Be Still and Know...

"Be still, and know that I AM God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

This past weekend I had the privilege and joy of attending a ladies' retreat at the "Life Enrichment Center", specifically "The Mary Retreat", a "retreat for women who do too much."  As per the website description: "This 24-hour time apart is designed to allow those of us who practice discipleship in the active, doing form -- the "Martha" style -- an opportunity to change roles and sit at Jesus' feet like Mary (Luke 10:38-42). The agenda for this retreat is very simple - step away from the frantic pace to spend time resting and reflecting: an opportunity to "BE" instead of "DO."" 

On the "Welcome" sheet that was left on each of our beds as we entered our rooms was written the following words:

"Have you arrived distracted? Take a few moments now to center yourself, asking God for a new kind of strength-strength to relax.  Be still, and know God is here. Sit at Jesus' feet this weekend.  Just...be.   Welcome Home."

And that is exactly what I attempted to do...spend time resting, reflecting, relaxing, reading, writing, time alone with God.

But then I also found myself sharing thoughts and dreams and desires with precious friends

who came in search of the same thing.

We gave each other space to spend time alone

in their personal journey...











and then we also came together to laugh and play and find our "inner child" again:

S'mores anyone???

coloring time can be very therapeutic

We embraced one another with words of encouragement, prayer, testimony and love.

I am still trying to sort out my own personal thoughts and reflections from this time of retreat and rest. 

When one is so used to having a programmed life,  full of schedules, deadlines, agendas and scripted times of worship and organized religious experiences,

it isn't so easy to just put yourself at the feet of Jesus and expect Him to meet you there.  

We are so used  to being led there by the worship leaders, the pastors and teachers...or by being the leaders who are expected to "perform" in a certain way at all times so that others may be taught and brought to a place of worship and praise.  We sometimes neglect our own

personal spiritual experience and growth. We do what

we believe we are supposed to do for others and forget that in order to be able to lead others we must also do what we are supposed to do for ourselves. 

That's what happened to Martha  (Read Luke 10:38-42). She was so busy tending to the needs of others that she resented her sister Mary, who had discovered the joy of sitting at the feet of Jesus and growing in grace and beauty and truth. Martha was a good person, doing what seemed necessary, but her own personal spiritual growth was lagging behind. She was missing out on the joy of serving her Lord because it had become a job...and not an act of worship and love. She became all "knotted up", like this tree; unable to let go of her sense of duty.

She needed this masseuse to knead away the knots in her mind and body and soul...like I did:

Ahhh! That feels SO good....

Martha's  personal spiritual well was drying up and she was becoming dehydrated.  She needed to learn to take time to draw from the fountain

of the living water of Jesus...and to become revived, refreshed, and renewed.

That is why I went to this particular retreat this weekend. I could have gone instead to another retreat that was being presented by a dynamic well known woman Bible teacher, with lots of praise and worship time and divinely inspired teaching.  But I chose to draw from the well of quiet, peace, and restoration. To sit by the water and be inspired from God's Word as He led me to the verse above, "Be STILL and KNOW that I AM God!"  These words and reminders from Psalm 46:10 were everywhere...first in my early morning devotional reading down by the lake,

then in the scripture verses I prayed as I walked through the "Labyrinth" walk...

and then in the Prayer Chapel as we knelt and prayed and prayed for one another:

and most definitely as my precious sisters in the Lord went with me on a little spiritual walk down memory lane at the place where I first committed my life to the Lord... at the lighted cross on the water at the youth camp across the street from the adult Life Enrichment Center where we were staying:

Several of us sat together on the "silver benches" along the lake shore and shared our testimonies of our individual walks with the Lord..such a precious time with sisters in Christ...truly the highlight of our weekend...we didn't want to leave that place.

But the time came to leave...and we parted knowing that somehow we were changed inside.  The time of rest was accomplishing its task...restoring, renewing and refreshing us for the days and tasks ahead. 

