In the Morning…….

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope. 
       Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not. 
     They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:21-23

I was thinking about how no matter how tired, worn out, exhausted mentally and physically we sometimes get, there is always a new supply of energy that comes with morning. Our hope is renewed during the night when thoughts are stilled and all is quiet………we are restored once more.

I remember when my Sister in law found the “morning” of her life. She was at the very brink of death when she found it. Really, none of us knows how much time we have. We think we do. But those who are terminally ill have no such illusions. Cancer had made it plain that barring a miracle, she would soon be with Jesus.

She knew what all of us need to know sooner rather than later. Knowing Jesus is all that matters. In Him she found the peace and joy that people travel the world to find. They come up empty, but she was filled to overflowing.
Her favorite song towards the end of her life was “Give Me Jesus.”
 
 
The halls of Heaven have been ringing with her most magical laugh since 1998, and sometimes I still can’t believe she is gone. I know if she were here, she would wish for every single person on this planet to know her Jesus.
 
 
The time is so short……..
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone
Give me Jesus

And when I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die
Give me Jesus

 
 
This song, according to internet sources, comes from an old Spiritual sung by slaves. Also, this more modern version has been attributed to both Fernando Ortega and Fanny Crosby.

What’s Your Heritage?

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 2 Timothy 1:3-6

If you had someone in your life who taught you about God, you are blessed. Maybe it wasn’t your parents. Maybe it was an Aunt or Uncle, or maybe a Grandmother, Grandfather, a Sunday school teacher or friend……Somebody who came before you thought it was important for you to know about God.

I wonder if that is going away? I can’t say how many times those old hymns that I learned have come back into my mind at the most unexpected times…..have given comfort when I needed it most.

There is a reason why even hardened criminals or people who have been away from the church for many years tear up when they hear the strains of “How Great Thou Art” or “Great is thy Faithfulness.” Or a Christmas carol.…….It is the power behind the words.

So many parents would never dream of telling their children that there is no God, and yet they live as if He doesn’t exist. He doesn’t figure into any of their hopes and dreams. He may be out there somewhere, yet He never comes up in conversation…..Never is He factored into any of their plans. They are unknowingly withholding the greatest most valuable thing they could ever give their children.

A Godly heritage.

If there is someone whose image popped into your mind just now, please keep them in your prayers today and every day.

And if there was someone in your life that gave you that, thank God for them today.

Soul Washing

“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’? Job 38:8-11

This is a must do when you’re at the beach………Ah!!!!!! To see those waves come rolling in, to hear that thundering surf…..to look out over the horizon and see nothing but water meeting sky……To think that God has set these boundaries……Fills me with immeasurable gratitude for just being here…..

This makes the whole trip worth it……..
To see what the shore offers up
To see it wash back.
Gives the soul a cleansing too….refreshing for the spirit as well as the body.
I feel like God washed my feet yesterday!

Post from the road…..

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel
Wandered the grounds of the Grand Californian last evening, enjoying the relief of Southern California weather perfection…….It is amazing how a simple change in the weather can improve one’s outlook. We went from the arid and blistering 110 heat of the desert and crossed over into  balmy 75 degree heaven……Ah, the simple joy of opening windows and letting things breathe……..A thing that we all take for granted until we can’t do it. I hope I never lose the joy of appreciation.
I was up with the chickens as usual this morning. Elaine’s Nephew insisted that he would be the first one up, but I knew better. My eyes were opened at first light, at the sound of birdsong in the air. I tiptoed out to where everyone was sleeping and made the first pot of coffee, then went out to greet the morning. I was treated to a barest of sliver moons in a pastel sky.
I read from one of the books I brought…..The Holiness of God, by R.C. Sproul…..jotted down a prayer request and a blessing in my prayer journal and then took a stroll around the RV park. It was wondrous. Just being up…..just being able to be cool…..to watch the birds flit from tree to tree, (we don’t have trees this big in Arizona)
Made me feel like I was just waking up to creation all over again.
As I sipped my first cup of coffee made in the old aluminum pot, I was very glad I had made this trip……

When you feel like dust

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:11-14
Sometimes I feel my dustiness…..When I am tired, when I roll out of bed and everything is creaking. When I can’t seem to sleep when I need to, and then nod off in the chair, unable to keep my eyes open. We are so frail, and yet there is a part of us that will last forever. The part that God breathed life into……
Our Spirit.
That is the part that keeps on going when the body and mind are all tired out. That’s that part that will keep on going when we take our final breath on this place we call home.
But until then, we take time out in between the all tired out times. I am planning one of those timeouts tomorrow. I will be heading to the coast…..and blessedly wonderful temperatures. Instead of being huddled inside to escape 110 outside, I will be throwing the windows open to greet balmy perfect breezes and temps of around 70 in LA.
I am looking forward to practising more with my camera……
and reading….
and maybe some blogging too!  
And……a special shout out to Michelle DeRusha over at “Graceful” for introducing me to “picnik” a wonderful site where you can play with your photos and do cool editing stuff.

