Week Ten
Happy March, Friends! Wow, March came in like a lamb....like a very warm lamb here in Central Alabama. We have been enjoying sunny skies and temps in the eighties this week. It has been heavenly! But I think that's about to change: It's supposed to rain and storm off and on all weekend long. That's okay, because our workers are supposed to finish our kitchen this morning. Praise God! Everything has to be cleaned, and I have to literally wash everything before putting it away due to the dust.
Has it been worth it? I'll let you know next week once my work is done!
This week's lesson is entitled "No Need to Fear," and it's based on a Psalm written by King David, Psalm 27. How many of you have already flagged this lesson? I have because I particularly love the prayer:
Thank you for calming all my fears and never leaving my side. Remind me of that throughout the day and when I ready myself to sleep tonight, and bring it to mind if I wake in the night...~p. 39
We've never been forced to live on the lam and hide in caves like David. Yet he maintained his faith and dependence on God.
Here is this week's scripture:
I'm also sharing a favorite verse of mine from Psalm 27, below.
Thoughts?
Before moving on to the prayer requests, I wanted to share part of a prayer from St. Patrick to welcome March.
Peace before me.Peace behind me.Peace under my feet.Peace above me.Peace within me.Let all around me be peace.
- Pray for Rita's daughter Megan as she finishes her masters program this semester. Pray that she will stay healthy, and that she will manage her time well for work/school/life balance.
- Pray for my best friend Barbara who is battling cancer. UPDATE: She is finished with her chemotherapy and radiation treatments. SHe will be having scans next week.
- Carla would like for us to pray for the military build up at the door of Iran. Pray for our leaders to seek wisdom. that we pray for our military, our young men and women who are at that door waiting what orders might be coming. May God protect them.
- Please pray for Kris's MIL because she has been having some heavy health issues, and Kris is currently her full time nurse. Pray that God will help and bless Kris as she cares for her MIL. Pray that other family members will step-up and will be discerning about what's best for her care.
- Rita's friend Pam needs our prayers because her cancer is stage four.
- Please pray for my baby great-niece.
- Pray for Rita's neighbor Chris. A .5-1cm lesion was found on her bladder at her 6mo scan after kidney surgery. She had two small papillary tumors successfully removed via outpatient surgery recently. UPDATE: Chris is particularly frozen in her fears of cancer. Pray that the Holy Spirit will allay her fears. Her brother was just diagnosed with esophageal cancer and she is about to start her own chemo treatment.
- Pray for Kris's son-in-law Tim that things will continue to go in his favor at work.
- Pray for Carla's friend Alice who had plastic surgery on her nose due to skin cancer. UPDATE: Alice did not have a good outcome with the reconstructive surgery. They will be looking at doing another.
- Carla recently had to deal with a very bitter person. She has been very bothered by this, and she does not want this person to steal her JOY.
- Praise God I'm still cancer-free!
- 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 will be having Drill this weekend. As this war continues, we pray for our troops and for the troops preparing to deploy.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Praise: He has been successful for over six weeks!
I have been making my coffee with a French Press during kitchen construction, and I think I like it better than drip!
I will need lots to get me through the weekend.
I hope y'all have a blessed weekend doing lots of fun spring things!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
blooming shamrock
Happy Friday, Friends! I hope you have had a wonderful week. We are expecting severe weather tomorrow here in Central Alabama, and I'm praying that the storms won't be as strong as predicted.
This week's lesson is entitled "It's a da Vinci." Can you imagine having a priceless work of art in your home and not even know it? Here it is:
Salvator Mundi
Leonardo da Vinci
c. 1499-1510
oil on walnut panel
25.8 in ×19.2 in
Salvator Mundi means "Savior of the World." Christ is making the sign of the cross as a blessing to the observer. He is holding an orb which represents his authority as King of Kings. Christ was usually depicted in paintings facing straight forward. It was not considered appropriate to paint anyone else in this manner. However, Albrecht Dürer painted a self-portrait facing straight, and this was deemed unfitting. It is signed: Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg... age 28.
Self Portrait
Albrecht Dürer
oil on wood panel
26 1/4 in × 19 1/4 in
The point of the lesson is to remind us that are souls are "Materpieces of Creation." Farrell also shares this Bible passage with us:
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.~2 Corinthians 4:7-12
Clay jars held expensive treasures during the first century like anointing oils. Farrell loves essential oils (and so do I) and she shares a recipe for them at the end of the lesson. I did not make any because I was given some at Bible class a few weeks ago! Our teacher brought in so many different varieties, and we were able to chose the ones we wanted. I chose the bergamot, and I really like how it smells.
