Good Afternoon Moms!! I pray that you are having a wonderful weekend with your family and friends. Just wanted to talk to you a bit about the title of this post that I chose. Usually when we say we’ve been thumped we make comments like “You’ve got to be kidding!!” You May have had to deal with a grumpy teacher, a grumpy Mom, maybe a burnt meal because you were distracted, and I will end with this one. You are out driving doing errands and now you have a flat tire. Now those are some “thumps” that we deal with in our day to day lives.

Have you ever thought about the other kinds of thumps we deal with? How about in Luke 6:45 Jesus said “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Sometimes there's nothing better than a good thump to reveal the nature of a heart of someone. The true heart of someone isn't in momentary things. It's in the thumping-packed things of everyday living.

I find myself thanking God for the "thumps" He gives me. I am sure not to thank Him half-heartedly; I do it wholeheartedly. I rejoice, I jump up and down with a joyful heart thanking Him from the bottom of my heart. I find this in James 1:2-4 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." I feel that chances are God is doing the thumping in me and He's doing it for my own good. I take every thump as God is molding me, using it for a faith-building experience.

I find thumps like reading my Sunday School lesson then going to the service and finding Pastor says something from the lesson. Yes, that's a thump from God. I take it as a reminder of what I have heard and spent some time in the Word and prayer.  I have had this experience in a small group that I am leading. I have just taught a chapter we have read and someone says something, I read something, God directs me in His Word and wouldn't you know it another thump. I take these as God moments. I hope you will too the next time you get thumped.

  Have a great day Moms!!

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil; 
For you are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; 
My cup runs over. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 
All the days of my life; 
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.

Good Afternoon Moms! I pray that you're having a beautiful day. I wanted to give you something to think about. I have been reading the 23rd Psalm today. My focus on this is in verse 5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over." Did you see the part that I have written in red? This is where I would like to focus with our sheep up above the 23rd Psalm. As you see the shepherd is holding the head of the sheep and pouring oil over the sheep's head. There is a good reason for this. 

Sheep can get their heads caught in briers and die trying to get untangled. There are flies that torment sheep by laying their eggs in their nostrils which turn into worms. These worms can cause the sheep to hit their heads against the ground, against rocks to try and free them from the worms. Sometimes by the sheep doing this causes their own deaths. The sheep's eyes and ears are also susceptible to insects bothering them. The shepherd as you see in the picture will anoint their whole head with oil. There is now peace for the sheep. The oil creates a barrier of protection against the evil that tries to destroy the sheep. Do you worry about a lot of things in your life? Do you overthink things? Do you get so overwhelmed that you feel that the only option left is to beat your head against the wall? Have you ever asked God, your Shepherd to anoint your head with oil? He has an endless supply! He is there waiting for you to ask Him. Please don't wait! His oil protects and makes it possible for you to fix your heart, your mind, keep your eyes on Him today and always!! 

Have a great day Moms!!

Happy Sunday Everyone!!! Hope you're having a great day! We are snowed in here in Upstate New York.

I have been sitting here thinking about all that has happened recently in my life and how much things will be changing in the next few weeks. As I have mentioned before that I have a bone disease. The levels are not where they ought to be. My bones are breaking down faster than they should, tendons are inflamed and tearing. Now, I face infusions to try and turn this around.

I know who can turn this around. God can turn this around. He could do a "snap" of the fingers and things are fine. This is not the path that He has chosen for me. No, the path that He's chosen for me is a slow path. I may not like His choice, but I will be faithful and lean into Him and press into Him for comfort. I need to learn to listen, be alert to His direction in the days ahead how I learn to deal with this.

This has been heavy in my heart not just for my husband, but our son. He and I both deal with the same bone disease. I see his fear when he looks at me and doesn't know how to process what is going on with me. I know he thinks this can happen to him. I remind him our ages are different and also he's just starting out in this bone disease. He's been treated from when he was younger, yet with me, it wasn't found until I was much older. Talking to your child about something like this is really hard. Never do we want to talk to our children about things like this, but we have to remember God has been preparing us and them when we do come together to talk to each other. 

Have a great day Moms!!

Greetings! I have been thinking how do I open this entry. There has been so much going on in my everyday life. That is not what this post is about. What this post is about is God’s faithfulness. He is faithful even when we aren’t. I know that seems harsh, but it’s truth. We may feel like we are walking with heavy things in our lives alone, but we are not because God is there! He is right there alongside us when we may not feel Him there. 

