3 DEC 2014 :: Getting back into focus

I started getting to my artwork ... finally.  Last night I tried to think of things to draw, and to make them small for my shipping plans.  Small is hard.   :-)    I need a separate workspace for my art and my crafts...  I end up doing computer work all the time, and can't move around to change my activities easily... and some projects need to sit between the parts that make them.  It is a challenge I have had in all my living spaces for many years.

I am getting some kind of order figured out, though.  That is good.

I am praying through my current situation, and trying to find the right attitude for the process.  It is easy to quote verses in the Bible, to say that we need to be one way, and very hard to actually find that place in our mind and life.   I believe that GOD is sovereign...and that He has a purpose in all that happens to us, in our world, etc.   Finding that purpose has always been my challenge.

I have been very affected by the Thankfulness Journal I shared about earlier, from a Focus on the Family program last week.  I tried it out in a prayer posting at one of the Christian Teams at Etsy. This is what I ended up with.

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Thank you, Lord, for this great and wonderful day... thank you for all the blessings that you provide for us...especially the ones we don't really know about. Thank you for food, shelter, clothing, shoes, freedom, money (if we have it :-) , time, health, the ability to see, the ability to hear, the ability to speak, the ability to feel, to love, to think, to read, to eat, to walk, to touch, to make things, to have access to the internet, to have a computer, a smartphone, a telephone, a lamp, a bed, warm blankets, pillows, and all the other things that we may have or not have, depending on our situation.

Help us to trust you more today, no matter what happens.
Everything in our world has somehow been created by You,
help us to take better care of it, and of each other.

This is the season of giving for Christians, Lord...
help us to share as much of our bounty as we can.
Amen.
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I was quite impressed by what happens when you start listing all the "small" things you take for granted as you focus on the pain or need in your life.  It doesn't solve the immediate problems, but it does help you see things in a different way.

I guess it is the old problem of establishing priorities.  What really matters?

Today I decided to enter another prayer/praise posting at Etsy's Christian teams and threads. I was thinking about the sovereignty of GOD in the events of our lives... so this started out with questions about that fact.

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Is GOD sovereign? Yes. What does that mean to us as we go through our lives?

Lord, Thank you for being my LORD, my SAVIOR, my FRIEND, my GUIDE, my TEACHER, my HOPE, my PROVIDER. Help me to always keep my trust in You. Help me to see the lessons you have in the events of my life. Help me to find the direction you want me to walk in. Help me to see the people you are trying to reach.

Provide for me the things I need to accomplish Your Will for my life.

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The theme of the Bible is that GOD provides for our NEEDS... they seem to be minimal needs, basic needs, things that are required for survival.

I have always believed that GOD provides what we need to accomplish His Will for our lives... for our task/s in the Kingdom, our part of the Body of Christ.

I have problems when what I think is needed doesn't seem to be GOD's idea of what is needed.  :-)