After that the whole generation has been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord know what he had done for Israel.
Judges 2:10
If this generation doesn’t teach the next generation, they will never know.
In my home there are a lot of choices to be made. I give my children a lot of freedom in their day to day decisions because I want them to think for themselves and to learn the benefits and consequences of each one. However, there has also been some non-negotiables, and one major one is church.
Every Sunday, if we are in town, we are at church. That’s one thing I wish my parents had done as I was growing up. Now that church stops anyone from sinning, not that church saves you, but it’s a constant reminder each week of the Word and Worship.
My desire is to give my children every opportunity to know God and not forget what he has done for us. One day, they will be out of my home and have to make these decisions for themselves. If we guide them when they’re young in the direction we want them to go the chances are higher that they will continue in that direction as they grow old.
The best way for the next generation to know the path to take TOMORROW is if we make a conscious effort to lead them on it TODAY.
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.” Deuteronomy 28:1-7
Well, it’s now 3 days after the end of a CRAZY 11 days, and I’m finally beginning to feel like myself again.
My Co-Conductor aka Cousin Josh
Rest will do that for you, especially when you were only getting a few hours of sleep a night and working non-stop for 16 hours a day. The other 4 hours were spent driving and getting ready for he other 20. But all in all, it was worth it…the obedience that is.
God called me to be obedient to serve Him in such a way that tried all my capacities and He saw me all the way through.
As it says in the scripture above….if you are obedient, He will bless you as you go in and He will bless you as you go out. That verse hung on the wall of the 🍓 shortcake booth and was a constant reminder the entire time.
Part of the morning Crew
God provided many helpful hands and joyful hearts every morning.
Some of the Evening Crew – this is 11pm…bear with us.
And He provided an amazing group every evening that made us laugh when we would’ve liked to cry….I may have actually cried once, and I told them I didn’t have time to cry lol
Many times I would think to myself, What have I gotten into? And then I remembered who got me into this and who I trust. GOD!
When the enemy would be whispering to me wrongful words, I’d be reminded of what God was doing and that He would make the enemy flee. God provided friends, family, volunteers, and other vendors that I’d never met before to encourage me on.
So the question I’ve already been getting….How was it? I was obedient, and in doing so, I was blessed as I went in and I was blessed as I went out.
Thank you to all of you who were a blessing to me…and you know who you are. I’m beyond Grateful and Blessed.
“He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.“ Numbers 25:13
Zeal is doing something with enormous energy and enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective. (Oxford Language)
Phineas, the last son of Aaron, a priest, went to right a wrong to honor the God of Israel. The Israelites, once again had been acting out of selfishness and following after the ways of the people they met in the wilderness. They were doing evil things for the gods of these people, and Moses and Aaron weeped and prayed over the things they saw. But Phineas, he witnessed a wrong, and didn’t wait around. He went after the wrong with enormous energy and enthusiasm, with ZEAL for the Lord, to right the wrong. Because of his actions for God and not himself, God blessed him and the people to come through him.
Last December, I began praying for God to open doors for me to utilize the gifts He’s given me, the passion He’s placed within me, to help others. And as the days moved into a month, I could feel the passion within me continue to grow. Doors began to open for me to lead a Women’s Bible Study in my home for women at all ages and from all backgrounds, writings and video plans started laying out before my eyes, and then one day as I was heading to the dentist I got the call. My mom was on the other end of the phone and she was panicked. She said of all days that I had a dentist appointment, she needed me for a meeting….
Our family business had been asked to step in and run a new booth for one year at the local festival. This is the busiest time of the year already for our farm, and we had to prepare for our other booth. This past year has been cray cray for COVID and the unknowns that surround that. This venture would take a lot of upfront costs to get off the ground with no promises and a lot of uncertainty for how it would turn out.
BUT GOD!
But God manifested that ZEAL within me and I said, “No problem, I can do it. Mom, just go to the meeting and find out all the details, but I can do it.” God had been preparing me. Faith and Zeal for the Lord have been driving me. And I know that with God by my side, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Until one door closes, I will keep walking through in Faith.
Oh my goodness, has this all been HARD?! Of course. But it has all been worth it because I can feel the Lord with me every step of the way, working all things out, leading me over every speed bump with caution. Do I know how this will all turn out? No! Do I know if it will be successful? YES. Why I am I so confident? Because success is found in not how much money is made (that’s the worship of money), success is found in how faithful we are in the call to point people to Jesus through our Words and Actions in the process.
My friends, let the ZEAL, the passion within you, drive you to do whatever God calls you to do. And then watch as you see Him Work in each one of these situations. The Glory of the Lord will always Prevail.
Now GO….DO…..and come visit me at the Florida Strawberry Festival, TOO!
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell face down. The angel of the Lord asked him, “why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”
Numbers 22:31-33
When you keep hitting roadblocks or speed bumps, God is probably trying to get your attention to guide you on the right path.
Balaam was on the road to meet with King Balak. But Balak was wanting Balaam just to put a curse on the Israelites. However, Balam sought the Lord, and God told him not to curse the Israelites because they were blessed. Yet King Balak doesn’t give up that easy and he keeps asking for Balaam to come. So, Balaam prays again and God releases him to go see Balak, but he’s only allowed to say what God grants him. On the way to Balak, Balaam’s noble steed, a donkey, begins halting, then pressing up against the mountain sides, and finally just sits down on the job. Balaam is beyond angry and begins to beat the donkey, but God opens Balaam’s eyes to see the Angel with the sword blocking his way. The angel told Balaam he was on a reckless path and if it wasn’t for the donkey, he’d already be dead. Yet the donkey could see. Balaam asked if he should turn around and go home, but the angel said no, to just keep going on his way. The angel was sent there to get his attention, making sure Balaam would be obedient to the Lord’s requests.
Sometimes a roadblock or speed bump is God just trying to get our attention. We are trying to follow the path he has set before us, but there seems to be bumps along the way. Yet even with the bumps we still feel God telling us to move forward. Many times those bumps are just ways for God to get us to turn our eyes to him and make sure we are focused on the right things with the right motives.
In everything, even the good things, we can become distracted, we can begin doing what God called us to for our own gain and no longer for Him. Then our path changes and what was to be good becomes really bad. So, God puts things in our path that seem like speed bumps, to slow us down, to make us alert. These things are there to get us to get off the donkey, put our knees on the ground and pray, so our eyes and ears and heart are focused on The way, His way, and His heart.
So, don’t let the speed bumps make you turn around. Let the speed bumps turn your eyes to Him, so you may keep focused on Him and Him alone.
The Lord said to Moses, “take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” So Moses took the staff from the Lord‘s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “because you did not trust in me to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Numbers 20:7-12
When we except the glory for what only God could do, the acknowledgment we receive in the moment is all the reward we will ever receive.
Moses and Aaron had been so faithful, but the Israelites were griping again. This time they were thirsty, they wanted water or they thought they would die. So, Moses and Aaron went before the Lord and the glory came upon them. God told them to take the staff and speak to the rock right in front of them and water would flow from it for all the people. Moses and Aaron started right, they did as God said and got the staff and gathered the people. But then they faltered. Instead of pointing the people to what God would do, they asked the people, “must WE bring water out of this rock?” And they struck not once but twice and water came from the rock. Moses and Aaron accepted the Glory of making water come from the rock, never acknowledging God. Oh, they got a reward, but it was only the praise of the Israelites. But because they didn’t acknowledge the LORD, they now would not be able to go into the Promised Land.
