When God Says Wait

Just yesterday I overheard someone saying  "It's really hard to wait".

I know that's a fact. Waiting is just not one of those things that we humans come by easily.

{Even in ancient times}

God's Love Shines: Day 1

  God's Love shines: { This week's post agenda:  Capture moments of God's love shining on me}

The past few weeks = a whirlwind. In and out of town every weekend, studying for classes, music obligations to fulfill, birthdays among family, preparations for another move... Busy: an understatement.

Just too busy to stop, take time, and show a friend that I care. I don't get back with her for weeks. I've been ignoring her.

 Last night I make an effort show her that I'm still here and do care; I let her know that she's not been forgotten (though she'd never guess by my actions). Yet, she replies and says," I have not forgotten about you..."

 All the time I'd been too busy for her, caught up in the activities and hassles of my own life, she hadn't forgotten me.

Neither does Jesus.

First snapshot captured: Jesus never forgets.

"Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you... I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

Jesus wants to talk to me, spend time with me, get to know me.  No matter how preoccupied I might be, He never, ever forgets me.

 But, will I forget Him?


*Isaiah 49:15,16

He Cares

 

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin...

..If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you..?

Your heavenly Father knows that you need these things...

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.

{Matthew 6:25,26,28,30,32,33}

Saved by Prayer

She quietly enters the room. By the bedside she finds me kneeling in prayer to God. She hesitates in the doorway, then mutters under her breath something like, " Saved by prayer. You better be glad you're praying". I raise my head to see my mom positioned, ready to smack me with a snowball!

You must be wondering, a snowball fight in the house, really? I must let you in on the background.

Yesterday evening, my mom and I engaged each other in an intense combat of the snowball. You know how it is... The game never really ends (until there's no more snow). You always want to be the last one to pellet the other with a snowball. I had had the last word. That's why this morning, she had a plan to "fix me".

The phrase "saved by prayer" continues to roll around in my head. 

"Saved by prayer." There must be a great lesson to learn from this...

I was engaged in war. There was not much I could really do to protect myself from the "missiles" that were flung at me. No matter how many times I ducked, no matter if I tried to hide behind something, no matter if I was inside or outside, I was always at risk of being hit.

We're all engaged in a similar, but more fierce battle. Satan throws at us his complete arsenal of temptations (I don't mean to compare my mom's attacks with those of Satan). He wants to win this war for our lives and he plays for keeps.

The only safe place in this war of good against evil is spending time with God in prayer.

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

abides under the shadow of the Almighty... He will rescue you from every trap

and protect you from deadly disease. You shall not be afraid ...of the arrow that flies by day...If you make the LORD your refuge,

if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may ... find grace to help in time of need."

Photo Courtesy of Paige H.

*Scriptures taken from Psalms 91 and Hebrews 4:16. 

Sunday School... A Lesson

It was a golden Sunday morning. My family and I were up early and off we went to the park.
As we strolled along, we took in the scenes of the morning and the sound of the river flowing quickly beside us.

This must have been one of those days that brings " the exerciser" out in folks. The trail was teeming with bikers, walkers and runners. Some people walked with quick, energized steps. Runners flew by at record speed. Still others huffed and puffed looking as if they were hardly going to make it.

As we got deeper into the trail, less people were seen. The trail was getting more and more scarce. Funny, isn't it? (But that's not my point.)

After some time, coming down the trail toward us was a little girl walking a little dog. She was all alone. No seeming guardian was in sight. Hmm... that's strange. I wonder where her parents are?
As we got closer, I saw her face. It wore a scrunched up, pained expression. I sure hope she's okay, I thought, and we passed her by.

{ I've lost my mom and I can't find her!}

"Hold on, let me make sure she is alright." My mom did a 180° and went over to her.
" Is everything okay?" my mom asked.
" I've lost my mom and I can't find her!" the poor little girl moaned.

Lost. This 8 year old  girl was lost, left alone in a wide- open and unprotected place.
And what had I done? Passed right by her just thinking, "I sure hope she's okay."

I learned my lesson. We walked with her and helped her search for her family until they were found.
                                                                  ~

How many people do we pass by who are lost and searching?  They are looking for some caring person who will direct them to our Heavenly Father by being the hands and feet of Jesus.
Will you pass right by or offer them help?

Don't Look Back

I'm sure I'm not the only one who sometimes gets tempted to think that following Christ isn't really worth it.   I mean, is it really worth the time, effort, and sacrifice? Life appeared easier when I did whatever I wanted, said whatever came to my mind, acted anyway I felt. You know how thoughts can go, if life was only as it used to be... 

