Five Minute Friday - "We Will Remember"

Today's word is:

Remember

(If you only have five minutes today, please scroll down and listen to the words of Tommy Walker's song rather than reading mine. They are words that will minister to you in a profound way. I'm sure of it.)

We sang it again in choir rehearsal this past wednesday night. It is my favorite Tommy Walker song. It gives me goose-bumps and I can hardly make it through to the end without the tears flowing. It is called "We Will Remember."

As we sing our way through the verses, my mind goes back - back through the years to the time I first met Him - a little girl who wanted so desperately to be sure she raised her skinny little arm every time the invitation to accept Jesus as Savior was given.

Back to a time when, even though I knew Him, I chose to walk the path of my own choosing. A time when I hurt Him with my selfish rebellion and childish anger. Back to a time when He forgave me for even that.

Back to a time when I thought He had finally turned His back and allowed the very worst of my nightmares to come true - to that time when I thought I might walk away for good. I remember how patient He was - how He listened to my angry accusations and bitter complaints against Him - how He loved me anyway. I remember the way He patiently waited and drew me back with love.

stop:



Blessings,
Linda

Don't Quarrel

,

The Old Testament stories are so familiar to so many of us. We have heard them told and retold since we were old enough to sit on those little wooden Sunday School chairs. However, the truth is, no matter how familiar a passage of scripture may have become, if we listen closely the Spirit will whisper something new.

The story of Joseph is one of those familiar ones. I reread it the other day and found a few words I had never noticed before. They were tucked into Genesis 45, the moving scene where Joseph finally reveals his identity to his brothers. He has given them ample provisions for the journey back to Canaan - back to a father who doesn't know that the son he thought dead for so many years is still alive.

As he watches them go, Joseph gives them these parting instructions:

"Don't quarrel about this along the way!"
Genesis 45:24

They had just experienced grace and mercy beyond anything they could have imagined. Thinking they would be dealt with in the severest of ways, they found instead love and forgiveness. This brother, whom they had sold into slavery, had not only forgiven them he had saved their lives and the lives of everyone in their families.
Was it possible they would quarrel about it?

I have learned not to judge the lives of others too harshly. The minute I do, I am reminded of my own failures and failings. All too often they are precisely the ones I find so distasteful in others.

How often have I received grace when I deserved condemnation only to turn right around and begin to grumble and complain about something else? Or the times I have been forgiven only to try to justify my part or blame the whole thing on someone else? Or, having received forgiveness, continue to rehash the past with "if onlys."

Surely there were things the brothers could have quarreled about. Joseph knew that it would do no good to argue about past wrongs. It was a time for new beginnings. He had given them that - a full measure of grace and forgiveness.

Blessings,
Linda

Thanks In the In-between

My eyes have learned to focus
on the blessings
those that stand in stark relief
against the ordinary every day
and those easily overlooked
the ones that hide in the shadows.

My eyes have learned to see
through tears and shattered dreams
to find the blessing hidden
under the heavy pile of
hurts and disappointments
of fear and doubt
of loneliness and despair.

But what of those moments
when the little annoyances
the petty grievances
the little stings of envy
the perceived injustices
cloud my vision?
Can I see through anger and
hurt feelings to the blessings within?

It is true
I have learned to give thanks
in the little and the big.
Help me, Lord,
to have eyes to see the blessing
in the in-between moments
those moments I choose to
look away and see only self
those moments when
my feelings blur my vision
and I cannot see You.

linking to Em's imperfect prose today



Blessings,
Linda

Thankful

I sit listening to her talk, basking in the glow of her joy - remembering back nearly forty-four years to the early days of my own marriage. The words bubble with laughter, and I silently give thanks. From the time she was a tiny girl we prayed for the one who would one day share her life. The one who would be there for all the joys and sorrow, the sunny days and the ones dark with rain clouds.

