Boojoyful

April 30th Yesterday, I was able to write with rejoicing over celebrating my father's 93rd birthday. Sunday, my heart was heavy as I hugged a sweet sister in Christ, whose faced her father's birthday that day with the realization they were getting ready to call in hospice for him this week.  At church I watched as one of our small group members, whose father is dying of cancer, hugged the first friend with tears pouring down his cheeks. Now I pray for another friend, whose father is dying, after his transport bus for the aging and handicapped was hit by a train in PA on Friday. My prayer is that these families find comfort in knowing that heaven is a for real place on God's map. My mother's favorite scripture verse was John 14:2 I go to prepare a place for you. Adrian Roger's resides in Heaven now, but his messages to God's sheep continue to resonate throughout the land.   At some point in his life, Roger's wrote this message titled "Heaven is N...

April 29th Today my sweet Daddy celebrates his 93rd birthday.  He has been an amazing provider, supporter, encourager,  teacher and example in how to live a godly marriage and be steadfast in times of trouble. My mother has been gone for 13 years and he looks at her pictures in an album he made, every day.  Recently he found the letter she wrote him the week before she was heading to his home to meet his parents for the first time.  She wrote, "I'm scared to death."  :-)  What a treasure to hold onto. It's easy to "Honor your father..." (Matthew 19:19) when he is filled with the character mine has.

April 27-28 Now one of Saul's servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. 1 Samuel 21:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here , and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.  Then Moses set out with Joshua, his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God...When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.  For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.  To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.  Then Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain and he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.   Exodus 24:12-18 A group of us are studying the book Secrets of the Secret Place  and each week we discuss someone's struggle to find time to daily sli...

April 26 "I gave in and admitted that God was God." C.S. Lewis For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 108:4 As the heavens are higher than the  dart,                        so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.                                                                           Isaiah 55:9

A cheerful heart is good medicine.  Proverbs 17:22 April 25 Often I refer to "God-incidences" in my life...well, we had a funny one the other day.  I've posted this photo of our favorite "polka dot" goat before.  Last weekend we had the privilege of dining with it's owner.  I had taken this photo and had it made into a card for my sister's birthday and also made a copy for Polka Dot's owner. He was very appreciative. While we were discussing some of the humorous events, which occur at his petting farm, he explained to us that Polka Dot is what is known as a "fainting" goat.  These critters keel over, stiff legged, if startled.  He said, his employees have tried several times to startle this goat, but it has yet to happen. The second element of today's devotional relates to the fact that my husband played football for the University of North Carolina and regularly checks on team news. Yesterday, he opened a video exhibiting a re...

April 24 The word for the morning, yesterday, was "invest". Feeling as if I had recently written on this topic, I turned to Biblegateway to see where this word was leading.  Investing our time in the Word is certainly a beneficial cause, but as I searched the NIV "invest" did not come up, but ten passages highlighting "investigate" led to my morning inquiry and I settled on these verses in Ecclesiastes 7:24-25. Whatever exists is far off and most profound-who can discover it?  So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.   Isn't that perfect for what our nation is facing in light of last week's tragedy in Boston.  How well put is the phrase "the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly"? We all need wisdom and we need to pray fervently for the leaders, whom authority we are under, to seek wisdom as ...

April 23 Sunday our pastor shot a picture of the Superman "S" icon up on the big screen.  Someone had shared a clip with him where Superman states that the "S" on his chest is actually not an "S" but the symbol for hope  from where he comes from. What a great lead in for a sermon on hope! George Muller wrote: "Even when our situation appears to be impossible, our work is to 'hope in God'. Our hope will not be in vain, and in the Lord's own timing, help will come." Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.   Psalm 42:5 For what are you hoping? In whom is your hope dependent? The Message translation puts this twist on Psalm 42:5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?  Why are you crying the blues?  Fix my eyes on God-soon I'll be praising again.  he puts a smile on my face. He's my God.

