, being responsible, polite, having a good attitude are just some of the things that produce good fruit. If you’d ask your mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa or whomever I’m sure they would be happy to let you know when you have done something that leads to good fruit.

Getting lots of stickers on your tree is fun but you must be aware of the bad fruit as well. If you are kind to your sister one minute and turn around and are mean to her the next moment that adds bad fruit to your crop. When that which is bad is allowed to stay with the good fruit it soon spreads its rotten-ness to the good to the point that the whole bowl or tree can wind up ruined.

Learn to recognize fruit that has gone bad and deal with it, don’t let it continue on where it affects other areas of your life. Don’t waste your time trying to examine other people’s fruit and what they are growing, stay in your own field and take responsibility for that which you are producing in yourself. It’s important that you don’t let someone else put up a fruit stand near yours by allowing what they do to affect your outcome. Their bad fruit of anger doesn’t have to become a part of your crop. It can if you allow it, so beware. Be a fruit inspector taking charge of your own fruitstand, producing for Christ that which is good, all natural, truly organic and pesticide free.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #16 Flood Irrigating

2008-05-06T20:03:00.001-07:00

Where I live irrigation dams are a common site. They are used to direct the water in the fields to where you want it to go when you flood irrigate. An old familiar site is watching my dad carry the dam over his shoulder changing the water daily in the hay fields. A pretty simple device often weighed down by the rocks seen nearby as it’s placed in the ditch where you don’t want the water to go. Once backed up with the water prohibited to flow by, it makes for a good place to play in the heat of the summer.

One day as dad was changing the irrigation water he noticed the water wasn’t coming down the ditch where the dam had been removed. Going back to investigate he found Kelly our Saint Bernard lying in the ditch enjoying the opportunity to be cool, creating a dam of his own that prevented the water from flowing.

Spiritually we need to be looking for anything that is preventing the Living Water of Jesus from flowing freely in our lives. Things that stop the process of flood irrigating our spirits with Jesus that the benefit of having Him in us may reach every area of our lives. It doesn’t matter if it was something we threw in the ditch or something that crawled in on its own like our dog Kelly that backed the water up.

If something is prohibiting the Living Water of Christ from flowing by, it’s our job to pay attention and get it removed. It may be an old habit, bad attitude, busyness, lack of commitment, or anything else it doesn’t matter they need to go. We are the ones in charge of how it flows. The dry spots in our field or lives don’t need to be. There’s plenty of Water to go around, plenty of Jesus for everyone to benefit.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

WTLB~~~Failing forward. Use your failures to move you forward by learning and growing from them.

2008-05-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a crazy thing to “fail forward.” After all when you fail doesn’t that mean you fall flat on your backside where you stay awhile until you decide to swallow your pride and get up to try again. Throwing a few pity parties in the meantime. Right? Wrong! The direction in which we handle our failures is important. We can fail and fall backwards or fail and fall forward and learn from our mistakes or lack of knowledge. We need to realize that not all failures are caused by “mistakes.” Sometimes we simply fail at something, by no fault of our own.

The mistake comes when we choose to let our failures get us down and stomp us deeper in self-pity and our ability to give up. We need to use our failures to move us forward through learning and the determination to get it right and succeed the next time. One of the lessons to be discovered is learning that there are some things that we will always fail at no matter what. Duh! Instead of wasting our time on the things we don’t have the knack for we need to move forward to the things we can eventually succeed in if we don’t give up. Fall forward to Jesus and discover the blessing of His loving arms and encouragement He has to offer.

WTLB~~~Always Beware of Satan's Shortcuts and stay away from them

2008-04-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

If there ever was a shortcut to be found, people will do it. When my mom was recovering from her stroke in a nursing home every day I would try to find a new route to and from the home. In other situations, whether trying to break up the monotony or not, the quickest route to the store, gas station, work or wherever is the best route. Often it pays to take a shortcut but that is not always the case. For example, there are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. There’s not a measuring stick we can put up against the wall to measure how much we have grown. There is no chart to go by stating the national averages of where we should be and when. We get our growth thru the turmoil’s and hard times in our lives. Growing daily with time and experience.

Satan tries to convince us that taking shortcuts is the best way to go but when we do it his way we often find ourselves needlessly bounced around on rough roads running into one dead end after another. As appealing as the shortcuts in life may appear we need to ask ourselves what does the long-term beauty look like? Think before you leap into anything. God’s road can be rough too. Three steps forward can sometimes feel like we end up two steps back but there are no dead ends as each path leads us to a closer walk with Jesus. Forever moving us forward in our spiritual maturity in Christ, praise the Lord!

