Weeding the Useless to Nourish the Good

 

    What a blessing it is that God is my strength and I do love Him. He is the One who teaches me to love Him and guides me in my spiritual growth. I can let Him work in me or I can hinder the process by not cooperating.

   Sometimes, I think I know what I want and I ask for it, feeling ready to reject what doesn't fit my plan, but what if that which doesn't fit MY plan is actually GOD's plan for my life?  

    The world has much darkness and at times, the light seems dim, but God is always there and He sees just as well in the darkness as in the light. What a blessing to know and believe that! Living for Him and accepting His will can be scary and yet, it is always the best for us. 

     Being assured of walking in the way HE has for me is so much better than the plan I have come up with and I do well to submit to His will as it is always better than mine.

     Weeds are plentiful this time of year as fall is here. I know that many "weeds" are good for our health or other purposes and I am thankful for many plants that most people would label "weeds". However, when we nourish a weed that is dangerous or of no use, we set ourselves up for trouble. This picture is of a "weed" out on some country property and it appealed because of the soft hairs that filled the pods. Is it good or not? I really don't know as I haven't researched it... yet. Someday, I may research it and may find another useful herb for my large medicinals collection that we use regularly... or I may find that I want to avoid it. 

     Weeds in our life can cause even more problems as they can deter us from our purpose or distract us from what is better. I sure wouldn't want to nourish something that is useless. Sometimes, we can do that in our lives. It could be time wasting, or an unhealthy curiosity that leads us where we shouldn't go. It could be an addiction problem of some kind or toxic emotions allowed to grow. So many possibilities. 

      When we weed out the weeds and nourish the good things, we will see growth in our spiritual lives... and fruit that comes from God.  Maybe it's time to search for any weeds, see if we would be better off without them, and deal quickly with them, so we can start to thrive.

    If you have identified any weeds to deal with or have seen God work in your life so that growth could happen, I would love to hear about it in the comments. Today is another day that we can serve our Lord. I hope you are living a thriving life this week and if challenges are there, I hope you will determine to follow God's will for your life.

                                                                           ~Blessings to you, 

                                                                                Katherine

An Old-Fashioned Christmas Tale

 

    Poor Chris tried so hard, but couldn't seem to do anything right. He was clumsy even while eager to help. Chris lived many years ago on a run-down old farm with his mom, dad and brothers.

    This is a kids' book with a sweet story of how Chris learns the real meaning of Christmas. The book is illustrated with simple paintings and small pictures are included as extras for young ones to find and point out. This book is wonderful for parents and grandparents to read to children. The children will enjoy the story of Chris' trouble and the solution and will find Chris to be a likeable little guy. 

A fun book for kids and enjoyed by all ages. An old-fashioned Christmas tale. A wonderful gift in either print form or ebook. 

     Order from Amazon on the link.   Chris' Mess? No, It's Christmas!

                                                       Chris' Mess? No, It's Christmas!

WHAT Is "Thankful Stew"???

 

  Last night, we received one of those horrible calls telling us that two of our adult children had been in an accident after hitting a deer. It was dark on a highway, and they were going 70 mph when a deer ran right in front of them.

    Our family is close... and we all headed for the accident site... married son and his wife from one direction.... another son from another direction had just ordered pizza and was headed to get it, but diverted to drive the 30 minutes to the site. My husband and I and 2 of our other kids headed out from another direction to drive the 30 miles. (That was a LONG 30 miles!). Details were sketchy.... we just knew that the car was totalled.

     Married son and his wife got to the scene first as they were only about 15 minutes away. They called and said our daughter was sore, but okay and son looked awful with black eye, cut and bleeding hand. Police had arrived on scene...... Second son arrived a bit later... we were about 10 minutes out still... learned more and became more anxious to get there. Found out police objected to the 2 vehicles on site and said we couldn't come. Oh, my.... Panic for all as I needed to evaluate injuries and because we all wanted to be together. Driving by the accident site was hard ... and we really couldn't see anything except for the car in the median and police lights because it was so dark. 

