My favorite wacky holiday (though I do not claim it to be wacky) is National Teddy Bear Day.  A national day set aside to especially enjoy our teddy bears. This year it is September 9.

Here are a few “Teddy Bear Day” activities for you:

at Crosswalk dot com you can find this e-card to send

at A Kids Heart dot com there are many fun activities and printable color pages

About dot com offers a list of things to do to make the day filled with fun

e-How author AuntPhyl has prepared some wonderful ideas to celebrate the day.

You are never too old for a teddy bear. So grab your favorite and spend the day enjoying the love and comfort he/she has to offer.

Remember, too, there is One who loves us even more than our teddy bear does.  Jesus Christ.

And God will generously provide all you need. 2 Cor 9:8 NLT

A recent post by Victoria Gaines at Windows to My Soul got my mind whirling.  She talks about a friend asking for prayer and making a long list of needs.  Victoria comments we must focus on Him alone.  It reminded me of a simple action of my grandson one day and reminded me of how I forget to focus on Him.

Weston wanted an ice cream treat, and being a good grandma I agreed.  I went to the freezer to get his treat but in the meantime he had started to play a game of spin around. I was holding out the ice cream for him to take but he didn’t see me. He wasn’t looking at me. He was busy spinning and reciting the ABCs.

I wonder how often do we do that to God. You need something and you pray for it, then you turn away from God’s face. You start to worry, you fret. You wring your hands and start looking for ways to solve the problem yourself. (I know this scenario very well, I have experienced it numerous times first hand).

In the meantime God is waiting with His hands out, offering you the resolution. But you can’t see that offered hand because you are busy worrying. 

I am reading the Max Lucado book “ Every Day Deserves a Chance ” and he repeats a phrase I have heard on many occasions. “When you worry you do not pray. When you pray you do not worry.” You cannot do both at the same. Are you spinning around in circles reciting your list of unmet needs?  Or are you standing in His presence ready to receive His gift?

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. Phil 4:19 KJV

To get your copy of Max Lucado’s book and help support Bear Witness, click on the link below.

Every Day Deserves a Chance Doesn’t every day deserve a chance to be a good day? An opportunity? A shot? A tryout? An audition? A swing at the plate? After all: “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” But what of those days when traffic snarls, airports close, friends forget, and spouses complain? Or divorce days, final exam days, surgery days, tax days, or even days when the cemetery dirt is still fresh? “Yes, every day,” says best-selling author Max Lucado. In Every Day Deserves a Chance he unpacks Jesus’ delightful formula for upgrading each of your days to blue ribbon status: saturate your day in Jesus’ grace; entrust your day to His oversight; accept His direction. Grace. Oversight. Direction. G-O-D. The perfect prescription for filling your day with divine power and giving every day a chance.

 

 

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In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha who was always doing good and helping the poor.   Acts 9:36

  I recently completed knitting a beautiful shawl I found in a book titled "Prayer Shawl Ministry".  I enjoyed the leisurely pace of knitting which allowed time to be still and listen for God’s still voice.I find knitting to be relaxing and an escape from the busy world around me.  The pattern is attractive and I especially like the decorative edging.  I have prepared a slide show of the shawl being modeled by my teddy bears and some Knitting Bible Study friends. It is part of a contest sponsored by Lion Brand Yarn Company. You can check it out and make comments on the project as well as vote for it.

Like Tabitha, I enjoy doing things for others and can’t wait to give this to someone who would enjoy it.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.            Romans 3:23

My grandson was visiting the other day. I left him in the playroom while I went to the other side of the house to do some chore or other.  Soon after I left the room my grandson appeared at my side (he’s 3) with his head down telling me he had to go lay down.  “Are you sleepy” I asked. “I broke the lamp, I have to go lay down” he replied. He stood before me humbled, repentant and ready for the punishment due him. 

When I look back on that scene I see this as how God wants us to come to Him.  We are to confess our sins and be repentant. Come humbly before the Lord.

It’s so hard to admit when we are wrong (I’m not the only one with this minor flaw am I?) but we are told that we must admit we have sinned and ask God’s forgiveness. There are still consequences with each decision and our repentance does not free us from them. No one is blameless and no matter how hard we try we are not perfect. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Jesus came to earth, died on the cross, was buried and resurrected to save the sinner (I Timothy 1:15) to take away our sins. (1John 3:5) so that we may live eternally in heaven (2 Cor 5:1)

I recently posted about the first meeting of a Knitting Bible Study I hosted. I received some emails asking for details of the study. Here is my copy of the first semester. In this semester you will teach Cast On (I taught long tail for this lesson), Knit, Purl, Decrease, and Increase (yarn over and front to back).

I am currently doing the class twice a month but the class is discussing meeting weekly. The weekly meetings would be good for knitting together, especially when learning the craft.  Perhaps on the alternate weeks the same lesson would be discussed again, this time in more detail as there would be have been a week to think on the scripture that was taught the previous week.

The document is in DOC format. (Word 2003)  This is still a work in progress.  I will post the next section when I get it organized. Our new semester will start in January so I am trying to get it finalized now.  Please be sure to let me know how you were able to use this study. 

Knit Bible Study download, click here.

I was reading the story of Cinderella to my granddaughter the other day and I reached the part where the Prince was trying the glass slipper on the step mother and step sisters. The shoe did not fit. The Prince asked the step mother “are there any other girls in this household?”. I was reminded of the story of David when Samuel went to the home of Jesse to find the king God chose to replace Saul.

Samuel went to the home of Jesse and asked him to bring all his sons so he see which one God had chosen. Jesse presented his sons to Samuel, one by one. He had not called David, his youngest in the fields where he tended sheep.

One by one the sons of Jesse are paraded in front of Samuel. Each has height and strength and features making him pleasant to look upon and an authority men would follow. Samuel rejected each, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I San 16:7)

“Do you have any other sons?” Jesse tells him about David who is small of stature and young. Jesse sends for David and God tells Samuel this is the one to be anointed. Man would not look twice at David, a young shepherd boy who spent his time in the fields caring for the family flock, but God saw David’s heart and knew this was a man who sought to please the Lord. Like Cinderella, David was chosen to leave behind a simple life to move into a place of royalty.

The next time you feel too small or unimportant to serve God, remember David and how he was called from the fields where he led a flock of sheep to an empire where he led the people of God.

Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right. Heb 5:14 NLT

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.  1 John 4:12 NLT

My grandson and I like to sit on my back porch. While there we can see the sun and feel its warmth. During the spring we can see the rain and in winter watch and feel the snow falling. But when it comes to the wind, we can feel it’s effect as it blows across our cheeks, and we can see the leaves swirling; but we cannot “see” the wind.

Man cannot see God, however we can see the wonders and works of God. We can see Him in the majestic mountains, the glorious sunrise, and even the changing seasons. If we love God others can see Him through us. Our actions and words should reflect the God of the universe. They should be as fluttering leaves, carried by the invisible force that is God.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:17