The King of Peace

Grounds of Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict, Oregon

Good Morning, Lord! I thank You for Your Presence, Your sweet peace that rushes in when I truly open my heart, confess my fears. Your Spirit takes my sins and holds them up to the light, exposing them for what they are and yet You still love me! It humbles me more than I can say Lord, so I let my tears speak instead. Forgive me Lord, for the fear that have I have allowed to rule in my heart. Fears that have been magnified in my mind by the enemy, forgive me for giving him that control. I release them back to You, Lord once again. You have taken my fears and turned them once again to peace. Help me to not take them back……In the name of Jesus I pray all these things, Amen.

“We must carefully examine ourselves to see which virtues we are in most need of, and which we find the hardest to acquire. We should also take note of the sins that we most frequently fall into and what occasions often contribute to that fall. It is in our times of struggle with these areas that we can go before God with entire confidence and remain firm in the presence of His divine Majesty. In humble adoration, we must confess to Him our sins and weaknesses, lovingly asking for the help of His grace in our time of need. In this way, we will find that we will partake of all the virtues found in Him, even though we do not possess one of our own.” Brother Lawrence

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossions 3:15

Every day is Earth Day


God loves the earth…..
He created it, He died for it, and
He is coming back to re-create it!
Yes, we need to love it, and be good stewards of it, because He loves it.

“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.” (Psalm 65:9-13)

We will not destroy it, we don’t have the power! How can He create a new earth if we have already destroyed the old one? The Earth still belongs to Him, it is only on loan to us.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Psalm 24:1-3

The earth is not over-crowded, we just have too many in certain areas. We are not running out of open land, just come to Arizona, or Montana, Utah, or the California desert for that matter, and see for yourself!

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)

Jesus is at the center stage of everything, including our earth! So to me, every day is earth day because every day belongs to Him!

Love Mercy

Love Mercy, by Lisa and Ty Samson

Going from a life of plenty in Suburban America to a life of “serving others.” This is a book I recommend whole-heartedly. Lisa Samson has always been one of my favorite fictional authors, but this true story is one that you won’t soon forget. It chronicles she and her daughter Ty’s experiences in Swaziland, the AIDs capital of the world.

They are not prepared for what they see. Expecting to minister to others, they soon figure out that “the others” will be ministering to them….

How do we in America handle the poverty all around us? We don’t have to go as far as Africa to find it. I can go about 2 blocks away and I can see its effects. Is just being thankful for what we have enough? Is sending a check to World Vision enough? This is what I asked myself this morning when I was reading from Isaiah…..

The kind of fast God wants……”Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:7,10

Lord, help me to not close my eyes and my heart to people you might send my way to help. Help me see those opportunities as gifts. May I not be so blinded by my love of safety and security that I no longer see the world outside that You died to save. I have built walls to keep the dirty, troubling, smelly world out, Lord. Help those walls not be so unyielding, Lord. That is the best I can do for now.

Lord, I so love your Word, but at times I find it troubling. Help me to be open to what it speaks to my heart, Father. Amen

Secret Places of the Heart

Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict, Oregon
The basic response of the soul to the Light is internal adoration and joy, thanksgiving and worship, self surrender and listening. The secret places of the heart cease to be our noisy workshop. They become a holy sanctuary of adoration and self-oblation, where we are kept in perfect peace if our minds be stayed on Him who has found us in the inward springs of our life. And in the brief intervals of over-powering visitation we are able to carry the sanctuary frame of mind out into the world, into it’s turmoil and fitfulness. Powerfully are the springs of our will moved to an abandon if singing love toward God; powerfully are we moved to a new and overcoming love toward time-blinded men and all creation.

Thomas Kelly 1893-1941 (Excerpt from A Testament of Devotion)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:7-10

My future belongs to Him


Today I as I was praying, I was thanking the Holy Spirit for His presence, instruction, and also for His conviction of sin in my life when He hit me with a thunderbolt almost immediately.

Lately I haven’t been excited about my future.
I have allowed worry, anxiety, and fear to crowd it out.
To move, or not to move, and when……
and other things that I can’t even control.

