“I AM HE!”

When I am wounded,

I have two options

from which to choose.

I can stare at it,

poke it

again and again,

and worry why it does not heal,

or

I can take my trouble

to the One who can!

By Martha L Shaw – © 2017

LINK UP OPPORTUNITY- NEW FOLLOWER POTENTIAL

I just posted a  piece which, at the end, contains an easy, fun, challenge anyone can do!  Click here to see the details!  PLEASE spread the word so we can see how long a list of positive delightful posts we can write together!

I AM ASTONISHED WITH DELIGHT! CHALLENGE!

I was reading an article on the upcoming celebration of the FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, which is when  Jesus goes up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, and he is transfigured for them.  The word dazzle was used and instinctively I made a face . . . picture scrunched nose!

 

 

I never use that word and associate it with those plastic toys which are used to put glittery embellishments onfabric . . . no, I am not a fan.  lol   Me, being a-word -a- holic . . . I looked further and the dictionary defined dazzle including the phrase “to astonish with delight.”  WOW!  Silly me!  That so perfectly describes Jesus’ love for me, as I so often feel it!

CHALLENGE

 

PLEASE write a blog post describing a time or experience in which you were  ASTONISHED WITH DELIGHT and post a link to it in the comments so I can share your story with my readers and perhaps introduce new friends  to your blog!

 

Cat-itude Challenge!

In the comments section, please join in the fun and post a family friendly caption for this image!

Daily Prompt: Stranded

The Challenge: You’re stranded in a foreign city for a day with no money and no friends. Where do you go; what do you do?

Wow.  Here I am . . . the girl who craves intimacy of those she loves . . . here in a fabulous foreign city . . . but broke and with no friends.  Sure, we have all been broke from time to time, or thought we were.  Who among us has not, at some point, felt abandoned . . . but this time it’s the real thing, for a day anyway.  What to do?

1. Run to the library?  Can’t read the language.
2. Hang out at the mall?  Alone in a crowd and no money – worse.
3. Walk around and admire the city?  The loneliness is like a chill in the air.

What to do?  Where to go?  

Hmmmm . . . the churches, cathedrals, shrines . . . amazing sacred spaces representing the presence of the divine to so many faithful over so many hundreds of years . . . I could never be alone there.  Oh, the buildings might be empty to the eyes, those orbs of the body, but not to the soul . . . not this soul anyway.  Armed with my backpack, plenty of pens and a fresh notebook, and the remains of peanuts from the plane trip here and my last bottle of water, I set off.  How can I describe my day?  The day I dreaded wasn’t long enough for all the blessings before me . . . and I can’t wait to go back again!

Writing Challenge: Turn It Around

A fellow blogger invited us to share our testimony recently.  Live and Laugh With Jesus posted this challenge here.

This has made me think . . . it’s Monday as I write this and on various sites I’ve seen laments about “woe is me” as a new week starts.  Oh, I know those feelings.  Here’s the challenge!

if I let Him, the Lord will ALWAYS turn it around for me.  I’m still finding that I should let Him do this more often than I do, but life is a learning journey.  That being said, I’d like you to accept this challenge and in the comment section of this post, please share a time when you encountered Him in this way and let us rejoice in how He took “ho-hum” and turned it around for you!

Sharing these moments can bring hope to others.  Won’t you share with us?  If you would like, you are welcome to write this on your own blog and post a link in the comments section below.  I’ll edit this post and add a list of your links.  You are also welcome to share in the comment if you prefer.

Thanks for being His disciple!

Five Sentence Story

It had been a long week full of disappointment.  I ran a few errands and was nodded at a number of times.  I was assured my business was important to a few.  I somehow felt alone in the various noisy crowded places.  Then it was time for church and I was reminded of the love surrounding me always 🙂

I learned of the five sentence story idea from Caddo Veil  who in turn learned of it from Linda of  purpleborough I had to try it.  Check their blogs and join in the fun, won’t you?

Daily Prompt: Burning Down the House

Here;s the challenge:   “Your home is on fire. Grab five items (assume all people and animals are safe). What did you grab?”

Click on the above link to answer the question and join the challenge.  Now, as for me . . .

1. Bible
2. Cell phone
3. Computer
4. Eye glasses
5. Pocketbook

How about you?

Daily Prompt: Musical

Our challenge from WordPress just now is “What role does music play in your life?”  As soon as I saw the invitation to write on it, the answer to the question and the subject of this post became clear to me.  You see, the Lord constantly touches my heart through music!  I must say that while radio, DVDs, television, concerts, websites, choirs and more always lift me up, by far the most grace and blessings come, to me from Him, through the birds singing outside my windows just now as I write this, as I first waken in the morning, and at random moments throughout the day.  Sometimes their song startles me as the disquiet of my day threatens to steal my joy, for when I stop fretting and catch my breath, their voices are foreign to the mood I’ve fallen into and it takes a moment or several to allow my soul to rest and soak up the songs of praise they sing.

The Bible tells us oh so many times how much He cares for them and for us.  It reveals to us that if He cares so much for the birds of the air then surely He cares so much more for each one of us, no matter what.  Do you know what strikes me though?  In a storm, in a really scary hurricane with winds knocking limb after enormous limb from the trees and threatening to overtake my home, these tender, gentle, and fragile creatures still sing their songs of praise.   I ponder this as I consider the stress of my yesterday, and the annoyance of this morning.  But, the birds still sing.  I consider this as I frown over the party invitation I didn’t receive.  But, still the birds sing.  I look and listen with wonder at them as I fight thoughts of “what will tomorrow bring?”  But again, the birds sing praises.

There is a lesson to be learned from these tiny musicians and vocalists.

For me it is not one of “Does He love me more than these”

but more importantly “How can I learn to be more like them?”

Words and photo by Martha L Shaw – ©1-26-2013

The Problem With New Years’ Resolutions – DPchallenge

Most of us write New Years’ Resolutions and some of us live by them for a short time.  I could be mistaken on the time assumption, but I’ve never known anyone who lasted longer than a very short period before putting the thought away with the tinsel.  This year, I’m putting the whole concept away before the lights on my tree get wound up on an old paper toweling roll.  Why?  I looked up the word in the dictionary and I’m not liking its true meaning.

You see, resolution, resolve, resolute . . . no matter how you look at it, is all about me making a firm determination.

• My thoughts
• My plan
• My firm and unshakable opinion  and purpose

I ask you, my readers, how’s that working for you?  I’m of the opinion that unless my life is planned by the Lord and resolve is to follow Him, then I am not necessarily living into my true purpose.  I believe it is also true that He desires that I stay in step with Him.  The world we live in is constant in its quest to mold us into something we are not, worry us with things that should not concern us, and change our focus to a place defined not by us and not by our faith but by some misguided opinion we should not pay attention to, so why do we do so?

Furthermore, why do we focus so much attention on the day and time in which our world will come to an end?  We miss the blessing of the time we are in and we miss the opportunity to live our authentic lives while we fuss about whether “they” are right this time.  What do we gain aside from a headache in doing so?  If we live by faith, then we know “if” this world were to come to an end tomorrow we know where we are going, and Matthew  24:36 tells us “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[a] but only the Father.” so where’s the problem?

So, the challenge, to write my resolution for the coming year?  That’s no challenge to me.  I’ve got many “challenges” to face but mapping out the next 365 days on a resolute “plan of attack” sure isn’t one of them.  I’m working on faith to eliminate the rest of the challenges as well.  I’m determined to follow the leader, Jesus Christ.

Happy New Year!