My husband and I spent time in prayer day after day, week after week, month after month then it became a year then two years. There were times in those times of prayer “God are you hearing us?” He would show us in His Word He indeed was there. I remember one passage of scripture from Psalm 37: 5-7 “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.”  The first part there “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him and He will help you...” This really was the greatest reminder for my husband and I. I am not saying we forgot or doubted the Lord because we didn’t. While praying about  this heavy thing in our life that we were praying that the Lord would answer, provided it was His will. We can say the trials that came up in praying about it, the different negative things people were saying around us, trying to cause doubt and lose trust in God’s faithfulness was a challenge all in itself. I know I would always pray against that negativity. I would pray against the discouragement that it would cause in my spirit. This continued as I said, this went on for two years. 

The more time went on, the more I wrote in my prayer journal about this that we were praying for. The more I dug into God’s Word and spent time talking to Him about this. I remember times of pouring my heart out and the tears would flow. God would bring a scripture to mind, bring a song to mind, He would have a friend bring a word to me; they would say something to let me know He is still there He hasn’t left us. Friends, even our Pastor would say something that would encourage us to continue in prayer, continue in our faithfulness to the Lord. Our Pastor didn’t know what our burden was. He would ask praise and prayer in service when it would come up for “unspoken” that is when my hand would go up because then I didn’t have to say what the burden was, BUT God knew already what it was that was heavy on our hearts. He knew the significance this meant and the impact on our lives if this came about. This reminds me of a scripture the Lord gave me when I was carrying our son through a very complicated pregnancy. The verse comes from Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” We may have been feeling like this won’t happen for a long time if at all. Yes, we did doubt some because of some of the negative thoughts and comments being presented around us. I held on to the passage from Psalm 37 and others that God gave me throughout the two years of praying about this heavy burden. 

God was faithful as He always is. He did things in His time, not ours. He caused us to grow, to trust Him more, to spend more time in the Word and allowing Him to show us scripture to pull us through. I have to say that this was a long, long, long journey, but I am so thankful because God blessed us and answered our prayer for this heavy burden and things will be changing in our lives. I pause to remind you to remember God is faithful! He is there with you when you feel alone. Those are times when He is wrapping you in His loving arms and carrying you through the difficult times to that peaceful shore if you will. He will get you to the other side; maybe not always what you hoped for, planned for, but He will show His will in what He has in store for you, you just have to trust Him.  Thanks for taking a moment to read this post. 

Have a great day Moms!!

Hi, Everyone! I just was talking with a dear friend of mine. She’s having some upcoming neck surgery. She posted on a website to family and friends. 

My friend Judy said: “Greetings Friends and Family. Just posting a note to let all y’all know that I will be having neck surgery on Wednesday.Got injured at work some months ago and now that my tests, labs, paperwork are completed and approved. I’ve finally got the green light to get’er done. I’ve got several disks in my neck impinging on my spinal cord. I will be having a lumbar fusion to correct and protect my next from further injury. I’ll be in the hospital a few days (no visitors please; the surgeon will be going in the side of the throat, so I won’t feel like talking) But your prayers and well wishes are appreciated. Thanks!” 

I said “I’ll be there visiting you, you won’t see me but you’ll know I’m there in spirit praying for you, giving hugs and encouragement when needed. I will be making you laugh ~ ok smile because of something funny just because you’re special!! Love ya my dear sweet friend. I myself am having back surgery Friday then again next Thursday. They’re breaking it up to make certain what they’re doing will work for me considering my bone disease. Ahh, there’s my Bluetooth keyboard... it deserted me mid thought ~ how dare it do that!! Know that I will be praying for you! 

Judy then responded back “Wow! You take those punches like a champ! I hope I can keep my spirits up like you. You’re an amazing woman, Leah! 

I wrote back Thank you, Judy!! Let’s take the punches together!! Let’s show the enemy who’s boss~ we will do this together!! You’re an amazing woman too, Judy!! Taking the punches isn’t always easy, but we have to take a stand and we ca get those punches and conquer!

I wrote this because I was blessed by her response, but more importantly I wanted her to know that I would be there with her in spirit lifting her in prayer that I would stand in the gap for her. Friends are treasures. We need to care for our friends. I am thankful for the ones that God has placed in my life.

Have a great day Moms!!

Good Afternoon, Everyone! I hope that you have wonderful day today. I posed the question to you because I have had several challenges thrown at me recently. I thought by posing it to you I thought it would give you something to think about. I could have easily thrown in the towel and given up in the storms I am facing right now. I chose not to give up. I chose to face these storms head on.  I know that God will carry me through them. We all face different challenges and storms in our lives; from things in our lives, the children, medical things, relationship things and more. The challenges I am facing right now are medical related. They’re overwhelming to me because they’re coming one after the other.  Yes, I could give up, I could cry over them, I could get angry over them; I could worry; where would that get me? How would that resolve anything? It would not resolve anything, it would only stop me in my tracks. It would stop me from moving forward. I instead have taken each one of these challenges to the Lord. I have given them to Him to carry. I left them with Him and as I go through these challenges I will give all the new information that comes from each one and give it to the Lord. I know the days ahead will not be easy, but with the Lord they will be easier. How you ask? Here are some scriptures that I have read that will help me through the days ahead. I will share them with you here. After I share the scriptures with you I will open up about the medical challenges I am facing. 