Forgive me, Lord for allowing Satan to have the upper hand for even one moment. I have allowed him to choke away my optimism and gradually he has worn me down.
How dare he!

It is easy to think that once you reach fifty that your best years are behind you, but I really don’t feel that way. I don’t want to. I remember feeling optimistic when I turned fifty last summer, so what has changed?

When did I forget that my pathway leads me only to more of You, Lord?
When did I stop believing that all the love around me would disappear when I got old?
I hear Your words…..”I will never leave you or forsake you“…..I grab hold.

Thank you Holy Spirit for this new feeling of hope! You alone hold, my past, present and future, Father. You have given me these precious days and years that are now stretched before me with hope and promise…..I bind the power of Satan right now in Jesus name, for he comes with one mission only, to kill, steal and destroy.

His power is now useless here, for You have once again exposed him for what he is!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11.

“Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16

Hallelujah!

I hate cars….


I really don’t hate cars, I know we can’t live without them anymore, but I didn’t want to hear them this morning. I awoke with the full expectation of not hearing that irritating, incessant hum….I want QUIET! Why did I hear it today? Isn’t it Saturday?

Then I remembered, “Country Thunder” is going on right now. Drat! The country music event that attracts thousands.

Those of you who live in quiet rural areas need to count your blessings. To those of us who live near major freeways, quiet is a luxury. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to post something nice and inspirational and meditative. Right now all I can hear is the incessant HUM.

I know, this is like complaining about planes overhead when you know full well the house you bought is next to an airport, it’s just that on Saturday I expect the quiet. Lord, help me to find the quiet in my soul today.

Tomorrow I will get up earlier!

Psalm 131:2
But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Dawn Chorus

Cactus Wren
When morning gilds the skies
my heart awakening cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer,
to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
I think of singing that song in the Baptist Church where I was raised. I sometimes wish to travel back to those simpler times, where after church we would go to “Helwigs Cafe” with my Grandma and have chicken on a bun. That was her favorite thing to do on a Sunday. I don’t know that she ever really heard a sermon, I remember her rattling papers out loud and looking at her watch a lot. Bless her heart, I do miss her. I guess it is easy to be nostalgic about the past because we aren’t in it anymore.

As dawn colored the sky this morning I went out to pray…..the first few minutes was spent just listening to the bird chorus. There were the high trills, the repetitive calls, some sounding almost comical, in the background the low coo of the mourning dove, and the quails cry on the roof next door. It really did sound like a chorus, in fact that is what it is called!

“The dawn chorus occurs when songbirds sing at the start of a new day. This is most noticeable in spring, when the birds are either defending a breeding territory or trying to attract a mate. In a given location, it is common for different species to do their dawn singing at different times.” From Wikipedia

There is even an international dawn chorus day…….I had no idea!

Help me Lord, do all I need to do today with an attitude of love, letting go of what “should be” and accepting “what is”; knowing that you will be there every step of the way.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing,” Philippians 2:14

Blessings in disguise


The mourning doves accompanied my prayer time this morning as I crept out early, first cup in hand. Some people might think it irreverent for prayer posture, jostling my cup out there. They might think I should put first things first and wait for my caffeine jolt, but I think He enjoys that I want to share it with Him.

I prayed at the beginning of this sabbatical away from work, this unbelievable blessing I have, 60 days with pay….what other job does that? I prayed that I would be a blessing, that I didn’t want it to be all about me having time off to do whatever I wanted to do. I wanted to lift the time to Him to see what He would do.

Sometimes He gives the opportunity almost as soon as the prayer is breathed into the air. Be careful what you pray for! Dear friend’s Dad went into the hospital so I have been driving her Mom who has Alzheimer’s from our home to the hospital and back to her home. She has been staying here at night since she can’t stay alone.

As is so often the case in this life, things happen that are just not “just.” My friend has never been treated very well by her folks though she has always been the one to care for them. She is a natural caretaker and does what is right regardless. Preferential treatment brother who has caused them nothing but grief and heartache is, as usual, nowhere to be found.

