Summation

Psalm 139: 23-24

Isaiah 6:5

Psalm 51

1 John 1: 7-9

Romans 5:9-10

Colossians 1:22-23

Timing of doors

So as many of you may already know I'm an occupational therapist who works with children 0-3 who have disabilities. The LORD teaches me through these little ones! The toddlers have a classroom which joins to the gross motor room. OK- the gross motor room, would make anyone run to it! In this room we have multiple swings, a ball pit, a teeter totter, a trapeeze bar, and a toy house, just to name some- who could want more??!!! So the last half hour of class the toddlers enjoy a yummy snack. After the snack, it's time to close up and sit back in circle where we all join in the song....Bye, Bye, Baby, Bye, Bye- a catchy tune- seriously. Well, one of the little girls after snack just couldn't control herself and went running to where else...the gross motor room! Her mama retrieved her to come back to circle and I closed the door. I realized how God closes doors at times of us. As I closed this door- it wasn't time to play in that room. The LORD will close doors for us- to prevent us from going certain places- as He is our Teacher- directing us in His perfect timing!

Then on the flip-side is the open door. So a little over a month ago at Bible Study (which is at my home), it was still cold out. Everyone put their coats in my front closet and we closed the door. Well, as people got their coats out- the door would NOT shut. It was sooo weird. So, one of the guys in my Bible Study who is a chemical engineer was looking at the door. I went inside my closet and he stood outside as we peered at the latch. The latch was totally off- quite bizarre as just minutes before it was fine. We fiddled with the knob- and there was no explanation- yes, there is reason for me mentioning his job title of engineer (these people can figure these things out!). But, I felt like the LORD was telling me then- Lynnster- I can open doors and NO ONE can close them- it may make no logical sense. I love that about my LORD.

So Lord, may we submit to Your perfect timing. You are an ON-TIME God. Jesus- I want You to go before me and Your children- to open doors for Your kingdom- to close doors- lead and guide us oh Shepherd. For You are my Shepherd I shall not want (the gross motor room- ha, ha!) You are trustworthy. Hallelujah! Jesus- because of You we have an open door always- where we can approach You boldly and receive grace in our time of need. Thank You!

Psalm 25

Psalm 25

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.

1 To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You I trust,
Do not let me be ashamed;
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
Those[1][Or Let those...be ashamed ] who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been from[2][Or everlasting ] of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.
8 Good and upright is the LORD;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble[3][Or afflicted ] in justice,
And He teaches the humble[4][Or afflicted ] His way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name's sake, O LORD,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the LORD?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will abide in prosperity[5][Lit good ],
And his descendants[6][Lit seed ] will inherit the land[7][Or earth ].
14 The secret[8][Or counsel or intimacy ] of the LORD is for those who fear Him,
And[9][Or And His covenant, to make them know it ] He will make them know His covenant.
15 My eyes are continually toward the LORD,
For He will pluck[10][Lit bring out ] my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The[11][Some commentators read Relieve the troubles of my heart ] troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble[12][Lit toil ],
And forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.

Confessional time

I've been meaning to publish this blog for the past couple of weeks- as these two pictures- no joke were up the same week at two different churches. Also this is what was talked about last week at youth Wednesday. This blog will be a confessional time. I don't know if you have ever heard of the ACTS acronym when praying; it stands for A- adoration, C-confession- T- thanksgiving- S-supplication. Tonight is a confession time. There are times- when I do recognize: Lord, my heart IS deceitfully wicked. The LORD has been showing me my pride- and my self-reliance. God is opposed to the proud. Pride when it comes to my work, pride when I feel like I'm "mature" in the LORD; pride in trusting in myself- yuck. And then bam- I see the condition of my heart- one that my pride is immaturity and secondly it's His Work in me- it's not my work. It's He who has begun the work and He will complete it- not me. There is freedom in that. Sin of selfishness- lately there are times that Lynnster- is putting Lynnster first- not setting my mind on His kingdom and seeking His kingdom first. Operating out of self protection instead of love. I can be a clanging cymbal. The thoughts I have towards others. I'm reminded of the parable in Luke: 18:9-13 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful[7][Or propitious ] to me, the sinner!' "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Alright- now I'm emerging to the T- time- thanksgiving: thank You Jesus- that You say in Your Word- if you confess your sin He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Thank You for grace. Thank You for mercy to me a sinner.

