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Author Archives: Janan
God Sent Me…
I’ve recently done a study through the book of Genesis and was especially captivated by the story of Joseph, realizing he was about 17 years old when his brothers sold him into slavery and close to 30 years old when he was elevated to the second-in-command in all of Egypt. He had been through much unjust treatment, imprisonment, and waited about 13 years, faithfully serving God all the while. The story is quite amazing to follow.
One amazing thing that impacted me was the way Joseph never wanted to do anything against God. When Potiphar’s wife tried several times to get him to sleep with her, he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”-Genesis 39:9 – When Pharaoh dreamed dreams he didn’t understand and wanted Joseph to interpret them, Joseph told Pharaoh that it was not him that could interpret, but that God would give Pharaoh “a favorable answer.” – Genesis 41:16
Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of preparing all of Egypt for the upcoming 7-year famine and storing up enough grain to feed everyone in Egypt and also sell to others. He was second in charge only to Pharaoh himself! During this time, Joseph’s father Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain so they could eat and not starve. Jacob thought Joseph was dead, based on what Joseph’s brothers caused him to believe from those 12-13 years earlier.
You can read the entire story in Genesis of how the brothers journeyed without their youngest brother Benjamin, how Joseph treated them when they did not know he was their brother, and how Joseph insisted they come back with their youngest brother in order to buy more grain. Eventually Joseph revealed himself to them as their brother.
Reading in Genesis 45:4-5, “So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, please.’ And they came near and he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
There is so much more to this story and I encourage you to read it for yourself.
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The point I wanted to make of how God showed me it applies in my life is in my marriage to my second husband, Ted.
Ted used to say that he believed God brought us together, and he said I was his true soul-mate, and that God brought me to him. I never agreed with this because I felt that I had been in disobedience to God when I married him.
You see, I have outlived 2 husbands, and I raised my 3 children by God’s grace as a single mom. I had waited on God for 15 years, believing He had another husband for me, but I had simply gotten tired of waiting and I decided to do things my own way. Even though I, like Joseph, wanted to honor God in my life and never really wanted to sin against Him, I felt that I did. Sure, I later repented and know God forgives me, but the thing God has now revealed to me just fits with Joseph’s story and blessed my heart when He showed it to me!
The beautiful thing God has now shown me through studying about Joseph in Genesis is that God allowed this, even in my disobedience, because He had a perfect plan for Ted and me, and I now believe that God sent me! You see, Ted developed a neurological disorder called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and he needed me to care for him. I realize that God sent me 19 years earlier, even in what I thought was disobedience on my part, so I could care for my husband.
I post this to encourage you, my precious reader, that no matter what you may have done in your life, God can use it for your good and for His glory. I would love to hear your story of how you have seen this in your life and can also say, God sent me!
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Exciting News!
God has opened the door for me to add a New York real estate license to my Delaware real estate license and I have completed all the required training, passed the state exam and just received my license, and I will be getting my Board memberships and MLS account set up so I can begin servicing buyers and sellers in New York!
Since I am living in the Adirondacks I will focus my attention mainly in this area, but can certainly work anywhere in the state, just like I can in Delaware. As always, I have a robust referral network within Keller Williams and can actually assist anyone with any real estate needs in any state!
I am super excited to be joining KW Platform located in Latham, New York.
Just wanted to share my excitement!! Visit my website here.
The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked – Psalm 1
verses 1-2 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the *counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of *scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he *meditates day and night.
verses 3-4 – He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he *prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like *chaff that the wind drives away.
verses 5-6 – Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will *perish.
*counsel – to give advice to someone
*scoffer – someone who mocks or ridicules others for their beliefs
*meditate – to ponder, a careful weighing of a problem or, often, prolonged inconclusive thinking about a matter, a definite focusing of one’s thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply
*prosper – flourish physically; grow strong and healthy, succeed in material terms; be financially successful, make successful
*chaff – the refuse (food waste, scraps, or garbage) of winnowed corn
*perish – suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way, suffer complete ruin or destruction
Jesus is Knocking…will you open the door?