 Visiting a dear, dear college friend we went to check out her family orange groves...  We came across these two characters, who had a bull coming along behind them, on our path.... We yielded any right of passage and saw them on their way. April 22 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.   Psalm 119:105 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.   Psalm 16:11 My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled.   Psalm 17:5 Oh how I wish I could say to the Lord, "My feet have not stumbled." I've not only stumbled, but sunk in quick sand at times and even run out into a dangerous path of temptation. We hold the hands of young children in an attempt to keep them from stumbling or direct them away from danger.  When we get a bit of age on us, we are holding hands again to steady ourselves along the way.  Praise God, he is always i...

Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.  Genesis 31:55   April 20-21 This week we had the privilege of attending our first Grandparents Day, at our grandson's Christian School.  He was so proud to have both sets of grandparents and his parents in the audience!  After going out to lunch, we went back to their his house to play with he and his little sister until nap time. Then we had to kiss them good-bye, which always breaks my heart.  It is grand to be a grandparent!

April 19 "Prayerlessness is the first sign of prideful independence.  We begin to trim back on our secret time with God when we're feeling great about ourselves, energetic and optimistic about our future, and confident about the path we're taking. It's the first sign that we're getting full of ourselves." Bob Sorge Have you prayed and sought God's direction for your day? The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.   James 5:16 The best way to know what God is up to is to sit before him in prayer mode and listen.

April 18 Conviction set in this morning as I reflected on a missed opportunity to pray for someone yesterday. A young man with some obvious handicaps was sitting at the entrance to a Belk department store, manning a table for charitable giving.  He was quite overweight and sat with his legs sprawled apart on either side of a card table.  On the mannequin platform beside him he placed his Dr. Pepper, a bagged lunch, a large hooded sweatshirt and a hand written sign  "On lunch break."  As I shopped I could hear him moan, saying out loud to know one..."I have to sit here until 4:00...thank goodness Friday is my last day."  It was rather distracting.  The atmosphere turned rather humorous when I wanted to try on a pair of pants and my size was on the mannequin right beside this fellow. I am talking RIGHT beside him.  First off, the sales lady was perturbed he had placed his belongings...we are talking scrunched up brown paper bag with lunch leftovers ins...

April 17 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91:11 Departing an Apple Store, in a large city recently, the class instructor (knowing I was from a tiny town in SW VA) reminded me to be cautious going to my car in the dark carrying my computer.  I appreciated the concern, but didn't think too much of it.  I stopped in a coffee shop to pick up a cookie for my husband, whom I had hoped was going to arrive in time to meet me at the Apple Store. While paying for the cookie, I sensed someone standing VERY close to me and turned expecting to see my husband attempting to surprise me.  My eyes looked, up, up,  up and there stood one of the largest men I've ever seen. He must have been a professional wrestler or Goliath's cousin.  The head of black hair he had was like nothing I've ever seen.  Black glasses, a black leather vest, dark jeans and a beard added to his daunting appearance. He apologized for startling me...

April 16 Our grandson had a Thomas the Train 2nd birthday party.  He enjoyed every moment and was so excited as each friend arrived.  The highlight of the party was when this child's father arrived dressed as Sir Topham Hatt.  Sir Topham Hatt is the British gent who heads up the railroad on the Island of Sodor in the TV Series Thomas the Train. We all knew we were taking a chance with Dad dressing up.  One of our sons attended a 5 year old Davey Crockett birthday party years ago, where the dad dressed up as a bear they could shoot with pop guns.  All the children cried from fear, even when the dad took off his bear head. Sir Topham Hatt was a total success. Our children are watching us.  They watch how we parent, how we do business, how we treat others, how we place importance on our faith...some may even be around to watch how we die. Our character counts for more than we know. While driving to Nashville, I engulfed myself i...

April 15 No, I'm not posting about taxable income today. While visiting our daughter in Nashville, I found myself longing to have a job with a large income, so I could live in beautiful Belle Meade, shop the stores of Green Hills without concern, eat at the fabulous restaurants!  Quickly, I sensed the Lord bringing to mind that the only extravagant income  I needed was in obedience to the scripture.. Offer hospitality without grumbling  wherever I live and say: "Y'all come in!"   Then I'm to step back and watch as "In Come" Da People Da Lord wants me to love on in His name!

