Be Still and Know...Then and Now

My bag is packed and I am ready to go ( aren ’t those song lyrics?). I wait expectantly for the drive up. I wait for that feeling to take root. The feeling grows stronger with each mile away from home I come one mile closer to the mountain top and I can’t wait. I leave behind menu planning, bill paying, laundry, part time jobs and all the chores that demand my time. It is the time away that regenerates. It is the time away that bring with it new revelations and new pictures of how amazing my God is and I can’t wait. Did I mention I can’t wait? MK 9:2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. MK 6:30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Thank you Lord for your example of service...

Today I am pondering many things. One of the things that I love about God’s word is how it all works together in a wonderful way to provide exactly what I need to learn at exactly the right time. On any given day I can fully comprehend one aspect of a particular scripture, yet other concepts and meanings are shaded from my mind until I am ready to understand them. When I began this journey with Christ, I was an infant, I had no spiritual teeth. I had to be spoon fed very slowly, and take things in manageable chunks. As mothers we know the danger of feeding our small children certain foods before they are ready. As a responsible mother we would never give an infant a T-bone steak before they had even developed their teeth. Being a Christian is a process, a wonderful life changing process but there are times when the process is difficult and confusing. Even now after fifteen years of studying God’s word I still find things that confuse me. It took me many years to learn the benefit of a ...

Hupotasso, we talked about this word in Sunday school and we heard it preached about from the pulpit as well. Hupotasso, it sounds like a foreign language, in fact it is Greek, but I just like the way the word sounds. Hoop-ot-as’-so, it sounds like something delicious that is served with a side of gravy or the name for a beloved household cat. I just like saying it, it kinda rolls of the southern tongue. The technical southern pronunciation is probably closer to “Hoooop-A-Taaa-sooo” All seriousness aside the reality of the word is far from something you smother with gravy and serve with a side of home fries. So what is Hupotasso? Being submissive might actually be easier to swallow if it really was smothered in gravy and served with fires, but in reality it is at times very difficult to practice, an even more difficult to yield to the true meaning of the word. I love the word Hupotasso, Greek translation meaning submission. The Greek lexicon defines the word as the following: to arrang...

This morning I was reading in the book of Romans, chapter 14 where Paul talks about not placing a stumbling block in the way of our brothers and sisters. RO 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. In thinking about this I made the connection that I need to be very careful of my actions. When I am dealing with new believers and even people that I may come in contact with in my every day dealings, that I do not let my action or my words place any stumbling blocks in any one's paths. My words and my actions reflect who I am and where my heart is. As a believer we need to "make up my mind not to put any stumbling block or obsticle" in any ones path. I need to be very careful in how we speak and how we act in the everyday world, because when we interact with others and we do not reflect the love of Christ we have in our hearts, we can either un-intentionally or...

Did you see it last night? After a disturbing and anxious day which I can only attribute to the mysterious inner working of the peri-menopausal woman, I ended my day with a very clear and calming presence of God. Outside in the clear cold night sky was the slow and bright eclipse of the moon. Moment to moment the progression of the shadow proceeded across the moon. As I would step out in the cold every few minutes the bite out of the moon became larger and larger. I watched and thought to myself how can you not believe in God when you participate in something so wonderful? Thank You Lord for quietly showing up last night and showing me again your splendor and my majesty.

It is not often that you receive an instant pay off for something you do. I did not have to wait 12 weeks for my rebate to show up in the mail. My reward came in just a few short hours. You see, I received a complement today, it was a very nice complement from someone who I had just recently met. I taught my Sunday school lesson yesterday morning and this person came up to me later that day and shared with me how much he appreciated my lesson. It was amazing the impact it had on me. I do not know this person very well as they have just recently began to visit with us in our class, however his words of encouragement and praise had an impact on me. This person did not have to tell me what he did, however he stepped up and shared with me what was on his mind. Afterwards I felt very encouraged, I felt that my efforts had not been in vain and I felt energized as well as feeling a sense of accomplishment that I had actually connected with someone about something important. It was just anothe...

Today, I am again perplexed and deeply grieved with the world we live in. With another university shooting reported in the news it seems the more things change the more they stay the same. I wonder what happens to people that turns them from normal rational individuals into unfeeling maniacs that walk into classrooms and randomly gun down innocent students. This simply does not register in my brain. How can we live in a world where this kind of behavior is now common place? What I did notice, and was somewhat encouraged by, were the photographs of the students shown on the morning news. These images, interspersed with footage of people being carried into ambulances splattered with blood were a jarring contrast, a young woman kneeling down and embracing another student, several students, most of whom were responding with postures of prayer gathered together weeping. One picture of a young man on his knees with his face tight with anguish eyes close to the unreality of the situation with...

During this season of lent, I have really struggled with to concept of giving something up. I know I am encouraged to give something up as a way to prepare myself for the celebration of the resurrection, but I have to be honest, I have always failed miserably in the attempt. I can not remember a Lenten season when I was able to fulfill my commit let for a full forty days. I always feel a complete failure at not being able to sustain any commitment to abstain from something for only forty days. I admire people who can adopt this concept and follow through with their commitment for an entire 40 days. I ran into a friend at Wednesday Night Supper who had given up her evening meal for lent. Wow! I thought as I scarfed down my lasagna and garlic bread. This gives me a thought, “What can I really live without. What action, what food, what pastime, whatever can I live without for forty days? Jesus went with out food for forty days in the desert and was temped by the devil all the wile to boot...

How to start? The purpose of most beginnings is very simple. We begin anything with a goal in mind. My goal is twofold. I need a distraction from turmoil, yet I also would like to achieve some sense of self in the random streams of thought that churn around in my consciousness. This morning as I sit in my quiet house by the fire and I am thankful for warm blankets, fuzzy bath robes, hot coffee, and laptop computers. Happy Valentines Day! I hope it is filled with warmth and Love.