Revelation 3:20 says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
New day, new year…almost here…I am thankful!
So it’s been “a minute” as some people say since I’ve written here on my blog. So much has happened, so much of God’s hand in my life, and I am so very thankful.
Currently living in the Adirondacks in upstate New York with my youngest daughter and three of my wonderful grandchildren, studying to take the New York real estate exam to add a New York license to my Delaware license, I am thankful. (Not really planning to ever add Maryland or New Jersey licenses again but you never know…)
Attending Adirondack Bible Chapel with my daughter each Sunday has been a blessing, but I still look forward to attending Word of Life Christian Center whenever I’m back in Delaware. I’m making new friends at ABC but also miss my friends at WOLCC. Again, I am thankful.
You know, it’s an exciting adventure living in a new state and still keeping my connections to the other three states I’ve lived in. Family, clients and friends in Delaware, Maryland & New Jersey, for all of whom I am so very thankful. My other two children and the remainder of my 12 grandchildren (one whom just got married this year!) are all still in New Jersey and are such blessings from God! I am so very thankful!
While my Toyota RAV-4 has been a fantastic traveling vehicle, and my little dog Maddy is such a great traveling companion, my goal is to purchase a small RV motorhome or conversion van so I can have my home on wheels while I travel back and forth. This will make doing business in multiple states much easier. As I research and study all the options, I get more and more excited to know it will soon be a reality. Again, I am thankful.
So as I look forward to the start of a new year, I know God has great things in store for me, and I choose to continue to serve Him wherever He wants to use me. He has never let me down, and He has brought me through so many difficult things throughout my life. How can I not trust Him with my future? I am so very thankful!
Taking Things Out of God’s Hands and Into Our Own…
In reading Bill Winston’s book titled The Kingdom of God in You, I felt prompting from the Lord to share my personal testimony based on chapter 8’s discussion of God’s promise to Abram and Sarai that “your very own son shall be your heir,” Genesis 15:4. God promised Abram that his offspring would come from his own seed and be born of Sarai, both in their old age, well past childbearing years. He promised Abram that his offspring would outnumber the stars in the heavens!
After years had passed, however, Sarai decided to take things in her own hands because God still had not provided this son He had promised. So she instructed Abram to go into her servant Hagar and have a son through her instead.
This is where my personal testimony comes in. Those who know me well and have walked through the last 35+ years of life with me know this testimony, but I believe God wants me to also share it with you, whomever you are that is reading this blog post.
You see, my first husband went home to Jesus in 1989 after a short battle with cancer, and I became a single mom of 3 children, ages 8, 6, and 5. I always believed God had another husband for me and waited for Him to bring that husband into my life, but after waiting 15 years I grew very weary of the wait. I imagine this is how Sarai might have felt (especially considering she was well past the childbearing age) and she most likely wondered if God’s promise was actually going to happen for her. Sadly, I can relate!
So just like Sarai, I decided to take matters into my own hands and seek out a husband for myself. Without making this post too long with the many details, suffice it to say that I searched on some of the Internet dating sites for a single Christian man to meet and marry, and that is exactly what I did!
I met my second husband but only knew him for six weeks before we married in 2004. Since we didn’t take time to really seek God’s direction or get to know each other well to be sure we were compatible, and most importantly that we were the one God had for each of us to marry, we began a roller coaster of a marriage that lasted for 19 years until that husband also went home to Jesus in June 2023.
Red flags? Yes! There were quite a few. Did I heed them? Absolutely not! Did I regret jumping into a marriage not arranged and directed by God? Oftentimes, yes!
BUT GOD!!
On the first occasion that I was going to leave my new husband, as I was praying for God’s direction (something I had stopped doing when I married my husband) God told me to stay and gave me a promise that He was going to make something of this marriage.
