✝ Resurrection Hope ✝

Blessed is the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3). I heard this in a new way. It made me stop. I don't know for sure what to think but it is a promise to hold onto. If stuff is too much for me or to big for me and I am too weak or too small than all of Heaven's Kingdom is mine.... What a resource!

I've been thinking of how wounded our Lamb of God was for us … emotionally and physically … isolated from His Heavenly Father, the Burden Bearer. Jesus bore the weight of it. Then to think that He spent 3 days in hell... real hell... So that He could be worthy to bear our wounds and let us walk upright and free! I still have a long way to go to make this hope sink into my inner heart and soul.

I just heard a story of a father who just found out he had leukemia. After telling his son who was heading off to college and his wife of 30 some years, found himself that night in the dark pouring out his heart to God. "Are you going to be there to carry me through?" -was the question that gripped him. God gave him a word picture. It was Jesus picking him up and carrying him to the in zone - into victory. That was such a blessing to me and I hope for you too.  We had such a blessed hope in the Resurrection of Christ. Such promises to hold and to keep us. ✝

Bobby Socks

It is Valentines and my heart is breaking.  Fourteen years ago two little furry rat terriers came into our lives after the loss of our dear Sammy.  Fourteen months ago Bobby's brother Andy died and now Bobby.

The brown in Bobby's face was swiftly becoming white.  He was getting a bit blind.  He couldn't twirl anymore on bare flooring.  On carpet it was getting slower.  With this winter's blistering cold, he struggle to keep warm so we thought up a coat out of sweatpants legs.  Bobby was always hungry but eating seems too much.  We prayed that he could wait for spring.  I thought he was doing much better but last night I got word that he died of a heart attack.  Tink and Bobby went out to go to the bathroom.  Bobby was at the door and then he wasn't.  That quick he was gone.

Bobby was a baby always wanting to be babied.  We didn't mind.  He wanted to be petted always.  He would give you those baby eyes.  He was a worrier.  He didn't want you to forget to feed him or to give him cookies.  He always wanted to be near you.  If you were making the actions of leaving, he would take your socks and gnaw on them.  He may have sad eyes but he always had a smile.  When excited, he would twirl and twirl.

I guess him leaving right before Valentine's Day of a heart attack seems very fitting for a very loving pup.  By him always wanting your love, you could forget about the world.  You were wanted and needed.  Pretty nice.

We knew he was winding down and we were holding our breath.  Andy had a cancer inside and his leaving was very hard.  We didn't think we could go through it again.  Andy had an enduring personality.  Bobby wouldn't be able to do it nor would we be able to handle it.  God was good in taking him so quickly even with the snow being so thick.  Dad and brother was able to lay him to rest.

Mom texted me this evening saying she was missing her couch buddy and my tears welled up again.  I know like with Andy the tears will flow less and the ache mellow and the sadness is laced with happy memories and yes, you want to hold him again and to have him twirl again.... but you quiet your emotions that the God of good gifts has a grander plan than I can know.

Just maybe after all the big end of the world things happen, that when I walk out into the Heaven's grand garden and pause... there Andy will be.  One moment he is looking at me with his handsome masked face and the next he will be jumping in my arms with his kisses.  My hands will catch a firm smooth tank body with no lumps and bumps to remind me of sin's curse.  Of course there will be Bobby finally enjoying the no allergy air twirling and smiling and wanting to get on the action.  I will get down on the ground and have a good pupinator tussle getting my fill of kisses and love... continuing my rejoicing of good gifts given and taken away...

little bird, big storm ...

Bravely the little bird clung there out in the storm;

torn by each blast that was flung there,

chirped to keep himself warm;

ruffled his feathers and clung there,

till frozen and stiff it hung there,

spring came and still it swung there,

    all that was left of the storm.

by Ruth Graham Bell's Collected Poems

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I do not like this poem because it is so sad.  It is not a pretty picture.  On a normal day I would turn the page in search of a happier place but today it is exactly the words I needed to hear.

I am that bird.  I clung to my little perch.  I chirped.  I ruffled my feathers.  That storm did not care.  It took me out.  It does not matter if the storm was wrong or petty.  It does not matter if the storm is full of it's own power.  It does not matter if the storm is controlling.  It does not matter if the storm is all-consuming. I am little.  Storm is big.  Blasted, frozen, dead stiff are all consequences for thinking this was a silly little matter.  