No one has ever gone from preschool to 12th grade on a shortcut why do we think we can spiritually. We may skip a grade here and there like my sister did or finish early but this is anything but a shortcut as some travel in faster speeds than others in a precision only they are gifted with. Don’t let Satan trick you, stick to the road, stick with God.

Picture Dees #15 Untouched yet Touchable

2008-04-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Looking out over God’s creation I love thinking about how there is ground out there that has never been stepped on since God created it. We can harvest the trees, ride or hike the trails, fish the rivers, camp in the summer, ski in winter and we still won’t be able to get to every inch of ground there is. To me it shows just how enormous God is. We can accomplish a lot of things in life but that is one thing we will never be able to do and that is set foot on every piece of untouched ground there is before the Lord returns to get us. That thought is great out in the mountains but it should never be that way in our hearts. There should be no part of our heart and lives that hasn’t been touched by God. No heart or life is to enormous, damaged; hardened, or lost that God can’t cover every inch of it with His love and grace. We can’t cover all of His ground but He certainly can get to all of ours if we would only take down the “no trespassing” signs and allow God to enter. Reaching the territory yet touched and to maintain that which has already been bless by His spirit. Join God today on the trail of life destined for Heaven, headed for His glory.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #14 Another Hill

2008-04-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Having the pleasure of walking around in the mountains there are plenty of hills to climb. Thinking there is wide-open country on the other side we climb the hills only to find other hills that need climbing. Feeling weak and worn out from the last hill we just climbed doesn’t seem to stop us. We regain our strength only to move forward with renewal of strength and a continual sense of adventure. Life in general is no different. We can stop at the bottom of the hills that we run into, the difficult times, the decision making we need to do or keep on going using the strength that God supplies us and the wisdom it takes to scale any hill. Being worn out from the last hill we had to ascend should never stop us as we move forward with renewal of strength and a continual sense of adventure to complete our journey with God.

WTLB~~~Checking for Fingerprints

2008-04-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt as if someone was trying to keep you from growing emotionally and spiritually inside? Being told to bloom, grow, or blossom where we are planted seems impossible when it feels like someone has their thumb over us stopping us from even breaking ground let alone see daylight.

Definitely a lie Satan would like us to believe. However, when we go looking for fingerprints frequently what we find is the thumb or thing we thought was holding us back or squishing us was attached to our own hand.

Our attitudes, emotions, negative outlook, and lack of strength are things that can hold us back, stunt our growth, and prevent us from blooming and growing where we are currently in life. Before we go looking at those around us we need to stop and make sure that the thumb we feel has us pinned down isn’t ours.

As the main gardener in our lives God can help us break ground, get rid of that feeling of being pinned down. Leading us to the daylight of His light, the true lamp to grow by, to bloom for, and put in charge our harvest. Trying on our own only got us temporarily buried when we should have been growing. Thank you Jesus for the miracle gro we can use in our lives, to set in motion a growing process that is destined for beauty, that is grounded in love, forgiveness, and grace.

Picture Dees #13 The Traffic LIght

2008-04-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Each traffic light is the same. The rules of the road don't change from one city or state to another. Red means stop, yellow means caution, and green means go. Although drivers don't always respect the purpose behind each color the rule remains the same.

God has his own traffic light signals that He gives us. There's times when we need to stop. Times when we need to slow down. And times when we get the go ahead to go. We'd be smart to obey each one for what they are. As with a real traffic light they are not suggestions on what we could do, they are signals that show us what we should do.

We can sit at the light and grumble about it changing colors or we can sit patiently and wait for the next signal from God. He's there to direct traffic not have to play the part of the traffic cop. However, as with a parent who has to play the role of disciplinary when their kids do something wrong, when needed God quickly takes on the role of the traffic cop.

The tickets we can get from Him can't be paid off, excused, or ignored. Christ already paid the ultimate price making us able to drive the road to Heaven with greater ease on the wheels of forgiveness and grace. Causing trouble at the lights will only get us rear-end by life's issues or t-boned with situations we didn't see coming, or hit head on by Satan and the wreckless driving he promotes.

Avoid the crashes, heed to the signals that God has for us. Self-inflicted accidents NOT allowed.

Copyright 2008 Marissa and Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #12 Correct Lane

2008-04-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

It seems to be a matter of opinion of what is the "right" lane and whose lane is really going to be ending soon. Bottlenecked at the end of a passing lane are people reserving the right to stay in the lane of their choice.