There were many other times when I wanted to leave and sometimes when we were separated, but I kept hearing God’s promise of “making something of this marriage” and telling me to stay, so I did. Was it easy? Not at all!! Oh, don’t get me wrong; we had many good times too, but the marriage was often fraught with difficulties, sadness, anger, and disappointments too, and I think that was mutual for him as well as for me.
At one point I heard a message from my pastor on Hebrews 11:1, which reads: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” My pastor had instructed us to personalize this verse and for many years I claimed it for myself, confessing “Now faith is the substance of the marriage I hoped for, the evidence of the marriage not seen.”
So as the years continued on, we had many ups and downs, but God continued to be faithful to His promise to “make something of our marriage.” I can attest to an amazing work He did in me throughout the process, years of pain and heartache, but also times of joy. My husband helped me develop a love for boating and I have many beautiful memories of those times together on several boats we owned together.
I’m not sure exactly when my husband developed Progressive Supranuclear Palsy because he was not diagnosed with it until December 2022, but he had many symptoms for quite a few years prior; we just didn’t know they were symptoms of that neurological disorder until he was diagnosed. This was a very horrible neurological disorder to watch him suffer from and I definitely promised God I would never leave him as I knew he would have been lost without me.
I thank God for the years I had with both my husbands, but most especially for all the ways God worked in me through each marriage, good, bad and indifferent. No marriage is perfect, for sure, but I definitely recommend seeking God for direction so as to enjoy the BEST marriage He has for you. But if you find yourself in a marriage you feel is wrong for you, trust God to direct you. Certainly if you are in an abusive marriage, there are outlets you can seek out for help, and God would never have you stay in an abusive situation. But if you just feel you made a mistake, as I felt that I did, trust God to lead you whether or not you should stay and allow Him to “make something of the marriage.” He did it for me, and He can do it for you!!
Whatever you do…do all to the glory of God!
When running a business, or even working as an employee of someone else’s business, it is important to remember God’s word in 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
The other morning in the YouVersion Bible app that I use each day for my morning devotion time in the Word and in Prayer, the gal who was expounding on this passage was also pointing out how it applies to what we eat and drink. I had always thought about how this applies to work-what we “do” for a living, but I hadn’t really thought about how it relates to what I eat and drink, thus meaning how I care for my body and my health. As a Christian, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the trinity, our triune God of all creation.
Thinking about this verse in every way we should apply it to our lives, it truly does apply to “whatever we do.” In order to live for Jesus, we must commit everything in our lives, everything we do and say, to Him, and strive for honoring Him and aiding in the work of His Kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven.
Servant Leadership in the Marketplace
Reading a devotional this morning, I was prompted to write this post about being a servant to others, especially in the marketplace. The scripture quoted was Mark 9:35, “And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all’“
As we build businesses or work for an employer, let us have a servant mindset. Let us always strive to do our best work and to do it unto God and in service to others.
I have always loved the Zig Ziglar quote that says, “You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want.”
Another comment worth considering from Zig Ziglar as it relates to business is this: “I suggest the greatest challenge to Christians in the business world is within – making the heart determination (simply put, the choice) to live by God’s principles and sticking with it; making the commitment to serving Christ and mankind with our efforts, our gifts and our knowledge.”
Think about it…Are you using ALL your gifts and talents in the service of others? Whether you are an entrepreneur running a business or an employee working a job, are you totally applying yourself to it in a way that serves those who benefit from what you do? Even performing a role of service in your church is an important way of serving others and honoring God in the process. I myself am a Realtor and I strive to always put my clients first. Earning commission is secondary to helping them achieve their dreams and goals.
How about you? Leave a comment about the ways you use your talents in service to others in the business or ministry you participate in.
Proverbs 3:3-6 instructs us this way:
3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and a good [b]reputation
In the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Blessed Beyond Measure
Good morning friend! What are your plans for your day? Will you be filled with the Joy of the Lord today? I hope so!!
Read these words from King David:
“I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.“