This essential oil is made by Hiqili, and it's supposed to help with restlessness and nervousness. It can also help suppress anger, which I often need while driving on Highway 280!
I also have a blue oil by Aveda. When I run out of these, I will try Farrell's recipe and make some of my own essential healing oils because our local Sprouts has all the ingredients necessary to make it.
Here is our Bible verse for the lesson.
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Before I get to the prayer requests, I wanted to share a graphic with you on fasting. Kitty shared these thoughts with me last week, and I think that we can all get behind this kind of fasting during Lent.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for our military securing and protecting our southern border.
- Pray for Kitty's son Mike to get a job that uses his talents.
- Pray for Kitty's grandson Connor, that he will find a path to follow and good relationships.
- Carla is running for Trustee for her local Village Board. The election is April 1st. Let's be in prayer that Carla can continue to be the change she wants to see in her village.
- Carla mailed her postcards for the election this week. Let's pray that her message will be well received and that her neighbors will feel inspired to have her represent them on their village board.
- Rita's daughters need our prayers. One is finishing up her masters this semester, and the other is having an especially hard time balancing work/school/home life. Pray for God's strength, patience and guidance as they each navigate their own course.
- Please keep Rita's sister who moved to West Virginia in November in prayer to be able to have her knee surgery on Monday, March 17th. She is also treating a UTI.
- Travel mercies for Trip and me for the next two weeks.
- Please pray for Carla's friend C.M.H who has joined the United States Army. Carla and her family are so proud of him. He will be 23 in June, and he is a dear friend of her boys. He was in their homeschool group. He will leave for basic training in May.
- URGENT: Please pray for our blog friend Jenna Meon. She is currently in the hospital.
I love Irish soda bread and hot cross buns this time of the year. Do you?
IMPORTANT: I do not know if I will be able to update my posts on the trip. Please come back and read comments for any new prayer requests the next couple of weeks. Thank-you!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Hello, Friends! I apologize for posting so late in the day. Our daughter had car trouble, and Trip and I decided to go purchase a new one for her because she needs a reliable car. Shelley starts work very early in the morning when it's dark, and we don't want her breaking down.
We were at the dealership bright and early, and we were successful in our quest. I also ran a few errands before returning home.
The lessons this week remind us to keep Jesus at the forefront of our thoughts, and that he will energize us. Friends, I'm claiming this promise this morning! Below and above is a reminder of our scripture.
Please share your thoughts or experiences from the week in comments!
Prayer Requests
- Pray for our military and military families, and the Wisconsin National Guard deployed in Iraq.
- Pray for Kitty's son Mike to get a job that uses his talents.
- Kitty asks that we pray for Molly’s husband, Eric, to find a job. The start up company that he was working for closed Friday.
- Pray for a peaceful and smooth transition of power between now and January 20, 2025.
- Pray that we can all find quiet time with God during the holiday hustle and bustle.
- Thank-you for praying for my surgeries. I am doing well, and I have two down and three to go! I will have one on Monday, December 16; Friday, December 20; and Monday, December 30. Shanley Belle and Christopher will be driving down from Ann Arbor on the twentieth, so please pray travel mercies for them.
- Carla asks that you pray for her Florida friends that lost so much during the hurricane and are still cleaning up and rebuilding... sadly they miscarried December 11th. They are devastated. They do have the blessing of family, friends and their sweet little girl who is 1 1/2 years old to help them during this time. I thank our prayer warriors to lift them up in prayer as well. Thank You!
- Carla also asks that we pray next week for her family. They will be traveling from all over the state of Wisconsin to meet at her parents farm for the weekend for an early Christmas celebration. Thank you for prayers for safe travels.
Please let me know if I forgot to update our prayer requests!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Monday, Friends! How was your weekend? We had the most wonderful Lessons and Carols service at church yesterday. One of my favorite songs performed was "Canticle of the Turning." Below you'll find a clip of the song from this morning's service at St. Stephen's.
