I Will Dance on the Colors

I WILL DANCE ON THE COLORS.

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             I WILL ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING.

                   All I WANT IS TO SEE YOUR GLORY.

 

FALL IS CREATIVE

 FALL IS CREATIVE

• Look at the sun as it dances off the yellow leaves.
  
  

  

 The smaller ones are moving back and forth with the knowledge that their connection with the tree will not last much longer.

Still they cling for as long as they are able reflecting their colors as they change.

                                  FALL IS SO CREATIVE!!!!!

I Am a Worshiper

I am a worshiper. I want to use my whole being to worship God. I am a creator.

I want to put both of these two items together in everything that I do to Glorify

And Honor God. I do not want to limit my Worship to the time that my hands are raised on

The weekends or a conference celebration.  To be creative is not limited to what is brought out

On paper through ink, paint, pencil or a musical note.

I want to sit at Sit at His Feet. I want to  Search His Heart.

I want to  allow Him to flow from me in whatever form that takes

Place. It will be an Adventure. It will be Worship.

   

STRENGTH TO SAY YES

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." Ps. 143 10.   Oh God. Today, I so want to hear Your Word, to Live Your Word, To Express Your Work.
I see the rain. rather hear the rain. I see the drops on the deck. I hear "tint-tint" as the drops fall
on the metal edges around the house. The house is quiet aside from the rain sound. Candles are lit.
I know you have called me to express Your heart. I see it in a way as an adventure. I see it in
the way of reality. I see it in the way of YES. Brenda said everyone's Yes might be different.
The question, challenge and adventure is ~ am I  willing to say "Yes" to the adventure and
challenge that God has put before me, whatever that might be?  God has promised that I will not be tempted with  more than  I can handle. I Cor 10:13. You will always be there to help me handle it even if it is very hard. 
     The answers are not always physically in front of me. You are  SURROUNDING ME. The more I am convinced of that, the easier it is to express it through my life, through my words. On the other hand, where would the faith come in if I was totally convinced?  Where would the adventure come in?  I do not have hard tangible facts that I can hold in my hand. I am convinced with the faith that  I do have. Hopefully that grows.

Today there is thunder. The candles are lit again. The house is quiet on the inside. The challenges in the past few days have been greater. It is raining again today. 
You have not changed. The soft tint-tint on the metal gutters surrounding the house is relaxing.  Time has gone by. The writing has gotten challenging. More doubts have entered. Questions. Thunder.

It is in Your strength to say Yes. It is in Your strength to continue to say Yes. It is in Your strength as Ann Voskamp would say, that we continually look to find Your Joy in all of the things that You have asked of us. It is in Your Strength Oh Lord, that I will look to Find Joy. It is in You Oh Lord that I will look to find Your Strength to say Yes. 
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What if nothing Happens?

John 6.NIV When Jesus fed the five thousand, He had five barley loaves and two fish. The crowd was huge. Jesus knew what He was doing. He knew what God was going to do. His disciples didn't know. They were very skeptical even though they had seen Jesus do wonderful things already. Five thousand people though. This was a bit more than a one on one activity.
God has asked me to do a certain activity.

  Using my love of creating items with yarn and my compassion for people, I now lead a Yarn Group. This group has turned into to a feeding the five thousand walk for me. Jesus has put on my heart that  we are to go beyond generating items for only ourselves . My eyes have been opened to the needs of others. One is the
Street Team Ministry . We are to pray as we construct  so each person who is handed a hat, a pair of mittens, a blanket, or whatever handmade

item,also receives a touch from God. I mean REALLY RECEIVES A TOUCH FROM GOD.

We have another outreach for whom we are creating items.~ Love Justice.~  I see the crochet hooks and knitting needles as the Sword of the Spirit to break the bondage that surrounds each woman who accepts our handmade blessings.
It is not just the making of items, but it is in the combination of being prayer warriors and creativity in yarn, that my heart yearns for this adventure to be expressed. We are to be interceding on behalf of each person receiving the item. 
God is the one working. I just hear the call. .
  My mind starts to race as  the disciples did in concern and doubt. "Will there be enough people who are actually interested in participating to make items? Will people catch the vision to pray? I am just a simple lady in Duluth. What if nothing happens? "
God is so good. There were enough loaves and fishes to feed the 5000 men plus the wives and children with baskets of leftovers afterwards. If the disciples would not have obeyed and handed out the food, the miracle might have been lost.   What is the Feeding of the Five Thousand Adventure that God is calling you into? Jesus saw the need He trusted God.. The disciples obeyed. They just brought the little boy with the loaves and fishes.   In obedience I am bringing my basket of yarn to God. It will be interesting to see how He will multiply it for His Glory.  
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Need to be Me