My prayer is that I will take this peace and rest with me wherever I go and whatever I do.  In our bedtime devotions, my roommate shared a reading from the book When God Whispers Your Name, by Max Lucado, from Chapter 24, "The Gift of Unhappiness".  In this chapter Max Lucado quotes the former journalist, Malcolm Muggeridge, who said in his book, Jesus Rediscovered, 

"Thou has made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in the Thee."

 (Amazing how God chose this particular random devotional for us to read that night, along with the morning devotional in my daily devotional guide that just happened to focus on the Psalm 46:10 verse for that day...coincidence? I don't think so)

For this peace and rest to last...it has to be centered in Christ. There can be no rest or peace unless I know Him.  Do YOU know Him? Have you found that rest and peace in Christ?  If not, I implore you to not wait for a spiritual retreat to seek His face. You can do it right now.  Just...

"Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD...."...."I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge."           Psalm 46:10-11

 "Welcome Home"

So, What's New With You? - Rerun from 1/22/11 updated

Updated 11/6/13, originally written 1/22/11.  Nothing has changed in this message! Still current and appropriate to use as a "rerun"....



I've noticed that if I don't put something on my facebook status statement every day I don't get many messages from my facebook friends.  I also notice that if I don't check it frequently, I miss all of my friends' status updates because there are so many statements flashing by every minute.  How does one keep up with all of that and maintain any kind of life? 

Have you ever wondered how God keeps up with all of our "status updates" each day? I mean, think about this:  How many billions of people are there in the world...and how many of them are "facebook friends" with God?  Actually, God is our "facebook friend" even if we don't realize it.  He is always watching our "status statements"...even before we utter it out of our mouths (or print it on our page).  He hears our every cry, even when it is still a deep pain within our hearts or minds.  He sees our faces as we laugh and rejoices along with us... and He feels our hurts and sorrows and weeps with us as He reaches down with His loving arms and cradles us to His bosom.  He never misses our status updates.  I have a feeling that He oftentimes gives us the "like" thumbs up sign when He sees us reaching out to others with compassion and concern. 

Psalm 139:1-4 says, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.  You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether." 

Verses 23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 

11/6/13: I found this heart shaped leaf imprint in the sand
in our road. One of God's ways He shows us He loves us
and He's thinking about us...?!

I hope He doesn't find too many reasons to give me a "thumbs down" sign.   Oftentimes I react first and think later...  This makes me stop and think before I write...or speak. 

"Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?"  (verse 7)

Yes, God has been well aware of my "status" since before I was even physically formed on the earth...and He will continue to be a part of my life until the day He calls me home to be with Him for eternity. 

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.  It is high, I cannot attain it."  (verse 6)


So, what's new with you?  I may not be able to keep up with your status updates, but I can assure you God is already aware...and is already taking care of whatever the need may be.

That is truly wonderful news.  Amen.

Time to Hibernate - UPDATED 10/30/13

This was originally written one year ago, and I am still trying to do these same things...This past Sunday afternoon I attempted to sit in this exact same spot and write to you on my laptop, and it went into hibernation again, plus I couldn't even find a signal, so I gave up and went inside. I'll get it figured out again soon...I need that space and place for my sanity's sake!  So I just re-read what I wrote a year ago, and relived the moment of peace and serenity.  Thought you could use the same kind of thoughts...although it isn't Sunday yet, so we can't go take an afternoon nap.  Although I do have a little couch in my office that I just might make use of if I get a moment...ahhh, no, better not let them catch me napping...wouldn't look too good. (I'm taking a brief after lunch break at the moment---gotta get back to work now).   Well, enjoy your fall afternoon.  I'll get back to writing in the present time again soon...just been busy and distracted lately.



