71
The Lounge / Re: Members birthdays
« Last post by Amanda_George on March 30, 2024, 07:29:25 AM »Our last birthday of March is tarle1976!
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Recent Posts
72
One Step At A Time / Re: fighting depression and getting back in shape
« Last post by Amanda_George on March 29, 2024, 01:19:40 PM »I just never "got" it... give me Red Dwarf any day though lol
73
One Step At A Time / Re: fighting depression and getting back in shape
« Last post by jali on March 29, 2024, 11:39:08 AM »Thank you for explaining... I just haven't watched South Park even when Steve did so I was getting confuzzled lol
Your new animation is great - keep going for as long as you enjoy it, Jali!
more then happy to clear things up,
74
Christian / Re: Devotions
« Last post by Pip on March 28, 2024, 03:11:39 PM »https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/05/22/looking-for-gods-goodness-while-waiting-for-his-good?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=257486051&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--pDzYOybax-fRQ9YWFdV5wCuWpHUFs11vWy3rryOpDPTaTuR8y1S3fWoWaKBj3K88KKILVeBUAPOTmB-xSzk5hwv_e3Q&utm_content=257486051&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
Looking for God’s Goodness While Waiting for His Good
May 22, 2023
by Alicia Bruxvoort
“Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13 (NLT)
“I know God can work all things for good,” I admit as we sit outside the coffee shop, hot mugs in our hands and warm sunshine on our backs. “I just wish He’d give me a glimpse of what He’s doing in all this.”
My friend doesn’t need a detailed definition of this. She’s walked me through a recent heartache and prayed with me for a miracle. She’s shown up with groceries, lattes and hugs and has refused to offer pithy platitudes when the outcome of our prayers hasn’t matched the longing of our hearts. I pull a yellow slip of paper from my pocket and hand it to her so she can read my scribbles: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV).
For months, I’ve carried this promise around as a reminder that even though my circumstances don’t feel good, God is still working for my good. I’ve turned Romans 8:28 into a prayer of faith, and I’ve waited expectantly for God to answer. Yet as my circumstances remain unchanging, my hope is slowly waning. My conversations with God have begun to shift from I know You can take this mess and do something marvelous with it ... to Where are You, and what are You doing?
As my friend and I sip our coffee, I wrap words around my discouragement, and she listens without judgment. She nods in understanding, then speaks a gentle truth: “Even when we can’t see how God is working for our good, we can choose to see His goodness.”
Her wisdom dangles in the silence between us as she digs for something in her purse. “I carry a verse with me too,” she says with a playful wink. “It’s a reminder to open my eyes.”
She hands me her phone, and I read the pixelated promise splayed across the screen: “Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).
The verse brings both comfort and conviction. When did I stop noticing the Lord’s goodness? I wonder as the psalmist’s words stir my heart. We head home when our coffee grows cold, and I tuck that crumpled piece of yellow paper inside my prayer journal. I won’t stop believing God’s promise in Romans 8:28 and waiting in expectation. But there’s something I need to do in the meantime. I turn to a fresh page in my journal. Lord, help me to see Your goodness, I whisper. I slow my swirling thoughts and think back through the moments of my day. Then I put pen to paper and name what I see:
1. A friend who speaks in love.
2. Tulips blooming in my yard.
2. Laughter around the dinner table.
My discouragement doesn’t instantly disappear, but as I turn my scribbles into praises, my heart feels lighter, and my frustration grows quieter. I close my journal and fold the corner of the page to mark my spot. Tomorrow I will pause to notice again. Because a wise friend is teaching me that even before we see God’s promised good, we can rejoice in His present goodness. And it’s there at the intersection of faith and sight that hope grows.
Looking for God’s Goodness While Waiting for His Good
May 22, 2023
by Alicia Bruxvoort
“Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13 (NLT)
“I know God can work all things for good,” I admit as we sit outside the coffee shop, hot mugs in our hands and warm sunshine on our backs. “I just wish He’d give me a glimpse of what He’s doing in all this.”
My friend doesn’t need a detailed definition of this. She’s walked me through a recent heartache and prayed with me for a miracle. She’s shown up with groceries, lattes and hugs and has refused to offer pithy platitudes when the outcome of our prayers hasn’t matched the longing of our hearts. I pull a yellow slip of paper from my pocket and hand it to her so she can read my scribbles: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV).
For months, I’ve carried this promise around as a reminder that even though my circumstances don’t feel good, God is still working for my good. I’ve turned Romans 8:28 into a prayer of faith, and I’ve waited expectantly for God to answer. Yet as my circumstances remain unchanging, my hope is slowly waning. My conversations with God have begun to shift from I know You can take this mess and do something marvelous with it ... to Where are You, and what are You doing?
