All in Trust
Have you tried to take a toy from a toddler, and she doesn’t want to give it up? It may be naptime or perhaps you need to leave from playing with a friend, but no matter what you try, you cannot pry those little fingers off of that toy without many tears and protests.
A visit from my brother and sister-in-law provided multiple opportunities to visit during meals. Some conversations focused on health needs. Another time we discussed the content of our best-loved books. My favorite meal, though, included hilarious stories of my brother’s adolescent escapades!
Recently, we had a fun day visiting a nearby tulip farm. Rows and rows of beautiful brightly colored tulips!
Mall walking… have you done this?
It is a walk around an indoor shopping mall, so you can look at the items on display as you pass by the windows. It is a form of entertainment and exercise… or so they say.
I learned that I can only stand firm in the Lord’s strength… this is the key!
I like secrets! To me, they are fun little surprises… like gifts! Helpful hints, secrets or tips that encourage you or make life better.
Have you been to the coast of Maine? It is beautiful, dramatic and rocky, just like a Thomas Kinkade painting… lighthouses and all! I recently went on a mission trip there. Jesus used this experience to make helpful and beautiful changes in my heart. This is a journey that I chose and enjoyed.
The giant and grasshopper mentality of the Israelites brought Moses to his knees once again, pleading. God’s reputation was at stake: “If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you (that you are with these people, v.14) will say, ‘The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert’” (14:14-16)
My precious granddaughter is in the terrific twos, so her emotions are all over the spectrum. If she does not get what she wants, screaming, crying, and pouting follow.
Upon reading Emmanuel by Ruth Chou Simons, I realized I was more like my granddaughter than I cared to admit.
If I asked you to take a picture of something representing God’s mercy, what would your photo include? Would it be a selfie of you and your friend hugging—the friend you had previously hurt with your words. Would you take a picture of the warning you received from the police officer instead of a speeding ticket?
Sarah laughed but it was laughter of doubt, as if to say… “Ha, that is not happening!”
Has God ever told you something that seemed laughable?
In my plans for big events this year, my husband and I wanted a vacation for his 60th birthday.
But God made it clear that His will for my husband was that he was to have surgery to remove cancer from his body on his birthday.
Have you ever felt unloved?
Genesis 29 unfolds the story of Leah, who was married to a man who loved someone else. God saw Leah in her unloved state and opened her womb. She gave birth to Jacob’s first-born son, Reuben, and declared, “…the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now” (Genesis 29:32).
A loud thump on our front door shattered our peace and quiet as we relaxed one evening. We looked but could not find anything. Before the evening expired my husband had ordered a ring doorbell for our front porch.
With a ring doorbell a person gets messages on their phone to alert them of any movement picked up on the front porch camera. The message displayed: “There is motion at your front Door.”
Thorns… I don’t like them.
Recently, I was caught in a fight with multiple vine-like thorn bushes while trying to clear an area of land. The more I wrestled with them, the more they caught my clothes and circled around me… like a live animal attacking. I cried out for help!
As I began this year, I prayed to the Lord to show me a word that He wants me to focus on for this year. And He brought to mind the word… Surrender.
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.
The freedom to take breaks whenever I choose ranks as a treasured retirement perk. Strategically placed rocking chairs testify to that priority.
“How do you cope with all these unanswered questions and still smile?” she asked. My answer surprised her. “I don’t ask God why. I ask how? How God can you use this season to draw me closer to You?”
