God has given us so many promises that will encourage you if you are feeling lonely.  Just pick up the bible and spend some time with His word.  You are never alone.  I want to share some verses with you.

Joshua 1:9 “Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.”
Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit.  God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.”
John 14:18 “I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you.”
John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it loves its own.  But I have chosen you out of the world, so you don’t belong to it.  That is why the world hates you.”
Psalm 94:14 “The Lord won’t leave his people nor give up his children.”
Psalm 9:10 “Those who know the Lord trust Him, because He will not leave those who come to Him.”
Hebrews 13:5 “God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.’”
Isaiah 43:2-3 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.  When you cross rivers, you will not drown.  When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you.  This is because I, the Lord, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. ”

God’s promises are true.  He stands at the door and knocks, waiting for us to let Him in.

A GREAT RECIPE

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the
ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what
is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, ‘My
purpose is to __________ today. I am thankful for ______________ ‘.

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is
manufactured in plants..

5.. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan
salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of
the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest
your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a College
kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to
disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

14. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey
is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will
this matter?’

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything – but you have to ask Him.

20. However good o r bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am
thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You’ll be
smiling before you know it.

I received this in an email and it was too good to just delete.

AS LONG AS THE SUN COMES
UP IN THE MORNING, GOD
WILL KEEP OFFERING TO
DELIVER HIS CHILDREN.

Lord, God, just as Your children the Israelites
were chosen out of all the peoples on the
face of the earth to be Your people, Your
treasured possession, I believe that we, the body of
Christ, have been too.
You did not set Your affection on Your
children and choose us because we were more 
numerous than other peoples.  It was because 
You loved us that You redeemed us from
slavery and from the power of the enemy.
Help me to know with certainty that You,
the Lord my God, are indeed God–the
faithful God, keeping Your covenant of love to
a thousand generations of those who love You 
and keep Your commands (Deut. 7:6-9).

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day 

The following excerpt is by Angela Thomas Guffey, from her book Tender Mercy for a Mother’s Soul.

• All the neighborhood kids want to hang out at the house where grace lives.
• There is always enough for one more where grace lives…one more for dinner…one more to sleep over…one more hug or kiss.
• You can see people dancing where grace lives.
• You can hear things like “please forgive me, I was wrong…  You are my treasure…”
• The eyes of the children where grace lives shine with joy and anticipation.  They have not been wounded by impossible expectations.  They have not been distanced by rejection.  They have been embraced and accepted and loved.
• The moms at the house where grace lives are just regular, everyday moms, but God lives inside them.  By His power, they are becoming holy and righteous and good.  They stumble but recover quickly.  They make mistakes but say, “I’m sorry.”  They get blown by the winds of heartache and adversity, but their hearts remain tender toward God. 

I’ve become addicted to Facebook, and that’s where I’ve been spending my time.  My blog has suffered long enough. 

Does this count as a post?

There’s a war going on in my house.  A war over a video game.  A video game that should not be on the market in the first place!  I’m tired of this argument, and I’m worn out from the length of it, but I will NOT change my mind. 

My 10 year old son wants Grand Theft Auto, because all of his friends have it.  (Not really all, I’ve talked to some moms!)  I’m sure that a few of them do have it, or their older siblings have it and they’ve played it.  But if everyone jumped off a bridge…..well, ya know what I mean!

When he first brought up the subject, I immediately had no in my head.  I’ve heard all the stories, but told him that dad and I would check it out and give him an answer.  Honestly, I was just going to tell Brian he wanted it, and then tell Zach no.  Well, Zach bugged us continually.  He wanted the game that night.  (Instant Gratification world!)  Brian said he really didn’t think it would be worse than watching TV, so he didn’t oppose, but my argument was that we have control over what we allow into this house.  If we bring it in, then we are endorsing it, and everything in it.  So Zach comes in again as I’m cooking dinner, and I tell him no because it’s an inappropriate game.  Zach goes ballistic with a huge ugly temper tantrum, which just shows him maturity level!  At that point Brian steps in and says that we’ve decided and that’s the end of it. 

