Kindness

KINDNESS - the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

Some of its synonyms are: 

warmheartedness, affection, warmth, gentleness,

concern, care, consideration, helpfulness, thoughtfulness,

unselfishness, selflessness, compassion,

sympathy, understanding, benevolence, friendliness,

hospitality, neighborliness, generosity, magnanimity, and charitableness.

This, I have decided, is my "word" for 2018.

God has been so kind to me.  

With His help, by His Spirit at work in me,

I want to be more intentionally kind to others--

beginning with those with whom I interact daily!

Growth

Spent Sunday afternoon finishing up my first "read" for 2017.
Incidentally, I keep a log of books I read under the tab "reading" below my header.

I can't remember how this particular title came across my radar,

but I read it with great interest.  

It was a somewhat sad but stimulating read about life in Europe in the 20's--

feuds and friendships, successes and sorrows.

After I finished, I typed out at least 45 quotations from the book

from page numbers I jotted down while reading.

(Not sure WHY I do this; I just do.)

I also thought of an empty Bible cover I had and pressed it into duty

as a carry-all for pen, notecards and my current read.

It's serving me well.  I'm glad I thought of it! 

This morning I ran into a tweet by Patsy Clairmont:

"We can grow as long as there is breath in our bodies and an earnest will to learn."

Growth is my current and conscious pursuit in 2017--

particularly in grace and the knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to keep expanding my reading horizons, too.
 

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

Advent - The Lookout

"Be on the lookout for a little something at your door soon." 

I was so surprised by this message from a blogger friend!

As I thought about the message,
a verse from the Bible came to my mind--words of Jesus:

"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, 

and I will give to each person according to what they have done." ( Rev. 22:12)

ADVENT!

Be on the lookout.

He IS coming soon!

***

It DID come.  A pillow! 

I had selected this design in a give-away my friend had sponsored.

I was NOT the winner.  I have NO idea what prompted my friend to gift me,

which reminded me of Elizabeth's words 

when Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, visited her:   

"But why am I so favored...."  (Luke 1:43)

And that pretty much sums up another major biblical concept.

GRACE!

Friends, be on the lookout for a little something at YOUR door.  Soon!

Profusely

Anthony Bradley recently tweeted:  "Among the best weapons to fight against depression include committing to a life of gratitude and experiencing real connection in community." I passed this wisdom along to a fellow traveler recently with my OWN exhortation that both of us endeavor to  enter the new day with humble and profuse gratitude.

Then I quickly googled profuse to be sure I'd used the word correctly.  It's NOT a word I use frequently in conversation or writing.  I found these two definitions:

• 1. Plentiful; copious.
• 2. Giving or given freely and abundantly; extravagant. 

Yes! I used it correctly! I am humbly and PROFUSELY grateful today.  Worthy?  No.  Grateful?  Profusely!  I can't begin to describe my awareness of the abundant, extravagant grace of God to me throughout my life--and today.  And my awareness falls so short of its actuality! 

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious Name of Jesus.
Praise His Name!

(Chorus of "Wonderful Grace of Jesus")

The Pace of Grace

 "A sign you're growing in grace: 

People don't experience you being as busy, hurried or restless. 

You're learning the pace of grace."
(Scotty Smith, Twitter)

Bird-watching on the patio...

 I'm learning.  Gradually.

Through the hours spent with my mother

in the Special Care (Dementia) Unit,

God is teaching me about the pace of grace.
 It's often slow...frequently silent...surprisingly flexible,
adapting to the need of the moment.
It's steps are short ones.  Measured and halting.
The pace of grace is agonizing sometimes.

One of these days, I hope that "people don't experience me

as being busy, hurried or restless."
***

I am challenged by the series of "signs you're growing in grace" that Scotty Ward Smith 

frequently tweets.  Here's another one:

"A sign you're growing in grace: 

Your gospel is bigger, your gripes fewer, your generosity freer, 

and your laugh louder."

Amazing Grace

At this point, I'm beginning to feel like WE'RE the people I used to feel sorry for!  After falling on the 15th of March, I had a hip replacement the following day. Now going into my 5th week of recovery, my husband had a treadmill test, subsequent heart cath, and is scheduled for heart bypass surgery this coming Wednesday.

The peaceful look on his face in the picture taken prior to the catheterization process is NOT a fake one!

Can I use this post to give a "shout out" to God's Amazing Grace?  I've known for most of my life that it is due to His grace that I have experienced forgiveness of sins and received the righteousness of Christ Jesus Himself.  Grace has covered my past and ensures my future.  This I know.  But I'm NOT sure if I've ever experienced the dimension of grace I'm experiencing RIGHT NOW. 