The road to heaven, Jesus tells us is a narrow one. It's not one that is wide now and then begins to narrow towards the end. With God the right lane will never end and its up to us to make sure we are in the "correct" one. The correct one has Jesus in it surrounded by our obedience to His will and ways as we follow rules of the road according to Jesus.

Picture Dees #11 One Little Tree

2008-04-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Looking over the forest here in the Ochoco's we see many trees. Big trees, little trees, dead trees, growing trees. We have a lot to choose from and focus on. In the garden Eve and Adam had a lot they could focus on too but for some reason they got stuck on one tree. One tree in a garden of trees and that became their focus to the point they lost track of God. We often do that in our lives, one little issue, mistake or incident or one little comment someone made about us and that becomes our only focus. If we keep it up soon we lose our focus on what is important, our relationship with God. One little tree, one little tree in a forest of trees! It wasn't worth it for Eve and Adam in the long run and it shouldn't be worth if for us either.

WTLB~~~Go First Anyway

2008-03-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

When you’re a kid wanting to go first is no problem. It’s a constant race to see who gets to the car first, who finishes their candy bar first, who gets to mom first to tattle, and on and on and on. Having someone tell you to go first anyway seems like a great invitation to get what you want. Sure I’ll be the first in line, the first to open my presents, the first at everything I do.

Unfortunately that is not the kind of first we are talking about here. It’s the first to say I’m sorry, it’s the first to lend a hand to someone in need, the first to do what you know is right in spite of others not following. The first to go forward even though you think it is the other person that needs to make the first move.

Not doing what we need to do just because someone else didn’t go first is not an excuse that God would accept and neither should we. We are each responsible for our own actions and they should never be based on what others have or haven’t done. Our pride shouldn’t get in the way. Our own thoughts and feelings should never dictate what we do. Go first anyway and you’d be surprised at the end results whether immediately seen or not.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #10 The Puzzle

2008-03-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

Puzzles are fun. They are challenging and entertaining. Especially when the pieces look so much alike and you have your doubts on whether you have put the correct two pieces together. We already know what it will look like by the picture on the box. Once together you can even glue them in order to hang your artwork on the wall.

To watch someone else put a puzzle together drives us nuts because we want to help and give out advice on where to put the pieces. The scenario with God is no different. Too often we find it very hard to sit back and let Him put together the puzzle pieces of our lives. Our lack of patience and trust shows up in our fidgety behavior waiting for Him to complete the picture. Too frequently we jump in and try to help and we wind up upsetting the whole box and the pieces go a flying.

Our biggest challenge is to trust God with EVERY piece of our lives and dreams. Not just the pieces we have a difficult time with. We need to stop arguing and begin to trust the one that holds the final design or picture of our life. The One with the ability to make the outcome of it even more beautiful than we could ever imagine. The choice is ours for the making. The pieces are His for the taking.

Picture Dees #9 The Cross

2008-03-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Looking at this fine piece of artwork by Christine it makes for a cute decoration come Easter time. However, no matter how nice or rugged we make the cross look it still carries the same message. NOTICE: “No one comes to the Father except through Jesus.” John 14:6. God required a sacrifice for our sins and Jesus stepped in and fulfilled that requirement because we never could.

No matter how rugged or nice our life appears to be, we all are in need of the salvation God has to offer. Dirtied by the sins we commit only the blood of the cross can cleanse us, all we have to do is apply it. Dressing our lives up with a flower here and there to make it look good won’t do the trick. Repentance drives us to the cross. Obedience carries us through on a journey that beats all journeys. Thanks to God we all have the opportunity to be Heaven bound if we choose the right entrance, Jesus Christ.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #8 The True Gems

2008-03-18T05:27:00.001-07:00

Old and rugged or new and beautiful it doesn’t matter how fancy our jewelry box is or how large the safe we purchase to store our valuables in. The truth remains the same that the thing of value we wish to protect is on the inside.

The same is true for us. No matter how pretty we try to dress up on the outside our true value comes from within our hearts. The outside beauty we try to work on so much will eventually fail or weaken but the gems inside of us that make us who we are will only grow more valuable with time.

This is why God has asked to live inside our hearts. Having Him on the outside as a cross around our neck, a dusty Bible on our shelf, or a pew that we occupy once a week isn’t enough. Who we are in Christ, the beauty created by following Him starts first from within as it works its way out for others to see. The gems of the Bible need to become the gems of our hearts as we follow Christ to the true place of beauty, life in Heaven. Eternity well spent.

