Happy Friday! I for one am happy that it's Friday because that means no workmen will be in our home over the weekend except for the electrician tomorrow. Thankfully the bathroom reno has gone much more smoothly than the kitchen one!
How has your week been? Has it been hot in your neighborhood? We've had some hot temps, but not as hot as other areas of the country.
What did you think about this week's lesson? I truly needed the reminder that God is sovereign, and that he is our fortress who equips us with the Sword of the Spirit, which is His Word.
Here is this week's Psalm:
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;my hope comes from him.Truly he is my rock and my salvation;he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.~Psalm 62:5-6
I read this poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes during the week, and I thought I would share it with you. It really doesn't have much to do with the lesson, but I thought it was sweet. There is a good lesson in it about noticing.
DandelionYou grow in a crack in the sidewalk,neither asking nor receiving hospitality.Spreading your arms outto what the city will give you of the sun,reaching your roots down unseen,patient among slabs and pipes and gravel,you find a way to nourish yourself.You gather yourself into this one simple blossom,not a big one, but yellow in a desert of gray.And what is it worth?A guy comes along, distracted,maybe troubled even, looking down.He stops, sits on a cement block,and stares at you. He tilts his headas if reading something. After a long timegazing at you he makes a single sound,"mm," and something that could bea smile comes to his face.He looks at the sky, takes a breath, gets up,and walks off, somehow different.You never know.
Prayer Requests
- Carla would like for us to pray for the military build up at the door of Iran. Pray for our leaders to seek wisdom. Continue to pray for our military, our young men and women who are at that door waiting what orders might be coming. May God protect them.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they decide where to live when they retire.
- Pray for Kris's son-in-law Tim. UPDATE: Tim was fired for his job after 17 years on at the fire department. Please say a prayer for Tim that he can get another job quickly. He is devastated by all of this.
- Carla has an extended family member stationed in Kuwait named Haley. She is her cousin Steve's daughter. Please pray for her safety!
- Carla's Sam has several Wisconsin Guard friends stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. Sam had an update for us from his teammates who are currently deployed in the war zone. Please be in prayer, they have been bombed several times. Continue to pray for safety.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- Kitty would like for you to pray that her daughter sells her barndominium and can find a home closer so that she’s not driving two hours a day.
- Pray for my health as my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome has come back in full force. UPDATE: I've had extensive testing done, but I have not heard any of the results yet.
- PRAISE: My Little Starling is doing well, and so are mom and dad. She's wee (wearing premie clothes), but she is thriving.
- URGENT: Please pray for the Higginbotham family as Weston's wake and funeral will be next week.
- Please pray for Kitty's brother who has not been doing well, and her sister who's been his caregiver.
- Please pray travel mercies for Trip and me as we travel this week to Ann Arbor.
- Kris requests that we pray for her MIL as they navigate what time she has left. She and Terry continue to ask God to take her and have her be at peace. Please read more in the comments below.
- Please pray for Carla's son Sam: He is currently at drill at Fort McCoy and is training young soldiers joining the Wisconsin National Guard. Thank-you, Sam, for your service.
- Rita requests we pray for her brother who had a stroke last June. Pray that he remains strong and stable as he and her SIL navigate changes of selling their home in WV and building a new home near their daughter in TX.
- Pray for Kitty's brother who as at the end of his life, and also pray for her sister who has been his caregiver.
For details about some of these requests, please refer to the comments below.
Trip wants me to learn how to make meringues.
Do any of y'all have experience making them or a recipe you can share?
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy June, Friends!
Wow, it has been the best week of my life! My Little Starling was born, and I'm a grandmother!!! :D
Y'all.....full disclosure....I'm distracted! All I've been doing is looking at photos and shopping.
I'm sorry that this lesson is going to be brief, but it actually has less to do with Starling and more to do with the fact that they began our bathroom demolition this week! I must admit that although they did an amazing job (especially cleaning up the mess), I had to get our elderly dogs away from the noise.
Another distraction has been the disappearance of our neighbor, Weston Higginbotham. The Higginbothams live directly behind us (our backyards touch). Y'all might have seen on national news or in the paper about his disappearance while on a family trip to Japan. He's twenty years old, a student at Auburn University, and is tall and very blond. He would certainly stand out in Japan. He's been missing for a week now, and I cannot imagine the hell his parents Keith and Nancy are going through right now.
So I want to say I'm sorry that this post is NOT one of my best ones. But I love the gist of the lesson:
Let these truths of the Psalms become "ear worms" to comfort your heart and your soul.
I want to pray this week's verse from Psalm 59 for the Higginbotham family.
Prayer Requests
- Carla would like for us to pray for the military build up at the door of Iran. Pray for our leaders to seek wisdom. Continue to pray for our military, our young men and women who are at that door waiting what orders might be coming. May God protect them.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they decide where to live when they retire.
- Pray for Kris's son-in-law Tim. UPDATE: Tim was fired for his job after 17 years on at the fire department. Please say a prayer for Tim that he can get another job quickly. He is devastated by all of this.
- Carla has an extended family member stationed in Kuwait named Haley. She is her cousin Steve's daughter. Please pray for her safety!
- Carla's Sam has several Wisconsin Guard friends stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. Sam had an update for us from his teammates who are currently deployed in the war zone. Please be in prayer, they have been bombed several times. Continue to pray for safety.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- Kitty would like for you to pray that her daughter sells her barndominium and can find a home closer so that she’s not driving two hours a day.
