It all begins with prayer

“Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instruments afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” Missionary Hudson Taylor

Mary Slessor wrote to a friend who had long prayed for her: “I have always said that I have no idea how or why God has carried me over so many funny and hard places, and made these hordes of people submit to me, or why the Government should have given me the privilege of a Magistrate among them, except in answer to prayer made at home for me. It is all beyond my comprehension. The only way I can explain it is on the ground that I have been prayed for more than most. Pray on, dear one — the power lies that way.”

On another occasion she wrote: “Prayer is the greatest power God has put into our hands for service — praying is harder than doing, at least I find it so, but the dynamic lies that way to advance the Kingdom.”

As I scrolled through this website of quotes from different missionaries, these heroes of our faith, once again I was in awe. I thought…..how to get that mindset, how to get there? To be able to say to God, “I will go wherever you send me.” It is the “wherever” that scares me. Oftentimes my mind is so made up that I have left no wiggle room for the Holy Spirit to work.

The “wherever” is the unknown……and the unknown can be very intimidating if you don’t know where it is. Yet when God is the sender, I can be assured that the “wherever” is always a perfect fit for me and also for the person I am being sent to.

I have so far to go, and yet I am assured, along with both of these courageous ones and so many others who have gone before…..It all begins with a prayer. In that regard we are perfectly in step.
And sometimes, the wherever turns out not to be that scary…….Not when God is walking with you.
Often, I tend to think that being sent means going somewhere really big….another city, another country, another culture. When all God wants me to do is move off the front step….
go across the street….
call someone, or lay a hand on a shoulder.
It is the attitude of my heart that He sees……the willingness to answer that small whisper of the Holy Spirit when He tells me to give the person sitting right next to me some encouragement instead of turning away.
And always, it is a going forward, of pressing on, of striving in the Spirit. Of walking toward Him. Though I falter far too often, still He holds His hands out.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14 NAS
Photos by me
website source: http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/msquotes.html

A Few Highlights…..

I headed to the attic alcove and hung my hat……..
My very own lookout….in the morning I opened the windows and woke up with the Stellar’s Jays racket high up in the trees…..heavenly.
This wonderful cabin had windows that opened in…..I was like a little kid when I saw them!
Our home for two wonderful days…….
Lunch at one of my favorite places with three of my favorite people Diane and Elaine……(My Mom not pictured)
 Meeting the new family member, Abby
I got to spend some quality “Aunty” time with our girl, Lauryn
Lauryn and my brother, Ron who bought us this wonderful cabin for the weekend!
Yes, it is…….
Now we are home, bringing back summer colds but thankfully, great memories to go along with them! These memories we made are such gifts from God and I am truly thankful for every moment……

A Wonderful Birthday Week

If the sight of the blue sky fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. Eleonora Duse

I am heading back to the desert filled with sweet memories for my soul’s bouquet.

It is fragrant and alive, and still fresh in my mind.

I carry their voices away with me along with the times we shared, held close to my heart.

So grateful am I for this time. To refresh, renew.

Unwind.

We will be further down the road tomorrow and heading back home.

How curious and bittersweet to go from home to home once again.

This is the afterglow of vacation.

I am still in it.

The cabin we rented actually had these stars all ready for us!

Hide and Seek

“God takes everyone he loves through a desert. It is his cure for our wandering hearts, restlessly searching for a new Eden… The best gift of the desert is God’s presence… The protective love of the Shepherd gives me courage to face the interior journey.” — Paul E. Miller (A Praying Life)

I almost missed these little guys as I walked by…….Sometimes it is hard to find the beauty in a day, sometimes there is turbulence in the soul that distracts us from it. But it is there all the time.
 
This morning the sunrise made the clouds blush a wonderful pink…….God was telling me, look what I did for you! At every turn, He does something stunning in nature and it never stops. An ever changing piece of His artwork.
 
Life and noise try to compete for it, but we must not let it get the best of us.
 
