Friday, January 29, 2010

The First Full Moon of 2010

Close to home
The full moon's reflection is pinched by ice as it rises over Lake Superior and the Duluth Ship Canal on Friday evening. This weekend's full moon will be the closest of the year. (Bob King )
This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.

Tonight's full moon is the first of the year.But why will this moon be bigger than others? Here's how the moon works:The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles from Earth. The moon's orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles closer than the other.So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year.Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight.

~another of God's great creations for us to enjoy! Have a good weekend.......Susan

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Tailor-Made


“Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made.” Matthew 25:34

The problem with this world is that it doesn’t fit. Oh, it will do for now, but it isn’t tailor-made. We were made to live with God, but on earth we live by faith. We were made to live forever, but on this earth we live but for a moment. We were made to live holy lives, but this world is stained by sin.

This world wears like a borrowed shirt. Heaven will fit like one tailor-made.
~max lucado
.....It gives me goosebumps! But such a comfort! The best is yet to come ~Susan

Saturday, January 23, 2010

My Birthday Weekend!

My dear friend Delia came to spend my birthday weekend with me. I worked yesterday and when I got home from work she had dinner for me. Many of my favorites. We ended the evening with carrot cake muffins with walnuts and cream cheese frosting. I only ate one, honest!
This vintage green basket is one of my gifts from her but in it is one of my gifts to her. This is a purse made out of one long long zipper. Here it is unzipped.............

......and here it is zipped up and ready to use! We are so easily amused!!!


This morning my nephew Philip brought me a gift....no it is not a pie, it is hand picked, Lake Superior Agates from the "secret pit". He polished them himself. He said I was the only woman he knew that gets excited over a bag of rocks!!!!!!!!

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful????
Thanks Philip, I was very surprised and touched by your gift!!!





Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Divine Direction

~photo by william conk

How nice will it be, if the Lord Himself will give us the directions to proceed in our life? That is what exactly the Lord wants to do for His children. In the modern days that we live in, we have so many advanced technologies to give us directions when we want to get somewhere.

The Bible talks about divine direction in the scriptures. God has a road map for each and every one of us. God knows exactly where to take us. He knows the minute details of our life. He has the blue print for our whole life already. We do not have to ask him to put a new plan for our lives. All we have to do it just fit in His plans for our lives. His Word of God declares in Jeremiah 29:11, ' For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope'.

To get to the bigger picture, our God goes step by step. Though He knows the end from the beginning, He does not tell you the destination right away. All He wants to tell you is one step at a time. And the Lord God Almighty orders each step.

Steps are ordered:
The word that is mentioned in the Bible is 'ordered' just like the way you order your food in a restaurant. You order as much as you can eat. In the same way, God orders our steps and steps that we are able to take. God's word says, 'He orders every step'. 'The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way' (Ps 37:23).
Have you noticed the way we plan things in our life. Most of them do not happen at all. Sometime people are concerned about things that may not even come to pass. Still there are some who spend half of their time in just worrying about things that are irrelevant?
The Bible says, 'A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps' (Pro 16:9). Notice the word 'step'. Our God directs our steps.

Paths are directed:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths (Pro 3:5). The key to unlocking God's direction is by acknowledging Him in all our ways.
Many think that God's paths are full of lack. That is not true. Just because you have not seen abundance doesn't means that God's paths are not abundant. The Bible says, 'You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance' (Ps 65:11)When we are in God's direction, we are heading towards abundance. It may not feel like it, it may not look like it. But the Word of God says, God's path drip with abundance. Let not the devil talk you out of that word. Our God is not a God of lack. He is a God of abundance. His paths drip with abundance. All you want to be is, in His path. God's word is final.

How to know God's directions:
1. Prayer:
Look at the prayer of David, a man after God's own heart. David was a king but yet He had the time to pray to the Lord God Almighty to show him His ways and teach him His paths. 'Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths' (Ps 25:4). Direct my steps by Your Word (Ps 119:136).
Take God at His word when you pray. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye (Ps 32:8).
Tell Him, 'Lord Jesus, I am here to ask for your directions in my life'. I do not want to go in my path but take me in Your ways, Lord. You will soon see God coming through.
2. Word of God:
God's word is the lamp unto your feet and a light to your path (Ps 119:105). After you have prayed, do not expect a prophet to come out, and put his hand on you give you a prophesy. That may not happen. That is not always the way God wants to work.
Expect God to reveal things from His heart to yours. He wants you to know His ways from His word. So while you are going through the Word of God, listen to the Holy Spirit for revelation from the word Write down the impressions and ideas He gives you. Let the truth He reveals to you settle in and begin to work in you.

3. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit:
The thing that we need to understand is that we cannot hurry God into anything. The Bible calls it 'waiting'. There is something called waiting upon the Lord that is so important in our spiritual walk. The Holy Spirit talks in a still small voice right in your heart. He loves to talk to us. When our heart is in the right place, we sure will hear Him speak to us.
Isaiah 30:21 says, 'Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left".
Jesus said in John 10:27 says, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me'. We need to fine tune our spiritual ears all the time so that we can hear Him.

Let us walk in His ways all the days of our life. Amen.
~jemina rayan-from potter's ministries

Monday, January 18, 2010

My Sweet Church Friend Janet

Nice visit with Janet my prayer warrior from church! She was working as a receptionist the day 4+ years ago when I went to SMDC for a job interview for Nurse On Line. She prayed with me right before going into the HR department. It was just a few days later that they called and offered me the job! Next month I will celebrate 4 years working at NOL. We were actually celebrating her retirement from SMDC today. Her job there was more than a job, it was a ministry.....an example for me to go that extra mile!

Sunday Night Dinner Out in Balmy Canal Park!

Siblings Philip and Stacy who are both 35 years of old for 1 month only!


Best Friends Stacy and Shelley

Shelley and Tony and Stacy and Brian

My nephew Philip and niece Stacy, I am glad they still like to include me in their gatherings.
Dinner at the Green Mill and 40 degrees above in Canal Park in Duluth in January!




Sunday, January 17, 2010

Family Birthday Party after Party #1 on Saturday

Linda made blankets for Hannah, Charlie and Colin for their birthdays!
Brianne and Sue Sue bonding over sparkly lip gloss! We are lovely wouldn't you say??

Grandpa Great makes Joshua giggle non-stop!
We celebrated 12 birthdays but the photographer got weak and forgot to take any more pictures of the birthday crew! But we can say that a good time was had by all!