Be Still and Know...Then and Now

Sooooooo it's been a different kind of week for me. As a mom, I have those moments when I am stuck in worry and concern. The rational side of my brain tells me to let go and let God handle things. That would be the smart thing to do. Me and smart have a love hate relationship! It was another maternal milestone, watching my daughter drive down the street heading for her first vacation...without ME! She and three of her friends headed to the beach. She worked hard all year long, ended the semester with a 4.0 and working diligently saving her paycheck. Yet, for as hard as she worked, the momma in me wanted to throw myself on the hood of the car and scream "DON'T LEAVE ME! " I was good, I was a grown up, I did snap a picture of her car, licence plate and student parking pass (while she wasn't looking ) because, yes I need to recognize that my little girl really isn't my little girl anymore, but flashes of the nightly news are very real. ...

It is still very early, the sun is peaking it’s way through my sunroom windows. As I was finishing up my quiet time with the Lord this morning I began to thank him for all the very small things in my life.  A warm quilt to cuddle up in, a sweet sleeping puppy curled up next to me, an nice hot cup of coffee and my quiet house surrounding me. This morning there are many who are waking up with no home, no warmth, no electricity. It will be many weeks, months even before their lives will return to normal. I feel certain that the small comfort of a warm blanket and a hot cup of coffee would be a welcome addition to someone who has lost there home to the storm. The women in my small group often talk about all the brokenness in the world. The recent storm has swept a multitude of brokenness upon so many people. On a much smaller scale we all run into brokenness in almost everyone we meet. It’s a broken world and we all have to figure out how to live in it. Just this past Wednesday when ...

There are times when it is easy to be witty and share about a lost coffee scoop , then there are moment when life is so real and so clear and God’s plan for how things are supposed to work is so very apparent . Even when things don’t seem to go the way I think they should God has an amazing way in showing me that even in sadness and heartbreak there is great hope. I think Sunday mornings are my favorite day of the week. The expectation of coming together in the house of the Lord, the anticipation of a shared experience, the deep soul thirsty feeling that gets satiated with the lifting up of hands and the bending of a knee. Having the word of God opened up and delivered in a unique way. A song that touches a tender place with in my heart. In worship this morning, as it happens quite often these days I am moved to tears as the music washes over me. Part of my emotional response is simply a filling up of how amazing my God truly is and the other part is a deep desire to see my prayers fu...

From “Streams in the Desert” on June 5, 2008 As I opened my small devotional book this morning and read the few short paragraphs some of the words kinda flew off the page and whacked me in the face. ISA 7:10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." taken directly from today's devotion “We must continue to pray and “wait for the Lord” (Isa 8:17), until we hear the sound of his mighty rain. There is no reason why we should not ask for great things. Without a doubt we will receive them if we ask in faith, having the courage to wait with patient perseverance for Him and meanwhile doing those things that are within our power to do.” I have to say that each morning as I lift my son up in prayer I don’t think I am necessarily praying for great things to happen. Right now I am mainly focusing on prayer for his physical safety, and no grandchildren to spring forth from his romping’s. I also pray ...

Today is the first day of summer vacation, my blossoming new teenager is sleeping late, I am remembering my wedding day some 26 years ago, there is a thin layer of dust on the hardwood floors in my sunroom, several stacks of folded towels waiting to be put away in the middle of my living room floor and I am listening to the birds outside as I compose this post. I am not sure that I have anything deep to share with you this morning, but in an effort to avoid the dust and the towels (or wake my child) I will forge ahead. I have moments when things are so very clear, when I feel that the words just come and a miracle happens and they actually make sense. Quite possibly this in not one of these moments. Today what comes to my mind is my quiet time. I know I am not alone in my struggle to stay focused during my prayer time, however lately I have found it increasingly difficult to block out the invading thoughts. I will be settled in to pray and then my grocery list will be scrolling through...

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...