Brakes

So, yesterday I embarked on continuing my biking preparation for this Saturday. So, there is this ginormous hill in Sidney- yes GINORMOUS. I thought, Jesus, what would happen if my brakes give out? Brakes are important- if I didn't have my brakes I would go crashing out of control- causing huge injury. Or if I didn't brake, I could go zipping through in intersection and get nailed by another car. Yikes. But seriously, I realized how Jesus gives us brakes in our life- He doesn't want us zipping out of control. Holy Spirit- You're the Brake Master!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! These are pictures of the women who have influenced me becoming a woman. My grandmas and my own mama. Mothers are important! Actually if you could pray for my grandma in the picture with the flowers- she has been severely sick; pray that for the Lord's healing- thank you!

So today I went to the early service at church since I was meeting at my parent's today at 10:45 AM. Sitting in church today we talked about authority. How appropriate as the thunder rumbled as we sat there. God is a good authority- Pastor Fred talked about the police and how they are there for our protection and even more so is the God of the universe! So sitting in church, I was a little bummed as I forgot my umbrella in my car! Thankfully we have these huge umbrellas at our church- so I used that to get to my car, although I still got wet! So windy! I started my car, pulled it up to the church, got my own umbrella as I retured the other one- whew! So off I went- and while still in the parking lot it started to hail! Thankfully just momentarily. I started driving on my St. Rt. 29 :) and it was raining so hard. Then the Holy Spirit just started pouring in His wisdom. He was showing me- that at times when there are storms in our lives- it is hard to see. The rain is coming down, my windshield wipers are working hard, but my vision is impacted. How true that is, when we go through a storm in our life. I also thought about the hail- the hail of a storm, it is painful. There are periods of storms in our lives that cause us pain and hurt. As I was driving in the midst of the downpour, I was thankful for this white car in front of me. Again the Holy Spirit reminded me that He is in front of me and behind me- Jesus- I'm desperate for You. The storm definately wasn't as scary with this car in front of me for multiple reasons. One- I could fix my eyes on this car and just follow- I didn't have to direct my own way. Two- I was also thankful for the tracks the car was making- I didn't have to worry about hydroplaning. Jesus thank You- that I can fix my eyes on You and You will direct my path. Jesus when I follow You- I don't have to worry about getting off track or crashing, but You provide safety- You are the shelter in the storm. This week Clark county had a tornado warning and even as I was driving I was thinking if there were a tornado- I would have to pull over and get shelter. When the storm is SO severe- it IS IMPERATIVE that we find shelter. If I stayed outside during a tornado- I would be just like Dorothy and get carried away to Oz- but seriously- I could die. When there are storms in our life it is IMPERATIVE that we find shelter- because death could ensue. So if you are going through a storm, come to the One who gives shelter- may you be encouraged by Psalm 91: Security of the One Who Trusts in the LORD. God gave this Psalm to me a couple of months ago when I was going through a storm, and God ministered to me- receive His goodness and His safety.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!"
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks[1][Or walks ] in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For[2][Or For You O LORD are my Refuge; You have made the Most High your dwelling place] you have made the LORD, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent[3][Or dwelling ].
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent[4][Or dragon ] you will trample down.
14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble[5][Or distress ];
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 "With a long life I will satisfy him
And let[7][Or cause him to feast his eyes on ] him see My salvation."

More Waiting

I wanted to write this excerpt from Waiting on God, which blesses me. God is trustworthy. Here it is:
Waiting continually will be met and rewarded by God Himself working continually. We are coming to the end our our lessons. I hope that you and I might learn one thing: God must, God will work continually, but the experience of it is hindered by unbelief. But, He who by His Spirit teaches you to wait continaully, will bring you to also experience how, as the everlasting One, His work is never-ceasing. In the love and the life and the work of God, there can be no break, no interruption.

Do not limit God in this by your thoughts of what may be expected. Do fix your eyes upon this one truth: in His very nature, God, as the only Giver of life, cannot do otherwise than every moment work in His child. Do not look only at the one side: "If I wait continaully, God will work continually." No, look at the other side. Place God first and say, God works continually; every moment I may wait on Him continually. Take time until the vision of your God working continually, without one moment's intermission, fills your being. Your waiting continaully will then come of itself. Full of trust and joy, the holy habit of the woul will be. "On Thee do I wait all the day." The Holy Spirit will keep you ever waiting.

Fishers of men

So- OK- real quick- I made some additions to my previous post- if you already read it- I remembered other blessings.