Original Writing: Sunday 10/21/2012:
There's something different about today...a beautiful autumn day...The Lord's Day ~

"This is the day the Lord has made...we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!"....Psalm 118:24

I'm sitting outside in a little woodsy sanctuary in my yard...an alcove in the trees that has appealed  beckoned to me ever since we moved to this house about 9 months ago.  Of course, all through the summer it has been a bit too warm (and buggy) to sit outside for long, and today is really the first day that was comfortable enough to even try.  (There were a few mosquitoes, but thanks to my sister's AVON bug repellant, I survived their attack).

I thought I could hide away here and write and take pictures of the birds...but someone discovered me and took MY picture instead! (Thanks, John!) 

I did manage to get a few telephoto pics of a Flycatcher taking a momentary rest from his labors:

I am not sure if this is a Great Crested Flycatcher, as he has a yellow belly...but the rest of his markings don't quite match up.  Any birdwatchers out there know what this is? There are several of them flitting around the yard and trees today...very active, but not particularly noisy. 






My laptop decided to go into hibernation so I had to come inside to finish this...and now my desktop is acting very lethargic, and I have reverted back to the laptop, which had to be connected and brought back out of hibernation.  Which reminds me...they say our bears are getting ready to go into hibernation for the winter soon...yes, even here in Florida.  I wonder where they go to hide away from it all?  I guess they have their own secret "woodsy alcoves" where they can retreat and stay out of the watchful eyes of the world while they rest and recuperate from their active breeding and feeding season.

The Lord gave His creation the Sabbath as a day of rest...a day set apart to "hibernate" away from the cares of the world and rest. 

"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."  Genesis 2:2-3

So, that is what is different about today...it is the Lord's Day, His Sabbath...a day to rest from our labors and honor and worship Him.  It was good to be in the House of the Lord this morning...and it is also good to find a place to "hibernate" away and do what brings rest to your body and soul and mind for a spell.  For me, a hidden quiet place nestled on the edge of the woods (no worries...always in view of the house in case a bear seeking his hiding place should suddenly appear)...a sanctuary in which to read, write, or just sit and observe nature and be at peace.  Helps to calm the spirit and repair the frazzled nerves before the return to work on the morrow.

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him."  Psalm 28:7

I hope that you have found a place of quiet rest somewhere today.  You may not have the woods, but perhaps you live near the sea, or a park, or maybe for you it is a quiet nook in your home away from the television and noise of the "crowds"...maybe even your own bedroom.  Wherever it is, take time to "hibernate" for a little while and give your body, mind and spirit a chance to recharge and recuperate.  It is a God-ordained plan...it's good for you. God said so. 

"Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good..." Genesis 1:31

So, don't feel guilty when you take that Sunday afternoon nap, or walk, or just sit and do absolutely nothing for a while.  It's OK! 

I Have a Blank Page Before Me

I have a blank page before me.  This page right here. Of course, by the time you are looking at it, it is no longer blank. It is a finished and published post. I won't let you see it until it is complete, edited, proof-read again, and finally pronounced good enough to publish...in MY mind.

There are times when I have hit the "publish" button too quickly, and then and only then do I spot the very obvious mistakes...the typos, the misspellings, the grammar errors.  However, at that time it is technically too late...I already hit the "publish" button, and the whole world is watching.  Now, fortunately, there is also an "edit" button, and if I am quick enough I can hit the "edit" button and go back and fix the mistakes.  Then I am much more careful before I am tempted to hit that "publish" button again.  I do not like to expose my errors to the world. I prefer to keep them to myself...and erase them before they can do me too much harm and embarrassment.

My life is much like this blank page.  Or, at least is was when I was born.  I started out with a clean page. No big mistakes to fix, no errors to hide, no major issues to correct. And the whole world was watching. Sadly, my page did not stay clean for long. Being human as I am, and not a page in a computer or a notebook, it did not take long to make huge mistakes that could not easily be erased or edited out of my life. Once the unfortunate act was committed, whether by choice or by accident, it was much like hitting that "publish" button too quickly.  It was already "out there" for all the world to see.

