God – Life with us ~ The Wandering Workentins

Setting My Priorities

January 2, 2023January 2, 2023 Ali

I am the kind of person that has lists, lists of things to do, lists of projects I want to complete, lists of all the medications I/we take and even lists of chores that need to be completed! I also love to mark things off of my lists – it is a visual thing to show me I have not been a bump on a log all day long 😳.

I also use a paper day timer/calendar and it is full of lists. Lists of things that need to be done each day, things that need to be for the week and the month. I love to see things written down and crossed off.

One of my priorities, for lack of a better word is to spend time each day in the Word of God. I wish I could say I am successful at doing that every day but that’s just not true.

But this morning I did and it was good!!! I use a variety of different devotional tools along with my Bible. Today’s scriptures were from Experiencing God Daily Devotional (EGDD) and January Scriptures and Writing Prompts (JSWP) from PrayerfulPlanner.

This morning’s verses were Isaiah 6: 5-9 and 2 Corinthians 3:18

and

And I was reminded if I look at things through my mind, my eyes and my thoughts I take my focus off of God BUT by keeping my focus on God I see peace, blessings (physical, spiritual and emotional) as how God sees me and wants me to see the world.

The prompt from JSWP was to write a prayer of transformation ~ my prayer today is that as I busy myself with all the things on my list I want to keep my focus on the Lord and how He is always with me, even when I don’t feel his presence and to have God’s love that He shares so openly and willingly with me shared with those I come into contact with, whether that be in person, on the phone or through a post on Facebook or an email…Lord, allow your love for me flow through me to those I come into contact with. Amen.

As many of you know, one of the things I enjoy doing is writing and yes, writing, blogging, journaling are all on my lists ~ do I do it every day? No, but I want to. One of the tools I am trying to use this year is being a part of WordPress Bloganuary. Today’s prompt was to answer the question “How are you brave?”

When I first saw the prompt I thought “I am not brave.” But in reality I am brave in many ways…I don’t let physical stuff stop me from doing things ~ I am thinking of only having vision out of one eye. Oh there are lots of things I won’t do because I only have one eye like go water skiing or snow skiing ~ the fear is real I would lose my eye and it would be impossible to find! And at $5000 a pop, that’s too much money to risk. But I do things that I have been told I can’t do because I only have one eye ~ cross-stitch is one because you know I might poke my good eye out! I enjoy cross-stitching, it’s right up there with crocheting…I love to make things and give them away. And yes, I have scratched the lens on my left side of my glasses before with a needle and I have even superglued my eyeball though I don’t recommend either of those activities.

Another way I am brave but I don’t call it being brave ~ I call it sharing my testimony, my story of being abused, abuses in more ways than I can count and also being a verbally and physically abusive person in my past. Am I proud of that abuse ~ absolutely not! What I am proud of is that I have learned how to love myself (self-abuse is a big thing too), love those who God has placed in my life, learned to share with others that you don’t have to be abusive, that it is okay to be a loving and kind person. I have also learned that I don’t have to be in control all the time…for so many years of my life I thought I had to control those around me, to get them to meet my needs, to do my bidding. BUT in reality I have realized I can only control myself. I can only control what I say or do. It doesn’t mean I can’t share my desires and wants and needs but it does mean I can only control me.

I think I will always struggle with wanting to control things, it’s only human to want what I want, when I want it

BUT GOD
has shown me how to love myself,
how to love others,
know the difference between wants and needs

AND WITH GOD
I am whole,
I am loved,
I am loveable,
I am enough
and
I can love others
just as God loves me!

and most importantly

Blogs, Devotions, God, Quiet Time, Spring, Sunrise, The Lord, Yellow

Y is for …

April 29, 2013 Ali

Y is for …

…hubby says

The morning sunrise!

Yellow roses!

A yellow kitchen ~ we used to have a bright yellow kitchen, much brighter than this one. Then we moved to a new home and we painted it yellow and blue – still like yellow and in fact painted the bathroom in our motor home a light yellow. Guess I have mellowed in the past 25 years 🙂

Yellow Fish – this is more the color of our first yellow kitchen 🙂

Corn on the cob – one of our favorite things to eat. Am hoping since we are now in Kansas we will find lots of fresh corn this summer.

