Archives For Word-filled Wednesday

Last year’s words

Renee Ann Smith —  January 2, 2013 — 18 Comments

last years words to resize 500

Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert

~Isaiah 43:18&19~

With God’s help, I’m striving to put away last year’s words of defeat and claim God’s words of hope for the future. How about you, friends? What words will you put behind you? What words of promise will you claim for 2013? Be assured, whenever I see your comment, I lift you up in prayer—even if I don’t get to visit your blog or respond right away. Blessings!

This week I’m linking up with Miscellany Monday, Word-filled Wednesday, This and That Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Simply Link, Your Sunday Best, The Simple Things, The Sunday Community, Heart Reflected, Fresh-brewed Sundays, Monday Musings, Covered in Grace, A Mama’s Story, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays Unwrapped, Teaching What Is Good, Tuesday Tips, God Bumps, Word-filled Wednesday, Wholehearted Home Wednesdays, Thursday Favorite Things,Thriving Thursday, Life in the Comments, Hearts for Home, Legacy Leaver, Favorite Things, Photo Friday Blog Hop, Just for Fun Friday, Fellowship Friday, Womanhood with Purpose, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Weekend Whatever, and Heart Reflected.

In Devotional Thoughts, Life on Glenwood Boulevard, Word-filled Wednesday , ,
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Living Messages

Renee Ann Smith —  December 12, 2012 — 10 Comments

blog pageant

It’s just not Christmas until the kids pull out their costumes and put on a pageant. Don’t you love to see the little ones sharing the story of Jesus’ birth? Their childlike faith lights the path for many grownups who have lost their way.

Through the praise of children and infants You have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. ~Psalm 8:2~

Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk and silence atheist babble. ~Psalm 8:2, The Message~

Photo Backstory: I snapped this iPhone pic at our school Christmas concert and sent it through the Pixlr-o-matic to apply a fabric overlay. Then I used PicMonkey to create this Christmas “card.” Can you imagine it as a memento from childhood long ago? (There seems to be some dispute over the author of the quote. Some site Neil Postman; some, John Whitehead. I mention both and leave the historians to sort it out.)

Have you attended a Christmas play yet this year? Did your kids or grandkids take part in one? Do you have a favorite memory from being in the pageant when you were a child?

This week I’m linking up with Miscellany Monday, Word-filled Wednesday, This and That Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Simply Link, Favorite Things, Faith-filled Friday, Weekend Whatever, Sunday Snapshot, Your Sunday Best, The Simple Things, The Sunday Community, Heart Reflected, and Fresh-brewed Sundays.

In Devotional Thoughts, iPhone pics, Word-filled Wednesday , , ,
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God’s Tape Measure

Renee Ann Smith —  December 5, 2012 — 10 Comments

measure of the heart resized 2

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life.” ~Proverbs 4:23~

Photo Backstory: I created this graphic with a free web image and the fun options at PicMonkey. The quote is a favorite from one of my heroines, Corrie Ten Boom.

You can read more about the heart here: Heart-Healthy Living, part one: Trusting God with Our Hearts.

You can read more about Corrie here: Corrie Ten Boom, Hero of the Hiding Place.

“God never measures the mind. He always puts His tape measure in the heart.” ~Corrie Ten Boom~ (Click here to tweet these wise words to your Tweeps!)

This week I’m linking up with Word-filled Wednesday, This and That Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Beautiful Thursday, Simply Link, Favorite Things, Faith-filled Friday, Weekend Whatever,  Your Sunday Best, The Sunday Community, Heart Reflected, and Fresh-brewed Sundays.

In Devotional Thoughts, Heart-Healthy Living, Lessons from Corrie ten Boom, Quotes, Word-filled Wednesday , ,
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The secret to receiving God’s best (plus blog link up news)

Renee Ann Smith —  October 31, 2012 — 32 Comments

As for God, His way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
He shields all who take refuge in Him.
~Psalm 18:30, NIV~

~And from The Message~
What a God!
His road stretches
Straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it.

(Click here to Tweet this Jim Elliot quote to your friends.)

Photo Backstory: Missionary Jim Elliot’s short life of service and sacrifice lend credibility to his calm assurance that we follow a God who He always has our best in mind. Jim’s quote seemed fitting to grace these lovely trees from my niece’s yard. That red color had me pulling out my iPhone camera to snap a pic. Of course, this was several weeks ago and pre-Hurricane Sandy!

I wrote about Jim and Elisabeth Elliot here: The Most Remarkable Woman I’ve Never Met.

And here: The Most Remarkable Woman I’ve Never Met, Part II.

This week I’m linking up with Word-filled Wednesday, Thankful Homemaker, Wholehearted Home Wednesdays, This and That Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Hearts for Home, Legacy Leaver, Beautiful Thursday, Simply Link, Favorite Things, Faith-filled Friday, Weekend Whatever,  Scripture and a Snapshot, Your Sunday Best, Still Saturday, The Sunday Community, Heart Reflected, and Fresh-brewed Sundays.

