Spring!

I woke up this morning to the telephone ringing- and that means either a) bad news or b) great news of a delay or school closure. To my excitement, it was the latter choice (although I still had to report at the same time for a meeting). Then I heard all of the birds chirping like crazy- the sun already up. I love spring!!! As I was getting ready this morning the Holy Spirit placed Isaiah 35 in my head. Curious of what it said, guess what??? I looked it up :) "The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy....and the ransomed of the LORD will return, and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." I was thinking it is so true, that God can take nothing and make it into something. The blah of winter with no vegetation, all the birds in Florida and then out of nothing, there come my hydrangea popping their little sprouts out. Even at the end- with the blahs of winter that may lead people into a stupper or depression- our God can make that sorrow and sighing flee and replace it with everlasting blooms of gladness and joy. For in His presence there is fulness of joy!! Faith is the things hoped for the essence of things unseen- God makes something out of nothing- that's a God I want to serve.

Book Club Road Trip!

So last night the Blue Like Jazz Book Club went on the road to see and hear the man responsbile for our getting together- the author: Donald Miller. So off we went to enjoy a great dinner at Chiptole and then to top it off (or rather my cup runneth over) at Cold Stone Creamery- yumm! Then Ginger (my trusty honda civic) ventured and carried us to Cedarville University where we got many laughs from Don. He is quite funny and how funny it was to see himself laugh quietly at his own jokes. He talked on many subjects from his new book of growing up without a dad (and the neighborhood pot head boy who became his surrogate father at boy scout functions), his disclaimer about being "truthful" since the James Fry (sp?) book controversy and then the point that I came away with: that God gave us both sides of the brain- right and left and an amygdala- our emotion center. That God doesn't want us to use just bullet points with him, but to use our creative side and put our emotions when reading His Word. Very enjoyable evening.

Peace

But the fruit of the spirit is....peace. Oh, how I like that word and how my heart longs for true peace.

5) of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is

Meekness

Meekness- Definition:

Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time. (Isa 41:17, Lu 18:1-8) Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God's goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will. (Ga 5:23)

Taken from Strong's concordance

Grace moments

- We may not know the future and what lies ahead, but we know the One who loves us and leads us for His good pleasure. Oswald Chambers (paraphrased).

Grace moments-

Yesterday I went to a wedding of a sweet couple who just make me smile. After the wedding I visited a friend of mine and went to church with her. The focus of this service was grace moments- looking at other people and seeing moments of grace. Grace can be a complicated word. I remember in college hearing that it meant unmerited favor- but the definition that I really like is the divine influence upon the heart that leads to a outward expression. Grace....last night Rob talked about an astounding showing of grace. A friend of his who has been married for three years experienced unfaithfulness from his wife. I think this may be one of the hardest experiences for a human being along with death of a loved one. This man chose to stay in relationship with his wife and gave her forgiveness as he told her that he loved her. That in and of itself is a grace moment. Then, he went and approached the other man and told him to please stay away from his wife- and proceeded to say that he wanted to tell him of his forgiveness of him and gave him a New Testament- what a divine influence upon the heart. Later that week a man came into see Pastor Rob and Rob asked if he could pray for him before they started talking. The man responded sure. As Rob began to pray, he knew that this was the man who had the extramarital affair with his friend's wife. He said- you're the one. This man realized his need for forgiveness and placed his faith in Christ. Grace...from God- not ourselves flowing through the husband, to this man, which bloomed into grace from God resulting in faith- forgiveness, eternal hope and lovingkindness. Grace...both an unmerited favor and a divine influence upon the heart resulting in a beautiful outward expression. Praise the LORD oh my soul, praise the LORD.

Flinging flashlights

OK- so I hate to put a new post up, because I have to say I reaaally love the picture of the sunset. The actual sunset of my previous post is from Israel. On to my next post. So today I'm at work and evaluated new little ones to see if they have a developmental delay that would qualify them for services. This morning this cute little blond hair blue-eyed boy came in and man did he come in. He sure was an active little one- can you say...everywhere?? We elect one person who is the "player" and their role is to play with the child- actually to have them perform various tasks, whether it be fine motor, gross motor, speech, or cognition. So the teacher today had quite a task in front of her: 1) to keep him entertained with the task at hand 2)to have him stay seated to actually complete the task! While his eyes roamed to see what toys were available his eyes fell upon the beloved flashlight. However, because he was such a busy little one, he bonked the poor teacher in the head a couple of times- ouch! But then I thought- as adults we don't react by retaliating and hitting the child back- we may correct them. When we think that this is just a child and much patience has to be exhibited even when it hurts. We look past the hurt and want the best for the child- for the child to reach his/her potential. Then I thought about Jesus, how in Scripture it says, "He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquites; the chastisement of our peace was on Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Sometimes I can be too active- too caught up in me, that I start swinging my flashlight around and boom- my Savior corrects me, displines me (for those who He loves, He disciplines), takes those blows....for by His stripes we are healed....thank you for your patience Jesus.

Pslam 50

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth....Hear, O My people, and I will speak;...I am God, your God....For the world is mine and all it contains....Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you , and you will honor me.....You thought that I (God) was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes....He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God." v1,2,7,12,14,15,21,23