Encouraged

Wow, what a whirlwind this year has been. So many changes and so many surprises.
Surprise #1 - OUR DAUGHTER IS ENGAGED TO A GODLY MAN WHO LOVES THE LORD AND OUR DAUGHTER DEEPLY!!! This union is such an answer to prayer.

As of this past week we've been unexpectedly encouraged from two sources that we'd of never even expected it from.

My only mother's day plans were to talk to my girl and then hang out for the afternoon and evening with my family. When I showed up to my sister's I was met with flowers from my little "sis" and her husband. It was so sweet and totally unexpected and encouraged me greatly.

Harley has been waiting on the Lord for direction and in this time of seeking direction he has been blessed with a job that is helping to sustain our financial needs. Harley has been upfront with his boss about the seeking process we are in and his boss declared yesterday that "he hopes God answers his prayers and that Harley is called to stay working for him". That and other encouraging words from his boss have really been an affirmation and encouragement to Harley.

I think a new season has started in our lives and I'm thankful that it has. I was ready for it and thank God for it.

Cry out for this nourishment!

What a battle to get to church yesterday. Some Sunday mornings it is like a battlefield in our house. My thoughts are "Lord, this is not what today is all about! It is time to focus on You and worship You and be drawn to You!" Really all week long this is our mandate as Christians but for some reason Sunday mornings seem much more intense a battle. Now I know that I could list off all the things that set the tone for Sunday morning but it would be a feeble attempt to make myself feel better and excuse my part in the tension that existed.
What does make me feel better is to focus on the Lord's goodness and long suffering and remember that He is faithful. Despite the start to our morning, on our way to church under the leadership of my dear husband we were able to pray together as a family. I felt the heaviness in my heart lift as Harley prayed. Then, as I engaged in the service and heard a sermon that cut right into my heart I knew why it was such a battle Sunday morning to keep us from focusing on the Lord. That sweet pure fellowship with the Lord is something to be craved; we are to "cry out for this nourishment". We need it to survive as His children. Worshipping the Lord and praising Him is one avenue of nourishment. The battles are to keep us from worshipping Him. Part of the Scripture Harley preached from that spoke to my heart was
1 Peter 2:1-3 NLT "So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness."
I heard from the Lord yesterday and really appreciated Harley's faithfulness in preaching from the source that offers "pure spiritual milk". I so long to "grow into a full experience of salvation" as Scripture puts it. Thank you Lord for You and Your love expressed in and through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and Your Living Word. And thank you for using Harley to speak to me and others Sunday morning.

It is all burned up and not much is left...

It is the beginning of a new week. I'm up early, enjoying a great cup of coffee and watching the sun rise over the roof tops. I peer out a window that looks onto our back yard and the vacant lot behind our house and I see a huge black circle and in the centre of the charred ground is a small remnant of the big cloth chair that looked very comfortable and inviting. The chair had spent the winter in the empty lot in the hood. This big living room chair has been played on and even the gangs spray painted their name on it. It was funny to see that even the abandoned chair couldn't escape the gang's artwork/claim on it in their territory. Anyway, so I see now someone got the urge to burn it. Thankfully that is all they chose to burn! It must have been quite the fire judging from the circumference of the burn marks. Seeing how little was left of this huge chair got me thinking and asking how much will be left of my life efforts when tested by the holy fire that one day we will all face? What can look to be so much will come out to be so little if it wasn't done God's way.

1 Corinthians 3:12-14 "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward."

Timely song "In Me" by Casting Crowns

If You ask me to leap
Out of my boat on the crashing waves
If You ask me to go
Preach to the lost world that Jesus saves

I'll go, but I cannot go alone
Cause I know I'm nothing on my own
But the power of Christ in me makes me strong
Makes me strong

Cause when I'm weak, You make me strong
When I'm blind, You shine Your light on me
Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability
How refreshing to know You don't need me
How amazing to know that You want me
So I'll stand on Your truth, and I'll fight with Your strength
Until You bring the victory, by the power of Christ in me

If You ask me to run
And carry Your light into foreign land
If You ask me to fight
Deliver Your people from satan's hand

To reach out with Your hands
To learn through Your eyes
To love with the love of a savior
To feel with Your heart
And to think with Your mind
I'd give my last breath for Your glory

Put off falsehood and speak truthfully!

Recently I told someone that they had spinach in their teeth. It was really awkward and I felt bad for that person but I didn’t want them to go on through out their day with it there. It is interesting that when you tell someone about something like that their first look or reaction almost makes you feel like you put the spinach in their teeth. Ask anyone what kind of a friend they’d prefer at that moment; the person that would tell the truth or the person that just pretends they didn’t see it. I don’t know about you but I’d want the truth teller not the pretender who plays it safe at my expense.
In regard to spiritual matters, as sisters and brothers in Christ we are to uphold one another and this “upholding” isn’t just about producing warm fuzzy feelings for and in one another. Certainly we are to encourage one another but we are also to speak the truth that will help one another grow in Christ. Doing this without doing it with a love for that person is devastating. It must be done in love. Even worse is not speaking truth at all. You can find hundreds of people who will tell you what you want to hear or not say anything at all just to play it safe. It is fruitful to find and be a person that genuinely loves a person enough to say the truthful things that are sometimes hard things to hear and say but produces much fruit in one’s life as a result. It is an important mandate;
Eph 4:25 “put off falsehood and speak truthfully.”
Eph 4:15 “…speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

Spring Has Sprung In The Hood

Oh the signs of spring arriving in the hood are every where. One doesn’t have to look far or listen long to see it is true. Why in just one week we’ve seen used needles, condoms & a ripped up Bible appearing from under the winter snow as it melts away. There is fresh new gang graffiti spray painted on the garage door directly behind our house that we can’t miss when we’re gazing out our windows. Why just the other day at 2 am in the wee hours of the morning I was awaken by a group of young people in our alley loudly conveying their sentiments to the neighborhood as they proceeded to kick in three boards on our neighbor's fence. And just today arriving home from work we noticed that directly in front of our house where we park on the street it sparkles in the sunlight thanks to the freshly broken glass of the Smirnoff variety. Yes….and…..oh a sure sign that spring is here is the orchestra of whistles you can hear from about 10:00 pm to 5:30 am of people communicating and announcing their location to one another on the streets. The dogs are barking more often now through out the night and early morning hours. They are warning us that activity has started once again because spring has sprung in the hood and there is no way a person (or dog) can miss it here. Yes indeed, the signs of spring are all around us once again.

Praise God It Is A New Day!