You're the STAR - Week#5 EXTRA (August 2020)

I hope that you were not affected by all the storms and hoping that you are all safe and healthy.
Thank you again for joining us!

There are many ways to follow me:

Angie @ God's Growing Garden

blog  |  facebook  |  pinterest  |  twitter  |  bloglovin  |  instagram

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Before we continue onto the Linky party I wanted to share from my blog:

Zucchini Lasagna Casserole with Everything But the Kitchen Sink



WELCOME to the August 2020 "You're the Star" Blog Hop!

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WELCOME to EXTRA feature week of the August 2020 "You're the STAR" blog hop!
(Sometimes we will have 5 Mondays in a month - these 5th special Mondays are called "EXTRA feature" days)
Meet all of your STAR Hosts 

Swing by the STAR Hosts blogs:
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
WT @ Unexplained Underfoot Objects
Annie @ 15 Acre Homestead
Colleen @ Butterfly in the Attic
Mel @ Decor Craft Design
Michelle @ Moms Are Frugal
Kris @ Kris and Larry . com
Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn
Kippi @ Kippi at Home
Liberty @ B4 and Afters
This is a month long Linky party featuring YOU!

There will be 4 different features each week and 4 different feature categories (except for this special EXTRA day - we will be featuring 4 extra).  Just to be clear - this is NOT a themed party - you may link up ANY family-friendly blog posts any day of each month. 
The "theme" occurs in our weekly features:
WEEK#1 GARDEN - gardening, homesteading, recycling &/or preserving (this can include any type of green living,  while remaining family friendly),
WEEK#2 CREATIVE - arts & crafts, music, writing &/or dramatic arts (this can include sewing, dance, art history, handmade jewelry, computer art, fashion etc - anything creative while remaining family friendly)
WEEK#3 FAMILY - parenting, fitness, finances & inspirational (this can include anything about children like: education ideas for children, also self help, beauty etc -  anything family friendly)
WEEK#4 HOME - recipes, home décor, antique/DIY &/or travel (this can include anything about your home - even history posts - all while remaining family friendly)




(All features were chosen from the July 2020 "You're the Star" blog hop)

Frozen Root Beer Float Pie by Cindy's On-line Recipe Box

Fear Not by Morning Cuppas With Glenys

How To Help A Friend Who's Grieving by Living & Thriving



The Marathon of Motherhood by Mom's Home Run

If you've been featured then please grab a STAR button below:

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All Hosts/CoHosts will post this blog hop on every Monday of each week.
Please link up your family friendly blog posts below!
It wouldn't be a linky party with YOU!
(IMPORTANT NOTE: by linking up you understand that you might be featured next month and if so, we will use some of your photos from your post - rest assured - we will always link back to your lovely blog.  We might also share your fantastic posts on social media.  Also, you may link up as many family-friendly posts as you like & YES - other blog hops &/or giveaways are welcome {giveaways and blog hops will NOT be featured though}  Thank You & ENJOY! )

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Click the button below to enter the Great Giveaways going on now!!:

How To Find (& Understand) Answers To Prayer

How To Find (& Understand) Answers To Prayer

I have a couple true prayer stories to share with you before we learn how to find answers to prayer.
A.  My Great Grandmother was a "Prayer Warrior".  During WWII she was able to save her entire family from being blown up by landmines by listening to God through prayer.  (click HERE to read that true story)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" 

Proverbs 3: 5&6

B.  The second true prayer story is from my Grandmother.  This also happened during WWII but the moral of this real-life happening has to do with persistence and never giving up in prayer.  My Grandmother was separated from her parents for weeks & weeks - she could not rely on mail, instead she had to rely on prayer.  (click HERE to read how she was reunited with her parents).

"Pray continually" 
1 Thessalonians 5:17

"Seek and you will find"  
Matthew 7:7

The following are 8 ways to find and understand God's answers to our prayers:

There have been many times when I have been praying intently and decide to read my Bible.  I'll take my Bible in hand and just open it without looking for any certain verse or book and then I'll read wherever my eyes land  - and lo & behold that place where my eyes landed is the answer to my prayer!!  This has happened a few times but most of the time I need to meditate on God's word  - a little bit each day before finding an answer.

