A stuffed nose and echoing ears

Yes - I have a cold. I feel like I'm sitting outside listening to the crickets (the noise in my ears) and I can't smell the fresh air or hardly breathe! (my stuffed nose) . My husband's has it bad too - his is wheezing and coughing and his cough can be heard a couple miles away and then there alot of spitting going on. Of yes, laugh if you must, we can't even sleep together. No it's a cough here, a cough there, a kleenix here, a kleenix there. And we're kinda .... dull....

Even though my senses have been dulled by Mr. Virus who came home with us from Minneapolis after an amazing weekend, God remains. His voice comes though, His aroma is still strong.

Where?

~~When I met a young single mom who needed to talk, God brought His word to my mind to share with her.
~~God prompted me to pray for a friend, write her an email and encourage her in a difficult marriage.
~~When my hubby prays with me - seems like this cold slowed him down and praying together again has been a Joy!
~~In His word - I'm reading through the Bible this year. Today I started in Leviticus - the book of worship. How appropriate and wonderful with my word being Praise this year!
~~He continues to teach me about His presence through devotionals and books. Right now I'm reading "Living the Lord's Prayer". I'll share some quotes later.
~~In the lives of the the 7 women in our community Bible study. They are a gift.
~~Through a young couple who we've sort of adopted, praying with them and listening, encouraging.

Everywhere we go and every experience we have we can hear His promptings and leave His aroma. How's your hearing? Is your nose stuffed up? What are you smelling lately?

2 Corinthians 2:15 - For we are the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

Exquisite fragrance, a sweet scent rising up to the Lord. Now that's the kind of thing I want to smell.

The 3 P's

Praise -- the 1st word that the Lord gave me for 2010. "Let all that I am Praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His Holy name." The Lord is calling me to Praise Him this year. How can I do that?

• I'm playing a praise song to start my prayer time. I put my CD's nearby and God seems to direct me to which song to play. (Of course I have a good selection - I love music.)
• I listen to Him and write down words that seem to pop out of the song or off the pages of my Bible
• I count my blessing -- and there are a million (I guess I can't count ALL of them everyday). I'm really trying to have a grateful heart.

I love Praising Him -- alone, in church, or in the car singing loud with my hubby.

Why do I praise Him? I read somewhere that praise is a powerful tool because God's presence comes to dwell in our midst when we worship Him.

PRESENCE - that's the 2nd word the Lord is giving me.

In His presence I will find healing and transformation for my life. Why do I need this?

• I am selfish & want to be more like Jesus and put Him in 1st place. I wrote in my journal a prayer about having a "hungry plea for His presence".
• I want healing - for different things in my life, one being my shoulder/neck/feet pain -- I want to prepare a place for His presence in my life and focus on Him, not my pain.
• As Jesus touches my heart with His presence He transforms me - not into a better person - but His. That blows me away!

Then HE send me His POWER - that's the 3rd word in the P group. His Gentle Holy Power. The Power He left us. It never ceased to amaze me. He sends me His power when I pray with others, when I hear myself giving them His words, with tears come for lost loved ones. I see His power through my hubby when he teaches God's word to others, I read about His power through others testimony on these blogs, I hear His Power today in the fierce and strong wind, I feel His power through the love of others.

Praise Him today.

Inquire & Require His Presence as a vital and daily need in your life.

Seek His Power and hand over the reigns over your life so His Power can flow through you every part of you!

Have Your Way.

Lying in bed the other night and trying to get to sleep......annoyed by my husband's persistent and loud coughing (we call it the Haugen cough), the Lord gave me this 4 word prayer ....

Lord, Have Your Way.

Have Your way, Lord

Not my way.

Your way.

Completely.

I-- is off the hook.
I -- is not in charge.
I -- does not need her way.
I -- no longer has to worry or fret or plan or have an agenda.
I -- never had control anyway.

Have Your way, Lord.

He is already answering this prayer..........and what a Joyful, Peaceful, Amazing

WAY it is.

Words Put Before Me

Reading is a great love of mine. I read books, magazines, devotionals, the Bible, saying on cards, words on pictures. Many times when I'm reading someone I know comes to my mind and I send them a Bible verse, a paragraph from a book I'm reading, or a cute saying. Here's a few things I've been reading lately that really caught my heart.

~~~ At the "perfect" age of 120, Moses caught a NEW vision of the promises of God. So, how about asking God to help you grow in faith beyond anything you have known yet. Anna spoke words over the newborn Christ, words that strengthened the faith of many. Why not ask God to give you words for others that will give life and strength?

~~~Is your body lying down, and your mind sitting up? If anxious thoughts keep you awake, ask the Lord to quiet your heart and give you the faith to be able to relax and let Him solve the problems that disturb you. (Read Psalm 4)

~~~The Bible is an expression of the very heart of God.

~~~Uncertainties can dominate and rule a person's life. Do we have to have all the answers? Do we need all the whys answered? Faith is not trusting in your understanding of the circumstances. Faith is trusting in His Word! The enemies of God will use fear, discouragement, and frustration to wear down those who are following God in obedience. We must keep our EYES on Jesus....for the EYE of God is on us. (Read Ezra 5)

~~~There's no other name by which I am saved. The world has nothing for me. CAPTURE ME WITH GRACE.

~~~So let's:

PURSUE God --- more than ourselves
DRAW Closer to God ---- more than entertainment (TV, computer, sports, etc.)
BE GROUNDED ------- know God and know ourselves

It's a NEW year!

SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR DAYS AHEAD.....

SING FOR JOY
SHOUT
COME BEFORE THE LORD
GIVE THANKS
SHOUT
WORSHIP
BOW DOWN
KNEEL
SEEK HIS GLORY
SEARCH HIS WORD
OFFER
TREMBLE
STAY CLOSE