Category Archives: DEVOTIONAL WRITINGS

In The Garden

I love flowers in the garden. I don’t have a physical garden in my home but I’ll admit sometimes I go to Home Depot just to walk through the garden section and see all the pretty colors blooming.  I’ll see someone watering the plants and flowers to keep them alive and fresh.  As I step in the garden I start to think, there’s hope for me if I just plant a seed. I may not have a green thumb but I have a garden of hope.  You also can have a garden of hope. When we decide to plant seeds of hope, trust in God and water them regularly by reading God’s word we come alive.  If we allow God to grow us up in faith, love, and truth we will see the beauty that surrounds us when we are in the garden. 

How I Say Good Morning to God

My prayer this morning is simple. The words to the hymn I Am Thine O Lord say it all. Draw me nearer Lord, Nearer blessed Lord. My favorite verse says :

Consecrate me now, to thy service Lord, By the power of grace divine

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope and my will be lost in Thine. 

My morning prayer is Lord help us  live with purpose and grow closer to you. 

Now that’s what I call living on pitch.  It’s all about #thatworshiplife.

Express Yourself

Have you ever been told to think before you speak?  I remember being told by my parents, “Don’t just say the first thing that comes to mind, think first.”  I’m learning more and more that a soft answer turns away wrath. The Bible is clear about practicing self-control. It’s ok to get angry. It’s not ok to sin.  I’m still living and learning how to express myself as a child of God. I realize sometimes I have to open my heart before I open my mouth.  Sometimes it’s better to open my heart and shut my mouth until the right time.  Now that’s what I call living on pitch.

Out With The Old

I have been doing some spring cleaning which I think I started a little late.  It feels good to purge things that are no longer being used or get rid of old and unwanted items that just seem to collect dust on my shelves.  I am starting to feel like I need to make room for something.  I am not quite sure what it is yet, but I will keep on purging.  I sang  these words  in church recently  “my storage is empty and I am available to you” and it reminded me to think about the life God has given me and how I want to give back to Him.  I need to ask the Holy Spirit to just clean and empty out the internal closet and dust off the shelves.  I can’t let sin settle in or pride trap me in. It amazes me how God controls the pouring in as I do the emptying out.  I love 1 John 1:9 (ESV) which says if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  God’s word promises that He will fill us, strengthen and renew us. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, clean out my cabinets of sin, remove fear and doubt, cleanse me, and wash me  inside and out. Release me from the stuff that holds me back, the old and messy things that try to hide inside my heart. Purify me Lord and make me to be what you would have me to be. Amen

Preparation for Celebration

It’s been a long time since I wrote something here and I have missed my blogging time. I pray you have been living on pitch. It’s been about 30 days of preparation for a celebration, so there is no gloom in my June. I am a happy camper. Over the past month I’ve watched families and friends gather to celebrate Jr. and Sr. proms, graduations, accomplishments and the beginning of new chapters unfold.  It’s a blessing to share in so many celebrations. Preparing for the celebration isn’t that easy though. Navigating through timelines and schedules requires keeping everybody and everything on track. As I look at my life that’s all I’m doing is preparing for a celebration. I’m trying to stay on track & live on pitch. Whether it’s 30 days at a time or 30 minutes at a time, heaven is what I live for. I long to celebrate Jesus as the Lord and Savior who gave His life just for me.  Lord, prepare me is my prayer today. 

Here’s one way to prepare shown in the photo below. Now tell me how do you prepare for a celebration? 

Impossible

Sometimes I think certain things are just not possible for me to do. I try but I just can’t seem to make as much progress as I would like to. I start to think this is impossible. Recently, I struggled to put a drawer back in the refrigerator after cleaning it out. The drawer got stuck and I kept trying to force it back in it’s space, but it was impossible. The final score was Refrigerator: 1 Me: 0   I lost and I didn’t really understand why the drawer I took out would not go back in. I finally gave up because it just didn’t make sense to me.  I stepped back and thought about how living healthy, living financially fit, living spiritually fit and keeping relationships alive at work, home and church can seem impossible to manage at times. It could be like that drawer in my refrigerator and trying to force things back into place is not always the best course to take. Sometimes you have to pull things out, throw away old stuff, and even put things aside for a minute and reconfigure life. I’ve learned to examine myself but never give up, because it seems impossible. I know that with God all things are possible!