More Like Him

The Lord very kindly reinforces the lessons He is teaching me. He knows how easy it is for me to have one of those "Aha moments" and then quickly forget the very thing He impressed on my heart.

He has been showing me that His will for me can be found in the every day things He allows into my well-planned day. Yesterday my Bible reading was about the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand, but it was the verses that preceded it that stood out to me.

"When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then He slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. But the crowds found out where He was going, and they followed Him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and He healed those who were sick."
Luke 9: 10-11

Evidently Jesus had planned to get away for a little while - to walk quietly with His friends to the next town. They must have all been weary having poured themselves out in service. Jesus especially, had so little time to Himself - so few moments when there weren't constant demands from an ever growing crowd of people.

So they slipped away, and before they could begin to enjoy the peace and quiet they found themselves being followed once again by the crowds. Jesus could have refused to see them. He could have explained that He just needed a little time to Himself and would meet them later in the town. He could have gotten annoyed and sent them away.

He didn't do any of those things. He simply did what He always did - the will of His Father. This interruption in His day was not a source of annoyance to Him, it was an opportunity to minister.

We have a wonderful Savior who really has experienced everything, the little things as well as the most difficult, we will ever have to face in this life, and He always did it with such grace. The miraculous thing is that by His death and resurrection and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I too have that grace available in my life. I must simply choose to walk in it.

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace,that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4: 15-16

Blessings,
Linda

It's Raining!

"Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him."
Psalm 28: 6,7

It's raining!! Beautiful, wonderful, life-giving rain. We stood out on the front porch, unable to turn away from the glorious sight.

How our hearts overflow with thanksgiving. Thank You Father. Thank You with all my heart.

Blessings,
Linda

Water

As we set records for heat and drought here, I find myself thinking constantly of rain. As often happens, the Lord uses such things to whisper truth to my heart.

We have been frugally watering our dying grass in a vain attempt to keep it just a little green. We wait until the sun goes down and then place the sprinkler in the most needy place. The parched ground soaks up all it can in the limited time we allow the sprinkler to run.

When morning comes, we can see a slightly greener circumference where the water has done its work, but by late afternoon it is dry and brown again. Our best efforts are making little difference in the health of our lawn.

I know that when rains finally come it will be very different, for the Lord is a far better gardener than we can ever hope to be. His watering methods are far superior - distributing life-giving water to every needy thing. When the morning comes, we see the evidence of His miraculous touch. Everything is lush and green, sparkling with new life.




So it is in my life. When I find myself in that desert place, there is nothing that can quench that thirst like the Lord. I can try other things that I think will bring a measure of satisfaction and fulfillment, but they only give a temporary reprieve. I need never settle for just a sprinkling. He offers rivers of living water.

"...whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
John 4:14

Blessings,
Linda

Multitude Monday

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. it turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past,brings peace for today,and creates a vision for tomorrow."
Melody Beattie

I am joining Ann
and others at her blog, as we record the gratitude of our hearts:

- the compassion and kindness of nurses and doctors; a gentle touch, a tender smile-good medicine for the heart

- reconnecting with old friends

- the simple teaching of the Word

- fresh corn on the cob smothered in butter

- the gentle cooing of the doves early in the morning

- homemade rhubarb cake warm from the oven

- the new little bird who comes to drink at our bird bath; he wears a beautiful yellow and black "suit"

- all four violet plants in full bloom at the same time - gracing the window sill




- the blessing of air conditioning as we experience the hottest July on record

- The gentle breeze as we go for our early morning walk

- memory verses that somehow speak to my present circumstances over and over again

If you would like to join the Gratitude Community simply visit Ann's gentle blog.

