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!

Peace

A bit (a BUNCH, actually) of heaviness, sadness, unexplained despair and general "blues" moved in and settled darkly over my spirit a couple of days ago.  In spite of my attempts to reach out to others needier than myself, sing praise songs, read the Psalms and follow all the other advice I so easily give to others, I seem to only escape the darkness by sleeping.

So after church today, that is what I did--stretched out on the couch with the afghan pulled up over my face.

I'm not sure how many hours passed before I opened my eyes.  The first thing I saw was this--Peace!  Stuck there some time ago while trying to figure out where to store it when I took Christmas decorations down, I guess.

When I went to edit the picture, I also noticed the seam on the lampshade where it SHOULDN'T be--uglying up the photo.  It reminded me that there's most likely SOMETHING where it shouldn't be in my life--whether it be attitude, a health situation that needs addressed, schedule that needs adjusting, a choice that needs to be made, fear, something I'm procrastinating about, or physical clutter that is bogging me down. 

I'm still in a sort of funk but with a little more insight than when I entered it.  Mostly, I realize that "Peace" was there all the time.  Even if I was unaware of it.  Even when I didn't notice.

"I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. 

And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."

Jesus in John 14:27

A "Christmas Carol" Moment

Seems that a lot of people are grappling with what it means to keep Christmas "sane, simple, and sacred" this year.  What follows are two of my responses to peoples' blog or facebook posts this morning.  Now, I'm certainly not free from struggle and error myself.  But, friends, while we can get ideas from others, let's turn to Jesus for our Christmas sanity this year.  Taking our cues from other people only leads to comparison, complications and discontent... 

 It's not easy, is it? I'm trying to get my cues from the "still, small voice" and not the "world" around me. Staying out of stores, definitely. Upping the time I spend in the Word & prayer. Listening to praise music and carols. Being with people - not to impress or entertain, but to enjoy and rejoice together. Being "sane" re. the food I bake, eat, etc. Looking for needs around me with an eye to meeting them...

Yes, there is an alternative, and I think you have identified it in your questions and veiled words.  I'm thinking that every one of us has a "Christmas Carol" moment when the truth finally dawns on us--when we quit taking our cues from the "world" around us and decide what we really want this holiday to be about...

Praying that NOTHING will be artificial about Christmas in your heart and home this year.

Peace Bridge

 As we left Buffalo yesterday, the Peace Bridge loomed in the distance.

Linking the United States and Canada,

the bridge carries not only cars but also a message--PEACE!

Years ago, The Navigators incorporated The Bridge
as part of their training in how to explain the plan of God
to rescue and save sinners.

As I remember, a diagram was included which pictured

Jesus as the "bridge" linking sinful man and a holy God.

Jesus IS our Peace Bridge!  

Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, 

we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.  

Romans 5:1

Rain, Sweet Rain

I stepped out the back door to take in the beauty of this soft, spring shower.

Much needed...

Unlike the violence of earlier rains,

this one came without fanfare.

Even its thunder is gentle.

With equal gentleness came a 40+ year old memory.

A song sung in either high school or college choir.

A Psalm, actually...the 72nd.

6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: 

as showers that water the earth. 7 In his days shall the righteous flourish ;

and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, 

and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus...

Let your peace rule my heart and mind today.

Come to refresh all Your people.

Come to establish Your righteous kingdom.

Amen.

The Shower Got Me to Thinking....

To anchor my thoughts for the devotional I was asked to deliver at last Saturday's baby shower, I went to the early chapter of Luke--and the rather incomplete story of Jesus from birth to age 12.  (I'm sure you've probably notice how little is recorded in our Bibles about His childhood.)

What IS recorded is the account of the time Jesus was abandoned in Jerusalem for at least 4 days.  Today, that would probably warrant an investigation by Social Services!

I wondered why this story - out of all the others that COULD have been recorded - was included.   One of the lessons I drew from it this time was how quickly people, excitement, and events can crowd out our awareness of Jesus!  If his parents went a whole day without thinking about Him, how much easier it is for me to go a "day's journey" without Him.  By reading the story in Luke 2:41-51, I notice how much anxiety and stress could have been avoided if Mary and Joseph had been "aware".

It took them three days to find what was lost in one--His presence and their peace!  With new alertness, I am determined to be aware of His presence and experience the peace that comes with keeping Him within "eyesight" of the heart.

WHY AM I SMILING?

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning...The Lord is my portion...therefore I will hope in him...The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him." (Lamentations 3:22-25)

• I successfully followed and completed a 7-Day food plan.
• Birthday celebration last night included a piece of pecan pie!
• Anticipating a second celebration this noon.
• While on-track with my read-through-the-Bible plan, I have been encouraged and uplifted by specific verses lately.  I will share a "specific" tomorrow, God willing.
• God's peace guards my heart in spite of the political nonsense and (what I perceive to be) foolish and dangerous decision-making by our government officials.

Out of the Mouth of Babes (and Birds)

I can't resist this post to accompany the sweet, sweet song that is currently #1 on my playlist, Three Little Birds. Listen. Believe.

God's Word says: The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7.

Be encouraged, my friends! Look up, my dear ones!
The Lord is near!
All is well. All will BE well.