Christ in the Clouds

“Couples who pray together, stay together”  Study after study has shown that the old adage is true.  Couples that pray together daily have a significantly lower divorce rate. But, at least for me and my husband, this has been one of the most difficult things to do on a regular , daily basis. I realize that much of this is due to our individual upbringings. My husband was raised in a very dysfunctional and less than Sp irit -filled home. I very much doubt that there was ever family prayer, let alone, his parents praying together. Th e fact that he is willing to pray with me is a blessing ! I grew up in a very structured Christian home. M y mom was the sp iritual leader, but I always felt that she longed for my father to ta ke that role. He never did.  Throughout our 2 6 years of marriage, I have attempted to start both family and couples prayer time at home. Usually it starts out awkwardly. Eventually, we just pray less and less together, till we completely stop al

"I'm convinced that the whole world is better when we, as individuals, capture and savor ea ch moment as the gift that it is , embrace the challenge or joy of it, and thereby transform it with the ma gic of creative posi bility. Life, for the most part, is what we make of it. We have been given a responsibility to live it fully, joyfully, completely, and richly in whatever span of time God grants us on this earth. " (Luc i Swi ndoll ) Continuing to count my blessings, one by one at   " Multitude on Mondays ". 1,381 - The moments I find to take a picture almost every day of God's creation . 1,382 - Enjoying all the different animals that I get to see daily, now that we are living on a lake. 1,38 3 - Fishing has been good. 1,384 - The weather has been, for the most part, really nice, too! 1,385 - Learning to not let daily occurrences get me down, but , just like the Luci Swindoll qu ote above, re

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness," Galatians 5:22  I remember singing a song in Sunday School as a child . The song is called " Peace Like a River. " Do you remember th at song? It's simp le, with just a few change in words with each verse. I guess that's why they sang it in the children's programs.  But I starte d thinking about what it means to hav e: Peace lik e a river, Love like an o cean, and Joy like a fountain   When I think of a river, I think about the sound of water, slowly flowing over the rocks. I think of how the sunlight glistens on the current. Even the thought gives me a relax ed and unh urried feeling. What a wonderful description o f what true peacefulness is like! Love, God's love, is endless and deep! So is the ocean! Another great correlation of two different, but similar things. I also think of how in the storm , the ocean can be rough and sc

Yes, we have all done it from time to time. Things don’t go our way and we are complaining about this and whining about that. We make excuses. Yet the Bible clearly says that complaining is a sin. It shows an attitude that you are ungrateful and bitter. It often tests God’s patience.   1 Corinthians 10:10 - And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (NIV) Our ladies Bible study group has been studying the book, "Cultivating Contentment" by Thomas Nelson. Our recent focus has been on complaining and what God says about it. Here are some excerpts from the book. ". . .in the morning you will see the Glory of God . Yes, he’s listened to your complaints against him. You haven’t been complaining against us, you know, but against God .” Exodus 16:7 When we lash out because we don't like our lives, our complaints are heard in heaven. In a sense, we are telling God He's not doing things right, and we want Him to d t