Even if no other human saw my folly, God saw.  Even when I tried to hide my mistakes, He already knew. There was no getting around Him. No "edit" button could undo my errors.  There was only one way to fix the problem.

Ask for forgiveness. Tell Him the truth. Tell Him I was sorry.  And what did He do? Did He hide my errors under a rug?  Did He tear up the page of my life and start over? Well not exactly, but then again, yes exactly.

I John 1:8-9 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I John 1:7 tell us that "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

When we confess our sins, (errors, mistakes, faults...same thing), God forgives us...and cleanses us from all sin!  He gives us a new page...a blank page on which we can start over!

II Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (blank page?); old things have passed away (been edited, deleted, removed!?); behold, all things have become NEW!"

That is great news!  Yes, I can have a new, blank page before me! Christ has covered my sins with His blood, and has cleansed me from ALL my sins.  Not just the itty bitty mistakes, not just some of them, but ALL of them.  I am a new creation.  Brand spanking new!

And the BEST news is, He can do that for YOU too!  All you have to do is ask!

Now, let me spell check and grammar check this before I hit that "publish" button!  I want to make sure I am telling this great news to you correctly, without error, spot or blemish!  This news is too wonderful to hide!


Okay, let's start writing on that new page...

Autumn Reflections and Reality Checks

I feel so far behind in my writing and reading of other blogs that I enjoy...please forgive me, friends, for not commenting and communicating.  As many of you know, we were on vacation last week, visiting our son and his family in Maine, and then when I got home I had to play catch up at work and here at home. Still trying to climb out from under the dust and laundry and mail, well, you know how it is.  You need a vacation to recover from your vacation!  I'll get there eventually, but some things just have to be set aside and overlooked for now.

Therefore I would like to reflect a bit on the journey I've been traveling for the past few weeks.  I am calling this "Autumn Reflections and Reality Checks".    First for the Autumn reflection part:

Yes, this is a real picture of a real place.  It was so serene and tranquil, I told my son to stop the car immediately and pull over so I could take a picture!  My family became rather accustomed to these sudden outbursts as we traveled through the woods and mountains of the White Mountain National Park in Maine and New Hampshire. Unfortunately, there weren't always great places to pull over and/or the traffic was such that it wasn't safe to do so as quickly as I wanted, but we did manage to capture a few great pictures.

I won't bore you with a travelogue of our entire trip, but suffice it to say, the scenery was magnificent...and the company was even greater.  We were there to celebrate our grandson's 14th birthday and spend time with our middle son and his family. We live in Florida, so the visits with this part of our family are way too few and far between.

And that brings me to the "reality check" part of the journey.

You see, our son has cancer. He is in the fourth year of this battle against the rare "childhood cancer", Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor, (DSRCT) that hit him when he was 37, and the reality is, he's not getting better. I guess you could say he's "maintaining"...not exactly getting worse, but not improving either. And unless someone comes up with a cure or a better treatment plan, he can't stay doing what he's doing for much longer.  Chemo is poison...and although its purpose is to kill the cancer cells, it also kills good cells, and after a while the body just can't take any more of it. Other parts of the body start breaking down and there is even the possibility that other forms of cancer could develop. So it isn't a winning proposition.  Without a miracle, the future is not very bright.  I've had to face this reality, and it isn't pleasant. It hurts deeply. I don't want to think about it...I want to ignore it and hope it will go away, but that's not being realistic. I have to acknowledge the reality that my son is not getting better and that we could actually lose him.  But we are not without hope.

