I spent most of Monday in the hospital emergency room. Not for me, but with my 99 ½ year old best friend, Esther. Esther, bless her heart, kept worrying about me. “You are so busy… I am keeping you... Just go... I will be ok… I am such a bother…” I stayed. Then on top of the inch of ice that covered our area the night before, Mother Nature began to dump an additional six inches of snow.“Go home,” her voice said, but not her eyes.I stayed.Yes my to-do list sat untouched all day.Yes I still have lots to get done this evening.Yes the pit in my stomach tightens with looming deadlines and others’ expectations. People are much more important than any list of things to do.My tummy may churn, but today I listened to my heart. And I stayed.PS I didn't write this to pat myself on the back. I just wrote it from my heart with the message that people are the most important thing we have. Some have asked about Esther and she is doing well today and being discharged. Thank you for your … [Read more...]
Seeking God’s Face – Lectio Divina
“Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8bYour face, Lord, I will seek.Lord You know the truth.I did not seek You much this week.I let the world distract me.My focus blurred with worries, fears, and to be honest, busyness. My busyness, not Your work.I know when I seek You first, I see You more.That is my deepest desire.To look at my loved ones through Your eyes.To see the beauty in my least favorite season of winter.To find Your light in this dark world.To really see another who I may with my own eyes ignore or don’t notice.Open my eyes Lord, lead me.May I always hunt for You in every circumstance.Help me see the world through Your eyes.Your face, Lord, I will seek. … [Read more...]
Anticipating Spring in February – Quote of the Week
"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream." Barbara Winkler … [Read more...]
I’m Melting… I’m Melting
The prediction today is for Ohio to hit 50 degrees. The blanket of snow that has been like a permanent part of the ground since December is disappearing.Here was my backyard a week ago:Here it is today. I think by day’s end, all the snow will be gone from the table.Shhh, can you hear the snow? Like the scene in the Wizard of Oz it screams, “I’m melting…I’m melting.” Yes the EVIL snow is dissolving out of sight. Ding, Dong the witch is dead!!But in reality the snow doesn’t resist how the Lord is changing its texture from a solid into a liquid. Quietly and unseen, the snow yields its present form, allowing God to use it in new ways.Wow, I never thought I would want to be like snow! Yet when I think of how snow yields to its Creator’s ways, the image of melting warms my heart.I hear the Lord whisper in my heart – “Melt into My ways. Yield to where I am calling you.”I look at my backyard garden and see a small hand tool, buried all winter, reappear. The musical drips of water from the … [Read more...]
The Joy in Simple Pleasures
If you visit this blog often, you know I am not a winter person – difficult for someone living in the Midwest. I struggle with finding the beauty in this stark, raw time of year. I have shared some of my discoveries in past posts as I try to appreciate this season in new ways this year. This is the first winter being in my new office in the house and I am blessed with a wonderful window that looks out onto my snow covered garden backyard. The highlight this year though is the bird feeder with its many visitors – sparrows, finches, cardinals, and doves to name a few.I realized this morning how the pleasure of simply watching the birds this winter fills me with joy.· Full of energy and celebrating in the delight of finding seed to eat, they dance on my porch.· They look after one another. Often the female cardinal will come for seed while her bright red companion watches from the bare lilac bush 20 yards away. One sparrow sits on the banister while the rest of the crew … [Read more...]
God’s Text Message – Lectio Divina
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40Let us test.Lord, today’s verse made me smile. When I first read it I thought it said, “Let us text.”Yep, I thought you were finally giving me the go-ahead to add text messaging to my phone.I am so sorry. I am too much of this world and not of Your world.I wonder what else I assume about your living Word, Lord.Clear the mud from my eyes, Lord, to see You better.Help me test my thoughts and my behaviors, and examine my ways more closely.Turn my heart and mind back to You and not the traps of the world or the snares of my ego.And Lord, if you did text me, I think your message would be LOVE. … [Read more...]
God’s Remodeling Project – Quote of the Week by C. S. Lewis
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) … [Read more...]
Soul Print by Mark Batterson – Book Review and Reflections
Self-discovery and reflection are surprising spiritual disciplines. But God knows us better than we know ourselves and learning to be our true selves, as God created us, is a lifelong discovery we are all called to do.I recently received Mark Batterson’s new book, Soul Print, as a blogger book reviewer for Multnomah. I enjoy reading this type of book that doesn’t focus on being self centered in our exploring our true identities, but God focused in living lives for Him.“You are unlike anyone who has ever lived. But that uniqueness isn’t a virtue. It’s a responsibility. Uniqueness is God’s gift to you and uniqueness is your gift to God you owe it to yourself to be yourself. But more important, you owe it to the One who designed you and destined you.”This book empowers the reader to look deeper and discover the joy of who you are and the freedom of who you are not. Batterson fills this easy to read book with interesting stories and thought provoking questions. You can tell he loves the … [Read more...]