Often in life, when things aren't going as we might like, isn't it tempting to look back? Ah, peeking back at the past when things seemed easier...

~

Hungry, tired and wondering what they had gotten themselves into.  Israel was following God who was leading them from being slaves to... where again?

The Tempter comes and whispers,
" Remember how life was before you decided to  follow God? Life was great!  Where do you think you are going anyway? Why trust God and waste time thinking He is going to care for you? Imagine how much easier things would be if you just went back home..."

They fall for the temptation and now long for the life they left behind. They complain, they regret. They become sick and dissatisfied of following God in faith. They cry for what they were used to, earthly sustenance.  Looking back, they lose trust.

~

Satan has extreme pleasure when he can get us to look back to our old ways of living before we knew God. Yes, life may have seemed easier. Satan always wants to make it seem that following God is tedious, sad and worthless compared to his deception that his own ways are bright, happy and easy.  It may even appear this way at first glance. But following God is worth it! He is always beside His followers, giving us real happiness, strength to not fall to temptations, love for Him and for others. There are sometimes challenges, but He is right beside us to give strength. He really does change lives.

Don't look back.


Image from Freefoto.com

Saved

Good morning world.


I tumble out of bed on this beautiful Sunday morning- ready to get started for the day. I greet my family good morning.

And a good morning to our unexpected guest as well... 
Just outside the front door sits a snake underneath the netting of our blueberry bush, (put there to keep critters out)  eating our blueberries for breakfast.

Daddy decides that Mr. Snake's breakfast time is over and he's got to go. It is then I realize that this snake is caught in the netting. I mean he is really stuck. 

My dad, sister and I take to releasing the tangled snake.

Scratched, torn skin, uncomfortable. All just to get to eat the forbidden fruit.
Yet, he was saved by caring hands who untangled him from what he brought upon himself.

trying to get all the netting off

he's not comfortable...

Scratched, torn, in great distress. All because of trespassing and eating forbidden fruit.*

Yet, saved by Christ's loving, caring hands who frees us from entanglement and death.

free!


* Gen 2:9,16-17
Gen. 3:1-6

Only a Crack...

"Oh no!" My sister shrieked from the basement of our home.

What in the world happened? I thought, while finishing up my evening chores before my family's scheduled "family time".

"What happened?" My mom called.

"There are ants everywhere in the corner near Joey's food!!!"

The dreaded ants- again. Would they ever leave?

We have fought this whole season, trying to keep their armies away. The exterminator has come more than once but somehow they still find some nook or cranny to wedge themselves and enter.

We soon found out, much to our frustration, that the ants were not just on the floor, walls, ceiling, and doors, but also inside a container full of almost 52 lbs. of newly purchased dog food! How did they ever get in that airtight container? My sister came to the conclusion- it was all my fault. I had not properly sealed the container forgetting to close the latch on the lid that morning after I fed our dog breakfast. Consequently, these eager, zealous ants took full advantage of this grand gormandize.

One latch left open. That was it... Or was it?

All it took was to leave a lid unsealed to result in a gross (in more ways than one) infestation of those little foul beasts. That's all they needed- one tiny opening.

What if our lives were a container? ( I, know, it sounds strange:)
But think about it, any little crack opened could be making room for infestation of things that are not good.

Little things.
Lying every once in a blue moon, of course, only when it's convenient. Knowingly talking rudely about someone for a good laugh or to be accepted and not seen as "weird".  Surely that's not so bad. 

These spaces, seemingly ever so small, open cracks in our hearts that only give room for wrong and more wrong.

Close the cracks... or else...

Outlook

"Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day..."

We all have heard this English nursery rhyme countless times.

But really, I question, when will the rain go away?

Monday began. Sunny.  Then rain.

Tuesday. Threateningly cloudy but, thankfully, no rain.

Wednesday. Heavy, blinding rain.

Torrential Thursday, once again there is rain.

Friday, rain, rain, more rain. Is the rain here to stay?

Saturday, no rain.  Yes! Maybe it has gone away for another day.

I guess not.  Sunday, rain. 

Today, rain again.

Six out of eight days- rain.

I really enjoy sunshine. The rain can be dreary. But I decided that my outlook is most important, especially when circumstances are not as I would have them. 

I can see an inconvenience or I can see a blessing. 

Outlook.  A mental attitude or view. My outlook makes all the difference.