While driving to work one day this week, I listened on the radio (JoyFM) to a portion  of a message from Pastor Francis Chan, who was speaking at a conference for high school and college young people.  Here is the full message: Francis Chan, "God is Faithful" from Passion 2013 Conference, if you want to listen.  The part that I heard that struck me was found around the 26.00 section on the progress bar of the video.  He played a clip from a friend of his, a radio show host, who was talking about death and does man actually have a soul, and how our bodies are just the earthly container that holds our real self, our soul, our spirit...the part that lives on for eternity.  The example this man gave was that he drove a motorcycle, and that he knew that at anytime on the freeway a vehicle could drift over into his lane and cut him off and he could be killed instantly...but he was saying that if that were to happen not to grieve for that broken bag of bones left on the freeway, because that is not the real person, that's just his body.  The real person is the soul, which goes immediately to be with the Lord in heaven.  The amazing part of this story was that just 3 hours after this man made this statement on the radio, he got on his motorcycle and headed down the freeway, and the exact thing he spoke about happened to him.  He was struck and killed that very day.

None of us are guaranteed any number of days or years upon this earth. Only God knows the number of our days. Psalm 139:13-16 tells us that God formed us in our mother's wombs, and that He has known us since we were "skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth."

Verse 16 says, "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."  

II Corinthians 5:1 tells us that "if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Verse 2: "For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven."

Verse 4: "For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by LIFE." (MEANING: ETERNAL LIFE).

Verse 5:  "Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, Who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."

Verse 6:  "So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord."

Verse 7: "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Verse 8: "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."

Verse 9:  "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him..."

Our hope is in the Lord, who made heaven and earth, and Who created us in His image.

II Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

We have this hope in Christ Jesus. We know that our son is a child of God, a follower of Christ. We are confident that if he were to die today, he would immediately be in the presence of God, in heaven.

Philippians 1:21 says, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  

I know, you are probably saying that it's easy to say all these things now, while he is yet living. But what will you say when that day really comes?

I sincerely pray that day will not come for many years. But the reality is, it could happen any time...to any of us. Those of us who are healthy could be like the man on the motorcycle...perfectly safe and healthy one minute and even talking about it...and go out on the highway and be struck dead in a moment...or have a heart attack...or some other disaster could hit us.  The important thing is to be ready. Always ready.  And to realize that this earthly temple is not the real me, or you. The REAL me will live eternally. So will my son. I can live with that reality.

What about you? Do you have that same hope and confidence? If not, perhaps you needed this reality check as well.  I hope you will think about these things today...and seek God while there is yet time. He loves you and would love to introduce you to His Son. If you need some help with this...let me know. Maybe I can help you find the answers you are seeking.  It would be my pleasure to do so.

This Webpage is Currently Unavailable...due to the "Government Shutdown"...

Mt. Washington as seen from the scenic overlook at Intervale, NH

I know you are probably wondering why you can't find any new news on this "webpage"...it is currently unavailable because of the Government Shutdown....in other words, I am on vacation!  Thankfully the only way the government shutdown has affected our trip so far is this:

After a very long drive through the woods and into the White Mountain National Forest in Maine/NH, we were in dire need of some "facilities".  We finally came upon this hiking trailhead, and noticed that they had some facilities, so we turned around and went back immediately...

As soon as I could get my seatbelt unbuckled and get my body unwound out of the back seat of our son's car, I rushed toward the "facilities" as fast as I could run...

As I got closer to the building I noticed a little printed notice tacked over the "women's" sign, and also a wooden barricade nailed over the door.  This is what the sign read:

After I got over my initial shock and horror, I noticed that there was no such notice posted over the men's room sign, nor was there any barricade across the door...so I became a man for a few moments of great relief.  Then I hurried back to the car to get my camera because I knew you'd want to know about how this Government shut down was affecting ordinary people, especially women (sexual discrimination on top of it all!).  This is just a small sample of what is going on in the country...and my situation is very small compared to the real victims in this "crime" against the people, but I wanted to report what's going on out here in the woods of our nation.

After this brief moment of my rebellion against the government, we climbed back into our car and continued our journey through the woods and mountains.  It was a gorgeous day for leaf peeping and for spending time with the people we love most....our family.  I'll be sharing more about that when I get back home.

