Saturday Selah: Reigning in the Busyness

It has been 18 days since my last blog post. I am absolutely amazed at how fast the month of May sped by. We have been on activity overload all month long.

Our oldest daughter, Pastry Princess, graduated from culinary school on May 8.

May 12 we gathered at my mil's house for a Mother's Day lunch with my parents, mil, sister-in-law and her daughter (with her son and daughter), other sister-in-law, Pastry Princess and Dynamo, and Orchid. Then Mr. Amazing and I went for a 150 mile (round-trip) motorcycle ride in the beautiful countryside.

Mr. Amazing, snuck me away for camping weekend May 15-17 in Levi Jackson State Park in Kentucky (read about it in my Thyme for the Garden column here - Mr. Amazing contributed.).

Our grandson finished his first year of preschool on May 22 (he attended 3 hours, 1 day a week). That same afternoon Mr. Amazing made me a Key Lime Cake with Key Lime Buttercream Frosting that we took Ritter Park to share with our kids.

On May 23, I woke up and remembered I had my first monthly meeting of the Romance Writers of America's KYOWA chapter. It lasted about 3 1/2 hours--a 40 minute drive from home. I got back just in time to eat some yummy homemade lasagna before Mr. Amazing whisked me away to a concert called The Saturday Jamboree Legends of Country Music. One of his co-workers was featured as Hank Williams, Sr. He nailed his performance. Good job Jay!!! See a video of the original show which broadcast from 1953-1965 on WSAZ TV here. (The video is 29 minutes long.) After the concert we walked over to Starbucks and their XM radio broadcast was playing the original recording of Long Gone Lonesome Blues and we couldn't tell that it wasn't Jay singing and yodeling--he's just that good.

On May 24, headed to Independence, Kentucky to the reunion of Mr. Amazing's family on his dad's side. Mr. Amazing's Uncle Jerry, Aunt Patti (with husband Glenn), sister Sharon (with husband Darrell), sister Julie (with husband and daughter Allie), Mr. Amazing (with me, our daughter Pastry Princess and grandson Dynamo) represented our branch-all but 1 of the 8 children of the original family had descendants in attendance.

May 28, our son Spiderman graduated from high school. My last one...the next time I am at a secondary school graduation it will be for a grandchild. *nostalgic tear* Kids grow up soooo fast!

Spiderman and I spent most of yesterday getting a windshield, inspection sticker, etc. for Orchid's car while she attended the last of a two-week training by Verizon as Alltel shifts to new management.

Throughout May I have written 5 Thyme for the Garden columns, 1 Choosing Life Every Day devotional column (publishing in June), edited and published 5 Take Root and Write Digital Magazine issues, scratched around in the gardens (whenever it hasn't been raining), plus all the day-to-day events that happen in every family.

And now the month is almost gone...

How do I make the days slow down so I can enjoy each one and not remember them in a blur at the end of the month? This is not a new phenomenon of the 21st century.

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee!

You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! ~Isaiah 30:15-18

Our busy lives have us rushing to and fro, forgetting to appreciate the gift of the moments we have. In our insistence on filling each and every minute with activity, we neglect to see God in the ordinary. It does not have to be this way!

Eugenia Price says this about the importance of slowing down:

The voice of God is always speaking to us, always trying to get our attention. But His voice is a "still, small voice," and we must at least slow down in order to listen.

Our Lord Jesus knows we must slow down:

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." ~Matthew 6:30-31

I sat on my porch this morning as is my joy daily, just as the sun comes over the hill across the road, coffee in one hand, Bible in the other. As I finished my devotions, I looked up to see a beautiful bluebird flitting from tree branch to the ground for a bite of food. He then flew back up to the branch and sang his joy at the blessing he found.

If I had jumped headlong into my very busy day, what a wonderful gift from the Lord I would have missed--listening to God's beautiful creation singing it's joy of life to the Creator!

Rest is not some holy feeling that comes upon us in church. It is a state of calm rising from a heart deeply and firmly established in God. ~Henry Drummond (1851-1897), author, evangelist, scientist

Take time this week to enjoy the quiet moments in the presence of the Lord!

Saturday Selah: Reigning in the Busyness

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/05/saturday-selah-reigning-in-busyness.html

Saturday Selah: Song to the Lord

Selah is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen". Selah notes a break in the song and as such is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage.

I will exalt You, my God the King;

I will praise Your name for ever and ever. ~ Psalm 145:1
Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, O my soul. ~ Psalm 146:1

Praise the LORD.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

How pleasant and fitting to praise Him! ~ Psalm 147:1

This week I discovered a delightful poet, Helen Lowrie Marshall [1904-1975]. Her poems sing praise to God and refreshment on my soul. I want to share a Selah from her with you:

Each day, upon my daily round,
I find myself on holy ground-
The morning-glories on my fence
Inspire quiet reverence.
Just one small, tender seedling grew,
And now, this miracle in blue.
A robin in the apple tree
Sings out his glad doxology.
I hear the pure, unsullied joy
Of laughter from a little boy;
I bow before the firm belief
And faith of one who lives with grief;
I watch a jet plane skim the skies
And marvel at man's enterprise;
I look upon a field of wheat
And thank God for the bread we eat;
I watch the benedictive rain
On low-bowed heads of flower and grain.
A friend drops in, a neighbor calls,
The lamps are lit, night gently falls;
Contentment settles with the sun
In labors of the day well done.
So many little altars there,
So many simple calls to prayer,
So many reasons for thanksgiving-
The sacraments of daily living.

Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD from the heavens,

Praise Him in the heights above. ~ Psalm 148:1

Praise the LORD.

Sing to the LORD a new song,

His praise in the assembly of the saints. ~Psalm 149:1

Praise the LORD.

