Beautiful God

The other day I received a lovely surprise in an e-mail! Last February one of my writings, Beautiful God, was published in an on-line Christian ezine published by Journezine.org.

As a thank you, the publishers sent a button/badge to display at my blog. I had really almost forgotten about the article, so it was fun to be reminded of my contribution.

I've posted this badge on my sidebar, not to brag about myself, but as a reminder (to me and others) of our Beautiful God and how to honor Him in and through our daily lives.

If you're interested in contributing to future issues of Journezine.org, the website is under construction, but here's a list of upcoming topics:

March 2010
Messianic Passover/Unleavened Bread
Storms
Stones
Faith

April 2010
Messianic First Fruits
Fruits
Birth
Forgiveness

May 2010
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
"God is ..."
Nurturing
Motivation
Discipline

June 2010
Non-Traditional Worship
Ministry
Multicultural
Finding Your Call
Evangelism

I hope you'll take a moment to read my post. Then look around! You will be blessed by the writings of the many Christian contributors.


Blessings on your journey,
Mary

IT'S THANKFUL THURSDAY TIME!

After you read my list, stop over at Truth 4 The Journey and see Sonya's list and link to everyone else participating in this great meme.

I'm so glad I didn't have time to post this until this afternoon because I have more to be thankful for than I did this morning! Isn't that wonderful?!

1) I'm thankful the sun is shining! It is so pretty this afternoon. The air is fresh and clear and I just can't help but rejoice in the beauty of the day.

2) I'm thankful I saw the sunrise this morning. From my kitchen window I looked out to see a red-streaked sky - just breathtaking.

3) I'm thankful that I finished writing my first column for Christian Women Take Root (with a quick critique from a dear Christian sister/writer). It will be posted in the next couple of weeks.

4) I have had several opportunities to help writer friends with everything from proofreading to critiquing. It's a blessing to help other writers in the journey.

5) I'm thankful for God's unfathomable grace won for me and you by His Son.

What are you thankful for today?

A Gift of Time

I feel almost decadent today! I have spent the entire day doing "ME" stuff! I was scheduled to work yesterday, but calendars got mixed up and the family I nanny for didn't need me so I came home and did a lot errands and stuff around the house. It was nice because I hadn't planned it, so I really felt as if I had accomplished quite a bit at the end of the day.

Today though . . . it's been all about me! I have set up my recordkeeping for next year - income and expenses and articles/poems submitted tracker. I've been reading others' blogs, researching some 'techie' things I'll need to know when I start my column later in the month at Christian Women Take Root, and then I actually did it: I came out to my office/studio/writing space and cleaned up, organized and straightened up! Oh, my gosh, I dusted and rearranged and even managed to throw out a lot of old papers and outdated stuff I haven't really needed in a long time.

I am far from where I would like to be in terms of organizing my office, but it was a good start and feels like a workable space again. I have my 2009 goals and Scripture focus printed off and posted over my computer and my new calendar (Christmas gift) posted, my new copy holder (also Christmas gift) ready to go.

OK, I admit it, just to have a place to actually put the copy holder required about 30 minutes of de-junking and sorting piles of notebooks, books, papers, etc.! But wow! I feel really good!

Oh, over at Christian Women Take Root we were asked about our resolutions for the new year and what theme or scripture we would be focusing on. This is a (really small copy) of how mine turned out. Basically I have 4 "action goals": Pray More, Write More, Be gentler with myself, Spend more time with God. (These are in the blue sections). The blocks that correspond to each goal give one or two concrete steps to accomplish the goal.

My scripture focus is John 16:33. I am using the Amplified Bible, because it really spells things out in no uncertain terms -- and I like that:-)

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] [John 16:33 Amplified Bible]