It has been awhile....

I can hardly believe it has been this long since my last post. I think I am ready to start writing again. However, it may be a bit different this time. I tried to write every week and that worked for awhile. I am thinking this time I will write as I feel the thoughts and ideas come. That may be several times a week or I may only post once a month. I have had thoughts running through my mind lately and each time I sense that would make a good post. So, I am giving it another shot. I will continue to post an update on Facebook when I post, but for those of you following who are not on Facebook, maybe just check every few weeks. I fear I may have lost some of you since it has been so long. My apologies. I think this first post will be filled with some highlights from summer since this is the first of September and Fall is upon us. I hope you enjoy the pictures and that you had a blessed Summer.

Do We Ask?

January seemed to have come by rather quickly. I felt like I had just decorated the house for Christmas and was enjoying the beauty of Christmas. You know what I mean. People are more patient it seems and caring. There is a happiness that time of year that we don't seem to experience any other time of the year. The songs on the radio make us feel warm inside and the stresses of life seem to release their grip for a brief moment. We get to see family and friends that we don't get to be with very often. Our ovens are filled with warm Christmas cookies and our mailbox is full of cards.

Then a few days later, the calendar is flipped and a new year has arrived. The sun sets and moon rises just as it did the day before, but some how this time it feels different. A new year. A fresh start. Resolutions are made, and broken. Some are kept, but few are. Then the weather on the east coast hits. Snow, ice, freezing temps. Who wants to venture outside? Find a good book and curl up. Sometimes I wish we were like bears, hibernate until better weather comes our way. I think they are onto something...

A few Sundays' ago we sang a song in church and the chorus has stuck with me and in turn, has challenged me. As we sang this song, we were asking God to show us His glory, show us His power, we ask Him to open up Heaven, we want to see Him. I was struck with the fact that we sing verses that our worship leader puts on the screen. We sound beautiful. Much praise is given. But when the lights go off and the worship band takes their seat, do we mean the words we just spoke to God? Are we really in our day to day life asking God Almighty to show us His Glory, His Power and if he opened Heaven could we stand it?! If we saw Him, would we recognize Him? Aw, this is my point. We just finished the Christmas season and we worshiped the baby, we spoke of the baby, those that were there 2000 plus years ago did the same thing, but did they recognize Him? Some did, many did not. Many felt He should have looked different. He should have released them from the grip of the Roman government. He didn't meet the requirements they had formed in their minds. It didn't matter that he fulfilled EVERY detail of prophecy. It wasn't what they were looking for, so it mustn't be true. We shake our heads at that. But, I ask you, do we not do the same thing? We ask Him to show us, and when he does, we call it coincidence and look to other possibilities. Worse yet, do we recognize His hand in our lives? That inner voice that guides and directs. Do we listen and care that it is there? Can you imagine what our life would be like if we prayed to God asking Him to show us his power, glory and the details he has put into our lives? I challenge you to do just that this week. Be ready to be floored. Sometime we don't have, because we do not ask. Now, keep in mind, that means we need to ask for things that will please Him and bring Him glory. What do we do with silence and no response when we ask?  We keep asking and trusting. In his time, it will come. Just because it isn't immediate, doesn't mean it isn't possible. I am always amazed in scripture when Jesus spoke how the people wanted more and more miracles to prove that he was the Messiah. How may miracles did he have to perform to please them? He never could have performed enough. He knew that, yet, he had compassion on them and healed and performed miracles to bring glory to His father, our father.  Do we use God as a Jeanie in a bottle? Or do we trust him with our very lives and as much as we need air for our next breath, we need Him to direct our lives and show us his power, glory and Himself? The longer you walk with Him, the more you will understand that His power and glory are all around Him. You won't want to take your eyes off Him. Then one day, he will reach down and call you home. Then and only then will we be able to see His face. Until then, His fingerprints will have to do. I see them everyday, but I must look for them. I saw them on the smiles of my daughters faces today. I saw them in the pure white snow that glistened off the fields. I saw them in the mockingbird as he ate red berries from my winter holly bush. I saw him in my husband's eyes as he said I love you before heading out the door for a meeting. I felt his fingerprints on the cold wet nose of the beloved Labrador as she nestled against me begging for some play time. She was an answer to prayer that I prayed four years for and she is a perfect fit for me. Most importantly, I felt His fingerprints in the warmth of my heart that no matter the circumstances I have joy, endless joy. So, please when you are ready, ask Him to show you his power, glory, and Himself. He will not disappoint. He is crazy about you and loves when you choose to spend time with Him.

The Rest of the Story...

Christmas season is upon us. Some of us may be ready and others may still have a long list waiting. I am somewhere in the middle. I love Christmas and it is my favorite time of year. Easter is a close second. I know I am starting to get older, because I have become much more reflective with each passing holiday. Some of my thoughts...