Blessings,
Linda

Unfailing Love

"Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul."
Psalm 143:8

Blessings,
Linda

picture:flickr mangtacio

SELF

I feel a little disclaimer is in order before I begin writing this post. After much flip-flopping around since I first began my blog I have come to view it as a place for me to put down markers as I live out my days. Sometimes they are just the daily events that have special significance for me - things I don't want to fade with the passage of time. Sometimes they are things I'm grateful for, and the recording of them somehow makes them all the richer. Often times it is the things the Lord is teaching me through the Word, answers to prayer, books or the people He places in my life. I have made the mistake of thinking I will never forget such important things, but time has a way of stealing even the most precious of memories. So I write...
I don't write to admonish anyone else. I don't write because I think I have all the answers. I certainly don't write to portray myself as someone who has it all together. On the contrary, I have so very far to go, and I am simply trying to record the journey - to gather the precious stones along the way, build a little altar of sorts and remember - the way they did in the Old Testament. Then, as I walk that path again, I will have something to mark the way.
We walked early this morning, before the heat of the day settled in. As I made my way down our little country road I began to pray. All goes well until I come to the part where I confess my sins. Then the guilt and despair set in - guilt over having to confess the same things over and over on a daily basis - those "besetting sins" - and despair over the fact that I seem never to get it right.

As I named them, I realized that they could all easily be put under one heading: SELF. The root of all of them is my own selfishness - my unwillingness to fully surrender, my need to have some degree of control, my seeking after the approval of others. They are not "terrible" sins. In fact, no one else would even guess that they are there. But they are sins nonetheless, and there really is no degree of sin in the Father's eyes.

I thought about how I often struggle with knowing what God would have me do in a certain situation because I no sooner sense Him putting something on my heart than I begin to debate with Him about it. I stepped outside of myself at that moment and looked at who I am and who He is and wondered how I could have such audacity. But there it is...that "self" pushing its way in at all costs.

On the surface I am a very compliant person, wanting to please everyone and avoid conflict at all costs. But underneath that placid surface runs a current of rebellion and selfishness that ripples the surface with those "besetting sins".

The reading in my devotional book this morning was about sanctification:

"There is always a battle royal before sanctification, always something that tugs with resentment against the demands of Jesus Christ. Immediately the Spirit of God begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle begins. 'If any man come to Me and hate not...his own life, he cannot be My disciple.'...

Am I willing to reduce myself simply to 'me,' determinedly to strip myself of all my friends think of me, of all I think of myself, and to hand that simple naked self over to God? Immediately I am, He will sanctify me wholly, and my life will be free from earnestness in connection with everything but God.

When I pray -'Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,' He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus Christ puts into me: it is Himself in me(I Cor. 1:30)"
Oswald Chambers - "My Utmost For His Highest"


I never cease to be amazed at the way the Lord reinforces the truths He wants to write on my heart. Today it was a call to die to self. It is Paul writing in Romans 12:1,2:

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind He will find acceptable...Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

His will is good, pleasing and perfect, and there I stand with arms crossed insisting, however subtly, on my own way. Why would I be willing to give up His very best just so that I can do what I want to do? Having it my way brings very little satisfaction when all is said and done. It leaves me feeling rather empty. It is time to come with open hands to Him and surrender those things which are not His best for me so that He can fill them with what is.

Blessings,
Linda

picture:flickr - Aditi Kidambi

One Thousand Gifts

"Gratitude...goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy."
Henri J. M. Nouwen

Celebrating the gifts:



- a brief shower, a gift to a parched land....and a picnic by the pool




- three generations sharing the fun of feeding the ducks - something the littlest ones had never done







- Papa and grandson taking a dip in the pool....cool refreshment on a scorching hot day

- the joy in my Mom's face as she shared pictures of past generations with her great granddaughter

- Dad, home from the hospital, sitting in his recliner enjoying having his family gathered around him

- time with my grandchildren....the blessing of just watching and listening to them.

- reconnecting with friends we haven't heard from in over twenty-five years (I have discovered the blessing of Facebook!)

- worship with my very large church family

- watching the tears in my Pastor's eyes as dozens of hurting people knelt at the altar....coming to the One who brings peace in the midst of our storms

- laughter

Father,
I am wealthy far above anything I could ever have imagined. You fill my life with the richest of blessings. This is the abundant life You promised, and it has nothing to do with material things. It is far better than that. It is knowing that everyone most precious to me is held in Your loving hands. It is knowing that nothing can come to me that does not first pass through those same hands. It is seeing You in the moments and people in my life. It is knowing that my future is secure in You.
Thank You

Another Day in the Hospital

My Dad is back in the hospital. He went for his dialysis treatment this morning and the nurse was alarmed to discover his heartbeat was very rapid. They put off dialysis and told him to get to the emergency room.