To ultimately honor my Heavenly Father I must honor and obey my boss no matter even if she says not to sneeze.  If I cannot honor her in the littlest of matters, how can I honor her in the big matters.  How can God give me a job that I would love much better if I cannot do my currant mundane job with God-given JoY.  {sign}

I still do not like this poem but I will carry it in my heart as I go back to work tomorrow a bit more wiser, a bit more quiet, a bit more focused on my Heavenly Father.  Spring is to be full of new life not death.  I need to make it to Spring.  I choose life not death.....

I must be the bird under His Wing not the frozen bird in a winter storm.

fav quotes of 2013

•"There is no such thing as an 'unknown' to God"
~ Chuck Swindoll / his study in Daniel

•  “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

• "When it is the darkest, men see the stars."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

• “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

• "Passion is in the risk. "
~ When in Rome

• "If you're going to be a bear, be grizzly."

• “All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost”
J.R.R. Tolkien

• "FAITH is like a pair of night vision glasses; FAITH helps you see in the dark. "
~ Pas Steven Davies on Hall of Faith passage

• He wants us to be, not hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms.   Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without Him.
~ Streams in the Desert  I / Feb 28

• "Fear is like sand in machinery where faith is like oil. Faith lubricates life."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real"
~ Zig Ziggler

• "If you are simply obeying the LORD, all the responsibility will rest on Him, not on you!"   ~ Hudson Taylor

• “Fruit-bearing involves cross-bearing.”
~ Hudson Taylor

• “All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”
~ Hudson Taylor

•  “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.”
~ Hudson Taylor

• "STRESS = amt of demands > amt of my strength".
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "Nothing, without first a dream."
- Carl Sandburg

• “I still find each day too short for the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.”
~ John Burroughs

• “As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over. So in a series of kindnesses there is, at last, one which makes the heart one over.”
~ James Boswell

•  "darkness canNOT chase away the Light!"

• "No victory without a battle. No character without a conflict. No understanding without suffering."
~ Elizabeth Elliott

•  "A life that is too easy is not good for the soul."  
~ Archibald Hart

• "it's much easier for friends to become lovers than for lovers to become friends."

• "Scriptures forecast storm warnings for all believers."
"Storms reveal your root systems."
~ Dennis  Rainey / are you ready?/ Storms of Life

• "It's what you sow that multiples, not what you keep in the barn."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "God always gives His Best to those who leave the choice with Him."
~ Hudson Taylor

• "Submission is an attitude not an action. It isn't what you do but WHY you do it."
~ Pastor Ken Ford

• "satan canNOT create. He can only twist & distort what God created as good."
~ Randy Alcorn

• "Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness."
~ Max Lucado / Cure for the Common Life

•  "Stress is focusing on the storm instead of on God."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "The grass is greener where it's watered." 🌱

• "My mind can be a factory of fear or a fountain of faith. What will it be?"
~ Patsy Claremont

• "The oak indwells the acorn."
~ Max Lucado

• "to make honey a young bee needs a young flower.
~ karate kid I

• "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought it was only one.'"
~ CS Lewis
• "the wisest person in church? the one who is most submissive to the Scriptures."
~ Pastor Steven Davey / study of Proverbs

• "Because man cannot kill God, they kill the image of God."
~ Pastor Steven Davey

• "Where God does not rule, God overrules."
~Pastor Adrain Rogers/ on God-Given PEACE in storms

• "If love is blind then sex is a blindfold."
~ Ron Deal / don't be deceived - wait for marriage.

• "We are into microwaving. God is into marinating."
~ Brady Boyd

• You will "discover that when you lie close to the heart of someone or someplace for a long time, you hear and see what others don't. The secrets taught by holding on & hanging in there turn out to be exactly what you were looking for."  ~ Marlee Ledai

• "is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"
~ Corrie Ten Boom

• "Let God's Promises shine on your problems."
~ Corrie Ten Boom

• "Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear."
~ Corrie Ten Boom

• “Let them miss you.
Sometimes when you’re always available,
they take you for granted because they think you’ll always stay."

• "It is the shelter of each other that people live."
~ Irish Proverb

• "Let your mess become His Message."

• "Heroes are born in war time."

• "Trials are proof of God's Love."
~ Dr.James MacDonald

• "the greatest submission of our will to God's Authority is when He says NO not when He says yes." ~ Stephen Davey
• "If you can find humor in anything, you can survive it."
~ Bill Cosby

• "Laugh out loud. It helps flush out the nervous system."
– Chuck Swindoll

• "worry is pulling tomorrow's clouds over today's sunshine."