As a child, I couldn't wait for school to be out and a week's vacation to begin. I loved helping bake cookies and wrap gifts. I loved Christmas concerts and hearing the beautiful music. I liked opening Christmas stockings and the excitement of opening one gift on Christmas Eve and then having to wait till morning to open the rest. I remember sitting on my window sill as a very young child and wondering how it would be if Santa really was for real. Flying through the night sky delivering packages. I had favorite Christmas movies that you only had one chance of watching it, they didn't have it play every three days starting at Thanksgiving and going till Christmas day. All the better if it snowed on Christmas and we could play outside and have warm hot chocolate. I loved Christmas caroling with our church. I also remember clearly standing outside on a cold winter night and watching the stars and wondering, "what must His star have looked like?". I also enjoyed going to a local church and watching them reenact the Christmas Story.

I have grown up and many of those things I still love about Christmas. I love sending Christmas cards, receiving them, wrapping gifts and baking, baking, baking. I enjoy playing my Cd's with my favorite songs. I love decorating the house for Christmas and my favorite decoration still remains the Nativity set. I look upon that set and my mind wonders....how did we go from that to this?

I am not judging anyone and I am the first in line to celebrate some of the more secular traditions along with everyone else. But as I said earlier, I am being more reflective. I have noticed this year, maybe more than others past, that people as a whole are more exhausted looking. They are not laughing and happy while shopping. They are tired, they are stressed and just getting stuff of the shelves to have something for the kids to open. They are yelling at their children, they are standing in long lines and snapping at those around them. They are in hurry. They cut people off in the parking lot, and are pulling out in front of you while driving as if their time is more important than your time.

I wish things could be like a Hallmark movie. You know, the perfect log cabin decorated with fresh greens and snow on the roof. The person who hates their job or loses their job, finds the best one for them in 90 minutes and of course the single person who doesn't have a family finds prince charming and they are happily ever after, or all the towns people knows your name and support you in all you do.... I love Hallmark and I love their movies, I have seen many, but if that was our world, would the baby had to have come? Yes, because sin had entered the world long before movies were made and the relationship between God and man was forever changed, but you understand what I am saying. Since sin has entered the world it day by day decaying.

If you would ask people on the street about Jesus at Christmas, many would know the facts. Even the non-believers know the facts. Satan knows the facts. My challenge this week for all of us is the rest of the story. We get so excited about Christmas and all it brings. We put Jesus in the manger, where He should be this time of year, however, we then put Him back in the box and on the shelf till next year. His coming was huge! The prophets spoke of his coming 700 years before he came. Then God was silent for 400 years. The Word was made flesh, in a squirming little baby boy. That which created the world, came into it. Read that again. That which created the world came into it. Quietly. Life moved on. The animals remained and the Inn kept getting guests. The shepherds went back to their flocks. Life was quiet for 30 years. Then that little boy grew up. Those close to him could see he was different. He began his ministry and called his disciples. The whole point in his coming was to save his people, it is the reason he was called Jesus in the first place. The other name was Emmanuel - God with us. My personal favorite. For you see, He has never left. Once He died and rose again, the Holy Spirit came to reside inside each and every believer. God is still with us, in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Don't forget the rest of the story. Yes, celebrate his birth, but please don't put Him back on the shelf in the box. Invite him into your heart and allow him to write the rest of the story into your life. We know the rest of His story, it is recorded best in the book of John and Revelation. His birth is recorded best in Luke. If you have time this week or month, go back and read those accounts in Matthew and Luke, then this winter, read the book of John. There is so much more to him then being a baby in a manger. That my friend is just the beginning! Then pray about it and ask God to show you places you can tell and show others the rest of His story. Not just the Christmas story, but the rest of it. So many around us are hurting and money can't buy what they need. They need a Savior and you and I aren't it, Jesus is the one and only.

I wish you each a very Merry Christmas and blessings in the New Year! I plan to continue my blog but life has gotten a bit busier for me and so I see myself writing every other week instead of weekly, but will trust God with that. Time will tell. I have always said I will do this blog as long as He gives me the thoughts. I appreciate your feedback and may you love Him more today than you did yesterday, I know I do.

Wounds and Scars

I am hoping this message comes across as clearly as it is in my mind. I have delayed in writing because I fear I won't communicate it well. However, it is Sunday night and I have no other thought to write about so here it goes.

When we think of wounds we think of injuries that have occurred to us and cause so much pain and hurt. We can't think of anything else. The heartbeat we feel pulsating at the sight will not let up. If we don't take care of it, it will over time possibly become infected. If still not treated, infection can spread throughout our entire body. Infection left untreated that spreads will lead to death. Some wounds need ointment and cleansing. Some wounds need stitches. All wounds take time to heal and special care. We need to keep it clean and at times covered. Other times we need to let the air help dry and clean the sight.

Scars. Some wounds lead to scars. But the unique thing about scars is you can't have a scar without a wound first. You have to experience something before a scar can appear. The other thing about scars are, to the touch, they no longer have pain associated with them. It is what is left behind after the healing process is complete. I am sure we all have a scar of some sort. Some may be from surgery. Some may be from accidents. Some may be from careless activities.