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty heavens. ~ Psalm 150:1

On this Saturday, while we wait in excitement for Resurrection Sunday...pause to praise the Lord God Almighty for His beautiful gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Saturday Selah: Song to the Lord

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/04/saturday-selah-song-to-lord.html

Saturday Selah: Trust Him and Stand

The times we live in seem precarious at best, downright terrifying at worst. Our country's leadership seems intent on securing their own political power regardless of the damage their policies are doing to the country. Our children and grandchildren will be paying the bill for these power plays as money is continually being siphoned to bail-out or by-pass the natural selection of companies that are nearing bankruptcy (no, I'm not an evolutionist--I'm just hijacking a popular Darwinian idea as it applies to capitalism.)

Some of the most frightening changes include abortion regulation making it freer for women to "choose" to end pregnancy at any stage and using any method, no matter how barbaric. The changes that lifted the ban on new embryonic stem cell lines for research seem destined to make destroying life at its most fragile stage a money-making endeavor, even in the face of facts that adult human stem cells produce successful results without taking life. And the rights of doctors who conscientiously object personally performing abortions are in danger of being stripped away...on the narrow chance that one would also deny a woman the right to birth control pills.

For more information read: Why Fight FOCA Now?
Obama Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ignores Science,
No choice: Doctors forced to perform abortions or else?

With all this swirling around believers, it is easy to become discouraged and want to withdraw from participating in public life. After all, we don't want ourselves, our families, or our churches to become targets for the extreme liberal left, do we? It is so very important we resist the urge to retreat into our safe, comfortable lives.

If we don't stand up for what God clearly tells us is right, we are as responsible as those who laugh in His face and proceed to do wrong.

Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. ~Isaiah 1:17

As scary as it seems to put ourselves in the line of fire, God will be there for us. We can rely on Him, even if we ourselves come under attack. He promises to take care of us.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.

The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.

But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel. ~Psalm 125

Even though we were not born in Israel...we are His people, adopted into His chosen family, therefore we can claim Psalm 125 because it was written for us!

For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. ~Romans 8:29

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. ~John 141-4

So...when we stand up to protect the innocent, God is standing there with us. We can trust in Him and rest in His sheltering arms. Our strong God will take care of us regardless of the circumstances.

In the late 1800's Mrs. Louisa M.R. Stead watched as her husband died while trying to save a drowning boy. She wrote these words as a response to her struggle with the "why?" questions she asked God.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou are with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

Though she had to watch her husband give his life to try to protect the innocent, Mrs. Stead was able to cling to God and praise Him in the midst of the sorrow. Do you believe He will be there for us as we step onto the battlefield to protect the innocent of our times?

Just a note of fact: 50 million children have been lost in the abortion holocaust since abortion became legal. A whole generation...who knows what God would have done with those precious lives had they been spared.

If you need to be awakened from your apathy concerning the innocent unborn being destroyed, watch The Silent Scream. Please, please, please be cautious about who is in the room with you when you watch. It is devastating and graphic. Children should not watch it!!

Saturday Selah: Trust Him and Stand

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/03/saturday-selah-trust-him-and-stand.html

Saturday Selah: Prayer - Steering Wheel or Spare Tire?

My inspiration for this week's Selah is a devotion written by Karen Burton Mains. I also submitted much of it to our February church newsletter.

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? ~Corrie Ten Boom

In 1983, two great women of faith, Catherine Marshall and Corrie Ten Boom, went to be with the Lord. If you read any of their writings, you very quickly will see that these women spent hours on their knees in prayer. It was part of who they were. Very rarely today do we encounter such women in whom prayer is a second language.

Corrie Ten Boom commented on the tragedy of the fact that most Christians have lost or perhaps never developed a consistent prayer life:

“When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.”

Prayer is a direct line into the power God has made available to us through His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Our lives can never be as effective or successful if we don’t tap into what He offers us for free. How do we expect to be all He has planned for us to be if we don’t spend time discussing it with Him?

Karen Burton Mains brought the question home:

“Frankly, there are very few candidates from our generation of women – those of us who have lavished hours in front of the television set, in the shopping plazas, in self-indulgence, in not developing a disciplined spiritual life.”

Ouch! How often am I guilty of letting these things distract me?

Karen goes on:

“…unless we begin to grow up spiritually. Unless we become convinced that we are the generation of Christian adults ultimately responsible for the spiritual condition of our nation. We must understand that there are increasingly few in that generation ahead of us left to pray over this world. We are coming of age. But are we coming to terms with our lack of spiritual depth and ability?”

“It is we who must learn the meaning of forbearing.

It is we who must develop the disciplines of spiritual perseverance, not shrinking back from growth but doing the will of God, having faith and keeping our souls.

It is we who must become women of faith and prayer and obedience and service.

It is we who must set a spiritual standard for the next generation.

It is time for us all to grow up.”

Catherine Marshall put the idea of our neglect of our spiritual responsibility more succinctly:

“One can believe in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying.”

Efficacy is a single word that describes the power to produce an effect. Do we believe prayer is effective? Can it make a difference in our lives? Our families? Our culture? Our country? The answer to all of these is a loud and resounding YES!

And what does God’s word say to this:

“…Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:16-18 [NIV]

So will I be the one who steps into those shoes vacated by Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall? Will I be one who makes prayer my second language?

Father, Guide me to my knees. Teach me your language of prayer. Help me stand in the gap for others. Allow me to learn to bring everything before You. Amen.

Saturday Selah: Prayer - Steering Wheel or Spare Tire?