OK- onto today. So from a half marathon to a triatholon- can you say crazy???!! Well, all I have to say is when you build up endurance, it's an amazing. Hmmm...I need to do more thinking about endurance. So, today it was onto biking training. My thinking today- was to bike an hour- and that is what I did. So I have this loop that I like- and I so wanted to bike through Tawawa Park and that is what I did. I loved watching the fisherman seated all around the pond there. I started thinking about being fishers of men, and I thought of this catchy song from Tar Hollow....follow, me and I'll make you fishers, make you fishers of men....follow me and I'll make you fishers, make you fishers of men. Alright- too bad I can't add a song on this (don't think this one is on you tube- ha!) But, anyway, I looked at these fisherman....and they all looked so peaceful. I have to smile as today my coworker talked of her kids and what they did over the weekend- how they hunted mushrooms and went fishing. Reminded me of my childhood, living in the country. When I went fishing with my family- I remember at times it could be a little boring, because nothing would be happening. I had to be patient; I had to (drumroll please....) wait. That's what I thought about being fishers of men. Sometimes we have to be patient....we have to wait on the LORD. Then I got excited thinking about Jesus and the passage from John 21: Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will also come with you." They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing. But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
5 So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch." So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saidto Peter, "It is the Lord." So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish. So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught."
Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus....help us to wait on You- to listen to You when these fish are ready....patience.... Peace....it's Your work...may we listen.

Indianapolis Mini Marathon

So the pictures you see are my running apparel for the largest mini marathon in the nation: 35,000 people. That's more than the whole population of Sidney! Wowzers! What an event! I've been training for the last 10 weeks in preparation of what took place yesterday. Mitsu, Stephanie and I headed to Indy the night before- they were the ones that encouraged me to be part of the race - here we are prior to our race!
I was hyped; my goal was to cross the finish line. Walking to corral "F"- there were 26 corrals- each letter of the alphabet. The purpose of the corrals was organization from the fastest legged people starting in "A" to theoretically the slowest in "Z"- but for those who did not submit a time they were placed in the back. Thankfully I submitted a time! Going back to my running apparel for the morning-I wanted to write this verse on the back as an encouragement to people, but I was not expectant of how many people encouraged me because of my shirt. The first person to talk to me was Joe who was also placed in corral "F." Throughout the race, I had many people who said- I like your shirt- and each time I was encouraged- their words blessed my soul. As I ran, I enjoyed praying for people. We ran over many railroad tracks- and I began to pray for people not to get stumbled in their footing. I also noticed a couple people with bandaged calves- and I prayed for them- I was reminded of the verse that talks about the LORD binding the brokenhearted. I must say I LOVE the LORD for His super abounding lovingkindess- I felt so loved by Him yesterday as I ran. Along the 13.1 miles there were supposedly 106 bands ( I don't think they all woke up in time!!). One of the bands played Hillsong's Salvation is Here. It was fun as I ran- I looked at the singer and responded by raising my hand looking at him and saying "it's going to be alright!" My spirit was encouraged. Then I saw a man dressed in a spiderman costume and another wearing spiderman socks. I do really like that movie, and just was encouraged. Then we approached the actual 500 speedtrack from mile 6 to mile 8 and while running I heard a song that I had just talked about to my co-worker Sue- as she has just become a grandma. Sue said she is called Mama Sue- which reminded me of the Michael Jackson song- Wanna Be Startin' Something- where they sing mama se mama sa- so I termed Sue Mama sue...ha, ha. That might have been really confusing, but I can't tell you when the last time I heard that song- and I just smiled at the LORD. As I ran I looked at the sky several times and saw 3-4 jet stream crosses in the sky....again, I smiled at the LORD. Around mile 9 a man passed by and said- thank you for that verse- that is just what I needed as he exclaimed "Hallelujah". Again I was blessed by that. Running by this building I noticed it said children ministry and I started to pray for that building and noticed that it had the names of the LORD on the outside. I spotted my two favorite names of the LORD- El Roi- the God who sees and Jehovah Shammah- the God who Hears- again more smiles on my face- thank you LORD!! Then at mile 11 I heard a voice behind me say- we run into each other again and it was Joe!! Joe who was at the beginning of the race. What an encouragement. We talked about the goodness of our LORD for the remainder of the race- we exchanged how the LORD has taught us through our illiotibial band injuries. Joe shared how he runs in the morning before daybreak, but saw a beautiful sunrise and was reminded of the Chris Tomlin song- Indescribable and ran with his hands opened up in thanksgiving. As we neared the last tenth of the race- Joe said- are you ready to open it up? He allowed me to go first as we sprinted with our hands open in thanksgiving to our LORD to the end and I could hear his words of encouragement behind me. I have to say- words of encouragement are huge! What a blessing this training has been. I enjoyed the accomplishment of finishing the race well. Yes- may I hear- and all of us who follow Jesus hear- good and faithful servant- you have run the race well and with endurance- I need to continue to fix my eyes on my beautiful and faithful Jesus!