That’s all I got today. Getting ready for another trip to California to visit the family.
 
Camera ready!
 
Peace and Blessings for a wonderful weekend opening your eyes to what God shows you……
 

pics taken with iphone on a walk in the desert this spring

The Accessible God

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Just imagine, this is what God says about us. So today, practice saying this to yourself:

“I am God’s special possession”

Now repeat……

and again.

There are a vast number of people on this planet that don’t have a clue that this is even possible. That the God of the Universe, who set the moon and the stars in the sky with a word, who keeps it all going….

keeps them going……wants so much for them to turn in His direction, just to open their heart to Him, so He can give them an inheritance that is beyond their wildest imagination. There are so many obstacles thrown in the path of people to prevent this.

Warped concepts of who God is and isn’t.

Horrible treatment by people that were supposed to love them, cherish them, make them feel safe. Things they see wrong with the Church.

Jesus came so that we could approach God without reservation. Without fear. He walked in our dust. He wasn’t afraid to come down to our dirty planet….To sweat, get tired, deal with the masses…..be God with us.

Jesus removed our roadblocks. He is the accessible God who draws us to the Father. Holds us all together with His Spirit. Let yourself believe that He wants you today.

And say it again with me:

“I am God’s special possession.” Feels good, doesn’t it?

Prayer for ordinary people

“But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Some days you pray while walking around, and that’s always a good thing. Some days call for face down praying right out of bed. Today was that kind. Really, every day calls for face down praying. If I think otherwise I am kidding myself. One glimpse of who God  really is would cure that in a heartbeat.
Lord, I confess that sometimes I think I can just walk through my day without asking you for help. What a mistake that is. Help me to walk in the light today. Make me a better person today, because I wasn’t happy with who I was yesterday.
Oh, I don’t think anyone noticed….everything looked fine on the surface, but there is always room for improvement in how I relate to people, the things that rumble around in my heart. You know those little complaints and gripes, flares of anger over things that don’t matter.
I need the blood today and everyday. Without that precious covering I don’t like to think where I would be.
Thank you gracious and merciful Father, for loving me when I get things wrong over and over.
I am so glad Your Grace never runs dry……Amen

Top photo: google
Bottom one: me

Sleepless in Arizona

“Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.” Psalm 121

I was pondering this fact early this morning when I awoke at 12:30 AM. If God does not sleep, I thought, then what does He do? He certainly doesn’t need to keep the universe going. That was all set up long ago and He has no problem keeping it all running. That leaves one thing……He is watching over me as He watches over Israel. I can never catch Him by surprise. I never catch Him dozing off……Even as I toss and turn at 12:30 in the morning.

I heard the outdoor flag flapping in the wind, which had picked up. I heard my little outdoor decoration sliding back and forth on the wall. I got up and took them both down…..there was dust in the air. I came in and laid back down…….All was quiet except the cat snoring, fast asleep in his place on the bed.

After I determined that sleep wasn’t soon to come, I burrowed through my pile of books by the bed until I found “Big Red.” It is the Bible I always turn to when I need a special comfort. It has years in it. It holds them all lovingly in its pages. I turned to my notes in the back……notes from sermons, studies, things I have thought and read. My eyes fell on this printed in red:

Know how to meditate on the Lord. What do I do when I can’t sleep? Do I quiet my soul and spirit with meditation on God or do I run for a sleeping pill? What am I to meditate on?

God’s word……..God’s promises……..the person of God

I continued thumbing through and thought about the years held there in those pages. It’s about 34 years old now. I listened to the rustle of the pages and something about it quieted my spirit. I noted the changes in my printing style over the years, sometimes slanting left, sometimes right. Some of the notes are faded with time.

Most important are the words it holds. God’s words to me, to all of us.