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/02/saturday-selah-prayer-steering-wheel-or.html

Saturday Selah: He Provides Quietness

He giveth quietness. Job 34:29 [KJV]

I watched a few minutes ago as four power company trucks raced south down our two-lane highway. Many people up on the mountains still have no electricity. My husband spoke of a couple ahead of him in line at the local pizza place last night who were acting very grumpy. Evidently the man realized his behavior was not exemplar because he explained as he paid for his purchase, "We don't have a well. We haven't had water or electricity since Tuesday."

My husband used his Christmas present, a Flip video recorder, to document some of the conditions he encountered Thursday as he was on his mail route. There were several places where he had to drive through the canopy of trees that had fallen. One place had the power lines propped up off the road by a sturdy branch with a 'y' at the end of it. Many times it was the power lines holding up the trees off the road. At one point in his route, he had to turn around and drive miles back around a mountain to service the mailboxes just on the other side (a few feet from where he turned) because of a large tree blocking the road.

I understand the frustration that man felt. I've been there. Actually, I'm pretty grumpy after a few days of camping without getting a proper shower -- and that is self-imposed lack. I've also been through ice storms and moving situations where it was more than a few days before we had power. I know at one point when I was given the answer, "It will be next week before the inspector can get to your house. We can't turn the power on until we get his report," I burst into tears and blubbered to the man on the phone that I couldn't go another week without electricity. This after playing "Little House on the Prairie for a week and a half...boiling water on a camp stove, cooking Thanksgiving turkey on the grill, and using a propane lantern and candles for light. It really was fun...for about a week. I borrowed the "Little House on the Prairie Cookbook" from the library and we worked our homeschool lessons around our situation. But even though we were in North Carolina, early December tends to get cold. Bath water doesn't stay very warm waiting for the next stock pot to boil and be poured in.

As God was teaching me patience and endurance [*grimace*] and I tried to be consoled by my husband's reassurance over the phone that we would check into a hotel over the weekend, a knock sounded at my front door. The inspector showed up at my door less than an hour after I talked to his co-worker on the phone. My power was on before dark. I was able to bathe my three little kids in warm water...cook on my electric stove...and joyfully, soak in my new garden tub with warm, yes even steaming hot, water.

Lesson learned: Always let your emotions show when you need something from a Southern male bureaucrat...Southern gentlemen are taught to step up and save a damsel in distress!

Whooops! No really, the lesson learned is that God will provide what we need...even if what we need is peace and quietness and just a little warmth. I was at the end of myself when I had that emotional breakdown on the phone. But while the inspector was at my house, I found out that a cancellation on the man's schedule allowed him to be able to get to my house before the business office of the electric company closed. Now Who do you supposed arranged for that cancellation?

My daughter has been staying with us since a couple days before these recent storms hit. She has been marveling at the timing of her illness that caused me to bring her and her son to our house at just the right time. She is the kitchen manager for the culinary school she attends and since the college uses a vo-tech facility kitchen, when the county closes the schools she doesn't work. She has been able to recover here without missing work. When she went past her house a couple days ago and saw the huge pile of snow blocking her iced-over (steep) driveway, she started thinking about how God provided her illness just in time to keep her from being stranded on the hill with no way to get out. (Not that her father and I wouldn't have mounted a rescue attempt!!)

On Monday before the storms hit, my husband and son brought a large load of firewood home and stacked it on the porch. It is enough to last us well into February. And it burns well, so it is seasoned to be used just now at the time we need it. My son and I were able to get a water line break well on its way to being fixed before my husband got home from his long, icy mail route on Tuesday so all he had to do was help get the splices in and fill in the hole. Yesterday my son, daughter, grandson, and I were able to get out between snowy downpours and resupply our panty.

All the little evidences of the Lord's care have given me a sense of quiet in my soul. Just what my busy lifestyle (again, self-imposed) needed. I'm sitting here in my large rocker, glancing out the window at the frozen (and finally sunlit) beauty, tucked under my favorite blanket, steaming cup of coffee on the table next to my Bibles and devotional, with a roaring fire in the fireplace. The kids are still sleeping and my husband has warm clothes and a reliable car in which to deliver mail. I am blessed this morning with a quiet spirit brought on by my gratefulness for the Lord's care and attention to my needs.

Thank You, Father, for your tender care and abundant mercies!

Like other shepherds
help me keep
watch o'er my flock by night;
mindful of each need,
each hurt, which might
lead one to stray --
each weakness
and each ill --
while others sleep
teach me to pray.
At night wolves and leopards,
hungry and clever, prowl
in search of strays
and wounded; when they howl,
Lord, still
my anxious heart
to calm delight --
for the Great Shepherd
watches with me
over my flock
by night. ~Ruth Bell Graham

Saturday Selah: He Provides Quietness

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/01/saturday-selah-he-provides-quietness.html

Saturday Selah: A Friend in Need

Friendship gives license to show up at the door of need without asking, "When would you like me to come?" or "What would you like me to do?" Nor does friendship call out, "Just let me know if you need anything."

Practiced friendship whispers, "I'll be there" and promptly steps through the door with sensitivity, respect, and understanding.

But what about honoring the right to invite? Those who wait for parchment invitations wait long, for need rarely throws a party--rarely even has a voice.

Yet need has its own needs. It needs protection from strangers tromping in with work boots and good intentions. And it needs relief from acquaintances wearing the spiked heels of advice and pat answers.

Need waits with longing for the familiar entrance of dear ones who pad barefoot through the soul on ordinary days. ~Susan L. Lenzkes

I had a hard time with today's Selah. A dear one of mine is suffering and I am hurting along with her. Not knowing how to help has made me feel frustration at my own helplessness. Susan Lenzkes' words were just what I needed to read. I know now that the most important part of my role in the situation is as arms and hands and ears, not mouth and tools. I must hug and hold and listen, not advise and fix.

