God's sparrow and his mate ...

God's sparrow and his mate ...
I call him "adonai" (with a little a) It is what Sarah called Abraham ...

Saturday, January 5, 2013

At The End Of The Rainbow


Morning stalker that I am ... Most days you will find me creeping into the briskness of post dawn air. All is quiet ... my landscape awaits. It never fails to tantalize my senses. Disheveled hair, robe still on, Fugi camera in hand... I must look a bit like a crazed old lady. I have on several occasions startled my neighbor who lives with his wife on the boat next door. I am anxious to see what deliciousness will meet my eyes in my land of island beauty on Hummingbird Haven where I live.

I have learned that morning and evening are the best times of day to capture what the Lord has painted on His landscape. I photograph day after wondrous day... paintings done by my Makers hand. I have lived here for 22 years and only this last year have begun to truly appreciate the colors "at the end of the rainbow" ... as others have dubbed the land where we live.

What is the Lord teaching me as I take the pictures of His Creation? One is ... for those He has given eyes to see He will reveal what He is doing on a daily basis. That if we look deep into His handiwork there is truly a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

And most importantly is the lesson of "waiting on the Lord" ... oh 
how hard is it to wait? I am one, who when I receive a thought or "once a good notion" I am sometimes compelled to grab that notion and run like the wind for the goal line. Sad thing is .. often it is the wrong goal and the "other side"  has me on the foul. I think photography is teaching me a tantamount lesson... found in the following verse.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the 
Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.


Then there is the last pictures of the day ... not a lot different than the ones of morning light but different just the same .. waiting for them is worth it all. And waiting on the Lord is more than worth it. Sometimes the waiting may indeed save a life maybe even your own. Listen to what He is speaking to your heart. He has a message for each one .. He taught me long ago to find His word and to fill my heart with it. It is from the word He leads us ...

Psalm 25:1-15 
In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust.
I trust in you;
    do not let me be put to shame,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.
Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
    for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
    and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
    for you, Lord, are good.
Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
    and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.[b]
13 They will spend their days in prosperity,
    and their descendants will inherit the land.
14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,
    for only he will release my feet from the snare.







Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Tales from a Craggy Old Tree"..."Wisdom speaks when one has ears to hear ...



There she is the white queen of the forest ... In the winter of her life and the winter of her sisters lives, it is hard to discern the dead tree from the living. You would think there is no life in these "ladies in waiting" but come spring they will bring forth new life ... while the white craggy queen with her top gone from lightening, decay, and winds ... will still stand tall... but no leaves will come to signal life's cycle goes on.

But oh for sure... in this season she still has lessons to teach and her very presence reminds all... of days gone by. One day she will topple in a wind and be gone forevermore. But those who stood with her in winter garb will remember the whisper of her leaves and hear the tales she told..  when in the summer of her life, she was glorious.

Seasons come and seasons go .. we would do well to mark the days of our lives as the new year approaches. Be very sure of your calling, for one day .. you too will be taking the "winter journey" ... like the winter queen is now. Look beyond her smile to the heart full of lessons .. what deliciousness if you would/could but side step even one of her mistakes and gain one of her successes by reading the "Book of life." ...

love from a craggy old tree on Hummingbird Haven.

Hebrews 12:1-13 NIV 1984
  
God Disciplines (teaches) His Sons and Daughters
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”a
his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
 Try reading this in many translations you won't be sad you did.

Friday, November 23, 2012

A dream and a heaven sent interpretation



A few years ago I had a dream (for real).. I was in a room with another person (I do not know who it was) The room had no door, it had 3 walls and a wall of glass on the 4th side. We could see life going on outside but there was no escape 
route! Our captor ... gave us a gun with ONE bullet in it and said we had to "choose" who would go free .. I was terrified! It was an unimaginable situation! We had a gun and a bullet and had to "choose" which one of us would shoot the other, in order to be set free!!!
All of a sudden it came to me, clear as a bell ... ONE BULLET... why shoot my fellow prisoner .. why not shoot our captor?!!!
Daily we are faced with decisions, too often we "shoot" the wrong person. (in our minds or with our tongues) We play the game of life Satan's way .. "If we hate (anyone) the love of the Father is not in us."
We all have a common enemy, but it is not the "other person."
Jesus is our heavenly Bullet we need to quit with the hatred and strife turn our eyes on Jesus is Who is the gun, the bullet that sets us free... is His word and prayer .. choose this day who we will serve!
Very often I find myself in a prison that "seems" to have no door I have imaginary conversations with someone I perceive is my "enemy" when in fact they are also a captive ... I have a choice to make .. Stay Satan's prisoner or ... use the Escape Route.

