Tag Archive | Jesus

My 911 Call

Do you ever feel overwhelmed, lost, uncertain about the direction you life is going?
Do you have bills that need to be paid, a heavy workload, or just seem bombarded by life?
In other words…Do you feel like you life and everything in it is falling apart?

It could be time for 911…Psalms 91:1

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Dwell:
     To reside
     To live as a permanent resident
Abide:
     To remain in a place
     To continue to be sure or firm; endure.

Nothing can harm you Beneath His Sheltering Wing!!!

911…Give Him A Call

Love Lee ♥

A Burning Heart

Jan24

I frequently come in from work after dark and last night was no different. As I pull through the gate and made my way down the drive toward home I saw a yellow-orange glow. Then, the closer I got the bigger the glow got.

YES…That man of mine had built a fire!!!

We love to sit out in the evenings around the fire pit and discuss the events of our day. However, last night the discussion was delay a bit as our daughter had walked over to enjoy the fire with us. At some point in the conversation she realized she got a little chilled and decided to stand and move closer to the fire. As she stood over the fire watching it burn, she exclaimed…”Cheyenne come look…There is a burning heart inside the log”. Cheyenne reluctantly got up off the ground where she was playing with her dog and walked over to take a look. Then I heard “Wow…that is cool mom”. While their excitement peaked my interest, it wasn’t peaked enough to cause me to hoist myself up out of the chair I had waited for all day .

After the girls headed home and Richard and I shared the highlights of our day while Richard “tinkers” with the fire. As he looked into the fire he said, “You really should come see this burning heart. The girls weren’t kidding it is really beautiful”. Now for Richard to tell me it was beautiful, I knew I needed to take a look. Looking down into the hollow log the opposite end of the log was shaped like a heart and the embers were glowing with brilliant color…vibrant oranges, deep blue reds, and brilliant yellows.

As I stood and stared into the log, I couldn’t help but think…

Wow…I could see the glow of burning heart from the road but it wasn’t until I got close that I could see the buried embers and feel the intense warmth of the burning heart.

You know…it is very much the same with Jesus. From a distance we know He is there…but it is not until we get close enough to Him that we are able to see His “Burning Heart”

David Crowder says it best!!!

“How He Loves”

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us.

He Loves Us With His Burning Heart!!!

Love Lee ♥

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE RANCH…2011

Dec24

Greetings Our Precious Family and Friends!!!

Wow, this year has flown by and while so much has changed in our lives since 2010, we remain very much the same. This year Richard and I spent time celebrating life events with our family which included birthdays, weddings, graduations, Tae Kwon Do, and basketball. In May family and friends joined us for the 5^th Annual Smith Family Reunion which was filled with lots of food, fun, laughter, and lots of MEMORIES!!! Our lives are so enriched by the moments we have with those we love.

Then in October, heaven gained an Angel and we lost our Nana (Richard’s mother). This Christmas will be especially hard for us as Christmas was Nana’s favorite holiday and Christmas Eve will not be the same without her.

It was also in October we moved to the “Ranch”. We sold our home and moved into our 38 foot motorhome…Talk about a huge task!!! All our belongings which were in our 3,100 SF home are now housed in 3 different storage buildings and have no clue where to find anything!!!

I am sure about now you are probably thinking we have lost our minds…I assure you we have not!!! We will be building a home on our daughter and son-in-law’s ranch right across from our precious granddaughter!!! Wooohooo…talk about making some incredible memories…In-fact we have already started!!! A huge thanks to our son-in-law, Robi for getting a place for the RV set-up while we were busy moving…We would not have made it without his help!!!

Since moving into the RV, we’ve added a deck, put up a fence, made time for play breaks, and even taken a trip to New Mexico for Thanksgiving where we spent quality time with Brandi and Robi in Taos before driving to Albuquerque for time with Uncle Russell, Aunt Karen, and Richard’s cousins…Making Those Memories!!!

Richard continues to work for BASF as a process technician and for Alston Group LLC as a technical writer. Lee Ann celebrated her 10th Anniversary at Angleton Danbury Medical Center and continues to focus on the Revenue Cycle and Case Management. We both are keenly aware of how blessed we are to have such wonderful employers and incredible co-workers.

While life is very simple now…It is a great life!!!

We pray during this Holiday Season God will surround you with His peace and you will take time to bask in His presence throughout the entire year…

Merry Christmas and Lots of Love

Beneath His Sheltering Wing…

Love,

Richard and Lee Ann ♥

What A Mess

Sep20

Recently we put our home on the market so we could pursue our lifelong dream of building a house. Whoop Whoop….

Who knew selling a house could be so much work? How on earth did all this stuff get into my closets? Where did all this dust come from? These are the questions that kept going through my mind as I was getting the house ready to put on the market.

All the time I was cleaning I kept saying…

What A Mess!

Then it dawned on me, our lives become much the same. Before we even realize it our lives become cluttered with negative thoughts and emotions, stress, illness, unhealthy habits, white lies…Hmmm wait, let’s just call it what it is…SIN

As with keeping up a house so to avoid clutter, dust, and depreciation, we must perform routine maintenance on our lives. And, just as there are times we are forced to ask for help around the house,we must call on the name of Jesus; an ever-present help in time of need for a Spiritual cleaning.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Confessing our sins is our Spiritual house cleaning…What is it that is cluttering up your Spiritual Life? It’s time to clean it up so we no longer have to say…

What A Mess

Love Lee ♥

There Is A Way Out

Sep18

Are you feeling trapped by circumstances beyond your control? Perhaps you can’t make your bills, the kids are out of control, or you are forced to deal with difficult people.