Where am I going with this and what does this have to do with anything? This is my challenge. Are you walking around with wounds that should be scars by now? And are scars a bad thing? People will harm us and people will be mean to us. Do we allow those hurtful words to heal or do we let them fester and become infected. Do we allow them to cause a heartbeat of pain so we think of nothing else and focus on it constantly? Do we then become bitter and angry at everyone or that person because of past experiences with them? Keeping in mind, they may never know how deeply they have hurt us? Wounds of that kind could lead to death. I don't mean death of a physical body, but death of living life. We will close ourselves off to the world and others and become closed up in our world. We may have been hurt badly and we may be in the right, but is it time to let the stitching  begin? Is it time to allow the master physician to come and clean the wound and fill it with an ointment of grace and mercy and then stitch it tightly together making sure that there is no room for infection and leaving a scar in its place? A scar that reminds us of the journey and of how far we have come? Remind us to not make that careless mistake again? A scar doesn't hurt to touch it. Are their topics that when they come up, pricks your very soul and you become guarded? That makes me feel like it is a wound and not a scar. It may be a wound still healing or it maybe a wound that is waiting to become infected. Life is too short to be walking around with wounds everywhere. It is time to move on. If you need to forgive, forgive. If you need to spend time with Jesus, the master physician, spend time with him. If it is time to air out your wound with a trusted friend, then air it out. But whatever you do, don't let it become infected. Don't let it control your life. It is exhausting. Scars are a good thing. It is a work that is complete.

Scripture tells us by his wounds we were healed. Do you realize Jesus had wounds that we could never handle and would have killed us, just so we could be healed. Healed of our sinful life. Wounded so we could have life. His scars on his hands, feet and side remind us of a work complete. By his scars we are reminded that we have life eternal. Trust him today. He will take care of the wounds you are carrying, but you must first show him what they are. You can't walk around with them covered up. You may need to keep them covered for a time while together you work out the healing process. By the end of that time, you will take the cover off and you may be healed to the point where no one will ever see the damage done, other times, He will place a scar in its place. A scar to remind you of the journey you traveled. A reminder that you can get through this. A scar to show you that while it wasn't fair, it wasn't right and it was one of the most painful times in your life, you made it and while you have a scar in its place, you don't have pain anymore.

How do you know if you have wounds or scars? A wound will always bring up stress, anger, jealousy, frustration, defensive behavior, etc. A scar will bring back some hurtful, painful memories, but immediately joy and peace will fill its place. It is a time you can't forget, but you no longer are ruled by it. You no longer hold negative feelings toward that person. That person may never apologize for what was done. That person may be totally in the wrong, but how will you handle what you do? I suggest you move on. There are things we can't ever understand or explain, but to dwell on them will make us be someone who frankly is exhausting to be.

I have a small example of what I am saying. As many of you know, I spent a very long time in the hospital waiting for the arrival of our children. I have a scar on my stomach from their delivery. It is smaller than the average because they were born early and were small in size. The surgeon only makes the cut necessary to deliver them. When I see that scar everyday in the shower, I am reminded of many things. The pain that came for weeks after that cut was made. I am reminded of the battle God and I had while in the hospital and about what I thought was unfair and at times mad at God. He never left go. He knew I had stuff to work through and He gave me the time to work it out. I didn't need God in my life, only in my death. I felt I was saved and I only "needed" him when it came time for Heaven. I couldn't have been more wrong. I need Him in my life just as much as I need my next breath. He helped me see that. I am reminded of another thing, the two precious faces that awaited me at the end of the hallway. It was a long journey, but through it all, I was given a huge blessing in the end. He left a scar from the work that needed to be done, but I could touch it all day and it would never hurt. There is no pain in that scar. Simply a memory of work done and healed. Now I have some wounds that I am working on, and I am making progress, but wound it still is. I am treating it by spending time in prayer, having healthy boundaries and trusting God. I know He will heal it and make it better in His time. Until then, I will continue to trust Him and look to him for healing, rather than telling others and bringing more people to my side and start a festering mess. Infection will be around the corner and infection can lead to death. I don't want that, do you? I hope this week you can look back at scars and thank God for the complete healing in that area. I pray that the wounds you are facing will be surrendered to Him.

Highlights of Fall

As I write my post for the week, the wind is blowing and leaves are swirling. Fall is here and I feel like winter is knocking at the door. I love all the seasons God has placed on this earth. Some could last a bit longer than others. I have decided this week to post some of the pictures I have taken over the past few weeks as Fall arrived. There were many to choose from, so I had a hard time picking just a few. Enjoy the creation, our Creator has given us and praise Him for the beauty. See you next week when I will write a post. I already have a thought to share, but decided to post pictures this week for those following who enjoy my pictures. Stay warm!