Tag: god

Please Pray for Keri

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

Keri is the youngest daughter of our dear friends and her sister Kristen is our daughter’s close friend.  Keri is a wife, mother to two young boys, and a Pharmacist, but more importantly, Keri is God’s servant.  She is in ICU and has a clot in her brain after two operations for a cyst.  The prognosis does not look good. I do not believe in prognosis because I believe in God, who formed us in our mother’s womb.  I believe in God who knew us before we even came into this world and had our life’s paths laid out. If I could, I would stand on the highest mountain and proclaim His sovereignty to the world and then humble myself lower than the beach’s sands to ask for Keri’s healing. So, will you please join me in praying for Keri?

Heavenly Father,

I come before you, face down at the hem of your robe to ask for Keri’s healing. Father, your greatness has now been seen and recognized throughout the world. You stopped this world and started healing and revival, which has not occurred in hundreds of years. We know that great things happen after 40 days of struggle, and I beg for Keri’s 40 days to be over, and Your light to break through like the dawn and her healing to quickly appear!! Please open the pathways around the clot and allow the blood to flow again. 

Father, please heal Keri just as you did the Centurion’s servant with a word because of the Centurion’s faith.  We know Your power and believe in Your healing for Keri. And if our faith is insufficient, please give us more faith for Keri’s healing! I ask that you fill her hospital room with the sweet aroma of Jesus and bring complete healing to her brain!

In Jesus Christ’s Almighty Name, I Pray!

Amen!

Silly Is Me or Enjoying the Wait

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

We have finally moved into our home and out of our camper!  The millions of boxes scattered around our home, waiting to be unpacked have not fazed me yet.  Ok, maybe not millions but it sure looks and feels like it.  Once we got into the house, we had to start making various phone calls concerning establishing certain services and getting things shipped to our new address.

I came to realize I am spending a lot of time on hold on my phone. But, have no fear for I developed a system for having fun, getting exercise, and boosting your mood all while waiting. The first thing I do before making the call is to insert my earbuds into my ears.  Whether it is automated answering or a person in evidently there is a waiting period, so you might as well be prepared.

Once I am put on hold, the music starts playing to let me know they have not hung up on me. And I am sure because the music is either smooth jazz or soft orchestra, they are hoping to soothe the waiting customer. When the music starts playing, I begin to dance, and I try to use my upper body as well as my lower body, thus the exercise part. When the music stops, I freeze into a statue.  Then as the music restarts, because they have extended my hold, I begin to dance again.  Time passes without my mind stewing over the fact that I am on hold for a longer period of time than I would like, and my mood is lifted.

Not a dancer, you say? Well, I have an alternative for those who like to sit while on hold.

Start by listing, either on paper or in your mind, the things you are grateful for and don’t stop until you reach at least one hundred.  For example, “Thank you Lord for giving me another day.”  And just keep going and if you can’t think of one hundred, look around my friend.  Everything you have, everything you are, and every little minute detail of this world was made for us by God!

Remember, even when you are on hold or waiting in a line, God has given you the opportunity to practice kindness, patience, and love.  Just three of the virtues He would like for us to possess and utilize each day of our lives!

I have to get back to my unpacking!

Always remember and never forget…God Loves You!

God Bless You!

 

Covid 19 Quarantine’s Golden Nuggets

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

These past four weeks of being quarantined in our camper have been challenging at times, frustrating at times, and pure hell at other times.  We are not only victims of the virus but the weather, laundry, and other essential items we take for granted when living in a home.  With that said, we are still exceedingly blessed and grateful to even have a camper to hunker down inside!

I have realized that the only way to survive difficult times is to find the hidden golden nuggets buried within each day.  Golden nuggets can be anything from something or someone who made you smile, relieved your stress, or opened your mind to a new possibility. And golden nuggets are hidden everywhere in our lives because as soon as we start focusing on them, we begin to unearth more and more.

A golden nugget that we unearthed while being in the camper is radio television. When the internet signal was weak, we would have to switch over to television found using our antenna. You remember those, don’t you?  Radio signal tv was how we use to have to watch tv growing up, or when I was a single parent because I could not afford cable. Radio signal television soon became our golden nugget with a cooking channel, and a channel of seventy’s shows, and our favorite, Grit TV.

As a family, we have fallen in love with the channel Grit TV.  The channel plays old western movies and television shows, some I have never seen.  Which goes to prove I am not as old as my children think! I adore seeing John Wayne as a very young man in the old 1930 movies.  They demonstrate how The Duke stayed true to himself throughout his career.  And then there is Randolph Scott, Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans, along with mired other actors whose storyline was always a moral lesson.  Even our dogs are loving the campfire songs, sung in them.  They climb on the back bed, snuggle up, and blissfully sleep to the twang of the guitars.

