An honor

I was honored this week by a blogging friend at Chrysalis. She gave me a

.

You can check out her stylish e-zine blog  here and make sure you check out her many articles and reviews....lots of interesting topics!!

Here are the Rules
• First, thank and link back to the person who gave you this award
• Second, share 7 things about yourself
• Third, award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
• Then, contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won this award


Seven Random Things about Me:
1. I'm in the middle of a move to a different house, so I'm a crazy person (and I am sticking with that story even after the move).
2. As my children are leaving the nest and flying off to discover the world and what God has for them, my husband and I are finding it very quiet around here.  It takes a lot of adjusting. And it makes our 13 year old a little restless being an only child after living in a house full of sisters and activity!
3. I started volunteering to do receptionist type of work at our church two mornings a week.
4. I love (and am quite good at) figuring out people's Myers-Briggs personality type. Oh and I'm an ESFP.
5. I do love January in Phoenix, even though I miss a snowy climate and having a nice wood stove.
6. I love Facebook and find it reminds me of living in a small town, the way that you can spread news so quickly, keep in touch so closely and stay in closer touch with friends on a daily basis.
7. My love languages are acts of service and really good chocolate.

Here are my honorees. Please feel free to follow these guidelines or not. =)

Great blogs I read and want to pass on the Award to:
1. Pioneer Woman Cooks is a great cooking blog. She makes each recipe step by step with lovely photos and hilarious commentary.
2. Pocket Lint has been a long time favorite of mine. It's written by my wonderful friend Gillian about life with two special needs children.
3. Tara's View of the World is written by my friend Tara about her life of raising three children, one with autism and being a minister's wife.
4. KQ Cards, a photography blog by my friend Kathryn who has a great eye for photography!
5. Penned in Orange is my wonderful collegiate friend Sara's blog. She writes poetry and is a great photographer also!
6. Veritas, my husband's blog..... a more serious and thoughtful blog.
7. Alive and Mortal is written by my friend Kim. It is an expressive arts blog for grieving people and a place for the grieving to share their journey.
8. A Holy Experience is a beautiful blog experience with lovely photography, devotional, inspirational and poetic writing.
9. Blackpurl's Knitpickings is not about knitting, but is a friend who knits, who also writes about life in Belize as a missionary.
10. Walking to China is another friend who is living in China and a surprise to her, foster parenting a special needs baby there as well.
11. Joann's Blog Adventure is written by another ministry wife friend of mine.....usually a very hilarious look at life in ministry and raising four children.
12. Laundromat is my friend Michele's blog. She writes from a  very Canadian, very honest and very fun view of life married to a minister with two teenaged boys, one hound dog and has an interesting career as the director of a downtown cultural center for Native Canadians (because I forget the correct term). 
13. Shasher's Life is an energetic blog for women by another Canadian friend.
14. Empty Handed is written by another ministry wife who lives in Australia....wonderful photography and cheerful blog.
15. Agape Life, which is my daughter Hannah's blog. She writes so well, but not often. Keep an eye on her though. She has great thoughts!

Whew! That takes a long time to get all of that together, but I am excited to show you the blogs I've been reading lately. Hope you take some time and look at them. Save the links for when you have time to peruse and read good things.

Thank you again to e-mom at Chrysalis for honoring my blog on her awards list.

Jesus in every book of the Bible

~author unknown~
In Genesis, Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman and the ram in the bushes.
In Exodus, He is the passover lamb.
In Leviticus, He is our high priest.
In Numbers, He is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
In Deuteronomy, He is the prophet like unto Moses.
In Joshua, He is the captain of our salvation.
In Judges, He is our judge and lawgiver.
In Ruth, He is our kinsman redeemer.
In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is our trusted prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning king.
In Ezra, He is the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
In Esther, He is our Mordecai.
In Job, He is our ever-living redeemer.
In Psalms, He is our shepherd.
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our wisdom.
In the Song of Solomon, He is the loving bridegroom.
In Isaiah, He is the prince of peace.
In Jeremiah, He is the righteous branch.
In Lamentations, He is our weeping prophet.
In Ezekiel, He is the wonderful four-faced man.
In Daniel, He is the forth man in life's "fiery furnace."
In Hosea, He is the faithful husband, forever married to the backslider.
In Joel, He is the baptizer with the Holy Ghost and fire.
In Amos, He is our burden-bearer.
In Obadiah, He is the mighty to save.
In Jonah, He is our great foreign missionary.
In Micah, He is the messenger of beautiful feet.
In Nahum, He is the avenger of God's elect.
In Habakkuk, he is God's evangelist, crying, "revive thy work in the midst of the years."
In Zephaniah, He is our Saviour.
In Haggai, He is the restorer of God's lost heritage.
In Zechariah, He is the fountain opened up in the house of David for sin and uncleanness.
In Malachi, He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.

