Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

Thank you friend for Psalm 119:114 today, "You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me."  You have been the hands and feet of Jesus to me this week.  Don't take it lightly, continue, you have a gift of ministry and a world of people ready to receive hope.  You are a light my dear friend.  You don't often see it that way, but God wants you to know.  Because of your encouragement I am moved to write today.  So I will share my heart. I am astounded at how many have read my post titled "Reach Out and Touch the World," and the reads just keep climbing!  I think it is easy to forget the the WORLD is right next to us.  The WORLD is your child, your friend, your co-worker, your neighbor, the person in line at Walmart, the waitress/waiter at your next meal out, the person at church you've never met... It doesn't have to be about going far away.  Sometimes the people closest to you need to be touched the most. ...

My hands hurt, really hurt.  Just being honest here. "Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26 I was telling my sis how frustrating it is that I know truth and yet the anxiety swirling within betrays me when my hands begin to ache.  They ache today, why?  Fibromyalgia makes me mad, until I surrender to God.  My body tells on me.  But sometimes that is what I need!  The pains are not predictable, and often random.  But I also know things that contribute to my pain, anxiety is one!  Sometimes my anxiety is fear driven, and sometimes it is excitement driven.  I had a mix the last couple of weeks. It just is what it is.  Humbling. Today my sis reminded me of truth about me, when she said, "I know there's so much for our brains to get anxious about...it's crazy how our brains and our spi...

I was murmuring to myself about the dark.  I was thinking about how I had to race home to run before dark, and now that's not even possible!  I ordered a reflective vest so oncoming cars could see me.  Tonight was the night.  The darkest run I've had so far, and my reflective vest came just in time - today!  That took the edge off of my murmuring mood and off I went. Now before you think I'm bragging about running, let me just say this.  I. Move. My. Feet.  And, I do this activity 3 times a week at best.  It's not that I am athletic!  Ironically, it actually helps my fibromyalgia pain.  Even when I feel yucky, I know that if I let too many days go by without a run, I will feel even worse.  So there are tons of lessons I learn from this moving of my feet, but tonight it's about the night . I noticed that I really enjoyed the run, and I think it is for a non-athletic reason!  I couldn't see how far I had to go!  All I...

I am just now, at 49 learning to press "pause" on my need to download and bring closure on a subject AS IT HAPPENS!  It hasn't been easy.  My "get it over with" plan is selfish and unwise, when it comes to processing life with those I love.  Waiting for that "window?" Not so easy!  I tend to be all silent, or all talk.  There is wisdom in learning to bring balance, slowness,  gentleness, and timing of delivery to every situation.  I need to discern where my "listener" is first with their thoughts, heart, needs...not my own.  Knowing my own, will help me with this - ironically!!  You'll see where I'm going with this. Proverbs 16:20-24 is on my refrigerator as a constant reminder to God-center my heart before I download.  It is a great filter to meditate on before speaking.  It says,  "Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. 21 The wise of heart is call...

I have to add a p.s. to my last post.  I wrote in a moment's time the weight of 49 years of battling anxiety.  It was not over the fact that our son might not get to play basketball.  It was about knowing that this is a painful season in his life, and at the same time knowing that God will use it.  It was about my flesh battling fear of how it will affect him, and my spirit knowing that God is with him. In retrospect maybe I should not have posted it.  In light of what is going on in the world it is shallow.  In fact, in light of what my close friends are battling, cancer, it is shallow.  So I am following up.  I can by humiliated by what anxiety can do to me, or humbled by it.  In humility I write posts that are vulnerable and true.  I now want to add to my last post.  Because God says, "I dwell in the high and lofty places with those who are humble and contrite."  Isaiah 57:15.  I am contrite over what fear can do t...

Yes, moms, dads, teachers, students, business people, scientists, artists, musicians, athletes, get the idea?  Let us ask, "how can we touch someone today for the good of their soul and the glory of God?" Let us ask for Divine appointments today, right where we are, and be mindful of where the rest of the global church is doing ministry.  Let us MULTIPLY! Waiting to board my flight home.  In one blessed week!   3 of us, Kristen, Josh and Steve were in Honduras serving with Sparrow Missions. There they serve homeless, orphans, poor, addicts, and the sick by  sharing Jesus, and also teaching how to sustain life...physical and Spiritual empowerment. I was at my sister Anne's house in Texas this past week.  Anne Todd & family serve with YWAM. YOUTH WITH A MISSION.  They daily reach the nations. My niece Adie is in a school preparing for an urban outreach to Chicago, Hannah will soon go to a YWA...

"It's easy to look at the outside of someone and not know which battle they are truly fighting." Those words came unexpectedly tumbling out of my mouth today, and put some personal puzzle pieces together for me. I know God put those words together because they had a peaceful deep connection within my soul. It's a common saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover." I'm thinking about both sides of this "coin" today. The first one is pretty obvious, the book cover. Don't judge others by what you see. It says in Scripture, "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7. This was when the LORD was helping Samuel find David, the "small shepherd boy", who would one day be King. Everyone thought they woul...

Why do we feel defensive?  Rejected?  Insecure?  Alone?  These are normal human emotions that bubble up when the Spirit of God is not reigning in our hearts.  There is an easy solution.  I say easy, but we make it so hard.  If we could just let go of trying desperately to be accepted, like an orphan does, and instead live like the child of God THAT WE ARE, we would be calm!  I watched my sweet adopted nephew try to be loved and in the process push away love...wounded and confused by what he thought was love, and gently folded into to a family of true love.  This true love was healing and his true self, the one God calls out of us, is becoming healthy and filled with the love of God.  We do the same thing.  And it takes time...God gives us time.  We push, we pull, we run toward, then away, we hold on tight, and often we completely build a wall.  But God tears down walls!  Amen?! We are all orphans without Go...