I hope wherever you are that you are not suffering too many inconveniences and indignities due to the current government situation.  I pray that our nation will soon quit playing games and get back to governing our country with wisdom and concern for all of mankind.  (Wouldn't THAT be nice for a change?)

For now, here are a few pictures from our travels through the mountains and woods:

At Evan's Notch, Maine

Shelburne, NH

Mt. Washington, NH, at the base of the auto road



When I see these natural wonders and beauties here in our nation, I am able to put aside my feelings of
anger and frustration over the lack of responsible government in our nation's capital, and rejoice in the magnificence of
God's wonderful creation.  I love our country and am so thankful to live in the "land of the free" and the "home of the brave".  Now, let's quit messing around and "Play Ball!"

The Condition of the Heart - (Updated 9/29/13)

(Originally written 2/27/10...one of my very first blog posts)

Proverbs 12:25: "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad."

Proverbs 14:30: "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones."

Proverbs 15:13: "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."

Nowadays the grocery stores are full of "heart-smart" foods, and there is much emphasis on being "heart-smart"....in other words, eliminate cholesterol and fat from your diet, eat properly, exercise regularly, and take care of your heart! I recently had my cholesterol checked, and discovered that is was much higher than it ought to be. Of course, when we get over the age of fifty, nearly everything is higher than it ought to be...weight, blood pressure, body-fat composition, our unpaid bills...etc. About the only thing that isn't as high as it ought to be is our bank balance!

This is me with my oldest son, off on a morning walk to try and get back in
shape!  (9/28/2013)  The blaze orange vests are because hunting
season is starting and we don't want to be mistaken for deer. 

But back to the heart...as I read over the above Proverbs, I had to agree with the writer in every situation...the condition of my heart has a lot to do with the attitude of my heart. If we have anxiety in our hearts, we will become depressed...but when someone shares a word of encouragement with us, or we read in God's Word His encouraging words, it helps to dispel our anxieties and depression. Our fears are taken away, and our countenance changes to joy. Likewise, if we have envy or jealousy in our hearts, we become bitter and critical of others. We begin to complain about the "breaks" that others seem to get, while we suffer away, stuck in our little mundane world of mediocrity. It does become like rottenness inside of us, eating away at our hearts and making us very unpleasant people to be around. A broken spirit is not really a positive thing in this particular instance. Certainly we are not to have a haughty and proud spirit either, but what I believe is being referred to here is a spirit that is so defeated and cast down that the person just cannot or will not overcome it. We begin to literally dry up, shrivel up, if you please, and are no longer able to maintain a cheerful countenance. Our faces become permanently fixed into a frown, and it looks as if the whole face would crack if we tried to smile!

Have you truly looked at yourself in the mirror lately? What did you see? A cheerful face? A person ready to face the new day with joyous anticipation...or with dread and anxiety? Is it easy to smile at yourself in the mirror and laugh at your crows' feet that are appearing...or is there a frown that just won't go away, even with a concerted effort? Often when I am going through some difficult trials, I find that my face actually beings to hurt. The jaws become sore and painful from clenching my teeth and grinding them in my sleep. My jowls begin to droop, and my lips turn downward in a tight frown. The space between my eyebrows becomes tightly furrowed and compressed, and my eyes tend to squint and tighten. Then when I even try to smile, it actually is painful. The muscles won't cooperate because they have been forced in the other direction too long. By the sorrow of my heart, my spirit is broken. By the envy I feel for others, my bones begin to ache and rot. They actually feel like they are dry and cracking. My heart becomes heavy with depression because of my anxiety, and I no longer feel the joy of living. It's quite an ugly picture, I agree.

What can be done to bring back the joy...the merry heart, and the cheerful countenance? Must I just wait until the trial is over, or can I experience joy in the midst of sorrow? First, I must determine the source of the sorrow...is it self-induced by envy, needless anxiety, bitterness, fear? If so, I need to get to the root of the trouble. If there is unconfessed sin, confess it. If there is unforgiveness, forgive. But if the trial is brought on by the fact that you are who you are, a servant of God, then cast your care upon the Lord...know that He cares for you (I Peter 5:7) "Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."(I Peter 4:13)

And SMILE!  :)

Let your heart become a good medicine to bring back the cheerful countenance and dispel the gloom! Remember, God is able!

