Jody Lynne

Intersecting Life and Faith

Tag: friendship (page 1 of 3)

The Kitchen Sink

April 5, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I've spent many years looking out the kitchen window. Some views better than others, some in the country, some in the suburbs and some in the city. I first learned to wash dishes without a dishwasher standing at my mom's farmhouse sink with my sisters, one who usually had something she urgently needed to do when it was time to dry the dishes.

  Making today count by being thankful for what a day brings, even if the sun isn't shining...yet. French press coffee, a favorite coffee mug, green plants in the window, using a Christmas gift from a daughter, a spring dish towel and... ....a new way to practice hospitality

A gift from a dear friend who knew how much I love to bake and share with others. I spy a banana that needs to be used for banana bread!!

  I've often wondered what it is that makes me want to go to the kitchen, Why I Love to Bake, explains it all.  

“Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.”Walt Whitman

 

Sweeter Words Have Not Been Heard

April 7, 2016 / / 4 Comments
cropped-flower.jpgSweeter words have not been heard for a struggling, unbalanced writer.
I really miss reading your blog.
Those five words were the push I needed to hear to get me back to this space today. There are oodles of reasons why I have been silent. If you could see my brain and open my chest to see the pathways my heart is taking these days, you would understand why I struggle to get words flowing out of these fingertips. John Piper put it so well in the following quote about writing advice
There is the impulse to write, not only to learn and not only to create something beautiful or interesting or compelling, but also the impulse to instruct and awaken and delight and transform people into obedient worshippers of Christ. When this impulse takes hold of a person, he is experiencing a call from God to write. (5 Pieces of Writing Advice...)
I've often said I can not, not  write. I don't know if that is grammatically correct, but I have the impulse to write. I have a prayer journal, random pieces of paper on my desk and kitchen counter and recently I've added a wedding journal, so pen and paper are some of my best friends. The neglect of writing at Jody Lynne is a result of a well run dry because of grief that keeps knocking at my door, making plans for a future wedding celebration of one of our daughters and the arrival of a baby which my son and daughter-in-law will greet this summer, making me a grandmother for the first time.  Add keeping up with a 16 year old at my age, an active church and family life. Much needed quiet time has been the result of up and down emotions, needing to re-fuel. The beginning of 2016 brought many reasons to rejoice and to weep with those who weep. But today, with the encouragement to press on, I am going to do just that. I am reaching forward, running to the One who keeps this soul on track.
Brothers(and sisters), I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it(being fully mature), But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14
And thanks to the person, you know who you are, whose words were spoken at just the right time.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Proverbs 25:11

Life Map-New Year

January 1, 2016 / / 5 Comments
I don't remember when this post was originally written. It is probably several years old, but these points remain true as I focus on 2016. As I look back on 2015 I see personal loss but God in His infinite love and grace gave me gifts at the end of 2015 to look forward to in the coming year. A post regarding 2015 is still rambling around in the ole' brain. Life is one big adjustment. It seems from birth to the grave, adjustments are a part of life. But I have laid a firm foundation over the years, and these focus points bring great encouragement and comfort, because God and His Word are my firm foundation and He never changes.  images   1. In everything I do I want to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. (1 Corinthians 10:31) I want to be a  Christ follower, not just pursue the American dream of 2.5 children, a home and 2 cars in the garage. I want to know God who rescued me and loves me. I do this by making it my goal to read His Word everyday and attempting to pray without ceasing. I pray for people and circumstances as God brings them to mind. 2. Spend my life encouraging my family as a wife and mother; to exhort and encourage all women I am privileged to call my friends. I want to encourage them  to love God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind, and their neighbor as themselves. (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30) 3. To teach women how to love God's Word, encouraging them to love God by loving His Word. (Psalm 119:1) I do this by writing several blog posts a week, teaching women's Bible studies and Sunday School, giving birthday cards and gifts, praying and meeting with women whenever I can over coffee, lunch, meeting in my mom cave, or walking together at the local walking track. 4. Educate myself in the gifts I believe God has given me.  Continuing to hone counseling and  writing skill(or lack of), and reading many books to the glory of God. My first book, published in 2014, Confessions of a Farmer's Daughter can be purchased by clicking on the link from me. 5. Eat right and exercise on a regular basis, making it my goal to remain healthy to serve the Lord and  "look good" for my husband and no one else. His opinion is the only that matters. Keep communication open between my four children by texting, calling, emailing, visiting, and praying for them everyday. Ultimately I want to be a woman who knows charm is deceitful and beauty fades, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 31:30)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
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