God's Little, Yet Big Blessings.

    God knows just what we need when we need it. Last week at work, I had a long day doing a difficult task. Which left my arms very sore the next morning. So sore that I was not sure how I was going to do my job. I figured worse case, I would be slow. Anyways, once I arrived at work a coworker offered to switch jobs for the first hour of our day when our tasks were next to each other. Allowing my arm to rest for a bit before heading to my next task. Very sweet of her. I accepted the offer and we started our day. 

    An hour later it was time to head to my main job for the day. As I arrived at my station my supervisor informed me that I would be training two new coworkers on the sanding job I do. Just what the doctor ordered. A day of rest for my arms, all while being productive. I started to explain to my new coworkers the process for sanding the part I spent much of my time on. I said a silent prayer of thanksgiving for this blessing. I thought about how God cares for me. He created the universe and all that is in it, and yet He still cares for me and all the little details of my day and my life. I am blessed. "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Matt 6:26. Not the verse I was thinking about originally, but it works. God cares for the flowers and birds, so how much more will He care for you and me? So much more. Not only does He care for me, but He knows me by name.

    Some might call that day a coincidence or good luck. I call it a blessed life, the beautiful result of believing in and having a personal relationship with The God who created the heavens and the earth.

    So the next time you wonder if God really cares or sees you. Just know He does care, and, He is always with you.

God Bless Friends

~Hannah

Nero as a puppy. My sister's dog.

Taking Control of My Thoughts

    God has been reminding me about the importance of taking control of my thoughts and not letting my thoughts control me. It can be too easy to let one little frustration ruin your mood or even your whole day. I can easily spend hrs complaining about someone in the privacy of my imagination, but I do not want that anymore. I do not want to let the negativity of the world around me control my thoughts or my mood, or anything else.

    Over the last few weeks, God has been encouraging me to listen to more worship music and take my mind off my negative thoughts, and redirect them to Him and His glory.

    Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." God does not want us to be consumed by the world. He wants us to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." Romans 12:2 (not the full verse).

    One day I was frustrated by something and after allowing myself to stew over it for a little while, because there is nothing wrong with being upset. God has given us feelings for a reason. We just cannot use those feelings as our defense to hurt others or ourselves. We need to focus more on Jesus and less on our emotions or circumstances which are causing these emotions. Because the more we focus on Jesus, the better our life will be.

    So, after I have stewed in my frustration for a little while I ask myself why I am upset and start to break down the problem. Did someone offend me and I need to talk to them? Did someone cut me off on the road and "made me late" for something? Or did I simply take someone's words the wrong way and allow myself to be hurt and offended when they never intended to hurt me in the first place? Then I pray and ask God to help me in whatever action plan I need to take.

    We are in control of our thoughts, but like the muscles in our body, if we want to strengthen them, then we need to exercise that muscle, and in this case, we need to spend time with God. Whether that be reading our Bible, praying, listening to worship music, sermons, or whatever way you connect to God. Because when we connect with God, it changes everything.

    I enjoy a few podcasts, and in one episode recently they talked about when you read your Bible, do not look for how the story applies to your life. Look for God instead. Yes, look for personal application afterward, but first, look for God and what He is doing in the story. I think it is a beautiful way to approach The Scriptures. So often we read and wonder what we can get out of it when it is not about us, it is about God. Another application for this Bible study approach is to look around the world and at your own life and look for God there. Where do you see the hand of God working in your community, workplace, school, and your own family? I guarantee if we stop looking for ourselves and what we can get out of God we will see a whole new side of God we never expected to see and grow that much closer to Him in the process. Because that is what it is all about. God put us on this earth to glorify Him, and last I checked, letting our emotions get the better of us, does not glorify Him.

    I have been amazed and blessed by how simply putting in my ear bud at work or while taking Blessing for a walk, and listening to some worship music for a few minutes can change my entire mood.

    The local Christian radio station here has been encouraging their listeners to partake in their "30-day challenge" where you listen to only Christian music for 30 days and see how you feel at the end of the challenge. They encourage you to keep a journal of how you are feeling as you work through the challenge and then tell them about it. I have been unofficially following their challenge (did not sign up on their website nor am I counting off 30 days) and as you can see from this post it has been changing my life and the lives around me.

    So, friends, I hope the new year finds you healthy and excited about what God has in store for you this year. I am looking forward to completing a handful of goals that God has reignited a fire in my heart for and I am excited to see them come to fruition. I know it has been a couple of crazy years with Covid and all, but praise God we are past it now. I was reminded just before the holidays that everyone in my family was healthy, last year several of us contracted Covid and spent the holidays in Quarantine.

    If you are not a big new years resolution kind of person, that's okay, but maybe consider a small resolution like taking control of your thoughts. It's a small action, with big results.

God Bless

~Hannah

Like this picture, with God, our future is bright and beautiful.