Prayer

"...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sometimes, their are needs and desires I place before God in prayer. Sometimes, I am really distressed and cry out to God.

There are times my prayer is simply worship and gratitude. And times when I come before the Lord feeling empty and lacking spiritually, and I don't know what to pray for. I ask Him to fill me with His presence.

In all these times, it's a comfort to remember this Word and truth from Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus

Our Great Light

“the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.“

Matthew 4:16 NIV

I just finished reading Matthew Chapter 4, about Jesus being tempted by Satan, followed by Jesus teaching "The Beatitudes."

So my initial response was..."I'm not living up to what Jesus is teaching; and I'm not a good example of a good Christian...I'll never get there. I got very negative and discouraged about myself. 

...but wait...reading Matthew 4:16, I see myself...I am living in the land of darkness. Things are definitely not looking good around here....and I am part of that darkness. 

Then I started to see this chapter in a different way. Jesus is the Great Light. No one else is...and no one else can be....no one can fill His shoes. Jesus is the one'll One.  He is my one and only Hero. He is the one who redeems me and saves me. And now, as a believer, I am His. I am accepted and cleaned. I represent Him, and I am not of this dark world anymore. This is only through Jesus. Know who I am, and give Him all due respect, all the credit, and all the glory to Him!

Clouds...

I want to share about my first awareness of God....

Clouds...

It's not too earth-shattering, but very meaningful to me, even to this day.

The home I grew up in, San Mateo, was right next to Highway 101, right below the corridor where planes flew in and out of San Francisco International Airport, and just a few blocks away from the train station. It was a very small, modest home, where small industrial businesses lined the freeway side of the block. It can be a very noisy, dull, or boring place to grow up. I spent many long summers with lots of time on my hands. There were no children around to play with most of the time...(maybe an occasional family with kids rented next door, but just briefly.)

My favorite pastime was reading, and lying in the backyard grass, looking up at the sky.  I was fascinated by how the clouds moved majestically across the sky, seemingly still, yet always evolving. I would see images of animals, people, faces and expressions. The clouds took an infinite number of forms--feathery, pillar-like, fluffy, streaky...I became aware of a Greater Presence, a Great Artist who created these skillful, never-ending masterpieces with color, form, and beauty. The colors and nuances were also fascinatingly varied, and never-repeating. So with this pastime, I was never bored. 

Today, many of my friends have expressed the same fascination and awe of clouds. Whether in a sunrise or sunset, or just traveling by car and gazing out the window, "simple" clouds are awesome!

Here is an insight from the Bible..

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”                                            ‭‭Romans. 1:20

For you, maybe clouds do not cause you to take your breath away, or pause.  But think of those times, when natural beauty has captivated you. Even Corrie ten Boom, in her book, The Hiding Place, wrote that while being imprisoned in a bleak, stripped, and horrific Nazi prison camp, heard the sound of a lark, which uplifted and encouraged her heart and gave her hope in Christ.

I was just a small kid, maybe 4 or 5, when I first became fascinated with clouds.  I knew nothing about God, or Jesus. I was blissfully unaware of the troubles of the world around me. The world was just recovering from the effects of World War II. It was just before the Cold War era. I was also unaware that I was "godless" and ignorant of Jesus. Unaware, that like everybody else who is human, I was a sinner, capable of hurting others and myself with a skewed perspective of humanity, with a indifference and lack of understanding of the only and only God, and his Son - our Lord, and the powers of the Holy Spirit.  

Yet, God chose to reveal Himself in these glorious clouds. He made me pause and stop and wonder. These initial experiences left a "tattoo" on my heart that even today, does not fail to impress!

“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—

that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”

‭

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”                                                                                                                     ‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:11-12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

"Retro" is "In"

 

Jerry is enjoying a "Retro Phase".  It's good to see that he is exploring some new past-times in his retirement daze.

Today, a package arrived on our patio...and he is now an excited owner of a used electric guitar!  It's gold with black trim.  After he gets it tuned up with new strings and a cord (he already has an amplifier), who knows what musical treat is in store for me! (Plug ears and retreat into my quilt room upstairs....)

Many of you know that during high school, he was of a group called "The Intangibles".  A couple months ago, he invited himself and "crashed" a Galileo 50-year high school reunion. (Jerry is a Lowell High graduate, but he couldn't help himself, ha ha!)  He met up with some old buddies, and they reminisced about the two "concerts" they gave in someone's garage. Jerry passed out CD's of the two-hour long performance to his former band mates. Some of them winced in embarrassment because they remembered how awful they sounded. But actually, lots of good memories were generated, and we all had a great time.