In Matthew, He is King of the Jews.
In Mark, He is the Servant.
In Luke, He is the Son of Man, feeling what you feel.
In John, He is the Son of God.
In Acts, He is the Savior of the world.
In Romans, He is the righteousness of God.
In I Corinthians, He is the Rock that followed Israel.
In II Corinthians, He is the Triumphant One, giving victory.
In Galatians, He is your liberty; He sets you free.
In Ephesians, He is Head of the Church.
In Philippians, He is your joy.
In Colossians, He is your completeness.
In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, He is your hope.
In I Timothy, He is your faith.
In II Timothy, He is your stability.
In Philemon, He is your Benefactor.
In Titus, He is truth.
In Hebrews, He is your perfection.
In James, he is the Power behind your faith.
In I Peter, He is your example.
In II Peter, He is your purity.
In I John, He is your life.
In II John, He is your pattern.
In III John, He is your motivation.
In Jude, He is the foundation of your faith.
In Revelation, He is your coming King

Word of the year

Many thoughts overshadow and distract us as this new year begins.  So many things are happening in the world and in our homes that it's hard to really focus and process what happens each day, much less each week or month....how about a whole year?

Miriam Webster Dictionary chooses a word each year. The way they decide on it is to review the major search engines of the internet. The word for 2010 has come down to Austerity. Yeah, I had to look it up too. It means "enforced or extreme economy" and was the most searched word in the dictionary after the European debt crisis last spring.

I don't really think it's a good word for a whole year. Internet searches are prone to very subjective audiences. The sixth most searched word in this past year was "doppelganger", which was a popular game on Facebook. You were to post a picture of your doppelganger (a famous person who looks like you) for your profile picture. A couple of years ago the word of the year was woot....more specifically w00t, with zeroes instead of the letter o. It is an excited shout when you are rooting for a team or person in an arena or sporting event.

It really has no bearing on our year, no real meaning to our lives.

So when I read about some friends choosing a word for this year to focus on, I gave it a lot of thought. I asked God to give me a word for this year. Then I waited. I didn't really hear anything, but started realizing in an off-handed, not conscious effort type of way (which is so often the way God shows me things...when I least expect it), that the word joy kept leaping up in my line of vision. It is all through our home with it being Christmas time. There are several words that are in multiple forms all over my house at the holidays, but the word joy kept catching my eye among the usual noel, peace, hope, love and believe.

Last year the word hope was calling my attention and I can see that it was a theme to my year, which was wonderful and really encouraging. It wasn't hope as in a wish, but more of a hope as in a future. A noun, a place, a thing. Hope with a capital H. Our Hope in Christ....Heaven, our future Hope. All significant as it was a year that could have been called despair with so many losses and personal challenges. But God focused my mind on Hope and it was cool....as it always is when He is showing you something. It kept showing up, kept reminding me, kept focusing me.

It was not an easy year, but it most definitely was a year of having Hope, needing Hope and finding Hope. I had not thought about this until I began writing today. God often helps me to process things as I write and organize my thoughts. I don't usually take the time to do that. But even though I didn't name the past year, God did.

So my focus this year is turning to joy. That is nice. Joy is a good thing! Sometimes the practice and realization of it comes along with trials, so I am also steadying myself. Sometimes joy is the underlying strength that gets you through trials in life. I usually am a very joyful person (My parents almost named me Joy), but this year has taken it's toll on my spirit, I have to admit. I feel it almost physically.



Biblically, joy is a natural result if we are abiding in Christ:

¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ¹² This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.  John 15:10-12

You remain in Christ, obey His commands (to love Him and each other) and joy will overflow.

Sounds so easy, almost like a formula.

I guess we'll find out this year.

2011, the year of Joy.

Other word of the year blogs:
Holy Experience There are more word of the year posts linked at the bottom of this blog.
Blackpurl's Knitpickings....an expat journal