It was the end of it until the next day when Zach comes home from school saying one particular game used to be rated T and they changed it to M for no reason.  He had many arguments for me, so I finally said I would talk to the people at GameStop and see what they said.  Now I was hoping to get someone honest, who truly cared about the youth of the world, but I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t.  After a few more days of bugging, we went to gamestop.  I asked the clerk, a very nice young man, and he told me he wouldn’t recommend the game to anyone.  He went on to say that they should be rated adults only, as they have prostitutes and lots of sex in them.  Once again, Zach was mad at me, because I don’t think he’s mature enough.  I told him that it has nothing to do with his age, because I don’t think a 50 year old should have the game!  I don’t think the game should be on the market.  It’s a video game, marketed to kids, with content listed as blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, nudity, strong sexual content, and use of drugs and alcohol.  WHY? 

I found two very good websites to help with the ratings decision. ESRB was an easy to navigate site, and Common Sense Media was written for parents.  I actually found this next info on common sense media. 

PRAYERLESSNESS IS THE MOST
PROHIBITIVE OBSTACLE IN THE ROAD
TO A BELIEVER’S VICTORY, NO MATTER
WHAT OUR SPECIFIC PURSUIT MAY BE.

I call on You, O God, for You will answer
me.  Give ear to me and hear my prayer.  Show
the wonder of Your great love, You who save by
Your right hand those who take refuge in You
from their foes.  Keep me as the apple of Your
eye.  Hide me in the shadow of our wings (PS. 17:6-8).
Show me Your ways, O Lord.  Teach me
Your paths.  Guide me in Your truth and teach
me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is
in You all day long. 
Remember Your great mercy and love, for
they are from of old.  Remember not the sins
of my youth and my rebellious ways.  Instead,
remember me according to Your love, for You
are good, O Lord (Ps. 25:4-7).

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day

 WE CAN BE MISERABLY DISSATISFIED
IF WE ACCEPT CHRIST’S SALVATION YET
REJECT THE FULLNESS OF DAILY
RELATIONSHIP THAT SATISFIES.

Do not withhold Your mercy from me,
O Lord.  May Your love and Your truth always
protect me (Ps. 40:11).  Help me to learn how
much Your truth protects me, Father.  Without
it, I am vulnerable to the enemy and to my own
flesh nature.
O God, send forth Your light and Your
truth into my life.  Let them guide me; let them
bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place
where You dwell (Ps. 43:3).
Surely You desire truth in my inner parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place (Ps.
51:6).  Please expose to me the deeply embedded
lies I’ve believed, Lord, and replace them
with permanently engraved truth. 

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day

On Friday, Brooke and I drove to Columbus Ohio.  We had a nice dinner at Applebee’s, then crashed out in our cheap motel.  Saturday brought a temperature of 24 with a wind chill of 13.  It was cold… and we stood outside the Schottenstein for 2 1/2 hours, waiting in line for good seats to see the Winter Jam artists.  It was a bonding experience as we were huddled together under a blanket, but it was soooo worth it!  We ended up with 10th row seats, so we had an awesome view.  We saw Stephanie Smith, Pure NRG, Francesca Battistelli, NewSong, Barlow Girls, Brandon Heath and TobyMac.  It was an amazing time, and over 2000 people dedicated their lives to Christ.  Brooke and I are sponsoring a little boy from Korea, through Holt International.  We were on our feet dancing the whole time, it was so much fun!! 

When it was over, we made our way around the concourse, and Brooke got Francesca and Stephanies’ autograph, and we even took a pic with Stephanie.  We also bought Francesca’s CD, and it plays continuously in the car now. 

We needed to be back by 3 am, as we had signed up for an hour of prayer at the church, so I took it slow coming home.  Brooke was able to sleep a little bit too.  We still got to church about an hour early, so we just went in and waited for our turn. 

It was our first time in the Prayer Room, and it was amazing.  There’s a large wooden cross on the end wall, and pillows on the floor in front of it.  There are chairs and benches too, but I sat on the floor, right in front of the cross.  Brooke sat in the corner to my left. 

The hour flew by.  It really seemed like it had been 10 minutes, but I could tell because my voice was hoarse from talking.  It was a wonderful experience, and it was just richer to share it with Brooke.  I can hardly wait to do it again.