Personal History

After yesterday’s on and off again storms, I woke up today to mostly sunny skies, moderate temperatures and a dog that was eager to go out and explore his new domain.  I have to keep reminding myself that I have absolutely nothing to get or be anxious about here in my new home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.  After pushing myself for months getting the house ready for sale, dealing with the showings, the offers, the packing and then the following move out and in again to the new place…  All that “gotta get it done” is… well… done!

Now what?  Okay let’s see… the first order of business is to take care of the car and driver’s licensing, auto insurance, new health insurance and the other ten or so immediate things that come with moving to a new state.  But, it’s not my first rodeo, so I’ll just get it done one step at a time… while learning something called: “RELAXING”

I keep thinking about how Piper’s and my history brought us out here to Oklahoma… twice!  And as I sat on the balcony reading from the book of Ephesians, I had more opportunity to consider what the history books will say about the life and times of Jim and Piper Berruto.  I like what the God’s Word © translation says about history.  I tend to personalize most everything I read when I study the Bible, so Ephesians 1:10 said to me today that “God planned to bring all of Piper’s and my history (as well as all of yours) to its goal in Christ.”  The very next verse in The Message paraphrase would tend to agree with that thought as it declares that “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for…”

While a cool and refreshing breeze blew about Fiver and I on the balcony, I began to laugh as I had the sudden idea that Piper’s and my history must have been pretty decent as it seemed like the devil unknowingly put God’s stamp of approval on it… through all the vicious personal attacks that he (the enemy of our souls) unleased on us during the years of Piper’s illness.  Hummm… that’s kind of a cool way to think about it!

Our Pastor was teaching on fear yesterday and spoke on one of Piper’s and my LONG-TIME favorite verses found in 2 Timothy 1:7 where Paul taught his young protégé saying “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (KJV)  Pastor Hagin stated that when fear moves in you lose POWER.  You lose the ability to LOVE and you lose SOUNDNESS OF MIND, which results in you making decisions that a SOUND MIND would never allow.

Well, that sent a chill through my body because that is exactly what we saw happening around us over the last twelve years.  But the chill came not with that realization, but with the realization of how AWFUL it must have been for those caught in the clutches of such debilitating and panic driven fear… With NO strength to overcome it, no ability to walk in giving and grace-filled love, and all the while, continually doing and saying hurtful things that a sound mind would never allow to be spoken and/or acted upon!  YIKES!  You talk about a SCARY situation to find yourself in!

As I pondered all of this, I realized the goodness of the Lord in preparing us for our future history that He started at the beginnings of our relationship.  For as far as I can remember, 2 Timothy 1:7, Philippians 4:13 and 19 and Joshua 1:9 were some of the first scriptures that Piper and I took deep into our hearts and made to be active participants in our lives. 

So, when the hardest of times came upon us, we already had a history of God’s strength in our lives to fall back on.  We quickly identified the various forms that fear tried to take in the attack on Piper’s health and turned our eyes away from what our physical senses were screaming at us and looked to the overwhelming truth of God’s Word and the history of it working in our lives over the 37 years of being together when we received that first negative doctor’s report in July of 2007… right here in Broken Arrow!

So yeah… history has its place throughout our lives!  In many respects, our past history saved us when the present troubles became evident in Piper’s and my lives.  Have you every thought about your past and present histories?  What will it say about you?  Will it help or hinder you in troubled times… as well as in the good times!  I am looking forward to my history of the past, present and of that which is yet to be written, to carry me joyfully into the next chapter of my life.  How about you?

Have a great week, and as you do, continue to say with me… “I am expecting my history to work great things in my life today!”

Learning the Unforced Rhythms of Grace…

“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.”                Matthew 11:29

I came across this version of Matthew 11:29 last week and it literally shook me… but in a very meaningful way!  I’ve been really pushing myself this last month with the house sale, move, memory upon memory and my new life in Oklahoma.  I reached a point yesterday afternoon where I felt like I just couldn’t physically go on any further.  Headache, body ache, heartache… you name it… it ached!