The other package to arrive was a belated Father's Day gift from our daughter Janna. Ex-tennis player that he is, another of Jerry's favorite past-times at home is "frying flies" with an electric flyswatter. A week ago, he was a little too zealous, and broke his old swatter in two. Sad day..... But now, thanks to Janna, Jerry is seriously "back in business", as you can see below.

Look out flies!!  Between Jerry and Mai-Mai, our black lab-golden doggie who also loves to catch and EAT flies, those nasty things don't have a chance!

Happy Summer!

Today's Scripture and Thoughts

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"     1 John 3:1

....Life's simple pleasures.

Why My Blog is Called Jewels to Jewels

Well, so I'm 62 now.. Some people call me old -- (our kids, honestly). Others call me young (my friends, politely).

I've noticed that people around my age have started wondering about what kind of “Legacy” are they leaving behind for friends and family…and the rest of the world.

Well, I'm not not kidding myself, I don't have a remarkable legacy…I'm pretty ordinary. A wife, ex-full-time mom.  Career? Jack-of-all-trades short job stints to pay for the groceries.

I'm also sober to the fact that, unless I live to be 124 years old (ha ha, I hope not!) ,  I am w-a-a-a-y over the halfway point in my life.  There may be not a lot of time to do the projects and things I’ve always hoped to do. There ARE a few things on my bucket list, which I hope to share in future posts!

…There is ONE THING, however, that  God has been nagging on my heart to do-- sooner rather than later, before it's too late.

There is VAST treasure of special moments and memories stored in my heart. They are truly treasures, thus the name “Jewels”.  (By the way, Jewels has been my nickname off and on in my life.).  I think l’ve  only shared bits and pieces of these God-memories with you.

Day-by-day, even before I became a Christian back in 1990, there have been countless interactions with God. I can now look back and see how He has been revealing Himself, loving me, protecting me, and teaching me.

I am a voracious reader, with lots of curiosity.  Long before Google, I loved to read and research. So what I mean by being a Christian is being more than being a church-goer…I ❤️ to read.  Out of anything I have read, Bible has had staying power. I'm never tired of reading the Bible every day. I want to know that what I read is REAL, and I test out what I read. So in this long process, day-by-day and  little-by-little,  I have been blessed to delight in the Lord, even during life's ups and even during those down-in-the-trenches times.

Thus the name, Jewels-to-Jewels.   From my heart to yours. My treasure is your treasure!

So here I go!  Hope that I can be consistent this time!
                                                                       
Today's Scripture and Thoughts:

Luke 2:19
"But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over."  

My memories are like secret treasures...like jewels.  Because I treasure them, I want to share them with the ones I love.   

...Five Years Later...

Gung Hay Fat Choi !

Happy New Year!  Today is January 31, 2017.!?!?  Yes, you read this right. Ha ha...the Asians call this the year of the CHICKEN  🐔👎🏼.  Cluck cluck...oops, slip of the mind again, THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER.  💪🏼👍🏼.

The NorCal Bay Area was blessed with good consistent rains (thank the Lord). I was careless and caught off guard and experienced a personal slimey mudslide. 

Hubby Mr. J 🤓 and I love to watch those online Korean dramas. Have to watch out though cuz it's easy to get addicted. Seriously. There are a lot of these Asian websites wuth the word "Addict" in the address (in some form or another). So, personally I was, I confess --- and I am ashamed to admit, a couch potato in front of the TV or iPad. I caught various forms of the "common cold" which I scoffed and shrugged off and tried to push myself through. It turned into those other delightful forms of the "flu", "bronchitis", "pneumonia" -- I'm talking about the "blahs", then boredom, resrlessness. Pile on top of that -- 8 more pounds of me-ness, sluggish nap-iness, fret-fret-fretfulness, grumpiness, self-centeredness, critical of my hubbiness, sin-icalness, DEPRESSION......UH-OHH! 😩😡😳.  Warning, Stay away from the local news, world news, Politics, and good ole American consumerisms during this season. Oh, and throw in a dash of tragedy and a good dose of grief. That's how a few grains of shifting sand, turned into a mudslide and rocked my world!  It was a near-state emergency landslide, threatening my Foundation. Sounds familiar? The parable of the shifting sands and Solid Rock ring a bell?

Enough of that. I thank God I was saved and rescued yet again by not only by Him, but my patient, loving Mr. J, and a few trusted, faithful friends.🌤 😇.

I like those K-Pop Dramas that end with "...five years later" and Happily-Ever-After" sappy-ness. Well, here I am again, five years later, picking up with this Jewels-to-Jewels blog again. Here's hoping I won't "Chicken-Out" again.