So we got one of "those" early morning calls, and off we went. Dad has been to the hospital so often in the past eighteen months the nurses all know him by name. They are so sweet and concerned. There is something about my Mom and Dad that just makes everyone want to adopt them. They can't have them though - they're ours.

Life is precious - at any age. After sixty-three years of marriage my Dad can hardly bear to be separated from his bride for even one night. He calls her frequently just to hear her voice.

Their faith has been a strong foundation for our family for many, many years. It has sustained us all during those times we thought we just couldn't survive. We, each child, grandchild and great-grandchild, know that they pray for us by name every morning when they have their devotions together. And we, in turn, pray for them.




Blessings,

A Watered Garden

We have gone from extreme drought conditions in our part of the country to extraordinary drought. We are desperate for rain. The heat from the sun is unrelenting - triple digit weather for days - making it difficult for anything to survive. Our lawns are drying up and water restrictions allow for watering only once a week. With so little water, it is a losing battle. The grass is turning brown; it is dying.

We are allowed to water with a hand-held hose, and while there is simply too much lawn to make that possible, I have been drenching the flowers in my little flower bed with life-giving liquid whenever they begin to droop. They are doing well. In spite of the conditions surrounding them, they continue to grow - a picture of life in the midst of devastating circumstances.

They are a visual reminder of what the Lord wants to do in my life. There are times of drought; times when circumstances overwhelm and I struggle just to make it through the day. The assault can seem relentless at times...

To read the rest of this devotional please visit Laced With Grace.

Blessings,

Wisdom from Laura Ingalls Wilder

Home

"Out in the meadow, I picked a wild sunflower, and as I looked into its golden heart, such a wave of homesickness came over me that I almost wept. I wanted Mother, with her gentle voice and quiet firmness; I longed to hear Father's jolly songs and to see his twinkling blue eyes; I was lonesome for the sister with whom I used to play in the meadow picking daisies and wild sunflowers.

Across the years, the old home and its love called to me, and memories of sweet words of counsel came flooding back. I realize that all my life the teachings of those early days have influenced me, and the example set by Father and Mother has been something I have tried to follow, with failures here and there, with rebellion at times; but always coming back to it as the compass needle to the star.

So much depends upon the homemakers. I sometimes wonder if they are so busy now with other things that they are forgetting the importance of this special work...

Because of their importance, we must not neglect our homes in the rapid changes of the present day. For when tests of character come in later years, strength to the good will not come from the modern improvements or amusements few may have enjoyed but from the quiet moments and the 'still small voices' of the old home.

Nothing ever can take the place of this early home influence, and as it does not depend upon externals, it may be in possession of the poor as well as of the rich, a heritage from all fathers and mothers to their children.

The real things of life that are the common possession of us all are of the greatest value - worth far more than motor cars or radios, more than lands or money - and our whole store of these wonderful riches may be revealed to us by such a common, beautiful thing as a wild sunflower."

Long before she penned the timeless "Little House" books, Laura Ingalls Wilder offered timeless wisdom in articles for regional newspapers and magazines. I came across a little volume of them entitled "Writings To Young Women From Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Life As A Pioneer Woman".

As I read her words, written in August 1923, I thought how appropriate they were for us today. That is the way with real wisdom - it really knows no boundaries of time. This articl opens a little window into the family life (a life she would some day share with thousands of devoted readers), of a beloved author. Beloved, by me at least, because she reminds us of those things in life that have real value, and she does it so beautifully.

Blessings,

Peace

"Neither go back in fear and misgiving to the past, nor in anxiety and forecasting to the future; but lie quiet under His hand, having no will but His."
H.E. Manning

It is the place of peace and contentment.

Blessings,

picture: flickr - Daniela Duncan

Dark Days

I shouldn't write on days like these. They come so infrequently and are quickly gone. But they are a part of this journey. I don't want to remember just the good days. I want to remember the days like this one - where I feel so small and everything else looms so large - because He is still here.

On a day like this, though no different really from the days leading up to it, circumstances press in and weigh heavy on the heart. The sun still shines, but all is shrouded in darkness. He calls with that still, small voice, and I turn away. Away from exactly what I need, choosing instead to sit in the darkness.