This reminds me of story...
 
{God assured Israel that He would give them victory in conquering Canaan.}

Twelve spies were sent from the Israel, scouting out the country of Canaan to see the land and how they would conquer it. Ten of the twelve spies returned to Israel with very negative, fearful reports. " The people are too big and the cities are too strong. We can never conquer the land." They were scared.  The spies discouraged the people from even attempting to conquer, and the people listened.

Two spies return with joyous news. They saw everything that the other spies had seen, but instead they brought positive reports . They were full of faith. Their outlook focused on the promise of God. They were ready to enter into battle and clobber.

It is clear that outlook affects influence.  So instead of moping around waiting for the deluge to end, I stayed busy. My time was spent blessing others with music and ministry with a good attitude. And on days I didn't get out, I wrote this, which I hope is a blessing to you!

White Daisies in a Colorful World

In a world full of multicolored daisies;

Few were white.

Every daisy wanted to be the most colorful,

The most distinguished,

The most famed;

But few wanted to be pure white.

The Gardener had once planted white daisies,

But most daisies thought it better to have color.

Many found a way to artificially color themselves

In all types of outstanding colors.

But - 

There still were a small, singular few,

Who kept the pure white

Which the Gardener once planted.

-------

One day an almost white daisy was talking to a dazzling purple daisy

Trying to convince her of the beauty of showing white, just as the Gardener planted her.

" You should be white. The Gardener did not make us to have all these colors. He wanted us to keep the purity of white." 

The purple daisy was not convinced. 

The white daisy was not fully white
She was tinted, or was it tainted on the edges with color.

She was beginning to look like the rest of the colored daisies.

The purple daisy could not see that the "white" daisy was a part of the white, small, singular few.

What kind of daisy are you?

They drank up all my water!

I had just finished a time consuming job of weed- whacking when looking up and to my surprise, visitors were coming to see me! It was June, a new friend whom I had met a few months before and her brother, Gus. How delightful! 

I called to my sister to come and greet them. We visited with them for a few minutes and expected them soon to leave, being that they came at a later hour in the evening. June is not normally prone to long visits, but, strangely, today they were in no mood for leaving- or hint taking either.

After some time, my sister went inside and I was left to entertain them. Southern hospitality dictated that I could never be a rude hostess and make them leave, so we continued in one another's company. Eventually, they seemed to stop paying much attention to what I was saying. They became distracted and probing with their expressions as if looking for something... I quickly realized what it was. Dear, dear I had been a rude hostess and not offered them water! Seeing that, they decided to take matters into their own -eh ehm "hands". Catching a glimpse of a nearby container with water in it, they simultaneously darted to it, and very discourteously drank it all up! 

Realizing  their desperate need of water , I quickly ran to the hose and turned it on so they could drink freely  Gus drank, and drank, and drank. He was so absorbed in drinking that he bit me and the end of the hose!

I am sure you have never experienced any of these type guests, or at least I hope not! 

While writing about this, I remembered that on a previous visit from June, she received water. She must have gone home and told her brother about the free water source she had here. Maybe this was reason she brought her brother . She wanted him to come so he too could satisfy his parched snout on their regular explorations (you can probably guess what type of visitors I had).  

This experience reminds me a lot of a story about Jesus and a woman at a well in her town in Samaria. Jesus realized that she was very thirsty too. Not thirsty for water that she could find at the town well, but a type water that satisfies thirst for life. What is this type of water? Jesus says that He is that water. He is the only one that can satisfy the drought and emptiness of our lives that we try to fill with stuff that seems to make us happy but in the end we still feel thirsty.  He will give us all the water that we need. How do we drink this water? Once again, we must spend time with Jesus. When talking to Jesus, reading about Him and asking Him to be in our hearts, He fills us with His wonderful water- water that never runs outs!

That woman did the same thing as June. Once she found out where to get this wonderful water, she ran home and told her friends and family about it!

Let's be like June and share Jesus, the true source of water.

~Joi

Press Forward and Look Up!

It was an exciting time in my neighborhood. At the tiny regional airport, not more than seven minutes from my house, our town welcomed many G5s and other size jets.  Not many planes come and go from this airport. If there are any, they are normally small training planes. So this was a rare occurrence.
Last week, in a larger city near my home, there was an event that brought many of these jets to our small airport.

 I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I absolutely LOVE flying and would like to be a pilot. With jets landing and taking off so close, I was ecstatic! The sound of them flying low over the house is quite thrilling. The excitement, surprisingly, even made someone (like my mom), who hates flying want to get in a jet and fly (that's an achievement)!