Thank you Father for answered prayer:

for time spent with these two beautiful women

for cooler days and brisk morning walks

for the work begun on our new home - the forms for the foundation that will support it all

a doctor who takes the time to be thorough - and then leans back to talk and laugh about all the things going on in our lives

the changing of the seasons - a constant reminder of His faithfulness

our adult choir joining forces with the middle school choir - watching with full heart as they worship

the heartfelt gratitude for four generations still sharing love and laughter and life

music

words - life-giving, live-changing words shared in this community

new neighbors - help us to be salt and light Father

linking to Ann's Gratitude Community

Blessings,
Linda

Five Minute Friday - Relevant

Friday comes quickly, and it is time for another Five Minute prompt. Today's is "relevant," and I find I'm struggling a bit with this one - worried about getting the definition just right. I will just go with what has popped into my little brain and hope for the best.

start:

Relevant

There was a time in my life, okay there are still times in my life, where being relevant was so important to me. Being accepted and part of the "right" group was high on the list of priorities. It was, too often, the way I judged my own self-worth. I needed to wear the right things, say the right things, read the right things - be included in all the right things.

I am of an age now where that matters less and less. I am learning to number the days, the hours, the minutes - trying to make them relevant in the way I live them out. More and more I want to be relevant in His eyes - to switch my focus from me to Him - to find my worth in what He deems relevant.

It is easy to slip back into the old patterns - to look around at what others are doing, where they're going, what they're saying and want to be part of it all. It is sometimes hard to find contentment in less until I begin to realize that the less is more.

"He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost His life for my sake shall find it."
Matt. 10:39

I am praying for that sort of relevance.

stop

Linking to the Gypsy Mama - Lisa-Jo

Blessings,
Linda

Giving What He Has Given

The land is ready and waiting. Soon the heavy equipment will arrive - to drill for water, to lay the foundation, to build the framework for our new home.

We have pored over plans, spent hours deciding on colors and cabinets and faucets and lights and all the myriad things that go into making a house a home - for us at least.

The email arrived in my inbox the other day - the answer to whether or not we could give an extra gift to the boy who has become part of our family, the boy whom we have never seen in person but who has taken up residence in our hearts. World Vision must be very cautious about this matter of giving, especially in countries where the poverty is so devastating. It would make things difficult if one family seemed to be getting so much more than others. So they carefully, wisely, make these heartbreaking decisions.

"...we learned that due to the fact that the family lives in one room - house,
what is more immediate and necessary for them are the interior doors of
their unfinished house...In this case we think that
the entire GN would go to the family needs."

I thought my heart would break. We know that they have been working on this tiny home for years. I had imagined something just a bit more.

"One room; no interior doors."

I am bowed low with the weight of all we have been given. We have always had doors.

We have always had rooms. We are blessed with such abundance.

I am grateful - for all we have been given and for all that we might give.

My most recent memory verse is this:

"But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to You? Everything we have has come from You, and we give You only what You first gave us."
I Chron. 29:14

Everything I have comes from His hands - everything. My only resources are those things that have been given to me by a Father who loves me with an unending love. Help me, Father, to give back what You have so graciously given to me. All I have is Yours; let all I am be You in me.

Linking to Emily's imperfect prose.



Blessings,
Linda

Thank You For the World So Sweet

One of the things I knew I would miss, once we moved, was our walk. My feet had traveled that little country road for years. When I began, it was a simple dirt road. On the rare occasion when a car or truck drove by, I was lost in a cloud of dust.

Eventually, when the Christian School took up residence not far from us, it was paved. I had to learn the best times to walk, as another school and then a small subdivision were added. It was a bit treacherous when the school buses and parents delivering children to the schools were out and about. Still I walked - sometimes alone, then with a friend, then with my husband.

It was when the stores joined the ever growing community, I knew the days of walking along this stretch of country road I had come to love were numbered.

We have found a new place to walk near our apartment. It is much more urban than I would like. I felt the loss for a while, but then I began to notice the gifts the Father had scattered along the way. Truly, He is always there sending love and grace - if we only have eyes to see.

There is something so calming about water - and water that dances and bubbles over is sheer delight.

Even in this man-made pond the little ducks find a home.

A beautiful "bouquet:"
Texas Sage

a lovely "etching" right in front of my feet!

acorns - in spite of the drought - containers filled with the potential for new life

the wind making the grasses dance

a field of sun flowers

tiny beauties

a "portrait" painted against an impossibly blue background

a splash of color

And this! I couldn't believe he would sit so quietly as I carefully approached. Amazing!

And these two elegant ladies

"Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything."
(Mrs. E. Rutter)


Linking to Ann's and the Gratitude Community


Blessings,
Linda


P.S. Our daughter is here for a visit from Paris. I will be spending as much time as I can with her. Please excuse me if I don't get to visit as much for the next couple of weeks.