But I stopped and dragged myself up into a chair at the dining room table, opened up my laptop to my Bible Study program and clicked on Matthew 11:29 in The Message paraphrase Bible.  And it was like a sudden shock of fresh air similar to the effect of when I would walk from the green house into the store at the Home Depot in Tulsa, OK where I worked from 2006-2009… when the summer temperatures were 100+ degrees with 90% humidity outside and around 68 degrees inside!  I am not exaggerating one bit when I say it was a SHOCKING EXPERIENCE!

The reality of the “unforced rhythms of (God’s) grace” flowing over and through me had that same effect yesterday.  It was better than a cold sip of Gatorade anytime!

I’ve always had a good sense of rhythm.  I would say that it has to have come from my folks.  It was a funny thing though… My Mom had a beautiful voice and loved to sing, while my Dad couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket – but get them on the dance floor when a 1940’s swing song was playing and the floor cleared as others watched in awe at their smiling faces and graceful moves.  My Mom told the story of the first time they danced at a USO dance in New York during WW2.  She said that she thought that he was "so stuck up" because he hardly talked.  My Dad later confided in her that he was very nervous and counting his steps!

I always thought that I wanted to be a drummer until I tried it for a few months in Jr Hi with a friend’s band and discovered that it was too hard for me to sing and play drums at the same time!  So, singing won out and I took up the guitar!

I always played rhythm guitar in the two bands I was a part of in Jr and Sr high, as well as with the various church praise and worship teams that we were a part of over the years.  I loved the tone and sound of the strings being strummed in cadence to the beat and seemed to have little difficulty with any rhythm pattern.  When Piper got sick though, I seemed to have lost my inspiration… and whatever talent I had and haven’t played now for years.  When I was packing my two guitars a few weeks ago, I sat on the coffee table and attempted to play a couple of familiar songs and found it hard not only to remember the chords but also the rhythmic patterns of the music.

That kind of describes my life since Piper passed nine months ago.  Yesterday seemed to be a zero point, but that verse and the thoughts of God’s “unforced rhythms of grace” snapped me back into a place of expectation and of remembrance for all the “rhythms of grace” that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit had played in Piper’s and my life over the 48 years of our precious time together.  That renewed expectation and those happy remembrances flooded my heart and mind with His JOY and that JOY brought me back to His place of STRENGHT as stated Nehemiah 8:10.

Today I awoke determined to perpetrate His Joy and His peace into every part of every task I take on.  To allow His sweet “unforced rhythms of grace” to drive the tempo of my day… and with each of the seemingly 1 billion things left to do on my “To-Do” list before we drive away this coming Saturday!

How are you doing today?  Is there something that’s attempting to break up the tempo that God wants for you to flow in today?  Well, then take a moment, sit down, take a deep breath, open up your Bible, meditate on His Word and then speak it out so you too can “learn the unforced rhythms of (God’s) grace” for YOUR life… and then DO IT!

Have a good week.  I’ll be on and off the air this week as services get disconnected here and reconnected there.  But I’ll stay in touch as best I can… as I flow in HIS “unforced rhythms of grace”  …along with you!

An Old Family Recipe!

“I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty.  Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”   Philippians 4:12-13 (The Message)

This week has been kind of crazy as I have been pushing myself ever closer to the goal of getting us moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma by the end of next week.  I just received notice from our realtor that we successfully passed the Due Diligence period and are now free to finalize all of our moving plans both here and in Oklahoma!  I was quite pleased as almost all of the concerns on the house inspection report were simple wear and tear items like old water stains, a few holes or worn areas in the vinyl siding or wood that might need to be replaced on the back deck.

I had been thinking that I was doing a pretty good job handling everything… that is… until this morning!   I awoke rather early… so what else is new… and found myself fighting off an uncharacteristically high amount of anxious thoughts about all that still needs to be done.  But in the midst of a steaming hot shower, I suddenly found myself speaking out the Word of God and realized the almost instant peace it brought to me, especially when it came to Philippians 4:13, which is and OLD friend of Piper’s and mine since the early days of our relationship!

