Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

The sun is shining in Kentucky this Labor Day weekend.  But it doesn't feel like it to some.  Do you see them?  Are you that person? "Do you know someone who needs encouraging in their faith today?"   The reply  of  the unknown reader was "yes, me."    I froze for a moment. I have been there, have you?  That place where you can't encourage your own heart?  You are too numb to think.  You pray to God, you read His Word, you listen to worship, and yet it's so dark.  You're screaming, but it's silent..., you feel no one would want to hear it. It's just not true.  We care, there is someone ready to listen.  We are meant to be here for each other, to help share the load, better yet, to shift the load to God's shoulders. "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is...

It was 6 am Monday morning, May 20, 2019.  Steve and I were quietly sitting at the kitchen table, candle lit, Bibles opened.  We each read different passages so we are together, but not reading out loud. It is peacefully silent, apart from the burning wick.  It's been a gift to sit by this man and meet with Jesus side by side in the quiet of the mornings. On this particular morning, 3 weeks ago, Steve's sister called us at 6 am.  We both knew before he answered.  Steve's mom had gone ahead of us to be with Jesus.  By God's grace, she went quietly in her sleep in her own bed.  I had prayed for her peaceful release from earth, but honestly, I did not have full faith when I prayed for that.  It could not have been more peaceful. We were instantly in planning mode.  We had had our bags packed for 3 months because of many last minute medical trips.  But ironically, we were not packed that morning.  For all the planning, you a...

Miles in the bag? Yeah, that's good!  But it does not define me!  Measurements!  They can be so conflicting!  It is good to have goals, to move forward, to make progress, but to what end?  If you are like me, the bag that holds your miles has a big hole in it!  There's never enough!  By the grace of God, I've been on a life long journey learning that running with a hole in your bag can be a good thing!   Now I picture a wind sock instead of a bag.  Let those miles fall out the bottom!  Try that one on!   A banner trailing me that is empty .  My hope is that the empty banner  I carry is filled with the full wind of God!   If you struggle with measurements you can find peace here today. God actually discourages comparison by measurement when done for the wrong reasons. Paul had heard that people were talking about they way he did ministry and comparing him to others.  He explains the importa...

A Messy Tale... Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (What Joseph told his brothers who sold him...) May 2013 Yeah, so that was the title page of my "book" back in 2013.  After years of journaling,  I looked back and thought, "I think this could be a book."  But I see now, God was having me journal so that in the future, (NOW March 2019), I  could literally look back and see His foot prints, or stones of remembrance in my life... So in the "book," I had cut and pasted from July 2011, November 2012, and January 2012, June 2010, November 2006, July 2011, January 2013, and April 2010 to be in the "sections 15-19" below on meditations and peace. Because I just needed to re-read and absorb, I'm leaving them unedited, just as I found them on pages 103-114 of my "book."  My first post in this blog is titled"Th...

God doesn't love us because of what we do.  He loves us because we are His - and that's all!  So if you feel like your emotions are not measuring up to God's standards today, remember that God is not measuring you , or measuring out His love for you.   I don't know about you, but looking up to my loving Father instead of looking out at "how am I handling things" brings such freedom.  Just be His, and He will do the rest.  Feel the joy, feel the pain, feel the fear, feel the safety.  If you are His, it doesn't change a thing.  But clinging to His Word is what can change us! By staying in His Word, the truths go deeper and deeper for those days when we feel shallow... "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24 Being a child of God, and truly understanding it can be two different things.  Looking back over the years I can see how God has been building my faith to know that I am His...