Creation

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."  Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food."  And it was so.  God saw all that he had made and it was very good.  And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day." ~ Genesis 1:27-31

     I love to be out in nature and enjoy the beauty of what God has created.  Although I have allergies year round, I especially enjoy spring when everything is turning green.  I love to see flowers budding and bursting with color.  I am grateful when trees grow their leaves again providing shade. 
     I also really enjoy autumn and the bright colors of the leaves.  The various shades of red, orange, gold, and brown are spectacular against the bright blue sky.
     We had the opportunity to be in Clare, MI over the weekend.  As we sat on the deck of our cabin and looked out over the trees and fields, Russ and I talked about how peaceful it was and how we wished we had the thick woods and rolling hills of Clare closer to our home in Ohio.  We began talking about our family vacation next summer.  We would like to go back to Clare and spend a week there.  We would like to take some of the walking and biking trails with our daughters and experience God's creation in a different way than we can at home.
     Thank you, Lord, for the reminder this weekend that everything we see was created by you.  Indeed, we saw all that You have made and it is very good!

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.  You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:  all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.  O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! ~ Psalm 8

Praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.  Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.  Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.  Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.  Let them praise the name of the LORD for he commanded and they were created.  He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. ~ Psalm 148:1-6

"To whom will you compare me?  Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.  Lift your eyes and look to the heavenss:  Who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.  Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. ~ Isaiah 40:25-26

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." ~ Revelation 4:11

Daily Devotionals

I have been a follower of Jesus Christ for many years.  I was baptized in 1989. 

I believe that God has been with me throughout the joys and sorrows of my life.  God spoke to me when I was unhappy with my first teaching job out of college and told me that if I left, He would put me where I needed to be.  Three weeks after relocating for a new teaching position, I met my husband-to-be.  Russ & I were married almost 2 years later.

10 months after we got married, we had our first child, Shauna, in April 2001.  We knew that we wanted to have two children.  Our next two pregnancies ended in miscarriage.  I was very angry with God during these experiences because I thought, as God, He knew that the pregnancies would fail.  In my mind, I thought if I was going to have a miscarriage, I would rather not have been pregnant at all.  In January 2005, we welcomed another daughter, Maddyson.  Shortly after Maddy was born, we learned that she and I have a rare skin condition that is fatal to boys.  Although the miscarriages happened too early to determine the sex of the babies, we believe that they were probably boys.

During my struggle with being angry with God, I turned to the Bible for comfort.  I read the Women's Devotional Bible 2. 

More recently, Russ, who was a truck driver at the time, became unemployed for an extended period of time.  I spent a lot of time in prayer and Bible reading again to try to find God's direction for our lives.  I have developed a habit of reading some form of the Bible or a devotional almost every morning.  I am currently reading the Old Testament and Proverbs passages out a One-Year Bible.

I will be using the subject index at the back of that Bible as the basis for my devotional blogs.  I will list the subject(s) as the title and type in the Bible verses that correspond with the subject matter.  I plan to start with the subjects and devotionals that are listed on Mondays in The Women's Devotional Bible 2.  You will find these under the Monday Moments tab.

My prayer is that through reading these Scripture passages, people will either come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior for the first time or develop their relationship with God.  If you read my blog and are touched by anything that you read, I would love to hear from you.

Have a great day.

My Why

I am blessed with a full-time job as a music teacher.  I teach general music for grades 1-3, 5 and 6 and choir for junior high and high school students.  I just finished my 10th year of teaching at Stryker Local Schools.

On July 1, 2011 I began Miehls Healthy Life Source which is a home-based business.  My purpose for starting this business is to pay off debt.  I have tried other home businesses, such as Pampered Chef and Premier Designs.  While I loved the products, I didn't love that I was away from my family all day as a teacher and away from them again in the evenings with my second job.

With Miehls Healthy Life Source, I do not have to be away from home.  With my phone and computer, I walk potential enrollees through a series of videos on Delivering Wellness with Melaleuca.  There are 5 product lines:  EcoSense (cleaning and laundry), Vitality for Life (vitamins and supplements), Bath & Body, Sei Bella (cosmetics) and Pharmacy.  If the enrollee likes what he or she sees, I set up their account for them and help them place their first order.  I can still be present with my family while helping pay off debt.

My goal is to be debt-free in 5-10 years, but ideally it will be closer to 5.