Friday, October 26, 2012

A story of … “REACHING THE GIRL NEXT DOOR”


A young mom of seven sat crying in her new home. She was so overwhelmed she didn't know what to do! Though she was a new Christian and happily married to the father of her youngest child, she still had the ghosts of two failed marriages haunting her. Was there any answer to the chaos that reigned in her heart?
Life presented an amazing answer as she heard a knock on her door. There standing in the early morning sun was the wife of a Village Missionary from the church right behind her home. The young mom at her door was holding a plate of cookies and an invitation to a Stonecroft Bible Study that was soon to take place in their neighborhood.
A new friend and a life line had been offered … Later that week she was sitting at the dining room table in a wonderful old farmhouse with other young moms having her first taste of a neighborhood bible study!
That was the beginning of the joy of discovery! This once frantic mom, discovered love and acceptance around that dining room table and she also found answers from the Bible that helped her become a better wife and mom.
As her love for God grew so did her love for her family and neighbors! Soon she was knocking on doors with her own plate of cookies, inviting women to a Stonecroft Bible Study in her home! She joined an army of moms who began reaching out to women in their neighborhoods! Friendship evangelism exploded in that community! Many lives were changed and the Family of God grew.
Now many years later that woman is the grandmother of 42. Four generations of her family have embraced a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and they too have found answers for living in the Bible.
I am that grandma and I am inviting you to come see …. How you too can reach the girl next door!
But Jesus said. “Go home to your friends, and tell them what wonderful things the Lord has done for you and how merciful He has been.” Matthew 28:19 NLT




Monday, September 10, 2012

Time to Lose Sight of the Shore ...



When all but two of our children had left home, Gary was ready to bring his dream of living aboard our boat full time, to reality. I had always been a stay at home mom and was completely content to stay that way: “A STAY AT HOME MOM!” But I didn’t want to stand in the way of my husbands dreams and so, even though I was deathly afraid of water, I decided to trust God to take care of me. He had already taken care of two major fears in my life. I no longer was afraid to trust a man and I now had a living relationship with God through His Son Jesus. Couldn’t I trust Him to help me over my fear of water too? … It was time to lose sight of the shore! 

August 1983 ... the time had come. Our tri-maran sailboat was loaded with supplies and our girls Carmen and Sheila were down below still sleeping , unaware we would soon be joiniing the the fishing fleet, which like us, had been waiting for a day when the Columbia River bar was open and safe for heading into the open ocean.  This was going to be our first time in the Pacific with just us at the helm. No experienced sailors would be traveling with us. I was nervous because we were novices and we had precious "cargo" aboard.  The weather man had said yes ... today was a good weather day, all ahead was safe for departure from the marina at Hammond, OR. 

Early that August morning we crossed the bar of the Columbia River, heading north to the San Juan Islands. As the hours passed and night fell our girls Carmen and Sheila went to their bunks below. The moon, which had been our light, was lost behind the clouds. The waves were building and so was the pounding of my heart. “Mrs. Fear” herself was at the helm! I handled the tiller while Gary tended the sails. I was afraid that my husband would fall overboard and I “knew” if he did, I would not be able to find him. The seas were bigger than I’d ever seen before but there was no place to go… so I just kept sailing and praying. Soon the sails were changed and Gary returned to the cockpit to take over the steering of “SON-BIRD”. I lay down at the feet of my husband trying to sleep. I didn’t want to go below where the girls would see the shape I was in. As I dozed I began to think of other journeys we had made on the Oregon Coast. I remembered a pod of Dolphin’s that had swum along with our boat on a moonlit night! Because of the phosphorescence in the water we could see their sleek movements perfectly. But that night there were no dolphins, only seas bigger than I cared to deal with! As we sailed on through the night I began to willfully meditate on a passage from the Bible that says “He leads me beside still waters” I told the Lord, “These are not still waters”! Suddenly I was filled with peace and in my heart I heard Him say, “I AM” your still waters”! He hadn’t chosen to calm the seas that night, but instead had chosen to calm my raging, fearful heart! I was no longer afraid. We were not alone as we sailed the Pacific headed for San Juan Islands. On that dark night I learned once again His promises are true…He will never leave or forsake us! Our Captain was on board!
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."  

