Happy New Year!

May the days of 2012 be full of His light for you and yours. I am so glad we are on this journey together. God richly bless you. 

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

Joining with Deidra over at Jumping Tandem.


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

My Girl--Talking 'bout My Girl!

After raising a houseful of sons, it is hard to believe that the girls now outnumber the guys almost 2 to 1--Here they are clockwise from itty bitty, Noelle, Kennedy, Kim, Dree, Kailey, Traci, Caroline, Katelyn and Ashton--

Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone--just wondering how all of you are doing, how your holiday is going and wanting to check in with you and wish you the merriest, brightest and most joyous Christmas you've ever known.

 It is still busy here. I usually decorate up to the very last minute and love doing so. My husband and I have spent the last few days shopping for stocking stuffers--with 13 to buy for it takes a while--the big job is getting it all in the right stockings--etc.

 I made a crock pot roast with potatoes and "real" carrots last night so we are having dripped beef sandwiches tonight. I put some beef consomme, cooking sherry, soy sauce, onion powder and garlic powder in the pot and am letting it simmer a little while--forgot to buy provolone so we will be having melted lacey swiss cheese over the meat that is ladled on to the toasted hogie rolls. Also had quite a bit of real onions left over in the roast from yesterday.

I saw several dripped beef sandwich recipes and such did a little of this and that.  That is mostly the way I cook--my mom did also so we can't share many recipes-ha!

It is very cold here--high of 47 degrees today--now I know for some of you that would be a heat wave but it is relatively cold here--and it has been cloudy all day--I love cold, cloudy Christmases.  However, it is supposed to be sunny and 52 on Christmas which will be nice for our two sons who are driving in from out of state--one becaue he lives there and one because he used to live there growing up, married a girl from there and has been there visiting relatives.  I am thankful that they have good weather to drive in.

We drove that at Christmas many years when our sons were growing up and had some pretty bad weather (ice storms, etc.) on several occasions so yes I am most grateful for the sun and the higher temps.

This is the first Christmas for my sister without her son whom she lost to death in August.  She and all of her family here have gone to Texas to spend Christmas with another son--they have never done this before so it will be a change of scenery and good for them I think.  However, I covet your prayers for them.  I know it will be hard.

I doubt that I will be checking back in for a while.  Our kids will be here through the 29th but please know you are always in my heart--I check my stats occasionally and when I see where many of you who read are from Russia, Germany, China, Brazil, so, so many other countries, I am just overwhelmed that you come here to read my blog.  Thank you so much.  I pray for you for peace and tranquility in your country, that God will be honored, that you will be free to worship freely and without shame wherever you are.

Through the wonder of the precious Holy Spirit, I feel a kinship and a oneness with you even though we've never met and I pray that your spirit will be lifted, that your heart will experience the joy that only comes from accepting the free gift of Jesus Christ that God sent to this planet over 2000 years ago to begin His plan of redemption for us.

If you have a New Testament, you can read about it in the gospels and then I would recommend reading the book of John--His love made manifest in the Life of Christ--what a revelation!

Please know that I wish you joy.

With all my love during this most precious of holiday seasons,
Dianne

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

More Painful Memories

My husband posted this on FaceBook the other day.

" Decorating for Christmas and thinking about family and friends who are no longer with us - good memories. And I'm thankful for the ones with whom I can still share, and am committed to making some more good memories while I can. Most of all, thankful for my Savior who gives me hope and for this season to celebrate His birth. I love Christmastime."

The memories he is referring to are good ones although very painful at times.  More than once I've seen a glisten in his eye or felt a tear fall from mine as we hung old Christmas ornaments or spoke of Christmases long ago.

In the movie Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis has a line that I love.  After discovering his wife has a serious illness, they take a trip through the countryside--at one point they stop and holding one another looking out over the vista, he says, "The pain now is part of the happiness then."

And it is so true.  All of the joys we created in those Christmases long ago are why the eyes smart and the silver rivulets stain our cheeks now--

And so my dearest of friends, I wish for you many, many more painful memories made this Christmastime.  May your heart be so full of joy and peace that years from now it will hurt bad, really bad just to remember...................

"The pain now is part of the happiness then."  C.S. Lewis, Shadowlands

Photo: A picture of an angel tree topper used over 60 years ago on my husband's tree--still using it today and it is one of those things that will bring the awesome painful memories to the surface-- © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

For This Reason He Came

My husband and I went Christmas shopping this morning, then out to lunch. It was fun just spending a little money on things that our children and grandchildren might not buy for themselves.

 The reminder here to me is this: For this reason, He came. Yes, Jesus came to buy for us, to redeem for us--only it was something that we COULD NOT have bought for ourselves no matter how much money we possess--for this reason He came.

