True Colors Series: 1 - Hey Kiddo

1 - Hey Kiddo

"You with the sad eyes - don't be discouraged,"

I picture God saying, "Hey Kiddo!" (Don't you just love those people at church or in your family that call you Kiddo even though you might be a middle-aged, married, parent of your own kiddos? I do! It makes me feel happy .. and like a Kid-do!) 

So anyway, "Hey Kiddo! I see those 'sad eyes' of yours. I know you are hurting and I want you to remember that I am right beside you."

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

- Psalm 34:18

"Listen, 'don't be discouraged', this place here, these circumstances, this is not how your story ends."

"The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; Do not be discouraged."  - Deuteronomy 31:8

Can you hear Him speaking to your heart? Perhaps wrapping up with something encouraging like: "In the mean time, keep your hopes up and your eyes on Me. I'll carry you through in My arms."

Oh friends, He is right there. No tear falls and no broken heart escapes His notice. He's got you.

Prayer:

Father, remind us of how You know, You see and You feel our every hurt. Remind us we are not alone. Remind us You are there and You are close for now and for always. Dry our tears. Hold, comfort, carry, and heal us.

True Colors - Introduction

About this devotional series ...

For a few years now Cyndi Lauper's song "True Colors" has been on my heart as a love song from my heavenly Father to me. Could it be He speaks to us even through secular music on the radio? Really? I mean, it's easy to find Him on Christian radio. He's obviously there in worship service when the choir sings. I suggest to you though, friends, that the Holy Spirit speaks in more ways than we can imagine and to me on the radio is one of them. Maybe it will resonate with you as well.

Lyrics to "True Colors" will appear [in this font] at the beginning of each lesson.

I will occasionally take the liberty of sharing with you what I hear His voice saying to me as I spend time with Him each day. (These thoughts, His voice in my head going to paper, will be in bold.) Please know I am not declaring my thoughts as His Words. These are my feelings; how I feel He is speaking to my heart.

For the purposes of my thoughts and sharing, verses I refer to are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

And just so you'll feel like I'm not a complete stranger, here's a little bit about me: I was born in East Texas (yee haw) in 1973 <gulp>. I married my best friend in 1995. I hatched a little in 2001 and another in 2004. Currently we have four canine furbabies. We've lived in Colorado (woo hoo) since 2007. I home-school <gasp>. I love to do Bible art journaling, travel, quilt, and work jigsaw puzzles. I've been a Jesus follower most of my life, though I spent years just being a bench warmer. I have graduated to full blown Jesus freak now. I hope your spirit and soul and all over person are blessed by something you read here.

Brassette Farm Goat Chronicles Volume 2

Thursday, November 22 - Thanksgiving Day

Otis got released from goat jail this morning. He did not manage to escape overnight so that was good. He had a couple of relaxing hours in the backyard eating leaves, walking on railroad ties and taunting the horses. I even saw him jump at a falling leaf.

Mark and I concocted a back-up, back-up plan the night before and ran to Lowe's and got some wire mesh fencing. So, while I cooked and got food ready for our dinner, Mark and Will lined the one of our horse paddocks with the wire.

I moved all of Otis's things. This includes and heated water bucket, a hay trough, a grain pan and new straw bedding (which he tends to eat some of). He seemed quite pleased with his new digs. He ran around and rooted and dug and tossed up hay.

While we were in there with him, as Mark and Will were finishing up some fencing, he did the male goat thing. Oh. My. Heck. In my mind I knew he could do it. I knew he had done it. I had read about it. But to see it happen ... (Insert explanation here: Intact male goats can make themselves pee forward onto their goatees. This is apparently quite sexy in goat romance. Then they shake their head to um, share the love.) So, our jaws dropped and guess what? That fool smiled at us. I mean, he lifted his top lip and showed his teeth and smiled. <eye roll>

The horses are obsessed with him. They run along the edge of his paddock and keep an eye on him.

Oh, and we had some snow flurries today. Couple that with chicken and dumplings and you've got a perfect Thanksgiving.

Brassette Farm Goat Chronicles Volume 1

Wednesday, November 21 - Otis arrived at our farm. He's cute. And smelly. Luckily I expected both. He had peed in the crate they brought him in so he was smellier than he had to be. Guess what?! It is hard to bathe a goat in the winter. Gonna do it though after he gets fixed next week.

The introduction to the dogs didn't go very well. They freak him out. He puts his head down in self-defense and since they are small and old we feared them getting hurt. We quickly realized him loose in the backyard wasn't an option.

He was, um, "girthier" than I expected. This turned out to be good since we couldn't leave him in the backyard with the dogs. Back up plan! We put him in one of the horse paddocks. They are lined with livestock panels and looking at him we thought he'd be secure in there. We got him settled with all of his new paraphernalia.

We went back to check on him an hour later ... he came bebopping across the arena .. he'd been in the pasture with the horses. The expression on Mark's face was priceless. I laughed. Hey, at least we figured out he got along with the horses.

Sooooooo .. Otis went to goat jail. He got a nice, cozy, warm, spot in a horse stall inside the barn. Maximum security for his little goat butt. And though we almost expected to find him romping around the property, he stayed secure.