"FROM TRASH TO TREASURE"




Let me take you back quite a few years to when I was a kid 
.
Do you remember as a child thinking “What am I here for?” Did you grow up with the feeling that you were on this earth for a “special” reason? I can remember being in the 6th grade on a hot summer evening staying over night with my girlfriend and we were going to write our life stories. I could never get past “When I was born … It had not occurred to me that in order to write one’s life story you had to first live your life! 
When my brother Jim and I were little we just wanted to grow up and be grandparents! Our grandpa Herley had a wonderful twinkle in his eyes. He milked cows, grew alfalfa, and drove a tractor. Grandma had chickens and a garden.  I used to twist my fingers around the hem of her dress so she couldn’t get far away from me. (Funny but all these years later, I find that now I twist my fingers around the hem of my husband’s shorts at night) … I don’t know where I think he is going! 
I remember grandma made me take naps whether I was tired or not. I thought that was mean … as I sure wasn’t tired! It wasn’t until I was a mom of seven that I realized grandma was the one that was tired! “Nap time” was for her, not for me! During those naps I would think about “why I was born”. I wasn’t quite sure, but knew my mom had told me I was created for a very special purpose!
A few years later, as an unwed fifteen-year-old girl, I gave birth to my first baby boy! I was a baby having a baby. Was this the special purpose I was made for? As young as I was I loved being a mom!
However by the time I was 23 I’d been married and divorced twice and now I was a single mom … with six children!
At thirty-three my childhood wish came true! I was a grandma! 
Now Gary and I have many grandchildren. ALL are very much loved by their grandparents! I shop all year long for birthday and Christmas gifts for our family. Gary says it is my hobby I say it is my “mission!”
I think most women like a good love story; I’d like to take you back now to where mine began!
In 1971 my husband gained a wife, became the father of his own first child, and also became dad to … my six children who ranged in age from four to twelve! Some people thought he was mentally challenged, many more thought he was a saint! 
When I met Gary he was a bachelor who had NEVER been married! And to top it off he was the ONLY CHILD of his parents, who were hard working Central Oregon farmers. I have often wondered what my dear sweet in-laws thought when Gary called and said “Mom, dad, guess who’s coming to dinner?” :) I want you to know though that his folks loved him, and chose to embrace his new, “not so little” family!
Gary who loved life and adventure now loved me! Did he know what he was taking on? A divorced mom with six kids! I think not! 
Before long this man whose adventurous spirit had led him to race cycles and jump out of airplanes, was bogged down in the mire and crisis of our home. The woman that he’d married had more than enough liabilities but there were TWO that were of his greatest concern:

ONE; I had forgotten how to trust a man … As a young child things had happened to me that caused me to stop trusting men. Someone that I loved and trusted was molesting me! I felt this was not something I could share with anyone. I was ashamed, confused and hurt. I didn’t know where to turn for help. Afraid if I “told,” my family would be hurt. I had no one to talk to about my fears. My body, soul, and mind were wounded. Like a little bird at sea I took flight into my own imaginations. 
The second major concern Gary had was that I did not have a relationship with the God he had loved since he’d been a child. Oh, I believed in God, and I knew the Christmas and Easter story, but I didn’t realize it was possible to have a personal relationship with Him. I truly didn’t believe He cared about me anyway and I always held in my memory the “proof” that He didn’t…  Would God have let those things happen to me as child if He loved me? 
Another memory that permanently altered the way I perceived God happened one Sunday morning when I was ten. My father dropped me off at church. I walked up to the door all by myself but when I tried to open the door it was locked! My heart sank! It was just as I had feared. …“I was too bad for God!” You see that locked door represented God to me and in my little girl mind I became convinced He could not love me! I remember the tears flowing as I sat on the steps waiting for my ride home. I never told anyone about the locked door and I never asked to be taken to church again. I began building my life around a wrong assumption. I lived the next twenty years making choices based on a lie about God and myself. I trusted no one! Fear colored all my relationships. And I became a bitter and unforgiving woman. 
But the wonder of it all was that as wounded as I was, I still met a man like Gary. He used to tell me “Faye Marie, there have been many men in your life, but I’m different, I love you, and I love you in spite of yourself!” I saw in him a real live example of “unconditional love”! My husband chose to follow the “for better or for worse” part of our marriage vows. My children and I had found a safe harbor! My eldest son once told me, “Mom, if you ever leave dad, I’m going with him!”… 
Little by little I began to understand that Gary would never leave me. I saw that he was different, and knew it was his faith in God that made him so. I began to think maybe I had been wrong in the conclusions I had drawn about God. Gary loved me maybe God loved me too. 
In spite of the fact that life was on a more even keel since I‘d married Gary, I soon began suffering the consequences of my previous life style. You see in the years before I had met my hubby I had been a Go-Go dancer in a cage! . So you see you can't always judge a book by its cover!  After finding myself alone with six kids to care for I took a job as a dancer in a night club (That was back in the days when dancers still wore clothes :) I was a mom all day and a dancer at night. I began taking diet pills to keep me awake and was soon totally addicted to them! I needed them for energy AND to give me the sense of well-being I longed for! I had continued their use into our marriage ... unknown to me they had eaten up my stomach with ulcers. It was a part of myself that I had kept hidden from my hubby. After many years of abuse it was becoming critical that I tell him all! 
There was a night in March of 1974 that I had my own "coming to the end of myself, crisis." I had become so desperate I finally confessed the truth of my addiction to my hubby who as yet did not know I was an addict. He looked at me and said "Oh honey thank God! I just thought you were crazy! Addiction is something we can take care of!" I thought to myself "So you say, I have been trying for 5 years to free myself from this bondage!" ... However was HE going to fix THIS! Later that night I was in the basement doing the mountains of laundry a family of nine has. Diet pills do not let you sleep so I was often up all night. That night I was so overwhelmed with my life I cried out "God help me!" 
The result of my cry in the night was ... Days later my health completely broke! The years of drug abuse caught up to me and I had to be hospitalized ... I was admitted, vomiting uncontrollably ... a very sick woman who hadn’t been able to keep food down for days. They put me in isolation immediately, not knowing whether or not I was contagious.
Gary visited me every day while our moms took care of the children. Though I was ill, I was having the first real quiet time I’d had in years. I was sick and had tubes everywhere, but I was really enjoying the solitude!  I had a lot of time to think as they looked for the source of my trouble. 
In the quietness of that hospital room I began to sense that maybe my need was more than physical. My sister-in-law came and visited me. She had recently become a Christian and I saw in her a real joy and peace that had not been there previously. I asked for her pastor to come and talk to me. He came and told me about a peace that I could have, that was even greater than what I was experiencing in the quietness of that room. He told me the source of that peace was found in Jesus. He then explained that God was a God of love who wanted to have a relationship with me, but because of the sin in my life such a relationship wasn’t possible. 
He showed me from the Bible that I had a “soul sickness” much like I had a sickness in my body. He said all people have sinned and are far away from God … and that included me. He explained that sin was simply the act of leaving God my Creator out of my life and living as though “I” were my own boss. 
I could see that I had been living with no regard to the plan that God had for me. I‘d left Him out of my life for years and it had only led to desperation, isolation, and actions that I was now ashamed of. He told me that if I continued to leave God out of my life I would be separated from Him forever. 
He also explained that God had sent His only Son Jesus to die in “our” place, to pay for the sins of the world … even mine. How Jesus had died on a cross, was buried, and raised to life three days later, and He was now living in Heaven! If I would accept what Jesus had done in my behalf, I could be forgiven. I bowed my head right there in that hospital bed confessing my sins! I asked Jesus to come in to my life. The release of my guilt was huge. I was forgiven and I knew it! When Gary came to see me that night He said He could see I was different. There was a new light in my eyes!
The doctors operated on my stomach a few days later but God had already operated on my heart and given me a new one. I walked out of that hospital a brand new woman! I had a new life and I was released from years of bitterness. God took me from soul and body sickness to a healthy hunger for knowing Him better. I had a new beginning!
In the weeks and months that followed it was a honeymoon for God and me. I read the Bible all the way through for the first time. Gary and I began taking our children to a little Village Missions church that was right behind our home. It was there I first was introduced to what is now known as Stonecroft Bible Studies!  http://www.stonecroft.org/elithica2/bible_studies.php  As I studied the Bible with the ladies around that table, I found love and acceptance. And I also found answers that helped me to become the wife and mom my family needed.
I began to teach my children about God and His Son Jesus. I truly wanted to steer them away from making the same mistakes their mama had made. 
And because of the wonderful freedom God had given me I was now able to forgive the person who had wounded me as a child. Our remaining years were marked with genuine love … and I was able to help him come to wholeness. The restoration was complete and I can say when he died, years later, I was holding his hand loving him with a pure and devoted love. 
Many years have come and gone since that night. In the meantime, our “family” have all grown up and now have families of their own. And we are the proud grandparents of thirty-five lively young people from 10 to thirty five years old! … And that is not counting our great grand-babies! (A few years ago our eldest son Paul married a girl who is the mom of seven children.  (So we are grandparents to 42!) Paul is the one who told me “if you ever leave dad,”… well I have told him the same “if you ever leave Stacie I am going with her! 
Through the years I’ve had plenty of opportunity to learn to trust God in good times and bad. I held His hand tightly through the years of raising seven teen-agers. Watched as my kids did make many of the mistakes I had made, yet knowing that “through it all” they will find their way back to the God Who loves them so much! 
I tested the waters of trusting God as I went through a dark tunnel of depression suffered in my forties. During that time I learned, it wasn’t my weak hold on Jesus that counts, but His strong eternal hold on me!


