Miracles Missed

Think about this.  It seems we are constantly blessed and yet we do not even know it. 

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.
Buddha

I Am Nothing

It is true, you know.  I am nothing. 

I was walking out of a church supper last night with a friend.  She is about my age.  Not too long ago she and her husband were happy, active, independent, and living a good Christian life . . . then they both got very sick, he passed away and she has been in and out of ICU ever since but even though she’s approached the gates of heaven many times, she is still here.  She walks slowly with a walker, she carries a heavy tank of oxygen with her everywhere she goes.  She is thin and weak and can hardly move, is often out of breath, has trouble eating, sleeping, speaking . . .

She never misses church as long as she’s not in ICU.  She dresses in her Sunday best, she smiles at anyone the Lord puts in her path, and she has uplifting words for them. 

Last night she admitted to me that she is not sure why God doesn’t take her.  I think He knows we need her.  She told me she’d read her devotional reading while wondering about her life and death and it made her consider that maybe He is using her to show people how through the Holy Spirit He can use us, all of us, even – to put it as my friend did “someone like me.”

I had a hard time not crying at her words.  How often do we, for our own reasons, feel like “someone like me.”  This is not an article about making you feel guilty about your own situation being easier than that of my friend.  You see, our own struggles do weigh us down and quite honestly it never really helps me much to be reminded that “a lot of people have it worse.”

The truth is, whether we think so or not we really are “nothing” without our Lord and as long as we think otherwise, He can’t use us as He desires to.    Some of us “get it” and some of us are at times caught up in our own opinion of ourselves and don’t realize how much we need Him.  I think, actually, we are all at various times caught up in both of those mindsets. 

Someone said something to me this morning that reminded me so much of my Savior’s love for me and my dependence on Him . . . and what an incredible gift it is.  She said “you are a blessing to me.”  At once it brought tears to my eyes.  Me?  A blessing?  I am nothing.  Ah, but that is the whole idea – alone I am nothing but in Him and with Him and through Him, I can be part of His body in this world and reflect Him on those around me.  That’s what He wants and it’s what I want.  He loves me.  He tells me so all the time.  He keeps finding new ways to tell me this.  Today, He used one of you.  I am blessed.  I am nothing.  It’s amazing! 

His Voice Change!

I called a friend not long ago and a man’s voice answered the phone.  I realized at that moment that I had no idea if it was her husband or her teenaged son.  His voice had changed! 

I am thinking of this now as I am in my studio working on a quilt project.  The part of the project I am doing is simple yet time-consuming and was not my favorite and thus much avoided, however I learned something a while back.  During  this mindless but long step in the process, I can do the work and let my thoughts and my heart drift from my fabric to my Lord. 

Suddenly, the dreaded part of the work, still something I don’t care for, passes much more pleasantly for me.  This morning as I work I have the doors to the deck open and my room is “noisy” with sound . . . and this is the reason I am reminded of my friend’s  son and his voice change.  You see, the Lord’s voice changes also.  Sometimes I can hear His voice like a man standing in the room with me.  Sometimes my spirit hears what my human ears cannot, sometimes I hear His voice in a delicate coo from a baby, and today His voice is the sweetest music to my ears for the loud noise I mentioned?  It is the many birds outside my room in the trees in and surrounding my yard.  They are feeling His love and sharing it with me and His voice has touched my heart through them!

About God’s Love and Power

As I got out of bed on Sunday morning, and headed to the shower, all the things I needed to do flooded me.  Now, I admit, many of these are things I’ve been praying for and for a long time, but as with most of us, it did feel a bit like “wow, all at once?”  That being said, the challenges of spiritual warfare and human weakness add to the excitement and so as I stepped into the shower I thought “how????” and then heard the voice of the Lord making it clear He is at work in all of it.  As my jumbled mind heard the words I was still thinking of all these things and of the need to surrender and let the Holy Spirit guide me. 

At this point, the Lord spoke again saying “Listen to me!”  At once I let go and listened and peace came over me.  This is Wednesday so in the lapse of time since then I’ve surrendered, picked “it” back up, and surrendered again – many times.  Today I found myself waking to “how am I do get this done in time” and so as I sip my second coffee and try to release and listen for His voice, here is what I found just now:

I turned on the computer to find a loving message from one of my Sisters in Christ here.  How awesome is He to reveal His love to us and in so many ways and through the hearts of so many of His flock?  Thank you Lord!

Next, realizing that the weather here is “perfect” I opened the doors to the deck and let the fresh air flood my room.  In so doing, the most amazing music fills my ears at this time.  Many of you may already know how much I adore birds and how often the Lord reveals His love to my spirit through their song.

I just finished reading my daily devotional for today which was related to Proverbs 31:10 “A wife of noble character who can find?
   She is worth far more than rubies. ” 

Reading this I wondered what the Lord might reveal to this single lady who’s without income and questions her “worth” in human terms.  What I learned was that it is through surrender to Him that we are empowered to do many things in the manner in which He will enable us.  HE WILL ENABLE US.  He will enable me.  “speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Amen!

