Chocolate Paradise – Guest Post – Kathy Howard

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Lynn

Readers of Journey Thoughts will recognize my friend, Kathy Howard immediately.  Her books have been on my “Best 10 Christian Books” the last two years, with “God’s Truth Revealed” and “Unshakeable Faith“, and I had the privilege of interviewing her on Journey Thoughts once before.  Kathy is currently leading a Facebook group, Reading the Bible Together(Chronologically) in 2012, and I am thoroughly enjoying it!  She will be leading a study of the book of Ephesians beginning Wed. Jan. 18 on her blogsite.  I plan on joining her…will you?  http://www.kathyhoward.org/why-dont-you-just-grow-up-youre-invited-to-study-ephesians

Chocolate paradise and every spiritual blessing

– Kathy Howard-

Chocolate surrounded me. Left, right, ahead, and behind. Everywhere I turned, chocolate lay in great mounds. Every shape and size, wrapped and unwrapped, with nuts and without, cream-filled and nougat, round and rectangle. I have dreamed of a chocolate paradise such as this many times, but this wasn’t a dream.

This time I stood in an actual chocolate paradise. This was not some average, American chocolate shop. I had the joy of salivating in a European chocolate establishment. (And yes, Hershey, they do it better.) The chocolate aroma overwhelmed me and I had to squash the thought of Eve eyeing the forbidden fruit.

Everything I could have hoped for was here – plus many I could have never imagined. The tantalizing smorgasbord of tastes and textures excited me. Chocolate with coconut for my husband? Three choices! Sugar-free chocolate for my diabetic father-in-law? Oh yes, more than he could ever eat! The experience far surpassed my greatest chocolate fantasy. I left with gifts in one hand and my own personal stash in the other.

This morning I fondly thought about this chocolate shop visit when I read through the Bible book of Ephesians. Here’s a couple of passages that thrilled me:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3, NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20, NIV

I know my chocolate experience is a weak analogy for these glorious promises, but no physical comparison can measure up to the spiritual blessing God desires to pour into our lives. (So everything considered, being set loose with an unlimited chocolate selection was a good choice.)

Are you experiencing “every spiritual blessing in Christ?” Have you witnessed God do “immeasurable more than all you can ask or imagine?” I honestly can’t say I have, but I’m growing that direction. Want to come along?

You’re invited to join me in a study of the book of Ephesians. “Growing Up Together – a study of Ephesians,” begins Wednesday, January 18th on my blogsite. You can visit my blog now for a bit more information.

Do you long to experience God’s blessing in your life? In what areas do you feel your faith needs to grow?

Kathy Howard calls herself a “confused southerner.” Raised in Louisiana, she and her husband have lived all over North America. She doesn’t know whether to say “coke” and “ya’ll” or “pop” and “you guys.” But this Southern girl loves to encourage women through teaching and writing about God’s Word. Find out more about Kathy’s Bible studies and speaking ministry and get lots of free resources at www.kathyhoward.org

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A Parenting Faux Pas

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Lynn

Regret weighs a person down.  Regret, for the most part, cannot be undone.  It reminds us of things we should have done, but didn’t.  We had the opportunity in front of us, but let it slip away.  Regret can haunt us if we dwell on all the “what ifs” in life.  It will stop us from moving forward if we carry regret with us like that proverbial monkey on our back.

Certainly all of us have a certain number of regrets in our life.  I have a long list, some I won’t share here for obvious reasons, but God is helping me deal with all of them.  As a parent, there were times when I have said the wrong thing, or did the wrong thing (sometimes with the best of intentions).  Now, when my kids are young adults, they have no problem reminding me about the times I really messed up when they were younger.  Luckily, most of my mistakes can be laughed off by my kids and I have become the brunt of some of their more good-natured teasing throughout the years.  So we mostly laugh off some of my more comical and less-than-stellar parenting skills and my kids seem to have turned out to be fairly well-adjusted human beings all things considered.

I know that my latest parenting faux pas will likely be remembered for years to come and will no doubt go down in my son’s memory record as the “worst Christmas present Mom ever got for me”.  I had no idea that putting a picture of my son on a t-shirt would elicit such a backlash of criticism.  Apparently, according to my family, one does not put pictures of oneself on ones t-shirt and then actually wear said t-shirt…ever!

I thought it was a great idea at the time.  I found a funny picture of my son, had it printed on a t-shirt thinking he would think it funny and unique.  He was more than a little mortified.  “When would I ever wear this, Mom?” he demanded.

“I don’t know, maybe to work?”

Yeah, it got the same reaction from my son…”Are you serious, Mom?  I can’t wear a picture of “me” to work!”

All my other suggestions like wearing it to church, or around friends, or even use the t-shirt as a rag to polish his car, were met with the same “are you kidding me?” looks.  Lesson learned.  Do not put pictures of your children on t-shirts and expect them to wear the t-shirt…I wonder if that goes for grandchildren too?

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Journey Thoughts Best Christian Books of 2011

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Lynn

It is always exciting to get some accolades for my writing, and 2011 was a very good year for me in that sense as I received a Canadian Christian Writing Award for my blog AND my book Heal the Wounded was awarded a Bronze Medal in the 2011 Readers Favorite Book Awards.

That said, I read some VERY good books this year and it is hard to narrow down the list to just ten favorites.  Now I know I’m not the New York Times Best Sellers List or anything, but here are my ten favorites for 2011.  I invite my readers to add to this list by telling me some of their favourites in 2011 too.  Just leave a comment below.

1.  “Following God One Yes At a Time – Overcoming the 6 Barriers That Hold You Back ” by Connie Cavanaugh

2.  “Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back” by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent

3.  “Unshakeable Faith – 8 Traits for Rock-Solid Living” by Kathy Howard

4.  “Forbidden” (The Book of Mortals) by Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee

5.   “Courageous Living: Dare to Take a Stand” by Michael Catt (Note: The other “Courageous” books are worthy of mention: “Courageous” A Novel – Randy Alcorn; “The Resolution for Men” – Stephen Kendrick et. al.; “The Resolution for Women” – Priscilla Shirer et. al.; “Courageous Living Bible Study Leader Kit” – Michael Catt et. al.)

6.  “The Promise of Deer Run” by Elaine Marie Cooper

7.  “The Search“(Lancaster County Secrets) by Suzanne Woods Fisher

8.  “Stess- Free Believers: Turn Worry into Faith, Turmoil into Peace” by Harold Metzel

9.  “People of the Book” (Extreme Devotion) by Kathi Macias

10.  “When Worlds Collide: Stepping Up and Standing Out in an Anti-God Culture” by Michael & Daniel Blackaby

And I am going to add another book this year to the list.  It’s not really a “book” per se but a compilation of first chapters from the John 3:16 Network of authors.

“Taste and See, A Sampling of First Chapters by John 3:16 Marketing Network Authors” – Lorilyn Roberts (editor)

Happy New Year!  Happy Reading!…and to all my author friends…Happy Writing!!

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