~ A Thought On My Heart

 Today I would like to share some thoughts that are on my heart.  I have been thinking about trusting in Jesus and what this truly looks like in our daily lives.  One of the biggest ways that I believe we can trust Him is with our salvation.  When we have asked Jesus to save us, with a true and humble heart that knows we are sinners in need of a savior, then we will receive the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and He will teach us and show us the areas that we should work on or illuminate to live in a way that is pleasing to God.  

The gift that Jesus gave to us on the cross insures those who truly have a close and personal relationship with Jesus will one day receive eternal life in Heaven.  To have a personal relationship with Christ is to put Him into the center of all areas of our life.  We must seek to walk with Him each moment of each day and do all the work we do to the glory of the lord.  We must pray through out our day and not just when we go to church.   We do not earn our own salvation by doing good works, because none of us could ever earn salvation on our own.  The gift of salvation comes only from the blood of Jesus that was shed for many on the cross.  He is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him.  

When we are truly saved and love the Lord above all else than we long to do His will in this life. So our good works comes from a place where the heart longs to please the Lord and not to earn our own salvation.  Only through Jesus do we have salvation.  We do His will because of our love for Him and knowing that we belong to Him and should have a servants heart.  When we belong to the Lord we become His missionary's during our time on this Earth.  We should long to further His holy kingdom and point others to Jesus so that He can save them.

So I pray that our hearts may be right with the Lord and love Him with all of our hearts and seek to see other's through the Lords eyes and love our brother's and sister's as Christ loves us and them.  

This is just what has been on my heart and I want to share it in case it may be helpful to someone who reads this.  Thank you for visiting my blog.  May God bless you and keep you in His holy care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli

~A Peek Into Our Week

I love how our little kitchen looks in the evening when it is clean and tidy and ready for tomorrow's use.  

Our little grand daughter Mia loves her swing.  She just used it today for the first time.  

This is a book I am reading.  It is really a blessing.

I put my Alexa device behind this vintage radio and enjoy listening to Audible play my Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  I like to do this in the evening and I feel as if I am listening to an old time radio show.

I love art so very much and I greatly enjoy my gallery walls.

 I have been thinking a lot about aligning my will to God's Holy will in all areas of my life.  I know that God knows far more than I do and so I trust Him with all that I am and all that I have.  When we truly trust the Lord to guide our Earthy path then we can have peace knowing that the Lord is guiding our life.  Even when we must suffer, we know that God can use all that we walk through to help sanctify us and knit our hearts even closer to Him.

Here is a prayer that Mother Teresa used to say often.

"My God, behold me in thy presence; do with me and all that I have as thou pleasest"  

Trusting in Jesus gives to me a peace despite my circumstances, it is a gift of God to have faith that is truly all trusting in the Lord.  I think it is like the kind of trust a young child feels with their parent.  So today it is my prayer that we all can give the Lord all areas of our life where we may have fear or worry and rest in the peace of the Lord.

I want to thank you for taking time to visit my blog.  God bless you and keep you in His loving care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli

~A Peek Into Our Summer

We welcomed our new little grand daughter into our family this summer!  This is Leo meeting his new sister for the first time.

Leo and Mia love each other already.  He sings her to sleep and she just adores him.

I used some fall decorations in my planner.  I wait to decorate the outside of our home until September, but since Fall is my favorite season, I have jumped the gun on my planner décor.

We took Leo to Home Depot because he loves to ride in the carts.

Here is a picture that one of my daughter's clients took of her.  

My parents went on a train trip.  It was on my dad's bucket list.  I love them both so very much, and I thank God for them.

 It has been a bit of a crazy summer for our family, but we have had a lot of special moments as well.  I suppose that is how life is, full of hardships but also full of beauty.  I choose to focus on the beauty the good Lord allows in our life and that helps my heart to be grateful and happy despite the difficult times.

I am very glad to be getting back to doing my little blog.  I am looking forward to some cooler weather because we have had our share of hot temperatures.  

I have enjoyed reading inside the airconditioned house this summer, quite a lot.  I want to thank you for taking the time to visit my little space.  May God bless you and keep you in His care.  Hugs to you.

                                   ~Juli

~A Little Summer Break

 I am going to be taking a little time away from my blog for the summer.  I will return to blogging sometime in August.  God bless you and I hope you have a nice summer.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli

~A Peek Into Our Weeks

Justin, our youngest son graduated from Highschool!  It was such a happy time for our family.  We are so proud of Justin and we love him so very much.