Yesterday afternoon we had a DAR "Munch and Learn." It was a lot of fun, and I did learn quite about about DAR and some of our programs and committees. The next few weeks will be hectic for me as I squeeze in mini surgeries in between Christmas activities and celebrations. Please be patient if I don't have my posts live first thing in the morning!
Here are a few Bible verses from the Book of Psalms to get us started with our lessons this week.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for our military and military families, and the Wisconsin National Guard deployed in Iraq.
- Pray for Kitty's son Mike to get a job that uses his talents.
- Be in prayer for Carla's Florida friends still recovering from two hurricanes.
- Kitty asks that we pray for Molly’s husband, Eric, to find a job. The start up company that he was working for closed Friday.
- Pray for a peaceful and smooth transition of power between now and January 20, 2025.
- Pray that we can all find quiet time with God during the holiday hustle and bustle.
- Please be in prayer for me because I will be having five minor surgeries this afternoon, tomorrow, December 16, 20, and 30. I will be going under the "twilight" anesthesia for each surgery, so hopefully it won't be too bad.
Please let me know if I've left out any requests, and I'll update our list ASAP.
I hope y'all have a wonderful week!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
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Happy Friday, Friends!
How did you like this week's devotion? Did you experience any "cathedral moments" this week? If so, I'd like to read about it in the comments below.
I want to share with you something that happened last Saturday. I didn't share it on Monday because I was trying to put it out of my mind. Trip and I were walking the Westies, and he went inside our local General Store while I stayed outside with the dogs. We were enjoying looking at the many Halloween decorations and inflatables outside the store. There were several kids out there, too. In the distance, I saw two large dogs running toward us. As they got closer, I recognized that they were pit bulls. My first thought was for the children, some as young as three, between us and the dogs. However, the dogs spied our Westies and made a beeline towards us. They approached, and they were circling us, and our male started after them to protect me and his mom. They started growling, and the larger brindled pit bull was about to attack when Trip walked out of the store and saw what was going on. I was screaming, he was yelling, and his approach was enough of a distraction to enable me to pick-up one of the Westies, and Trip picked-up the other. We quickly walked back to the store, and I was able to get inside. The pit bulls ran a few feet away to where their owner was, and she put these spiked collars on them (which makes me think that they are problem dogs). Everyone around the store was yelling at them for not managing their dogs. The dogs escaped their backyard, and the male millennial owner kept saying: "It wasn't my fault." The parents outside the store gave him a talking down like you've never heard!
The good news is that no one was bitten, and I know that it was because God protected us all. We were both shaken-up by the incident, and it took us a surprisingly long time to get the cortisol and adrenaline out of our systems.
I want to thank you for praying for us, and I think it's important to continue to pray for the families who read this blog. I often pray that God will place a hedge of protection around us and our families. Let's also pray for those who read our posts and never comment.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for Kris's daughter Kim as she only has a few days until she gives birth to her first child. Let's pray for an easy labor and delivery, and a healthy, happy mom and baby! If the baby isn't born sooner, she will be induced on Tuesday (of next week).
- Pray that the division in our country ends, and that we can truly be one nation under God, and indivisible.
- Let's continue to pray for our gold star families and our active military. This past weekend was gold star family weekend.
- Please pray for Kitty's DIL, Julie, that her heart will change; for SIL, Eric, that he will see some relief for his cervical dystonia; and for her son, Mike, that he will get a job.
- Carla reminds us that it's not too early to pray for an honest election for all sides running, and that everyone that wants to run can have a fair go at it.
- Rita's sister-in-law and brother-in-law made it home, and both are doing much better!
- Please also keep Rita's daughters in your prayers. They are both in graduate school and working full time (one being a full time momma), and are feeling a lot of stress currently.
- Please pray for travel mercies for Shelley, Trip, and me as we travel to Louisiana for our niece's wedding this weekend.
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I hope you recognize many "cathedral moments" this weekend!
Until next time...
Blessings,
Ricki Jill
Good Morning, Friends!
I have intentionally not planned much for this week because our weekend will be busy with two very special events!
I have not read this week's devotion yet...I plan on reading it later this morning. I do like the title: "recognizing grace." How can we possibly recognize anything if we're too busy to pay attention? It should be a good one!
Here is the scripture for this week's lesson:
- Pray for Kris's daughter Kim as she only has about another week or so until she gives birth to her first child. Let's pray for an easy labor and delivery, and a healthy, happy mom and baby!
