DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”
DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”
I’ve mentioned in previous musings, that I am on facebook quite a bit. And if I find something that resonates with me, I “save” it and sometimes use it in a blog post.
That’s exactly what I would like to do with today’s post. I found this particular cartoon by Charles Schulz, and it appealed to me, so here it is.
Credit facebook and Charles Schulz
Credit facebook and Charles Schulz
Why did this particular cartoon spark my interest? Well yes, it WAS, indeed, sound theology. And sound theology from God does, indeed, have the means to comfort and reassure us. I have, personally, found that to be quite true.
How often have I found Satan trying his best to sway my thinking to something that God would not want me to be thinking about? Far too often, that’s for sure.
So what do I do – to get my mind off that topic and onto something pure? I turn to Scripture. There are many Scripture verses that I have learned/memorized, that lead me right back to God. Satan cannot stand to be in the presence of Scripture – it literally drives him away and out of my mind!
One of my favorites – and one I’ve quoted in oldthingsrnew before is:
In this world you will have trouble,
but TAKE HEART!
For I have overcome the world
John 16:33
But the Scriptures that help me the most, are ones that praise and adore God Himself. They lift me up as no others.
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come!
Revelation 4:8
and again:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty,
The whole earth is full of His Glory!
Isaiah 6:3
You see, it doesn’t take a lot of memory space to praise God. But that SOUND THEOLOGY gives peace like I’ve never had before.
And just for your information – those Holy, Holy, Holy words are the words batted back and forth among the angels, before God’s throne. WOW! I get to magnify God with the angels! Amazing!
I am so glad God made a way for me to praise and adore and worship Him that way!
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
I am retired and enjoying life. My hobbies are my 5 grandchildren, son and daughter, and my loving husband. I am a photographer and extreme nature lover. I love spending time in my garden or in the wilderness connected to God my Creator.
I love this verse more every year.The boldness of the statement makes me feel brave. “For I am convinced that nothing can separate me from the love of God. No wiggle room or hedging. I am loved by God and N O T H I N G can change that.
I am retired and enjoying life. My hobbies are my 5 grandchildren, son and daughter, and my loving husband. I am a photographer and extreme nature lover. I love spending time in my garden or in the wilderness connected to God my Creator.
Inspiration to be a good grandparent is simple—as long as we have love, we have what it takes.
“C’mon sweet baby,” I called to my 2-year-old granddaughter.
With quick steps, she came. And as she stood with her back toward me, I carefully pinned the bells to her blouse, which she told me was pink.
The sound of those bells helped me keep track of her. She might not have understood her Nana was blind. Or maybe she did. What’s important is she knew that we don’t need eyes to love, to guide and to teach.
Time swept by way too fast. She’s 9-years-old now and her brother 7. They both run to me for hugs. But neither needs bells anymore as they answer when I call.
But the call for a grandparent is different. It’s to enrich their lives no matter what we have or what we lack.
Here are ten treasured moments that create that special bond:
The stories we tell about Jesus equips them to face a cruel world.
The embrace we offer carries the warmth of security.
The comfort we impart can soothe their soul when disappointment barges in.
The wisdom drawn from God’s Word fills their mind as they make decisions for life.
The example to persevere, to endure and to give teaches them to do the same.
The guidance we provide keeps them from the pitfalls of life.
The acceptance with love unconditional mends the rejection of the world.
The time we spend with them multiplies the love.
The patience we display brings security to their soul.
The praise we express deepens their confidence and worth.
Grandkids learn from what we do, what we say and how we love.
Appreciate that gray because “gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” (Proverbs 16:31)
Even if you’re not a grandparent, there may be someone in your life who hungers for what you have to offer.
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Why do we look behind and long for what we had yesterday to come back? We wish we could roll back time and go back to days where life was easier. Have you done that? God knows we all do at times.
“Okay, here’s another box full of VHS tapes,” Jessica said. She’s my teenage friend who comes to help out as she’s earning funds for a mission trip.
“Can you read the label on some of the?” I asked.
As she read the content of those tapes, my mind went back to that time when my two younger sons were in diapers, and I was living a “normal” life. I had eyesight back then. And with not a care in the world, I’d pack all three of them in the back of the car and zip to the store or appointments, or to the park.
What a long road it had been as I transitioned from full sight, living a full life to being blind, completely blind and terrified.
But before my physical darkness turned to emotional darkness, this verse came alive in me: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18).
How beautifully He had brought streams of hope in the wasteland of my blindness. When I cried to understand why, instead of an answer, He gave me peace, sweet peace.
When I grumbled with frustration after burning my finger when cooking, God soothed my pain when my boys asked for seconds.
I also brought back memories of the times when hubby and I would go out to dinner and he didn’t have to lead me by the hand, but what joy when God took me by the hand and led me to the banquet He had prepared for me.
And what a privilege to be able to write these lines and remind you to look at the present and gaze at God’s power that’s making a way in your desert and creating streams of hope in your wasteland.
Father, help me to focus on the good of the present, on the blessing of the moment. On the new things you’re still doing. On the gift of your provision as my eyes read this. In Jesus’ name, amen.
How will you overcome the past to see the new beginning?
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Solitude isn’t the same as isolation, at least in my heart and mind. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines solitude as “the quality or state of being alone or removed from society” and isolation as “the action of isolating or the condition of being isolated.” I find something relaxing and restorative about solitude, while I never associate […]
2020 was a year like most of us have never experienced. Social turmoil, a pandemic, economic downturn, social isolation, and violent terror attacks. Conversely, there was also a resurgence of families spending time together, children playing outside, an awakening of faith, a renewed appreciation for many things we’d long taken for granted. Over the next […]
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