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Never Too Many

I don’t remember when I wrote the above lines in my journal, but it is just as true today as when I wrote it. On any given day we are deluged with a cavalcade of words. It can be staggering. Too many. Our attention spans have shrunk. Our phones have taught us to measure information in snippets precisely because it’s a kind of survival. We can only handle or absorb so much. Should I add to the torrential flow? That’s what we deal with as writers. Can I add anything of value that hasn’t already been said?

I sense a whisper from the Holy Spirit saying, “How much is too much when you consider all that God has lavished on you?” Exactly. There are never too many words to describe how wonderful, how amazing is His love for us. It’s the balm that heals the soul when everything you see and hear in the world gets to be too much. If “the labor and heavy laden” describes you, He’s got you covered.

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

He meets us where we are. In the days where nothing seems to come together. Or when you feel like there is a mushroom cloud of dread over your head and you have no idea why. Or when you suddenly want a glass of wine because that was your cure for many years, even though you already fought that battle and have won the victory in Jesus.

It was an off day yesterday, but today the tea is comforting, I found a book I wanted at the library, and my sense of well-being is intact again. Also, the first of the winter birds were back at the feeder this morning. The gray tide of unrest has receded until next time. Living this side of Heaven, we can rest assured there will be a next time (but that’s okay) I will be ready. I have my Spiritual armor handy. This can be found in the book of Ephesians (6:14-17)

I have found a steady and true Joy ever since I have found that plumbing the depths of Scripture is not merely a discipline, but survival and a way of life. I heartily recommend a strong Bible study with someone who you know to have experience and gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach. This has been life changing, truly.

The weather is changing and it looks like we will be getting an actual Fall soon. The leaves are hinting about coming down, some are anxious to get it over with and are losing their grip already. Soon, they will be raining down and filling the streets, “Dirty nasty trees” Elaine calls them. She really liked how clean and orderly the desert was. I have to admit; it was clean looking. Cactus just pretty much stay cactus after all. Even those brilliant blooms make no mess in their wake. As I have found, every place has a distinct beauty all its own. I have to admit I do sometimes miss Arizona, the crisp brightness of it all, and those magnificent violent storms with their breathtaking skies. Here is one of those:

And to end today’s post, a restful bench I found on a road trip to Globe, Arizona. Until next time, may God fill you with His grace and peace……

Maybe it’s Time

All these years, words tapped into the air, into the silence. Now they call it the “cloud” I’ve had words disappear into the “cloud” before, never to be seen again. Maybe it’s time to free them into sound, into actual telling, speaking. A living breathing testimony is the most powerful thing we have. (It’s also the thing that is very hard to argue against.) And arguing is what goes on so much of the time now on social media. Just stop. Go outside instead, take a walk, pray, listen to some great songs people have written about God and all the ways to Praise Him. Yes, Him. He is not a woman, despite what a couple women have said, (despite not being able to tell me how they came to that conclusion.)

“I need an extension cord.” Five little words to usher in my favorite time of the year. DECORATING TIME. It’s fall, Ya’ll. I’m not Texican but I can speak it. Elaine has enough history and family there that I have picked it up automatically over the years. Yes, I am excited. I strung my garlands on the porch and put the fake pumpkins on the table. I wondered how long Scout would let them stay there and it was about 2 hours before he picked it up by the stem and batted it to the floor. I found it this morning in the kitchen. This is what I will do, each day until Christmas, pick them up and put them back. These cats are chewers; they always have been. Dog toys are what we buy them. The answer to the question “Will they chew this?” is always yes.

Yesterday at Costco I saw a tree with no greenery, just sticks and lights. I thought maybe that would work for Christmas with ornaments, and then I realized how ridiculous the thought was. Of course they would chew it. They are two now and haven’t given any indication of slowing down. Anything hanging down is fair game. The one on the bookshelf is sketchy. He has been looking up at it, knowing it is something new. The lights will put a spotlight on the temptation and against my better judgement, I will light it up today.

Despite my sore shoulder (Therapy scheduled in October) I got everything that will be out, out. Christmas is another story, to my mind far in the future but closer than we all think.

In book news, if you want a laugh out loud book, check out “Country People” by Daniel Mason. It is a real kick. I have recommended it to several people. I had to cast my net out beyond our local library and sent for it via the link system. If you buy books, you can check it out on Amazon here. Thrift books is also a great place for cheaper books if they’ve been out awhile. I am probably one of the few people who haven’t yet read Calamity Club because I’m too tight to buy it and my library doesn’t have it. I’m currently number 8 on the waiting list.

Our Bible study on the book of John has started and the groups are set, and so we are off and running. That is very exciting. I can’t recommend a verse-by-verse expository study enough. It is where you really get to know God as a person and how He has called us back to Himself all throughout history.

For now, I have to go and find an extension cord. Happy, blessed day to those still reading, may God bless you abundantly.

We Miss you Charlie

Open Bible and glowing candle in morning light

It’s been a year since Charlie Kirk was gunned down mercilessly. I remember so clearly that day. I remember I didn’t move my calendar off of September 10 for a long time. I didn’t just want to skip over it, business as usual. For it wasn’t and it still isn’t. What was his crime? Encouraging an open forum for any and all opinions, tossing shirts, giving away hats. Telling people who disagreed with him to “come to the front of the line.” He dared to stand up for Jesus, no matter your opinion of his politics. It seems it’s open season to kill those you disagree with.

I remember also the story of the preacher on the street corner, also shot in cold blood in Peoria, Arizona. You can read about it here. I think of the heroes of the Bible we have been studying all year. Truth has in fact been leading to a death sentence for a very long time, since just about all of the Old Testament Prophets, as well as Jesus early Apostles died martyrs’ deaths as well. 

It seems to me the world has gone even more off the rails. We’ve lost our collective minds. Now a woman has murdered her three children and it’s called into question whether she should be held accountable. It really doesn’t matter what we think. It always matters what God thinks. His Word is pretty clear on the matter. 

Just last night I was reading again how John the Baptist was thrown in prison (and ultimately killed) for telling Herod that he was sinning with his brother’s wife. So, not a new thing. Now, people don’t even want to be told the truth from the pulpit. Historically, that was the one place we could always hear the truth. But this should really be no surprise. The flip side of this is that when evil is exposed, righteousness shines all the brighter. And we are called to be salt and light in a dull and increasingly dark world. 

Now more than ever, we need to share Jesus to a world that needs Him more than ever. As Billy Graham used to say, “Now is the accepted time…” There are no guarantees that we will get another day, or another minute. And if I could only tell you one thing, I would tell you from my own life that whatever you lose or give up in this life, Jesus will fill up that empty space in ways you could never imagine.

Not long ago, the Bible once again came alive to me as it once did when I first became saved. A dear friend (click link to hear lectures) and Bible teacher flipped the switch via the Holy Spirit, during a Bible study on Corinthians and I began to really think about how I was living my life. After that, I said goodbye to a friend I thought I would have forever. This friend accompanied me for every celebration, holiday, evening, weekend, dinner out for years. That friend had a hold on me. I truly thought if I gave up that “friend” I would always feel a loss that couldn’t be replaced. The friend was alcohol, and I did love it. Absolutely. I was captured by the image of the writer with his glass of whiskey, clacking words to life on an old Smith Corona in a corner cafe. The whole fellowship of the thing that was drinking.

Now, I no longer have it in the house. I am just about living a life of sobriety though I do have a glass of wine from time to time with dinner out. I was never an alcoholic, but I can honestly say, it had a hold on my life like a millstone. I was at the very real place in my faith where I didn’t want anything to have a hold on me but Jesus.

All this to say that Jesus has replaced that old habit with his “Living Water” and I have never been more at peace or more joyful. And friends, whatever you are holding onto in this life (other than God) let it go. He will replace it with something so good, in fact He will replace it with Himself. It’s my new story and I will keep telling it as long as anyone will listen. God is SO good. Just give Him your one and precious life and see what He can do.

He will never disappoint you! In Jesus love, Lori

This Good Day

What a gift to throw open the windows to the blessed coolness of a new day. We get to be here. I get to savor the first cup of brew as I fill the hummingbird feeders (one buzzed my head) What a blessing. What a tremendous gift. Each day we have reminders of just how precarious our position is. Recently, we were having lunch with a friend who had several text messages waiting as she touched back down in California from Spain. Message after message, “Call me,” they all said. It sounded urgent and it was.  

He said he was dying. He had been tired and his wife convinced him to go to the Doctor. Turns out he had esophageal cancer and stomach cancer and didn’t know it. Three weeks prior he had been hiking in the Sierras. Hospice was called and he died a few days later. 

I get to be here. This morning every breath feels like a benediction, a prayer of thanks, because it is. The Bible says that life is but a vapor……it certainly feels more like this now that I’m facing 67. I like how the King James Version puts it:  

Whereas Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14 

It is a privilege to be here with my feet up in this comfortable chair, turning the pages of a book that I am finding I don’t care for but keep reading anyway. It is marvelous to feel good and hear the cats racing and thumping around the house. At 2 years old they are still playing, breaking things and causing all kinds of mischief around the house. They chew everything and are more like having little house goats. 

I am feeding our old neighbor cat and 4 new chickens. They aren’t laying yet but starting to look like real chickens. They squawked greetings as they waited for their mealworm snack. Nearby, two geese parents watched me as their fuzzy little ones poked at the grass for bugs. 

I think of the song by Fernando Ortega, “This Good Day” 

“You’re the one who goes before me, in my heart I know that this good day, it is a gift from You. The world is turning in its place because you made it to, I lift my voice to sing a song of praise, on this good day…..” 

Yes, it certainly is and He certainly is……

Where is the Lamb?

As we walked by my bunny laden display, I reminded my cousin of the two that were her mom’s, my Aunt Esther’s. She nodded and then said, “Where are your mom’s lambs?” I told her that two were outside. I had also given some to friends of hers after she had passed. She said, “You just can’t hardly find a lamb anymore.” She’s right. I looked. 

You can find chicks and bunnies galore, and every other kind of creature reconfigured for Easter. 

Where are the lambs? In particular, where is the lamb? 

It was a refrain that haunted me the next day as I racked my brain for one particular lamb Mom had. It sat on the small table in her bathroom. It was small and looking up, head slightly tilted to the side, and wearing a beribboned straw hat. Impossibly cute. I seem to remember that it had a broken leg…..but I would have kept it even so. I would have glued it back on. I know it.

For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. John 19:36 

Unlike my lamb, Jesus leg wasn’t broken. 

I wish I could remember what happened to that little lamb. In the cloud of grief after a loved one dies; small things get swept away when big things take over. 

There is one lamb I did have to have, however. It was the big cement one (and I do mean cement) on her porch. It rested there many years peacefully welcoming friends and family from its place in the shade under the Japanese maple. There is another one I kept that now stands on my own porch step (this one actually does have a glued leg.)

All these broken leg lambs, and all this pondering of lambs has made me wonder. Why specifically is the lamb the perfect sacrifice, the metaphor for Jesus? Ever tried to lead a goat or a bull somewhere it doesn’t want to go? Not very easy! The lamb was chosen because it didn’t fight, it didn’t struggle as it was lead along. It was trusting. It had no clue that it was being led to slaughter. Jesus however, did. All His life, He lived in the shadow of the Cross.

Yet it didn’t daunt Him. He healed, He laughed, He taught, He loved, He prayed with unwavering faith……Up until it was time for He Himself to be Passover lamb for us all. John said:

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Where is the Lamb? How does He fit into your life today? Have you accepted His plan for your life, the plan that was in play from the foundation of the world? There is a remedy for the chaos we see all around us today. This world is groaning friends, ripe for redemption. It’s already done. It was done when His voice rang out from the Cross.

IT…….IS……FINISHED.

There is a scene that many have talked about. When Jim Caviezel was taking a break from filming the violent and demanding scenes of the crucifixion during the Passion of the Christ, there was a lamb wandering around on set. During a spontaneous moment, he picked up that pure white lamb, and someone shot the photo. For the sake of copyright laws, I will link it here.