Taming the tongue

Greer, Arizona

On June 11th, what has now become Arizona’s largest wildfire in history was started. It was human caused, reportedly by a campfire. Around 534,639 acres have burned. The Wallow Fire, as it has been named, is dying down at last. My heart was broken when I read about some of the most beautiful country in our state going up in flames, not to mention the houses and towns threatened. No human deaths occured, which is a miracle. I am happy to say that one of my very favorite towns, Greer has been spared. Go here to check out a great place to stay if you ever find yourself in our State.

Such a devastaing fire, started by one small flame……that’s is what was on my mind when I read this verse from James:

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches……..
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

The other morning I illustrated the validity and truth of Scripture with my own actions. I wasn’t planning on it, of course, but I did it all the same. It happened as I pulled into the parking lot at work, where we have recently installed solar panels. The fact that they are a wonderful power source is a side note to what really matters to those of us who leave our cars out there in the baking sun for 12 hours now that it is approaching 108-110 in the shade. Covering. They only provided us with two rows of them, in a virtual sea of spaces, however. To say that these are much sought after spots is an understatement.

So now I leave at 5:10 instead of 5:20.

I had just finished praying as I approached what I thought was an available spot. There was a motorcycle parked there. Immediately I cursed them. Yes, I did. And then I had to pray again.

For forgiveness.

How quickly my heart and my tongue can turn from blessing to cursing, Father, forgive me. Sweet and bitter water out of the same fountain…..

And yet, He is faithful to forgive….once again.

I think of that devastating fire, all the damage that will take so many years to restore. I think of all the destruction that negative words can cause and how maybe someone can never ever be restored, repaired from the hurt that goes so deep. I think of how much good that wonderful words can do. How a face can light up from a simple compliment.

It is humbling…..makes me want to do better.

What Lasts Forever

“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
There are so many warnings in the Bible about staying focused. God knows the world can knock us off-kilter. It has the capacity to swallow us up and spit us out whole if we are not careful. This morning I read, rather, listened to, the book of Jude. It was very sobering, and all the more when you realize it is written to and about those inside the church, not outside it!
I know the capacity of my mind to wander, leave the trail, go off in a different direction. I go after grass that seems greener, not seeing the steep drop off on the other side until it is much too late. 
Something can seem righter than rain to my own heart, my own intellect…..until I see it the way God sees it, and I can only see it the way He sees it when I am immersed in His word. It is my magnifying glass that allows me to see myself and the world more clearly. It settles me, sets me right again.
Since I started commuting, I have started listening to it on CD. I can’t express what that has done for me. As much as I love to read, usually 2-3 books at a time, I am extremely lazy when it comes to reading Scripture. But I can listen to it for over an hour a day and cover a lot of ground. I figure, this is one thing that is making a change in me for all eternity. It is the mysterious process known as the grafting in of the Word of Life.
This is a change that is not temporary, this is a change that will last forever.
The only single drawback to listening to Scripture instead of reading it is that I sometimes get sidetracked by how the voices sound. I loved the way the reader of the book of Jude sounded this morning. He had a good “Jude” voice…..thunderous and emphatic without being too dramatic. On the other hand, I find the woman’s voice who reads 1st, 2nd and 3rd John very annoying. I actually have to read those books because I find her voice so distracting.
The woman who reads 1st and 2nd Corinthians has a British accent and she is great. I tend to want to hear her again and again. She sounds like a combination of Maggie Smith and Cate Blanchett. Imagine Lady Galadriel reading Scripture!
See how easy it is for my mind to wander? I think I need to read more…..Hmmm.
“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” Jude 1:24
Have a peaceful day everyone!

Car Wars

No pictures today, I can’t get blogger to upload a single image…..

Living in a commuter-belt, as I like to call it. I long to wake up on a quiet street. This morning there was a little bird trying to compete with the hum of the freeway, that assault to my ears that takes place starting around 3:30-4:00 AM. I dream of living somewhere you could actually walk or bike to work. My friends and I biked everywhere growing up. Imagine being able to hop on a bike and be at work in about 15 minutes! I think it would improve people’s dispositions a lot.

Here in Arizona the road rage is out of control. As the temperature climbs it gets worse. Yesterday I got in my car after visiting with a friend at Paradise Bakery and the gauge read 115! It always amazes me how someone can get so impatient with the poor pedestrian trying to cross the street at Walmart, when they are out in the hot sun and there is the driver, the air-conditioning blowing their hair back making exasperated faces when they have to wait.

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with cars. Everyone that knows me, knows about the strange dreams I have about cars and driving. Some of my oft-repeated ones are:

I realize I am in a car and nobody is driving.