11 years ago our beloved fifteen-year old granddaughter, Tiffany, was diagnosed with 4th stage Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer. Tiff who was at that time leading a Stonecroft Friendship Bible Study of her own for her peers … began a journey, which was to include chemo, radiation, and finally remission. Two years later she was diagnosed once again with cancer, this time with Leukemia. Her only recourse was to receive a bone marrow transplant. Oct 3, 2003 Tiff began a 3½-month sojourn in Doernbecher Children’s hospital in Portland, Oregon that would end Jan. 24th, 2004 with her graduation to heaven. I would be beside myself if I did not know I would see Tiffany again! But when she was 8 years old she had given her life to Christ at my dining room table! I had been doing the homework for my Bible Study and the lesson told how you could know God in a personal way. I shared this with Tiffany who had been setting watching me as I worked on my lesson. She very simply and easily accepted Jesus as her personal Savior! Hours later as we were riding down the road in my car, I looked over and saw tears sliding down Tiff’s cheeks. I said “Oh honey, why are you crying?” She said in a voice just above a whisper, “Oh grandma, it should have been 'me' on the cross!” As young as she was she had understood that Jesus had stood in her place on the cross paying the penalty for her sins so she could stand in His place forgiven. Tiff was a new creation! 
Years later as her cancer progressed she had surrendered herself and the disease to Christ for whatever that was to mean! Do I miss her? You bet, more than life itself! But now she knows personally, what we only can experience by faith! 
During my journey with God I have seen good things and what often “appear” as bad things, intersect in our lives. But I am learning through them ALL to “be still and know that God is in control” Then I am able to experience God’s peace even in the storm. His word that says I will never, no never, no never, leave or forsake you has become my anchor and stay! I don’t know about tomorrow, but I do KNOW God holds my hand, and He is in charge of the journey now…
This may have sounded like a story about us but it is really a story about God, and the plan that He has for all who will fully commit to trust Him. 
As I think about all God has done in my life, I often remember a Christmas celebrated years ago. We had been living in the country. Outside St Helens, OR …. Our home was an old school house that we were remodeling. During those years we began our own family traditions. Each year we had a huge community Christmas potluck and invited all our friends, family, and neighbors to share our love and our table. 
The year we sold our home to move on our boat, (That is another story:) we decided to have one last feast in the old school house that had held so much joy. The crowning glory of the day would be that all seven of our children were going to be home. The days before an Arctic freeze hit. Christmas Eve day, we were setting the tables for sixty-five. Our tree was decorated and we had a warm fire in the old earth stove. 
The next day we were going to have Mexican dishes and traditional turkey as well. Many children would be playing around our tree! The phone rang and our pregnant daughter in love was on the other end. Paul our eldest son had failed to pay a fine and he was in jail! I heard Robin’s muffled sobs as she said, “Mom, we won’t be home for Christmas”! My eyes filled with tears as my husband of ten years looked on. He quietly said, “I’ll go”… 
Those were the years before debit cards, and personal checks were frowned on, so we didn’t know exactly how this was all going to come about. We prayed and Gary began his Christmas Eve journey. I know an angel went before him as the store in town cashed his personal three hundred and fifty dollar check. Our little Courier pick-up carried him across 250 miles of ice to a County jail in Goldendale, Washington where Gary paid our sons fine so he could join his family for dinner at our Christmas feast. He did for our son what he could not do for himself. He paid the price to set him free. 
This story often reminds me of another Father Who had children in “jail” owing a debt they could not pay. He sent His Son on a Christmas Eve journey over 2000 years ago, to a cruel cold world to pay our “fine”. God the Father has a feast prepared for us also, and He wants ALL His children to be there. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, Jesus paid our sin debt in full and all we have to do to receive the gift of salvation that He is offering to us is to accept what He has done on our behalf. Our son, Paul, would never have considered not accepting his father’s gift and neither should we refuse God’s gift of His Son. The Bible says, “To all who received Him, Jesus, He gave the right to become children of God”. The entrance fee to heaven has been paid in full for a grandma like me … or young girl like Tiffany! No matter what our age or the degree of our sin we are free to run with open arms to the One Who HAS paid it all! 