During one of the old movies, I was surprised to learn a bible verse that I did not know existed.  The blacksmith in the movie spouted bible verses when conversing with others.  Most of them are commonly known except this one.  I even had the audaciousness to emphatically state during the movie, “That is not a bible verse!”  And then I reached for my bible.

Ok, it is a bible verse! I was wrong. But it is kind of an off the wall statement.

1 Timothy 5:23

“Stop drinking only water and use a little wine because of your stomach and frequent illnesses.”

The Apostle Paul is giving advice to Timothy concerning his health issues.  Of course, during biblical times wine was probably safer than water to drink.  And with the way we treat our environment, we might be heading back to that point again. Something to think about.

To me, it was a double golden nugget find! Finding a new bible verse and a realization that they too had water-related health problems.

I understand that this is a frightening time for everyone and their families.  We need to rely on our understanding of God and His love for us.  Which is more than you or I can begin to fathom. Stand firm on the fact that He will never leave you.

So, take time each day to begin finding those “golden nuggets” in your life.  You can get your children to participate too. Cut nugget shapes out of yellow paper and write on each one their nugget finds. You can even turn it into a game of hide and seek. Then re-read each one to remind yourself and family how truly blessed you are during this time.

Maybe it will be a new gold rush!

 

God loves you!

God Bless You!

HUMANITY IS THE PROBLEM WITH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS!

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

When I first sat down to write about Wednesday’s shooting in Parkland, Florida, my article was passionate with fire and tears.  And then I waited.  Each morning I have prayed to God and asked, “What do you want me to say?”  Finally a peace has entered my heart and I am ready to address this tragedy.

This is not a gun thing, it is a people thing. We are the problem and the reason children are killing children.  We have not provided the proper environments  for them to grow up.  We have made it hard on families to survive and have allowed others to draw the lines of hate and difference down each one of us.  American humanity is why school shootings are occurring.

In America, information is instant, violence is revered, and success is measured in millions of dollars and how many shiny things you own.   We, humans, possess no real worth, except what the world whispers in our ears.  Even in our church pews, we see the disintegration of love, faith, and hope.  For when the church doors open and everyone drives away, it is just another event checked off our weekly to do list. 

In James 1:23 -24 we are told…

“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

Americans and American Christians have forgotten what we look like and have allowed others to wipe away our faces!  Therefore, we are to blame for the 17 lives lost on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida!

The reasons are numerous, as to why we have lost our reflection.  And change is going to be a huge task with a lot of people coming together.  But it can be done!

One of the reasons, I think mental illness is so rampant is because of our healthcare system and the conglomerate of Pharmaceutical companies.  We can not afford to take care of ourselves and our children.  I know if I were a Physician or an owner of a Pharmaceutical company, I would not be wealthy.  Because how much money do you really need to live on.  You can’t take it with you, when you die.  And you can’t buy more time to live, because God does not take bribes.

So why the enormous amount of wealth accumulation?  Power?  You are nothing before the omniscient God and look pretty pathetic in mine. And, if you want to be revered for your work, make it available to everyone, not because you own a Ferrari.  You are not the things you own, in the end, but what you have contributed to humanity.

Our communities are another problem and how we outcast those who are not what we consider to be normal.  For what?  Do we see ourselves as a better part of a species, because we don’t have issues? Please, we are stinking, rotten manure when we don’t acknowledge respect and love to all humans! Especially those who are different.

Please, for the sake of the children, open your heart to real change.  Take action, don’t talk about it.  And if you are a community leader or elected official, you need to forget yourself and your agenda.  You need to do what is right for American children! Strip away the labels (Democrat/Republican) and come forward to the altar of God.  Repent of your selfishness and vow to do what is right!  Listen to what Jesus says to you and then do it!

Today the American mirror shows a face resembling Dorian Gray, but tomorrow it could resemble Jesus Christ, if we try!

May God bless those in Parkland, Florida with His love and comfort!!

 

 

Did You Leave Your First Love?

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

When we think back over our childhood years and our first love, we still have a sentimental impression left on our hearts.  Sometimes good and sometimes not so good.  But the memory is still there, and once in a while will re-surface to tug at your heart once more.

But do you know who your real first love is and should always be?  Jesus!  He knew us before we were born and designed our every molecule.  And I believe we knew Him too, until we journeyed to earth.  I believe because there are times when I am watching God’s wonderous creations, and a wave of immense homesickness swallows me.  My first love is back where I belong, for I don’t belong to this world, and my heart knows it. And there is this tug to be with Him.

In Revelation 2:3-4 Jesus says, “…and you have persevered and have patience and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Never-the-less I have this against you that you have left your first love.”

