Joy in the Journey

  Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10   There is a saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the street, or fence or in Erma Bombeck speak, septic tank.   The idea being that things look better from a distance but when you get close, most often you prefer your own yard. I thought of that this morning when remembering a friend from high school.   I’m one of those odd people who attended the same school, with mostly the same children, from first grade through twelfth grade but when we got to ninth grade, high school, we did get an influx of new kids. One of those girls, Doreen, lived just a bit farther away from school than I did. If I’m remembering correctly she rode the bus to school but most days she walked home. I on the other hand, was driven to school in the morning by my father and picked up in the afternoon. Every day. By. My. Father. Get the e...

  When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Luke 2:10   Our heavenly Father, from whom all blessings flow (James 1:17) has blessed my husband and me with ten precious grandchildren. It might be a bit biased to say that they are the sweetest, cutest kids ever but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Just the other day our youngest grandson Abram came to see us. It was his first time at our house since the arrival of the Christmas decorations. Walking in to our living room he stopped and said, “Grammy, it’s Christmas everywhere!” His voice was filled with the awe and wonder. As he moved through the house and saw more and more decorations he repeated his sentiment again adding, “It’s amazing.” Keep in mind our little prince is not quite two years old. In those moments   I was enjoying the privilege of seeing the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child. Beyond my decorations, Abram is absolutely right, it’s Christmas everywhere....

  To bestow on them a crown of beauty   instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of despair. Isaiah 61:3b   This morning while praying I realized that I was simply carrying too much junk. There are circumstances far beyond my control that are causing difficulty, disappointment and even pain in my life. Do I want them? No! So I chose to lay them down at the foot of the Cross and pick up the peace that transcends understanding. (Philippians 4:7) That is when the verse from Isaiah came to mind. It just felt wrong to lay down all my junk and walk away with peace but that is God’s plan.           As I continued with my reading and my prayers the peace grew. That was a bit odd as one of the readings was directed at one of my sorest spots. Right there in that moment I set the book down and asked God to reveal the deeper lesson to me. Why was He showing me those ...

  By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and he worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. Hebrews 11:21     Just a few minutes ago I read this quote as part of a devotional message. The author of that message leaned pretty heavily on the idea of heritage and how important it was to Jacob’s sons and grandsons.   That made me smile because just yesterday afternoon my grandson Joey was talking to me about heritage.   We were in the kitchen and Joey was baking brownies for the first time.   I was talking him through the steps and told him that the recipe he was using came from his great-grandmother. “It was my mom’s recipe first.” I told him. “Now that you are using it you’re the fourth generation on this same recipe.” He grinned at me and said, “So it’s like heritage.”   Yes, precious boy, it’s like heritage. I am happy to pass on recipes, old family traditions and home remedies to my children and grandchil...

  Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” Matthew 22:37-39   A message I read earlier today really touched my heart. It was a reminder that being a Christian, being a Christian, not saying that I’m a Christian, means putting Christ first. It means breaking down the strongholds and losing the idols. I responded to that message by going into a moment of prayer for that exact stance in my life. I prayed that God will always come first, reign supreme for me, own my heart and that after that will come my sweet husband, other people, whatever service God draws me toward and eventually, me.         That prayer reminded me of my newest precious friend Samah. Samah is incredibly expressive. When she tells me stories of what she did over the weekend or the evening befo...

  Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. Hebrews 4:16   How many times have you heard it said of someone that he or she has no filter? My granddaughter Madelyn is the personification of that statement and she gets that quality straight from her mother. My daughter Laura is an adult now and as such has tamed her wild tongue a little bit. Madelyn, who I lovingly call Mim, has not. Mim says whatever she’s thinking. It pops into her head and she says it. Just the other day she told me that she’d seen an old picture of me with blonde hair. “Hey Grammy, so I saw a picture of you when you used to have blonde hair.” She looked at me, cocked her head, gave me the quirkiest little look and said, “Yeah, keep the red.” See what I mean? No. Filter.   And quite frankly we all love it, for now, because Mim is six years old. Eventually she’ll have to find a filter. Although knowing h...

    “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again: he was lost and is found. Luke 15:31 The story of the prodigal son has been a recurrent theme for me for years and recently it’s been a fairly constant companion. On close inspection and upon serious delving into it, I find that I am and/or have been every one of those three characters many times. I desire to be the Father. That is the kind of heart I want to have and to share. During my time with the story I’ve been able to identify a few places where I have been successful with that, with having and giving a version of that open armed, unconditional love. That is great, considering that being able to live life with that attitude is the goal.           I’m a person who hates the end of books, not because the story is over but because I h...