A song touched my heart today. Rich lyrics tell the story of a motley crew of misfits who have accepted an invitation to come and share—to “come to the table.”
SNAP!
Just like that –– our lives changed.
The fears and frustrations we feel are real.
We cope.
Our patience is tested.
We experience loss.
We regroup.
The Word of God, our unchanging foundation, remains the same and is true.
SHUSH!
Find the moon in the sky before dawn.
Allow the sun to nourish you.
Study the hues and tones of God’s chosen colors in a sunset.
Listen to bird conversations.
Feel the breeze.
Don’t work, don’t talk, just be still and listen.
Wait for renewal, strength and peace to be restored.
Tell Them
One of my most treasured grandmother memories was when my first grandchild was three years old. I was a substitute teacher for her church missions Kabam class. When I introduced myself to the group as her grandmother, she innocently said, “Tell them how you love me.” She is now is a gifted young musician, writer and scholar. She looks forward to serving orphans and widows on mission trips each summer. Etched in my memory, her innocent statement urges me to tell others about my love story with Christ. The vastness of his individual love is unique for each follower and should be shared. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
WHEE!
I’m up.
I’m down.
I’m all around.
Green Jelly Beans
It all began in the garden, didn’t it? It certainly would have been God’s desire that we be holy as He is. After all He created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27), and holiness is the essence of His being. Makes me wonder how different things could have been.
Yada Yada Knowledge
In my search for the fear of the LORD this year I am certainly in need of both wisdom and understanding. See how key knowledge of the Holy One is. I need to know God, not just know about God. The Hebrew for knowledge, yada, is experiential knowledge, not merely head knowledge.
“I AM WHO I AM.”
Names in biblical times were important. “I AM WHO I AM” proclaims the “eternity and self-existence of God”*. Plain and simple, that is who He is. The name by which He is to be known forever is ‘The LORD’, translated Yahweh. The Israelites considered Yahweh too holy to speak or write out in full.** At least they started out with reverence and awe.
Holy. Holy. Holy.
The Old Testament patriarchs and prophets were no strangers to godly fear. Take Isaiah’s cry for example: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).
And My Word for the Year is…FEAR!?
Really—Fear? Who in the world would choose “fear” as their word for the year? But that is the word that dawned on me as my girlfriends and I began a journey through Kathy Howard’s Before His Throne* Bible study in January.
Prayers like Incense
Flower children, hippies, and the unmistakable aroma of incense filled the streets and shops along “The Drag,” the street beside the university where I studied during the early 70’s.
No More Tears
Tears possess a language of their own. They express joy, fear, sadness, pain, anger, tenderness, and various shades of other emotions. Sometimes they communicate even more effectively than words.
The Trees God Plants
Our award-winning Short Leaf Pine tree recently died. It ranked fourth in size in the great state of Texas. The trunk measured thirteen feet in circumference. I often wondered why it lived so long and grew so big. Who planted it? Was it the product of a seed carried by the wind? Did a squirrel shredding a pine cone release the seed that began its life?
Rest for My Soul
The freedom to take breaks whenever I choose ranks as a treasured retirement perk. Strategically placed rocking chairs testify to that priority.
Asking for Wisdom
Downsizing required leasing rental units for what I expected might be several weeks. However, weeks turned to months, and months turned to a year. At the end of that year, I gasped in disbelief when checking one of the units. Mold, dust, and spider webs covered the furniture that roaches now called home.
Seat at the Table
Why do our furniture purchases occur when we’re on vacation?
My husband had a valid point. It did seem we’d done our share of hauling tables in our SUV. Our current kitchen table had caught our eye while on our first Christmas vacation. We loaded it in the back of our car, drove for two days, and waited for my parents to bring the chairs a few months later.
The Midnight Wake
Have you ever woken up during the stillness of the night for no reason?
Maybe God wants to have a late night worship session with you?
So That . . .
Have you ever felt deserted, betrayed, forgotten? Twice in this short book, Paul spoke of being abandoned. In 2 Timothy 1:15, he said, everyone deserted me. In 2 Timothy 4:16, he wrote, no one came to my support.
What I Learned from Dry Eyes
For the past two fall seasons, I’ve experienced severely dry eyes. Raw, irritated and red. Most of the time I just want to close them.
Again? Really?
Red, round, juicy home-grown tomatoes are my obsession every summer! They are far superior to their tasteless counterparts that are picked green and ripened by gassing, occupying the shelves in most grocery stores.