   Talk on the phone with those on site brought the plan of running to the closest store a few miles away and getting frozen peas or corn to use as ice bags for the injured. We rushed to an Aldi and the son and daughter with us, ran inside... no peas, corn or mixed vegetables, but they were able to get 2 bags of frozen green beans. They rushed to the checkout where a nice person let them go ahead since they only had 2 things, Son thanked them and said it was for an emergency. The lady told the cashier to just charge her for them and told our son and daughter to go... and she would be praying and hoped the family would be okay. What a blessing on a very hard evening.

    Back in the van, we went to the accident site which was from the other direction... and pulled off the highway on the median enough to let me, our son, the big flashlights, green beans and first aid kit out, then husband and daughter went to next exit and pulled down exit ramp to be close enough to see lights though it was too dark to see anything else. 

     Checking my kids over, touching them, seeing them, was a relief... and it also set in as to what had happened, especially when I saw the inside of the car with the blown airbags. While waiting for the tow truck, they kept busy trying to figure out the accident pattern, looked for vehicle parts and tried to figure out the accident path. The officer had left by then and it was really dark, other than the flashing lights on my sons' trucks and flashlights. I called my husband on the phone and updated him as we found out more... and on the physical condition of our kids. Son kept saying he was fine, but looked awful... plan was to evaluate in better light... since he was able to function.

    When the tow truck finally came and pulled the car up on the truckbed with a winch, my guys discovered the missing front bumper... it was under the car. My son did a good job of keeping some control of the car, but the deer hit happened and air bags blew, so they couldn't see... reconstruction showed what happened. They came close to hitting guard rails next to the bridge abutment, then into the median where a metal culvert was in place which they hit, went airborne and landed... and finally stopped. Oh my! 

    After the tow truck left, we all got in the 3 vehicles and left to go to Walmart to use the bathroom, see that everyone was okay and get into the correct vehicles to head home(no one could get into the van with my husband since we couldn't cross the highway.). The 9 of us stood in a circle in the front of Walmart as my husband prayed and we thanked God for His mercies. My son who had ordered the pizza had received a call from the pizza place that his order was ready... while at the accident site. He told them he couldn't come to get it because of the accident. The manager told him they would just refund the money he had paid and he hoped all went well. So nice to have kind people, especially on such a rough evening.

    A rough evening.... but we could be planning a funeral or two of them today... but we aren't. That's where the "Thankful Stew" comes in. I made homemade stew and also used those green beans bought for us by that precious woman. Tonight, we will have stew and maybe cornbread... and we will continue to thank God. 

Son and daughter are very sore today.. son was determined to go to work today and he did. I appreciate his work ethic, but do not think he should have gone. He is an adult though and so I just watch and pray. His eye is very bruised from his glasses... those airbags sure did a lot of damage, but maybe they saved my kids from worse damage. We are thankful. 

          One of my sons works at a body shop and has said many times in the last month that they have been swamped with deer hits... and to be careful. He said this is more than they normally see... and the totaled car was towed to that body shop... they also had another vehicle towed in from a deer hit, today. He said that the damage seems worse this year... the deer hit cars are damaged worse than usual.. my son's had 6 airbags blow, which represents a lot of money. 

       We are still learning more about the accident as they remember more... it all happened so fast and they keep going over it trying to remember it all. One thing we learned was that a man who was driving near them, stopped right after the accident, saying he had seen the whole thing and was willing to be a witness if he was needed. He gave my son his contact information. God sure put several people in place to bless us last night. 

      Anyway, we are thankful, so we are having "Thankful Stew". (By the way, my daughters just tested the stew and said it was great... and one of them made cornbread to go with it.) We thank God for His mercy to us last night and will sure enjoy the "Thankful Stew", in a few minutes, and cornbread with family together as we remember the blessings among the difficulties of the accident.

     Thank you for visiting... I would love to have you follow my website... just leave your email address... it's free and I would also love to hear from you.