• "disappointment should be spelled 'God's appointment'".

• "when love is FELT, the message is heard."

• "Show them what you love. "

• "It is difficult to make a man miserable when he feels he is worthy of himself & claims kindred to the great God who made him."
~ Abraham Lincoln

•  “True friendship resists time, distance and silence.”
 —  Isabel Allende

• "I fall in love with people’s passion. The way their eyes light up when they talk about the thing they love and the way they fill with light.”
~Unknown

• "The secret to the filling a man lies in learning to express love THROUGH YOUR FEELINGS, not necessarily through your actions."
~ John Gray

• The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. 
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

•  “My God…I have thanked you 1000 times for my roses…teach me the value of my thorns…Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.”
~George Matheson

• "God's delight is received upon surrender, not awarded upon conquest."
~ Max Lucado

• "Faith is the refusal to panic."

•  "Do you have a relationship with the Word to cause a revolution in your world?"
~ Stephen Davy / Wisdom of the Heart

• "Whatever the sin issue there is an idolatry at the heart of it."
~ Phil Ryken

• "God designed you to think of one thought at a time so if you are thinking on what is right, you cannot think on what is wrong."
~ paraphrase of Adrian Rogers's Right Thinking

• “Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge

• “Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge

• "Storms are not an option but fear is."
 ~Max Lucado's Fear Not

• "only a pure clean heart can see the activity of a Holy God."
~ Stephen Davy

• "Discipline isn't to change behavior but to remind the child that the ways of death is destruction."
~ Dr Dan Allender

• "Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage."
CS Lewis

• "You never have to worry because with God you will never get lost in the crowd no matter who you are."
~ Pastor Stephen Davey

• "God's answer to any & all of our questions is the revelation of Himself."~ Elizabeth Elliot

• "You can choose your sin. You canNOT choose your consequences."
~ Pastor Stephen Davey

• “If more of us valued food and cheer and song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”  ~J.R.R. Tolkien

• "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."
~ John Piper

• "Our Christianity must have sound AND picture."
~ Pastor Stephen Davey on James 1:22-27

• "Our example OUTLIVES our achievements."
~ Pastor Swindoll

• "Submission is the highest form of respect."

• "Submission is ducking so that God can hit your husband."
~ Lysa TerKeurst

• "examine everything for the fingerprints of God" / family mo

•  "God uses broken sticks to make straight lines."
~ Dr. Carl Wiener

• Praise is the language of Heaven better get fluent here on earth.

• "Men TRUST a God by RISKING. Women TRUST God by WAITING."
~ Karen McCully

• "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for extrodanary destiny."
C S Lewis

• "If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes."
—Corrie ten Boom

• "So I decided not to give my life to that Character (God), I was going to run it myself and of course anyone who makes that decision  is actually worshiping themselves and has a fool for a deity." ~ Douglas Gresham stepson of CS Lewis

• "God uses a word that doesn't talk about falling in love, He uses a word about choosing to love. Biblical love isn't about attraction; it's about determination.   It isn't about working it up rather it is about willing it out. "
~ Stephen Davey

• "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."

• "God designed us to be EMPTY without Him."
~ Pastor Chuck Swindoll

• "Only Christ can allow you to take a disadvantage & make it into an advantage for the Glory of God."
~ Ravi Zacherias Jesus Among Other gods

• "You can tell a lot about a man by what makes him sad, mad, & glad."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• The Christmas season highlights the stunning reminder that God keeps His promises. And not only are His ways amazing, they’re also surprising; He chooses to use common people and everyday events to work the miraculous. But any time that God interrupts our lives in a supernatural way . . . it’s a lot to take in. 
~ Pastor Chuck Swindoll

• "Are you the kind of woman that a man would die for?" ~ J Vernon McGee

•  "God is using all of your experiences, both good & bad, to develop your character to match your calling." 
~ Lysa TerKeurst

• "every story whispers His Name"~Sally Lloyd-Jones

• “If they miss you, they’ll call. If they want you, they’ll say it. If they care, they’ll show it. And if not, they aren’t worth your time.”

• Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars. 
~ JRR Tolkin

• “Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone, Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own”
~Adam Lindsay Gordon

~~~~~~~

Boy, do I love to collect quotes.  I am such a thinker and I love to listen to some favorite Bible teachers and Bible podcasts.  How my brain whirls!!!!

fav reads of 2013

• "The Five  Love Languages of Children" by Gary Chapman and Ross canceled, M.D.

takeaway: teach your children to be fluent in all five love languages & teach them to manage anger and the rest of the emotions. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control and this book helps you as a parent or adult to pass this on to the next generation.

• "Cure for the Common Life"

~ Max Lucado  

living your sweet spot : 

use your uniqueness (what you do)

to make a big deal out of God (why you do it)

every day of your life(where you do it)

I love living your dreams and encouraging them.  My job and it isn't my sweet spot. I really don't know how to change it except to do my spot at home and surround myself and my day with creativity and creative thought. 

• "The Vow" by Kim & Krickett Carpenter 

I found this book in Mom's library and with all the hype I read it (I might read before?). You have to read the true story of how God can keep a marriage even when the memories are gone. The movie had the human drama but sadly kept God out of it. 

• "Danger in the Shadows" (prequel)& "The Negotiator" (book one) by Dee Henderson

Dee is a favorite author because there is a bit of intrigue in her love stores.  She is a Christian author and her focus is on the relationship we have in Christ and with each other.  I have been collecting the O'Malley series from my favorite op shop and have all but book two which I am ready to start reading.  I have recently gotten the tapes but I have started another series so I'll have to wait till next year!!  I need to make a family tree of the O'Malleys to keep them organized in my visual brain.  

~~~~~~~

Hmm, I wish my list was longer!  I do read several books at a time because they are informational where I read one story at a time.  So I have some reads that aren't finished to make this list cut off.   I have to admit that I have bad op shop addiction that feeds my book fetish!!  My library is brimming with unread books that I am looking forward to reading.  So until next year, stick your head in a book and take the best vacation ever!

griefs of the lilac …

Part of being strong willed is having super solid thoughts of how things should be and how things should be done. These thoughts are not random. These thoughts are logical.  These thoughts are connected to the very fiber and essence of who I am. 

Maybe it is being a girl in a man's world that makes me second guess my thoughts when it contradicts a man's thoughts. Maybe it is because I'm a strange contradiction of tenderness and strictness. Maybe it is because I am most happy when submissive but when my thoughts are swept aside, a violent torrential storm erupts. 

A current event has just played out and I am red hot livid. I am here trying to put my words down to get these ugly emotions out of my body and my heart. Spilt milk is spilt milk. You can't do anything but except it, right?  But wait, there is clean up to do…

My split milk is the tree trimmers that whacked the lilac tree to the ground where it was living conjoined with the lilac bush. I should have pinked flagged like my gut said so they would not touch it. I voiced my concern about the lilacs along with the new small bushes I have bought. 'Oh, they will be fine.' I had so much unrest in my heart that when the trimmers finally arrived I asked God to guide them. When I got home I rushed to the backyard to see if they spared my lilac tree and my unspoken wishes. I want to be silent and sweet no more. I want to rail against the one who made me second guess myself.  Oh wait, I was the one that second guessed. 

an angry American & an Ancient Path ...

I am an angry American.  Here I stand on the cliff of time where looking forward, all I can see is destruction of a country I was born and bred in and harbor a love and patriotism for.  When I look behind, I see an ancient old path straight, strong and true that built this nation on a very formidable foundation.  An ancient pathway that holds true to piety and self control along with freedom from government dictating personal religion.  The Bible was our founding fathers' guide to create a country that would serve God.  An ancient pathway long overgrown and barely visual today.

The dissenting voices have become like bombs and clanging cymbals drowning out God's Ancient Still Voice.  Many have recanted their so called beliefs to be like everyone else so as to be politically correct and socially relevant.  They  have forgotten what there parents had told them.  Something about 'would you jump off a cliff if everyone else is doing so?' It is like a gay parade cloaking themselves in rainbow loud colors to hide a tarnish and blackish meshed hazy soul where freedom means no self restraint or self control.  This parade is so clamorous and so narcissistic they do not see the cliff they are marching off of and into the pit.  Do not think that I am insensitive as I tried to understand coworkers who have taken on this alternative lifestyle.  They can be super nice but my love and loyalty lies with God the Father who is a jealous God and wants our selfless love no matter how frail and human it is.   Sadly, as I look at all the gays that have surfaced, I no longer see them as male or female but rather as an it deprived of the great differences and characteristics that make males strong and females beautiful.  It is a very grey murky world.

