What is Budgeting Your Life? Most people associate money with a budget, and while that’s true, the concept of budgeting applies to every aspect of your life: Sleep/waking periods Personal hygiene habits and clothing choices What, when and how much you eat Healthcare Expense vs. Need Where you reside and how you ride Career/education goals and how, when, and where you achieve them What you do in your free time and how much time you consider “free” How and how much you spend on your big celebrations Age and identity as a person Faith or lack of same Various relationships (work, friends, strangers, family, God, attractions, commitments, etc.) Understanding what love is … and isn’t Values vs. your desires And finally, what you earn vs. what your choices actually cost Each
March 2024 has been, and continues to be, chocked full of holy days this year! They’re actually falling on top of each other! Personally, March is normally filled with significant dates to remember. But this year, it’s all about God’s work. If you do a search on your favorite browser, you might find several days that I don’t include in the following list. That’s because I am limiting myself to days mentioned in the Bible. Here they are for 2024: Date Event Comment Christian/Jewish February 14 – March 28 40 Days Before Easter (based on the temptation of Messiah) Many religious groups call this period Lent. Technically, this started in late February, but since most of those 40 days are included in March, I’ve included
I was declared dead at the scene on March 16, 1974. God, however, had other plans. It had been raining, and my then husband’s car wasn’t working. Again. So I drove. We never got to his place of employment. I certainly didn’t get to mine. James (my ex) was sitting in the front passenger seat scrummeling around my purse for some lunch money. We had been chatting, or more likely arguing. Again. Suddenly my attention was fully focused on the windshield, which was rapidly being filled with an oncoming car! I looked over at James and simply said, “Bye.” It was all the time I had. I won’t share all the details, even if I could remember them. That
In the birthing pangs of this nation, taking a stand was almost a daily practice. They had no electricity, no plumbing, no cars, no central heat and air, no grocery stores, no refrigerator-freezers, and not even bathrooms! They lived off the land. They hunted and killed game for food, clothing, and warmth. They built their own homes. They retrieved buckets of water from nearby streams. There were no water filtration systems beyond strips of cheesecloth. Doctors were still in the practice of bleeding to “cure” illnesses, so they learned how to treat themselves. Today, even experienced survivalists and backpackers have specialized equipment to deal with the wild. Our forefathers and mothers did not. They might
Some of the Christmas decorations I see around my neighborhood are truly inspiring. Their symbolism of the reason for the season is quite evident! Others have me scratching my head: elves, snow globes, grinches, and even dinosaurs! The headscratchers will always remain off my personal décor list. But what about the decorations that truly symbolize “God’s love come down” to Earth in the flesh? That’s what this list is. You might even be surprised that you’ve been using these symbols of the faith for quite some time! DecorationWhat it MeansScriptureCommentsAngelsAngels are messengers sent by God. Mariam was visited by Gabriel to tell her she was to deliver the Messiah. Joseph was comforted by the angel who
“Now it was Chanukah, the feast of Dedication, in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Yeshua walked in the Temple, in Solomon’s porch.” — Yochanan 10:22-23 Whether you say or write Hanukkah or Chanukah, this is the Feast of Dedication; and although it is not one of God’s prescribed feasts, it is one that Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) attended. Each year, therefore, this Messianic household celebrates Hanukkah. But isn’t Hanukkah a Jewish feast? What does it have to do with Christianity? Great questions. Read on to find out. What is Hanukkah? You have probably heard that the Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah each year and that it falls somewhere close to Christmas. You might also know it as the Festival
The Magic Flower: 12 Books in One! This is a book of twelve chapters that were written with children and families in mind! Depending on your circumstances and the age of the children enjoying the story, this one book can be treated as 12 separate books! Talk about the Twelve Days of Christmas! But you won’t find any partridges or gold rings here. You will, however, find stories that reveal the true “magic” of Christmas. I call it magic, but it’s really God’s blessings. Parents, you can read a chapter a night to your child, or you can have your child read one chapter a night to you. Or both! Puttin’ On the Skits Another way to enjoy The Magic
As a woman with a blog, social media interaction is crucial to me. I meet some really neat people out there! I also meet people who are either utterly clueless or total creepazoids. Because I can’t always tell the difference right away, and because I now utterly refuse to engage with strangers who tell me they want me to be their friend without good reason, I decided to address this situation with some Cheeky Wisdom. Beware the Fishing Chatters! The header image for this post is a compilation of commonly used “icebreaker chats.” I call them “fishing chats.” To anyone who actually wants to befriend someone on social media, this is NOT the way to do it!
In Scripture, faith is defined as follows: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV) Faith involves belief, trust, and follow-through. Assurance comes from God. So if you have real faith, you have a relationship with the Creator of Life, the ultimate One in Charge, the Author of Love and right living, the One who loves you enough to include you in His immediate family. There’s a lot to talk about concerning faith! So I’m definitely going into more detail about what faith is, is not, how you’re involved, and how this relationship-thing works with God. No, I’m not a pastor. I don’t have a ThD (like a
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as: “…the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (ESV). In the previous article, we discussed What Faith Is. That article focused on two keywords: assurance and conviction. In this article, What Faith Is Not, we’ll focus on the keyword “things.” Meaning of Things To the modern American audience, the word “things” opens up our imaginations to envision just about any desire we might have. After all, what is a “thing”? Is a “thing” good or is a “thing” bad? Does it matter? Let’s start with a definition: The Free Online Dictionary has quite a list of “things” that “thing” might mean! Following are just a few definitions: An object or entity that is not or cannot be