If you’ve ever received an email from me in the past 10 years, you would’ve seen my signature includes, Together for His Glory. I’m sure some people I email are a bit confused and others know what I’m saying, but here it is either way: when I made a vow to God 14 years ago, when I was praying to be pregnant and he gave me two beautiful baby girls, the twins, I told him then and there, everything I did would be for him and for His Glory. Since, this time I know I’ve failed many times, I know I’ve been misunderstood and I’ve been gullible, BUT I also know that in all of it I’ve tried to acknowledge His Glory. If it wasn’t for him I could do nothing. So, I started signing all my emails, Together for His Glory because together we can work to glorify the Lord. I don’t want to do anything that makes my name known, I want to do everything to make His Name Known. He’s done so many amazing things through me over the past several years, but I promise it wasn’t because of me, it was all him and how he chose to use me and the people he has brought into my path.
Many years ago when I was just a young girl, I wanted to be a “Star” shining brightly on the big screen, but now I just want to be the planet that reflects the glory of the Son for all the world to see Him.
Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
The next day Moses entered, the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
Numbers 17:8
God gifts each one of us in our own ways, we waste our gifts when we are envious of someone else’s.
The Israelites couldn’t understand how only Aaron and the Levites were allowed to be priest and minister at the tabernacle, but God has specifically called them for this purpose. So, Moses told every tribe to bring a staff to the tabernacle and write their name on it. Then he took the staffs into the tabernacle because God said the one that budded would be for the tribe that was to minister there. A day later, Moses goes into the tabernacle and brings out all the staff‘s, each tribe grabs their own, and only Aaron’s is budding. But it isn’t only budding, it’s blooming and bearing fruit.
The only gifts that bear fruit are those given to us specifically by God.
God doesn’t make mistakes with his callings and gifting‘s on each one of us. We just need to thrive in the gift that we’ve been given and see how it is necessary for all other gifting‘s to work as well. When we start looking at the ways others were gifted and become jealous or envious, we are wasting the gift we’ve been given, we are questioning God‘s sovereignty, we are saying that what he created in us isn’t good enough. All of the wasting and questioning is slowing the work that God is doing.
There are different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them And in everyone it is the same God at work.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
When we utilize the gift that we’ve been given, we won’t just be working but we will be blooming and bearing abundant fruit.
Friends, I can’t say this enough, I love to sing. But, my singing is not my gifting. (I promise, but I still sing loudly for all to hear. LOL.) If I focused only on singing I wouldn’t be utilizing the gifts that God actually gave me and I promise no one would be growing closer to God through it. Each day I choose to focus on the areas God has given me and the gifts He’s given me to work in them…..and because I do love singing I encourage those that sing well by listening to their music and worshiping along side them.
To do the most work and the best work, we need to put our staff in the right location to grow the Kingdom for God.
What’s your gifting? Don’t look around at others, Go use yours well!
But if anyone who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover they must be cut off from their people for not presenting the Lord’s offering at the appointed time. They will bear the consequences of their sin.
Numbers 9:13
Our sin isn’t always what we do, sometimes it’s in what we don’t do.
We get so caught up in what is right and wrong, what is a sin and what’s not, that we don’t realize that our sin could be our inactivity in a situation. Maybe it’s not following the call or helping someone in need, maybe it’s not sharing the gospel or standing up for someone who needs us, maybe it’s not slowing down or not volunteering our time, or maybe it’s not showing love to someone who could use it the most. If we have the ability to do some thing and the Holy Spirit nudges us to do it, if we don’t do it, that sin.
But with anything, God doesn’t punish us, we just bear the consequences of our sin. We experience what is coming from whatever decision we’ve made. God’s not looking to hurt us, he’s looking to teach us. He’s like a good father guiding us along the path of life. God is seeking to grow us closer to him.
If you can do something, but you don’t, you may receive something that you don’t want, but can use. That’s what our consequences are…..learning lessons. Something we don’t want but something we need to teach us. Many times the consequences we receive from an inactivity is a desiring to see someone again that we lost and never had a chance to make amends or say goodbye.