What gets me most as an American is the taking God out of every thread that make us great and dragging our founding fathers through the mud.  Last week US Supreme Court decision to make gay marriage legal made me ill.  It is most difficult when the other side seems to winning at destroying our moral fabric and you know that once the salt is taken from this world, Sodom and Gomorra destruction will rain down once again.  Even though the world is heavy in labor pains, I have a sure foundation.  I have an ancient path to trace to my present time ... to pull back the weeds and clear the path.

Let me tell you about US Supreme Court member, James Wilson who came from Scotland in 1765 to study law and obvious stayed!  He was appointed to the US Supreme Court by President George Washington in 1789.  James Wilson holds the distinction of being one of the six Founding Fathers to sign both the Declaration of Independence AND the Constitution.  Benjamin Rush, a physician, fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, father of the public schools and I could go on, described James Wilson's mind as a "blaze of light ... He rendered great and essential services to his country in every stage of the Revolution."  Here is a quote from James Wilson on the law of God being the 'supreme law.'  "Having thus stated the question -- what is the efficient cause of the moral obligation? -- I give this answer -- the will of God.  This is the supreme law.  His just and full right of imposing laws, and our duty in obeying them, are the sources of our moral obligations." (The Laws of Nature, 1790)  Oh how my heart began to soar again.  This my heritage.  This is my America.  This is my US Supreme Court that I can cheer on... to shout an Amen.

The US Supreme Court of 1885 (144 US 15,45) "Certainly no legislation can be be supposed more wholesome and necessary in the founding of a free, self-governing commonwealth ... then that which seeks to establish it on the basis of the idea of the family, as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; [the family is] the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization; the best guarantee of that reverent morality which is the source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement."

I know I shouldn't be an angry American since I'm just as pass'in through.  I am a citizen of Heaven.  I am in God's Kingdom.  I know Who wins.  America will not be in Heaven.  True.  But our founding father's dreamed a very huge dream.  They wanted to be a beacon to rest of the world.  I want to keep that dream alive.  I look to this ancient path, this ancient bloodline to not give up and to reach out in God's Grace and His Everlasting Love to my fellow American citizens, to be God's ambassador.....

So this Fourth of July I put a spotlight on the Supreme Law that has made this country and holding to this Supreme Law will keep this country....

************

This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. 

But you said, 'we will not walk in it.'

I appointed a watchmen over you and said, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'

But you said, 'we will not listen.'

Therefore hear, you nations; you who are witnesses, observe what will happen to them.  Hear, you earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to My Words and have rejected My Law."  

Jeremiah 6:16-19

with all that I am …

"I am the one winged bird for flying

Sinking quickly to the ground

See your faith in me subsiding

See you prime for giving in

I give you all that I am

I am the sound of love's arriving

Echoed softly on the sand

Lay your head upon my shoulder

Lay your hand within my hand

I give you all that I am

And I breathe where you breathe

Let me stand where you stand

With all that I am

I am the white dove for a soldier

Ever marching as to war

I would give my life to save you

I stand guarding at your door

I give you all that I am

I am the one winged bird for flying

Sinking quickly to the ground

I am the blind man for a watchdog

I am prime for giving in

I'll show you all that I am

And I breathe so you breathe

Let me stand so you'll stand

With all that I am"

Written by Rob Thomas

 I keep pressing play, listening over and over, ever absorbing, getting lost in the embrace of the words. Will we get to this place? I'm there … with all that I am.

boast? worry? same thing …

To not worry if your beautiful enough or smart enough or woman enough, to not worry if he is interested in you or if there is a spark between you or if he is in love with you is to not think so much about yourself.  When you worry, you are thinking highly of yourself. The job is to put into the relationship. The job is to bless, edify, share, touch, & enjoy. The job is to spur one another towards God.   You can fully love with abandonment from self because ultimately God loves you deeply and that is all you need. 

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. ~ Proverbs 27:2

bending God's ear about you…

Bet your window's rolled down and your hair's pulled back  

And I bet you got no idea you're going way too fast 

You're trying not to think about what went wrong 

Trying not to stop 'til you get where you goin' 

You're trying to stay awake so I bet you turn on the radio 

And the song goes

I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby, hm baby

The highway won't hold you tonight
The highway don't know you're alive
The highway don't care if you're all alone
But I do, I do.
The highway won't dry your tears
The highway don't need you here
The highway don't care if you're coming home
But I do, I do. 

