Picture of the Day - Springtime in Texas Means Bluebonnets

It's springtime in Texas and that means it's Bluebonnet time!  Woohoo!

Picture a Day - The Drummond Ranch

For those folks for love watching The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network, you know why I was excited to visit Ree Drummond’s new store The Mercantile in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. 

On the way to the store, we passed the now famous Drummond Ranch. 

Beautiful countryside in Oklahoma, even in winter when things are brown and bare. 

Picture A Day - Behold the Man - Thorncrown Chapel

Even on a cold winter day with the trees bare and a cold breeze blowing the Thorncrown Chapel was beautiful.  From the outside, we could see the warm glow of a light inviting us in.  A somber and beautiful place.  I couldn't help but reflect on the crown of thorns that Jesus willingly bore on His way to the cross.  He willingly went to the cross to bear our sins.  His atoning death on the cross paid the penalty for my sin.  My sin debt was paid in full that day over 2,000 years ago.  Thank Father for giving Your Son.  Thank You Jesus for bearing my sin, so one day I could be clothed in Your righteousness.  Thank You Holy Spirit for opening my eyes to see the truth in Scripture of my sin and my need for a Savior, Christ Jesus is the Promised Messiah.  Jesus alone is The Way, The Truth and The Life and no one comes unto the Father except through Him.  

Has your sin debt been paid in full?  Have you been clothed in the righteousness of Christ?  

If not, today can be your day of salvation if you will repent of your sin, believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and confess Him with your mouth.  

Wouldn't you like to know with absolute certainty, that no matter what happens to you in this life, your eternity in heaven is secure in Christ Jesus?  

Picture a Day - Looking Forward

I'm looking forward and very excited at the prospects of hummingbirds soon returning to north Texas.  It will be a few more weeks, but they are likely in route from Central and South America.  They will only be around for six months, but I hope to enjoy them each day they are here.  

This little girl's picture was taken in central California back in 2011.  

Picture A Day - Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart

Feeling grateful today.  After some significant knee pain for about a month, I went to the orthopedic doctor.  He was able to give me an injection in my knee and already the pain is significantly lower.

I know that all health and healing is from the LORD.  I know that He uses sickness and pain in our lives for His good purpose and plan.  I can trust God who is good and sovereign in all things. 

I’m prayerful that the pain relief will last and today give thanks with a grateful heart.  I give thanks that He has helped me each day in dealing with the pain. 

Abraham Living the Life of Faith by Gregory Brown – A Solid Bible Study That Will Challenge You and Help You Grow

I’m grateful when I come across a Pastor or Bible study teacher who is sound in their theology because it’s rooted and grounded in the Bible.  Pastor and teacher Gregory Brown is one of those men.  He studies to show himself as a workman approved and accurately handles the Word of Truth. 

That’s why, I was eager to read Pastor Gregory Brown’s newest Bible Teacher’s Guide, Abraham: Living the Life of Faith.  I’ve been privileged to study the book of Genesis in-depth several times under solid Bible teachers.  Even though I’m familiar with Abraham’s story, Pastor Brown shares some sound interpretation of the passages and brings some new insights in this man of God who is foundational to both the Jewish and Christian faiths.  He does this through the sound exposition of the Scripture.

Not only does he examine Abraham’s life and his faith, both his victories and failures, but Pastor Brown helps the reader to ask some challenging questions and apply what they are learning to their own lives.  

You may wonder, what you can learn from a man who lived over 4,000 years ago.  Is his life relevant to you today in a much different day and age?  I can answer that with a resounding yes.  Abraham, who was called by God and is known as a friend of God, is a Patriarch whom we can learn much from. 

Do you ever wonder if God still calls people today?  As a Christian how well do you respond to trials?  Do you know any believers who seem to be falling away from their faith or are friends of this world?  Do you ever do battle with fear, doubt and discouragement?  Ever find yourself struggling with a sin, time and time again?  Can you have victory over that sin?  What promises in the Bible belong just to the people whom God spoke to and which ones can you as a Christian know with confidence belong to you too?   These are just some of the areas Pastor Brown delves in to. 

If you want a quick one minute Bible reading for each day with a clever quote, this book may not be for you.  But if you want to better understand the Bible and who God is as He has revealed Himself in the perfect and inerrant Word of God, Abraham: Living the Life of Faith may be just what you are looking for.  If you want someone who will deal with you straight, someone who preaches the Word in season and out of season, someone who will reprove, rebuke and exhort you with patience and instruction, then I encourage you to read Pastor Gregory Brown’s newest Bible Teacher’s Guide – Abraham: Living the Life of Faith.  This book would be good for a group study and also for the individual. 

