I am pleased to announce that I have had the opportunity to upgrade to a domain name; Yippee!

As such, I was able to import the entirety of this blog to my new site, so you can still view any of your old, favorite posts!

If interested, here is my new address, http://www.stonerosevalley.com; I hope to see you all there!

Can’t follow the link? Leave me a comment here, and I’ll give you the complete address!

Just a heads up that I’m moving….yes, again. Check back for a link to the new site!

I was reading in Elizabeth George’s book, “Loving God With All Your Mind”, this morning. The back cover (and I don’t know who wrote this) says “When we find our thoughts overwhelmed by fear, worry, and depression, it’s dificult to keep our minds focused on truth and joy!” And don’t I know it! As I’ve mentioned before, I face depression on a fairly regular basis; worry and fear even more. And I feel robbed of truth and joy constantly. George writes in chapter 2, “Crippling fear comes to us for a variety of reasons.” I can completely identify with paragraph six…I too worry that I shall be single all the days of my life. I know, though, that God has called me at this time in my life, right now, to be single. “So”, as Matthew 6:34 says, “do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.”

I was also reading in Hebrews 13 today, and this passage stuck out to me in the context of what is written above…”‘Make sure that [you are]…content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid…” verses five and six. And verses 8, 15, and 16; “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever…Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

I do not know what God has for me in my years of singleness, but I do know it is not to be pining away for the married life; that’s definitely not being “content with what you have”. Jesus is the same, always and forever, and His Word never changes. He has given me a purpose for this time; He has given me things to do and plans to accomplish; and I should not be shirking them. If you ever struggle with feeling as though God can’t possibly love you if you’re still single, take a look at the following verses…you’ll have to change your mind.
“‘Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the LORD of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,’ says your God. ‘For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the LORD your Redeemer. ‘O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones. All your sons will be taught of the LORD; and the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings out a weapon for its work; and I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,’ declares the LORD.” Isaiah 54:4-8, 11-17.

White Rose

“When I saw, I reflected on it; I looked, and received instruction.” Proverbs 24:32

Rose Arbour

“Because he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My sight!” Isaiah 65:16

I came across this today while surfing the Vox neighborhood. For those of you interested in everything food, from the prep beforehand to the presentation of it at the actual event, this blog’s for you! CordonBlue’s Blog; From Montreal poutine to haute cuisine has it all. So go check it out if you have a few minutes…or a whole afternoon-’cause after you take a look, you may need that long to try your hand at some of her items. Enjoy!

“One person can have a profound effect on another. And two people…well, two people can work miracles. They can change a whole town. They can change the world.” Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider.

I just found this to be an interesting quote…one worth pondering. Is this why (OK, only one reason why; I know there are many more) we long to be not just “one person” but “two”? To work miracles, change a town, and potentially, change the world?
Not to focus too much on “two people”; so to be that “one person” who “can have a profound effect on another”. What a joy! And a blessing if you make it.
Have you stopped to think what kind of effect you’re having on another? Is it the sort of effect that draws them up, to make you and/or them people who can change the world, for the better? Or do you lessen them, tear them down; and make your mark on the world as one who changes the world-tearing it down and making it less than what it was created to be?
Think about it.

I used to think that, at some point, life has to get easier. I think now that assumption is wrong. Dead wrong.

Life doesn’t get easier. The older you get, the harder it gets. But maybe that’s as it should be; right? Look at like this; we’re constantly growing older, so we should, theoretically, be also growing wiser. If we’re growing wiser, we should be able to cope with things that previously we couldn’t. Life should constantly grow harder.

I’ve decided I hate cancer. Who doesn’t, really? It’s an evil thing. But I have to remind myself to look for the good in it. Is that like an oxy-moron? The good in an evil thing? Anyway…

“To look at a thing is quite different from seeing it; for one does not see anything, until one sees it’s true beauty.”

So, what’s the beauty to be found in something as ugly as cancer? I think it’s what you let the circumstance make of you. The lessons to be learned through it.
And most importantly; where it brings you in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

My grandmother was just diagnosed with cancer. A friend of mine has it. Another friend died from it last year. Until then, cancer was just some word that didn’t mean much to me. Now, it’s way to real.
But I’m determined I’ll learn something in this. That I will allow it to improve my life; not detract from it.
And I will have a positive attitude through this time. Come what may; Lord be my help, the Rock on which I stand, the Helper of my countenance.

“The Lord brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.”

Psalm 40:2,3

I know I have been awful about posting (or should I say, not posting) here lately(OK, for the last month or so), but as above quoted, The Lord has brought me out of the pit. Not out of stormy seas; pain and sorrow; but out of that place where I was stuck. He has given me a new song to sing. I am included in that “many who will see and fear, and put their trust in Him”.
While I do not look forward to the next couple of months, I can now see a way to survive them, upon that Rock where “my footsteps will be firm”.