Category: Hope

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Faith family God good Hope Jesus joy Life retirement

The Joy of the Lord is Your STRENGTH – Tuesdays are for Thinking #3

My Sugar Boogas!!

Peach says:

Some thoughts. We lost my Dad on 1 January of this year. It hits me in sharp moments, out of the blue. Like a sneak attack. 💔

There’s been lots of joy this year as well. Batman’s first year of retirement! 🥰❤️🎉🎉👏🏻👏🏻 First full year of SEVEN grandchildren!! 😍🤗 And more good and more hard, and unexpected things besides.

You know, life is like that. It’s not all one thing, right? It’s not just one emotion. it’s processes and pain, and joy and excitement, hope and forgiveness.

I’ve seen in those I love, and experienced myself, grief like I never expected. I’ve seen and experienced wonderful moments of love, and joy, faith and hope right in the middle of it all. Thank God for the WONDER and the GOOD right in the middle of it all, even in the pain.

God is SO faithful, and I do not say that lightly. He really, truly is. The good thing about being in your 50s and having been walking with Jesus for almost 29 years is you learn a lot, hopefully! (though I had a L-O-N-G way to go, and STILL do have a long way to go! 😂😂). But, you do, you learn that nothing but Jesus is permanent. Everything else is learning and moving and loving and living and dying and beginning, and ending and enduring and outlasting, and forgiving and making new ways, it’s a LOT of moving pieces. And the Lord is with us through it all. Making us able. Helping us do the right thing. To have His heart. To believe in and hope for the best, once more again. To be flexible. To give, because it’s right. To surrender. To take that first step or maybe make that first move. To get up and go again. To savor the good today, and shake off the dust from the bad yesterday. And if today is bad, you can shake it off, too, and tomorrow, walk in the new. Jesus has already gone ahead of You, and He has provision for you there! And He’s right here with you in the now, to help you in the going.

We don’t wait to be happy, (and yes, I agree, happiness and joy are different, but that’s for another post!) we choose the happy on the way and in the process, or else we will never be happy. Sometimes we forget this, and that’s ok, as long as we stick with Jesus and have a few Godly, Jesus loving people around us, to just remind us by how they live, that we get to choose. Happy is possible. On the way.

And all of that is to say today I thought about Nehemiah 8:10 “…the Joy of the Lord is your Strength”, and Y’all it’s no joke. I wanted to boil it down for you, but of course I couldn’t quite get there. (It’s SO BIG, Y’all!! 🤗) Trust me, this IS the short version! 😂 But, the full verse 10 is this —> “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: NEITHER BE YE SORRY; for the JOY of the Lord IS YOUR STRENGTH.”

Really you need verses 9-11 to really appreciate it…but His joy, is our STRENGTH…joy is that everlasting, enduring quality we are able to have through our confidence in Him, His character, His presence, His love for us, in spite of temporary conditions, (and everything on this side of Heaven is temporary).

The love of a father and son is a joy to behold!

He makes us able to choose joy, and that will give us great strength, like a fortress for us, that makes us untouchable, where it really counts, in our spirit.

To ‘be not sorry’, was the priests urging the people not to grieve so much that they wore grooves into their face, they had grieved, and that was good and necessary, but don’t stay there. Choose to celebrate, to eat the best, drink the sweet, send good things to those who weren’t established and therefore didn’t have the same wherewithal, because ‘this day is holy to the Lord.’

And so the people did. Because they understood they were God’s people and He loved them, and He had a Good way for them to live. And now that they knew this, (they had just learned how badly they had broken God’s laws their entire lives) they would now be learning how to live a NEW way, (well, new to them), walking with Him. And that was something to celebrate! Not grieve for the wrong they had done, so much so that they couldn’t enjoy the newness of life WITH Him.

We sometimes have to grieve, then we let it go. Then we celebrate. The life that’s still here. That’s new every day. All the time. A gift. And share. Share with those that aren’t established in this good news. The JOY of the Lord is your STRENGTH.

I think I’d like us to talk about the difference between happiness and joy in a future exploration! Percolating!

We really appreciate y’all coming by to visit! We always hope to have something entertaining, thought provoking, or uplifting for you here!

Peace and love, Y’all! Peace and love!

Peach

Categories
beauty Easter gardening good Hope Life Resurrection seasons, summer, sugar boogars thankful

Blooming

My gardenia bush!! My Dad started it for me. I think about 12 years ago or so? It’s magnificent! It’s like a big ‘I Love You’ from Heaven, and I love it!

Peach here –

It’s good and Spring now! It took awhile but it’s really here now!

Yellow Hibiscus! I’m in love!

We picked up a couple of blueberry bushes and some more hibiscus (the yellow, some of them above).

Jerry got them planted this week and mulched. He is quite the gardener! Have I mentioned that I’m totally nuts about him? 😍

I just don’t think there’s anything prettier!

I don’t know if it’s the mood I’m in this year, or the age I’m getting to, but I LOVE flowers!! Flowers, flowers, flowers!

This lady is from our Fire and Ice Hibiscus and it is just stellar!! I highly recommend!

Spring is a season of transition, of hope, of promise of things to come, signs of life, renewal, newness of life, out with old, in with the new, cleaning up, clearing out.

It can be a lot. But, there’s also, a lot that it can be!

