A Good Year

In many ways and for many people, 2009 was a tough year. I think everyone has been affected one way or another with the economy. Just yesterday for about the 3rd time I heard someone say, "Let's hope that 2010 is a better year." I dealt with many of the same issues that I dealt with in 2008, general worry about not living close to my aging parents, being conscious of time slipping by too fast. I battled depression off and on; sometimes felt as if it was surrounding me like a cloak. I continue to watch my best friend suffer through Alzheimer's and senility with her Mom and Dad. But through all these things, I can honestly say that it was a good year, because it was a GOD year.

The one thing that I did differently in 2009 than 2008 was a regular prayer time and that one thing made ALL the difference. When I look back I can see that the dark moments are victoriously overshadowed by the Presence of God in the little moments when I least expected it. I can even say that I am thankful for the depression because when the sun did come out, it came out in a blaze of glory and with the absolute clarity and knowledge that it was God that did it. In that He is glorified.

So this year as last, I will continue to pray and experience the wonder of communion with a God who wants to know me even with all my failings. I will rise and start the day with my eyes fixed on Him and I will make hope a conscious decision each time I catch myself leaving Him out of it.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

Living water

John 4:13-24
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”


16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17"I have no husband," she replied.
18 Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

I love the interchange between Jesus and this woman. He manages to smash about 2 or 3 cultural barriers at once here. Jews didn't talk to Samaritans and men didn't make it a practice to have public dialogs with women, especially a Jewish man and a Samaritan woman! Jesus doesn't seem to think anything of it. He has no problem having a lengthy conversation with her. He meets her right where she is! Just by stopping to talk with her by the well, He demonstranted that he cared more about her as a person than going along with the cultural norm.

She came to the well for drinking water and got the Living Water Himself!

Leaving a legacy

I picked up "The Christmas List" by Richard Paul Evans at the library a couple weeks ago, being a fan of his other Christmas themed books starting with "The Christmas Box" several years ago now. I was captivated by the theme. What would happen if you read your own obituary in the newspaper. That is exactly what happens to James Kier to his shock and amazement. It gets even more interesting when he starts to read all the comments of his business associates about his death. He learns how they really feel about him. I won't give the rest of the plot away, but suffice it to say, I had no problem reading it under the seven days.....

It raises some very important questions. What kind of legacy do we want to leave? What kind of legacy do you want to leave for your children? What kind of legacy does God want us to leave?

There are many things that this world considers important and noteworthy, worthy of recognition. How do those things line up with what God considers important?

Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

How about this one.... James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I think leaving a legacy of kindness is one of the best ways that we could glorify God. Being known as kind, nothing more complicated than that.

Precious nuggets from Psalm 68

The other day I was considering which Psalm to put to memory (other than the 23rd) which always gives such comfort when I can't sleep. No sooner had the thought entered my mind when Psalm 68 popped into my head, and it wouldn't go away. Thinking that God must have whispered it, I looked it up. No small Psalm was this. I was hoping for a short one, but no, 35 verses in all. I thought, "God, surely You don't mean this one, knowing how long it takes me to memorize anything!" But it kept catching me unawares, Psalm 68 there in my mind again. So I have resigned myself to going at it one section at a time for now.

Here are some treasures from this Psalm that continues my count toward the thousand gifts of gratitude....

Vs.1 "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered." So many horrific things are happening now that we cry out for justice and wonder how so many can get away with doing so many terrible things to innocent people? But not one act will escape His notice.

Vs.4 "Cast up a highway for Him who rides through the deserts, Whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him." I have always loved this passage, also found in Isaiah and familiar with those who listen to Handel's Messiah, during Christmas and Easter.

Vs.5 "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows is God in His Holy habitation" How comforting is that?

Vs.6 "He makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious live in a parched land"

Vs.11 "The Lord gives the command; The women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host." God likes women and women like Him!

Vs.19 "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden" You mean I don't have to???

