Soon after my husband and I became engaged, I began the inevitable--practicing my new signature. No longer would I sign, C. Dianne Strangmeier. I would sign important documents as Dianne Thornton. I couldn't wait for it to be official! A couple of years ago I realized that I had become sloppy with ...
Read More about Scrawled or Legible?
Meaningful Quiet Times
In the Christian life, we develop our relationship with God in the same way we develop a relationship with anyone else—through time. If you consider your best friends, they are probably the ones you spend the most time with. The more time you spend with someone, the better you get to know them. You know how they think, how they feel, and how they are likely to respond to life’s situations. In the same way, you want to have meaningful quiet times with God.
The more time you spend with God in His Word, the more you understand how He thinks, how He feels, and how He wants us to respond to life’s situations. Meaningful quiet times (or devotional times) form the foundation for our relationship with God. It is daily time listening for His voice through reading the Bible, prayer, and meditation. Quiet times vary in length. They can be as short as five minutes or as long as an hour! It all depends on you. The key is making sure your quiet times are quality time with God. These posts guide you to have a meaningful quiet times—regardless of their length.
Making Space to Hear
My “One Word” for 2015 kind of reminds me of Yoda. You know, "Do, or do not. There is no try." Yoda was insistent on the doing. God is calling me to Be. Last year I "tried" the one-word thing. I felt God gave me the word unhurried--so that I could focus on my writing. Since I tried, I did not. ...
Read More about Making Space to Hear
Maintain Your Connection
When I sat down to have my quiet time a couple of mornings ago, I thought, It's been a while! I had precious quiet times at my beach retreat about a week and a half ago. But I've had a crazy, busy schedule before and after that. My "at home time with the Lord" has been hit and miss--mostly ...
Read More about Maintain Your Connection
Praise … the Honey of Life
My quiet times for the next couple months are from a devotional Bible study by Catherine Martin, Passionate Prayer. This morning, she quoted Charles Spurgeon saying that praise "is the honey of life which a devout heart extracts from every bloom of providence and grace."
Beautiful, yet ...
Read More about Praise … the Honey of Life
A Tale of Two Mirrors
Every day we look in the mirror. As women, some mornings we wake up feeling kind of blah; we look in the mirror and it is confirmed. We are not satisfied with the image we see looking back at us. For those of us who enjoy cosmetics, there are some mornings we may try and “fix” the image with a ...
Read More about A Tale of Two Mirrors
Come With Me
Many times throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus pulled away from the crowds to be alone with His Father. He taught His disciples to do the same. To us, He also says, Come with me. Let's spend some time together--just the two of us.
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did ...
Read More about Come With Me
A Legacy: The Chair & The Basket
My parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary is this Saturday, June 1. In preparation for that, I'd like to share something that I wrote several years ago to honor my Mother, who has molded my life in many ways. I LOVE YOU, MOM!
In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, ...
Read More about A Legacy: The Chair & The Basket
Coffee, Tea … or He?
Last weekend I attended our church’s annual Ladies Retreat at Camp Tejas in Giddings, Texas. The facilities are wonderful. The rooms are beautifully decorated, the conference center is lovely, the grounds are expansive, with lots of activities. The staff is incredible! Really - a dream location. Our ...
Read More about Coffee, Tea … or He?