I have told you all about my life’s journey and I know each one of you have your own story to tell. Each of us is on a course through life. Some may already have made a definite decision to follow God and you are on an adventure that will ultimately lead to His Home in Heaven. But someone here today may not have made that decision. You may be waiting because no one has told you how you can know God and the plan he has for your life. Or you know the way and you have just been waiting the right time. If this is the case I want to give you an opportunity to book your trip plan. 
If  you are realizing that God is tugging at your heart, maybe it is time for you to lose sight of the shore and enter into the “Ocean of His love. Would you pray with me right now? I am going to pray a simple prayer like the one I prayed years ago. If you have never asked Jesus to be your Savior and you want to now, you may pray silently along with me. 
“Dear God, I have come to realize that I am separated from You because of my sin… and I need a Savior…. Thank You, for sending Jesus, to accomplish that which I could never do. I know now it’s because of His sinless life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave… that He accomplished all that is necessary for my relationship to be restored to You… 
I ask you now to forgive all my sins … and I invite Jesus Christ to come into my life and be my personal Savior … Thank You for forgiving me and making me a brand new person! … I ask these things, trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ ... A-men 
God hears the softest cry of a needy heart … His word promises that, “If we ask we will receive!  So if you have prayed with me to receive Jesus as your Savior today for the very first time … you are now God’s child, and I want to be the first to welcome you to the Family of God. 
But before I end my story  I want to tell you one more story. It is one I will call … “From Trash to Treasure”  It wasn’t long ago my granddaughter Zoie said to me …."Grandma may I wear your ruby ring?" Smiling at her I remembered myself at her age asking my "Aunt Grovie" that same question. As Zoie put the ring on her finger she asked who had given it to me. 
I looked at my treasured "art deco" ruby and diamond ring and said; "Since you asked Zoie ... grandma will tell you ... I found it in a piece of "petrified" anniversary cake from my great grandma and grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary! Yah I did! I really did." 
I knew right away there would be more questions. Questions I still ask, myself. How did it get in there and why? How did it come to be saved all these years and how come I was allowed to find it? It is all a mystery to me. But it has become a life lesson I will call "From Trash to Treasure." 
Years ago, in fact in 1925 this art deco designed ring was bought by Lester Emmett for his intended bride, Grovie Wilson, as an engagement ring. When I was a child I was fascinated by aunt Grovie's ring because it was a big red ruby instead of the traditional diamond engagement ring my mom had. 
Aunt Grovie was my grandma Laura's sister. Late in the 50's to the shock of everyone .. Her husband my Uncle Lester ran off with another woman and my Aunt Grovie was left alone with her only son. Later to our utter dismay Uncle Lester took his own life. The life of that little family of 3 had taken such a sad turn. The ring was forgotten. 
Years later my Aunt Grovie passed away … then a few years later her only son Bob died. Bob had never married so he had no heirs. Nothing was left of that family but a box of my cousin’s belongings... and some of my Aunt Grovie's "treasures" ... odds and ends junk jewelery, old papers, pictures and various things that appeared to the family to be garbage. There was a pair of my cousin Bob's baby shoes in it and a piece of petrified (literally) 55 years old anniversary cake, from MY GREAT grandparents 50th wedding anniversary!!!! I wanted to keep the baby shoes as a memento but I sure didn't want the wedding cake! I went to throw it in the trash and as it was falling into the can a little piece of waxed paper tumbled out with it ... I saw it out of the corner of my eye and thought ... what is that? I reached in to retrieve it. As I began to peel the paper away I started to tremble ... here in my hand many years since I had last seen it ... was Aunt Grovie's Ruby and diamond engagement ring!!! Carefully I began to clean the years of dredge away and there it was ... just as beautiful as ever I remembered it! 
To my delight the Lord began to whisper a story into my minds eye ... "People’s lives can be filled with sadness and sorrow beyond compare ... but if we will look more closely at what "appears" to be the trash of life ... we may just see the gleam of buried treasure saved there. 
I see Aunt Grovie's Ruby Ring and I am compelled to remember ... A little girl who admired her auntie's ruby ring and went on to live her life never thinking of it again ...until it appeared in an almost magical way.
Now my heavenly Father has chosen to use it … to teach this "grown up little girl" a profound lesson...
"Always look deeper when life "seems" to have dealt you what you don't want ... heart disease, a granddaughter dying from cancer, a son falling 50 feet from a tree and breaking his back, children who have had broken homes, health issues themselves, and relationship difficulties ... the things we call the trash of life .. if we will but look ...  may just have hidden gems in them." 
"I will be found by you if you search for Me with all your heart!" Jeremiah 29:13