Thank you, Lord for giving me Your wisdom through the writing of another woman of faith.

A friend loves at all times. ~Proverbs 17:17

Saturday Selah: A Friend in Need

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/01/saturday-selah-friend-in-need.html

Saturday Selah: Three Steps to Sin

Inspired by a brief (under 2 minutes) radio spot, I'm changing the format of Saturday Selah. I would like to offer a place where we can share encouraging messages we have heard throughout the week. In as few as 50 words or less, we can share a Bible verse or two and what they meant to us. Perhaps we heard song lyrics that touched our hearts. Anything that made a difference in your week can be posted here.

Our job as women of faith is to encourage others to seek God. If something stood out as special encouragement, then God meant it to help others as well. Don't worry about the word count - it's not a strict policy, just a guideline. Sometimes God gives us a little to say, sometimes He gives more.

---

From Ruth Graham Bell:

Three Steps to Sin

1. Contemplation
2. Rationalization
3. Consent
   

P.S. Sin always affects others.

1. Serpent - "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?
   Eve - "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
   
   
2. Serpent - "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
   Eve - When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom...
   
   
3. Eve - She took some and ate it.

P.S.

• Adam - She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
• The Rest of Us - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
  

But God always makes a way...

1. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one ad only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." ~John 3:15
   
2. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin." ~Hebrews 4:15

How will I respond to this?

What choice will I make the next time I am confronted?

Saturday Selah: Three Steps to Sin

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/01/saturday-selah-three-steps-to-sin.html

Saturday Selah: Jesus Wept

Inspired by a brief (under 2 minutes) radio spot, I'm changing the format of Saturday Selah. I would like to offer a place where we can share encouraging messages we have heard throughout the week. In as few as 50 words or less, we can share a Bible verse or two and what they meant to us. Perhaps we heard song lyrics that touched our hearts. Anything that made a difference in your week can be posted here.

Our job as women of faith is to encourage others to seek God. If something stood out as special encouragement, then God meant it to help others as well. Don't worry about the word count - it's not a strict policy, just a guideline. Sometimes God gives us a little to say, sometimes He gives more.

---

Now to my inspiration from this week. I hope you are as blessed by it as I have been.

In John 11 we see Jesus arriving in Bethany four days after Lazarus died. Mary, brokenhearted, collapsed in grief at His feet. She tells Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." [John 11:32 (NKJV)]

Jesus' response contains the shortest verse in the Bible: He wept.

He did not weep for His own grief at the loss of His friend. His heart broke for the pain Mary was suffering.

Then He asked, "Where have you laid him?" In other words, Jesus told Mary to take Him to the source of her pain.

That is what Jesus does with us. He has compassion for our breaking hearts. Our pastor defines compassion as sympathy with the intent to take action.

Jesus weeps for our pain, and asks us to take Him to its source...to open that wound and let Him do all in His power to comfort and heal that pain.

Dear friends, reach out to Him right now with your heart break. Let Him in to comfort you and guide you into His blessed rest and peace.

Saturday Selah: Jesus Wept

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/01/saturday-selah-jesus-wept.html

Saturday Selah: Christmas Blessings & Sorrows

You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes. --Psalm 119:68

I started my day thinking of the joys and sorrows of this Christmas season. My children were all around me...we had great times together with only a few of the inevitable conflicts when people are in each other's space for too long. We got to visit with family at the annual Christmas Eve party at my husband's grandmother's house. She is soon to be 93 and it is such a blessing that we get to share time with her. We had dinner on Christmas day at my mother-in-law's home, joined by my parents and my husband's grandmother.

But there were deep sorrows amongst all the celebrating. One of my mother-in-law's dearest friends passed away in the early hours of last Saturday. Her funeral was held on Tuesday. She was a wonderful lady and will be greatly missed. Her husband is the uncle of my husband's brother-in-law. He was the one who built the house we live in-in the 1940's. Their family lived here when their daughter was born.

On Christmas day, one of our church friends lost his mother to cancer. Although it was an expected passing, it is so painful for our friend and his family. He was unable to be with her at the end because she lived across the country. He was able to spend a few weeks with her in November.

Last night we got a call that the wife of my husband's uncle was playing with her grandchildren on the family room floor, got up and sat on the sofa with her eyes closed. She never opened her eyes again. My husband is in shock as he was just speaking with his father earlier and had learned that this same uncle was looking forward to to retiring from his job in a few weeks.

As sad as all this is, I was truly blessed by an unopened email that I clicked on this morning. It is an article on Today's Christian Woman website. I want to share it with you...somehow it has made me see how lovely it was that our friends and family were able to spend some precious moments with their loved ones. After the initial pain subsides, they have been gifted with memories that will bless them for the rest of their lives.

He Knows My Name

by Ginger Kolbaba

What an elderly store clerk reminded me about taking my name for granted

December 15, 2008 |

“Call me Bill,” the elderly, slightly stooped, sales clerk told me. He’d just handed me his business card. “For some reason they put ‘William’ on the card. But nobody calls me William. Only my mother did. But she’s long gone now.”

As I stood with this retired furniture salesman, now Home Depot appliance guru, I noticed a faraway look in his eyes. I figured it didn’t have to do with the white Maytag double oven we were currently discussing.

“She used to call me William when she was upset with me!” he said and chuckled. Then he turned serious. “What I wouldn’t give to hear my mother call me ‘William’ again. It’s been all these years since she passed, but I still wish I could hear her call my name. You still have your parents?”

I nodded.

“Well, enjoy them while you can. Time goes too quickly. Enjoy listening to the way your mom says your name. It’s the most precious gift.”