Don’t let tomorrow go by without doing what God is nudging you to do, take the next step, and follow His lead.
The Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
Bless my heart. Bless her soul. #Blessed
A word so easily used and abused, but also, so very true.
How blessed we are to have a loving God who cares for us, who makes his face shine upon us, who provides for our needs, who fills us with abundant peace.
When good things happen, when people are healed, when we get that front row parking spot… We think, oh God you are so good, you see me, and you have blessed me today. But God gives us his blessings even when things aren’t good.
God doesn’t withhold good from us. He doesn’t say, I’m going to heal that person but not that one. When things are going awry our blessing may be in the peace we FEEL in the middle of chaos or the people that FILL our house as we mourn the death of a loved one. The blessing has already been bestowed on us — his love and protection. He is fighting for us, he watched his son suffer for our sake.
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Galatians 3:14
Our blessing is being brought into His family, as His beloved child. He only wants the best for us. He leads us and teaches us and carries us through the fire. He encourages us and nurtures us and strengthens us for the fight.
You have been blessed if you have been saved because he has redeemed you and called you his own.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16
Dear God,
Your thoughts are not my thoughts, your ways not my ways. But I know so very well, that you’ve written out each of my days.
Each day a memory, Each year a written book
The way you waited for me to sing, the mischievousness in your every look
Your birth was a modern day miracle, your life short but well lived
Every second written by the hand of God, every moment but a gift.
You fished, you flirted, you laughed so well
You put each person in a deep loving spell.
You climbed up on laps and did laps around the farm
Captain America was your alter ego and only way a cast could go on your arm
Ridge was your best friend, but many others received your love
Angel kisses and duck faces, were extra special gifts from above
Frozen hot dogs, donuts, and cinnamon rolls were your favorite foods
Jake the Neverland Pirate, Buzz Lightyear, and Mickey Mouse were your favorite dudes.
You made us laugh, you were the baby
You brought a whole bunch of life to our crazy
You gave us Hope without evening knowing
Your light in us will be forever showing
I can’t forget, I won’t forget. None of us every will.
My Hayden Boy, my little man. Even with God, we miss you still.
Today you’d be Eleven, a huge number it seems
I can’t wait until I hold you again, but until then you will always be in my dreams.
Lord, please tell Hayden, Happy Birthday from us. All of us, all our family, friends, and those whose lives have been touched. You have a plan for each of us, you number our every day, and Hayden may have only had few on this earth, but what a work you did in each one of them.
All the men assigned to the camp of Judah, according to their division, number 186,400. They will set out first.
Numbers 2:9
As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, picking up their tents as the Lord led them, one tribe always had to go first. And the tribe God chose to leave the Israelites was Judah. From this same tribe would come a great leader whose heart was after God’s own heart, David, another leader who would build the tabernacle and be filled with wisdom, Solomon, and eventually the Son of God himself, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, Jesus.
But when you are out in the wilderness, not knowing who or what you will meet, it’s difficult to take the first step. However, someone always has to go first or nothing good will come either. So Judah, led. They led the people of God around the wilderness for 40 years, but always following the direction of God.
When God calls us out into the wilderness, leading us on our own path, someone always has to go first, someone always has to take that first step. If no one led, we’d still be in the same place. If no one led, we’d over populate a region and we wouldn’t have enough of anything for all. If no one led, we wouldn’t have cures for diseases. If no one led, no one would be saved, no one would hear the gospel preached.
How, then, can they call on one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.“
Romans 10:14-15
The Israelites were told they would be the ones that would point all the world to the true God, and if they hadn’t moved around, how would anyone have known. Same goes for us and all we do, if someone doesn’t go first, how will anyone know? So maybe it’s time we stop asking who will do something, but instead, we step out into the unknown first. We keep our head up and our eyes on Jesus, and we walk faithfully, trusting God to lead the way. Just think, what God can do, if we just step out in faith, we step out first, and follow his lead.
Running 2 Fly 