Smiling Thoughts

July 8, 2017

I made a post about upcycled wine goblets today. My whimsical heart always wants to have a catchy title, so “My Goblet is Full” popped into my mind.  You know how your mind puts 2 + 2 together in a rambling nonsense way?  I found myself remembering a song that was so important to my 15 year old self.  “Fill my cup, Lord. I lift it up Lord. Come and fill this thirsting of my soul.  Bread of Heaven feed me till I want no more, fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.” I learned that song at church camp that summer and banged it out on the piano when I got home.  I have found through the years if you want to know God, or if you want  more of Him, He is waiting for you to lift your cup and ask.

 July 5, 2017

I made another queen themed mixed media piece yesterday and was thinking about Heaven when it was coming together.  My goal is to stay fresh and avoid what I call “trite”….making something because that’s what you do vs. making something because you are bubbling up with inspiration.  I have always wondered why dunce hats were popular on cards and mixed media.  Give me a crown!  Crowns symbolize power, victory, triumph, honor, righteousness, and resurrection to me as a Christian.  The Bible says I am getting one someday, if I am an overcomer and baby I have been seeking to be an overcomer for 50+ years.

Revelation 3:11  I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.

I giggle at Jesus coming soon…. His soon is not MY soon! We get a crown if we  faithfully serve Jesus.  So I make crown themed art for honors sake with a little reminder that I am getting a real one someday.

June 11, 2017

It’s Sunday.  A day to set aside for rest.  I am the kind of person who has a hard time resting.  But we honor the Lord when we set aside the day.  8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9“Six days you shall labor and do all your work,…

“Keep it holy” simply means “set it aside”.  I remember when I made a special dessert that was in the refrigerator with a note: “Don’t touch this!”.  Or the times I put in new guest towels in the main bath room and told everyone, “don’t use those, they are for company.”  That is how I think of Sunday afternoons.  They are set aside for rest and to finally have some time to fellowship with Jesus. We honor Him when we keep the commandment.

June 10, 2017

I got a shock earlier this year when I was sipping a piping hot cup of coffee with my One Year Thru the Bible sitting on my lap.  I was reading Matthew 7.  When I got to verse 22 : Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.” 

All my life, I have focused on me knowing  Jesus.  I had never thought about Him knowing me! That moment started a new level of friendship with Jesus!  There is a new openness in my heart.  Now that is something to smile about :  )

June 9, 2017

I’m thinking about the best day of my life.

I don’t remember the exact date, but it was sometime in the early fall of 1961.  It was a warm evening in Glendive, Montana.  In a stuffy room underneath the rodeo stadium seats at the county fair I became a Christian.

Literally billions of people have decided to become a Christian since 33 A.D. and each has a different experience.  Mine was filled with tears as I knew without a doubt I was a sinner!  At 10 years old, I was a pretty good liar, but I don’t remember feeling convicted of a specific  “sin”.  I just knew to my depths that my heart was dark.  And as I repeated  a traditional “sinners prayer” a I had a feeling of forgiveness and felt freshly washed.  My heart felt light and the darkness was gone.

The next morning when I woke up I felt a happy expectancy.  It was the same feeling you have as a child of waking up on Christmas morning as the fog of sleep is fading and there is joy bubbling up for some reason.  Then it hits you.  It’s Christmas!  What did Santa bring me?

As I dressed for school I was puzzled, “why do I feel so happy?”  When I was sitting on my seat in the school bus it finally dawned on me: I asked Jesus into my heart last night!

That happened 56 years ago.  That experience was a crossroad for me.  I knew in my heart there were only two paths and I chose the Lord’s path.  I have stayed on the path all these years and I can say that I have found friendship with Jesus.

That is my fabulous smiling thought for today.

If you want to become a Christian, all you need to do is look up to Heaven, and tell the Lord you want to be clean from your sin and ask Him to forgive you. Then you make the decision to FOLLOW JESUS.  How do you follow Him?  Read some of the Bible everyday, pray every day.  If you reach out to Jesus, I guarantee He will reach out to you!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes  in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”  John3:16