I pray that you find moments this Easter season where you reflect on all that Jesus has done for us once again.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7

And I was weeping greatly because no one worthy was found to open the scroll, nor to look-at it. And one of the elders says to me, “Do not be weeping. Behold— the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, overcame so as to open the scroll and its seven seals”. And I saw in the midst of the throne and the four living-creatures, and in the midst of the elders, there was a Lamb as-if having been slain, standing, having seven horns, and seven eyes (which are the seven Spirits of God having been sent-forth into all the earth). And He came, and He has taken it out of the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. Revelation 4-7

And they are singing a new song, saying “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and You bought for God with Your blood some from every tribe and tongue and people and nation,  and You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth”. And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and of the living-creatures, and of the elders— and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands—saying with a loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb having been slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” Revelation 5:9-12

Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus.

Road Trip

A bus seen in San Diego

It’s gone…..and it was hard, and it was easy. Easy because it was time, hard because I know those times won’t be coming again. There are the memories though, lots of them. Those will be there forever, God willing, hidden and vibrant in the core of my being for a long time to come. I don’t have to work too hard to hear those sounds. Feel the excitement of getting ready, packing, shopping. I don’t know about you, but road trips usually mean getting treats you don’t usually allow yourself. For me, it’s Cherry Poptarts, only Cherry, no others will do. When I was a kid, it was Svenhardts packaged rolls and pancakes over the Coleman stove. Man, those were good. As long as I live, I will hear the noises of Lower Pines Campground waking up in Yosemite. The pounding of tent pegs echoing off those sheer granite cliffs. Stellars jays squawking from branch to branch. The promise of coffee which tasted of liquid gold as the finger of light crept over Sierra Point, warming the edge of the meadow.

Road trips are a special kind of magic because you never know what you might see on the road. We’ve rounded a bend on the Oregon coast to see a car overturned with a man standing outside of it scratching his head. A couch in the middle of the road. An elk the size of a small state just about to cross the road. A windshield wiper blowing off with a storm approaching. And you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a thunderstorm rolling across the desert. And all the anticipation of the arrival of your destination in the forefront of your mind.

Many years after the tent camping days of my childhood, the 2004 Fleetwood Flair was purchased. It was a brand-new era. It was more glamping than camping and it was wonderful. All the joy and freedom of camping out with a soft bed and as many shoes and boots as I wanted. Excuse me for a few minutes while I let my mind wander. How can you explain the freedom of hitting the road and finally reaching your destination? Waiting with bated breath as you find out where the camp host has parked you. And then, the setup, which was minimal in the Motorhome, that was the best part. As the camp chairs are finally dragged to the right spot you feel yourself exhale, knowing you’ll be here for a while. Cut off from the cares of jobs, responsibilities, and life. Freedom.

I guess you could say this life is one long road trip, full of good and bad, trial and error, mishaps, mistakes and then finally the times when you coast. Everything going right. You savor those times, and you enjoy the scenery. Maybe you even think about your destination. Not the immediate one, the final one. I think as we get older, we do more thinking along those lines, or maybe we try not to think about it at all. It’s there in the question that frames itself in conversations with others or thoughts before we drift off to sleep. But it’s there just the same.

Jesus had lots to say about our final destinations. Both of them. If you don’t believe in a final destination, you probably don’t think too much about it. As Christian believers, our faith, our life, is centered on the hope that only Jesus has the ticket for our final destination. But even more than a vain hope, it’s a knowledge based on His life, death and resurrection. He’s the One who paid our admission. The only One who can. So, know this:

Life is Good. But life with Jesus the life is everlasting. The most important Road Trip you will ever take.

“The Bus”

Beyond the Nails

Morning walk: My feet pounded a rhythm on the sidewalk and my mind at last freed itself from the usual bondage of useless thoughts. They come unbidden and unwelcome, springing from nowhere land, either from the murky depths of the past or from the distant future of worry land. I guess it’s normal, this overactive thinking. Writers have a term for it, it’s called “Monkey Mind.” It’s a Buddhist term describing a restless, unsettled, and easily distracted mind that jumps from thought to thought, similar to a monkey swinging from branch to branch. When you are sitting down to a creative task or even minding your business going about your day, these are the negative, deflating, harmful and useless thoughts that drive us to distraction.