As soon as I got out of the shower and ready for the day, I headed into the dining room and took the time to really study out that verse… again!  It is uncanny how much encouragement and empowerment that is connected to that portion of scripture.  Before I actually sat down at the table, I stopped at one of the few pictures of Piper still up on the wall and was momentarily hampered by a wave of sorrow, sadness and self-pity as I briefly considered the potential harshness of walking into something entirely new for me without the ability to hold her hand!  But again, I thought of Philippians 4:13 and how the Word says that I can do all things through Christ, and settled right down within the truth of HIS reality!

While studying out the individual words and phrases of the verse, I renewed my understanding that with God’s anointed Word actively working for and through me, I have the strength to overcome anything… including, the world without Piper.  I also took extra special note of Philippians 4:12 as stated in The Message Bible, where it tells us that Philippians 4:13 is the answer to my concerns for today… and every other day for that matter.  Here the Apostle Paul proclaimed, “I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty.” And then goes on to explain that “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”

That, my faithful readers, is the answer to all that we each face throughout our lives.  For me it was this morning, for you it might be another day… perhaps tomorrow.  But no matter what the day is, no matter what the situation or need is, we NOW have the recipe for God’s victory in our lives!  The answer lies in not what you might have been thinking about yourself, or in your abilities, or based on some story someone else has made up about you… the truth of who you and I are is WHO THE WORD SAYS WE ARE!

I was rejuvenated this morning with the FACTS of God’s Word and now know that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (EMTV)  What about you?  Get in the Word and find out all the loving and utterly fantastic things that IT says about you!  It will change your life as you move forth with a correct image of yourself within the empowerment of His Word that you put inside of you! 

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, do it all within HIS STRENGTH and say with me… “This is my expectation today: that ‘Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.‘”

Decisions, Decisions…

I got up around 6:00 this morning and spent a few moments staring at the early morning scene that was dawning before me as I stood at the back window.  The sun had not yet peeked its golden glow over the eastern horizon and thereby forced my attention to more of what I could hear than what I could see.  What arose to my audible senses was the orchestration of singing birds, the faint rustle of the leaves shimmering in a soft breeze and the symphony of a quiet, peaceful and thought-provoking morning.

In an instant I was transported back to the memories of our quiet early morning campgrounds that we stayed in over the years… be it amongst the tall giants in the Redwood forests or the thick pine groves snuggled in the beauty of Plumas or Sierra Counties in northern California.  What came strongly upon me was the wonderful feelings of peace, comfort and joy as I sat alone at the picnic table with a hot cup of coffee, my open Bible and my trusty Geodex notebook, that still sits next to me as I study the Bible today!

Since it was still a little early for me to get up today, I returned to bed, pulled up the covers and contemplated those marvelous times as the first one up in camp within the soft stirrings of the forest and the slowly awakening campgrounds.  In the early years I would complete my morning study, quietly re-enter the tent and gently rub Piper’s arm or back to arouse her from a deep slumber that seemed to be a part and parcel of our camping adventures!  In later years the kids would come bounding out of the tent one by one to greet me and have me accompany them down the camp road that was almost hidden by the big trees on the way to the restroom.  Then when we returned, Piper would peek out her head from the side of the tent flap and brighten the whole camp with that wonderful, heart-warming smile of hers! 

With all those wonderful memories flooding my being, I couldn’t help but fall back asleep with a smile upon my face!

So… that was all part of the life we chose to live.  A life that was loyal to each other and to God.  It seems like each of us are faced on a daily basis with decisions that challenge us to decide who or what we will be loyal to.  Deuteronomy 30:20 tells us “Love the LORD your God, obey him, and be loyal to him.  For he is thy life, and the length of thy days…” (God’s Word©/KJV)  For us, those challenges were too insignificant and came too late!  We had already made up our minds.  We always chose life… we always chose God!  How about you?

Have a great week, and as you do, think about how’ll you’ll decide when faced with those challenges and then say with me… “I am expecting to choose God’s life and God’s ways today!”

My Stability

I hope that everyone here in the states had a wonderful Memorial Day as we celebrated the lives of those who gave the highest sacrifice in order for us to enjoy the freedoms that we many times tend to take for granted.

