Be Strong & Take Heart
Psalm 31:24 "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."
I felt a strong desire to begin my blog with scripture today instead of placing it at the end because I am trying to be more courageous and strengthen my heart and mind. All my hope is in the Lord. I’m still dealing with the neck pain that I mentioned in an earlier post. I’m trying to be patient and work slower, so I don’t aggravate the pain further.
There’s so much talk about the upcoming holidays and everyone’s plans. The hustle and bustle of cooking, cleaning, family time, and Black Friday shopping too. And so many social media posts about being thankful for family and friends. Likewise, I’m thankful for family and friends for checking on me and helping me out whenever possible. I have always been independent and never asked for much help before this but now that I need it I am so grateful for everyone. I’m also thankful to the Lord for everyday and every blessing in my life.
As usual, I have been listening to the alternative Christian music and I’m so overwhelmed with the testimonies in the songs I’ve heard. There’s Thankful For You and Made to Love by Toby Mac, Changed by Jordan Feliz, Without You by For King and Country, and Different by Micah Tyler. At the end of Micah’s song, it shows the scripture Romans 12:2 - “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” The testimonies I hear in these songs bring me inspiration and hope and they are most definitely serving God’s purpose for the artists. I am grateful for all the Christian music I listen to.
Last week, I found the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I had a very good start on reading it, but I’ve had to work for the past 3 days. But I have the next 7 days to get back into reading it. God is really working wonders for me lately. He shows me how much I am loved. He shows me perfect blessings right at the perfect time. For instance, I felt overwhelmed from a very, very, very bad day on Tuesday the 13th when I left work and found the Toby Mac Elements CD in the mail from a contest I had signed up for. Then on Friday the 16th, I was feeling pretty crappy from the neck pain and was paged to security guard’s desk because someone had delivered flowers for me. Mind you, it was two months past my wedding anniversary and I had no clue who they were from. It was my wonderful and beautiful younger sister that surprised me with a single rose. “Because I love you and you're the best sister EVER. Happy Thanksgiving. Love, Candy Jo.” Those were the sweetest words I needed to hear that day.
Oh, my goodness! I just remembered something else I wanted to share with you. There are only two nights
a week that I watch television. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE This Is Us on NBC Tuesday nights. I’m sure everyone that watches would agree that Mandy Moore had the perfect angelic voice while singing “Invisible Ink.” Perfection at its best. The words. The voice singing it. The perfect moment. I could watch that scene and cry every time. Then on Wednesday nights, I watch and tweet with #OneChicago fans everywhere. Starting with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire then Chicago PD. I love the family feel. I love the humor. The entire cast on every show work well together during the cross-overs. They are an amazing crew. I must give credit to the amazing writers of all these shows too. Okay, that’s all about that for now. Maybe I’ll write about the finale that’s coming up.
Happy Thanksgiving to ALL everywhere in the world. God bless.