I would like to thank Pastor Gregory Brown for the opportunity to read Abraham: Living the Life of Faith.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review. 

If you would like to know more about Pastor Gregory Brown, please take a look at his website:  Gregory Brown.  On this website, you can learn about additional resources that are available. 

Control Girl by Shannon Popkin – A Painfully Good Book – It’s a Keeper

Not that I would like to admit that I’m controlling, but when I saw Shannon Popkin’s new book Control Girl – Lessons on Surrendering Your Burden of Control from Seven Women in the Bible, I knew I wanted to read it.  Perhaps the Lord had something He wanted to me learn about being controlling.

How come it’s always easier to see a behavior, attitude or action as sinful and wrong in someone else’s life but be oblivious to it in my own life?  I guess in some respects I let my sin blind me to the reality that being a control freak is not good and may be downright sinful.  God used Control Girl to make me more aware of my sinful propensity to be controlling. 

In this book, Shannon does an excellent job unveiling the tendency in some women to be controlling.  She does this by being open and transparent with her own life and shares the negative and hurtful consequences of being controlling.  More importantly, she takes the reader to examples from the Bible of real women, that lived in a different day and age, who also had inner control girl issues.  Through Scripture she shows examples from the lives of Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebakah, Leah, Rachel and Miriam on why and how our control girl may spring into action and how it effects our relationships.  Being a control freak may not be conducive to our own happiness and reflects and impacts our relationship with God.

This is an excellent book to help people who struggle with control issues to see it for what it is.  Being a controlling person is sinful and not something we should leave unexamined and unfettered.  But we can have victory when we repent, trust God and surrender control to Him. 

I found this book to be painful as I recalled examples from my own life of being a control girl.  Things that as I look back on, make me want to cringe.  How in the world did I not see that as wrong back in the day? 

Warning…you may find this book to be painful and direct in confronting sinful controlling tendencies.  But Shannon manages to it with tenderness and grace and from the vantage point of someone who has addressed the issue in her own life.  This is also an encouraging book to help us walk in a manner that honors and glorifies God, trust Him and help us to treat people with loving respect.   

I highly recommend Control Girl.  If you think you have control issues, read this book.  If you have a loved one who struggles with control, you may want to read this book to better understand what may be going on beneath the surface that rears its ugly head as being controlling.  This book is a keeper, you may want to reread it and make notes as you go along. 

I would like to thank the people at Litfuse and Kregel Publications for the opportunity to read Shannon Popkin’s new book Control Girl.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review. 

Control Girl Giveaway with Shannon Popkin

Are you trying to stay in control of your quest for peace, joy, and security . . . and you're exhausted? Shannon Popkin's debut book, Control Girl, is a must-read for anyone with a heart that craves control. Join Shannon as she shares what she has discovered about her own control struggles and about God from studying seven Control Girls in the Bible. Whether it was Eve's desire to know instead of trust, Sarah's inability to wait for God to move, or Rebekah's controlling hand on her family's future, each of these women's stories contain warnings and lessons for us today.

Learn how to give up control to God and become a Jesus girl! Enter to win a prize pack that will help you give up your Control Girl tendencies.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Control Girl
• A Vera Bradley tote
• A rose gold arrow bracelet
• A set of Moleskine journals

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on February 21. The winner will be announced February 22 on Shannon's blog.

Picture of the Day - A Room with a View

Absolutely love this view from the Marland Estate in Ponca City, OK.  Love the colors and the veiled view through lovely curtains.  We visited in December when the landscape was brown and bare, but beautiful nonetheless.  

Picture of the Day - Pioneer Woman Statue

Love this sculpture, Pioneer Woman Statue, by artist Bryant Baker.  We saw this beautiful piece when we toured the Marland Estate in Ponca City, OK.  It seemed like the perfect picture for the Scripture on the Proverbs 31 woman.  

A Picture a Day - The Mercantile

On our recent trip to Oklahoma, we planned to visit Ree Drummond's new store The Mercantile.  For any of you who watch The Pioneer Woman this may be on your list of places to visit.

Saturday is a busy day for The Mercantile and this particular day it very cold outside.  They graciously provided heat lamps for people waiting for their turn to go in the store.  Pawhuska is a small town.  They have some beautiful old buildings.  Hopefully they too will be restored.