Journey into Forever

"Now, therefore, thus says the  Lord  of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. “Thus says the  Lord  of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the  Lord . You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the  Lord  of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house." -Haggai 1:5-9 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matth

" SING TO HIM, SING PRAISES TO HIM;TELL OF ALL HIS WONDEROUS WORKS." 1 CHRONICLES 16:9 "LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD!" -PSALM 150:6 I admit it.  I am a "glass half full" kind of girl.  I can explain why I am that way, based on my upbringing and a few other events in my life, but that doesn't make it acceptable.  I just tend to see the negative, the depressing, the bad side of everything.  I'm working to be better at that, but it is my natural tendency. I remember the older generation saying things like, "This world is going to hell in a handbasket." or "It can't get any worse than this."  I thought that was ridiculous at the time.  I was a young person, full of hope for the future, thinking people who said those things were just old and used up.  Now I'm the one saying it.  But when you dare to look at the national news, or even the local news and Facebook, it seems there is so much c

" These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."    - 1 Peter 1:7 We recently returned from an amazing 3 week vacation to the east coast.  Much of our time was spent in Northern California, where we saw wonderful, God created sites like these...... We also saw the devastation that can come from natural events.   The fires were so bad that we could not see parts of Yosemite National Park.  We never made it to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon because the smoke was blocking the view of the lake.  And one day, we accidentally drove through an area that had been recently devastated by fire.  As a matter of fact we could still see some flames.  We had to wait for a little over an hour to continue on the road we were on.  We talked to a man behind us that said he lived in the area.  He told us t

"When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you.   For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your deliverer."  Isaiah 42:2-3 "I repeat, be strong and brave! Don't be afraid and don't panic, for I, the LORD your God, am with you in all you do."  Joshua 1:9 Cracking and crashing.  A roar in your ears that sounds like a freight train.  Loud bangs.  These are sounds I was imagining on a trip with friends to Greensburg, Kansas.   We had been there many years before with our kids, to see the world's largest hand dug well.  At that time it was a building that looked like this. You climbed down the stairs into the well, and it was kind of a scary trip.  Not so now.  There is a new building there.  It looks like this: This one encloses the upper entrance to the well and the steps are wide

"Cast all your anxiety on him, for he cares for you."       1 Peter 5:7 "But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high."        Psalm 3:3 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."         John 16:33 Peace.  Tranquility.  Life that is in control.  Its what we want -what we strive for. Sometimes we feel in control .  Life is smooth, easy.....we make decisions based on logical events to pursue goals that WILL  happen.  We have plans.  Those things will occur because we have put everything in line to make them happen. Then....in one breath ....everything changes. An accident.  A medical event.  Loss of a job.  Unexpected financial losses.  Something. Anything.  At that moment, many if not all of those carefully structured plans are in danger.  Either that, or they no longer matter.  Who cares abo

Still reading 'The Circle Maker', and once again I am compelled to share.  In the book, Batterson speaks of 'priming'. He tells of a study conducted at New York University. They gave two groups scrambled sentence tests.  The first group had sentences containing positive words like respect, considerate, and yield.  The second group had sentences containing rude words like disturb, bother, and intrude.  After the test, they sent each person, one at a time, to go into the hallway and speak to the person running the experiment about their assignment.  An actor was placed to be engaged in active conversation with the experimenter when the student arrived.  They were looking to see how long it would ale the student to interrupt. Amazingly, the group who had read the rude words interrupted, on average, after 5 minutes of waiting.   The other group, primed with polite words, had 82% of the participants never interrupt at all.   The point was made that our attitudes and behavi

" But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Matthew 5:44 When I think of the word pharaoh, I think of power. Control.  Something so big it is impossible to fight it.  Like a Goliath.  Moses faced his pharaoh.  The one with the power to keep God's people in slavery.  If I were Moses, I would be very frightened to go up against someone so powerful.  And Moses was.  He absolutely thought God was making a mistake by choosing him.  Tried hard to get out of it.  But God was adamant...Moses was the one.  So Moses had to face his fears and face his pharaoh. We all have pharaohs in our lives.  That person (or thing) that seems too powerful to go around.  It's big, it's mean, and it's in control.  For some of us it's that person in our lives who continues to "win" while deserving, in our eyes at least, to lose and lose big.  I

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."                                                                                       -Ephesians 6:18 I love going to the woods.  It's one my greatest pleasures.  Sometimes, this 63 year old body does not want to do what I want to do.  And most of the time I make it try anyway.  A few weeks ago, my grandson wanted me to hike with him to where they had been hunting.  Of course, I wanted to go, because I know my time with him is short.  When that driver's license gets in his hands, he won't need me to cart him around anymore.  So I grab the opportunities.  Anyway, we started off.  Luckily we took the four wheeler for part of it, but then there was the walking part.  Through a field, an old creek bed, under low branches of trees.  Pretty rugged for this old gal.  But I didn't stop.  I foll

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 God knows what He's doing.  After all I've been through in my life, I have come to know that full well.  So, I have to believe He knows what He's doing right now.  I don't want to write this blog.  I don't want to post it.  I don't want anyone to know.....and pity.....and wonder about motives.   Coming from a point of complete transparency,  I am posting this so someone who 'knows' can realize they are not alone.  And so someone who doesn't  'know' might be informed.  And empathize.  And pray for those who 'know.' Know what, you say?  Know the feeling that overcomes and controls you.  A despair for no reason.  An unhappiness when in reality you have everything to be happy about.  An unexplained hopelessness. I am sure there are many who 'know'.  People who love God completely, but still suffer from the dark clouds that cover their sky once in a

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." -Exodus 14:14 I am a second guesser.  You know the type.  I analyze everything I do....I always am frightened to finish.  Start. Or continue anything.  What if it's not correct?  What if someone takes it wrong?  What if no one wants me to do it?   What if...what if.....  It goes on and on.  The thoughts circle in my head every time I am thinking about doing something, starting to do something, actually doing something. I just know it will not measure up. There are a lot of people in the Bible who experienced this.  Moses comes to mind, when God was directing him to get his people out of slavery.  He felt inferior ...not the man for the job.  Jonah ran away from what God had for him.  And then, today in study I read about Jehosephat. In 2 Chronicles 20, we read the story of  Jehoshaphat being attacked by the Moabites, Ammonities, and 'some' Meunites. They were completely outnumbered.  The

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God;  my hope comes from Him."     - Psalm 62:5 "Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, my body also will rest in hope."    - Acts 2:26 My mom has only been gone 8 months, but sometimes it feels like forever.  My granddaughter was with me over the weekend, and she was definitely one of my mom's favorites.  More than once I caught myself thinking I needed to call mom and have her come over to see us.  Mom left a pretty big hole after she was gone.  You never had to guess where you stood with her.  She'd tell you, in no uncertain terms.  Mom never had a filter, so she didn't have one to lose when she got older.  That was just the way she was. I remember a lot of the things mom told me about myself even after I was an adult.  One in particular used to drive me crazy.  She'd try to get me to slow down, to make choices that would give me more rest.  To say no once in a while and take care of mys

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved."                                                -Ephesians 2:4-5 "The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."  Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."                                                  -Luke 10:37 " This is Us".  My new favorite.  I absolutely love this show for a lot of reasons.  The story line is wonderful, and it addresses a lot of stuff.  But my favorite part of this series is how it encourages mercy.  Mercy.  Something I need a lot of. I love the way the story flips back and forth between then and now.  The lives of the parents as young people are directly intertwined with the lives of their children some thirty years later.  Events in the past are shown along with how they  affected the future.  By seeing tho