To Be...Drawn

See the little blue bird in the window corner among my clutter.  

Maybe she knows those are my yarn bags and she wants some good nesting materials.

I should go scatter yarn bits in the yard.

April 20
There has been a crazy little blue bird coming to my window in the morning around 6:45-7:15 AM. I decided to get up the other day and try to take a picture of her, but as I neared the window she flew away, so I stood quietly, in WAIT.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God. Psalm 27:14 MSG

As I stood there, a blue jay (the instigator of my bird fears) flew to a tree close by.  God said, "Fear not, I am with you. Although the enemy prowls around wanting to kill and destroy, greater AM I than the enemy."  As the sun was coming up the birds were coming out.  A cardinal, a woodpecker, two fat robins pulling up worms.  Each bird holding a life lessons with their presence.  Then I recognized what I longed for was the white bird, who represents the presence of the Holy Spirit, to fly down the center of the cove.

Creatively, God used a pesky little blue bird to draw me into his presence.  It was a beautiful time.  What is He using to draw you to Himself?

To Be...Ever so Grateful

April 19

The movers arrived at our daughters home in Charlottesville, VA 8AM yesterday.  A little later I walked through the door with the essentials...toilet paper, a sweet tea and PRAISE MUSIC! The massive unpacking project began.  The movers were here  unloading and putting beds together for 11 hours!!!!  Around 11:30AM we were head high in boxes, when two precious friends from the lake walked through the door and said they were here for two days to help!!!!  I couldn't believe it and my daughter, who is 10 days away from a c-section,  burst into tears, sobbing with gratitude.

Truly, one of the kindest, most unselfish and generous gifts I have ever received in my life.  These two are really being the hands and feet of Jesus.  We will never forget this and they are making a an exhausting, daunting task seem doable by their smiling presence and encouragement.

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."  Colossians 3:16

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy  and appointed me to serve him."  1 Timothy 1:12

To Be...Found Just Breathing April

April 18
The moving van is to arrive at 8AM.  A home is being hatched, but hopefully not a baby for another ten days. Here's a great song for the chaotic days of life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnjeMwxFuBA

"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds."
 Psalm 9:1

If I go missing, I'm probably somewhere in this beautiful house.

To Be...Singing Sacred Songs

April 17
(Sorry, yesterday's post had issues. It should be in order now, before this one.)

When God is moving I don't want anything to interrupt the Spirit!  I was praying for my three close friends with cancer and decided to just text them my prayer.  It was similar to this

Lord before I close my eyes tonight I want to pray for those I love battling the unknowns of cancer. Give them the hope, strength and courage they need for each day. Comfort them with Your presence as you whisper into their minds of your love for them. Remind them that there are fabulous angels encamped around them. May every cancer cell in their bodies be cast out and replaced by good ones with your mighty hand. Thank You for your promise that you will never leave us or forsake us whatever each day brings. I ask that their dreams tonight be joy filled and cause them to smile in their sleep and that tomorrow holds treasures and experiences that totally amaze them. In Jesus Name, with Love, Amen

I shared with one of them I longed to be with her. She has recently moved from our neighborhood to Florida, so she cleverly replied with a map quest location button. When I clicked on the locator,  it showed exactly where she was... Sacred Heart Hospital.

Curiosity got the best of me and I plugged the words sacred and heart into Biblegateway.  The verse that came up was the perfect one for us to meditate on as we went to sleep.

"Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord."  Ephesians 5:19 

When God gets going, so good like this, I just don't want to stop the feeling!

My friend is now in the presence of Jesus.

To Be...Valued!

April 16
(This entry posted someone else on the site yesterday. Sorry.
Recently, I met some friends for an afternoon of fellowship and the activity was to bring a family heirloom to share about.  The items were varied, but each thing quite valuable to its owner.

My husband has reminded me from time to time that the value of something is determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it. This sentimental woman would beg to differ. Each time he makes that comment I process how valuable we all are, because of what Christ paid for us.  

Paul says in Galatians 4:3-5, "I greet you with great words, grace and peace!  We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins.  God's plan is that we all experience that rescue.  Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!"

Small talk can lead to a comparison game, revealing what our hearts really value.

Where do you work?  What kind of vacation time do they give you?  What are the perks of the job?  How long have you had your job?  Have you received any rewards? Parents get caught up in this too.  When did your baby sleep through the night/crawl/walk?  How are college acceptances going for your child? We begin questioning our worth as parents.

Even small comments in everyday life cause of to question our worth.  Did you pay full price for that?  What interest rate are you paying? How many likes do you usually get on your Facebook posts?

Refocus!  You are valued!

"Knowing that you were  not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold....but with the precious blood of Christ."  1 Peter 1:18, 19

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  Genesis 1:17

To Be...In the Know of the Desires of Your Heart

April 15
I don't usually post on Sundays, but it has been one of those "Jumping Jupiter Jesus is right here!" moments.  While reading a scripture card a friend had given me..."Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4...I journaled, "Father, I don't know what my desires are, but your word for me today is ACTION. I gather it is time to move forward with a ministry opportunity you've had on my heart for fifteen months." Increase my faith!

Opening Mark Batterson's Draw the Circle devotional book to this morning's reading, the moment clearly continued. God had my attention.  The day's title "SPELL IT OUT." The verse:
"What do you want me to do for you?" Matthew 20:32

God was speaking straight out to me through Batterson's words.  He related the story where Jesus and the disciples were stopped by two blind men who shouted out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"  The disciples saw this as an inconvenience, but Jesus stopped and asked them what they wanted, although He knew their need.
"Jesus made them verbalize it. He made them spell out exactly what they wanted Him to do."

Batterson goes on to share that most of us can't spell out the "promises, miracles, and dreams" God has put in our hearts. "Many of us don't get what we want simply because we don't know what we want...The more faith we have, the more specific our prayers will be. And the more specific our prayers are, the more glory God receives. If our prayers aren't specific, however, God gets robbed of the glory."

Oh, my!  It's time for me to take ACTION on my knees. In my heart I say I want what God wants for/with my life, yet I've been dragging my feet from going forward with what He has been calling me to.

Pray for me to KNOW and GO forward.  No turning back, no turning back. Pray for my faith to be enormous!

To Be...Able to Bear Arms

My man keeps life light and laughter filled.
When he saw this toy gun and stuffed bear in the same room that brain just went to work.
He said, " I know you can find a way to write about this!"

April 13

We are so blessed to be Americans and have the freedoms that we do.  Personally, I forget to thank God everyday that we live in a country where we have so many "We are able to's..." 

We are able to worship where we choose.

We are able to pray in Jesus' name.

We are able to educate our children where we choose.

We are able to vote.

We are able to choose a career path.

We are able to have as many children as God provides.

We are able to make more choices than we probably want to have to make!

We are able to rest at night because we have men and women who chose to put their lives on the line to protect those freedoms.

When we consider these blessings we should thank God for the privilege to be Americans and accept the responsibility to make choices that keep our religious freedom vibrant.  He has chosen us to be here in this nation for such a time as this.  Our arms should not only bear weapons to protect our nation from attack, but arms that reach out to others with the gospel.  Both are biblical.

Paul has a wealth of instructions for us.  1 Timothy 6:17-19 has some golden nuggets for us to remember as a nation so greatly blessed by God.

"Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God who piles on all the riches we could ever manage-to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they will build a treasure that will last, gaining life that is truly life.  

And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life.  Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.  Overwhelming grace keep you!" 

We are able to be arms of grace and wrap the love of Jesus around others as we offer compassion and forgiveness...I'm not advocating to go out and shoot anyone!