I spent a good part of Saturday digging out empty boxes and throwing out the ingredients of a few others that Josh and I stacked in there from the attic on Wednesday.  Sunday was quite a bit more difficult as I began to pack up the kitchen cabinets.  I was a little unprepared for all the memories that would come rushing over me as I handled all the dishes, bowls, serving trays and the pots and pans.  It quickly dawned on me the kitchen was the center of activity for our home.  It along with the dining/family room were Piper’s domain.  I can’t tell of all the hours the whole family spent in there sharing the cooking responsibilities, telling stories, laughing, joking and even at times, dancing around the room!

So, by late afternoon, I was completely spent, physically, spiritually and mostly, emotionally.  Then as I was sitting on the floor barely attempting to fill up another box, my neighbor and her little dog appeared at our front door!  I was never so happy to see someone.  It was like a breath of heaven and I told her so!  She stayed for a short period of time and as she was leaving, I shared how hard it was for me to not be sad over all the memories that the items in the kitchen represented to me.

And with that comment, she stopped in the doorway and with a smile said, “You have to remember that all those memories are happy memories… and that is what you need to dwell on!”  Well, that comment was what I needed to hear and I told her that yes, we really had a great marriage over all those years and I don’t have much of anything to complain about!  So, from now on, I choose to dwell on the happiness of all those memories!

I was reminded of that conversation as I started my Bible study today by writing down, as I do daily, my theme scripture verse for this year.  It comes from the end of I Peter 1:8 and declares, as I personalize it, “…because I actively believe in Him, I greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (NASB)  Then I encircle in red, the words REJOICE, JOY and FULL… just as Piper did in her old NASB Bible many years ago.

While writing it down today, I felt a spark of interest at the words “greatly rejoice.”  So, I looked it up in numerous translations as well as in the original Greek.  I found it interesting that most of the older versions do not include the word “greatly” while the majority of the newer ones I have include it or other descriptive terms to define something that is more than just a little bit of joy.  Strong’s explains this type of rejoicing as “much joy, to jump for joy, to be exceedingly glad.”  Robert’s Word Pictures states that it is the “active tense” of the verb.  (Have you ever stopped to consider all the ACTIVITY that the Christian walk involves?)

I especially liked what the Bible Illustrator said.  It describes “The Christian Joy” by saying that it is: “a present joy, a great joy, our privilege, our influence over others” and that “it is our own stability!”  Those descriptions nailed it for me and seemed to perfectly explain how the JOY of the Lord worked in, through and for us during our most trying times from 2007 until Piper’s home going in 2018.

I had realized early on after our return home from Oklahoma and things began to rapidly unwind with Piper’s health, that the one negative thing (if you can call it that!) with living with a very joyful person… is that you need to keep up the levels of joy in and around them as much as possible!  I quickly ascertained that this was going to be one of my greatest responsibilities, especially as her own ability to function independently decreased.

I’ve told of the difficulty I had when I felt that the Lord had told me that I needed to begin to lessen her interactions with those close to her, who refused to or simply could not put their own feelings aside and attempt to have some joy while in her presence.  Their sadness and depression would actually suck the JOY out of her.  It was amazing to see how it physically affected her… even after a short visit. 

What I didn’t realize at first, was that staying in an attitude of Godly JOY was just as important for me as it was for her.  Looking back today, I can see that I most likely would NOT have been able to do all the various facets of what I had to do in my care for her, if I had not had His JOY keeping me focused, strong emotionally and physically and mentally astute.

And today… Well, I need it more than ever without her!  Since she has been gone, my morning wake-ups have been… Oh, shall we say… EMPTY!  But after a couple of moments of singing simple praise songs and speaking out some very familiar scriptures, the JOY begins to percolate up from inside of me and I am ready to face the day.  Every morning and as I develop it throughout the day (through reading His Word, singing praise songs, listening to Christian music and personal scripture confession), I find myself experiencing exactly what the above explanation of CHRISTIAN JOY describes. 

For me it is a vital part of my daily existence.  It truly has become “My Present Joy, My Great Joy, My Privilege, a great part of My Influence over others” and I depend upon it to be “My Own Stability!” 

How about YOU?

Have a great week, and as you do, join me in declaring that… “I am expecting my Christian Joy to be my Present Joy, my Great Joy, my Privilege, my Influence and a big part of my Stability in life.”