Megan treated Justin to a massage with hot stones for his birthday!  It just makes my heart so happy when I see how much our children love each other.

Here is my desk, I have let go of some of my more worldly décor and it just gives a nicer feel to my room.

I put my spring and summer candles out front of my no burn Yankee candle collection.

This is a drawer in my room where I keep special things.  The little prayer book belonged to my great great grandma, then my great grandma, then my grandma and then my mom and now it is mine.  This is so dear to my heart.

Here is my summer melting basket.  I don't need to purchase very much wax these days, because I still have a large stash.  I couldn't really smell for a few years,(after having long term Covid) so I couldn't melt wax.  I am so thankful I have my sense of smell back.

Here is my vender wax drawer.  I love being able to choose a scent and see how pretty it all looks.  It reminds me of my childhood candy collection.  

Here is a drawer where I keep items I use during and after a bath.  

Here is a little place in my room where I honor my grandparents memory.  I was very blessed to have these dear people in my life.  I still miss them every day, but I know I will see them in Heaven some day and that makes me so very happy.

I want to thank you for stopping by my blog.  God bless you and keep you in His holy care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli
 

A Peek Into Our Weeks

My daughter Lauren and her husband Victor are having another precious baby.  What a wonderful blessing for our family.  Children are a gift from God.  I have been doing a junk journal in a composition notebook and this is the spread I did for Mia.

I redecorated this area of my bedroom.  It has been a blessing to my heart as it gives a softer feel to my room.  I mostly just used items that I already had other than a few little things I found at a thrift shop for less than ten dollars.  

I truly feel blessed to be the keeper of our little home.  My goal is to make a God centered home with an old fashioned feel.  It is our place of rest when the hardships of the world are harsh.  I thank the Lord for the little house he has provided for our family.

This is our little guest room.  I like having a place where our loved ones can come and enjoy.  My daughter Lauren enjoys some down time when she and Leo visit.  My daughter Megan enjoys it when she visits from Oklahoma.  

These are the devotionals I read most days, in addition to reading my Bible, these are a blessing to my life.

 I have been taking a little time to turn inward these past few weeks.  This time away from my normal technology usage has been a way for me to focus on our family and time with the Lord.  I have not taken a full technology break, but I have cut my normal usage and it has blessed my life.

I want to thank you for taking time to stop by my blog.  God bless you and keep you in His loving care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli

~Happy Easter

 As we approach Easter Sunday, my heart reflects on the gift Jesus gave to us on the cross.  He bore the full weight of the sins of the world so that we  could be saved.  This is something we should really ponder upon and not just think of it in passing.  His love for us was so great that despite the torture he endured, He still asked the Father to forgive them because they know not what they do.  Jesus loves each of us so very much and He wants all of us to turn to Him and be saved.  

It is so important that we have a personal relationship with Him.  Jesus should be so close to our hearts that we wouldn't think of making a choice without prayer to ask for His guidance and to illuminate our path.  When we pray, we should always ask for God's holy will to be done.  Sometimes what we want and God's will may not be the same.  When this happens we should trust in Him because He knows the entire picture and knows far more than we do.  Also we should trust in His love for us and that He will never leave us even in our hardest trials. This world is full of hardships and sufferings, but those of us who truly know Jesus will not be left to endure them alone.  God may not choose to remove the hardships, but he allows the peace of Jesus to help us endure what we must in this life.  This world is not our home, our true home is in Heaven.  So I believe it is important to have an eternal mindset when looking upon things that happen in this world.  Those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior, and have a true and close relationship with Him understand that eternity is a lot longer than this life.  This life is but a drop of water in the ocean that is eternity.  So it is important to take heart when dealing with life's trials and keep the big picture in mind.  Our hardships (for those who love the Lord) help to shape our character and God cares more about our character than our suffering.  

Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me.  So today if you do not have Jesus as your Lord and savior, simply ask with a humble heart for Him to save you.  We are all sinners and we all need Him as our savior.  So this Easter ponder on the gift that Jesus gave to those who will call upon His name and live for Him and what it truly means to be His and know that our souls will go to Heaven when we take our last breath on this Earth.  

This is my favorite song and it goes perfectly with Easter.  It is my prayer for myself that this Easter I may truly reflect and give praise to Jesus for saving us from our sins.  I pray that amongst the time with our loved ones this Easter we will all spend time in prayer and give thanks to our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog.  God bless you this Easter and keep you in His care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli