Reflection

A love that never fails……


Photo By Jack Lighton

A Love That Never Fails

There is an eye that never sleeps
Beneath the wing of night;
There is an ear that never shuts
When sinks the beams of light.
There is an arm that never tires
When human strength gives way;
There is a love that never fails
When earthly love decays

George Matheson

“The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
Psalm 121:5-8

God wants to be actively involved in everything that concerns us. The Bible doesn’t just say He watches us it says He watches over us, not passively but actively. Every little thing we do interests Him. We say, look what I did, God…..and He does. Like any good parent, He loves the things that are of little meaning to anyone else but of great importance to us!

Merciful proof….

Photo from google

“It is only the infinite mercy and love of God that has prevented us from tearing ourselves to pieces and destroying His entire creation long ago. People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary, consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover, each time, and can still produce man and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? Can there be any doubt where wars come from and where peace comes from, when the children of this world, excluding God from their peace conferences, only manage to bring about greater and greater wars the more they talk about peace?”
— Thomas Merton (The Seven Storey Mountain)

There is so much that is good in the world, each day we wake to the possibility of witnessing a miracle, if we could only see it as such. What is it about a spectacular sunrise that gives us hope, makes us believe that it is very worth getting up and doing it all again?

There is a Spirit that lives and breathes, that once moved across the waters of the unformed earth, whose breath continues to fill everything in the universe, who moves in us today.

He is behind it all….behind each new blossom, every drop of rain that falls to the ground. He is behind the wild exultant joy we feel sometimes that makes us want to shout out in praise because He started it all.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements–surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” –Job 38

He is behind those quiet moments when we feel we are part of a much bigger whole, bit players in a magnificent stage that is living breathing thriving and pulsating with lifethat struggles to survive even when it seems there is a slim chance for it.

Once, in the quiet hush of a crisp October twilight I walked alone in the woods. It was the time of evening when day and night meet and greet, and nature draws itself in close. I had a holy visitor, nary a trace of sound he made as he trotted, this lone coyote, then sprang lightly over a log, blowing puffs in the air. I felt like a guest there in his perfect world, inside his poem.

God and I saw it together……and it was good.

The way things were…..


Is it just me or does it seem like the world is angrier these days? I asked my Mom about how things were when she grew up and she said, “Yes, the world was a much different place when I was growing up.” When she was in High School in the 1940’s they would all go miles away in carloads or by bus to the beach. Big groups of kids, boys and girls, and nobody ever had to be afraid of anything. None of the parents worried because there was no need. The girls were treated like ladies, and everybody danced with everybody, and not the way the kids dance now, real dancing.

None of the kids got drunk, nobody dreamed of committing a violent act against anyone else, and if one guy ever mistreated a girl, there were 10 other guys waiting to put him back in line.

Please and thank you were still said….doors were opened for the women, and men got up when a woman came to the table. Drugs were unheard of.

A group of young people walking on the sidewalk would never have dreamed of not yielding to an older person walking by, and high school students in my Mom’s class, in the 1940’s, would never have talked back to a teacher, let alone threatened or assaulted one.

Personally, I really miss decorum, and manners, and class. I wish children could be safe wherever they went, and if they were left out after dark, I wish we lived in a world where they could go up to any door and find someone to take them back home. It used to be that way in my parents world.

I would like to live in that kind of world. Although I would miss my IPHONE and my computer….

Things have even changed a lot since I went to school….I can almost imagine how it might have been back in those times. Growing up in small town 60’s and 70’s I got the tail end of it. A girl I knew in High School actually sang “Beautiful Savior” at an assembly and the students were respectfully attentive. Do they even have assemblies anymore? They certainly wouldn’t allow that song to be sung now!
What do you think? Do you feel like things have changed since you were a kid? For the better?

My walk in the woods


July in the desert and everyone is dreaming of the cool breezes that left in early May….heat is everywhere and there is no escaping it. I go out to pray and my mind tells me 6:00 should be bearable, but its not.

My mind wanders, I pace inside like a caged animal.
I go to the secret place where He resides, My own Living water that springs eternal.

Lord, I ache for green, and air that carries the scent of pine, and the spray of surf pounding on the shore. Be my walk in the woods, the little stream that I long to sit by and write, my thoughts and the ones you give me….

Be that porch that I dream of, the one with three steps up…..surrounded by hydrangeas of violet and blue, and the wind chimes gently revealing Your wind, Your voice.

I am in another garden today, the one that resides in the Spring of His Word. I am there watching green leaves toss against a canopy of blue from a hammock that swings in the playful air.

My heart is greatly refreshed.

A bird calls and another answers across the yard and I am filled with the peace that passes understanding.
Help me remember God, that You are always more than enough. Help me to remember, like Paul to be grateful for chains, and help me to remember also that my small chains of inconvenience are nothing compared to the chains that bind others.

None of them are any match for Your strength!

Thank You for being more than I can ever ask or think.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12,13

God loves happy endings


Growing up we spent a couple Thanksgivings at the home of my cousin’s cousins. The home of my Uncle Bruce’s brother and his family. It was an older home in Berkeley California, and I was charmed by it at first sight. It had a Hollywood driveway, the kind with the strip of lawn going up the middle and a big screened in porch just made for curling up with a good book. One of the most enchanting things about it though was the little bookshelf at the top of the narrow staircase. It was magic to me and I couldn’t wait to go up and explore the titles. Jackie was a librarian so she must have recognized a kindred spirit in me, a fellow book lover. I was invited to take any book I wanted. I knelt in front of it while everyone else was out playing, lost in my own universe.

In school I always gave a sigh of relief when they asked us to write a book report instead of solving a math problem. I love long books and I hate for a good book to end. But the great thing about reading is there is always another on the horizon. I am so glad there are those who just can’t stop writing! That, and reading is free.

God loves books too. He wrote a best seller. It is still selling like hotcakes. He is waiting for a happy ending. God is the eternal optimist! “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

The Bible is the one book with no ending, and we are all part of the story. God must not like for things to end either. He never meant for endings at all, only life ever after with Him. Open God’s book today. It will speak to you in the silence.

Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it,
except sitting in a corner by myself with a little book.
~ Thomas ã Kempis

Thoughts in the silence

I heard a song lyric that said…..all of creation knows Your name.
It made me want to sit in the silence for awhile, so I did.
To reflect on all that He is, and who He is to me.

On who He is in this world and the world beyond….
So big that it’s hard to wrap my mind around.
Where did He come from?
When did it all start…..it’s too much!
So I retreat back to the quiet corner of my mind.

I don’t have to know all that, I just know that He is.
And that He is totally good, totally just, totally Holy,
and nothing happens beyond His knowledge or control….
My heart tells me, and His Spirit assures me that
He’s with me.
And He will never leave….
He loves me.
I don’t have to be afraid that I will pull the wrong daisy petal and it will land on “He loves me not”
It will always land on “He loves me.”

And all of creation knows His name…….

I was seeking that quiet place of peace this morning, but I couldn’t find it. The peace that makes you feel like everything will be okay….that assurance in the heart that makes the soul, spirit and mind quiet down. I thought maybe I could find it if I layed down for a bit….I prayed, He heard. The 23rd Psalm came to my mind in the quiet, the one that always calms….

The Lord is my Shepherd,
How many times He has saved me from my own recklessness and stupidity. Kept me safe from wandering over the cliff in the dark, like a lost scared sheep.
I shall not want,
He has given me everything I could possibly want, all wrapped up in Him.
He maketh me to lay down in green pastures,
So many times I have felt scared, lost, alone, hopeless.
Then that peace that passes all understanding seeps into my soul, the dawn bringing hope again.
He leadeth me beside still waters.
Where I can drink my fill
He restoreth my soul.
So I can get up again and face life, even when I would rather get back in bed.
He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for His names sake.
Somehow I get the strength to do His will even when I want to do my own, sometimes His will is just to keep going
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Yes I have been there…..sick, deciding it would be better not to eat, how do I get back into the land of the living….Mom and Dad’s anxious prayers, then a miracle healing….And then a few years later new husband suddenly gone; honeymoon not even over yet, gone to Heaven where I couldn’t find him, couldn’t talk to him, my life seemingly over.
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
You were with me then and now.
Thy rod and they staff they comfort me.
Disciplining me when I get out of line, and guiding me back to the safety of the fold, even going out of your way to look for me when I am out of Your sight.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overfloweth.
You have made me royalty, a daughter of the King!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
From my first breath to my last, Your presence will never leave me, until I see You face to face in Heaven, where I will live with you for all eternity.

Keeping the gratitude list going….

31. The prayers of friends and family that keep me going.

32. Little niece has liked school this year and comes out smiling and happy.

33. Unwavering love

34. Eyes to read with

35. Having the money to pay bills

36. Iced tea with a bit of cranberry juice on a warm day

37. Homegrown tomatoes

38. September and relief from the heat is in sight, somewhere….(important in Arizona)

39. Good teachers and aides that care.

40. Always God, who knows me inside and out and still wants to be my Father.

Count your blessing with Ann here:
holy experience

Reflections for a Sunday afternoon…..

Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone (can you imagine the roll call at school?) His family was both worldly and wealthy and young Francis was a product of his environment. Upon his conversion his life changed dramatically. In 1209 he felt a strong desire to “imitate Christ” by living a life of God poverty, chastity, and obedience. He literally took the fancy and expensive clothes off his back and handed them to his father, thereby marking the new life he was about to live. He began a ministry to lepers and those who were ill until his death in 1226.

He had the marvelous talent of seeing all the world–every living thing–as a beautiful gift from God. He called the sun, the moon, and all the creatures of the earth his brothers and sisters.
Taken from “Devotional Classics”, selected readings for individuals and groups.

Be still

I called my Mom yesterday. Calling her now is not the same as it was 10 years ago, or 20, because now she is 80 and it has occurred to me many times lately…..what will I do when I can’t call her? I was feeling low yesterday and again, she lifted me up. She says I do the same for her, but I don’t see it. I guess because I am feeling it from the inside out. All week she had been caring for my niece who has been very sick….washing, wiping, taking temperatures, giving medicine, cleaning, more wiping, more laundry. And still encouraging me, still making me laugh.

That is why I posted the powerpoint message today. To remind myself. I pray it blesses you as well. Because we are all distracted. And because I have been worrying more than ever about how much time I have left with my folks. How many more conversations? How many more Christmases, Thanksgivings, Birthdays? The time with them is oh so precious right now.

Each of us has our own valleys that we’re walking through, but thanks be to God….the backdrop of sorrow that we live in has been vanquished forever by His life….death….resurrection. So we can all take heart and have courage! He has passed from death to life, and so will we.

So I emerged this morning from my prayer closet renewed with hope and peace….

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24