 I bet you got a dead cell phone in your shotgun seat 

Yeah, I bet you're bending God's ear talking 'bout me. 

You're trying not to let the first tear fall out 

Trying not to think about turning around 

You're trying not to get lost in the sound but that song is always on 

So you sing along 

 I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
I can't live without I can't live without you baby, oh baby 

The highway won't hold you tonight
The highway don't know you're alive
The highway don't care if you're all alone
But I do, I do.
The highway won't dry your tears
The highway don't need you here
The highway don't care if you're coming home
But I do, I do. 

 I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
I can't live without I can't live without you, baby, oh baby

 The highway don't care
The highway don't care
The highway don't care
But I do, I do.

I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby (The highway don't care)
I can't live without I can't live without you, baby, oh baby (But I do, I do)
I can't live without you (The highway don't care)
The highway don't care, the highway don't care
(The highway don't care) I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
But I do, I do
(The highway don't care) the highway don't care (The highway don't care) the highway don't care, 
I can't live without you, I can't live without you baby, oh baby (But I do, I do) 

 I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

This is a new song sung by Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw. Songs become loved and well worn when it hits real life and broken hearts - in my case a once broken heart.  I used to bend God's ear when he was away but still do now that my smile is back. I do go back to my heartbroken notes and thank my Heavenly Father for mending hearts and overflowing blessings of restoration …

seasons of man …

There is a time for intimacy. There is a time for strengthening.

There is a time for coming together. There is a time for filling one's soul.

There is a time for one another. There is a time for oneness with God.

There is a time for fullness. There is a time for hunger.

There is a time for blooming. There is a time for growing.

I asked God for a picture to help me understand man's way with a maiden. I asked for help as a man comes close but then moves away. It is Spring. Everything is growing. I realized that has a season of bloom and a season of growth. Same with a man. He needs intimacy and he needs his warrior strength. Like always God gave me a picture to hold.

juice in the grape …

Oh, how it feels like the last of the last days! Can it get any worse before my Lord and Master takes me out with a trumpet shout? He could come yet today but He could wait many more days for those who yet need to choose Him.

Summer 2012 was extremely hot and very dry. The woods thinned. Corn fields browned and crisped in the height of July making me sad and a bit worried as I drove to work and home in air condition each day. Pear trees had no pears for pear butter. Birds had daily pool parties at the bird bath that I kept filled for them. And the grapes? The sparse shriveled clusters on the vines had no promise left in them. Deep in the soul of today, it is hot dry summer with no juice left in the grape. Or is there a hint of that deep stain?

'In the later times many will abandon the faith' ( I Timothy 4:1). How disturbing! I look deep within. How do you keep the faith when all are forsaking? Then I found an interesting verse - a little something to quench the thirst: "As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes…don't destroy it, there is yet some good in it." Isaiah 65:8.

It is that age old promise again. God promised to Abraham that He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there where still believers left. He promises that still today. We are still here so there is still juice in the grape! There is Hope. This is my job! Be ready for the harvest is near and then wine season will begin. So until then, keep the juice in the grape!

cup vs puddle…

I guess I thought freedom was a noble word where it was freeing a life from bondage whether it was slavery or persecution for beliefs not to spout off in name of free speech or rights to do whatever. All courtesy and self control have no value anymore. Morals are useless. Now every day is filled with protests, riots, twitter wars, & running up votes for a song to defame a prime minister for her controversial leadership. I hate say this but why are we surprised that everyday seems to be filled with shootings and bombings. Freedom of speech? How can I equate the two? How can you not? We've taken manners and respect from liberty. Let freedom ring leaves a ringing in my sore ears.

In the past I've described liberty as a fence for within the boundary both dog and master can be free. I know too well the tragedy of not have a fence with the lost of my Sam. Sadly, from the turmoil of today's earth, another vision or word picture comes …maybe to save a little generation that is in my household.

It comes from the Bible where we are to be at the ready with a cup of cold water for our dry and thirsty neighbor or enemy. The water is cool but contained in the confines of a cup. With this simple unassuming boundary, we can meet someone else's need. It generosity. It is saving. It is selfless. It is noble. I deem it freedom! Can you save a bound soul when you spill that water to have it trodden upon and muddied? Can you gather up that mud puddle and free someone of thirst? What do you get when you throw water at someone's face? This is an act of defiance and meanness. This is an act of anarchy!! Yes, anarchy!! Today we live loudly outside the box without restraint . There is no self control.