Vs.35 "O God, Thou art awesome from Thy sanctuary. The God of Israel Himself give strength and power to the people. Blessed be God."

This makes #193 toward 1000 and beyond,


Photo of Razorwire and Cross by Steven Crisp

In the morning....

Image "Morning" by William Barclay

I like to think that all of the prayers we offer to God rise through the clouds and mingle with the strains of Heavenly praise as they float across that sea of glass and reach the very Throne of God. There they fuse together with the very pulse of Heaven itself as they enter God's own heart.

The Bible says that God collects all our prayers in a golden bowl. If that is true, then not one prayer will ever be missed. God hears the smallest whisper, sigh, however faint. The gift of the Holy Spirit insures that even our very breath is recorded and known, so that we may never have to worry that He doesn't know what I am going through down here. "Down here" is the same as "Up There" to Him.

Sometimes as I go about my day I think of our times together in the mornings just God and I, and I can't wait for the next one. They are like survival islands in my life as I hop from one to the next, each time growing closer to that green shore, that place of ultimate safety where My Shepard waits, His arms held out for me. I know as long as I keep my eyes on Him there is no need to fear.

As I lit my candle this morning I thought of other prayer times over the years, they leap out like beacons marking time.....I thought of when my Mom and I prayed in front of the fire in the mornings before school. I was having such a difficult time, but she would grab my hand and we would huddle together before the warmth of the fire and pray. Even all these years later I can still feel her hand clasping mine, and hear her voice. Then I would get up and go. I know her prayers followed.

I thank God for my praying Mom today.

Seeing things differently

Walk Softly by Bev Doolittle
Some people see the wolf in the center of this image right away, others only when it's pointed out. Perspectives are like that too. Two people can read the same thing and have two completely different reactions.

My post the other day produced a very strong reaction from my dear friend who reads my blog everyday. I was surprised by her reaction, but when I thought about it, it made sense knowing the person she is. She is one of those wonderfully engaging people who dares to get involved in the lives of others, even if it hurts. She routinely goes out of her way to make sure others are okay even if it means making personal sacrifices. I thought I would post what she wrote today because I really appreciated what she had to say. To me that is the wonderful thing about blogging. It sparks conversations that sometimes you would not otherwise have, and that is a very good thing!

Her email response below:

Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business (Frederick Buechner quote)
I could not disagree more with this statement as a whole!
1....Protect Meaning and Definition. (v. t.) To cover or shield from danger or injury; to defend; to guard; to preserve in safety; as, a father protects his child.2....Rescue-deliver, redeem, ransom, reclaim, save mean to set free from confinement or danger. rescue implies freeing from imminent danger by prompt or vigorous action. Deliver implies release usually of a person from confinement, temptation, slavery, or suffering 3.....Judge : to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premise 4......Manage- to handle or direct with a degree of skill: as a: to make and keep compliant b: to treat with care : husband c : to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction of
2 : to work upon or try to alter for a purpose
3 : to succeed in accomplishing : contrive
4 : to direct the professional career of .....I get that we need to hand things over to God! Ask for help, let God do what He can do best BUT!!!!! If we all took this literally in today's time it would be a bigger mess than this world already is, we could just walk around and tend to animals and carry on conversations with them, why talk to one another? Just think if Jesus did this when he was here on earth as a man! I have experienced just this in my life and I do not believe this is how God wants us to live............

Yes I had to get this off my chest!!!!!!
THERE DONE!
I Love You my best friend.
Elaine Dupree

*LIVE SIMPLY. LOVE GENEROUSLY. CARE DEEPLY.*
*SPEAK KINDLY. LEAVE THE REST TO GOD.*

Happy New Year!

Arizona Republic Photo
I don't know, it was supposed to be a blue moon but it looked like the same old yellow to me. But it is stunning all the same. I went out and looked after it had risen and it was silvery white, but not blue. Oh well, it is always great to meditate on God's creation whatever the color.

A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:1-5