The Howell Blessings

May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.   Psalms 19:14 (NIV) Back in 2014 I vividly heard God while I was in prayer. His solitary word answer has proved to be a much bigger challenge than I expected it to be.   I asked “Lord, what do YOU want me to do?” I had been struggling with trying to find my worth after leaving a company I had worked at for over twelve years.    I have brought home paychecks since I was almost fifteen years old, and not having an avenue to make my own money left me feeling as if I had no structure and no purpose anymore. If I didn’t bring home a paycheck, was I really valuable in my own home? I certainly didn't feel valuable in my own eyes. After I left the company in 2012, I sought out different avenues of ways to make an income. Fast forward to 2022 and I have found way too many ways to avoid doing what God told me to do that day back in 2014. These avenues have had temporary satisf

Have you ever looked at someone and made an opinion of who they are just by the way they carry themselves? I remember when I was a teenager, sometime after we had moved from Ohio to Texas, I would take walks at night on the grounds of this apartment complex we lived in. I just wanted to get away, alone, and process my thoughts. Back then at the age of 15 or 16 having moved from a country home I had lived in before the age of memory retention began, to a new state, a new school and in the first time a residence in a city. I had a lot on my mind.   I would take walks at night, passing by the playground on our apartment grounds and seeing other teenagers hanging out by the swings.   I was shy and didn’t know them, so I kept on walking. Later on, I befriended one of those teenagers, and he told me they all thought I was stuck up, a term we used for someone who thought they were better than others.   I remember feeling aghast at that thought and asked him why they thought that. He told me i

Peace is defined as f reedom from disturbance. Tranquility. Tranquility is defined as  quality or state of being tranquil; calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity . This week, the worlds peace was totally broken. The news is on all the channels, internet sites and social media platforms. With so many people on social media all over the world, and with being able to see those who are posting, we are all getting a first hand look at the horrors of war.  From watching missiles soar over head and hearing the explosions of them and other bombs, seeing the fires and devastation, hearing the gunshots to viewing those who are in the Ukraine and Russia as they go live during their hellish nightmares and fears, the majority of the world is anything but peaceful. Even being far removed from the physical actions of the madman Putin, those of us who are not near, can still feel the fear, the lack of quiet, and the lack of peace. It makes us weep and pray for those who are unwillingly in the midst o