From the words of Isaiah 53 we learn that His purchase included our infirmities and our sorrows--

For this reason He came.

We learn that the price He paid included piercing for our transgressions, being crushed  for our iniquities--

For this reason He came.

He was punished so that we could experience peace, he was wounded so that we might be free of wounds.

For this reason He came.

Because of my rebellion, my choosing to go my own way, SIN was LAID UPON HIM, my sin was laid upon Him.

For this reason He came.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.   But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Stars spoke and angels sang,
From all of creation choruses rang,
For this reason He came,
For this reason He came.


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

I've made pictures similar to this before but just wanted to thank Anita for reminding me of this little technique the other day on her blog.  You can access her incredible blog HERE.www.didyoubringyourcamera.blogspot.com

I Cried!

I cried when I watched this--I think you will enjoy it!

 

A Steadfast Heart

Day 17 "My heart is steadfast, O God." Psalm 108:1

 Jennifer's prayer: "Give my descendants steadfast hearts, anchored in You, unshakeable and immovable. May my descendants always present a solid phalanx in the army of the Lord."~Jennifer Kennedy Dean

 My prayer: "Father, we have prayed many prayers for our descendants over the past few days, but I have to say, other than a prayer for the salvation of all of them, I guess this is the prayer that resonates in my heart for them more than any other--a steadfast heart, immovable, unshakeable, full of faithfulness to You. Humbly I pray that You would grant this, O Lord."

 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


These pictures were taken this past week at Rhema Bible College in Tulsa, Ok.  Those are my granddaughters Ashton and Noelle.

This is the Way

Day 12

 "Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain." Psalm 119:35-36

 Jennifer's prayer: "Let my descendants find their delight in Your ways. Keep them from self-centered, self-involved lives, and instead turn their hearts toward You. Give them a passion for You that causes them to honor You in all their ways."~Jennifer Kennedy Dean

 My prayer: "Father, I pray that You will go ahead, around and behind my descendants--Let them hear Your voice saying, "This is the way; walk ye in it." I pray that they will always choose to do what honors You and not give in to selfish tendencies that would draw their interests away from You. I pray that You would always be their source of greatest delight."

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

They Wash His Feet!

Today we went to church in another town--you see, one of our precious men is graduating from Renewal Ranch and his church chose today to honor him, to show their genuine love and support for him.

Dustin and his dad discuss his former life.

He wasn't aware that this was going to happen, but his mom and dad chose to get down on their knees and wash his feet--After Dustin told his story of surrendering to the life of a drug addict, our hearts knew the torment, the hell that his Christian parents had gone through for almost a decade while he roamed the paths of the underworld in a place where he did not even want to live.

His mother washes his feet.

He told the story of growing up in the country, roaming the woods, hunting and fishing, doing whatever his little-boy heart desired.  Then all of a sudden, his father was without a job and moved the family to a big metropolis--after all, he had a wife and six children to feed--jobs were more plentiful there.

His dad spoke also and admitted the pride that led him to move his family to the big city--no one blames him but he feels somehow that he made a mistake, that his motive was not right in moving his family--that he did not consult God, he just did it to soothe his hurt pride over losing his job.

In the city, Dustin felt he was looked at as different--he didn't fit in with any one or any group except the drug users and pushers.  He chose the acceptance they offered and in that acceptance chose a path of loneliness, destruction, despair, drug addiction, arrests, and imprisonment of his soul.

She wipes them dry.

It was a glorious service and as the foot-washing came to an end, his mother added a dimension to it that I had never thought about before.  After she gently washed his feet, tenderly dried them, she proceeded to put his socks back on him--just like we as mothers or fathers did when our children were small.

That touched my heart in a way that even the foot-washing didn't.  She went the extra mile.  She did more than wash his feet and dry them.  She prepared his feet for service to others--

How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who bring good news.

Yes, she prepared Dustin to spread the good news of a Savior who stands ready, willing and able to rescue all of us from the jaws of all of satan's schemes be they addictions of any kind, bitternesses, jealousies, being easily offended, wanting to control or have our own way about everything, you name it--satan comes at each us in different ways, where he knows he can "get to us" the easiest.

The God of the manger who beckoned stars to stop and reverse their paths, who brought wise men from afar, whose birth caused angels to step from heaven's glory and sing hosannas in the highest, yes this God cares about you and me in a very personal way and longs to redeem us in every way today.

I'm sure the prayers of this Christian couple mirror what Jennifer has to say today.

Day 11

"Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace." Psalm 144:12

Jennifer's prayer: "Even in their youth, may my descendants have a spiritual strength and maturity that is evident to all."  ~Jennifer Kennedy Dean

My prayer: Lord, you said that even a child is known by his/her actions. I pray that my sons and daughters, my grandchildren, my descendants will make known the wonder of You through their actions. 