April 13-14 My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. Psalm 62:5 If you follow international news, then you are aware North Korea has put the world on edge with their nuclear threats.  We are faced with threats everyday...safety, health, job security, relational stability.  Psalm 62 is such a wonderful place to hide out and trust in the Lord. Bob Sorge wrote: "God worshippers are those who come to God first in their time of need.  They seek God's face and wait on Him to receive direction for the course to take."  Oh, how I want to be labeled in such a way.  I want to live in "positive expectancy" waiting and watching for what God will do next! As a child, I had expectations for my parents to provide food, clothing, education, love and a safe place to live.  As a parent, I had probably WAY too many expectations for my children, obedience, nice manners, good study habits, clean rooms...:-)  As a wife,  I'v...

 Moses our bulldog can slumber just about anywhere! And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Romans 13:11 April 12  I do enjoy a good word study.  Somewhere recently I read a devotional about the word amusement. The writer was explaining that muse  means to think and the prefix alpha  means "not to".  What he said next is scary... "We are a generation that is amusing ourselves into oblivion.  And it's time to wake up! Do you know what Napoleon said about China? 'There lies a sleeping giant, and let him sleep, because if he awakens, he will shake the world.' I believe the devil says that about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe the church is just that: a sleeping giant.  We're asleep because we have been chloroformed by the spirit of this age." Whew!  Friends, we do like to ...

April 11 The bare trees in our yard are dressing themselves for spring at various rates.  The red buds are already bursting forth with their flashy red finery, while right next to them may stand a bare poplar who appears to not be very popular in her nakedness.  Someone might wonder of these late bloomers...are they dead? Watching these arbors make their spring statements brought this reminder from God... We encounter the dead among the living.  Being alive in Christ we are called to step out into a world of those who are dead spiritually. Gazing upon the pin oak holding on to her dead leaves (not attractive at all), waiting until new growth pushes the dead leaves away, revealed a sin issue in my life.  We need to drop the dead parts of our lives...bitterness, envy, resentment...forgiving others to receive what is new. Revitalization is ALWAYS possible through Christ. Don't stop praying for the spiritually dead. If the Holy Spirit ignited each of us, He is...

April 10 There is a beautiful duet, called The Prayer .  It was posted on Godtube recently being sung by American Idol Contestant, Angie Miller.  Watching the video, you read about Angie in the intro, but nothing is mentioned of the young man who sings the male vocalist part.  Presumably, because he has not earned popularity on a national show such as American Idol. http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=0F0911NU&utm_source=GodTube%20Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04/08/2013 There are many unsung heroes along the path to heaven.  Encouragers in the faith who never speak behind a podium, grace a platform and hear applause for their performance, see their names as author on a book in a store bookshelf or are taunted as an excellent TV evangelist.  They are the behind the scenes necessities, who make the lime light possible for the keynote speakers and headliners of Christianity. Pray about saying thanks to some of the people who help make you...

April 9 I'm having one of my clap your hands and applaud for the Lord moments.  Yesterday, the title "What's Sprouting" came to me and I typed it down feeling led to to write about what we sow in life.  This time of year is so exhilarating as we observe the various flora, which were previously planted, popping their heads up from the earth. We have friends in our neighborhood, who moved into a new home a couple months ago and the yard is a surprise party right now...they've never been there in spring and have no idea what is going to spring up on their new property! I was reflecting on how that is for us when we share our faith with others. Sometimes we aren't around when the sowing we've done with God's Word and fertilizing of His love for an individual comes to fruition in that person's life.   I envision the scene when we are approached by a friend from our past in heaven and they say...Remember that time when you came along side me and ...

One of our sons, raising up his son! April 8 That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world,  The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down. I'm headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof! Already I'm singing God-songs; I'm making music to God.   Psalm 27:5-9 We've all seen the day when we needed a lift, literally and figuratively.  More than once, I've filled the request to reach an item on the top shelf of the grocery aisle for someone a bit shorter.  There've been flu filled days when I could not raise my head off my pillow and needed someone to step in and raise  my children.  With my recent back issues, I had to call upon friends to lift my grandchildren, I was caring for, in and out of cribs. One of the most difficult things to raise can be our spirits when we are down trodden.  The Psalm above expresses God's provision ...