There is a way out!!!

The trap in which we are held prisoner is our mindset. We allow our perceptions to set our limits…Often times we perceive the situation to be worse than it is because we cannot recognize it for what it is.

The Way Out is to Change Your Mindset

Rather than view everything as negative we can choose to view each and everything we endure as our Testimony. Our very own story of how God has been so good to us. Think about it…Would you be able to truly testify of God’s goodness if you never had those difficult challenges in life?

I like to view the adversity as “Walking Out My Testimony”.

I could not testify to God’s provision if I did not know financial ruin.
I could not testify to God’s healing hand if I did not almost died from Lyme’s Disease
I could not testify to God’s comfort if I did not loose a loved one
I could not testify to God’s grace if I did not sin
I could not testify to God’s peace of mind if I did not have to trust Him with my children
I could not testify to God’s love if I had not felt what it was like to be unloved
I could not testify to God’s understanding if I have not been misunderstood
I could not testify to God’s companionship if I had not know what it was like to be alone and without a friend

You see every form of adversity is part of my testimony if I believe God is with me and believe…

There Is A Way Out…

He is my Way Out no matter the circumstance!!!

Love Lee ♥

Get Real and Cut the Bull

Sep11

Do you find yourself being who people expect you to be?
Are You always putting on a front?
Do you have difficulty sharing your views and thoughts?

Perhaps it’s time to

Get Real and Cut the Bull

I love what Beth Moore has to say about Cutting the Bull…

Is it time for you to Get Real?

Love Lee ♥

Dealing with Difficult People

Sep8

“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.” ~Zig Ziglar

Ain’t That the Truth!

I would rather rob a liquor store than be around that person but unfortunately you have to work with that person or worship with that person or perhaps even live with that person. We have all had to deal with that difficult personality who is miserable and wants to share their misery with everyone else by being…

Negative
Hateful
A Bully
Vindictive
A Kill Joy
Angry
Unrealistic
Passive aggressive

You get the picture and I am sure someone’s name or face came to mind as your read the list of negative descriptions. So, how do you deal with this person you are forced to interact with?

Recognize The Enemy:It is spiritual warfare. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Put Your Armor on: Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:11
Say to Yourself: “They are not the enemy”. You are not fighting against flesh and blood. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Ephesians 6:12
Pray: Take a mental pause from the ranting and raving to whisper the name of Jesus over your situation. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 2 Thessalonians 3:2
Love: We are instructed to love our enemies so when this difficult person is acting out make a conscious decision to love. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44

It is easy to get caught up in drama but we must be the rational healthy one and recognize we can not change this person but God can. And remember that is why they are refered to as…

Difficult People

Love Lee ♥

Trusting His Heart

Sep6

It has been a week…

We have been reminded life is fleeting and we are only promised the here and now. With Richard’s mother in ICU fighting for life, our grandson lost his half-brother in a car wreck today, and my loss of a beloved pet our hearts are hurting.

When life doesn’t make sense or seem fair and we feel all alone we have to learn to trust His heart…

This song is so incredibly perfect for where we are in our lives today…Listen closely to the words of this song. When everything in our world falls apart we have to…

Trust His Heart

Love Lee ♥

He Knows My Name

Aug31

There is so much comfort in being called by name..

Having lived in Brazoria County all our lives it was rare we could go to the grocery store for a gallon of milk and make it back home (a few blocks away) in less than an hour. You see, every time, it seems as though we would run into someone we knew and would end up talking for a good while. In-fact, I can’t think of a time I went to the store there wasn’t someone to call me by name.

I will never forget when we moved from Brazoria County to Fort Worth…we found ourselves in a town where we did not know a soul. I sitting in Long John Silvers one day and right in the middle of our meal, I broke down into tears. When Richard asked me what was wrong, my reply was, “No one knows my name”.

While living in Fort Worth, I experienced some very lonely times with minimal contact with family and friends. However, it was during those times I realized “He Knows My Name”!!! In-fact, he knows everything about me. He knew me while I was still in my mother’s womb and He loves me…

Today, I am not alone because…

He Knows My Name

Love Lee ♥

But…It’s Paid For

Aug25

Do you ever feel like everything is falling apart?

I recently began to focus on all the repairs that were needed on my vehicle when a friend opened the passenger door on my car and a piece of trim fell off. Initially I was embarrassed and then before I knew it I was focused on every flaw. Then like a goober, I began to point out all the issues to my friend by saying, “Oh Girl, that’s nothing…the engine light is on, the cover on my ashtray falls off easily, the back window tint is lifting, and oh as if that were not enough I think I need to replace a tire.” Then after I pointed out all the flaws, I followed up with..

“But…It’s Paid For”

My friend said, “You know when I was younger all of that would have mattered; I wanted everything perfect. Isn’t it interesting how things don’t matter as much as we get older?”

Our dialogue reminded me of my life…I have aches, pains, sin, baggage, and on occasion “attitude”. All associated with negative connotations but one statement makes it all better…

“But…It’s Paid For”

I don’t have to wallow in emotional pain, self-pity or guilt of my sin because all my sin is covered by the blood of Jesus. The debt has been paid in full…It is up to me to remember this prior to allowing my mind to wonder to the negative side and instead focus on the positive. I, bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ am paid in full. And, that purchase comes with a guarantee of eternal life in heaven.

Often it is the enemy’s ploy is to remind us of those areas in our lives that are lacking but we know it is up to us to say to the adversary…