"I Will NEVER Leave You Nor Forsake You!" Recycled

I just re-read this and felt like it needed to be said again...someone out there needs to hear this. I needed to hear it too.  Maybe this is for you today.

(Originally posted on 4/7/10 - when we had just learned that our son Matthew was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer.  Thankfully, 3 1/2 yrs. later he is still hanging in there, fighting this battle valiantly...but still in need of our prayers. Thank you to many of you who have been those prayer warriors, standing in the gap for us over these years. We thank God for you.)

Hebrews 13:5 says, "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you."  Verse 6 says, "So we may boldly say: 'The LORD is my helper; I will NOT FEAR; What can man do to me?'" 

Then skip down to verse 8:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."

I could probably just stop right there and not write another word.  There really isn't anything better that I can add to that.  Jesus Christ is the same as He was 2000 years ago, when He walked upon the earth and went about doing good, giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear. (See Matthew 11:5 and Isaiah 35:5-6) 

We may not be able to see Him physically, but we sure know He's here working...We see Him in the faces of many friends and even strangers, doctors and nurses, pastors and teachers, neighbors and co-workers, faces on facebook, and messengers on email...bringing comfort and hope and words of encouragement and answers to questions; bringing a cup of cold water to a dry and thirsty soul, sending hugs and kisses and saying prayers, and even having "little chats" with Jesus...these are the ways that God is blessing us through YOU!  That's how Jesus works today...through the people He has encouraged and motivated to be His ambassadors of hope and love...some may even be unwilling vessels, at least in their own minds, and yet God has chosen them to be a vessel of His love and grace and mercy to those of us who are hurting and uncertain of what lies ahead.

Jesus said He would never leave us or forsake us...He sent His comforter, The Holy Spirit, to indwell us and teach us and carry us when we can't keep going in our own strength. And He sent YOU. 

Thank you, dear friends, for your love. It means the world to us.

"We give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father."  Amen.

(I Thessalonians 1:2-3)

Matt and his sweet family

"Morning Has Broken"

Thought you'd enjoy hearing the birds singing from my morning walk today.

"Morning has broken like the first morning,

Blackbird has spoken

Like the first bird

Praise for the singing!

Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing

Fresh from the Word!"

"Sweet the rain's new fall

Sunlit from heaven,

Like the first dew-fall

On the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness 

Of the wet garden,

Sprung in completeness

Where His feet pass."

"Mine is the sunlight!

Mine is the morning

Born of the one Light

Eden saw play!

Praise with elation,

Praise every morning,

God's re-creation of the new day!"

Song written by Eleanor Farjeon, Mursic: Traditional Gaelic Melody

Morning Glory

"My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;

In the morning I will direct it to You,

And I will look up."

Psalm 5:3

Sing along with me as I give glory to God during my

early Sunday morning walk:

"When Morning Gilds the Skies"

"When morning gilds the skies,

My heart awaking cries,

May Jesus Christ be praised:

Alike at work and prayer,

To Jesus I repair;

May Jesus Christ be praised!"

"To Thee, O God above,

I cry with glowing love,

May Jesus Christ be praised:

The song of sacred joy,

It never seems to cloy;

May Jesus Christ be praised!"

"Does sadness fill my mind,

A solace here I find;

May Jesus Christ be praised!

Or fades my earthly bliss,

My comfort still is this;

May Jesus Christ be praised!"

"Be this, while life is mine,

My canticle divine;

May Jesus Christ be praised:

Be this th' eternal song,

Through all the ages long:

May Jesus Christ be praised!"

Amen.

Edward Caswall, 1814-1878 ~ Joseph Barnby, 1838-1896

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