Earliest Years of Romantic Friendship

It has been a very long time since I last posted here, but tonight, as I sit up very late into early morning hours, I have taken the time to look back and reminisce, thinking of blogging days in years gone by  Wow!  What fantastic memories! 

We spent today with our earliest best friends, Marcia (Reinhardt) and Scott Brown, best friends of high school and college years.  What a great day with them, catching up on close friendship of so many years ago!  Isn't it funny how quickly you can reconnect with dearest of friendships from so many years ago!  What an amazing and wonderful walk down memory lane!  We shared incredible, fun memories, and laughed until our mouths ached!  Wow!  What a trip!!

Marcia and I were best friends at church in high school years, and we went to college together at Prairie Bible Institute.  What a fun and interesting year and a half we spent there in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada--until we decided to go home and rejoin our boyfriends for the time left until we married them, getting engaged on the same weekend--as a complete surprise to each of us as couples, and to each of us individually!  Wow!  What a fun surprise!

Nearly 50 years have come and gone since then, yet our close friendship has remained intact, and every time we get together, we immediately pick up wherever we left off, no matter when we last got together.  Wow!  What a great friendship!

Sitting Alone with HIM

I sat alone outside tonight

in starry darkness, no moon for light.

The only sounds were rustling trees

and cars that passed occasionally.

But, dotted along the blackened greens

I could see the homesteads' golden beams.

The sparks of light and life lived there,

the hopes and dreams of love and care.

Even in the darkness one can see

how our Lord intended life to be,

homes without violence, families at peace,

rest for the weary, love without cease.

Quietness speaks no evil; stillness has no voice.

Peace reigns supreme, when God is our choice.

Take time to sit alone, away from all the din,

Rest your heart and weary soul, seek faith in only HIM.

I wrote this poem last night.  This morning in my "quiet time" with the Lord, I came across the Scripture (in my normal course of reading) that backs up the message in this poem. 

      "The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told Him all they had done and taught.  Then Jesus said, 'Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.'  He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and His apostles didn't even have time to eat.  So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone."  (Mark 6:30-32)

  What a blessing to me to read the very text this morning

that backs up what God said to me last night as I sat alone with Him! 

Life's Been a Journey...

And through it all, God has been my true and faithful Friend, my wise and understanding Counselor, and my ever-present Guide!

The journey forward continues . . .

Joy Comes in the Morning

Despite what our governing authorities decree . . . “those who trust the LORD will be joyful!”  (Proverbs 16:20-b)

“The joy of the Lord is your strength!”  (Nehemiah 8:10)

As genuine Christians (true Believers), our appropriate response to this decree that homosexual marriage is legal in all 50 states should be:

1. Let us not be guilty of “hateful" or rude remarks/actions (un-Christ-like) behavior or speech toward people who think and live in opposition to God’s Word.
2. Let us express only what would please the Lord and serve to draw people to HIM.
3. Let us be mindful that our job, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, is to help that happen, not to hinder it from happening.
4. Let's be contagious, rather than contentious, by speaking the truth only in love!

God gave us the Great Commission (“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel”) for a very important reason:  to share His love and truth in a way that would bring people to HIM!  That's it in a nutshell!

NOTE:   According to James 3:18 (NLT), “Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteous.”

  

Another version says it this way:   “…the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.”

Everyone wants to have true peace, to know true love, and to find true joy (not just circumstantial happiness)   These things can only come through participating in a genuine relationship with Jesus!

Robert Murray M’Cheyne said, “The purest joy in the world is joy in Christ Jesus.”  

Let’s help others find it!  Then, everything else will fall into place in their lives, as the Holy Spirit works in their minds and hearts.

Joy by Choice

"Peace is joy at rest;

joy is peace on its feet."

I love this quote by Anne Lamott, and this one by Jack Hyles:

"Happiness is untested delight;

joy is delight tested."

Mother Teresa said,

  "Keep the joy of loving God in your heart,

 and share this joy with all you meet."

John Templeton said, 

"If we try hard to bring happiness to others,

 we cannot stop it from coming to us also.

  To get joy, we must give it,

 and to keep joy, we must scatter it!"

Henri Nouwen said,

"Joy does not simply happen to us --

 we have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day."

The bottom line is:  "True joy comes only from God,

 and He shares this joy with those

who walk in fellowship with Him." 

(said by Jerry Bridges)

Well said!

Never Too Late to Try Again

Didn't like yesterday?  Don't like today?  It's never too late to start fresh....tomorrow!

You become your thoughts!

