Welcome to Mary Lou's Sitting Room

Hello! You are entering the world of Mary Lou...hope you have fun here! I created this blog to be a place of refuge in the storm, inspiration in the fog, light in the darkness, and hope for your life. I love to encourage people and have fun-I hope you will find this true as you visit me here. I plan on writing about all types of subjects, because I am interested in all the good things God has made, so hang on for the ride~! I love to sew and also cook...hence the name..

Friday, February 5, 2016

Got Stress? ...be still and know...


Our society does not make it easy to be still or quiet.  Everywhere I look there are distractions. My iPhone is sitting there on the table making sounds every few minutes, the TV is across the room enticing me to turn it on to see who the Today Show is featuring or what great cooks and recipes are being shown on Food Network. My laptop is just an arm's reach away with the internet, games, music - just about anything I could want for entertainment. And my Kindle
Fire is sitting right there as well, with books galore to explore! Yikes! It's all just calling out my name.

And yet....God's Word says to "Be still and know". (Psalm 46:10) But to know what exactly?  Well, it seems that if we still all the voices and noise in our lives we can know God, and that He is exalted in the earth - that He is the Lord Almighty and He is with us...He is our fortress.  Here's the exact quote:

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Psalm 46:10-11


I like to be busy. I feel more useful if I accomplish a large number of tasks during the day.  I love to cross things off of my "to do" list. It looks impressive.  So all of these things are pulling at me every day and yet God says to "be still and know".  I also like to do things for myself. Handling problems as they arise in my own strength comes naturally.  "I can do this" is constantly going through my head. It's not that I don't want help, but I just have a "get it done" mentality.

So how does that correlate with "being still"?  Not very well, apparently.  God is telling us that if we quiet our spirits and just dwell on Him we will find everything we need to face the situation. To face the day.  He says we will know that He is exalted - over the problem - that He is Almighty- He is strong. That He is with us - we are not alone. That He, the God of Jacob, is our fortress. A fortress is a place to hide & be safe from our enemies.  And isn't that what we really want, after all?





Saturday, January 9, 2016

New Years and Second Chances

I am competitive. I love to win, hate to lose. When my older brother was teaching me to play baseball and I did poorly I always begged for a second chance.  Just let me try to hit one more pitch, or attempt to throw the ball a little straighter or further.  I needed desperately to try again and not end the session in defeat. I don’t think anybody likes to lose. It doesn’t feel good.  But some are more determined than others and press on until they win, or at least improve.

 Life doesn’t always give us second chances, though.  In school we are not always given the opportunity to take the test over again.  When performing in front of an audience we only have that one moment to do our best and then it’s over.

But God DOES give us 2nd Chances-right up until our last day on this planet! 

As we begin this New Year I contemplate what it means to have New Beginnings and am so grateful that with God every single day can be a new beginning.   His grace never ends and His love never fails.  With every breath we breathe we are given the chance to repent, to thank Him, to praise Him!  To begin again - to lean on His everlasting Arms for strength to walk with Him into a new day!

Lamentations 3:22-24
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

May the year 2016 be a year of knowing and experiencing
God's grace and His mercies brand new every morning!