This is that "gut feeling" found deep down in our being.  You might find yourself at a crossroads in your life and pray about what direction to turn.  You decide upon a pathway but when you start down that road you get a very uneasy feeling that can't be ignored - this is the kind of urging that I'm talking about - this is the Holy Spirit telling you that you've made the wrong decision.  When something like this happens - STOP and PRAY some more before you turn around and go back the way you came.  (This "pathway", of course, is a symbol for whatever it is that you're praying for - it might be guidance on a job or decision on where to move etc). 

After praying about a certain concern or question - go to your clergy, family member, friend and ask their opinion.  Sometimes God might even send you an answer through a neighbor or even a stranger.

"Quiet time" can be different for all of us - it might be sitting on a beach watching the waves, or sitting in your house watching the traffic go by or maybe a walk around the neighborhood at night with nobody else around.  During these "quiet times" you are not praying but just listening - God might pop an idea in your head or even speak to you through your thoughts.  Try it - you might be surprised at the result!

This verse talks more about judging others but the other point of this verse is to clear up your own sin and change your ways.  Sin is blinding - you can pray and seek until you are blue in the face but if there is still an area of sin in your life then you won't be able to see or hear what God is telling you.  Clean up your life first.

God's thoughts & ways are not the same as ours and His timing is also different.  We might feel that we need the answer right away or else.......or else what?  What if you are waiting to hear if your loan went through to be able to buy that dream house - you wait so long and eventually lose that house to a different buyer.  Maybe through that wait and loss God was saying that you were not supposed to buy that house.  God's timing is the only clock by which to live. 

We might not understand why the answer is "no" at the time - but later (maybe even years later) - something will happen and then you'll say to yourself: "That's why the answer was 'no' ".  God knows better than we do - just trust Him.

This verse, of course, is talking about drifting away from our Christian walk but I also believe that it applies here.  When we are waiting for an answer to prayer, we must pay attention to everything until we receive that answer.  It might take longer than we are comfortable with but there is a reason even for that wait.

pray Pray PRAY everyday & everywhere! 

 

Copyright, Permissions & Disclaimer

Linked to:
Over the Moon Link Party
Thursday Favorite Things
Happiness is Homemade

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Take Up The THANKFULNESS Challenge!

I challenge you to thank God for something everyday for one year!  Either write it down in a diary OR share with us on a blog.  If you have a blog & would like to share your THANKFULNESS posts with us, then please fill out this form: 365 Days of Being THANKFUL form - click HERE and you will be added to the THANKFULNESS page.

Tuesdays with a Twist Blog Hop #383

Welcome to Tuesdays with a Twist #383!

Before we get to the blog hop today - checkout this post:
BLUE New Potatoes - Boiled


Grow a COVID19 Victory Garden!  There are many wonderful seeds available at Mary's Heirloom Seeds (click picture below):

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Checkout the many great giveaways going on right now!

Click the button below to enter each Giveaway!!:

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Good Morning and Welcome to another No Rules Party!

We're your hosts & co-hosts 

Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
Checkout my amazing "Featured" Pinterest Board

(click HERE to view & follow)

Features!

Each co-host will be sharing her own picks for Features. This gives everyone a better chance of being featured. Be sure to check all of our blogs to see if you were featured! 

My Features this Week are:

1. "DIY Horseshoe Towel Rack" by Unique Creations by Anita

2. "Reindeer Moss Wreath DIY" by Master "PIECES" of my Life

3. "Colorful Leaf Wreath" by Comfort Spring

If you've been featured we'd love for you to grab a button.

The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Saturday at 11:59pm.  Feel free to stop back any time and "like" your favorites.  Please visit other blogs if you have a moment. 

Share older posts as well as new ones.  No limit on links!

*Pictures should be your own* 

By linking up you give us permission to use these photos

 (with proper link backs) in our features.   And now for the party!

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Grow your own!
Many wonderful garden products from
 "Mary's Heirloom Seeds"!!
click to view

You're the STAR - Week#4 HOME (August 2020)

Thank you for linking up such interesting posts - You are all so talented!
Thank you again for joining us!