That's not to say I'm not emotional now and then.  It IS to say I am understanding in new ways some of what Paul might have meant when he wrote, "The life you see me living is not 'mine,' but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that."  (Galatians 2:20, The Message)  Or as the Holman Bible translates it, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Grace.  So much grace!

And if God's grace could begin to be compared to an ocean of grace, 
I've only a drop or two in my thimble so far!

Amazing!

Dementia

"Dementia is wicked," she wrote reflecting on a difficult week with her father.  

I understood what she was saying.

I responded: 

Dementia IS wicked.  

But (for me, at least) it is also endlessly and all-at-the-same-time

fascinating, challenging, tender, demanding, and sad.  

My mother's condition is drawing out the best in me, I believe.  

Qualities I never would have guessed myself to have...

Then again, maybe that's because they AREN'T "my qualities" 
but His remarkable grace.

A care-giver helps Mother with next week's meal choices...

Optimism

 Optimism!

It's the word that came to my mind when I went out to hang up

a few towels on our clothesline this morning (October 29th)

and saw the lavender and roses.

 Not typically autumn flowers, there they were!

Optimistically sticking their "necks" out; boldly blooming against a backdrop of

fading and falling leaves.

Unfortunately, optimism is NOT a natural state of mind for me.
However...
"...since I have been justified through faith, I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom I have gained access by faith into this grace in which I now stand.  And I boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but I also glory in my sufferings, because I know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope.  And hope does not put me to shame, because God's love has been poured out into my heart through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to me."  (Romans 5:1-5, personalized)

I enter this new day sticking MY neck out in faith.
Persevering and bold in hope, I remind myself
 that I stand amply supported by the AMAZING grace of God.

Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near every one of us, who is present not only in earth, sea and sky, but also in every pure and noble impulse of our hearts.  (Helen Keller)

Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/o/optimism_quotes.html#w27gsSXaLQp0J6jp.99

Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near every one of us, who is present not only in earth, sea and sky, but also in every pure and noble impulse of our hearts.
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/o/optimism_quotes.html#w27gsSXaLQp0J6jp.99

Suspended in Grace

 

 Life and time seem suspended in an indescribable space.

If I had to name it, I'd call it Grace.

 Finding activities to occupy my parents' time in a rehab facility (Dad0

 and Memory Unit (Mother) finds me coloring pictures, walking in the sunshine hand-in-hand,

watching the birds in the aviary, playing a game of Uno, teaching Dad to play Solitare,

or cutting expired coupons with Mother.

 My father made his first batch of brownies in Occupational Therapy

and took them later to share with my mother.

They met in the hallway.  It was as though they were getting reacquainted with each other.

In a way, they were.

 One day, my son came to visit his grandparents.  In the photo below,

 my father is explaining to Mother who her grandson is.

 In another meeting, Dad showed Mother some of the many, many cards he has

 been receiving since his open heart surgery.

And every day, whether traveling back and forth, sitting quietly in a room

while a parent naps, sitting next to Mother trying to get her to eat,

or watching my father courageously tackle his therapies,

I am suspended in a space I call Grace.

It feels SO natural.  I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing right now.

Watching birds in the aviary...

Fire in my Heart of Hearts

 After a busy day, my husband called me outside to warm by the fire

 he had kindled from limbs and branches that had fallen in recent winds and storms.

 I took my book out with me--The Hawk and the Dove Trilogy, by Penelope Wilcox.

I turned to my place in the the second chapter
of the second of three books combined in this one volume...

and just LOOK at the words that greeted me!

"Technology is man made and has no soul"

What followed these initial paragraphs were some of the most moving  and profound words

about the justice and mercy of God that I have read in a long time.

Punctuated by the flames, I read:

'It is true that God shapes the lives of men in the ways of justice, and that the righteous find expression of his Spirit in the paths of justice and of peace.  

But justice is a path, yes a way; it is not a home.  

It is a framework, or a setting, but it was made to carry another jewel.

Justice, like John the Baptist, is the forerunner,

clears the road, for the coming of the Christ himself.

And when he comes, he is compassion.

He is love...

Oh God forbid that our lives display the sterile correctness 
of men who have learned what justice is, but never tasted mercy.' 
 (Words of the beloved character, Father Peregrine)

I wiped away my tears of overwhelming realization of the mercy and love of God

that burned like a fire in my heart of hearts

and continued to the end of the amazing chapter.

A Promise Kept is Grace Given

 I was too lazy to move out of my recliner to get a better picture before posting.

But the picture isn't the REAL story here...

Yesterday my husband and I finished the book we were reading devotionally each morning.

So today I reached down to my stash beside "said recliner"

and shuffled through a couple of options.

More Precious Than Silver: 366 Daily Devotional Readings by Joni Eareekson Tada

was the one I came up with.  (I'm sure I purchased it at a thrift store!)

