"Nevertheless"

I’m feeling all rambly tonight for some reason.  I was sleeping all sound and woke to the sound of my phone whistling at me. ...and my mind starts wandering... asking me questions ... Things going round and round in my head ... so I write them down. I don't think I am the only one that has these thoughts, but who knows. What have I done? What am I doing? Did I do enough? Did I do the things I was supposed to do or anything of importance at all? Where am I going ... is this it? Am I ... Was I kind enough? Did I ... Do I care enough? Did I care at all? Did I give all I could. Do I give all I can? Did I pray enough or love enough? Do I? What remains... What is next?  What is the plan? Is my heart full of love or is it just a lackluster dim faded thing? Do I need to change ... or stay the same? What do people think when they think of me? Do I care to know... do I want to? Would I be pleased with th

You     are not responsible for another person's actions or choices. You are not to blame. You can not control or corral others to keep them in line or in sight. Your shoulders are not that big. You arms are not  that wide.   You don't have the reach or strength enough to hold everything that you are trying to carry. There is only One that does have shoulders broad enough and arms that reach far enough. Give it to Him.    He said "my yoke is easy and my burden is light".  It is easy because He is enough. He is big enough and strong enough and wise enough. Let Him have whatever it is. If you do try to keep control, you will break. And that pile of problems will just grow and grow like a never ending tsunami. It will wash you away. We are not meant to carry that kind of load.  Leave it in His hands. The only way to shrink the problem is to give it away. Remind Him about it occasionally if you must, but leave it with Him. You thin

Not all who wander are lost, or tripping aimlessly along without a plan or a thought.  Forces within compel ... and this traveler must spring into motion without a notion of the future,  but with a longing to experience the wonder and beauty of the Maker's glorious work. To stand in places of which I have only dreamt. To soar above oceans and depths.  To dive from the heights of the azure. One day to breathe in the bouquet of God's garden and to walk the velvety cool surface of an unthinkable oasis. Or climb the hot and craggy cliffs of unknown worlds. One day to view the heavens and earth and all of creation from the grand scape of His eyes. One day to see What no one has ever gazed upon and none but I will ever gaze. Oh! To know the look, the visage, the face of God. His voice. His touch.  His spirit. Intimate. Personal. To know that I am the only one of His that He will ever look on, or touch or speak with in that manner. Faithful. True. For

Jesus said: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV) This walk of faith sometimes doesn't seem so easy. But it should be. I don't believe Jesus ever intended for us to struggle as much as we do to believe and have faith when we are in the middle of transition or turmoil and feel overwhelmed. He says that He gives us rest when we are heavy laden ... with worry or strife, anxious and fearful, or if we feel like it is just hard work (labor) to follow His lead. His law is love. His law of love is an easy and light burden. "Love God with all your heart and soul and mind, and love others as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets..." Matthew 22: 37-40 He didn't complicate things with condit

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord.  Trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him."  (Psalm 37: 3-7 NKJV) "The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever." (Psalm 37: 18 NKJV) "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way.   Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand."  (Psalm 37: 23-24 NKJV) I want to explain a bit before I get into the story, so: I n the above scriptures where we are told to feed on His faithfulness, the word "feed" is defined: tend, pasture, graze, feed, associate with, be a friend or companion. Where we a

You may not believe this. Yesterday I decided to make bacon and eggs for breakfast. Well, you might believe that.  But you may not believe what happened next.    But it did. I had just emptied my dishwasher and put everything in its place and I didn't want to mess up the kitchen again, but I was hungry. So I get the bacon going and it's sizzling nicely in the skillet. I have to interject here that as I was doing all  of these things, I had been talking to God.   I was just kind of matter-of-factly speaking out loud and letting Him know that I am trusting Him and reminding Him of my needs which are pretty pressing right now (just in case He forgot).   Finally, I was like, "Well, Lord, I have shared all my jumbled up thoughts and don't even know if any of it made sense, but I know You can sort it all out.  I've been talking and talking and haven't let You say a word.  Father, please speak to me ... let me hear from You."

Walking is such a simple thing.   Most of us get it down  pretty good before we are even a year old.   We have some occasional bumps and spills, but for the most part, we get it conquered.   Of course, when we are babies, and we trip or fall, we don't have far to go before we hit the floor and bounce on our butts and every one laughs and thinks we're so cute.  So we laugh too. But we are so proud of ourselves for learning to walk! It's a bit different the older we get.   Walking may be easier for us, but falling can be disastrous.  The consequences can be pretty bad.  Broken bones, bruises, embarrassment, doctor bills.  Ugh.  Nobody is laughing then. But walking worthy of God? I'm a Christian.  Jesus loves me.  I love Jesus.   That's a simple step. I'm a Christian and I'm going through some super tough times and it's getting really hard to stay focused on acting like Jesus and walking just became hard work.    I feel like I'm alw

Do you pray for miracles? I guess that's a silly question.   We all want to see miracles happen in our lives.  I pray almost daily for miracles of all sorts.  There is a story in Genesis about Abraham and Sarah.   They had given up on having a child, yet in their old age God blessed them with a miracle baby! They even named this baby Isaac, because even the idea of being pregnant in her 90's made Sarah laugh out loud. Isaac's name means laughter. Today we would say she LOL'd.  He was the joy of her life. His very existence brought joyfulness and happiness and gladness into their lives. The miracle she had prayed for unceasingly in her younger and barren years ... the miracle she had given up on ever happening ... she now held in her arms. God had answered their prayers in His own time and for His own purpose.  In the process, He also proved to Abraham and Sarah that He could do anything. Anything. He proved that nothing was impossible for Hi

A few days ago I walked out  my front door and there was a piece of paper laying on my doorstep. I picked it up wondering what the what!? There was a message on it from a stranger asking me to call him.  He wanted to talk with me about the concrete bench that has been sitting in my front yard for years.  It's been there from way before I owned this house. I had jury duty and was on my way to the court house to do my duty (which is a whole 'nother story), so I didn't call right then. I forgot about it for a day or two.  When it came to my mind again, I picked up my phone and called. The gentleman that answered the phone told me that his wife's great great grandfather had actually made the bench.   He wanted to buy it, if I would sell it, because it was their anniversary and he wanted to surprise her with it. I thought about it and said "sure, why not?"  We agreed on a price and he said he would be back in touch and come pick it