- Pray that the division in our country ends, and that we can truly be one nation under God, and indivisible.
- Let's continue to pray for our gold star families and our active military. This past weekend was gold star family weekend.
- Please pray for Kitty's DIL, Julie, that her heart will change; for SIL, Eric, that he will see some relief for his cervical dystonia; and for her son, Mike, that he will get a job.
- Carla reminds us that it's not too early to pray for an honest election for all sides running, and that everyone that wants to run can have a fair go at it.
- Pray for Rita's sister-in-law and brother-in-law who are on a Viking cruise that has been nothing short of disastrous. They both got Covid and were quarantined in their stateroom days 4-9, and last night over the weekend her brother-in-law had a gallbladder flare up, is in hospital somewhere in Italy, and they will miss their flight home! Prayers they can treat with meds and just get them home!
- Please also keep Rita's daughters in your prayers. They are both in graduate school and working full time (one being a full time momma), and are feeling a lot of stress currently.
Update on Rita's Sister-in-law and Brother-in-law: They are currently at the Venice airport where they would have come home from two days ago. If nothing else goes wrong, they should be home around midnight tonight. Pray that they can make it home safely and in as much comfort as possible! (One of the worst things in the world is to be traveling while sick. I am definitely keeping them constantly in my prayers!)
Have a blessed week, Friends!
I hope you enjoy this first week of October!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Friday, My Lovelies! I hope you've had a nice week. The weather has been beautiful here all week: I feel so spoiled!
My favorite part of this week's lesson is that when we forgive, we're afforded freedom, and this freedom comes from obedience to God.
Here are some other verses from this week's lesson:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.~Romans 10:17For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.~Romans 12:3...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.~Hebrews 12:2No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.~Hebrews 12:11
Prayer Requests:
- Rita asks for us to pray for a blogger friend Kari (Me and My Captain) who took a direct hit from Ian, and Nancy's family (Nancy's Daily Dish) who have some serious health issues (her husband and one son, 2 grandchildren). Continued prayers for comfort for Sarah's loss of her husband Monnie.
- Kitty's son is looking for a job in gaming design, and her granddaughter needs our prayers.
- My mother needs your prayers, and I start radiation treatments next week.
- Carla felt our prayers during last weekend's send-off, and Sam is in Texas for more training. Continue to pray for him.
- Let's pray for Kris and her husband Terry's health so they can enjoy their daughter's wedding this month.
I hope I didn't leave out any requests. If I did, please leave them in comments.
Because we had an intense lesson this week, I thought I'd share this fall bucket list:
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy October, Friends! Do you like October? It might be my favorite month.
This week's lesson is entitled: "God Writes Straight By Broken Lines." Although I have not read the lesson nor the biblical references yet, I did skip ahead and learned that it's about brokenness. It should be a good one. I'm enjoying this study!
We had several prayer requests on Friday's list, but I have not heard any updates yet. If you have any requests or updates, please email me or leave a comment.
Have a great week!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Hello, Friends! How has your week been so far? Last night we had torrential rains, with some areas of town getting 13 inches. People had flooding in their homes, and even one of the major interstate highways had to be closed due to flooding. Please pray for the families affected by the storms.
This week's guided journaling prompt asked us to make a chart of the lies the enemy tells us on one side with the corresponding truth from God meant to encourage us. I won't share everything I wrote in my journal, but I will share two biblical truths that I hope encourages y'all.
1. When the enemy tells you that no one likes you, remember that you are the apple of God's eye:
"Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me under the shadow of Your wings."
Psalm 17:8 (MEV)
2. When the enemy tells you that there is no hope, to give up, remember that your spirit is more powerful:
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
1 John 4:4 (MEV)
All of the lies that the enemy whispers to us are powerless if we remember to dress appropriately everyday by putting on the full armor of God.
Do you have any prayer requests? *I need to add one: A young expectant mother I know is having complications. Due date coming up soon, so please keep her in prayer!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Happy Monday, Friends! We truly have so many blessings, don't we! This past week, Kitty's family has a friend who died from an overdose, and I know two families devastated by suicide. Let us remember these families in prayer, and pray for people who are struggling during these contentious times.
For our encouragement today:
"But I trust in your unfailing love;my heart rejoices in your salvation."Psalm 13:5
Let's be the Best Dressed Christians not only this week but everyday!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
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