Psalms 27:1 

 “The Lord is my light and my salvation —so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”

Isaiah 41:13

“For I hold you by your right hand — I the Lord your God. And, I say to you, Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.”

I Peter 5:7

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” 

As promised I told you I would open up about what is going on with me. The first storm has been my back I have been having lots of pain still from my injury in April with the aquatic therapy. I have now had two surgical back procedures and may be facing a third. A second storm that I am facing is one with my eyes. I was already diagnosed with early stages of glaucoma, but that is begining to change. I was told that the collagen defect due to my brittle bones disease is now affecting my eyes. I may be facing some serious things ahead. They did mention about surgery for the eyes. I don’t know as I am ready for that yet. I know these things generally happen later in your life, but I am experiencing things now.  I did not think I would be experiencing these right now in my life. I also am experiencing injuries that are occurring without my doing anything to be hurt. I was dealing with extreme pain in my left elbow. I did not know what could be causing it. The doctor asked if I had been doing any heavy lifting or gardening; no, I have not. I have been recouping from a back surgical procedure two weeks ago. He said I guess you wouldn’t be then. They took some pictures and ran some scans discovering that the tendon in my elbow is inflamed and tearing. Again the words surgery come out of the doctor’s mouth. Not what I was wanting to hear. We will try other things before surgery. I will try physical therapy then from there we will see what needs to be done to resolve things.

How you take the storms that come in our lives will determine how you come out on the other side of the storm. If we let them control us then we can be negative, we can give up when there is a positive side that we are missing because we have decided to cover that with negative thoughts. This brings me to a scripture that I love a lot because I remember it often.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casing down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

Thanks for taking the time to read this entry. I hope it has given some insight for you to be able to take on your storms in a different way.

Have a great day Moms!!

Good Evening Everyone!! I hope you were able to enjoy your day. I did enjoy mine; the sunshine, just the warmth of it all. The gentle breeze, the coolness of the air. Watching the birds and animals playing around outside in the beautiful day. 

I want to tell you just how important friendship is and how you build and keep your friendship when trials come. I say this because I just went through a very trying time with a friend. I say this because friends are very important in our lives; how we continue our friendships really matter. I got to thinking about this being Friendship Sunday and with the events of this week I have to say that I am thankful, grateful that I still have my friend even with the hard time that we just went through.

I would like to open this with many of our issues were misunderstandings. Sometimes when we would disagree on things much hurt went between us. This was difficult to recover from sometimes. Now things have changed between us, we have agreed how we would communicate with one another.   Today we had a conversation that was going well then something was said that my first reaction was to get angry and let my friend know I was very hurt by what was said. I didn’t do that though. I paused, took a step back and answered my friend, but I did let her know that I was hurt by what she said. I was hurt by what it implied of me. She also paused before answering me; she said she was asking a question, nothing else and also said she was sorry I felt hurt. I told her I was hurt by the way it came across or was assumed. I took a moment to stop, wait do not react to what she’s saying. I had to tell myself not to jump in, but to wait, let her talk more. I did just that and even though she asked me to forgive her I said no need to forgive. I felt this was a matter of misunderstanding and rather than she and I to argue through the conversation we talked through the conversation. Now, we have agreed this approach to when things hurt us, we misunderstand or it makes us want to “attack” with words we now pause, wait until what is said is said then read it. Again pause before responding back right away this way there is less arguments and hurt feelings. This approach is different for her and I,  but this is going to the best way. I can say that it will make our friendship stronger for that. I give her Biggest Hugs for standing by me in our friendship to take us on a closer journey as friends.

I hope that this has and will help many of you that may have a friendship that has bumps in the road. Please take the time to really appreciate and talk with your friend when you hit one of these bumps. Do not let a bump cause a roadblock or a destruction in your friendship. Stay close to the Lord, dig in His Word. Look to Him when you have a bump in your friendship and your life He will get you through even when you feel all alone. I can tell you there have been times I have felt alone; not until later did I realize that He was carrying me when I was at my weakest.

I will close this with next Sunday, October 15th is Friendship Sunday be sure to invite your friends to church with you. You will have something else to talk about. A new subject, how great is that? 

Have a great day Moms!!