When I was thinking of a Y is for ? The word that came to mind was Yearning…yearning for God.

I have found that in being more intentional about my time with the Lord, studying His word, writing out my prayers and talking about and trying to understand different things from the Bible with others I yearn more for the Lord.

I do another blog, Alice’s Restaurant ~ Dishin’ Up Food for Thought where I write about what is on my heart.

Today’s Post is here where I share about my yearning for understanding the Holy Spirit and being an encourager.

What is your favorite Yellow thing?

Mine would be the sunshine!!! I love the sunshine and I even love hot summer days.

Change, Devotions, Distractions, God, Habits, Jesus Christ, Quiet Time, Spring, Sunrise

V is for Victory and Views

April 25, 2013 Ali

V is for

…Victory in Jesus

by Author: Eugene Bartlett
Year Written: 1939
Copyright: BMI Work#1803360

This is one of my favorite hymns.

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

and Views

This is the view from the couch in our motor home looking through the campground towards Amazon. Currently there are less than 10 rigs here at the Big Chief RV Park. As more workers start with Amazon this campground will see more rigs here.

These next two pictures are the view from the recliner looking away from the campground. We are the last rig in this row and so we will have this unobstructed view for the whole season. If you look towards the bottom of the picture you can see lots of water/mud ~ we will be glad when the spring rains stop and this can get all dried up.

This view is from the chair directly behind the passenger seat. It has been nice to watch the clouds come in and go out.

One funny thing about views.

When we were at Branson View Campground we would watch the sun rise out the passenger side living room window and the sunset out the drivers side living room window. This morning as I was having my quiet time with the Lord I looked out the drivers side window and much to my surprise the sun was coming up! It took me a few minutes to realize that the sun hasn’t changed where it comes up or goes down but we have the motor home facing a different direction!!!

Do you have victory in your life?

And what views do you see each day from your home? On your drive to work or church?

Behavior, Change, Family, Friends, God, Habits, Motor home, Travel, Work

U is for Unique

April 25, 2013April 25, 2013 Ali

U is for Unique

Unique is

one and only; single; sole: a unique specimen

having no like or equal; unparalleled: a unique achievement

highly unusual, extraordinary, rare

I remember hearing when I was a young child my mom saying “you are unique and there will never be another one like you” and then she would laugh and say that’s a good thing. At times I took those words as a compliment, that I was special and at other times I took it to mean “thank goodness there are not two of you – I (my mom) couldn’t handle more than one of me.

And then as I grew in my relationship with God I realized it is a good thing to be unique and to use the things that are special about me to bring Him honor by sharing who I am with others as well as working together with others to make a whole.

Romans 12:3 – 8 talks about being unique yet part of a whole. We are all uniquely made and each of us has strengths and weaknesses yet when we work together, sharing our individual talents we can become one wonderful body.

³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

What is unique about you?

What is unique about where you live?

What is unique about something you have done in your life that has left a positive impact on others.

What is unique about me? Some people would say having only one eye is unique. I would say that I am who I am today due to the many struggles and life issues I have had to deal with over the past 55 years. I have a heart of compassion and service which I use wherever the Lord leads me and I believe those gifts are due to the circumstances I have faced. I can see where my struggles have allowed me to become a loving and nurturing wife, mom, grammy, aunt and friend.

What is unique about where I live? Well we live in a 37′ Class A Motorhome and move our home wherever God opens the doors for employment for us. Most recently, with the closing of Branson View Campground the Lord led us to apply for work with Amazon in Coffeyville, KS. Right now our home base is at Big Chief RV Park in Liberty, KS which is right across the street from Amazon Distribution Center in Coffeyville, KS.

What is unique about something I have done in my life that has left a positive impact on others. I would have to say that I have turned a rough childhood and teenage years where I suffered lots of pain from abusive parents and relationships into being an encourager to my family and friends and sharing that no matter the circumstance you find yourself in you can always find something positive about it.