I’d gone searching for a new stove, but left with something far more valuable.

Back at home, I called my mom and chatted. I listened to her voice and enjoyed her quick, easy laugh. William was right; it was a wonderful gift and a strong reminder never to take someone’s voice for granted.

Later that evening as I was praying, William’s words drifted back into my mind. How often do I take for granted something as simple as hearing my name? Especially when God speaks it? How many opportunities have I missed to hear God whisper my name with love and acceptance and grace?

Names have such special meaning. In a sense, they define who we are. They bring comfort when spoken by someone we love. The “William” of childhood—who heard that name only when he was in trouble—now attached great significance to that name because it held a special memory of his mom.

I thought about Jesus’ names and how they bring great comfort to me when I say them: “Jesus,” the Lord saves; “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6); “Immanuel,” God with us (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23).

I thought about Simon, whom Jesus named Peter: “I tell you,” Jesus said, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

God attaches great significance to us through our names. Through the prophet Isaiah, God tells us, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1); “I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name” (Isaiah 45:3).

Too often in my busy days, I go through the routine of worship and devotional time. I pray, spouting off my laundry list of needs and wants and “will yous.” But rarely do I sit quietly with my Creator and simply listen to him say my name.

In his book Life of the Beloved, Catholic theologian and priest Henri Nouwen writes: “We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved.’ Listening to that voice with great inner attentiveness, I hear at my center [God’s] words that say: ‘I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me.’”

While my head understands Nouwen’s words, too often my heart cannot grasp that the Creator of the universe knows my name. He knows me intimately and cares about me; he considers me beloved.

We have a God who loves us so much he calls us by name. I am overwhelmed.

This Christmas, my house will be filled with the noise and clutter and chatter of five adults and four dogs for a week. The stresses and joys of the holiday will compete for my time and attention. But I hope that somewhere in there, every day and throughout the new year and beyond, I will not take for granted the knowledge that God calls me by name. I pray I will truly listen and hear him say, “Beloved. You are mine and I am yours.” And I will know that he means it.

Posted at 3:54 PM on December 15, 2008.

What a wonderful Christmas gift to have discovered in that unopened email -- to be reassured that I am the Lord's Beloved and He is mine!

And to combine with that blessing, as I typed this post, my son was going around opening windows...the outside temperature is warmer than the inside this morning: where yesterday we needed coats go outside, right now it is currently 61 degrees, and expected to get to the low 70's. We're heading out in a bit to take my grandson to play at the park and enjoy this unexpected gift (as it will go back to normal temperatures by Monday).

Dear Father, please be with our friends and family as they go through these sorrows. Thank you for helping me remember to take advantage of the time You've given me with my family. And thank You for the blessed reminder that You love me. Amen.

Saturday Selah: Christmas Blessings & Sorrows

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/12/saturday-selah-christmas-blessings.html

Saturday Selah: A few thoughts for Christmas

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." --Matthew 1:23

Christmas is just days away and I've worked to keep the true meaning fresh in my mind and heart. I can't help but be a bit "Bah! Humbug!" about certain sing-songy cliches about 'the reason for the season.' I even vetoed rhyming Christmas cards this year. I wanted to feel and send an authentic message about our true celebration.

We settled on this verse by Ron Lessin in a beautiful snowflake card from DaySpring cards.

Just think, you're here not by chance, but by God's choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else--you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can't give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

My dear friends, it is my heart's desire: that you feel this loving message from the Lord and that you can fully realize His plans for you as we celebrate the greatest Gift ever given this December 25th. I enjoy writing for and connecting with each of you. I will be thinking about you and praying God's grace upon you this coming week.

I will leave you with the December 25th devotion from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. I hope you can feel the love of the Father and the gift of the Son and the comfort of the Spirit all week and into the New Year.

His Birth and Our New Birth

His Birth in History. "...that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of---He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate---God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord's birth was an advent---the appearance of God in human form.

His Birth in Me. "My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you..." (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. "You must be born again" (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that "Christ is formed" in me. And once "Christ is formed" in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.

God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.

Lord, Thank you for giving me a chance to be what You designed me to be. Thank you for sending your Son that I might become a fragrance lovely to You. Help me share this chance with others. Amen.

Saturday Selah: A few thoughts for Christmas

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/12/saturday-selah-few-thoughts-for.html

Saturday Selah: Grace Woven in Darkness

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. --Isaiah 45:3

I have a little linen doily made by my great-grandmother. It is one of the few pieces with tatted lace made by her own hands that remains in existence. For me that makes it all the more precious and I take the task of its preservation seriously. It never sits on a table where food or drink may be used. It is never under a candle holder. When it is on display, it is used to highlight a special item that in no way can harm the doily.

Monetarily, it is not very valuable...a similar one is selling on ebay for under $10. But the value of the doily is not in its materials, for linen and cotton thread are cheap. The value of my doily comes from the hands that made it. My great-grandmother spent time using her talents to produce this little piece to make her home more lovely. She probably never imagined that the work she did in the early part of the 20th century would be adorning her great-granddaughter's home in the early part of the 21st century.

I read a little devotion from Streams in the Desert (1925) by Mrs. L.B. Cowman today that stirred the thoughts of my great-grandmother's doily. The devotion was probably written around the same time my great-grandmother's fingers wove my doily. Let me share with you the beauty woven by Mrs. Cowman's suffering on the mission field of Japan as she collected beautiful words to comfort and sustain her through the difficulties.

December 13

In the famous lace shops of Brussels, there are special rooms devoted to the spinning of the world's finest lace, all with the most delicate patterns. The rooms are kept completely dark, except for the light that falls directly on the developing pattern from one very small window. Only one person sits in each small room, where the narrow rays of light fall upon the threads he is weaving, for lace is always more beautifully and delicately woven when the weaver himself is in the dark, with only his work in the light.