Last week, my eyes were constantly in the air scanning for the next jet overhead. I was continually running outdoors to see the next jet. I went to the airport many times to watch the jets land, get fueled and take off again. I was determined to see as many as I could. It was a spine-tingling, eye- popping, and literally an ear -popping experience.

 I was up-close and personal.

While keeping my eye on the sky, I knew there are things I must to do here on the ground before I can fly with a license. It is important to know the basics of flying. Without these basics, there would be a huge problem! I am currently taking online ground school flight lessons. The process is a bit tiresome and sometimes hard to understand. I just want to get in the air!

After a week-long of seeing many jets I realized that if I ever want to fly, I have to really buckle down, and get to work. All the watching encourages me, but I need to complete the training or else...
So I keep pressing forward with my studies so I can be up there too. The end goal is not that far off.

I am reminded that I am looking to the sky for something else- something a gazillion times as exciting...  I am looking forward to Jesus' coming and am expecting Him to come very soon. God has given us our ground school training book, the Bible, so that we can be ready to fly when He comes. If I don't study His book I can't still expect to fly with Him to His home in Heaven! I must daily study and learn what is in His book so that I can fly.  He said that His book tells us who He is.  Not only must I study His book but I must have interaction with the trainer.  More on that when I'm airborne.:)

Let's  press forward with our ground school training and keep looking to the sky!

~Joi

Watching the jets at the regional airport

Photo Courtesy of Jade 

Photo Courtesy of Sarah A.

Freedom

One golden fall day, my mom and my dog, Joey went out to take a nice walk. Before I go any further to tell you about their walk,  I must first  tell you about my dog. Joey is a cute, energetic dog who is filled with much dog, and sometimes I think, with people personality. Though he is a great dog, unfortunately, just like people, he too has some faults. One of the greatest being that he chases chipmunks and squirrels.  Joey just hates to see them in our yard, or in anyone else's yard for that matter. And though he hates these menacing creatures and chases them with utmost furor, in his seven years of life, he has never succeeded in catching one.

Now back to the story. On this beautiful day Joey was on his leash, held by my mom when he saw... a squirrel! When he saw it, with anticipation in his eyes, he set himself to pull away from my mother who reminded Joey walk nicely. In response, his next expression seemed to say,

 " Why should I go and chase this squirrel? I know I'll get in trouble and it really doesn't matter. It's not even in my yard. I'm perfectly content and happy in "mom's care and nothing else compares to this happiness".

 So Joey continued to walk happily and obediently with my mom.

A few minutes later, while still enjoying his walk, Joey saw another hateful little creature! Once again, the same battle seemed to go on in his head. " I must go and get rid of that squirrel! I just must! " Then again, he was reminded of the safe, contented walk he was having with "mom". Why should he want to do or be anywhere else?  Why should he chase something he was never going to catch, cause himself disappointment, and ultimately be punished? With great dog wisdom he decided to continue walking obediently with "mom".  

What a lovely walk! And now he was home in his own yard. When they neared the yard my mom took him off of his leash. What doggie delight! Run, run ! Sniff, sniff! Jump, jump! Through the forest and in the holes! Simple and happy freedom was his reward in the safety of our yard.

There is an amazing lesson in this story that can apply to each of our lives. We, like Joey are walking through life with a loving Father as our guide, who reminds us to be obedient to Him so we may have eternal freedom from temptation and sin. As long we are obedient to Him, we will be rewarded with joy, freedom and safety.

reflections

Situated on a quiet lake, hedged by rolling pasture land and woods, is where I like to call home. 


Since my family and I recently moved to this area, I  take keen interest in what is around me. I've noticed that the lake looks different every day. Some days it looks clear and other days dark and murky. I began to think about what makes it look different. It dawned on me that the lake was just a reflection of the sky.

When the sky is cloudy and dull, so is the lake.

 And when the sky is clear and sunny, then the lake is clear and beautiful.

 This reminds me of a Scripture that  talks about reflecting Christ's character. It says:

But we all...beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image ...

If by looking at Jesus, we are changed to reflect His image, then isn't it the same with anything else? If I am constantly looking at things of the world that show greed, selfishness, sexual inappropriateness, impatience and unkindness , I will be changed to act in these ways. But if I want to be a reflection of Christ than I must keep myself focused on Christ, who is pure, caring, patient, unselfish and loving. 

Photo Courtesy of Sarah A.