Why have rules? It is a question I like to ask the agnostic. Rules are of God to protect us and give us freedom. If there is no God, throw out all laws! Dead serious. Give me the cup. I cannot be happy without it. Interesting… "pursuit of happiness" isn't so happy when we are speeding headlong into the fiery depths of HELL.

Freedom without self control and courtesy is NOT freedom. It is sinking sludge hole, veracious and hellish. This gift of precious cold water that our founding forefathers gave us to preserve, we have acted like a spoiled brat and the cup is shattered. Now we are left with a puddle AND the Wrath of God.

leanness …

It is erie to read history only to have it feel like today. We have forgotten our thankfulness to God. Scratch that. We have kicked God to the curb. We are so into OUR OWN INVENTIONS. We create things and defile them. God calls it whoring. We are definitely in the wilderness but we are blind to our own affliction. We don't cry out. God's wrath jealously burns but He would rather us to come running into His waiting Arms. We just go on whoring blind and dumb. What will it take to feel the leanness in our souls?

Psalms 106

As a believer what really caught my eye was the "leanness of the soul". I've had this leanness in my soul. I lacked His Joy. I embraced duplicity. It wasn't until God brought me low that I began to focus on thanksgiving because it was all I could do. It was hard to sing but I did even if all I could do was hum. God Who created me and begun a good work in me, begun to change and grow me.

You know that BBQ ribs are best when juicy, succulent, and fat. Where you are smacking your lips and the yumminess oozes all over your face and smile deepens and the eyes brighten in ecstasy… FAT. Fatness of soul … what a ministry a fatness of soul believer can have in a wasteland of leanness of soul earthbound pagans. Yet it will be like trying to get someone to eat after they have crossed the threshold of actively starving themselves but we must share… It is the hardest task in this age - to get an anorexic soul to come to Salvation's Feast laden table. Which means that believer's need to keep their soul's fat by feasting on the Word to keep fit in these days of famine and wasteland.

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. ~Psalms 106:47

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. ~ James 4:9, 10

be the damsel…

When hearing damsel, we always hear distress. This should not be!
Here is the definition from Merriam-Webster dictionary: a) young woman: a young unmarried woman of noble birth; a noblewoman. b) girl. Nothing distressing. In fact I like the meaning.

I am a child of God. I am of nobility! I should be living as a damsel. So how should it damsel behave? Or I should say how should a damsel behave towards a man that she is interested in? Here is the list:
1. Trust & admire his manliness.
2. Trust & admire his hero nobility.
3. Trust he walks with God & that God directs his kingly heart.
4. Receive his manliness.
5. Receive who he is.
6. Receive his God-given gifts.
7. Celebrate him.
8. Allow him to make you happy.
9. Give plenty of manly adjectives.
10. Give bright eyes & fat bones with all of your greetings & sendings.
11. Speak highly of him.

It is about preferring him. When you trust that he walks with God and God directs his kingly heart, you can let go of the death grip that you might have on the relationship and enjoy the adventure ahead. The hero is always there to pursue you but a girl can be lethal and kill it in him. Try enjoying him instead of changing him. Be a Godly damsel and when you are in distress your hero will be there. This is a gentle quiet spirit at work that God calls us girls to be.

Your beauty … should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4

bow the knee…

What a privilege to come into God's presence,
just to linger with the One who set me free.
As I lift my eyes and see His Awesome Glory,
I remember Who He is and bow the knee.

Bow the knee, bow the knee,
He is King of all the ages, bow the knee!
God alone on His throne,
see Him high and lifted up and bow the knee!
Kneel before Him, all adore Him.
As you live to love Him more, bow the knee.

In His Hand He holds the Power of creation.
With His voice He spoke and all things came to be.
Yet He hears each simple prayer I bring before Him
when I humbly seek His face and bow the knee.

Bow the knee, bow the knee,
He is King of all the ages, bow the knee!
God alone on His throne,
see Him high and lifted up and bow the knee!
Kneel before Him, all adore Him.
As you live to love Him more, bow the knee.

Bow the knee, bow the knee,
He is King of all the ages, bow the knee!
God alone on His throne,
see Him high and lifted up and bow the knee!
Kneel before Him, all adore Him.
As you live to love Him more,
bow the knee. Bow the knee. Bow the knee.