"Shall we start at the beginning or turn to today's date?"  I asked my husband.

"Let's do today's," was his answer.

Don't know what YOU know or if you can read the print in the photo....

but my husband is a minister.

We read...
 "A minster who is reading this is telling himself, I feel like moving on to a job that doesn't load me down with so much grief.  But he remembers a promise he made when he was ordained, so he sticks with his congregation in pastoral love."

We shed a tear or two.

We sat in silent wonder.

"...a promise kept is grace given...

Strengthen me to keep my promises, God, to take them seriously, 
and to make the necessary sacrifices to fulfill each one"

So finished the page.

That the book sat (for weeks) in a stash beside my chair,
that we finished the OTHER book yesterday,
that we decided to read TODAY'S selection TODAY,
that these words were penned by Joni at least 14 years ago,
that we were so encouraged by all these "coincidences"...
there is no explanation aside from a loving, caring, sovereign Heavenly Father!

Reflection

Sitting outside this morning, enjoying the cool.

Basking in the quiet.

Reflecting on the week almost past.

Thanking God for the activity, for health,

for healthy grandchildren and daughters who love Jesus 

and demonstrate His love to their children and to me.

Thanking Him for their safety in traveling back to their homes last night...

Thanking Him for friends who invited us to dinner in their home last evening

and for excellent food and  fine fellowship around the table.

Recognizing the goodness of God in the timing of that meal.

 Catching up with my "through-the-Bible-in-a year" reading.

Cherishing the fact that my reading included some of my most favorite

Scripture passages--Romans 11-16 and Ephesians 1-3.

Hearing the gentle (but unmistakable) corrections and encouragement

from God Himself.

Repenting of my selfishness and pride.  

Celebrating His mercy and grace.

  "We don't need to retire to the desert to meet with God. 

He can come to us at our ordinary duties."

 (A. Bonar)

Elijah & Grandpa (Elijah was missing in photo action yesterday...)

Happy Anniversary

"We don't need to retire to the desert to meet with God. 

He can come to us at our ordinary duties."

 (A. Bonar)

It's interesting how He came to me - early this morning.
(If you're interested in this vein of posting, you'll need to read a couple of my previous ones...)
My ordinary early morning practice is to enjoy the cup of coffee my husband makes and hands me, journal, read a selected Bible passage from a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, pray,
and then check facebook, twitter and emails.
OK.  Keeping it honest, that is the order I'd LIKE to practice.
Sometimes I mix it up.  Anyway...

Today is our 41st anniversary.  

Now get THIS.

Would you believe that the Dr. John Piper tweet that greeted me this morning was:  

 "These forty years the Lord your God has been with you." 

Deut. 2:7
!!!!!!!!!!! 

The Lord our God has even thrown in a BONUS year for us!
We DON'T need to retire to the desert to meet with God. 

He can (and does) come to us at our ordinary duties. 

And my day is just beginning!

Circumscribed!

"May God's grace and mercy circumscribe all your choices today," I wrote prayerfully as I commented on a blogging friend's post this morning.  Then I questioned my choice of the word circumscribe and decided I'd better google its definition before hitting the Publish Button.  (Too often, the Publish Button has morphed into a Panic Button for me.)

I believe the Heavenly Father had a lesson in mind for me -- if for no one else.  

Just LOOK at this.  Do YOU see it, too?

Circumscribe:

1 a : to constrict the range or activity of definitely and clearly <his role was carefully circumscribed> 

 b : to define or mark off carefully <a study of plant species in a circumscribed area>

2 a : to draw a line around b : to surround by or as if by a boundary <fields circumscribed by tall trees>

3 : to construct or be constructed around (a geometrical figure) so as to touch as many points as possible 

(from Merriam Webster) 

To constrict, to define, to mark off, to draw a line around, to surround, to construct or BE constructed around!  It would be enough to think on these functions of God's grace and mercy.  

But Merriam Webster goes on to describe the functions!  Definitely, clearly, carefully, around, by a boundary, and so as to touch as many points as possible!

Oh, I'm DEFINITELY circumscribed by God's grace and mercy!

They are "new every morning"!

They touch as many points as possible.

And with God, all things are possible.

Heart Care

"Psychological needs, not theological creeds, make people strident and judgmental.
Traumatic hurts create dogmatic hearts." 
So tweeted Rick Warren on December 30, 2011.

I tucked this away in my posts' drafts thinking I'd develop it a little further at a later date. Now, in the month of ♥♥♥, I revisit it. I've decided to let it speak for itself. (It really doesn't need any developing.)  It gives me insight into myself and into others. I recognize that without the grace of God and continual work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I am a strident, judgmental and dogmatic person. And when I bump into such a person, I am reminded to respond more compassionately, knowing that behind the stridency and dogmatism there may lie a deep need or traumatic hurt.