April 6-7 Spring is all about change.  "Busting Loose" was the titled of a song at some point in my growing up years and while it wasn't about spring, I think that is a perfect "tag" for what happens this time of year...nature is busting loose with changes.  I walked around the yard the other day searching for what is busting loose from tree branches and the ground!  While it is our sense of sight, which tips us off to natures changes; it is our sense of hearing, which tips us off to the changes God wants to make! You've opened my ears, so I can listen.   Psalm 40:6 "The power of prayer is found, not in convincing God of my agenda, but in waiting upon Him to hear His agenda."  Bob Sorge Everything that is hidden will become clear, and every secret thing will be made known.  So be careful how you listen. Those who have understanding will be given more. But those who do not have understanding, even what they think they have will be taken ...

April 5 Bargaining with the Lord (once more I'm afraid) I was looking for the easy way out of an assignment he'd give me.  You know, like buying the Cliff Notes back in the day or renting the movie instead of reading the book before writing the report. I wanted to pull out some old writings to fulfill an obligation I had to God.  The reply, "I am doing a new work!"  That phrase sounded like a familiar verse from Jesus, but when I went to Biblegateway I couldn't find it. Instead,  the passage below is what I came upon. Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin?  Was it by working your heads off to please God?  Or was it by responding to God's Message to you?  Are you going to continue this craziness?  For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God.  If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you supposes you could perfect it? Did you go through th...

April 4 God's Word says...   Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.   Proverbs 22:6 If anyone causes one of these little ones-those who believe in me-to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6 Parenting and grandparenting are serious roles to be played in a child's life.  We were privileged to have two of our grandsons here for two weeks recently. The last four of those days our daughter and her husband were out of town, so my husband and I stayed busy.  I make a breakfast muffin that the boys love, so each morning they would hear the timer go off.  One of us must have said, "The muffins are ready!"  Our daughter said when they returned home to Nashville that evening a beeper sounded on one of their phones and their almost two year old said, "Muffins ready!" Her next report was that the...

April 3 Staring at the bare branches of winter we can't actually see the leaves of spring growing bigger, but we notice the difference as they begin to burst forth.  Our faith is like that. People cannot actually see it growing, but they notice the difference the growth makes in us.  One of the things that excites me about the Christian faith is that we are a continual work in progress and there is always something new to learn. Monday night a group of us began a study called Secrets of the Secret Place.   The author, Bob Sorge, makes the statement, Reproductive power is unlocked in the shadow of the Almighty. We all pondered that term which was new to us.  Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to reproduce the characteristics of Christ, which God calls us to do.  The process of giving the Good News has been reproduced generation after generation! Studying in Colossians 1 yesterday another phrase kept me in the Easter Mode... leading...

This picture of my husband and granddaughter reminds me of how God is there to hold our hand. April 2 The past five weeks, I wallowed in back pain.  My wallowing wove itself into worry, as I anticipated, yet another back surgery.  God did his best to assure me of his presence.  He even placed the story of the disciples needing the waves calmed right in front of me...yet my mind would find no rest. At one point I found myself explaining to the Lord ...."If I can't be whole, I'd rather be home."  No sooner had I said this, than did my mind drift to a young VT professor I conversed with last month. This young man had several birth defects; two obvious ones were stunted growth and only one arm.  His limitations did not slow him down from living life.  There were no visible signs of a "woe is me attitude" or the weight of worry. When we allow the weight of worry to weave its way into us, we stumble into sin.  "Worry doesn't take the sorrow ou...

April 1st I was preparing two pitchers of  tea and watched as they seeped,  The longer the tea bag remained in the water the stronger the tea became.  Then it occurred to me how similar our faith walks are. The longer we remain in the Lord and his Word, the stronger our faith becomes! I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can heart fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the f...