This little nugget which I came across just now, speaks volumes!

"Far-reaching are the benefits of right thinking. 

You become like you habitually think."

Further thoughts?  Leave a comment below.

Love Jesus More

I just saw a quote by PCD (Phillips, Craig & Dean - Christian musicians):

"I pray for nothing more

than for you to love Jesus more."

That statement seriously caught my attention and has captivated my thoughts!  Do you pray that way?  No matter what else you are praying for, do you preface it with this prayer?  This should be my / your daily prayer--for me, for you, and for everyone I pray for!  If you pray for healing for someone who is sick, needy, dying, in desperate straits, etc., pray first that he/she will come to love Jesus more!  That must be first and foremost, no matter what else the prayer request!

Have you prayed that yet today?

  

Garbage In -- Garbage Out

You change what you are and how you think by changing what goes into your mind.  If an undesirable or detestable thing enters--kick it right back out the door,and deny it entrance next time it arrives on your doorstep!  Take control of what is allowed to dwell in your thoughts! 

A New Year . . . Time For Change!

Dwell on Good Thoughts

The New Normal

Ahh, it's a new year and, hopefully a new start! For me, today is the first day of "back to normal", but also for me, the question is: "Do I really want to go back to 'normal'"?

What is "normal"? (besides a setting on the dryer)

1. Is "normal" good or not so good?

2. Is "normal" boring or exciting?

3. Is "normal" enjoyable or depressing?

4. Does "normal" feel like freedom or captivity?

5. Does "normal" hurt or heal?

6. Does "normal" drag you down or lift you up

7. Are you looking forward to getting back to normal or dreading it?

I think I would like to start out 2015 with "abnormal"--a cut above last year's "normal", and make that my new "normal". However, making new year's resolutions is usually just a exercise in futility! Maybe I'll try taking one day at a time for this week, trying one new thing each day. (It may work best for me if, at the end of the day, I jot down what I did different that day, so I won't forget!) Then, on Saturday or Sunday, I'll look back through my list and make a note of any progress I made. Repeat the experience the next week, and evaluate again on the next Saturday or Sunday.

Hmmmm...it would be so nice to get to the end of January and find overall, the month was a cut above "normal" for me.  What if I repeated the experience in February and each month thereafter for the whole year? What if by the end of 2015 I had a new "normal"? It could happen. It really could! It's up to me.

I'm not going to make a list of all the things I'd like to change about how I do life. I'm just going to make a list of what I actually do differently--today, and tomorrow, and this week, and this month, and this year!

Perhaps it will be a slow start and slow progress, but I'll rejoice over each thing as it happens! Rising above "normal" is definitely possible!

Where do I start? Lord, help me to see it, know it, and do it!!!

Ah, life!

No posting here for awhile! Life has been busy and fun! Between the times of activities with church and friends, visits with friends far away (coming to us and us going to them), times of illness and recovery, etc., my time is spent with catching up on things that must be done around the house! And, sometimes I just want to rest from everything for awhile.

Overall, life has been good, and we are enjoying it the full! Larry has been doing a lot of traveling on business, and that will continue for awhile. He is usually gone for a full week each time he goes, all over the country. So, it seems like I should have plenty of extra time to write some blog posts, but I tend to fill up my time with other things--either necessary catch-up or focusing on things more fun than blogging.

We are finally in the last year of counting down the months until Larry's retirement. Next April he will complete five years of working for FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) here in Dallas. He's already 65, but his goal is to have five years in with FDIC in order to qualify for some retirement benefits. What comes next after that, we haven't a clue!

We have been praying about God's plan for us when we enter the retirement stage of life, but so far we don't know His leading. We know we would like to travel, but we don't know where we will live. We love it right here, but we also love being near our kids and grandkids. The problem is, both of those families live very far apart (Northwest Montana and Southern California). Yikes! Even if we chose a place half way between them, it would still be an awful long drive to either of them, and we would have to totally start over again with finding a new church and friends. If we stay here, then we will need to choose between staying in our current house, or moving into a retirement community which also looks good to us. It is in a very good location for us, and living there would be lots of fun, but more expensive than staying right where we are.

Choices to make, seeking God's wisdom and direction, enjoying life in the present while thinking ahead as the months are flying by!

Passion of the Christ

My friend, Karen, (from Oregon) is visiting with me for a whole week--what a wonderful week we've had together! She just shared this video with me and I am still stunned, in awe of what I have just experienced through this! Please take the time (30 minutes) to watch this video in its entirety. You won't regret it.