He does not say we have lost Him, only that we have left Him.  Has your church or family left Jesus?  Have you found it easy to abandon “Jesus First” in all things? Have the whispers of this world made wrong into right for you, even when the bible clearly states it is wrong?

We all find ourselves charging ahead in life and leaving our first love behind.  So caught up in the lights, and shiny things our eyes turn to focus more on them.  All because we are human.  But you know, when we realize we are off track and have wandered away; can we not re-adjust ourselves?

Recently, I started selling Rodan+Fields because I am in love with the skin care line!  One of their suggestions is to make an idea board so that you can visually see exactly what you want to accomplish by being a consultant.  I thought why not?

My vision board has four quadrants with pictures.  Each picture represents four things I would like to do with my earnings.  One picture concerns my husbands retirement.  He has taken care of us and I feel it is time for us to take care of him.  The second picture is of our family’s Disney trip years ago.  The kids, grandkids, and us.  This was a wonderful family vacation.  I would like to be able to go on many more family vacations.  The third picture concerns the dreams of our youngest son.  I would like to be able to help him.  And the fourth picture is a dream I have had for many years. Ever since I saw the abandoned school on highway 200 in South Carolina.  I want to take abandoned schools and redesign them into apartments for families who are struggling and homeless to live.  To give them a chance to breathe without worrying about bills.  And to provide the assistance they need for a brighter future.

Yes, when I dream, I dream big.  Because I have a big God!

Speaking of my big God; at the front and in the very center of my vision board, is a huge white cross.  Because none of my dreams or aspirations would be worth anything if God was not the center and forefront of everything I do!  Jesus is still my first love and will always be, I pray.

It is time for all of us to come back to our first love!  You can start by putting a white cross on everything you do.  A little reminder that God must come first.  Or start by praying to God, once a day.  Go to church. Join a bible study.

Your first love is waiting on you to return to Him!

God Bless You!

WHEN SUMMER PASSES BY SO SLOWLY

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

Most kids would love for summer to slow down and then be able to stay out of school a little longer.  For the Berry family, we have experienced the slow-moving months of June and July this summer.  Which is unusual for us, because we are usually left with wanting more of summer.

Our beloved older pets, Honey, 17-year-old dog, Cameron, 16-year-old dog, and Tiger, 14-year-old cat, started succumbing to their old age at the beginning of June.  We spent two months of long nights laying beside them as their bodies failed and their time to die drawing near each day.  We went to numerous vet visits, hoping for a simple answer or maybe an antibiotic would keep them with us.  But no, their time to leave us was near.  And we knew it.

The vets were surprised by their ages, but we wanted more time with them.  Honey, Cameron, and Tiger were our family.  When we went on family trips, they would pile into the camper with us.  The stories we have to tell and laugh over, because they were sharing our experiences with us.

During this time, from June to the end of July, time seemed to crawl.  And isn’t that the way it always is when a loved one is sick.  The suffering seems endless and time almost stands still.  Once they are gone, time to grieve is fleeting.  The world has a “just get over it” perspective on death, suffering, and pain.

But maybe if we paused long enough to wail from the belly, sob until our tears run dry, and shout our indignation at losing a loved one so loud it echoes within the earthly barriers; maybe then we would carry the laughter, the love, and the good memories longer in our hearts.

Now as July comes to an end, we only have Daisy (7-year-old dog) left, and our other baby’s ashes, along with wonderful memories and an immense love for each of them.  As for us, we still tear up when we talk of our pets and will for awhile.  And even though they are gone from our earthly lives, they always live within our hearts!

 

HOW TO SYNCHRONIZE YOUR LIFE.

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

As George charged forward in his effort to vanquish the enemy, his horse was shot out from under him.  Amid the chaos of bullets whizzing by, swords fiercely clanging, and arrows piercing the air, he found another horse! Quickly mounting this horse, George rushed back into the fray of battle.  Again, down went his horse and again another horse was found. By now General Braddock had been killed and the troops where in chaos, but the young Colonel was able to gain control of the British regiments and ensued an effective retreat!  His coat would later show he had survived four different bullets, with only a hole to display their departure.  George Washington was the only officer to come away unhurt during the battle on July 9, 1775 with the French and their Indian allies.

Later, when it was time for George to become the commander of Continental Army and fight against the British; George Washington wrote this in a letter to Martha.

Dear Martha:

It has been determined in Congress, that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my care…I shall rely, therefore, confidently on that Providence (God) which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me,  not doubting that I shall return safe to you in the fall.

Because of the old school wording, I substituted the word Providence for the word God.  You see, George Washington did not rely on good fortune or luck. George relied on God and in his relationship with God.  Everyday he prayed for an hour in the morning and an hour at night, no matter what was going on around him even the Revolutionary War.  And, George left  his men with strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed  during his time of prayer.