His is a persistent love. Since I will not come to Him, He comes to me whispering the very words I've memorized this past week:

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13

A tiny shaft of light pierces the darkness and hope begins to rise once again.

Blessings,

My Journal

Ann has been writing a series of posts on Journaling. They are inspiring and beautifully written. They will make you want to run out and purchase a blank book and get writing.

I kept a Journal for years when my children were younger and still at home. I poured my heart onto the pages and a little stack of floral covered books grew on my closet shelf. One day, after reading through a few of the entries, I decided that I really didn't want anyone else to read them. Some of the things might be hurtful taken out of context; some things just really didn't need to be shared with anyone else.

So I sat on the floor and for several hours tore them all to bits. I had a couple of large garbage bags filled with the remnants of years of journaling when I was finished. I wasn't terribly sad. I knew it was right. They had served their purpose. They had given me a place to record and sort through the things we were walking through in those years.

I decided that from then on I would keep a more "generic" sort of Journal - nothing too deeply personal. It worked well for a while, but over time I found I couldn't really write about my daily life without my "heart" making its way onto the pages. When I begin to put words on paper, they seem to take on a life of their own. I have managed to install a little "editor" that makes sure I don't write anything about a person I wouldn't want them to read. Other than that, my Journal has once again become the place where I process my life.

This is my current Journal. I got the idea from Ann. It is my second sketch book that I have fashioned into my Journal. The first one was much smaller, and I found I wanted more space to paste pictures and write. So I bought a bigger one the second time around. I decorated the cover with pictures from my magazines.


This is the very first page.

I use my Journal to write lists of things I want to get done during the day, to record the noteworthy events and special occassions - like our trip to California. I saved bits and pieces to paste into the Journal as we traveled.



I also record my thoughts, quotations that are meaningful to me, prayer requests, and little conversations with the Lord. I also incorporate my gratitude list as I write and then mark them with a little heart so I can easily find them when I glance back.

Sometimes I have so many pretty pictures I just fill the pages with them.



I have also started a little Jounal that I use during my Quiet Time - to record what I hear the Lord speaking to me through His word and to write out my thoughts. There is something about the act of writing things out that settles and defines them.

My blog is also a Journal of sorts. The things I post lately are things that I want to remember - things that have touched me in some way. Often they are just simple little things, but I have found it is easy to lose the memory when we have so many other things bombarding our minds on a daily basis. I especially want to record the things the Lord is showing me. I am setting down markers along the way so I don't forget those things. I want to remember the blessings and the joys and the simple pleasures He so graciously pours into my life. I want to remind myself of His faithfulness so that when life gets difficult, as it inevitably does, I will be encouraged by the things He has done for me in the past. I also want to remember the answers to prayer. So when I write, I am really writing to myself because I always think I will never forget and then I do.

I love words....they hold such potential for good. I want to use them wisely.

Blessings,

The Exam

Every six months we take this journey. My husband and I have been taking it for over twenty years now. I begin to pray about it several days in advance, asking the Lord to make all things well. I never look forward to it and can't wait until it is over.

All those years ago, years and years of diabetes began to take its toll on my husband. The point of attack was his eyes. It started with bleeding in the back of his eyes as the tiny blood vessels began to break down. The first doctor he saw said there was no hope. He was going blind.

We saw other doctors and after many painful surgeries and laser treatments he did lose the vision in one eye - but the other vision in the other was preserved. It is very fragile, however, so every six months we go for his eye exam.

His eye doctor is heaven-sent - quite literally as far as I'm concerned. He is kind and compassionate, and most importantly, an excellent doctor. We saw him yesterday.

It is always the same. We walk into the examining room and share small talk and laughter. Then he darkens the room and the exam begins. I sit in a chair in a corner and, with butterflies in my stomach, pray. It is so quiet. I wait.

Then the doctor turns, lights up the room again and smiles. "Everything looks great!"
I breath again and softly whisper, "Thank You Lord."

I can't quite explain the joy that fills my heart. It is knowing that all is well; knowing that He has heard and answered my prayer. Most of all it is feeling like a little child caught in the huge embrace of a loving Father. I am so small, and He is so big - and yet He is mindful of me. More than mindful - He is with me.

Father - thank You for loving me.

Blessings,