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

"Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5

Day 9

Jennifer's prayer: Lord, teach my descendants Your paths and Your truth, so that they will place all their hope and expectation in You alone." ~Jennifer Kennedy Dean

My prayer:  "O Lord, truly my hope is in You all day long.  I have no other hope than You, precious Father.  I pray that all of my descendants will be led by You.  Show them Your ways, and lead them down paths of righteousness, guide them into Your light that exposes all the darkness of satan.  Lead them into truth that would set them free." 

  © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


picture--a Christmas card we received 2010

Like Grass In A Meadow

Day 8

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my spirit on your offspring; and my blessings on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams." Isaiah 44:3-5

Jennifer's prayer: "May my descendants be drenched by Your Spirit. Create in them such a thirst for You that they long for You like a thirsty land longs for water." Psalm 63:1--Jennifer Kennedy Dean

My prayer: Lord, this scripture has been so precious to me through the years as I have tried to be faithful in my prayers for my children, grandchildren and descendants. Thank you so much for the hope and promise contained in Your precious Word. How I cherish it.

Oh God, thank you for this great promise that you will pour out your spirit on my offspring; that you will bless my descendants--the comfort and peace that comes from this verse goes beyond my ability to describe it but I am so thankful for it.

I pray that they will long for You all the days of their lives and that their joy will come from abiding in You."

  © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Dividends of Suffering

Day 7

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Roman 5:3-5

Jennifer's prayer: "Lord, give my descendants such wisdom in the things of God that they will see their difficulties and hardships as opportunities for You to develop Christlikeness in them. Complete Your full work in their hearts." Jennifer Kennedy Dean

My prayer:  "Lord, teach me what this verse really means and how to pray for my descendants in relation to it.  I do want my children to have hope and to have hope it appears they must have character to produce it, and to produce this character they must have perseverance and to possess perseverance they must suffer at times.

Lord, help me not to always want to bail my children out of everything hard that they go through.  Help me to look upon their trials, hardships and sufferings as character builders that will lead them into a closer walk with you.

Give them discernment to know when their bad choices produce needless suffering and when You are allowing hardships so that they may grow more Christlike.  Let them not be given to resentment and bitterness but be joyful, rejoicing in knowing that they are joining in the fellowship of Your sufferings and it will produce dividends that they will profit greatly from."

In Jesus' Name, Amen.


A little touch of Christmas:

This ornament is over sixty years old.  It used to grace the top of my husband's Christmas tree when he was a little boy!

  © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Fruit of Righteousness

Day 6

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11

Jennifer's prayer:  Lord, grant to my descendants an abundance of true knowledge and deep insight, and enable them to discern the best in every situation.  Let their lives be the branches that display your fruit--the righteousness of Christ.  Jennifer Kennedy Dean

My prayer: Lord, my mind can hardly take in all that these two verses express--let your Holy Spirit even now teach me what these verses really mean and how they can be appropriated in my descendants' lives.

I pray that they will give full access to Your love to grow inside them until they are filled with wisdom beyond their chronological and spiritual birth years. I pray that this will lead to discernment in every situation they are placed in throughout their earthly lives thereby leading them to develop Godly habits and practices--actions that will lead others to know this great fruit of the seed of Jesse--Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. 

Father, your Word says that the fruit of righteousness is Peace--we know true peace comes only from you and Jesus is that Peace. I pray that the Peace of Jesus would envelop the world at this point in time. I pray for a great revival throughout the earth--for Your name to be lifted high. I especially pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel. Blessed be Your Name.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

 We finished decorating our tree today--just thought you might want to take a peek!

An Undivided Heart

 For an explanation of the posts this month, please go here.

Day 5

 "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your Name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, I will glorify Your Name forever." Psalm 86:11,12

 Jennifer's prayer: Give my descendants an undivided heart. May they love you with their whole hearts, with their whole minds, with their whole souls. Draw them so strongly to you that nothing else can lay claim to even a corner of their hearts.~~Jennifer K. Dean

My prayer: I pray, Father, that my children and descendants will walk wholeheartedly in Your Way only. I pray that they would turn neither to the right or left but be steered by Your precious Spirit in the Way Everlasting, the Way of Jesus.

In all their activities, vocations, hobbies, interests--I pray that every one of these leads toward You.

Help them to use all the capabilities, talents and gifts they possess for Your glory and Yours alone.

As the landscape and sky are two separate entities but flow seamlessly into one, I pray that each of them will be one with you, O Lord. I pray that each one would embrace You as the lover of his/her soul.