If you have asked Jesus to come into your life you are free to become all God means for you to be. And if you have been a believer for many years …Look closer at what appears to be the trash heap of broken dreams … for in that trash heap you may find treasure still.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I Am Living A Dream Which has Become My Reality


Dreams do come true! I am living my dream and it has come true! One year ago I weighed 260 pounds .. I was in a wheel chair because I had fallen and injured myself. I spent a month and a half in that chair, slept in my husbands recliner with a port o' potty next to it! YES, YOU READ right!

THAT humbling situation caused me to rethink my life! I had a changing day! In a flash, one pain filled day... I woke and said "what am I doing, I am older than my then 67 years and as unhealthy as you can be!? Back pain, foot pain, and heart issues, had dominated my existence for a long time ... it was time to surrender this "eating until I drop" thing I had done for 20-ish years. Time to get a life! I called a friend who had found an answer to being overweight that had worked for her, and has lost near 150 pounds. I asked her, "will this work for a woman who cannot exercise and who has no desire to go back once she has lost her weight?" She told me "Indeed it will work for you too!" I signed up on Dec 10th, 2010 and have lost steadily ever since. Today Dec 10th one year since I began ... I have made my goal of 120 pounds of weight in the land fill no longer on me! I will never be the same again! One day at a time I lost it and one day at a time I will keep it off!

C'mon friends if this old lady can do it anyone can! God, my family, friends, a plan, and a will to do it ... UNTIL ...I am rooting for you! You too can do it! Let this be a changin' day in your life!

I am living my dream and it has come true! Thanks take Shape For Life

http://wecandothistogether.tsfl.com/