Gateways to Joy

"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matt 18:3 NRSV I read this verse and thought, "Hm. What does become like a little child mean?" Depend on God?  Depending on God isn't easy.  Sometimes in certain situations it's even easier to say then do. Today when you're going about your day, working, cooking, cleaning, resting, laughing, remember to be like the little child Jesus talks about in Matthew 18:3, and remember no matter how scary the place is where you find yourself today: "God is with you.  God is for you regardless of how many times you've messed up & more importantly, God loves you." Have a great day! xo, Angela blog subscription  | twitter | facebook

So ladies, are you doing the the Bible study with Beth Moore?  If you don't know what I'm talking about you can refer back to my post that introduced what Beth Moore is doing. Okay, so this is the first and second lesson for the Gideon Bible study.  I put Beth's video below. She asked that we answer a few questions.  I put two of them on the blog here, but to read the remainder of them, you will have to go to her blog here: 1.  Based on the question in the middle of p. 37 of our homework, she says, to what specific bravery do you feel God is calling you to in this season of your life? 2.  After reading p. 46, regarding five ordinary tasks that you perform on a daily basis, share a memory of an ordinary circumstance in which God met you in an extraordinary way. Priscilla ends week one saying: " End this week by prayerfully considering what it will mean to live out Joshua 24:15.  Ask the Lord to give you a holy courage to turn this promise int...

I have not forgotten about you.  I can't. I have been a stay-at-home mother for over 19 years, and for all of that time my family and I have lived off my husband's income.  For so many of those years, I've wanted it to be the season where I earned an income but God didn't say the same.  So working without monetary pay has been my lot. I've not always been a happy camper about earning no money.  Sometimes I feel like the kids and I go without so much.  Those who don't have this lot quickly and so easily tell me how, "Life isn't about money or things." "Easy for you to say," is what I often think. I have been learning Photoshop, grapic design, blog designing and photography.  I still have so much to learn!  I have poured over learning Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Illustrator and how to use my Nikon D3100.  I am happy to say that I've made great strides. I now know that photography and the editing of pho...

Isn't it horrible that we are on day 22 of this month, and I am only on day 3 of our prayers.  Yikes! I almost gave up, but I'm not going to.  This is important to me and it is important for me to do for my husband. I want to share something that I read this morning with you. Truth Demands A Response: "One foggy night, the captain of a large ship saw what appeared to be another ship's lights approaching in the distance.  This other ship was on a course that would mean a head-on collision. Quickly, the captain signaled to the approaching ship: 'Please change you course 10 degrees west.' The reply came blinking back through the thick fog: 'You change your course 10 degrees east.' Indignantly, the captain pulled rank and shot a message back to the other ship: 'I am a sea captain with 35 years of experience.  Change your course 10 degrees west!' Without hesitation, the signal flashed back: 'I am a seaman, fourth class.  You cha...

I have a lot to tell you, but before I get to chatting too much let me go ahead and give you the prayer for day 2 of our 31 Days journey to praying for our husband. Day 2 prayer Pray that your husband's relationship with God and His Word will bear fruit in his life.  Pray that he will be a man of wisdom and understanding, fearing the Lord. Here's the schedule for my Facebook Group {in}couraging you in your pursuit of Proverbs 31: Monday: Discuss praying for our husbands Wednesday: Discuss Ann Voskamp's book, 'One Thousand Gifts: A Dare To Live Fully Right Where You Are. Friday: Discuss Proverbs 31.  We are reading Proverbs 31:10-31 Tomorrow we will discuss Ann's book on our Facebook Group. I made a little something to capture something that captured my heart and my mindseye.  Something that really tugged at my heart.  Something I had overlooked both times that I read the book.  To me these very words describe the epitome of a worthy woman's hea...

Hi ladies! I know.  I know I am behind.  I am actually eight days behind, but since I just thought of the idea on Saturday I am three days behind of my schedule. Yesterday so much came up and I'll be honest I didn't pray for him at all :-(  I know it's bad.  I won't lie to you and pretend that it isn't.  That's why I need to challenge myself in this way. I want to share a bit with you about what I have noticed in really taking the time to pray for Kennedy. I have noticed that when I take the time to focus on God and pray for my husband, the person that God does the work with is me.  Do I see some changes in Kennedy?  Often times I do, but I see a lot of changes in myself. I seem to become softer.  A lot more patient and understanding, very joyful within .  Relaxed.  I appreciate him anyway, but I appreciate him more and even see a bit of life from his perspective which I believe is how I am able to be more understanding. C...

I am very happy to have had the opportunity to  review Amy Bayliss' book, 'Pursuit of Proverbs 31.'   I've never met Amy personally, but I have known of her for quite sometime, and I have corresponded with her via e-mail on several  occasions.  Amy and I are both southern girls so I automatically feel a kindered spirit with, but not only are we southern girls, we are "heavenly" southern girls thus my bond to her. When I first began blogging, Amy Bayliss' blog , Sarah Mae, Like A Warm Cup of Coffee, and the women that I met on the Christian Women Affiliate forum were my life lines to me. These places is where I found my much needed sanity, understanding and camaraderie. I had been hurt by people in my church and those that I were close to so I swore off intimate relationships.  Needless to say God was doing a work with me and my heart online.  I would end up opening my heart in a new and very different way. It was through Amy and CWA th...