In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted
this photo taken by my good friend Marianne--a view from her backyard in the bayous of Louisiana

The Real Guiding Light

Day 3 

"Send forth Your light and Your truth. Let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God." Psalm 43:3,4

Jennifer's prayer: "Let my descendants be guided by Your Light and Your Truth. May they know Your Son, Jesus, as the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Lead them into such sweet intimacy with You that You are their joy and delight."~~Jennifer K. Dean

My prayer:  "Lord, as you led the Wise Men so many years ago to the earthly place where Jesus was born, I pray that you will lead my descendants to the place where You dwell--there may they drink fully and completely of You until they are saturated with Your light and Your truth.  May all their days be filled with praise and thanksgiving to You, Father."

Dear Friends, just for the month of December, I am publishing prayers for our children, grandchildren, and all of those descendants of ours who will be born in the years ahead. Would you kindly consider leaving a prayer here today that helps interpret the scripture in today's post. I value your wisdom and insight and am looking forward to having many prayers besides mine to pray for my descendants in the days ahead. Thank you so much.

To access Jennifer's website featuring her book, Legacy of Prayer, and prayercards, go here.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted 


 an edited repost from past pages

Horizons of Mercy

For an explanation of the posts this month, please go here.

Day 2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Jennifer's prayer: "I pray that my descendants will always stand in full view of your mercy--that your mercy will fill their horizon--and that they will joyfully offer themselves as thank offerings, a pleasing aroma to you. May they be transformed from the inside and become living proof that your will is good, pleasing, and perfect."~~Jennifer K. Dean

My prayer: "Oh wow, Father, I have read this scripture so many times but when I start thinking about it in the light of praying for my descendants, I am overwhelmed with all it contains and all that my heart wants to pray for my children and my children's children.

First of all I pray that they will always understand and acknowledge just how merciful you have been to them--to all of us. I pray that my descendants will live out all their days glorifying you, sacrificing their will to yours in obedience thereby fulfilling scripture which says 'obedience is better than sacrifice.'

I pray that they will renew their mind daily Father so that they will not be conformed to the world's ways. I pray that they will depend upon your Word daily for the cleansing, the washing, the renewing of their minds.

Father, we know that all you have planned for them is ultimate good, is pleasing and perfect because that is Your nature.   We trust You to bring this to pass in their lives."

To access Jennifer's website featuring her book, Legacy of Prayer, and prayercards, go here.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


a repost from past pages

A Blog Advent

I have been thinking, pondering, praying, meditating--

Such a special time of year! How can this blog bring glory to God, make the season more meaningful and celebrate family?

My idea is this:

With the gracious permission of Jennifer Kennedy Dean, the author of numerous books including one of my favorites, Legacy of Prayer, I would like to feature Jennifer's 30 days of prayer for our families and descendants.

Each day for 30 days I will share a scripture that she suggests in her book and a short prayer from her to go along with it. I will also share a prayer of mine.

Here is where your presence and comments come into play. On the days that you are able to read and comment, I would like for you to also meditate on the scripture and share a prayer in your comment. At the end of 30 days, I plan to print these off and bind them, having my own special prayer book to pray repeatedly for my descendants. I hope you will do the same.

If you are not comfortable voicing a prayer in the comment section, that is fine.  I want no one to feel any pressure but I will only be sharing prayers for the next 30 days.

One paragraph cannot define a person or a book but I would like to share one portion of Jennifer's book that I think is so important, especially in light of the prayers we pray for our descendants.

"In praying for our children, our grandchildren and our descendants, we must learn to pray in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Our mother-flesh and our father-flesh is protective and possessive. The love we have for our children, in its flesh form, would like to control their lives and keep them from any pain, disappointment, or discouragement. Our flesh wants to rescue them and shield them and run interference for them. Our flesh will pray, "Don't let anything bad happen." To which the Lord will say, "I need to allow disappointment, pain, and failure so that I can give him the treasures of darkness and the riches stored in secret places." If we pray for our children from our flesh rather than the Spirit, we may think that God is not listening when our children do have difficulties."  ~~Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Day 1

"If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you."  Proverbs 1:23

Jennifer's prayer: "Lord, may my descendants respond to your love, even when it comes in the form of rebuke.  Pour out your heart and cause them to know your thoughts."

My prayer:  "Lord, I want to know you more--I want to know your thoughts and your heart--Oh God, I pray that you will turn my descendants thoughts to you, I trust you.  I know you will deal as gently with them as they will let you."  Thank you that I can pray in confidence resting assuredly in Romans 8:28 and the ramparts of your faithfulness."

If you do not have children, please take this opportunity to pray for your parents' or grandparents' descendants, friends of yours, or the lost and dying of the world.

I hope by Christmas day, the birth of this precious Son and Savior will have become even more meaningful to all of us.

Loving all of you,
Dianne



To access Jennifer's website featuring her book, Legacy of Prayer, and prayercards, go here.

An edited repost from past pages.