White As Snow

    As I sit here in my sunroom this morning, watching the snow pour out of the sky and cover everything outside in a blanket of white, my thoughts turn to Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus' blood has covered my sins and left me white as snow. "Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow", Psalm 51:7. And I believe it. I finally believe it!
     When I started this blog three years ago on a snowy day in February, I was in such deep depression. I had spent a lifetime listening to Satan's voice telling me I was worthless, damaged and different because of the sexual abuse. I had believed it and I was beat down. I lived in constant pain.
     That's when Jesus showed up and began to transform my heart. He led me to a Bible study for wounded women. In that class, my eyes were opened to see that I had let lies and negative thinking rule my life. I was defeated.
      Step by step, Jesus began to reveal His Grace to me. He reached down to this damaged woman and shined His light into all the places that were deeply hurt, all the places that had bled sorrow into my life. He showed me that I was not a bad person, but a woman that something bad had happened to.
     I learned that it didn't matter how good I was. All that mattered was how good He was. And He was good enough to give His body as a sacrifice for the sins of people like me, to wash me as white as snow. It is amazing. It is amazing grace. And I finally believe it! And I live in victory now!
     "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are", Romans 3:22.
     "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ", Romans 5:17.

Everyone Needs A Friend

    God is continuing to teach me spiritual truths through the interactions of the animals on our sheep farm. I love it!
    We turned our ram out to the pasture with our ewes in October and November. We are looking forward to birthing lambs in March and April. When we put our ram, Wildcard, back in his pen, he was super agitated. He paced up and down the fence line, up and down, up and down, until he had worn down all the grass in the path of his trail.
    We have four pygmy goats now, just for fun. So we decided to put the little male, Billy,  into the pen with Wildcard, to see what would happen.
    You would not believe the changes in Wildcard. He settled down and no longer paces. He plays with little Billy all day. They chase around the pen and practice head-butting. They are never far apart. Little Billy climbs in the food box while Wildcard is eating and sometimes climbs on his back. It's a match made in heaven.
    You know, it's true, everyone needs a friend. I have 3 long time friends who know everything about me. We pray for each other and make a point to get together once a month.
    But as special as these friends are, they are not the kind of friend Jesus is. Jesus is my constant helper.  Jesus is the friend who will "never leave me or abandon me", Hebrews 3:5. Jesus is the friend who has "laid down His life for me", John 15:3. It's true, everyone needs a friend. I'm glad that my best friend is Jesus.
"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble", Ecclesiastes 4:9.

Always

    In the part of the country where I live, we have had record-setting frigid artic temperatures and snowfall amounts. I'm not made to do well in cold, dreary weather. It flattens my mood and strangles my joy.
    But this week, this week, we have had glorious, bright sunshine and temperatures in the 50s and 60s. I love it when God sends these kinds of days in the midst of winter. My faith is strengthened. It notifies me that spring is going to come and because of that, I can endure the winter cold.
    It is so like God. He shows up just in time. When we are up to our necks in the pain of the world, He comes and brings His remedy. Always. When calamity comes and knocks us off our feet, His light shows up and rights our world. Always. And we can count on the fact that springtime follows the  winter season. Always has and always will.

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven", Ecclesiastes 3:1.

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you the way out so that you can endure", 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Renew

    Last year my word was NEW. It was a fitting word as my husband and I moved to a little sheep farm for our retirement years. We have had a lot of new experiences there. We have been blessed with newness.
    So this year the word God has given me is RENEW. It also seems fitting, according to the verses I looked up:  "He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, " Psalm 23:3;  Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me," Psalm 51:10.; "Instead let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes," Ephesians 4:23; Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him." Colossians 3:10".
    Now I'm thinking about how to frame that in my everyday life:
*It requires spending time reading my Bible each morning.
*It means surrendering my life to God each day.
*It gives me the strength to say "No!" to greed and worldliness.
*It settles me in a place of peace and contentment.
    I loved a phrase in Emily Freman's blog, "Chatting at the sky", becvause I feel it describes where I'm at in my life this year: "I think I'm made to live small, to move slowly, and to hold just one thing at a time". I'm praying for this kind of a renewal for all of us this year.
    Happy New Year and have a renewed kind of year, 2014. Peggy

Grace in the New Year

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders", Isaiah 9:2-4.

"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever", 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

These verses are what I'm praying for you, for myself, for my family, in this new year:
*that instead of being a hot mess, you will be saturated with the heat of Jesus light, filling you with His grace, dispelling the darkness and depression.
*that you will spend time soaking up Jesus presence, like a butterfly basking in the sun; and you will let Jesus lift the yoke of your slavery to sin that is chafing and rubbing your shoulder raw.
*that you would let Jesus fit your yoke to His, so that you can walk through this year easily and gracefully, with Him by your side, in gentleness and humbleness, in rest for your soul.
*that you would surrender your life to Jesus, for real this time, and let Him lift the heavy burden that's weighing you down, flattened and spent.
*that you would not give up in your difficulties , but would glorify God in the way you walk through them.
*that you would fall in love with Jesus and keep your gaze fixed on Him always.

Wishing you a blessed, happy, and grace-filled new year, 2014. Peggy

His Strong Right Arm

    As I sit here the week before Christmas, thinking about how I feel, I decide that I feel joy. Joy is a new concept for me, as is feeling like The Holy Spirit lives in me.
    I lived a huge portion of my life, after the abuse, feeling empty, joyless, and hopeless. Last Christmas I wrote that, for the first time, I felt like I was in the manger, worshipping the Christ child; whereas before I had only looked on from afar.
    This Christmas, I feel like I've gently touched that tiny, sacred, right hand. That powerful, right arm of the Lord Jesus Christ is enabling me to live with victory, joy, and hope. Praise God!
"Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. the strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things", Psalm 118:15.

Singular Focus

    My two year old granddaughter was here over Thanksgiving. She's so precious. My daughter said she had been talking about coming to see Mema and Papa for days. She cried when she got home because she had to leave us. But while she was here, everything we tried to do for her or with her she said "Let Mommy do it"; over and over we heard "Let Mommy do it".
    You have to admire her singular focus. Her focus was on the one who loves her the most and the one who she loves the most. Her focus was on the one who takes care of her every need, the one who protects her from every harm, and the one who will always keep her in her heart.
    Sound Familiar? Jesus is the one who is all that to me and I need to keep Him in singular focus.
"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You," Isaiah 26:3.