****And now for some breaking news about COME TO THE TABLE, the blog link up for my wonderful bloggy friends!

When I started a blog link up, I was hoping to create a place where blogs would receive more visibility. So I encouraged folks to visit their link up neighbors and make new friends.

But visiting neighbor blogs takes time, and some folks had trouble visiting around. So I will try the hop one more time—as an END of the MONTH blog hop. I will post the hop during the last week of November. Bloggers can link any favorite post (or posts) from the month.

What do you all think? Any input? If there is not enough interest, I will move on to one of my other blogging ideas!

Oh—and the winner of the Amazon Gift Card from the last hop is Brittany! Congrats!

Thanks for stopping in today! Blessings, Friends!

***Right now my blog theme can’t handle those cute social sharing buttons that make life so easy. But here’s a quick link to Facebook if you want to spread this quote around. And I know you have a Pin It button by now!

In Blog Hop, Come to the Table, Devotional Thoughts, Faithful people of the past, Word-filled Wednesday , , , ,
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Come to the Table Celebrates Autumn (weekly blog link up & giveaway)

Renee Ann Smith —  October 9, 2012 — 54 Comments

~from William Cowper’s I Will Praise the Lord at All Times~

What! has autumn left to say
Nothing of a Saviour’s grace?
Yes, the beams of milder day
Tell me of his smiling face.

Light appears with early dawn,
While the sun makes haste to rise;
See His bleeding beauties drawn
On the blushes of the skies.

Photo Backstory: Two weeks ago on the day after I returned from the ACFW Conference, my mother was rushed to the emergency room. She’s 82, suffers with emphysema, and had come down with a dangerous case of pneumonia. For more than a week my sister and I haunted her hospital room. I captured this photo from the window of that room last Sunday, the day she finally turned the corner and began recovering. Mom’s now back at her nursing home, enjoying her Yankees games and Bingo pals :)

This week I’m linking up with Word-filled Wednesday,  This and That Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Hearts for Home, Legacy Leaver, Beautiful Thursday, Simply Link, Favorite Things, Weekend Whatever, and Scripture and a Snapshot, Your Sunday Best.

UPDATE: A winner will be emailed soon!!!

****Now it’s time for Come to the Table, our EVERY OTHER WEEK blog link up party! In spite of the glitch I experienced this past  weekend when my blog disappeared for a bit, I hope you are brave enough to try this again :)

Grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair, and join us for a chat. You are encouraged to share a post of your own and then linger as long as you like over the other encouraging posts linked here. What kinds of posts? . . .

Old posts, new posts,
Giveaways, review posts,
Joys or sorrows or hopes for tomorrow . . .

Bloggers, link what you will—as long as it is Inspirational or Family Friendly. Then try to comment on one or two posts in the group. It’s encouraging! Continue Reading…

In Come to the Table, Word-filled Wednesday
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How to travel light

Renee Ann Smith —  September 19, 2012 — 11 Comments

Therefore, since we are surrounded
By such a great cloud of witnesses,
Let us throw off everything that hinders
And the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance
The race marked out for us,
Fixing our eyes on Jesus,
The pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
Who—for the joy set before him—
Endured the cross, scorning its shame,
And sat down at the right hand
Of the throne of God.
~from Hebrews 12~

Today I’m linking up with Word-filled Wednesday, This or That Thursday, Little Things Thursday.

Photo backstory: This might be the last of my summer pics. It shows one of my nephews enjoying his boogie board at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.

In Devotional Thoughts, Word-filled Wednesday
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An ordinary man

Renee Ann Smith —  September 12, 2012 — 32 Comments

As for God, his way is perfect.
The Lord’s word is flawless;
He shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
And keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
He causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle;
My arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield,
And your right hand sustains me;
Your help has made me great.
~from Psalm 18~

This week I’m linking up with Word-filled Wednesday, Thought-provoking Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, This or That Thursday, Little Things Thursday, The Weekend Whatever Link Up, Still Saturday, Fresh Brewed Sundays, Scripture and a Snapshot, and The Sunday Community. Blessings, friends!

Photo Backstory: I put together some iconic shots from 9/11 and added the Emerson quote to show our heroes that we will never forget what they did that day.

In Devotional Thoughts, Word-filled Wednesday
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When you are imagining

Renee Ann Smith —  September 4, 2012 — 40 Comments

Thanks for stopping by, friends.
While you’re here, soak in the beauties of our
God as seen in His creation. Only He could have
imagined all the colors and shapes
and patterns we enjoy.
How can we not trust Him to do well by us?
Amazing, isn’t He?

And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the flowers of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that
Not even Solomon in all his splendor
Was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
Which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
Will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
~from Matthew 6~

This week I’m linking up with Word-filled Wednesday, Still Saturday, Scripture and a Snapshot, The Sunday Community, Katie’s Corner, Little Things Thursday, This or That Thursday, Brag on God Friday, and Fresh Brewed Sundays.

Photo Backstory: I spotted this field of wildflowers and cattails while dropping my nephew at baseball practice. I just had to wade in and snap some iPhone pics. Can you blame me?

In Devotional Thoughts, Word-filled Wednesday
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