There are many ways to follow me:

Angie @ God's Growing Garden

blog  |  facebook  |  pinterest  |  twitter  |  bloglovin  |  instagram

___________________________________________________________________

Before we continue onto the Linky party I wanted to share from my blog:

Coconut Crumble Banana Muffins



WELCOME to the August 2020 "You're the Star" Blog Hop!
________________________________________

WELCOME to HOME feature week of the August 2020 "You're the STAR" blog hop!
Meet your HOME week Hosts

This week is HOME feature week
Swing by the Home Hosts' Blogs:
Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn
Kippi @ Kippi at Home
Liberty @ B4 and Afters

This is a month long Linky party featuring YOU!

There will be 4 different features each week and 4 different feature categories.  Just to be clear - this is NOT a themed party - you may link up ANY family-friendly blog posts any day of each month. 
The "theme" occurs in our weekly features:
WEEK#4 HOME - recipes, home décor, antique/DIY &/or travel (this can include anything about your home - even history posts - all while remaining family friendly)

(All features were chosen from the July 2020 "You're the Star" blog hop)

The Church Pew Bench by Master "PIECES" of My Live


Apple, Nutmeg & Clove Brown Sugar Scrub DIY by Eccentricities by JVG

Easy to Make Patriotic Pillow by Create With Cynthia

DIY Rustic Tray from Ice Sticks by Decor Craft Design

If you've been featured then please grab a STAR button below:

*******************************************************

*******************************************************

All Hosts/CoHosts will post this blog hop on every Monday of each week.

Please link up your family friendly blog posts below!

It wouldn't be a linky party with YOU!

(IMPORTANT NOTE: by linking up you understand that you might be featured next month and if so, we will use some of your photos from your post - rest assured - we will always link back to your lovely blog.  We might also share your fantastic posts on social media.  Also, you may link up as many family-friendly posts as you like & YES - other blog hops &/or giveaways are welcome {giveaways and blog hops will NOT be featured though}  Thank You & ENJOY! )

_____________________________________________________________________

Click the button below to enter the Great Giveaways going on now!!:

Recipe for the Christian Life - HARDSHIP

Recipe for the Christian Life - HARDSHIP
Today is the final post in the series on growing in our Christian Walk.  Developing a Christian life is kind of like baking a recipe - good ingredients create a perfect treat.  Adding good characteristics to our faith produces good Christians.

If you recall, a few months ago we started with an empty mixing bowl - our FAITH.  And then we've been adding to our faith, we combined: GOODNESS , KNOWLEDGE , SELF-CONTROL , PERSEVERANCE , GODLINESS , KINDNESS and LOVE.  We will increase these qualities in measure so that we will always be EFFECTIVE.
Today, we are going to learn that HARDSHIPS are a part of being a Christian and these trials will actually make us stronger through Christ.

It's always good to start with the very basic definition of "hardship" (from online dictionaries):

hardship - something that causes suffering.  Adversity, privation, trials, suffering, difficulty.

Since I have been comparing this series to that of baking a recipe, I realized that "hardships/trials" are kind of like baking.  We suffer through the heat but are better Christians after enduring hardships - just like cookie dough becomes a scrumptious dessert after baking in the oven.
Notice the wording in the above verse: "suffered a little while."  I know that what we experience during difficult times seems unbearable - like it will never end, but compared to eternity it really is just for a little while.
Afterwards, we will be made strong, firm and steadfast! (see last sentence in the verse above).

I don't know about you, but during trials in my life I always try to figure it out by myself - all alone and then I fail miserably.  Victory over hardships only comes when I totally put everything into God's hands and trust Him.  I can get up and endure ONLY because of His strength and power.  In 2 Corinthians 12:10 that's what "when I am weak, then I am strong" means.  When I am down and have spent all my energy alone, then God picks me up and carries me through the darkness.

Having patience when we are suffering is probably the most difficult thing.  We don't know how long we will have to endure that hardship but while we are suffering, let's concentrate on being hopeful for the future and let's pray continually!


"For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 
(2 Peter 1:8-11)

Let us live this Christian life so that we will receive a rich welcome in heaven!

Copyright, Permissions& Disclaimer

Shared with:
Over the Moon Linky Party
Happiness is Homemade
Thursday Favorite Things

_____________________________________________________________________

Take Up The THANKFULNESS Challenge!

I challenge you to thank God for something everyday for one year!  Either write it down in a diary OR share with us on a blog.  If you have a blog & would like to share your THANKFULNESS posts with us, then please fill out this form: 365 Days of Being THANKFUL form - click HERE and you will be added to the THANKFULNESS page.