My book, New Beginning at Rosewood is on sale from Amazon. If you're intersted, go to Amazon to order it, or use the link below: 

                   New Beginning at Rosewood: Finding Hope While Exploring an Old House

I'd love to hear what you think of the book: what characters you like best and if you also found hope while reading it or favorite parts of the book. 

                                                                       ~Blessings, Katherine J Masters

                                                                                  

A Christmas Book For Kids-New Release!

 A book for kids. Chris' Mess? No, Its' Christmas!

Chris' Mess? No, It's Christmas!

This is a fun book for kids. The setting is many years ago when times were hard. Chris is a boy who is easy to like as he makes mistakes so many times and struggles to avoid making more messes. This book shows some of those messes and also the solution to his problems. 

The pages of the book have small pictures for younger children to find, adding to the fun of the book. A wonderful book to read to children and enjoy together. The book would be good for ages 2-12, although other ages could also enjoy it. 

The e-book is available and now the print book is finally available as well! 

Available on Amazon - just click the link.

Chris' Mess? No, It's Christmas!

This would be especially nice to read in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Enjoy the sweet story together and get a glimpse into a simpler time in history.

Enjoy Katherine's other book, which would make a wonderful Christmas gift for an adult. This book has been enjoyed by women, men and children. Order information in the link below:

New Beginning at Rosewood: Finding Hope While Exploring an Old House

                                                                                         

Are You Ready For Winter?

      Are you feeling a bit rushed to get things done before winter arrives? I sure am. I see the beauty of the trees turning colors, the fields ready to harvest and the farmers working to get the crops in and I feel the same sense of urgency to prepare my home for a cold winter. 

 

    I still have tomatoes and peppers growing and need to harvest and preserve more of those. There are herbs to harvest and dry for winter use, plants to get ready to come inside for the winter, a duck house to build so our ducks can be all warm and snug this winter since the old duck house needs to be replaced, a wood stove to install and so much more. We are busy working on these when not working on the regular work. Your list probably looks different than mine, but maybe you are working hard also. It is a time to get ready.

     The length of sunlight each day is decreasing as the season changes too, and we all tend to be up and around before daylight and some don't get home until after dark... and we still have 2 more months before the days will start to become longer again. It all adds to the sense of urgency to be ready for winter... for cold... for bad roads and more. When it is all done and ready, there will be a sense of peace that we've done what we can and we will face the winter trials thankful our preparations are complete. (I hope we get to that point, this year!)    :)

     We have had years where we faced ice or snow early and didn't know where our winter gloves were or the snow scraper for icy car windows on cold mornings. We've had to scramble to bring plants in for an unexpected early freeze or stay outside in cold wet rainy conditions in the dark rushing before the temperature dropped to 28 degrees to save as much produce as possible because the frost hadn't been expected. Those are stress-filled times and I hope to avoid those each year. 

     It reminds me that we are to be preparing for another harvest and ending also. So many are dying without Christ and others are walking on the way to a Christ-less eternity, not realizing their time could be up at any moment. We need to tell them of salvation. We have no idea when the end will come for them or for us. Are you ready? I hope so. Are you looking for opportunities to share with those who are not ready? We need to diligently work in this time of harvest. I know I feel more and more aware of it every day.

     I hope you are saved and ready to meet God when your time comes and if so, what a blessing that will be! If not, there is no time like today to make sure your salvation. God made a way for us to spend eternity with Him and we do not have to die in our sins. What a blessing He sacrificed His Son for me... and for you. May we also tell others of that wonderful gift and be listening for the nudging of the Holy Spirit to talk to someone, even when we don't feel like it.  

     Are you enjoying the beauty of the fall scenery? Are you feeling a sense of urgency to get ready for winter? What projects are you needing to complete before winter? Are you also feeling an urgency to tell others of Christ? I would love to hear about either one or both in the comments. Thank you for joining me.                            

   ~Blessings,   Katherine J Masters

     If you enjoy old houses, exploring, mysteries, real life and a bit of fun, you may also enjoy my book. If you read it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Use the link below or find it on Amazon.