Book of Proverbs, Church, Faith, God, Trust

N is for Numb and Never Say Never

April 16, 2013April 15, 2013 Ali

N is for Numb

Have been feeling kind of NUMB after hearing the news of the horrible explosions at the Boston Marathon.

I just can’t wrap my mind around how people can hurt innocent people.

I know there is evil in the world but it still hurts thinking about those who were killed or injured in this horrible tragedy.

I wish I could say more but Numb is all I can think of.

Then I remember a scripture verse I wrote about the other day

And I find myself asking the Lord to be with those who have been hurt and with the family’s of those who lost loved ones.

As well as with parents all over the US who are talking to their children about this incident. Lord give those parents wisdom to know how much to share and encourage them to pray with their children and for the Lord to give them each that peace that passes all understanding.

And I am reminded of my life verse:

And that even though I am feeling NUMB the Lord is still in charge and He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

And no matter the road we travel I am reminded I am never alone.

and then I thought about the word NEVER and learning to

In the early years of our marriage I told Ron I would

Never move to Blaine

Never live with his mom

Never go to the Birch Bay Mennonite Church

Never live at the farm where he was raised

Well the Lord showed me it is NOT my will BUT HIS WILL for my life

because in February 1989 we moved to Blaine and in with Ron’s mom and we lived with each other for 3 1/2 months and didn’t kill each other 🙂

and we started to attend Birch Bay Bible Mennonite Church where Ron had attended all his grown up years. Not only did we attend there we became members and attended the church for over three years. We moved on to another church for three years and then returned to Birch Bay Bible Mennonite Church for another three years!!! Can you hear God laughing yet???

And in June of 1990 Anne, Ron’s mom, asked us if we would move to the farm. It was a beautiful home, 2500 square feet on 40 acres.

Some of our best years were spent on that farm.

We raised our own meat: Sheep, Steers, Pigs, and Goats.

(lots of stories will be shared later about the life of living on a farm with animals who have minds of their own 🙂 )

We had some great parties and get-together’s.

(more stories to come)

And faced some difficult challenges

BUT through it all God was faithful!

And in my numbness today I am reminded to stay strong and keep my faith in the Lord. He has never let me down!!!

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness, help me to keep my faith strong in you!

Blessings, Family, God, Isaiah 40, Memories, Scripture

L is for Life

April 13, 2013 Ali

L is for LIFE

Co-authored by Ron & Ali

Life can be good, great and wonderful. Life can be joyful, content and fulfilling.

Our life is full of many blessings:

living and traveling in our rig, sharing God’s love with those we come into contact with.

Fellowship with friends, family and other believers. Playing in the beautiful nature designed by our Heavenly Father.

Watching how God provides for us in ways we could never imagine.

HEAVEN CAME DOWN AND GLORY FILLED MY SOUL / O what a wonderful, wonderful day

By John Peterson

O what a wonderful, wonderful day – day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Saviour I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend – He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.

Chorus:
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away –
And my night was turned to day –
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

Born of the Spirit with life from above into God’s fam’ly divine,
Justified fully thru Calvary’s love, O what a standing is mine!
And the transaction so quickly was made when as a sinner I came,
Took of the offer of grace He did proffer – He saved me, O praise His dear name!

Chorus:
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away –
And my night was turned to day –
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

Now I’ve a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time;
I have a future in heaven for sure, there in those mansions sublime.
And it’s because of that wonderful day when at the cross I believed;
Riches eternal and blessings supernal from His precious hand I received.

One of our life’s most precious blessings ~ our children and grandchildren

Our love for each other and faith in the Lord!

Life can also be ugly, uncomfortable and just plain scary. Life can also be tumultuous and messy.

We have faced many hurdles in our life. We have been stuck in the valley’s and climbed to the mountain top

And through all the hard times of financial uncertainty, deaths of parents, babies and dear friends, scary health issues, job changes, filled with worry for the safety of our son, Jamie, and his unit while serving in Iraq for a year and facing the unknown ~ God has been faithful! and has my girlfriend reminds me “He has never failed you yet!” Thanks Miss Dee!!