Need to be me

By Sandi Ackerman



When I started the writer's group, I wanted to write like C. S. Lewis or Tozer. They have a way of connecting words together that express something very deep. I like that. It moves me. It reaches inside of me. It draws me closer to God.
  I am presently reading two very different authors who are writing about their intimate relationship with God. Their names are Ann Voskamp and Donald Miller. They are similar to Lewis and Tozer in the fact that what they write reaches inside me. Their writings draw me closer to God.  It challenges me. The similarity stops there.
    Ann's writing is closer to the style of what I want to develop. Since it is ok to have a mentor, I will pick her for the time being. She combines photography and writing to express everyday life in the reality of the walk with Jesus. I mean EVERYDAY LIFE. This woman has six kids and lives on a farm. (I only have two kids and live in a city but you get the idea).
     Jesus is here everyday, all the time. Even when one of  her children slaps his sibling in the face with a piece of toast. (this is taken from Ann's book ONE THOUSAND GIFTS, FINDING JOY IN WHAT REALLY MATTERS).  Joy is in all things. Jesus is in all things. It is taking the time and deciding to choose to find the Joy that is hard. Do I even ask for Jesus to come?
   Ann is honest. She is not perfect. She is willing to express her frailties. I would like to write with that same honesty.
   I do not want to be another Ann Voskamp because then I will miss out on how I need to be me, on how God wants me to create. In the Reality, Intimacy, Power, and Joy that God gives to me. That is how I want to share.
 What about Donald Miller? Jesus is in his life as well. His experiences are very different than mine. He writes how Jesus is real in everyday life though. To me that is what matters because Jesus was in everyday life. Jesus is in everyday life.

     

So on a day like this, I want to take my laptop or journal and coffee. I want to enjoy the gifts that I have been given. I want to take life that God has given me. Real Life. What is God teaching me ? How does the True Kingdom of God walk in the heart of a woman living in Duluth, MN?  Those nuggets go around in me.  Hopefully something real will come out on the paper or this screen. Not exactly like Voskamp or Miller. Not like Lewis or Tozer either. Rather to express, to challenge, to draw the reader closer in the style God gave me.   I need to be me.

Fight to the Finish

 Ephesians 6:10-12

[ A Fight to the Finish ] And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

  This is a fight to the finish. It is not just words on the surface. It is a fight to the very core of my being. God has been willing to give me the weapons of the best materials. It is in His word.  

God make me strong. In the book-THE CRIME OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY Luci Shaw states using "Message 25: 14-30". I need to get rid of the play it safe mode. (p21). 
If God has given me well made weapons of the best materials, am I to hide it under a rock? Am I to keep what has been  given to me quiet for my protection, thinking that I am protecting Him?

God, Your love is  Real. It is worth the fight. Continue to hone these weapons, sharpen these skills.   Explode through me  in what You keep revealing to be true.  To play it safe is to never press the publish button. To play it safe means to  never reach out daily with what You freely give to me. There is a fight. The enemy wants me to play it safe.

    God make me Strong to Hear Your Heart. God make me Strong to See Your Heart. God make me Strong to Know Your Heart. God, please make me Strong to Share Your Heart and Love. 

FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU.

FEAR:  An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.Be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening

anx·ious   /ˈaNG(k)SHəs/ Adjective Experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. (of a period of time or situation) Causing or characterized by worry or nervousness. Synonyms uneasy - worried - solicitous - concerned - restless DISCOURAGE DEFINITION:  to deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dishearten; dispirit.

ISAIAH 41:10   INTERNATIONAL VERSION 1984 " So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand .New Living Translation (©2007) Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand .Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against you You could look at this as a command, another DON'T DO on the long list of things that you just simply can never do so why try?  "DO NOT BE AFRAID. SO DO NOT FEAR.  Just don't do it. BUT IT IS NOT UP TO YOU. IT NEVER WAS. Walk with Me in each new dawn. I will never call you to anything that I am not willing to walk  together with you.Get to really know Me and who I created you to be.

I Am Your Humble Servant

Humble Servant

I am so sorry. I want to express Your love and I am copying some else and other styles. You are so deep and so free and I cannot tell people to BE that. I can just say how You have come to me in the books, pictures, scriptures, music and in my quiet times. I can invite but even that is walking on fine lines.  

 I want to thank  Ann Voskamp.  She wrote and put pictures together about what really mattered to her. I do not want to be another Ann Voskamp because I am not her. I recognized that I have looked at other styles and tried to copy theirs. Knowingly or unknowingly.  

God, I am Your Humble servant. I want to express what I can bring up to the top from the depths of my heart and soul to share about You, Your love and intimacy.

I am your servant. If You give me words to express at times and give me the courage to take the chance to share that wonder and intimacy, then my hands, computer, photos, and time are Yours.

                                           I Am Your Humble Servant.