I love the holidays AND winter so much. It’s often hard for me to let go of winter and embrace the change and newness of Spring

But, I’m determined to not be that person stuck in the past. To value, appreciate and enjoy the past while fully rooted in the now, and reaching forward to the promise of the future!

Nature teaches us to embrace the cycle of life. It’s our example from the Lord for our good!

This! This is our Hawaiian Hibiscus!! When it opens it will be yellow with a pink center!!! I mean, 🤗?!

Like the flower above, the full goodness of what’s in store ahead does not yet appear, but we can trust our Good Father for the Ephesians 3:20 — “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” of life! If it’s not good yet, hold on, trust Him and SEE what He does!

More blooming going on! 🥰
His first time in the water and he loves it!!! 😍
Water baby!
Da Sugar Boogars!! 🤗
The little Easter Bunny!!
These two are going to be so much fun in years to come!
Resurrection Sunday!! Much fun was had by all!

We had a grand ole time on Easter Sunday with all the kids! The Dads hid the eggs and the Moms stuffed the eggs! Then we let loose the hordes and the kids found the eggs!!

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” — Genesis 8:22.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love, peace, and blooming flowers,

Peach

Categories
80’s Faith God Hope impossible Music possible

🎶 Just Some Fun Trips Down Musical Memory Lane 🎶

Peach says:

Because the world can’t make enough British Murder Mysteries (of the sort we both like) we from time to time watch our ‘Rob Squad Reaction’ Channel, and take a Bee-Bop down memory lane.

Then every once in awhile, we go on an all out Rock and Roll binge of (mostly) 80s rock.

And as a completely sold out, Biblically rooted Jesus loving girl, I know we are not to be ‘stuck’ in the past. But, can I just ask if we can we just have the 80s back? I mean, the movies, the music, the vibes, everything was so hopeful! *Sigh*

I know the dissatisfaction we are all feeling is serving a good purpose. To cause us to search for The Only Real One, in a world of decidedly UNREAL.

But, I digress! I’m going to just leave some links to fun videos. Nothing new, all oldies AND goodies!

Eddie Rabbit – ‘I Love a Rainy Night’

Joan Jett ‘I Love Rock and Roll’

Stevie Wonder ‘Signed, Sealed and Delivered’

Pretenders ‘Brass in Pocket’

Def Leopard ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’

Batman use to play this real loud as the boys and I waved him good bye on his way to work at night. We had a saying that he was going to ‘catch the bad guys and keep the peace’ ♥️
‘St Elmo’s Fire’ – John Parr
Iconic of that time. Sad (to me) story, my Baby Sis wanted to watch this movie with me, she really thought we would enjoy it. It has a young star (Demi Moore) from the epic (at the time) General Hospital, who later married Bruce Willis! Sadly, I never made that moment happen. So, I’ve never watched the movie. It just makes me sad for an invitation I never followed up on. Cats in the Cradle and all that. Don’t worry! She didn’t hold it against me! 🌸💞

While those times were simpler by far, and I can’t see, or hear a video from back then, or watch a movie from the 80s, without feeling the tug of the sheer, wide open, hopefulness and the ‘sky was the limit’ that that age was saturated in, I do know the times we are in, here and now, are an absolute privilege to be in.

As the story the Lord is telling, of the age we are in, begins to draw to a climax, there is a growing awareness we live in significant times and there is so much to be done! It can feel overwhelming and quite daunting really. But, if we take heart, and draw strength and wisdom from the One Who Made Us, each day, one day at a time, there is grace, so much grace to do more than we imagine!

With God, all things are possible, and the sky isn’t even the limit! Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him! (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, and 2 Corinthians 2:9)

Peace, hope and love, Y’all!

Peach

Categories
Easter Faith forgiveness God grace Hope Jesus Love

Day 3 He is Risen

Matthew 28: 1 – 6

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Categories
bible Faith forgiveness God grace Hope Uncategorized

Day 1 of 3

Matthew 27:62 – 66

62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,

63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.

65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.

66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Categories
anxiety danger Faith Fear focus grace Hope Life outdoors peace rain The Word Word

The Answer

“4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.” — Psalm 34:4-5

Peach says:

Hey, Everybody! I pray you are sleeping well as I type this! I know I’m fixing to!

Fell asleep and woke up…that’s never my best. Sometimes I’m too happy to sleep and my mind races…sometimes, the enemy of my soul wants to rush in and whisper things to imagine and worry about. Tonight I talk back with the Word. God’s Word is always the answer, and more effective if we speak it, pray it, declare it. Doesn’t necessarily mean you feel better instantly…but…you CAN know beyond what you feel…and your feelings WILL catch up. I think our culture talks about ‘anxiety’ too much. Gives it too much power. Not because it’s not a real thing. But, because it IS a real thing. Anxiety is a fact. Everybody deals with it. Its everywhere. It’s like humidity or clouds…it’s there…but, so is the breeze, so is the sunshine and the moonlight, and the morning dew and rain from time to time. 🤷‍♀️ it’s not everything. It’s not the boss. We have a Protector, if we will keep our eyes on Him, He will keep us in His perfect peace.

My closing Word to go to sleep with

—“47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.” — Luke 6:47-48.

That’s never sounded as good as it does tonight. I hope this encourages someone.🙏🏻♥️