The men who served with George were amazed at the way he went into battle, boldly and confidently leading the charge and in full view of the enemy.  You see, during those days of war, the enemy tried to kill the commanding officers first, thus creating a possibility of retreat from the opposition.  So here is a man with the enemy’s target honed in on him yet, George Washington steps out boldly and confidently.  I bet some of the men thought he was a raving lunatic while others borrowed some of his courage to help them through.

 

I believe when you are in direct communication with God each day, your life changes dramatically.  You find yourself bowing to God’s will for your life and not to this world’s view of how you should live your life. And there is nothing in this world which can stop God’s will for you from being fulfilled when you are in sync with God.  And yes, I believe God meant for George Washington to lead America to victory over the British and then for him to become the first President of the USA.
What does your prayer life resemble?  Do you feel so overwhelmed by your day you believe you cannot find time to pray?  If you do, then you must find the time to pray! To learn to be totally dependent on Him for your every need.  All God wants from you is a relationship between Father and child.   Because the only way to get through the hard times is with God. And then when the good times come around, the feeling resembles flying through the air unencumbered…free!
My challenge to you for one month is to pray for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. First buy a daily devotional and bible (if you don’t have one.)  Find an area of your home where you can go, close the door and pray.  Tell your family this is your time and not to bother you.  Some of you may have to get up an hour earlier each morning.
This is how I pray in the mornings.
  1.  I read my devotion for the day.
  2. Then I read the selected bible verses with the devotional.
  3. Next I pull out the bible and read a section of it.  I suggests starting in John.
  4. I pray by starting with asking forgiveness, and then praise and thank God for everything He has done and continues to do for my family.
  5. The last part is my own petitions for my family, friends, and strangers.

In Jesus Name Amen.

This is how I pray at night.

  1. Read some more of my bible.
  2. Thanking and praising God for the day.
  3. Ask God to help me to be a better and kinder person.
  4. Bring any new revelations or frustrations from the day to Him.

In Jesus Name Amen.

Do you accept my challenge? I pray so.

DEUTERONOMY 6:5

“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”

 

God Bless You!

 

 

I Tried To Write At First, But Could Not Do It Without Jesus.

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

I tried to write a note to the Martinez family concerning their loss of their beloved child Jonathan.  My own mother and grandmother’s heart is shattered into pieces for what they are going through.  A child should never, never go through the shooting which happened in their classroom on Monday! And a parent should not have to bury their child!

Off to my prayer closet I went this morning, to discuss it over with Jesus before I began to write.

At first my tears and words were hot with anger.  Angry at every adult who has let evil take a child away from their earthly home and family.  I proclaimed to Jesus that if I were head of education in America, I would fight like a lioness against every local, state, and national representative in America for the money they waste. I would blast my disgust every day and in every way I could, over the mere pennies they spend on the children of America in comparison to the millions they spend on their own self-serving agendas. And in their pruned up faces, I would plaster the children’s faces who have lost their lives, not because of a gun but because of them and their greed!

“Read your devotion, Joni.” I heard Him say.

My devotion book is called Mornings with the Holy Spirit by Jennifer LeClaire.

April 11 is titled “Be Quick to Forgive.”

When you are angry and frustrated, you have to ask yourself an honest question: Have you let resentment build up in your heart? Unless you are intentional about forgiving and are quick to forgive – a residue of resentment will build up over your heart the way dirt builds up on a windshield. Over time it will sink down into your heart and form a root of bitterness. Anger and frustration are often rooted in a failure to forgive the little annoyances as they occur.  Eventually, the resentment pot boils over.  Be quick to forgive – every time you get slightly annoyed.  Be quick to forgive.

Suggested reading…Hebrews 12:15; Colossians 3:13; 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.

Wow! God came in loud and clear!

I serve a mighty God.  One who loves me and the whole world! Even if you don’t believe in Him, He believes in you!

After God set me straight, it took awhile before I was composed enough to exit my prayer closet.

I was ready to write the Martinez family a note…

 

Dear Martinez Family,

I will be praying for you and you will become a part of my permanent daily prayer list.  Jesus is the only one who can get you through this over whelming grief and heal your heart until you are with Jonathan again.

Today Jesus gave me this bible verse and I believe it is for you…

Matthew 18: 1-5

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And He said:

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,”

“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”

Jonathan is that child with Jesus and I know the angels are rejoicing because one of their own angels has returned home.

May God hold you in His loving arms always!

All my love and prayers,  Joni

 

Now, I ask you to join me in praying for the Martinez family.  Prayer is the greatest blessing we can do for one another on this earth!

God Bless You!  God Bless the families affected by Monday’s classroom shooting.