The Chronicles of Janie

But this is what the Lord told me: "When a strong young lion stands growling over a sheep it has killed, it is not frightened by the shouts and noise of a whole crowd of shepherds. In the same way, the Lord of Heaven's Armies will come down and fight on Mount Zion." Isaiah 31:4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows." Psalm 23: 4-5 Angus Stead I have never encountered a lion in the wild. But I know enough about predators and food chains to realize the supreme power pictured in the verse from Isaiah. The crowd of shepherds may have the lion outnumbered, and they may be making a whole lot of noise. But numbers and noise and a show of force don't matter when the real power lies with the apex predator; the lion.   Sometimes, we...

The day has arrived, and here is Jessica's long-awaited (on my part, anyway) blog post. I just have to say that the last few days have been pretty rough on me, and reading her post has encouraged me to, once again, step back from my problems and remember exactly WHO my God is. I hope it will do the same for you! Jessica's Photo I’ve been stressed. Situations have come up beyond my control, and I don’t like it. I want to do something to fix them. But I can’t. So, I sit here, and I think, and I worry. I worry about the image it puts on God’s name, I worry how people may view me, I worry about the effects on others. I cry out to God in my mind, Do something! And God replies in His quiet, calm, way: I will. Remember all the situations in the past? They worked out, and they worked out for good. Do you think I can’t work this one out? Trust me! Trusting is hard. It’s not my nature to sit back and wait, to let God fix my problems or plan my life; the least I can do is w...

Some time ago...probably a year or possibly more (because I don't journal as faithfully as I ought)...I encountered a blog entitled Apples of Gold ...and Jessica's lovely, simple, honest writing. I have frequent cause to be thankful for that encounter, because it's my pleasure to visit, to read, and to come away refreshed. I think that 'wholesome' is the best word I've found so far to describe Jessica's writing. It feels nourishing and good and helpful. And I think more people should be given the opportunity to read it. So I'm very excited to be hosting Jessica here this week! Keep reading for an interview that will hopefully make you as excited about her upcoming guest post as I am. Jessica's Photo What got you started with blogging?  Well, about five years ago, my friend started blogging, and that opened to me another world. I read her blog, and found other blogs I enjoyed reading. Pretty soon I wanted to join them, and that's how A...

Source Today, in the midst of cooking supper, figuring out my social life for the next couple of days via text, fielding questions about Photoshop that were frankly out of my league, and trying to encourage frustrated people with coffee and my scanty store of Portuguese humor, I got an email from Jessica that my guest post was up on her blog.  And there was much rejoicing ...in the kitchen ...with a potato masher. I have all sorts of nice things to say about Jessica and her blog, but I'll save them for later, when it's her turn to guest post here at the Chronicles of Janie. Let it stand for now that I'm really honored that I got to share some blog space with her.  So head on over to Apples of Gold and take a peek at what I have to say about real love, my pitiful attempts at writing a bio, and Jessica's posts which have been an encouragement to me time and time again.  Happy reading, meus amigos !