For me, walking is a great way to quiet the “Monkey Mind.” I release my mind and start to observe things. Flowers, tree branches against the blue sky, Mothers wheeling strollers, people doing outdoor tasks. Much of the time I simply pray and thank God for everything under the sun. Today I was listening to “What a Beautiful Name it is” by Hillsong Worship. I started to sing along softly, and I got a vision of Jesus at the dawn of Creation. I thought of them, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit (they were all there) but it was Jesus I thought of. I love animals and nature, so I thought of Jesus creating something and then saying, “Just wait until Lori sees this!” It was so personal. I caught His excitement and then thought of all He had to go through, knowing how we would fail so miserably at obeying his One and only command in Eden.

And yet, they kept going and created it all for us. From the very beginning Jesus knew what we would do, and He knew what He would do to restore it all. And even now, as we observe the beauty around us, as wonderful as it is, we know it’s just a precursor of what’s to come. As Jesus called each star by name, I believe He was already looking ahead, beyond the Fall, beyond the Flood, beyond the Nails and the Cross, to the restoration and redemption of His creation.

Too often, we miss the thousand miracles that present themselves to our view every day because we are too worried about tomorrow or mulling over past mistakes. And too often we try to fix people instead of just loving them where they are. Only God can do the fixing anyway. Another thought while walking, that Church needs to be more like our favorite cafe where you are loved, and known, greeted (and maybe even hugged.) Church shouldn’t be a spectator sport, and I blame myself just as much as everyone else. Maybe it could be more like this:

“Hey friend, welcome in, find a spot wherever you want, either a booth or a table!

As I got closer to the end of my walk, I saw a woman by a church who had just unloaded a van full of kids and they were all spreading towels and blankets on the grass, having just gone swimming somewhere. They were all excited and happy, all talking at once, thrilled just to be in the moment.

Maybe I can practice that?

Reaching


Oh Lord, lead me through Your Psalms as I try to sleep. 

Let me find that green pasture and still my mind like those restful waters, instead of the churning thoughts that crash and swirl preventing sleep. 

Restore my soul to what it once was, let me find that unreachable place that just hovers out of sight. Remind me Lord that when I feel lost I don’t have to search for the path of righteousness on my own. 

You have already provided the Path in Yourself. You are the ram caught in Abrahams thicket once for all. We have everything we need in You Lord. My cup runneth over with Your Spirit even though right now You lay so quietly in my soul. 

I know you are there. And maybe this is the lesson you want to teach me. To trust even when my plate is empty. To hope even when shadows of death blow around me. To know that we have the victory. 

The grave is nothing but an April fools joke for believers. 

Selah

Coming Home

“Those who live in the shadow of the most high will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.’ Psalm 91:1-2

It’s been so long since I’ve been here that I feel as if I have crept into the back door of my childhood home, letting myself in with the spare key. I can almost hear the creak of the screen door. I actually did do a recording of that squeak once, not wanting to forget what it sounded like. I drive by there from time to time to check on my brother’s rental that was put in the trust when he died, since its about 3 doors down.

The explanation for why I haven’t been here. I guess it’s just that the words haven’t come, not for lack of things happening in and outside of my life but for lack of thinking that any of it matters to anyone else. I tell myself it’s all part of the journey of writing. I hear people talk about it, the silence. I guess there is a place for it, otherwise why the 400 years of silence between Isaiah and the New Testament?

I recently started a Bible Study that I’m really enjoying. My childhood friend invited me and it’s held at a small Baptist Church that reminds me of church the way it used to be. We gather together in the sanctuary with the leader ( a little 4’11” dynamo) with a sparkle in her eyes and her spirit and a humble heart. We sing a hymn (from an actual hymnal) then she prays for us and we are released into our small groups and work through our study with a leader. We then meet back in the main hall where Pam goes through all our questions with a final lecture. I find myself looking forward to each lesson. I feel it bubbling through me like living water.