Sometimes the darkness of our lives is worse, because we cannot even see the web we are weaving or understand what we are doing. Therefore we are unable to see any beauty or possible good arising from our experience. Yet if we are faithful to forge ahead and "if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9), someday we will know that the most exquisite work of our lives was done during those days when it was the darkest.

If you seem to be living in deep darkness because God is working in strange and mysterious ways, do not be afraid. Simply go forward in faith and in love, never doubting Him. He is watching and will bring goodness and beauty from all of your pain and tears. ~J.R. Miller

My husband and I are in a time of questioning. We know we are called to be ministers in our own community. But, for some reason, God allowed the little mission church we've been involved with to close its doors. The state convention withdrew its funding and the pastor is moving on to other ministry opportunities. So the work of the past years seems for naught. Except....we have not felt God telling us He has changed our calling. The present time seems to be meant for refreshing and regrouping, bathed in prayer.

I don't know what our next move will be, but I am assured that the Master Weaver has the threads of my life firmly in His hands. I know He has gifted me to weave certain threads He gives me into a design of His choosing, not mine. And I know that the final work will be a masterpiece.

The shuttles of His purpose move
To carry out His own design;
Seek not too soon to disapprove
His work, nor yet assign
Dark motives, when, with silent tread,
You view some somber fold;
For lo, within each darker thread
There twines a thread of gold.

Spin cheerfully,
Not tearfully,
He knows the way you plod;
Spin carefully,
Spin prayerfully,
But leave the thread with God. --from the Canadian Home Journal

Saturday Selah: Grace Woven in Darkness

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/12/saturday-selah-grace-woven-in-darkness.html

Saturday Selah: It's A Good Thing

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises in Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
For You LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands. --Psalm 92:1-4

The coming week will be very full of preparations for the large dinner our family will share together on Thursday.

My sisters are coming in from Maryland and Virginia. There will be at least 15 of us (up to 20 if two other families show up) gathered around my parents' tables. They have two tables in their dining room and adjoining kitchen and another they can bring up from the family room if needed.

My oldest daughter, Pastry Princess (and the Dynamo) will be staying at our house through the week so we can prepare our contributions to the feast. We will be making hor 'dourves, salads, and desserts.

I really want to make sure we take time to focus on more than just the copious amounts of food we will consume. Just the fact that we are all able to gather is evidence, in the midst of this year's economic problems, that we've all been blessed by the Lord.

O LORD, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep.
A senseless man does not know,
Nor does a fool understand this. --Psalm 92:5-6

As our group includes believers and unbelievers, I am seeking ways to be subtle about guiding us to give proper thanks to the Lord. I'm working to compose a collection of Thanksgiving Psalms and thoughts on a little scroll to put at each place setting.

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into...ministry. --1 Timothy 1:12

I am resolved not to let this opportunity escape without presenting the greatest Gift deserving of our thankfulness in a way that draws the believers and unbelievers alike to express their thanks to their Creator.

Father, help me to be an expression of Your love to our family and friends. Guide my attitude and my actions so that all gathered will be drawn to You alone. Amen.

Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful. --Psalm 147:1

Saturday Selah: It's A Good Thing

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-selah-its-good-thing.html

Saturday Selah: Encouragement

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." --Philemon 6-7 [NIV]

I started my day reading about endurance. I thought that would be today's Selah topic. I read a nifty devotion about enduring life with teenagers (it applies to life with young adults, too! I'll come back to that in a later post.). Then I stumbled across the above verses in Philemon when I read a brief devotion on encouragement, which I'll share later in this post.

Don't you think that those verses in Philemon are just the heart of the Christian walk?! Each time we share our faith, love our brothers and sisters, and encourage believers, we are stepping in Christ's footprints.

Have you ever tried to walk exactly where another has stepped before you? Practically speaking, everyone has a different stride. Placing your foot precisely where the other has placed his or her foot is a best difficult, at worst may cause you to stumble.

But if you are following Christ's step, placing your foot into the spot He first placed His, as He does when He is leading you to be an encouragement to another...instead of falling, your sense of balance is strengthened. And if you do fall (tripping over your tongue or your fear or such), His is the hand that reaches out to pick you up and set you firmly back into His predetermined path.

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we has at first." --Hebrews 13:3-4

I think that is the draw to being a Christian blogger. I have the opportunity to be encouraged by the posts and comments of other bloggers. And I have the opportunity to encourage other bloggers by my posts and comments. I find that it is much easier to be an anonymous (more or less) encourager than to do it face to face. But encouragement is a ministry to which all Christians are called.

I have a few boxes of pretty notecards and a list of addresses of my Sunday school class and church members. I try to periodically send a note to those God lays on my heart. I started the practice after receiving several encouraging notes myself. When I saw how they brightened my day, I understood that I was called to do the same...either through a note sent unexpectedly or by shaking a believer's hand and telling how much I appreciate him or her.

Now to the devotion I read and it's leading to another level of encouraging:

From the Women's Devotional Bible [Zondervan Publishing House]:

"Sweetheart" by Kathryn Hillen

"Let Me Call You Sweetheart--I Can't Remember Your Name."

The pin, almost as big as a saucer, was worn by a middle-aged woman - without doubt, an extrovert. We were at a state PTA convention, encountering many unfamiliar faces. The pin seemed to be her humorous way of saying, "Let's be friends for today, but I'm not even going to attempt to remember your name."

We have many temporary relationships: those beside us on the plane or in the laundromat, the people who camp next to us at a resort, and the neighbors who move in and out with such rapidity. It's up to us to decide if these contacts will be meaningless or significant.