We dare not overlook psychological needs and traumatic hurts in ourselves and others.  To deny them is dangerous and destructive.  To use them as excuses is selfish and unproductive.  To refuse to come to the Healer and seek the help of skilled, Christian counselors is prideful and foolish.

...on our front porch...

Psalm 103

² Praise the LORD, my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
   and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
   and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

♥Thanks be to God♥

Better than I Deserve!

I'm a huge fan of this show.  His financial principles and counsel are rock solid.  I'm not a regular listener (simply 'cause I haven't taken the time to figure out local scheduling). But now and then, while in the car or during occasional sleepless nights, I stumble on his call-in radio program.

Dave's stock answer to every caller's question, "How are you?" is "BETTER THAN I DESERVE!"

How great is that?!  How TRUE is that?!
Lately, I've been challenged (and frankly, OVERWHELMED in a positive way) by insights of Paul David Tripp on the subject of grace.  This, for example:   "Never forget that what God required you couldn't do...Christ did it for you...his grace is your hope."

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious Name of Jesus,
Praise His Name!

Music & Lyrics: Haldor Lillenas

"How am I doing?" you ask.  "Better than I deserve!"  His grace IS my hope.

Rise! Shine! Give God the Glory, Glory....

The title of my post comes from a kid's song - something about Noah and the "Arky, Arky"...  but today, I'm the one who is rising and shining to give God the glory!

For months, I've been in a lot of pain in both knees.  I'm not the doctoring sort (and one day I will need to see a doctor).  I diagnose the pain as being "the weather", "too much sugar and/or white flour", my "extra pounds", etc.

In the past, the pain comes and then goes.  But this time it has hung on longer.  I've been mostly side-lined.  Just didn't do too much at all.  I crawled (literally) up the steps to our bedroom at night and came down in the morning, one painful step at a time.

Saturday, I spent a lot of time at the piano practicing songs that I would lead in our Sunday morning worship service at church.  I was blessed to the point of "happy" tears.  I told the Lord AND my husband, that if I never was free from my knee pain, at least I could praise God with my song.

Sunday evening we gathered around a table at our Home Connection.  Several others have health problems that far exceed my own.  When it came time to pray, I prayed for our healing.  I asked the Lord to remind us to give Him the glory for healing or grace to bear the pain - whichever He chose.  It was and IS His call.

Monday morning I woke up with significantly less pain in both knees.  My temptation?  To say maybe it was the weather change (I couldn't say weight loss or less sugar 'cause neither is true)!  But immediately I knew God HAD answered my prayer.

I want to honor Him by telling everyone I meet.  I also want to use my energy (which is so much higher with the alleviation of the pain) to serve Him--not to waste it on myself.  I feel like the woman in Jesus' parable who after finding her lost coin called all her friends and said, "Rejoice WITH me!"

Rise!  Shine!  Give God the Glory!

September 1st

It is not His cross that is heavy;
It is those that our hands have made
That hinder us on our journey,
On our aching shoulders laid;
There is strength for the load He gives us
And balm for the thorn He sends,
But none for the needless burdens,
And none for our selfish ends.


For His yoke is easy to carry
And His burden is light in weight;
He will do His share of the labor,
For He is a true yoke-mate.
Are weary and heavy-laden?
Are we anxious and full of care?
That is not the cross of His giving
But the one we make and bear.
(Author unknown)

This poem followed the September 1st entry in this old devotional book.  Each morning, my husband and I  drink a cup of coffee as we read the selection from THIS book and then another more contemporary devotional book.  Many times we are surprised how the two mesh and God reinforces a word of instruction or encouragement to us!

The poem THIS day reminds us not to load or unload ourselves, not to cut our cross to our own liking, and to keep our backs as straight as we. can and not think about what is upon them or boast of the load that we carry. 

I KNOW that  many loads I bear are those that I've loaded myself with!  Today I choose to let Jesus "load" me and release those I carry needlessly!  I hope you'll  join me in that decision.

The Generosity Chain

Once again, we are the recipients of garden bounty.  (The photo only shows a very small portion of what we actually received!)  Thanks to the generosity of Lynn and Donna, we are eating and enjoying many fresh vegetables at the expense of their foresight and labor.  They have truly taken these verses to heart:

"...to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (I Timothy 6:18-19)

I want to keep the "generosity chain" going and have an idea or two to put into action today!

Have YOU been a "recipient" lately?  Are you keeping the "chain" going?

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace!  How sweet the sound....

His grace flows down and covers me.

COVERS me!
COVERS me! 
 Stay long enough to hear the incredible song with me.  
I've listened to it at least 8 or 9 times this morning... 
God has us SO "covered"!
Amazing!