LIFE, ANOTHER EPISODE

WOW.  I love being in this movie called "Life" that God totally directs!  This is an unbelieveable summer.  Scene after scene keeps playing out, one quickly after another and although I want to write it down, I"m not sure words can express my overflowing heart.

This morning I turned to The Living Word, my script for this movie, and here it is, God wowing me once again.  From Psalm 40:5

"Many O Lord God are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us no one can recount to you.

Were I to speak and tell of them

They would be too many to declare."

And verse 8 was a reminder of a prayer written in my journal: 

"Here I am, I desire to do your will" 

The episodes of this movie must be shared.  So here is one of them.

He came like a hurricane to our home, welcome yet forceful; loud and fast moving, controlling yet caring.  Leading the conversation, passion pouring out for a worthy cause; living life for a purpose but not "the purpose."

The All American family.  Wonderful & caring parents.  Responsible, hard working and honest.  Loved fully by the One who is waiting to make them royalty.  Like minded friends visit the scene.  Creative and comfortable with their lives.  Will they drink the water that will quench their thirst completely?  Does anyone want more?

A substance foreign to our counter rests there, something called brandy.  This and it's cousins are what the whole world seem to need for relaxation, conversation, having fun and just living.  It isn't that the glasses are always full, but it seems to be a central part of many life movies.  

Defeat was not felt but frustration.  A sadness and grief for him and his family because God has sent them to our set to be in this scene at this time.  Before they arrived we invited the maker of all, the breath giver, to be the director and producer of everything.

The prayer at lunchtime of a little girl who volunteers to pray is heard across the heavens.  While picking raspberries she says "I want my dad to go to church too".  It is that part of the movie where you  get your kleenix and hope to see her request played out.

Conversation sitting on the deck under the warmth of the sun is directed by divine intervention.  The leading of His Holy Spirit to testify of this Jesus,  who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who is our One and Only Savior,  who suffered and let darkness cover him so it doesn't have to cover us.  

Love cannot be described but that day it pierced the darkness in this hurricane and brought him home.

Passion redirected. Purpose transformed.

The deep joy cannot be described.  It's like the bursting of the sunrise, full and colorful and shining bright.  So the sunrise comes and it is not the end of this movie, but only the beginning.

LOVE POURED OUT

Love is pouring out on me.

1. HIDING.  I have to explain.  About six months ago when Jer & I arrived at our daughter's home there was no one home; so we went in and decided to hide.  Much to their delight, our grandkids found us.  So when I arrived at their home this trip, they were all hiding from me!  Miss Delight, the 2 year old, was behind the living chair eating yogurt and the 4 oldest kids were ALL under the covers on their parents bed.  What FUN!!!
2. ENVELOPES.  Our 8 year old grandson is kind and caring.  He gave me 2 envelopes; one for Gramma Marilyn and one for Grandpa Jerry.  There also said "do not open until you get home and open together".  So when I returned home the Hunk Jerry and I opened our envelopes to find beautiful pictures drawn especially for each of us!

3.  LAVISHED WITH GIFTS.  Several Tuesday nights ago (I am slow at this blogging) ALL of the gals who gather at my place on brought me gifts!  It felt like my birthday but it was just an ordinary Tuesday where girlfriends were lavishing me with fun and fabulous gifts..

This little purse was full of treats (which I ate)!  Annette bought it for me because of the JAM on the front, which is the name of our Christmas newsletter, "The JAM years".

My cousin, Sandy, saw this sign in a store on her way back from Boston, MA and she know my life word is "JOY"!  I found the perfect place for it!

My friend, Mary, brought me a colorful towel for my bathroom every Tuesday for 4 Tuesdays!  They brighten up my room very much!

My neighbor, Chris, brought over my favorite treat, Lindt dark chocolate truffles.  I ate them before I got a picture and enjoyed every bite!

Love pours down into my life in many ways everyday.  Lord, give me eyes to see it, ears to hear it, a mind that slows down enough to not run by it, and a heart that is grateful for each drop.