Ask God, "What would you like to say to this person through me?" You may be surprised. He may ask you to speak words of appreciation and encouragement, to witness about Christ, or only to be friendly. When we look a person in the eye and ask about their lives, we show that they are valuable. And even if we never learn the person's name, we have been a channel through which God can reach him or her. That is both exciting and humbling.

Father, help me to step into Christ's footprints as I meet both strangers and friends. Grow me into an encourager who asks You each time what You want me to say in these encounters. Make me a blessing, reaching out to others in Your name. Amen.

Saturday Selah: Encouragement

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-selah-encouragement.html

Saturday Selah: Being Witnesses

"This will result in you being witnesses to them." --Luke 21:13

I visited my high school's bulletin board yesterday, catching up on some of the conversation between the decade of the 80s Dragons. I followed a lot of response to a statement made by a Christian concerning the election this week and God's hand in it. Wow, evidently that idea hit someone very badly. She lambasted the person who posted that idea. The sister and a good friend of the sister of the person who posted jumped up to her defense.

Someone else made the comment that although there was a tie amongst the participants in the forum, having lived on Okinawa and attended Kubasaki High School (KHS), most of them had nothing else in common.

Interestingly enough, as I later read Sue's blog at Praise and Coffee, she was also talking about things in common among people and who we really have unity with. Her post was a kinder, gentler, and truer explanation of unity than the conversation that went back and forth on the KHS forum.

As I lingered over my coffee and highly concentrated fiber-filled cereal (fighting cholesterol medicine with my entire pantry!!! *grin*), I read the November 8 devotion in another of my favorite books: Streams in the Desert by Mrs. L.B. Cowman. I enjoyed the devotion, but as I listened to the breeze kick up outside and felt a bit of a chill, I suddenly had a desire to read the December 25 devotion. Exciting and lovely...but felt I must read on...kind of like taking that first bite of hazelnut chocolate...one little square was not enough. I read at least 4 more devotions before this one, December 19, just satisfied the hunger I was feeling:

Life is a steep climb, and it is always encouraging to have those ahead of us "call back" and cheerfully summon us to higher ground. We all climb together, so we should help one another. The mountain climbing of life is serious, but glorious, business; it takes strength and steadiness to reach the summit. And as our view becomes better as we gain altitude, and as we discover things of importance, we should "call back" our encouragement to others.

I've noticed a sense of despair about our country's future in my 3 adult children. They have been kept informed (thanks to the diligence of their dad) of the political stance that our president-elect has and most of it goes against the beliefs they hold tight to. I was so proud that each of them went to vote this year. Now it is my responsibility to keep them aware that political tides change and while they are to be attentive to what's going on around them, they needn't worry.

You know, over and over through the history of God's chosen people, He assured them that He was in control and if they would just hold fast to Him and obey His word, they would have no need to live in fear. But He required the older (or more mature) to tell the younger (or less mature) about Him.

When Joshua became leader of the Israelite people, God reassured him and explained to him the requirements of walking with Him.

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth;

meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified;

do not be discouraged,

for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." --Joshua 1:7-9

Joshua declared his allegiance to God publicly and boldly. He challenged the Israelites to do the same.

"Now fear the LORD and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped eyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." --Joshua 24:14-15

The people of God went through many trials and battles, political and moral over the next few decades. But they forgot what they had been told when they crossed the Jordan in to the land God had promised them:

"In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Tell them...of the LORD. These stones are to be a memorial...forever." --Joshua 4:6b-7

As a result of not remembering to do this one thing, "Tell them of the LORD," one generation removed (just 40-some years):

"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up,

who knew neither the LORD

nor what He had done for Israel.

Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD..." --Judges 2:10-11

So regardless (or in light of) what is going on politically in our country, we must tell others about God. We must be witnesses of the great gift of Jesus Christ. We must lead those behind us on the trail to Him. Every other task pales in comparison with that.

If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back--
It will cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And if, perhaps, Faith's light is dim, because the oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn;
That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you where the lofty air was still.

O friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your face;
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet sprint in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you'll say He saw you through night's sin-darkened sky--
If you have gone a little ahead, O friend, call back--
It will cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track. --Streams in the Desert

O Lord, help us be your strong witnesses to all those around us. Without fear or hesitation. Let us be joyful in it, like John:

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete." --1 John 1:3-4

Saturday Selah: Being Witnesses

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-selah-being-witnesses.html

Saturday Selah: You Are Not Your Own

"Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" -- 1 Corinthians 6:19

I've had a rough two weeks, dealing with my grandson's illness and my own. My cold turned into a sinusitis which I tried to fight on my own. The problem with relying on myself was that I was so engrossed in the pain in my head that I retreated from everything and everyone including my private times with God. It hurt too much to read. When I awoke on Thursday, the pain was at the point I could no longer resist going to the doctor. Of course, he prescribed an antibiotic. Although the pain was very severe that evening, Friday I woke up to myself again--after just two doses of antibiotics.

The fight in my body over the infection is not done. It will take two weeks to completely be rid of it. Today I am praising the miracle of modern medicine. Yes there are side effects. I am dealing with them the natural way with yogurt (a healthy food I eat any way) and acidophilus capsules. These will help keep my body chemistry in balance. My biggest praise is that since I am no longer completely focused on the pain in my head, I was able to grab my devotional and Bible this morning and joyfully plunge back into fellowship with the Lord.

My stubborn self-reliance came at such a price. My attitude that "it's my body and I'll take care of myself" caused me to miss out on a week of worship (unable to attend church at all) and praise (no morning coffee and conversation with the Lord). It is altogether appropriate that Oswald Chambers' November 1st devotion was entitled "You Are Not Your Own."