Getting back to the theme of home, where I think this is all going. Anytime we delve into Scripture, it’s a bit like coming home all over again. That is, if we put a bit of work into it. And this actual home we moved into, oh my friends, we are enjoying it so much. Eight years of living in a very small space does a number on you. For those who forgot or didn’t know, when we moved back here, we lived on my aunt’s property on the Mokelumne River. (Click on link to see) It fed my nature loving soul and it was a beautiful setting for sure. That part of it I miss but it was so restrictive in many ways. (And tiny) Constant worry over maintenance of an older RV and 50-year-old trees falling among other things and we were done.

So, we are home. This is the final resting place this side of Heaven unless there is an earthly purgatory in the form of a care home (God forbid). Not being able to care for yourself is a real downside of getting older. As my aunt says (she’s 92 now) “It’s not for sissies.”

It’s kind of weird how God and life work if you pay attention. About 40 years ago I came to this very same mobile home park. I went out on a spiritual limb and said yes to God (it was actually my aunt and uncle) but the much bigger yes is the one I said to God when he asked me to sing with their small group. ( A solo with canned background music) To this day I’m not sure why I said yes. Singing a solo was about as far from my personality as it gets. But He came through for me then and He has never left my side. All these years later, here I am and here He is.

So thank you for anyone here still reading and caring. The kittens we got from the Balam Foundation in Mexico are thriving. Atticus has attached himself to me and Scout has made Elaine his mama. Of course, we love them both equally. Needless to say, there will be no Christmas trees inside this year. We got some decorations up and I found Santa on the ground this morning with a few small parts missing. So far that is the only casualty. And for the first time in 9 years, we are cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving. Life is good friends. Most importantly God is good.

If you are still here, thank you for slogging along with me. I hope you and yours have a very Blessed Thanksgiving this year from my humble Prayer Closet……Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Lori

Finally Home

Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies……Psalm 103:2-4

The Rumba is working its way around the house, and I have two little kitties nearby. They have finally settled after wrestling and bouncing off the walls for the past 3 hours. One is sitting in the decorative bowl on the table and one right beside him. When we got them, they both fit! “They” are Atticus and Scout, respectively, and a constant source of joy, having been cat less since Briggs died in 2020. 

This is retirement, the first week in. Several times over the past few days, I have found myself in a state of wonder at how incredibly blessed I am, how at peace, how content. On my first walk around the park where our new (refurbished) home is situated I dug out my old iPod and selected the playlist I used to walk Desert Harbor in Arizona. It was like I was home, really home. 

Living in a very small space for the past 8 years really makes you appreciate the everyday things. A new washer and dryer that we almost worshipped the first few weeks. No more laundromat! Our own garbage can, for another. We never used the can at Aunt’s house because she was very fussy about her garbage. 

I’m home, I’m home, I’m home and I never have to move again. What a feeling……I can scarcely describe it. God is so good. At first, we kind of poo-pooed this park. It wasn’t as “perfect and pristine” as we liked. We had our eye on another in a neighboring town. It was well-kept and the space rent was lower. There were a few that came up for sale but inside repairs would have been costly. It just wasn’t meant to be.

Elaine wasn’t sold when we looked at this place, but I secretly thought “I could live here.” There was a kind of strange room off the living room. Back in the day it might have been called a “family room,” separating both sides of the house. Elaine turned in circles and exclaimed, “What is this room?” I am happy to say that it has become a beautiful library. (Pictures to follow in another post) Wayfair is our new best friend. Of course, you have to build whatever you buy and thankfully Elaine is very talented. I was the assistant handing tools and fetching screws and bolts.

First, we made an offer which they didn’t accept. Then it fell through twice more. We made another offer, with concessions and it was accepted. 

Here’s another strange thing. Over and over, I have had this dream for years of two big closets. I just go from one to the other with a sense of amazement in the dream. Well, yes, you guessed it. I have two walk-in closets. Thank you, Jesus! The second walk-in has become the litter box room and storage for Christmas.

Each day, I wake up so very, very thankful. Life is good on a Sunday morning in June. 

But I have trusted in your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:5,6