It's Then Sings My Soul Saturday when I link up with Amy of Signs, Miracles and Wonders. As I continue to study Ann Spangler's "Praying the Names of God" the focus for this week was God as Adonay or Lord.   Yes, He is my Savior.  But Lord of my life?   My heart's desire is that He would be the Lord of my life.  I want Him to have access to every part of me and allow Him to work in me and through me for His Kingdom purposes.   But I've discovered that this is a day to day choice that I have to make. I chose "He is Lord" by Hillsong for today's TSMSS.  


Happy Saturday!

Blessings and love,

It's Friday Photo Flashback and I'm linking up with Alicia of More Than Words.

I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane to the house where I grew up. 

My dad came home one day and announced to my mother that he just bought a house.  There was no discussion; just an announcement.   My mother almost had a fit when she got her first look at this last house on Roosevelt Avenue in Lindenhurst, New York.  It was a fixer upper and in need of much tender loving care, that's for sure.

As kids we loved the fact that it was located across the street from Gehrlein's Boatyard.  The clam boats lined the dock along the canal as the clam diggers boarded them each morning before daybreak.


My bedroom was upstairs in the front.  I had a window seat that opened up and I could store all kinds of goodies in there.  I used to line my dolls up on that window seat as I played teacher.  My little sister Christine used to sit right in the middle of my dolls.
This photo is my brother Steve who was 18 months older than me.  He used to have a newspaper route and his basket held all of the papers.  He told me that this bike was stolen soon after this picture was taken and never found.
My dad remodeled the house over the years.  Gone was the front porch and instead he created a larger living room with a fireplace.  It looked so different from the original house and my mom liked it much more. 

We had the original rickety wood ladder and we could climb up to the hatch that opened onto the roof.  We used to take all of our friends up there to see the Great South Bay and the stars in the sky.

My brother and I both graduated from Lindenhurst High School.  Those were good years with lots of fun and good memories.  I've stayed in touch with many of my friends from childhood and recently got reaquainted with many through Facebook.  How fun is that?

Don't forget to stop by and visit Alicia for Friday Photo Flashback.

Blessings and love,

With the increased rain we've had this year, the Phoenix desert is in bloom!

I love this time of year when it's warm but not too warm. It's the perfect time to go outside for a bike ride or a long walk. I always try to remember to grab my camera so I can take some photos to share. That's the life of a blogger, right?

Since it's Thankful Thursday, I thought I'd share a few reasons why I'm so glad to live in Phoenix. I'm not originally from the west. In fact, I was born and raised in New York. My hometown was Lindenhurst which is on Long Island. My house was across the street from the boat docks where the clam diggers took off early each morning.

The desert environment was new for me when I moved here 25 years ago.  I even had nosebleeds from the dryness at first. But I learned that water is essential to living in a desert like Phoenix.

I'm so thankful that God created a world of variety. I've been blessed to do much traveling in my life. I enjoy visiting new places and experiencing foods that are special to the locals.  Greg has often talked about living for three months in different areas of the world. Lately, that sounds pretty good to me too.  At least, we can take our laptops with us.

I can just picture myself:

• Walking along the beach in California
• Cozying up in front of a burning fireplace in Vail
• Riding horseback in Oregon
• Sipping coffee in the rain in Seattle
• Salmon fishing in Alaska

Can you tell that I'm a daydreamer?

But for now, I'm thankful for a roof over my head and fruit trees in my backyard.  I've never been able to go outside and pick my breakfast.

I continue to study Ann Spangler's book "Praying the Names of God".  As I pray to God as Adonay, I remember that He is so powerful and uses His power on my behalf. Ann reminds us that we will meet resistance in our lives.  Read what she wrote on this:

Now is not the time to give up or give in.  Remember whose servant you are.  Fight in his strength for your children, your marriage, your church.  Do whatever it takes for however long it takes, knowing the Lord is with you.

How thankful I am that I don't have to depend on my own strength. 

When I rest in Him ...I am strong.





Lynn of Spiritually Unequal Marriage is our host for Thankful Thursday this month.  You can join in and link up there or visit other thankful bloggers.

Blessings and love,

It's Word-Filled Wednesday and Lori of All You Have to Give is our host today.

Spring is in the air!  As I enjoy the beautiful weather we're experiencing in Phoenix, I love to sit on the back patio.  I want to take advantage of this time before it gets too hot. 

