If We’re Lucky
You know how good it feels to talk with someone who really listens, someone you know who truly cares for you and loves you? We trust them with all our heart. There are just a handful of those people in our lives…if we’re lucky. Sometimes we may become emotional sharing our deepest concerns…so our “listener” has to just give us time and wait. And then, we can continue. God is this person for me. It amazes me every time I turn to Him, I know we’re connected and He hears me. Whether I am praying a prayer of Thanksgiving or sharing something that is concerning me, He listens to every word. His presence listening to me actually comforts me in such a way that assures me, calms me and invites me to share more. Time and time again, mostly when I am wandering in the wilderness with despair or sorrow or sorting out a most difficult problem or decision to be made, I find that God is always there waiting for me to talk. So, I talk. God listens. I remind myself that God already knows everything so why do I share what’s going on in my life or the lives of people I love? I pray because God is our Heavenly Father, the Creator of all that exists and in the scriptures He tells us He wants us to communicate with Him even for smallest things that are going on in our lives. That’s why He is always there, always ready. We are His beloved. Tonight, as I was talking with him about a friend’s illness. I had to apologize because I realized I got off topic and started thinking of something else. He was still there waiting. I chuckled because He knows what my mind is like. 😊 So, if you’re not really “into prayer” you might just give it a try. You are God’s child so He’s there just hoping and waiting for you to acknowledge Him. No need to worry about awkward language… just talk to Him like...
Read MoreHalf Way Through The Wilderness
During the Season of Lent, Christians reflect on the walk of our Lord Jesus Christ for forty days in the wilderness as He fasted, prayed, was tempted and resisted these temptations of the devil. Just as we find ourselves in the wilderness in our life journey, through prayer & faith we, too, can resist temptations knowing that God is always there with us in our humility with His merciful forgiveness. In the 40 days in the wilderness with all the temptations of the devil, Jesus was being prepared for what lay ahead for Him. We, too, find ourselves at times reflecting on our own wilderness walks becoming aware that those times had prepared & strengthened us for fulfillment of God’s plan & use of us. Sometimes those realizations can be very subtle while, at other times, they might just knock on the door of our heart & soul with great vigor!! At the end of all this our charge is to step out into our world shining our light, being the hands & feet of Christ our Savior to the hurting and wayward souls. Psalm 51:10-12 is actually a prayer that means a lot to me. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit....
Read MoreDear God…
Ever since my breast cancer journey, I always begin my prayers with thankfulness. It seems only fitting that when reducing the day or the hour to just one thought, it always brings me to all I have been given…and THAT is so much. I am truly blessed and, actually, I think one of the biggest blessings is that I recognize that fact. In our hurried lives, we can be handed some real messes…even some we did not create ourselves! But through it all, we have life and in mine, I have it abundantly. When we let everything else fall away, we realize that WE HAVE GOD or said in a different way, GOD HAS US!! “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Psalm 23:6 When I was diagnosed with breast cancer 14 years ago, my way of dealing with a 70% chance of living 5 years was to stare the absolute pits of despair right in the face and deal with it. I needed to accept the fact that the surgeries and chemotherapy, etc. just might not work for me and then what? So, I looked at death, which can be totally scary, and said, “OK, so what? What about dying? ” Going through that entire thought process and soul-searching brought me to the comfortable place of “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” What a gift! What a promise! So believing that, knowing that, it just makes sense to start even a prayer of petition with gratitude. Thank You, Father....
Read MoreWhat's Your Passion?
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