As my friend and I sip our coffee, I wrap words around my discouragement, and she listens without judgment. She nods in understanding, then speaks a gentle truth: “Even when we can’t see how God is working for our good, we can choose to see His goodness.”
Her wisdom dangles in the silence between us as she digs for something in her purse. “I carry a verse with me too,” she says with a playful wink. “It’s a reminder to open my eyes.”
She hands me her phone, and I read the pixelated promise splayed across the screen: “Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).
The verse brings both comfort and conviction. When did I stop noticing the Lord’s goodness? I wonder as the psalmist’s words stir my heart. We head home when our coffee grows cold, and I tuck that crumpled piece of yellow paper inside my prayer journal. I won’t stop believing God’s promise in Romans 8:28 and waiting in expectation. But there’s something I need to do in the meantime. I turn to a fresh page in my journal. Lord, help me to see Your goodness, I whisper. I slow my swirling thoughts and think back through the moments of my day. Then I put pen to paper and name what I see:
1. A friend who speaks in love.
2. Tulips blooming in my yard.
2. Laughter around the dinner table.
My discouragement doesn’t instantly disappear, but as I turn my scribbles into praises, my heart feels lighter, and my frustration grows quieter. I close my journal and fold the corner of the page to mark my spot. Tomorrow I will pause to notice again. Because a wise friend is teaching me that even before we see God’s promised good, we can rejoice in His present goodness. And it’s there at the intersection of faith and sight that hope grows.
75
Christian / Re: Devotions
« Last post by Pip on March 28, 2024, 03:04:57 PM »https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/05/19/on-stashing-and-storing?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=257061469&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--7TgnOe4MhXdCnedIGoxTUhTbJlmYVzMd9cgYuL6Vjnxr0pT6AptCeq9SZ1c1FDWj0QYA6jmokFzyGYoSooBhwNxOYVA&utm_content=257061469&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
On Stashing and Storing
May 19, 2023
by Karen Ehman
“Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, That I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11 (AMP)
It was a sunny, 73-degree day, and I decided to take my laptop and some cold-brew coffee out to the back deck to continue whittling down my inbox in the fresh air. But as I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I spied my husband already out on the deck, putting on the patio furniture covers, stashing away the pillows, and cranking down the umbrella. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I was just about to take my coffee out there and work.”
“Check your weather app, Frances,” he chirped back, tossing in my middle name for a tease.
Sure enough, in less than a half hour, the brightly colored radar showed severe storms headed our way. A high-wind advisory had also been issued, thus my husband’s batten-down-the-hatches behavior. In just a few hours, the meteorologists’ predictions came true. Gusting winds, thunderbolts and lightning flashes ricocheted around our backyard. My husband’s careful and timely preparation had thwarted any damage to our patio furniture or anything that got in its way had the wind picked it up! Psalm 119:11 gives us a glimpse of a person who spiritually prepares for future storms specifically, the storms caused by temptations to sin: “Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
This depicts a person both treasuring and storing God’s Word in their heart to prevent the damage of sin that results when we choose wrongly. In the original rendering of this verse, the concept of both treasuring and storing Scripture is captured by a single Hebrew word: tsaphan. Upon studying this word, I can see why it is not easily translated into one simple English word. Tsaphan on one level means “to hide, save up, treasure or store.”
But it doesn’t stop there. It also portrays the acts of lurking, stealthily watching and ambushing! When we roll it all into one, we see just how to combat sin by having our hearts armed with the Word of God. Just like my husband secured and stored away our patio furniture before a huge thunderstorm, we can treasure and store Scripture in our hearts and call it to memory when we need it for weathering the temptations of sin that blow our way. God’s Word aids us in defending against Satan’s schemes. We can stand armed and ready to pull out the weapon of the Word when we feel enticed, just as Jesus did in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). When I am tempted to lash out in anger, James 1:19 can invade my thoughts and remind me, “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (CSB).
When I’m just about to open my mouth and let some gossip leak out, I can recall Proverbs 11:13: “A gossip goes around revealing a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence” (CSB).
Sometimes heartaches in life come from the wrong and sinful choices that we make. The fallout of such choices finds us anxious and regretful. But we can purpose to prepare for the temptations that lie ahead before they reach us by knowing that they’re inevitably coming (John 16:33). We can not only read and study our Bibles; we can also commit verses to memory. We’ll be better equipped to stand firm through life’s storms when we prepare for them before they’re here. Let’s prepare for the times of testing that most certainly come. When we treasure God’s Word enough to store it in our minds and hearts, we stand ready to rely on its power in times of turmoil or temptation.
On Stashing and Storing
May 19, 2023
by Karen Ehman
“Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, That I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11 (AMP)
It was a sunny, 73-degree day, and I decided to take my laptop and some cold-brew coffee out to the back deck to continue whittling down my inbox in the fresh air. But as I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I spied my husband already out on the deck, putting on the patio furniture covers, stashing away the pillows, and cranking down the umbrella. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I was just about to take my coffee out there and work.”