Another WOW!

It looks like I haven’t written an actual blog post for some time now.  With everything going on with the house prep, showing, buyer inspections and packing, I’ve had a few things on my mind, I guess!  I have been able to put out a few quickie “Piper’s Story” journal entries and will continue to do so as time permits.  But regular blog posts may be few and far between for a month or two for the time being as I prepare and move to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.  I’ve decided to lease an apartment for six months in the same neighborhood where we lived back in 2006-2009.  This way I’ll be right back in familiar digs and hopefully the shock of a new place shouldn’t be that rough!

The six-month period will also afford me the time to settle in to the community, find the right church to plug into and just the right neighborhood to purchase a home and live!  At this point the moving van will be here on June 13^th and then we’ll be heading off to begin the next chapter of our life with family in the “Sooner State.”

It’s been a long and mountainous journey that we’ve walked on the way to where we are today.  The last thirteen years have been like none other before.  And while I don’t understand lots of it, I do continue to have that peace of God on the inside “which surpasses all understanding” and guards my “thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 KJV/God’s Word ©)

I have learned so much over these years and feel confident that God has some kind of plan for me to be of assistance to others who may be going through the most difficult times in their lives.  It will be interesting to see what’s ahead!  Like I have repeatedly shared… especially since Piper’s heavenly move eight months ago, the biggest key to our stability throughout our roller-coaster ride has been to “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in” and to “study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed…”  (Hebrews 12:2 MSG) As long as we kept our eyes on Him and the truth of His Word, we found that we were free to have an expectancy of His best working for us whether things looked positive or not.

I found myself captivated by something I recently read in John 8:31-32… and I’m taking the liberty to modernize a little here from the King James Version, “Then said Jesus to those who believe on him, If you continue in My word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”   What first caught my attention was the Greek definition of the word “continue.”  Strong’s says it means “to stay in a given place, state, relation or expectancy” while Thayer’s says it infers “to continue to be present.”

For us, success, peace of mind and strength was multiplied as we stayed in the PLACE and STATE of God’s Word, kept building our faith by the constant study of His Word and thereby continued to develop a strong and personal RELATIONSHIP with Him throughout the ups and downs of what we faced every single day.  Then, when you combine all those actions, we couldn’t help but to explode with EXPECTANCY toward His performing His Word on our behalf. (See: Jeremiah 1:12)

Along the way we came across those who, when push came to shove, seemed unable to continue in His Word.  Piper and I realized early on that we had the fight of our lives on our hands and quickly submitted ourselves to Him and the truth of His Word… no matter what negative symptoms we saw and experienced as time went on. (Let’s face it… as far as we were concerned, we had NO other choice!)  For some others… well, to be honest, I think that the natural circumstances tended to prevail over their faith.

In many conversations and corresponding actions, we saw the opposite to what Jesus spoke of in John 8:31-32.  We experienced people actually drawing away from us, which worked to reduce the closeness of their relationship to us and saw their expectancy in the wonders of God’s Word diminish as they tended to stay in a place and state where they allowed what they saw in the natural to guide their emotions, words and responses toward us.  In the end… they lost out on the last eight precious years of Piper’s life… and that has really saddened me. 

As Fiver and I were coming home from town the other day, I found myself praying aloud to God about all the lessons learned of late and clearly heard that small-still-voice inside of me say, “You can’t just expect people to do what is normally expected of them!”  All I could say once again was WOW! (I seem to be exclaiming that a lot lately!)  Another lesson learned!  Our experience demonstrated that the ONLY ONE who we can ALWAYS depend on to do what is expected of Him is God!  And once our dependence is firmly placed on Him, we discover that His truth will set us free!  It happened to us and I believe it will for you as well…

Have a great week!  I’m off to mow lawns, buy more boxes and then wait for our oldest son to fly in tomorrow to help me attack the storage in the attic!  Remember to continue in His Word and He’ll continue to work in and through you!  And while you’re at it, say with me… “I’m expecting GREAT things this week from God… how about you?”