Need To Start Over?

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,

but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

– Maria Robinson –

Okay, so you want to start over and you don’t know how to start?  Are you not sure where to begin?  Don’t look back . . . look up! 

John 14:6

 ⁶Jesus saith unto him,

I am the way, the truth, and the life:

no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Don’t Give Up So Easily!

 

Do you give up too easily?  It’s okay to admit it if you do.  It’s just us.  You are accepted here.   We all, knowingly or unknowingly, give in to defeat at times when in truth, the gloom around us is like a swiftly passing storm and the beauty our human eyes can’t yet see is close – so very close to us. 

Just this morning, as I lay in bed with my eyes still closed and just in that earliest point of wakefulness, I heard birds singing.  Softly they sang at first, then louder and louder as though the brave lone little bird who dared speak his heart found kindred spirits about him and as each brave feathered one joined in the triumphant chorus, the warmth and beauty spread further and further and became more and more evident. 

 

 

As I opened my eyes, I saw – through human eyes – a cold and dark morning with signs of thunder and rain on the horizon.  Unwilling  to give up, I closed my eyes again, preferring what my heart had seen and heard.  For my heart, you know, saw sunshine and beauty and possibility and hope . . . and it all began with a single softly shared note.

TAGGED!

I have been tagged!   What fun!  I have not played tag in years, so I am quite happy to have a reminder of how much I enjoyed it.  Thank you http://rebecaurora.wordpress.com/  for inviting me to join the game and for providing an opportunity to get to know my fellow bloggers better! 

What?  You don’t know of her blog yet?  Oh, you really must read it post-haste!  You don’t know WHAT you’ve been missing.   

Now to get down to business, since as  with awards there are rules for the WordPress tagging, too.

The rules are:

1 Tagged Bloggers should post the rules.

2 Answer the questions the tagger has set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

3 Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.

4 Let them know you’ve tagged them!

And, here are my 11 questions to answer: 

1. Favorite song?  On Eagles’ Wings
2. Favorite movie?  Courageous’
3. Favorite tv show?  Jeopardy
4. Favorite book?  TOO MANY TO LIST’
5. Favorite place to visit ?  South Carolina – so I moved here!
6. Coffee, tea or soda?  Coffee
7. Favorite day of the week?  Sunday
8. Favorite dish?  Spinach Pie
9. Favorite season?  Spring
10. Favorite month of 2011? And why?   January – attended a retreat which changed my life
11. Favorite blog to read ???  Again, far too many to list – it keeps growing!

Here are the tagged blogs

http://caddoveil.wordpress.com/

http://freedomborn.wordpress.com/

http://applesofgoldministries.net/

http://ajpoetry.com/

http://jennifershope.wordpress.com/

http://chiefofleast.com/

http://iamavesselofgod.wordpress.com/

http://hodgepodge4thesoul.wordpress.com/

http://chiefofleast.com/

http://mtsweat.com/

http://jesusmyjoy.wordpress.com/

http://patromine.wordpress.com/

Questions for you to answer so that we can know you better:

1. Favorite veggie?
2. Favorite ice cream flavor?
3. Favorite flower?
4. Favorite animal?
5. Favorite vacation activity?
6. Chocolate or vanilla?
7. Favorite day of the week?
8. Favorite hide out or quiet place?
9. Guilty pleasure?
10. Folk Mass or Traditional?
11. Favorite PJs – silk or flannel?

Now time to notify the tagged blogs…

Tag!  You’re it!!!!

Joyful About NOTHING!

Well, not really. 

Thing is, I used to be fairly happy.  I had it under control.  Life was okay.  Then the Lord planted a seed in me which caused some changes and a lot of last few years have included growing pains.  Sometimes it was and is hard to think of anything but the pains . . .

Know what?  Happiness is totally  conditional  based upon external stimuli.  Joy isn’t.  Life in Him mean walking via His path and seeing with the eyes of my heart  but not my mind.  Wierd.  Scary.  W0nderful.  Changeable. 

There are often times when things do not go as I planned.  There are times I’m saying “Okay, Lord.  I’m confused  so I’m blindly following you.”  Duh!  That is what He wanted all along. 

Know what?  There are days, like today, when nothing happened as I planned and my “to do” list grew rather than shrunk.  Suddenly, in the middle of a crowded grocery store parking lot amid confusion of tired hungry people and bored small children and traffic, the Lord spoke to me in love and filled me with His joy.  My joy has nothing to do with anything at all but for the fact that HE IS. 

WOW!

 

Use Protection!

Nobody ever said being a follower of Christ and living the life He desires us to live would be easy.  Afterall, look at the way He was received during His 33 years in human form.

That being said, we are provided with all the help we need to do as He leads us.  He promised to never leave us.  We simply need to BE His, to BE focused on Him and to BE at peace.  He gives us all we need including His armor, so why do we look at the evil coming at us and not use what He has given us? 

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11 KJV

DON’T GO IT ALONE!

Here’s To The GOOD Life!

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 KJV