WTLB~~Don't Let Outside Storms Become Inside Storms

2008-03-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have to begin today by asking a question. The last time I did this I asked if you ever had the joy of sweeping a floor. Today’s question is a little different but just as simple. Have you ever been caught in a storm whether it was a thunder, rain, snow, hurricane, twister, or dust storm? During the storm would you ever open up the house door and let the outside storm come in? No way! That would be crazy wouldn’t it? I’ll answer that question for you….yes it would be stupid.

Well just as stupid is allowing the outside storms of the world, things like bully’s at school, parental issues, family upsets, sibling trouble, friendship mishaps that all can cause tremendous storms on the outside to become inside storms. Inside storms meaning having our spirit inside of us stirred up so badly that our lives are affected by it.

Once we allow this to happen depression sets in, some take on anger, others become so upset deep within themselves that they want to harm themselves or others. Like a computer that comes equip with a firewall that keeps any outside sources from accessing your computer through the Internet we need to put up our own firewall in our heart. Using it to stop the things on the outside from stirring up inside storms in our spirit.

Satan already is working hard at stirring up these “inside” storms or turmoil’s that we find ourselves fighting against such as the emotional waves of anger, jealousy, low self-worth, rebellion, disobedience, fear, and uncertainty that he doesn’t need our help. It’s up to us to be firmly grounded in God’s Word, trusting in His promises that we don’t allow access from outside influences to do damage from inside our spirit. We can stop this from happening by trusting and relying on Christ and the Holy Spirit using them as our firewall the protector of our soul, the keeper of our spirit.

Karen's Kids Korner

Mountains

Happy New Year

Happy Birthday Jesus, Merry Christmas Everyone Else

Wonders of God

Dressed and ready

roads

Best barn

Letting our light shine

Doing the Impossible

Kid DEES God,the driver. We, the passengers

Picture DEES #45 Cleaning up the mess

Picture DEES #44 Maze of Mirrors

Future storytellers

Picture DEES #43 Caught in the Act of Love

Picture Dee #42 Lost signal

Kid DEES Growing Fruit

Picture DEES #41---Caught

Kid DEES "Rest Here!"

Kid DEES It's Not Fair

The time is now

Playdough madness

Picture dees~~~~Flyswatter of our Emotions

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~ Don't Blame Me, Blame My Mouth

Kid DEES---Navigating the Storms in life without capsizing

Future Writer in the Making

Picture Dees #40--Onion Layers

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rejoice and be Thankful

Picture DEES #39 Crumpled Piece of Paper

Kid Dees---See you at the pole, God revealed

Picture Dees #38 The Donut

Kid DEES Shield of Faith continued, God's love for us

Kid Dees Shield of Faith Eph 6:16

Picture Dees #37 Hole in the Cloud

Kid DEES devotion from John 3:16

Kid Dees---Joy and Trials James 1:2,3

To All Parents

Kid DEES~~~Great doors are swung on tiny hinges

Merry Christmas to ALL

Thanksgiving: A Beginning that Has no End

Kid DEES~~~It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.

Picture Dees #36 Window Seat

Praise and Thanks

Picture Dees #35 Playgrounds and Battlefields

Adventures of the Gilvanstone Family

Picture Dees #34 The Backburner

Picture Dees 33 Waiting for Harvest

In the News~~~ Valedictorians In School

Picture Dees #32 Interwoven with Christ

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh MY God, my love, my hero

Picture Dees #31 Snowdrifts of Life's Troubles

Picture Dees #30 Asleep at the Wheel

Kid DEES~~~~~~~~~~Our portion

Kid DEES~~~~~~~~Close to God

Praise and Thanks #7

Praise and Thanks #6

Picture Dees #29 The Trap

In the News ~~~ E-Prayer Offer

In the News---Public Prayer in School

Praise the Thanks #5

Kid DEES~~~God will change you but you have to do your part

Praise and Thanks #4

Picture Dee #28 The Missing Piece

Praise and Thanks #3

Praise and Thanks #2

Praise and Thanks

In the news: "Abstinence Teaching"

Picture Dees #27 The Right Tongue

Picture Dees #26 Where are the Adults?

Up Up and Away, Thank You Jesus

In The News: Pledge of Allegiance

Picture Dees #25 Getting the Stains Out

Prayer for Protection

Picture Dees #24 Following Jesus

In The News

Iron sharpeneth iron

Picture Dees #23 Pick your Own Clothes

WTLB~~~NEW~~God is not a component of our already in place stereo systems, there to give our life a boost

Picture Dees #22 Excited About Heaven

WTLB~~NEW---God is driving, all we need to do is get on the bus and cooperate

WTLB~NEWGod is not a component of our already in place stereo systems, there to give our life a boost