One-Liners

one-lin·er

[ˈˌwən ˈlīnər]

NOUN

one-liners (plural noun)

a short joke or witty remark.

synonyms:

joke · witticism · funny remark · witty remark · jest · quip · pun · sally · pleasantry · epigram · aphorism · repartee · banter · bon mot · jibe · barb · jeer · sneer · taunt · insult · [more]

I was in the midst of doing something over the weekend and was feeling a bit lonely without Piper’s physical presence in my life, when I suddenly stopped and said aloud, “I’m having a hard time seeing myself going forward without Piper.”  And without missing a beat I heard that all familiar small still voice inside me say, “but you’ve been doing it for eight months now!”  Well that quick quip not only startled me out of my bout with self-pity but also made me laugh with understanding as I spoke out… “You know… You’re RIGHT!”

Well… that little conversation seemed to open up the door for a whole series of one-liners that the Lord spoke to me over the next couple of days!  Job 9:4 tells us that “God's wisdom is so deep, God's power so immense, who could take him on and come out in one piece?” (MSG)  I have to admit though, that these witty remarks from the Lord were far from deep but yet exactly what I needed to hear!  They reminded me of the little repartees that Piper would say to me when I said or did something funny, clumsy or just plain stupid.  She had a way to make a quick comeback that would either make me feel better, laugh or straighten myself out… and feel good about myself at the same time!

That’s how I felt the Lord talking to me over the weekend as I went room to room removing just about all the personal touches that I had displayed on the walls throughout the house.  It wasn’t the easiest job to perform as each one of those pictures or wall-hangings held special memories of experiences with Piper and the family.  To put it mildly, there were more than a few tears shed.

On Saturday evening as I was getting ready for bed, I began to think about my future in Oklahoma and I plopped down on the bed and whined: “I don’t really want to have to start all over again!” And there it was… that small still voice rose up from deep inside and plainly stated, “You’re not starting over again Jim, you’re continuing on with your life!”  Well, I’m not sure why, but that thought brought an instant measure of peace to me.

I realized that when Piper and I started out together we were just kids and through the next 48 years built a life bursting with meaningfull experiences, developed our God given gifts and talents and matured way beyond what we could have ever foreseen as those two fun-loving and goofy seventeen-year old’s!  And now, I’ve got all that in me as I continue to move forward with all the plans and purposes that the Father still has for me to complete for Him in this life!

So, that made me feel better as I face what lies ahead.  It’s not like I am starting out with an empty toolbox but one that is stuffed with many of the precise tools and gadgets that I will require in the coming years.

Then this morning while I was praying while shaving, I found myself thinking about all of those familiar scriptures that have become my best friends over the years of my Christian walk.  As I shifted gears and began to speak out those verses (without cutting myself with my five bladed Gillette razor, I might add!) it happened again!  From somewhere inside I heard that small still voice gently whispering, “You realize don’t you Jim, that the scriptures you've studied and confessed the most over all the years are the ones that have most often directly influenced your daily life.”

Well… that was one of those “Duh!” moments that made me stop in my downstroke with the razor and stuttered out, “Ye, ye, yeah… that’s right!”  And I was reminded of my morning Bible study yesterday when I got to thinking about how important it is to “activate” the Word that we put inside of our hearts.  I had written down in my notes that day that “The Word won’t work until you work the Word!” 

This morning I took a peek at the Apostle John’s first letter to his Christian brothers and sisters where he remarked “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (I John 3:18 KJV)  I found it interesting that the word “word” is talking about the “logos” or the written Word of God while “tongue” describes the spoken words of someone’s native language.  So, John is telling us that its not just good enough to talk about God’s Word or even make good confessions… but that we have to DO the word with our corresponding deeds or actions of faith!

So, there you go!  I got three quick one-liner lessons that I’ve passed on to you!  Sometimes we don’t need a whole sermon to get God’s point, but a simple one-liner that takes out all the fillers and goes right to the heart of the matter… in a most encouraging manner!  I hope that you all have a great new week ahead.  I’m hoping to get my house on the market by early next week… which means that I still have a lot to do, so I might not have too many more posts this week… but I’ll be back!  In the meantime, say with me… “I am expecting to hear, speak and act on some teachable moments from my Father God this week!”