A Quick Smile & Pick-Me UP

“Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life” is the subtitle of the book “Limitless” by Nick Vujicic.  This is Nick’s first devotional after writing two other two previous books about his life.  (See my review of “Unstoppable”.)

This is a wonderful book to have just laying around on your coffee table.  You can pick it up and read a couple devotions in less than five minutes.  Nick’s positive attitude and his zest for living a life outside the norm are contagious.  

Joy and hope ooze out of the pages.  Because he actually was born with no limbs, his words of faith and trust and overcoming life’s obstacles are believable (although unbelievable). 

We should all have this little book within view in our homes especially in the times we limit ourselves and others.  Nick reminds us if he can persevere and overcome life’s adjustments, anyone can.  And he (and we) can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength.

Waterbrook Multnomah provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

GIFTS

It took me awhile to get out of bed and open my eyes this rainy morning.  When I finally did I decided to listen to  "Show Me Your Ways" in my praise time. I love the piano music in this version and how it talks about the faithful ways of God and how in getting to know Him You will climb a mountain and that there is a cost.

It is prayer to know God.

His heart.

His ways.

Then as I sat down to pray for my family and many others, I saw the GIFT.

There is no way to describe it's beauty here in words.

My journal was open (as I leave it) ready for my next entry.

As I looked I saw my daughter's handwriting.

She had written a beautiful prayer

It thanked God for His presence on our farm,

thanked Him for the beauty she saw in removing the dead leaves. There were personal words for me.  Tears of joy appeared as I read.

This GIFT

shows

God's Ways.

Abundant,

loving,

flowing and 

pouring over me like a flood.

This GIFT was like

love waiting for me this morning.

And I think love is waiting every morning.

And GIFTS are waiting too.

I just need to get out of bed and open my eyes.

How Worthy God is.

Glory, Honor & Majesty to Him!

firsthand

firsthand
by Ryan & Josh Shook

Reading the first line in this book, “Hi, we’re Ryan and Josh Shook, two brothers in our twenties”, my first thought was “oh great I guess I’ll just get through this book and move on”.  However, as I read on, this is turning out to be one of the favorite books I’ve read this year.  Ryan and Josh are open and honest and have an easy writing style.  If they knocked on my door today, I would welcome them in with, put the coffee on and we’d have great conversations (and hopefully my son and son-in-laws would be there too.)

The subtitle of this book is “Ditching Secondhand Religion for a Faith of Your Own”.   This book is written by two young men who know this generation to their generation at a time when it is urgent.  

I love the chapter names chosen for this book and also the subtitles; Soul Thirst, A Faith That Fills Emptiness, or Trashing the Checklists, A Faith Focused on Relationship, to name a couple.  Just the names could stir up great discussion and they reveal how so many this age are feeling.

I love the quotes by different people at the beginning of each chapter.  One of my favorites is “It is more important to live one word of Scripture than it is to memorize volumes” (Tim Hansel).  

The authors are not fake nor do they pretend know it all.  Their strong faith comes through only because they truly have a “firsthand” faith and have a passionate desire to share it with others.

This book is like a no nonsense discussion that really makes sense.  From the interviews where others answer hard questions to the easy ideas the brorthers offer and even the videos posted online that go along with book; this is a great book.  I would buy it for gifts and recommend it to parents who wish to communicate to their kids that you don’t want them to just adopt your faith but to experience a relationship with Christ “firsthand”.

I thought the reason I ordered this book was because I could get hard copy from Waterbrook Press in exchange for my review, which I did.  But God had a higher purpose in mind.  This book was sitting on my kitchen counter when my friend Sally dropped by.  Sally & her husband and 27 year old son have been going though a tragedy.  She had heard about this book and  was planning on buying it to leave it in her son’s house, and now here it is, sitting on my counter, ordered just for that purpose.

Thank you God!  And thanks Waterbrook Press.