New Beginning at Rosewood: Finding Hope While Exploring an Old House

Wonders of God's Creation

 

I love beautiful nature scenes and I love to pair them with Scripture also.

     I'm glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoyed God's Word and His beautiful creation with me. I find there is always something amazing to be found in nature. Sometimes it is a big scene and other times it is a closeup of some small part  to show details usually unseen. I find myself looking for these hidden gems in nature and in God's Word.

     I hope you have a good day and week and enjoy the obvious or hidden wonders around you. 

                                                                     ~Blessings    

                                                                                Katherine J Masters

New Beginning at Rosewood: Finding Hope While Exploring an Old House

                         New Beginning at Rosewood: Finding Hope While Exploring an Old House

Do You Ever Feel Like This?

 

Do you ever feel like that picture above? Empty? Still standing, but not much substance inside? A shell of who you used to be or who you wanted to be?

So many times, we can work on the outer part of our lives - those areas seen by others, our image, our reputation and more, yet forget about the substance inside, that part which makes us alive. We crumble bit by bit, not realizing how barren our lives have become as we continue to smile, have "fun", be active, go through the motions and put on a good face but a weariness, numbness and maybe even deadness grows until we are but a shell of who we wanted to be.... of who God created us to be.

  Is that you today? Are you still going through the motions and looking good on the outside, while slowly dying on the inside? 

What a dangerous place to be! I have been there and I have had to realize the danger and make immediate changes in order to survive, grow and thrive. What changes? First of all, I have to evaluate.. How is my walk with the Lord?

Am I reading my Bible to find the treasures God has for me... or to say I did it?

Am I spending time in prayer? Repentence? Forgiving? Obedience? Praising God? 

I have learned that for me, one of the biggest issues is, Am I getting enough rest? How is my health? Have I been doing too much again? Am I trying to "do it all"? Am I forgetting to allow physical rest and healing? Fatigue can quickly empty us.

Neglecting any of these can make a person spiritually sick and decay quickly sets in. Something else happens at this point also. We become more susceptible to the lies of satan... wondering if God really cares, feeling envious of others, allowing hurts to blind us to God's blessings, hardening our hearts to the still small voice of God. We can become fearful and timid. Some become grouchy or downright angry. 

Part of our evaluation should include checking our foundation... it is strong? Maybe we have learned God's Word and known Him for years and the foundation is pretty good. Repentance can allow God's work in our lives to continue and be fruitful. 

Maybe the foundation is crumbling or even missing in places. If our foundation is on anything but God, it is not a good foundation. Church traditions are not a good foundation. What makes me "happy" is not a good foundation. Pleasing others is not a good foundation. "The way I've always done it." is not a good foundation. Fear of criticism, Fear of not pleasing someone,  and other fears are also a bad foundation.

 No matter how much you build on a weak foundation, it will always stay weak because it isn't the right foundation. Find the source of the foundation problem and then steps can be taken to fix it. The only good foundation is God's Word. Many have tried other foundations and they can look good for a while, but emptiness shows up eventually. 

 

A willing and repentant heart submitted to God and trusting in His Word, is a good foundation. Our human nature is still there, but what a work God can do with a person willing to let God lead. He highlights weak areas and gives grace and wisdom to help us grow. The foundation grows stronger and His light is able to shine through us, even as a broken vessel. 

As we give praise to Him and remember to be thankful, peace and life grows, joy grows also. God continues the growing process and we can be content, even in difficult times as we trust Him to know all things, to lead us, to give wisdom and more. 

If you are feeling empty today, I hope you will check your foundation, fix it, and get back on track. God loves you and has a plan for your life... no, it won't be all "sunshine and roses", but He promises to be with us even in the trials.

My debut Christian novel is available! 

New Beginning at Rosewood: Finding Hope While Exploring an Old House

Other posts in the Fear Series: 

                

"Fear Not" Is Not Enough      

WHEN Fear Comes