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this writing by A poor Methodist woman, eighteenth century. I found it in Elisabeth Elliot's book 'Gateway to Joy: reflections that draw us nearer to God.' There are several writings that I read that I wanted to share.  Things that slow us down to see the beauty in life.  This sums up how I feel at times when washing dishes by candlelight.  I do that sometimes to quite my soul and see the beauty around me, even though at times there is chaos around me like now for instances. Kids are quarreling... need I say more.  So I still away.  Yes.  I get still and fly faraway in my mind. This is what I read: "I do not know when I have had happier times in my soul, than when I have been sitting at work, with nothing before me but a candle and a white cloth, and hearing no sound but that of my own breath, with God in my soul and heaven in my eye...  I rejoice in being exactly what I am, a creature c...

Can you imagine that?  Going to the abortion doctor to have your baby murdered, but it didn't die! Talk about mind-boggling! There's one thing we must all remember, and that is, "God is the author and finisher of life."  I don't care what we plan or what we do, if God the giver of our life is not ready for us to die, we are not going to die and it is as plain and simple as that. In mouthing those words I'm reminded of the story of Kristen.  I'm about to get off of the abortion story for a minute because I want to share very briefly the story of a girl who was 17 and fed up with her life. What did Kristen do in the midst of her pain?  Oh well, she only went and laid her body over some train tracks for a train to run over her. Did the train run over her?  It did indeed.  Was she killed?  Nope. God wasn't ready for her to die. I will put a link at the end of this post for you to get her book and find out more about her.  I love her ...

F or those of you who blog and wonder if your blog reaches the heart or touches a soul. I'm here to say, "yes," it does.  Do you wonder if God is doing something good with what you are writing, "He is." Let me remind you of what the Bible says, "So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing that what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." ~ Is. 55:11 If or when God lays something on your heart dear blogger— blog it.  Tell it. Tweet it.  Facebook it.  Youtube it. Proclaim it!  Even though you may never get one iota of a comment on what you typed out.  Share what He gives you anyway... all the time! And you simply find solace in knowing that you put it out there, out there in the monstrous www. This morning I decided to have my devotions by reading one of my favorite blogs, "Grace is for sinners."   First off, I love that name.  Have you eve...

I   could feel it rising up within, trying to take hold of me, grip me tight. Anxiety. "I must pray." I whispered, then on with my day I went. Gathering together for this and for that.  Doing the next thing, and the next, and the next, when I came upon what I needed. "Wow.  God always comes through." I inhale deeply, a sigh of relief.   "Thank you Father." I silently whisper. I proceed to read. Peace.  Calmness.  They both sooth my soul and I feel rich. I am richly blessed. I know this because the Bible told me so. This feeling of being close to the Father and in sync with him is far better than anything this world could ever give me or you. Oh how blessed I am to be called a child of God: his daughter.  I am the daughter of the one and only true God.  And I know that I am loved.  I am loved by Love.  It feels good when you know you can give in to love, and you are most assured that you are loved like...

O ften times dear friends, the profoundest of our statements is observed not by the utterances of our words, but rather by the way our heart instructs us to walk.   You may tell me you love me, but if the only way I experience it is by hearing you say it, yet never seeing or feeling it expressed any other way, chances are my belief in what you say will gradually fade. Our most sincere way to walk with Jesus is sometimes to not say anything with our lips, but with our hearts. Allowing how we feel inwardly to spill over, we then have no choice but to display outwardly how we are truly feeling inside, thus we bend the knee and bow low as an expression of our love to Him. "Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much." ~ Luke 7:47 Are you sorry for something you did, an act you committed?  Don't just say you're sorry, show how sorry you really are. Allow this weekend to be a time where you do some self-reflection,...

I feel like Mary . . . busy, doing and going: no where. Choosing that which is less important. The thing that has no eternal value what-so-ever. Being unwise in decisions. To talk about my decisions or write about them isn't enough anymore. Action is required. To know and not do is the sin, isn't it? Why do I . . . How do I . . . Why and how do I always loose focus? Allow myself to get distracted, become moved from the important, the music of my life. The grown up has much growing up to do. Each day my heart and spirit longs to be with Him, with home, with what's important, but each day I allow myself to become distracted from Him, from home, from what's important—the music, the music of my life. Laundry is sky high. School papers need correcting, the house needs the attention from the woman within it, but I'm busy, busy doing what? Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties will arise.  Didn't that old devil seek...

I'm looking for a new way to walk this year friends. Guess what though?  Letting go of old behavior is hard to do—sometimes.  The reason being is that some of my old ways of my walking I liked. They felt good. Those ways had become familiar friends and were comfortable. They were what I knew.  They were my normal. Every time I think about changing my stride I feel a foe surfacing: fear. Anguish too.  Even their cousin anxiety finds a spot to grab hold of me.  And my head whirls with thoughts of last year, and the years before that, "You change? Never. It's too hard and you never do it for long so why begin?" So I ask my Father with lamenting heart, "How?  How do I do it?  How do I become your woman, the woman you can be 'oh so proud of?'  How do I start and not stop?  How do I find a new way of walking this year Father? Please help this feeble child of yours,"I softly whisper. While washing dishes by candle light she com...