We had more rain this year so everything is in bloom.  The fruit trees have many oranges and grapefruit and since I fertilized the rose bush it's loaded with buds and many red roses in bloom.  The rabbits, birds, quail and coyotes come to visit as they seek food.  I love to see them run freely.

It reminds me of how I can run freely because of God's grace.  Jesus covers me with His righteousness.

This morning I read Wednesday's chapter on God as Adonay from Ann Spangler's book "Praying the Names of God".  I just loved what she wrote and wanted to include it here:

If we want to find the one key to everything good in life, we will need to approach the problem counterintuitively. Instead of operating by instinct, we will operate by faith.  Instead of striving to do what we want when we want, we will strive to do what God wants when he wants.  As we do, we will begin to understand that his lordship will not diminish or impoverish us but that it will bless us in surprising ways. Astonished by all the good he does in and through us, we will be able to echo the psalmist's praise: "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

I would rather operate under the Lordship of Christ than in my own power. 

How about you?

Blessings and love,

I continue to study Ann Spangler's book "Praying the Names of God" and linking up with my friend Jill of Forever N Ever N Always.

This week our focus is on God as Adonay. 

According to Ann, Adonay is a Hebrew word that means Lord.  It signifies a relationship between a Lord and his servants.  There is respect in that the servant listens and obeys his Lord.

As I thought about this term, I realized how much easier it is to pray to God as El Roi (He sees all) or El Shadday (He is all powerful).  But if He is to be Lord of my life, I must surrender ALL to Him and His will ...not mine.

I pray to God as Adonay since I am His servant. 

How easy it is to turn to God when life seems overwhelming and ask Him to take away my problems.  But I know He has a plan and a purpose for my life, even though I don't always understand. 

My part is to listen to Him and ... trust and obey.

Oh no, that sounds familiar!  Trust and obey seems to be continually repeated for me this year.

I can identify with Moses in Exodus 3-4.  God told Moses that He was sending him to bring His people, the Israelites out of Egypt.    In Exodus 4:10, Moses tells God that he's not very eloquent in speech.  God reminds Moses that He is the one who gives man his mouth, ears and eyes.  God finally tells Moses in verse 12:

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.

What more could Moses ask for?

And yet I've been in similar places too. 

Many years ago, I felt that the Lord was leading me to speak, teach and encourage others. 

I decided to get some training.  At the time, I was working in a cardiovascular practice as a nurse.  I listened to tapes and attended conferences.  I enrolled in the Dale Carnegie speaking program and won four pens for my speeches.  I became a graduate assistant the next year as I demonstrated each type of speech to the new students.  I conducted a research project to find out what heart patients were most afraid of.  The results demonstrated that they were more afraid of losing their independence than they were of dying. So, I taught the workshop to cardiac patients.

That was a season in my life.  Years passed and I no longer worked in the cardiovascular practice.  But my work wasn't completed by any means.  The Lord impressed upon me where He would use me next.

I volunteered in the Homebound Ministry of my church.  I visited people who couldn't get out due to illness or disability.  I thought this would be right in my comfort zone as I could easily visit kind older people to encourage, help them and pray for them.

Then I met Ruth. 

Ruth was in her late 80's but she was a feisty lady with strong opinions.  She had a rough life.  The first time I walked into her home it was very dark.  She told me to sit down and proceeded to spend the next hour telling me how the people of my particular denomination let her down over the years. She went on and on and I couldn't interject a single word.  After she finished talking I simply asked her what I could do for her.

With tears in her eyes, she said "Would you stop by some times and pray with me?"

Oh my, how could I turn her down?  And so began a beautiful friendship between Ruth and me that lasted years.

Every Sunday for several years, I would pick up Ruth and her granddaughter and attend church.  She had been absent for many years but she came back to "that denomination" after all.  Her granddaughter Iva got to spend a week in the mountains at church camp one summer.  There's so much more I could write about Ruth and how blessed I was to know her. 

Adonay asked me to be His servant and minister to His child, Ruth. 

My part was to trust Him and obey and in the midst of it ...I was blessed.

I had the privilege of being at her side holding her hand when she took her last breath.  She was able to stay in her home as this was her wish.  And I can't wait to see her in heaven one day; no more pain or sorrow.

If Adonay asks you to do something and it just doesn't fit in with your plans, I would encourage you to listen to Him.

I'll end with a quote from Ann:

...it is in knowing Him as your Lord that you will discover a true sense of purpose.

I can say a loud amen to that!

Blessings and love,