Pencil in His Hand: A Mother's Journal of Stories, Thoughts, and Poems.

  Photo: William Krause. Unsplash Thoughts on Surrender Sometimes, I wonder what it means to surrender to Jesus fully. I mean, I was born again quite a few years ago. I gave Him my heart, and my life. I definitely chose to follow Him. But I can see that slowly but surely in mine, as well as in the lives of all Christians, the self starts to crawl back towards the heart's throne, until eventually, he or she is sitting pretty once more. Of course, you are still saved, but Jesus is now off to one side, whilst you are in the driving seat. Until you and I get off that throne and hand over the crown as well as the keys over to Jesus, we are doomed to a life of failure. When we surrender, we give up our "rights." Our "right" to sleep in, our "right" to another slice of cake, our "right" to read a novel instead of God's Word, our "right" to be entertained, our "right" to be comfortable, our "right" to get even, or to...

  Give-Away Take it all, Lord take it all: I give it up to You. And if I take it  back again, I'll return it all anew For You are best and You are all, The only One I need: And when I give it all to You, from bondage  I am freed. *** Copyright: pencil in His Hand *** Love and prayers *** Find them here:

  Berg River Dearest Lord, I've been thinking about what it means to be a homemaker: mulling over words like sacrifice, obedience, surrender, as well as that long one that I can't remember right now, which speaks so eloquently of Your sacrifice.  Sometimes, when I'm pondering these aspects of being a homemaker, and indeed of being a Christian, a picture of a miserable, dull, doormat comes to mind, as I'm sure it does to many of us. But it shouldn't. Lord, You surrendered all, yet You were so strong, so royal, so peaceful, so full of joy as You walked with Your disciples and interacted with mankind here on Earth. You humbled Yourself and now You are exalted. So too, You call me to humble myself, to lay my life down here in the home. It's a daily surrender; a daily saying "No!" to the flesh. Some would definitely call it a doormat life. I disagree strongly. For just today I have been reminded of the countless blessings and enjoyments You allow me every d...