“Check your weather app, Frances,” he chirped back, tossing in my middle name for a tease.
Sure enough, in less than a half hour, the brightly colored radar showed severe storms headed our way. A high-wind advisory had also been issued, thus my husband’s batten-down-the-hatches behavior. In just a few hours, the meteorologists’ predictions came true. Gusting winds, thunderbolts and lightning flashes ricocheted around our backyard. My husband’s careful and timely preparation had thwarted any damage to our patio furniture or anything that got in its way had the wind picked it up! Psalm 119:11 gives us a glimpse of a person who spiritually prepares for future storms specifically, the storms caused by temptations to sin: “Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
This depicts a person both treasuring and storing God’s Word in their heart to prevent the damage of sin that results when we choose wrongly. In the original rendering of this verse, the concept of both treasuring and storing Scripture is captured by a single Hebrew word: tsaphan. Upon studying this word, I can see why it is not easily translated into one simple English word. Tsaphan on one level means “to hide, save up, treasure or store.”
But it doesn’t stop there. It also portrays the acts of lurking, stealthily watching and ambushing! When we roll it all into one, we see just how to combat sin by having our hearts armed with the Word of God. Just like my husband secured and stored away our patio furniture before a huge thunderstorm, we can treasure and store Scripture in our hearts and call it to memory when we need it for weathering the temptations of sin that blow our way. God’s Word aids us in defending against Satan’s schemes. We can stand armed and ready to pull out the weapon of the Word when we feel enticed, just as Jesus did in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). When I am tempted to lash out in anger, James 1:19 can invade my thoughts and remind me, “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (CSB).
When I’m just about to open my mouth and let some gossip leak out, I can recall Proverbs 11:13: “A gossip goes around revealing a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence” (CSB).
Sometimes heartaches in life come from the wrong and sinful choices that we make. The fallout of such choices finds us anxious and regretful. But we can purpose to prepare for the temptations that lie ahead before they reach us by knowing that they’re inevitably coming (John 16:33). We can not only read and study our Bibles; we can also commit verses to memory. We’ll be better equipped to stand firm through life’s storms when we prepare for them before they’re here. Let’s prepare for the times of testing that most certainly come. When we treasure God’s Word enough to store it in our minds and hearts, we stand ready to rely on its power in times of turmoil or temptation.
76
The Lounge / So proud of...
« Last post by Amanda_George on March 27, 2024, 04:11:50 PM »...my old secondary school and overwhelming pride for one of their recent Year 11 leavers!
Why?
Because not only has this young woman just left school, but she's jumped straight into life and sport and been picked as one of the Under 20's women's six nations rugby players, representing Scotland!!!
I haven't got a clue about anything else but my old school has proved that you can achieve your dreams by getting her so well trained that she's been picked to play professional rugby so soon after leaving compulsory education!
Don't give up on your dreams and use set-backs as stepping stones!
Why?
Because not only has this young woman just left school, but she's jumped straight into life and sport and been picked as one of the Under 20's women's six nations rugby players, representing Scotland!!!
I haven't got a clue about anything else but my old school has proved that you can achieve your dreams by getting her so well trained that she's been picked to play professional rugby so soon after leaving compulsory education!
Don't give up on your dreams and use set-backs as stepping stones!
77
One Step At A Time / Re: fighting depression and getting back in shape
« Last post by Amanda_George on March 27, 2024, 08:15:40 AM »Thank you for explaining... I just haven't watched South Park even when Steve did so I was getting confuzzled lol
Your new animation is great - keep going for as long as you enjoy it, Jali!
Your new animation is great - keep going for as long as you enjoy it, Jali!
78
One Step At A Time / Re: fighting depression and getting back in shape
« Last post by jali on March 26, 2024, 05:11:38 PM »Hi Guys,
Just finished another one, trying my hand at short form videos, this should allow me to upload more often, instead of every 8 to 12 weeks, hope you like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6hLvTjuSLM
Good going, Jali!
I'm soo out of touch with South Park now and didn't recognise the two characters in the classroom... are they new characters or do I need to catch up on the last 7-10 years since I last watched an episode? lol
hi, sorry for the late reply, its stan and Kyle, but the character designs and animated are done in the style of a cartoon called the loud house, hence the different look,
anyway I just finished another piece, it's the Chinese &$%+ty wok guy from south park,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jftIXIt8j0U
79
The Lounge / Re: Members birthdays
« Last post by Pip on March 23, 2024, 03:49:13 PM »Belated Happy Birthday Becks87!
80
The Lounge / Re: Members birthdays
« Last post by Amanda_George on March 22, 2024, 10:38:31 AM »It's your turn today, Becks87! 