Journey into Forever

    "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart."                         - Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)        I lose things.  Lots of things.  It's true.  Ask anyone who knows me.....I'm notorious for it.  Even more notorious for this than I am for my lack of a sense of direction.  My good friend Caren says I could get lost in a paper bag.  My husband is even more convinced.  More experience I guess.  Don't ask me how to get anywhere.  I may give you directions, but they won't be right.  Yeah, probably should stop giving directions.  Anyway, back to losing things.  I lose things constantly.  Once I lost a very expensive, special ring my husband got me.  Lost it for almost 2 years.  I found it in a desk drawer.  It had been scooped off one day when I was working on a paper. ...

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."                        -Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)   "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."                        - Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)      I think technology is affecting my patience.....probably in a negative way.  I am so used to having information fast, now, at any time, that I am irritated when it is not.  I want my phone, ipad, and computer to immediately get me where I want to be.  NOW!      Life was not...

    "In my Father's house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you."                  -John 14:2       S o, I continue to think about life today.   I'm still sitting with my mom as she struggles to regain her strength, trying to figure out how this crisis will end. A good friend lost her dad yesterday. And a friend I knew in school died last night.  I guess when you get to this age you are bound to have more and more of these situations. You just don't know the difference one day can make in your life. You can go from zero to 100, or even 100 to zero in an instant.  An instant.  The time it takes to snap your fingers, or fall over a clump of grass, or take your last breath. Just like that!      I have spent my life as many of you have.......

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future".               -Jeremiah 29:11      Sitting in the hospital can be any of a number of different experiences.....some good, some not so good.  When it is quiet, the patient is sleeping, and no one is around, it can be a time of introspection. I guess that's where I am today.   Introspecting......is that a word?  The point is, hospitals make you think about life.  What it is, what it should be, what it could be, and how it all turns out.  Deep, huh?      Again, since I am so into coincidence, (not), I was also "coincidentally" exposed to two teachings/writings about what one does with this life.  So, even though I was not planning to write a Journey post right now, Someone Else apparently had other ideas. ...

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you pass judgment you do the same things.  Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth  So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you towards repentance?"           - Romans 2:1-4       The title of this blog sounds familiar to those of us who grew up in the 50's and 60's.  The saying "Here Come da Judge!" was actually coined by a black comedian, Pigmeat (Dewey) Markham.  He first used the phrase on the Ed Sullivan show in the late 60's.  The same phrase was made even more famous by Sammy Davis Jr. on Rowan and Martin's "Laugh In", and...

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts...........(v. 32) Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."                                      -Romans 1:21-32      When it became clear this was the next passage we would look at in Romans, I immediately knew why.  The things listed in these ...

" That is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, in that I planned many times to come to you, (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among other Gentiles.  I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."        Romans 1:12-16      Since retiring, if I let myself I would be a hermit.  I love staying home, piddling around with things here in the house...computer, sewing machine, television.  I think I just love to piddle.  Part of it might be that for most of my life I was going ni...