I am driving from the backseat and there is a stop sign coming and I can’t get to the brakes fast enough.


I am driving a very small Flintstones like vehicle that I can easily pick up and move around. One time I dreamed that it had no floor.


I am driving in the half-light and I can barely see where I am going (usually this takes place on the freeway)

Last night I dreamt I was in a big pickup truck where I could pre-programmed  the whole trip and all I had to do was get in it and ride, the truck drove and steered itself.

I think there is a reason Europeans don’t have the weight problems we have. From what I hear, they eat bread, cheese and pasta with real butter and don’t gain weight. I think this is because they walk and bike everywhere. Maybe this is a myth, I don’t know, never having been there.

I dream of a quieter world without motors. Don’t get me wrong, I love my little car. I call it my little buggy-wuggy. (It’s a bright yellow bug) I am also looking forward to taking a motor home trip this coming week, and I love that too!

I don’t think there will be any kind of motorized vehicle in Heaven. I don’t think Jesus needs a car to get where He wants to go.

My best self

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. ~e.e. cummings

How often I have stood in the meadow and gazed at this beloved view. It is part of me, I consider myself part owner anyway, having been blessed enough to have grown up near Yosemite. We went there every year. How grateful I continue to be for my parents, who instilled in me a deep love and appreciation of nature. Those memories have carried me through many tough times. I can’t help but smile when I think of all those trips……so thrilled at the first view of those magnificent cliffs. Sometimes, unable to contain our excitement, we would pull over and run outside just to get a whiff of the sweet pine-air.
 
I have always found my best self close to nature. I really become the person I most want to be. I become at ease and the self confidence that alludes me nearly all of the time, comes to life in it. Much of the time I am ill at ease in the world, never sure of my place in it. But there, standing in a meadow, or on the shore listening to the crash of the waves, my best me comes out. I like myself there. Nature beckons me, invites me to be a part of it…..asking nothing in return except to come and enjoy.
 
Feel the peace of it, relax in it, and thank God for His marvelous creation.
 
Nature itself glorifies God as nothing else can. People many times fail to do that, but nature never does.
 
“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther
 
Stroll over to Moonboat Cafe and see the post that inspired my own post today……..thank you Cassandra!

Finding God from where we are

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
My friend, who has become the caretaker of her parents in recent months, told me of a nightmare she had the other night. She said, “It was so terrible I didn’t want to tell anyone about it.” She was trapped in a pipe and she couldn’t get out. She couldn’t turn in any direction and couldn’t go back or forward. She says, “The worst part? Everyone knew I was in there but nobody came to get me out.” She looked at me and said, “That is exactly how I feel right now.”
I know how she feels. Sometimes we are so trapped in our circumstances that we lose hope. People tell you to look at the picture, but the “big picture” has become blurry and out of focus. It no longer means anything. All you can do is think of where you are right now, and you don’t see an end to it. That fact makes it hard to put one foot in front of the other.
You wake, still exhaused from the day before. Leftover stress. You wonder how to feel that freedom that you know is rightfully yours in Christ, because all you feel now is imprisoned in a cell without hope of parole.
There are few things I know for sure. One of them is, Jesus came so that we wouldn’t have to feel that way ever again. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36
After all…….we have the very same Holy Spirit that allowed Paul to sing hymns of praise while locked in prison. And it is that Spirit that gives us the freedom to have hope even in the midst of our circumstances, whatever they may be, however they try to enslave us.
As in this picture above, we see life and beauty on the other side, but we just  don’t know how to get there. We feel that vision is for someone else, not us. Not right now anyway.
It is in that very moment God is asking us to seek Him. “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29
I like how that verse is worded. God is saying that we need to seek Him in that very instance where we feel that hope is lost. That very moment when we are most overwhelmed and discouraged. Hope is lost when we begin to feel like we will end, before our present circumstance does.
Our old enemy wants us to think this way. His goal hasn’t changed since the very beginning, to kill, steal and destroy. He knows he can’t have our soul, so he does everything else he possibly can to steal everything else from us, including our hope and joy. That is exactly what happens when we look too far into the future. We read things into it…… think that things will always be the way they are now. Jesus knew how we are, that is why He had some very good advice.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Jesus.

There is a way out…….Ask God to be with you in that moment and He will. He has promised it, and God can’t ever go back on His word. He may not remove the circumstance, but He will provide you with peace in it, and give you more than enough strength to deal with it.

In order to counteract those other voices, we need to fill our thoughts with God’s promises found in His word.

Get alone with God. Find some time for yourself. Even Jesus had to go off alone, many times.

Start the day determined to ask for strength for that day and that day alone.

Draw comfort from the fact that others are praying for you.

And last but not least, continue to tell God the things you are thankful for. Satan hates that most of all.

holy experience