Written by Ron Hamilton

I mutter 'bow the knee' whenever the boss made me frustrated and I wanted to please my Heavenly Father with a gentle quiet spirit. My relationship with the boss has changed for the better. The boss can still frustrate me like she has in recent days. Then I heard this song play on the radio. A gentle reminder from God that I can do this. It is a waste to be an angst over something that isn't Eternal. Bottom line is the soul trumps my job. Jesus Christ wants this soul. He paid for the soul. I cannot make the choice for this soul but a gentle quiet chips away the hardest rock…

Jesus keeps me singing…

There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
In all of life’s ebb and flow.

~Refrain:~
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
Discord filled my heart with pain,
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
Stirred the slumb’ring chords again.

~Refrain:~
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go

Feasting on the riches of His grace,
Resting ’neath His shelt’ring wing,
Always looking on His smiling face,
That is why I shout and sing.

~Refrain:~
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go

Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See His footprints all the way.

~Refrain:~
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go

Soon He’s coming back to welcome me,
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.

~Refrain:~
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go

Psalms 40:3
Luther Bridge

To keep singing when you don't feel like it. When your boss comes in and changes your Saturday plans and you see your plans for getting your house painted and ready to decorate wash away. The house begins to loom large and you can't have it. You aren't going to let it get you down so you find you got to sing. Then the radio plays this song… God is so good…

rest in His Presence ...

Meaty: "This is how we KNOW that we belong to the Truth & how we set our hearts at REST in His Presence whenever our hearts fail & condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts & He KNOWS all of me good & bad. # I John 3:19-20

Skinny: to keep my faint heart in His Presence cuz He covers & keeps my heart no matter what

adventure …

There is something about the word adventure that excites the mind. Plans start to form. The heart starts to beat faster. The face begins to flush like petal soft roses. There is a lightness and a bounce n the footsteps. There is no drudgery. There is an "I can do this" attitude. Adventure isn't just for men. There is something there for the girl.

This girl, this tiny girl often feels like a minuscule speck up against such vastness. Probably more like the poor confused squirrel this morning who had started to venture across the road only to have two rumbling beasts barreling towards him.

I had let the house loom too large for me. Requests for help have been tossed aside. I decided that I needed to step back, access, and then do what I could allowing things to fall in place unlike the squirrel who didn't stay backed and risked his hide in front of my jeep. I think he made it and saved my poor heart. Not sure how his little heart faired.

To stop getting discouraged over things I have no control ove,r I decided the best thing to do is turn a question lose. "What adventure can I get into today?" It makes the eye begin to twinkle and the fingers drum together. It blows away the endless to-do lists leaving what gets done a satisfaction.

So what if I have ugly beige inners to my outlets and light switches! So what if I stumble my way to the front door in winter because the light switches are on the entry side. So what if the bar table is at table height. They are going on the baha list. They will get done and most likely by me. I shall be that adventurist that pulls our the pictures saying "I been and done that". No more freak outs and low points. It is about off roading. Be the beast. Roar!!!!!

singing I go …

I notice that on the weekends where I for the most part have the mornings to myself, I get a little grouchy when I have small friendly helpful intrusions. This should not be! Where are my bright eyes and fat bones (Proverbs 15:30)? I needed a song or something to feed my brain to be more successful at a welcoming spirit. This was my Saturday thought.

Sunday as I was getting around for church, this hymn came on and the chorus was catchy. This is a song my brain can dig its talons into, allowing a bounce in my heart.

Singing I Go
I. The trusting heart to Jesus clings,
Nor any ill forebodes,
But at the cross of Calv’ry, sings,
Praise God for lifted loads!

Chorus
Singing I go along life’s road,
Praising the Lord, praising the Lord,
Singing I go along life’s road,
For Jesus has lifted my load.

II. The passing days bring many cares,
“Fear not,” I hear Him say,
And when my fears are turned to prayers,
The burdens slip away.

Chorus
Singing I go along life’s road,
Praising the Lord, praising the Lord,
Singing I go along life’s road,
For Jesus has lifted my load.

III. He tells me of my Father’s love,
And never slumb’ring eye,
My everlasting King above
Will all my needs supply.

Chorus
Singing I go along life’s road,
Praising the Lord, praising the Lord,
Singing I go along life’s road,
For Jesus has lifted my load.

IV. When to the throne of grace I flee,
I find the promise true,
The mighty arms upholding me
Will bear my burdens too.

words : Eliza E Hewitt
music : William J Kirkpatrick


Proverbs 15:30
Bright eyes gladden the heart; good news puts fat on the bones.