- Pray for my health as my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome has come back in full force. UPDATE: I will be seeing an allergy specialist Tuesday.
- PRAISE: My Little Starling is doing well, and so are mom and dad. She's wee (wearing premie clothes), but she is thriving.
- URGENT: Please pray for the Higginbotham family as they travel home from Japan. Pray travel mercies and that the Holy Spirit will comfort them as they grieve.
- Please pray for Kitty's brother who has not been doing well, and her sister who's been his caregiver.
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Friday, My Lovelies! I hope you have had a nice week. I spent time going to wellness appointments to get them out of the way before our granddaughter is born. I'm also having a few allergy issues that need to be resolved before I can travel.
What's new in your world? I've heard from some of you this week, and we all have so much going on in our lives, and many of us are caregivers for multiple generations in our families.
We can get through this. God never leaves us! He is always by our sides. Like our Psalm reminds us this week:
[God] will sustain you.
I also appreciated the gentle reminder of putting on the Full Armor of God. We have got to do this daily, Friends. God in his grace has been so good to us that he has given us everything we would ever need to stand firm. We can do it!
So this is two weeks in a row I've been depending on the prayers for our lessons. They are most excellent!
Prayer Requests
- Carla would like for us to pray for the military build up at the door of Iran. Pray for our leaders to seek wisdom. Continue to pray for our military, our young men and women who are at that door waiting what orders might be coming. May God protect them.
- Pray for Kris's son-in-law Tim. UPDATE: Tim was fired for his job after 17 years on at the fire department. Please say a prayer for Tim that he can get another job quickly. He is devastated by all of this.
- Carla has an extended family member stationed in Kuwait named Haley. She is her cousin Steve's daughter. Please pray for her safety!
- Carla's Sam has several Wisconsin Guard friends stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. Sam had an update for us from his teammates who are currently deployed in the war zone. Please be in prayer, they have been bombed several times. Continue to pray for safety.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- PRAISE: I am going to be a grandmother. I am so excited!!! Please be in prayer for Shanley Belle and Christopher as they prepare for parenthood, and pray for my little precious granddaughter. I'm calling her my Little Starling! UPDATE: She will be born by Wednesday at the very latest.
- Kitty would like for you to pray that her daughter sells her barndominium and can find a home closer so that she’s not driving two hours a day.
- Pray for my health as my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome has come back in full force.
- Pray travel mercies for Trip this weekend. He's going to Nashville for a business meeting.
I've been trying to make myself slow down, so I'm doing a lot of "analog" activities, including making coffee with a pour-over set-up, like this one. More later!
Have a blessed weekend and week! I love you all!!!
Please check your emails for updates.
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Friday, Friends! Boy, it has been a week. I sincerely hope yours has been better, LOL! It has been a week of three dental appointments, and my dentist put the final filling on my crown yesterday. I'm still in pain, and I had to be fitted for a night guard because I'm clenching my teeth in my sleep: That's what's been causing my pain, apparently.
But I have faith that this, too, shall pass!
I need to be in tippy top Grandma shape because Shanley Belle will be delivering very soon! :D
I had to laugh when I read the title of this week's reflection: "Are You Weary?"
Well....YES! Thanks for asking! *haha*
I love this lesson so much. I have flagged it for the end of the year because we will repeat a few of the lessons to finish out the year. Y'all need to do the same because I think we will each get to pick at least two lessons!
Life is a battlefield.
How many of y'all kept singing Pat Benatar's song from the 80s while reading this lesson? I know that the lyrics are "love is a battlefield," but I still kept humming it to myself. It has caused me an ear worm, or a song you can't get out of your head! But what's wonderful about God is that he absolutely can give us rest when we are weary, when our physical rest just isn't enough to sustain nor refresh us.
Below are scripture graphics and quotes from the lesson.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,to all who call on him in truth.He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;he hears their cry and saves them.~Psalm 145:18-19
Prayer Requests
- Carla would like for us to pray for the military build up at the door of Iran. Pray for our leaders to seek wisdom. Continue to pray for our military, our young men and women who are at that door waiting what orders might be coming. May God protect them.
- Pray for Kris's son-in-law Tim. UPDATE: Tim was fired for his job after 17 years on at the fire department. Please say a prayer for Tim that he can get another job quickly. He is devastated by all of this.
- Carla has an extended family member stationed in Kuwait named Haley. She is her cousin Steve's daughter. Please pray for her safety!
- Carla's Sam has several Wisconsin Guard friends stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. Sam had an update for us from his teammates who are currently deployed in the war zone. Please be in prayer, they have been bombed several times. Continue to pray for safety.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- PRAISE: I am going to be a grandmother. I am so excited!!! Please be in prayer for Shanley Belle and Christopher as they prepare for parenthood, and pray for my little precious granddaughter. I'm calling her my Little Starling! UPDATE: She will be born by Wednesday at the very latest.
- Kitty would like for you to pray that her daughter sells her barndominium and can find a home closer so that she’s not driving two hours a day.
- Pray for my health as my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome has come back in full force.
- Praise! My computer and Internet are working in my kitchen! I am so happy!
We will probably go to the lake this weekend.
It's supposed to rain, but maybe it will be nice just to look at the water and wildlife.
Have a blessed weekend and week!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
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