Counting Blessings in 2014

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Smoking Hot

One year ago today, January 2, 2015 Mike and Barb arrived in Mexico. What a fantastic adventure it has been to move to a new culture, community, country and church!!! Today we celebrate our first year in Mexico with a BBQ in our lushly green patio. Mike was surprised and delighted by his 2014 Christmas gift. A stainless steel grill that is fed fuel from our gas supply tank on the roof! Our Char Broil TRU Infrared gas grill heats up to a smoking hot 700 degrees. Infared energy is comprised of those frequencies beyond visible light. Traditional grills heat with hot air which drys out meats. The Infared energy strikes the food and causes the

molecules to vibrate, and cook meats quickly. Infared is the technology that fine restaurants have used for years. As per directions, we seasoned our grill grates, like a cast iron skillet, this optimized our grills performance. Brushing the meat and grates with peanut oil, we sizzled up a couple of thick pork chops in just 6 minutes!! We enjoyed juicy delicious chops lightly topped with a brush of apple-cinnamon jam, served with garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and a fresh avacadoe. 2015 will be especially tasty and wonder filled as we now have all our construction projects completed. In 2014 we installed a water purifier system, new wiring, a fireplace, a screened in patio, got the waterfall working, landscaped the front and back patio areas, painted interior and exterior, purchased a new car and established ourselves with a local doctor and dentist as Permanent Residents in Jalisco, Mexico.

DELIGHTED to LAUGH

1. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. PRV 31:25
2. Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” G 17:17
3. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” G 18:12
4. He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. JOB 8:21
5. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance  ECC 3:4
6. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. LUKE 6:21

7.      “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;  she cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.

Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. “Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?  It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray. It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword. JOB 39  ~ Just as fathers and mothers delight in the laughter of their kids, so does our Father, our Lord Jesus delight in our laughter! A cheerful dispostion

is great for your health. “ A cheerful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 ~ The news of gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.  Laughter and giggling at myself, or with others lifts my spirit and gives my Father pleasure.  Share an embarassing moment with someone, rejoice in what strikes you funny!  You know what I am talking about, those times when hilarity got you snorting and unable to speak without bursting into tears.  JOY comes in the morning, the evening, or anytime during the day, if you allow it!  During your next laugh fest, talk to God and give Him thanks for your funny bone!  God has a sense of humor,  He created us with the ability to laugh in situations that might cause the lost to worry or cry. WHY, because we have HOPE in the One who is unseen, and in the future He promised.  Laughter is good medicine for the soul, cuz the Holy living Word of God says so!  

Oh wonderful  Father, I thank You for laughter, Joy, and Peace. Thank You Lord for creating us to laugh that we can be refreshed in the midst of difficult times. (Psalm 30:5 ) For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning!”  Lord my goal is to delight in You and give You great pleasure, in my obedience to LAUGH more and worry less!  If I could see myself as You see me, I certainly would lighten up and LAUGH at the days to come!  Thank You for filling us with Your Joy, and I ask that it overflows into the lives of those You bring into my space!  Lord let our laughter be an encouragement to all! In Jesus name I pray, Amen