Let me share a bit of the words that blessed me this morning and caused me to grab my Bible and delve in a little deeper:

"There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ."

I love to write. It is easy to separate myself from the world as a writer. I observe, record, and stay out of the fray. This tendency is a battle I have to constantly engage in. If I don't watch myself, I will hide behind the paper and pencil, writing...writing...and ignoring the reality that is before me: the call to be light and salt to the world around me and to share in the suffering of Christ if it is necessary so that I can be both the light and salt.

"We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block."

There is a reason for all the encounters in my life. It is my responsibility to open my ears to listen when the Holy Spirit indicates an opportunity to be used of Him.

"The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn't we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son."

I know my first response to heartbreak is to panic and flap around uselessly like one of my hens running from my grandson. I will have to submit eventually, just as the hen does once the Dynamo catches her. Unlike the hen who becomes docile, though, I tend to continue to flap for a time while I am in God's arms.

"Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God's purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, 'Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.'"

I yearn to become less self-aware and more God-aware so that I can see the opportunity He places in front of me. I want to be a useful vessel, not a cracked and leaky one.

"If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?"

Here is the hardest part of walking a real and effective Christian walk. Being thankful for problems, pains, heartaches...I marvel when I see a fellow Christian praising and showing a joyful heart, even through the pain. Shame on me for not expecting that. Shame on me for being one of those full of "so-called Christian sympathy." Shame on me for expecting pity when I go through pain.

Father, guide me to Your purpose in every detail of my life. Make me more aware of You than of myself. Open my eyes to Your guidance and use me however is needful to accomplish redemption in the lives of the lost around me. Amen.

Saturday Selah: You Are Not Your Own

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/11/do-you-not-know-that-your-body-is.html

Saturday Selah: The Call of Love

"Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." ~~Jeremiah 33:3

I've been led toward having a specific, organized prayer time. I started using Beth Moore's prayer journal, Whispers of Hope. It is a lovely 10-week journey to commit to 70 days of consistent prayer.

I started Day One with a beautiful experience of prayer and worship. Then bang! My week got so busy and, what wasn't yet a habit was pushed away, just a sorrowful glance thrown at the journal on the end table as I rushed from one urgent activity to another.

All throughout the week, this verse sang in my mind urging me to slow down and pay attention to the Lord's voice.

"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

I really crave more than a dashed prayer with breakfast. I do most of my Bible study and writing at night. I am inspired by a fellow blogger, Ann Voskamp @ Holy Experience, to set aside a spot in the house specifically prepared for an organized prayer time.

"I kneel, strike a small halo at bench’s edge, and watch lights, one slight and wavering, one full and rising, seep through blackness.

And in a bit, in the glowing, fingers find leather bookmark, and eyes find passage, and heart finds it’s way home.

I linger there. Verses from Philippians push back the dark; light." ~~from A place for everything, 09-12-2008

Beautiful picture isn't it? Go, visit her blog (click on her name above), soak up the blessing the Lord gives just from reading her words.

The Woman's Study Bible says this about giving priority to prayer:

Prayer should occupy a place in the heart; it also needs a place in the home. While every believer does not need a prayer closet (Matthew 6:6), all believers should have a place of solitude free from distraction in order to pray in private.

To help make prayer a priority, you may want to use a prayer journal or devotional book or write out a prayer list and revise it often. Share your commitment to prayer with others, both to encourage them and to hold yourself accountable for praying regularly.

Becoming still and listening to the Lord, through His word first and then as He guides our thoughts to "great and mighty things," is our way to express our love and reverence to the One who created us for fellowship with Him.

Just as He invited the prophet Jeremiah to pray and then promised to answer that prayer beyond Jeremiah's understanding, we are invited to do the same. As we call to Him, He calls us to immerse ourselves in His presence and be surrounded by His love.

My goal this next week is to be intentional about meeting the Lord each morning in the sunroom. I will have my Bible, journal, pencils, and notebook on the table at the ready by the wicker rocker. All I need to bring is myself...He will be expecting me.

Hold me accountable this week and ask me if I've spent time alone with the Lord each day. I will do the same for you if you email me a note asking me to.

"[Sisters], pray for us." ~~1 Thessalonians 5:25

Saturday Selah: The Call of Love

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/10/saturday-selah-call-of-love.html

Saturday Selah

I truly enjoy Saturday mornings. It is the quietest morning of the week for me. No need to rush to wake anyone and begin the hustle through the day.

On Saturday mornings I can pause (Selah) amidst the melody that is my life... Pause and wait for the peace of God to drench me like the falling dew.

"I will be like the dew..." (Hosea 14:5)

"The dew is a source of freshness. It's natures provision for renewing the face of the earth. It falls at night, and without it vegetation would die.

Dew will never appear while there is either heat or wind. The temperature must fall, the wind cease, and the air come to a point of coolness and rest - absolute rest - before the invisible particles of moisture will become dew.

Quietness and stillness bring the dew. At night when the leaves and grass are still, the plant's pores are open to receive the refreshing and invigorating bath.

And spiritual dew comes from quietly lingering in the Master's presence. The grace of God does not come forth to bring rest and renewal to our soul until we completely reach the point of stillness before Him.

Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence."

selections from Streams in the Desert by Mrs. L.B. Cowman

Learning to be still takes practice. With that in mind, and in the spirit of the Titus 2 woman, I hope you will join me for a little while on Saturdays and share how the Lord is teaching you to

Be still and know.

[If you want to leave a link on Mr. Linky this week, please feel free. Be sure to join me next Saturday with what the Lord has taught you about being still this week.]

Saturday Selah

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/10/saturday-selah.html