#NaBloPoMo December 2014 Day 1

*********This post is a duplicate of one I posted on my new Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy Blog found on Wordpress***********************

This is the first day of the December NaBloPoMo challenge and I am still on a roll.  I blogged for every day of October and November and now I am trying to see if I can do the same thing for December.  The theme for December’s NaBloPoMo challenge is “Joy” and everyone needs joy in their life.

Our prompt for the day is to discuss when we are down what we do to bring ourselves up.  My favorite things to do when I am down is to spend time with my children – all 4 of them to be precise, three boys and one girl – they have a way of making me laugh and find joy in the world.

Another thing I like to do is spend time with my Bible.  I love to pick a word such as joy and find various Bible references for that word.  So for example, when I used my Bible Gateway app to search for the word Joy, I found quite a few references.

Here are a few of the ones I really like:

Psalm 32:11 – “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”

Psalm 35:9 – “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.”

Psalm 66:1 – “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands.”

Psalm 95:2 – “O come, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.”

Luke 1:14 – “And thous shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

John 15;11 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

Romans 5:11 – “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Galatians 5:22-23:  – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.”

Philippians 1:4 – “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.                                             “

James 1:2-8:  “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

and finally:

Psalm 30:5 – “For his anger endureth but for a moment’ in his favour is life, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

So what brings you joy?

DAY 12 NaBloPoMo - 12 Things I am Thankful For

Today is day 12 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  I thought I would share 12 things I am thankful for since it is November and quickly approaching Thanksgiving here in the USA.

12 Things I am Thankful for:
1) My amazing and wonderful husband.  I was truly blessed when he entered my life.

2)  My four children - They light up my world and keep life interesting.

3)  My extended family - they too make life interesting.

4)  My Online Bible Study friends that have become like family

5)  My Savior Jesus Christ who was willing to die on the cross for my sins

6)  The ability to homeschool my children

7)  Our various church families:  Because we have moved twice in the past 6 years, we have had to find new churches.  Our church families in Greensburg (there were two different ones) and the three different ones we have interacted with where we are living now have blessed our family

8) The ability to serve God as he calls me to do

9)  The Cozi app that allows me to keep track of our calendar and to share it with my family, including sending reminders.

10)  YouVersion App - that ensures I spend time in God's Word every day.

11)  My Teddy Bear that my wonderful husband bought me for our anniversary many years ago.

12)  The ability to spend time blogging and writing.

So those are the things I am thankful for today.  What are you thankful for?  I would love to hear from you.

Day 3 of NaBloPoMo

Today is day 3 of NaBloPoMo.  The weekend is now over and it is Monday morning.  There is so much promise and potential for the coming week.  After all, it is not written yet.  It can become whatever I make it out to be.  If I decide it is going to be a wonderful week complete with fulfilled promises, that is what it will be.  On the other hand if I decide it is going to be a week full of disappointment - then that is probably what it will become.

This morning I woke up and began my day with my husband and daughter.  This is a great start to my day/week.  Then I spent time in God's Word - another great start to my day/week.  It is amazing how spending time in God's Word and in prayer in the morning affects my day.  When I take the time to be with God first, He spends the day with me.  I feel His blessings flowing down on me.  That is not to say everything is perfect.  But the challenges I wind up facing don't seem to be completely unsurmountable.

So praying blessings for you today.  How is your Monday/week beginning.  I would love to hear from you.