So I was happy to help her bear this tremendous load. She is already taking care of two households so it is the least I can do. Yet I know it pained her to allow me to do it. I guess I will have to let her in on my prayer…..

As Christ-followers we make the choice to pick up our cross each day regardless, knowing He will be our strength. There is humor in every situation, and as my friend and I have discussed many times, Alzheimer’s can sometimes be a blessing, if you can call it that, in disguise. The disease tends to wash away all old hurts and wounds until there is nothing left but the caring. The looking after from day to day, much like caring for a small child.

I can’t imagine what must go on in her mind. Her Mom, once an excellent nurse who passed out meds everyday, now can’t remember to take her own. Once meticulous about her appearance, she forgets to shower for days at a time, her once perfectly coiffed hair is now disheveled, though to her credit she laughs when she looks in the mirror and realizes she needs to do something with it. It is hard to watch such a metamorphosis, heartbreaking really. Hard to watch when eyes go blank and she says she understands and you know she doesn’t.

I see the pain in friends eyes. It’s always harder when they are your parents, I think. Emotionally anyway. But today I am asking God to help me see her Mom as a young girl with hopes and dreams. She made one very important decision in her life and that was to have my friend when everyone advised her to have an abortion, since she had cancer when she was pregnant. I think of how many lives would not have been blessed, saved really if she had not been born.

“Thank you God, for helping me to serve in this small way. You know I am one who clings to my own free time. You know everything about me and still love me patiently step by step. Help me to learn the lessons you want me to learn. I love You for loving them too God, and for allowing us to keep our sense of humor in trying times and help me see others with Your eyes. In Jesus name, Amen”

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:9-12

Can anyone relate?


“For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,” Romans 8:13
God has been working with me to take better care of my “temple.” It started a few years ago when The Spirit spoke to my heart about my drinking and I was finally ready to hear the truth. I was a habitual drinker, and if I wanted my walk with Christ to be real, I couldn’t be dependant on anything but Him.

Several weeks before Easter the church I have been going to started a Daniel fast. My friend and I talked about it and didn’t feel led to participate, but I wanted to give something up….I wanted to sacrifice something that I knew I would really need his help with. I had been trying to cut down on sugar anyway, so I thought this might be a boost to a new way of life. As a lifelong sugar addict, I knew it would be a real test. I have been known to hide candy in my closet, in drawers…. I had stashes!

So, I gave it up for four weeks! There were tests, but God held up His end, as always. I even bought 3 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for co-workers and had NOT ONE. Anyone who knows me knows how big that was. But……For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. Hebrews 4:15

I did it! And I felt great, I actually started eating fruit, I never ate fruit before. This was a whole new way of life for me and I never could have done it on my own.

The biggest thing I noticed is that the cravings went away. Well, for the most part. The other day it hit me like a tidal wave. I had nothing sweet in the house, but then I saw it. The can of frosting in the pantry. I had it open and had two spoonfuls before I could stop myself. I had two more all the way out to the garbage can! Sometimes putting the flesh to death is like beating a snake with a garden hoe, but it can be done! I can do all things through Christ….

Now for the exercise part…….
”No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:2

Gratitude for time off…..

Grateful today for vacation memories that have washed over me…..thankful for the time away, an unbelievable luxury that many people don’t have. I thank you God, for these blessings.

Close-up view of God’s creation at Monterey Bay Aquarium#272,273
Seeing the wonder of the ocean through 11 yr old joy, Elaine’s Grandnephew Josh#274
One of Carmel’s many secret alleyways #275
Elaine, Bobby, and Josh at Hog’s Breath Inn and Restaurant, formerly owned by Clint Eastwood… many happy memories here#276

#277 The first glimpse of the ocean, may it never get old……#278 Sounds of ocean swells gulls crying overhead…..#279 Grateful to find that some places have remained the same…..#280 Finishing all the laundry….#281 Happy voices on the other end of the telephone, knowing we are home safe…..

Keeping the gratitude alive, along with Ann and many others….
holy experience