I turned out the light and rested my old friend on my chest and felt its weight and it felt good. I thought of all that precious book and God have brought me through. Saved my life more than a few times. Maybe more times than I know. I couldn’t help it, a few tears of gratitude slid down, and I thanked Him. My heart slowed its beating…….my spirit calmed. Outside, the wind may have been blowing, but I no longer heard it.
I drifted into a peaceful slumber at 2:00 AM.

At times like that I think that maybe God just missed me and wanted my undivided attention.

Eden Restored

“Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it finds it’s rest in Thee.” St. Augustine
Everything the world is seeking so desperately can be found in the person of Jesus. Finding Him is like finding our forever home……
Drinking from the river of life is possible right here and now. I can stand on it’s shore, cup my hand under the crystalline waters and drink deep. Because of Him and what He made possible.
He is my quiet country lane I seek when I want peace…..my cool breeze in the sweltering heat of a desert summer. My bridge to Eden……My everything I have ever longed for, every desire of my deepest longing, even the ones I don’t know about, is satisfied in Him and through Him.
But without Him I am never satisfied.
I could ache like I do, for the pines or for the ocean swells and go to that quiet place, a closet even, and find that I have come out just as refreshed as if I had just spent time watching the waves upon the shore or hearing the wind making the pines sigh.
It is part of my oldest memory, this earth. Part of me and I cannot ever separate myself from it, nor do I want to, for He grew me out of it, this soil, this earth, and to it I will return one day.
Until such time as I reach that Eternal shore where will meet me……Restored.
 He will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.

 In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25:8,9

Three Little Words

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” 2 Peter 1-3

When I read this today I immediately thought of Harold Camping and his ridiculous time-stamp for Christ’s return. I thought about how much damage has been done over the 2000+ years of the church by people taking a truth and twisting it, either to make a buck or get some notoriety for themselves. This is no surprise. Jesus talked about it, so did all the apostles.

The problem with partial truths is that a half truth holds the power of the truth, but either adds something or leaves something out so that facts are confused and distorted. That was our downfall from the very beginning. Our separation from God started with three little words……..

“Did God say?”

I think an out and out lie is easier to deal with because it can be exposed for what it is. A partial truth has the power to mangle and deceive and leaves a wake of destruction in its path. Yet the light of truth will continue to shine through the darkness of every deception. Two things we know from Scripture:

There will be a time when Christ will most definitely come back, we just don’t know when.

He will come when we are not expecting it.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming……”2 Peter 3:10,11

Two other things we know….
The time is closer now that it was before.

There will be people that don’t believe it.

“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

But here is the best part of the story, if you are living and breathing, you still have time.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

We serve a truly awesome God!

Blogging across the fence

I like to think of blogging as meeting for coffee, or over the back fence. People used to do that, and in some places they still do. Recently my Mom was over at my Aunt’s house and she saw a gathering of people in the front yard playing dominoes. Yes, in the front….almost scandalous nowadays. They were laughing and carrying on and having a great old time. It was a good thing to see. Of course my Mom, never having met a stranger, had to go talk to them.

They exchanged information…..greeting…..fellowship. A bit of bringing Heaven down to earth. All because they made themselves available. Open.

I have lived before in neighborhoods where every evening a symphony of garage doors would open with big yawns and swallow up the cars and the people in them and that was the last you saw of your neighbor. One time my Mom was visiting and she got so starved for people she flagged someone down who was driving by just for someone to talk to.

In these days of mobility and technology we often lose that sense of community. It gets to be a challenge to get back in touch with it. That’s why I like blogging. I feel like we are virtual neighbors meeting over the back fence. A little solitude is a very good thing, but too much is not good, we tend to make ourselves crazy.
God knew that too.

Sharing beliefs, joys and sorrows, snippets of our lives makes us feel like we are not alone. We join hands across the aisles, finding common ground in all sorts of things. We see how we are the same and how we are different.

And how wonderful to be able to pray for someone I have never actually met!

So pull up a chair, gather around, pour yourself a cup.

You don’t even have to call before you come by.

“…….and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24, 25