Is your mouth your Achilles' Heel?

From June 30, 2011 Notes:

"For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."

- Hebrews 10:36

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with:

Compassion

Kindness

Humility

Gentleness and

Patience."

- Colossians 3:12

"Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble."

- Proverbs 21:23

"Iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

- Proverbs 27:17

Assertiveness and the Christian:
          "Be neither a doormat or a bulldozer."

Today's Thoughts:

I remember when I was reading through Proverbs.  I would find verses that would just make me laugh.  The idea of God saying, "Keep your mouth shut!"  Doesn't that sound parental?  I've never been one to holler at my kids to shut up.  Even the idea of it rubs me the wrong way.  But I have said, "Not another word!"  Or, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  And yes, on occasion, "Look out your window [in the car] and keep your mouth shut!"

The more time I spend in prayer and devotions the more able I am to hear those God whispers reminding me, in times of trouble, to, "keep my mouth shut!"  I have been known to argue.  Arguing with little voices in your head can't be a good sign of anything.  Right?

And I am witty.  I am quick and pretty sharp, so words form rather quickly, and my mouth moves faster than the speed of light.  So my poor brain is like, "Wait.  What just happened?" while my mouth is at least 50 paces ahead.  And the damage?  When my brain catches up to my mouth, the damage is in my heart.  

I am thankful that as we age most of us get wiser.  This is not a transgression I struggle with near as much as I did in my twenties.  (You know, back when I knew everything.)  And I would rather cut off an arm than hurt someone with my words.  Physical wounds heal but emotional ones leave scars unseen and take a lot longer to leave behind.

So as you go through your day, use your words (I say that to my kids a lot) to lift others up and encourage them.  It will end up strengthening them and healing your own heart instead of damaging it.

Blessings y'all!

Not on my Watch

From 6/27/12:

"I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

- Matthew 28:20

"When He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.  The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!  Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland."

- Isaiah 35:5-6

"Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."

- Psalm 42:5-6

"Wise words are more valuable than much gold and many rubies."

- Proverbs 20:15

"The Lord is good!  His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation."

- Psalm 100:5

Thoughts: 

There have been some days in the last month or two that I've had to make myself muddle through my devotions.  I know that isn't what God has in mind but my brain was scattered for awhile, I had a hard time sitting down and "devoting" time and mind and heart and soul to being with my Savior.

Every time I managed to get in some "face time" He would lead me to the scriptures I needed.  I would feel comforted.  I would feel closer to Him.  But getting started was the hard part.

I know it sounds odd when I say this, but I know, without a doubt, that we have been under attack in a battle of Spiritual Warfare for just under a year now.  About the time we catch our breath we have another crisis thrust upon us.  I don't blame God.  But I do question Him sometimes.

Mark Lowry once said that he thought it was okay to question God inquisitively, just not accusitively.  (No, I'm not sure that's a real word either but it is what he said.)  And you know, nothing has been more than we can bear just as He promised.  I do feel like I'm running out of endurance sometimes.  But what's the alternative?  Abandoning God?  Right.  NOT ON MY WATCH.

Father, be with the larger Brassette clan as they mourn the loss of Pa.  Give them strength and comfort and peace in knowing his suffering is over and smooth sailing lies ahead.

Blessings y'all!

Extreme Quilter

From 6/23/11:

"Fools' words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating."

- Proverbs 18:6

LOL - I love some of these verses!

"We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His power and His mighty wonders." 

- Psalm 78:4

From 6/25/11:

"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." 

- Psalm 34:7

"Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." 

- Proverbs 19:2

"To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper."

- Proverbs 19:8

"If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord - and He will repay you."

- Proverbs 19:17

"You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail."

- Proverbs 19:21

So yes, I've been AWOL for over a month.  That's crazy!  Right after my last posting, I think, my Granddaddy had what they originally diagnosed as a stroke.  Eventually it was "downgraded" to a ruptured blood vessel in his brain.  After two weeks of fighting and surgery and craziness, the ventilator was turned off and he passed quite gently from this life into the next.  I haven't been able to write about it or even talk about it much so I suppose I've sort of avoided blogging.  I think I'm finding my voice again so we'll see if I can get back into a routine again.

Mark and I finally made reservations last night to go camp in Utah over Memorial Day weekend.  We've been trying to go for several weeks but illness, activities, and unexpected events have kept us from "getting out there".  It is wonderful to have something fun coming up to focus on!

My girls (10 of them as of now) are bridging up from Juniors to Cadettes at the end of next week.  We hosted some younger Girl Scouts yesterday (Daisies and Brownies) and it made me reminisce about when my girls were littles as well.  My how they've grown and my how proud of them I am.

I guess I'll close by saying the I can still feel the Lord piecing my heart back together after each and every heartache.  I don't know what you do when difficult things happen if you don't have faith to turn your eyes to the Lord.  I call my blog A Patchwork Heart ... you know Heavenly Father is the one piecing it back together ... which makes Him and extreme quilter.  YEAH BABY!

Blessings y'all!