Let Me Tell You One Thing

  When I was upgrading an old kitchen sink, I looked for a copper sink.  I needed a new sink for an old farmhouse that needed a lot of tender love and care to say the least.  My plan was to upgrade the counters, the sink, and the flooring and to add new cabinets. This I did. Since copper was farmsy and trendy, I looked for copper.  The owner of the granite tile company also offered order only sinks.   This I did.  He suggested that I may want to reconsider getting a copper sink unless I wanted to do a lot of maintenance on the sink.  Did I follow his recommendation?   This I did not do. Since that time, the owners words have rung through my brain many, many times as I labor and polish and buff my farmsy copper sink.  Oh,  it’s beautiful when it is smiling back at me with sparkles, but each time I polish and buff that sink, God speaks to me through that sink.  It is a lesson He teaches to me over and over.  This He does. We are sent good people to give us good information, but when we

  No matter how long you live, life is short.  Whether you die at 20 or 90.   It is true, Psalm 39:11 that we are just a vapor, mainly a puff of smoke, and no matter who we are, if we all got on a scale at one time, we would weigh out lighter than a puff of smoke.   I say that because Psalm 62:9 says that in so many words.  We just can't hang on very long in this life when we are like a blade of grass, one day we are green then next day we are withered. My granddaughter recently said to me, "Nana, why do we think we are going to live forever?"  This is a fourteen year old girl, who has a great deal of insight to be saying that, because most young people think they will never die and life will go on forever.  Even the oldies are in so much denial, they dance around that tree as well. I am saying all of this because, we are actually here for a purpose that we were sent to do on this great planet.  We came with a plan from God (Jeremiah 29:11).  He knew us before we were for

  Psalm 44:21 says that God knows the secrets of my heart...and your heart.  He knows the secrets of the heart.   He knows the things we says to no one, even what we think.  This means that he knows ME, my very intentions.   This makes me wonder if He is pleased with me, what is it that I can change to accommodate the plans God has for me? Most of us can put on our best face, smile, and go out into the world as if we have it all together.  We can decide how willing we are to let people see us. My defenses do not work with God, facades are invisible to Him.  How can I hide from the very one who made me. That is like me cooking a pie and not knowing what I put in it.  Job 33:4 says, " The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."  It is sort of ridiculous to even imagine that we can hide ourselves from Him.   This gift of life is something to be treasured.  The question is, how am I using this gift of life?  Is there a way to do it better?  God t

  God is Close Take care to nurture the hurting and the wounded of life and the return will be the sweetness of God's breath. There Are No Homeless I never saw anyone that had no place to go,  their destiny is constantly beckoning them.  Whether for gold or poverty, for love or hate, whether for fame or anonymity, the road is a magnet.  Reminisce Back when is a thing to get lost in-but mostly it takes away from the right now. No Regrets Fill the void with things that are good, like love, joy and peace.  There are no regrets with these and they fill the heart with ease. Subtraction Take away the simple things in life and all that remains is the complex. The Pied Piper Make a noise and all will come running, be quiet and all will think you strange. The Stairwell I sat among the stairwell looming above and beneath-trying to decide the direction to take. Shall I go up or down-Up or Down?  Up or Down? What is at the top? What is at the bottom? My faint heart freezes me into sitting in t

Psalm 84: 7-9 Devotions in Psalms October 13, 2015 Vs 7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.                Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter into the perfect day.                Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.                John 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.                2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. We often talk of people living from paycheck to paycheck.   It seems like a cycle that people cannot get out of.   Just when it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel, it seems the tunnel gets longer.   There is no way t

  Look, God is great and we do not know all things about Him.  He has never had a beginning nor an ending.  Eternity goes backward and forward and is everlasting to everlasting. We only know the parts of God that He allows us to know; but there are deeper parts He will show to us if only we let Him know we truly want to know Him. We may not understand all there is to know about God, but He desires to show Himself to us in a greater way, to move back the clouds that surround Him and show Himself to us more clearly. Even in His distance, we can learn of Him.  It is frightening to be separated from Him, but even in our fear of that, He has never and will never leave us.   No, we cannot understand all of Him; there are limits to our understanding of God,  but we can know Him more intimately by reading His book and by spending quality time with Him in meditation and prayer. God is God, we must take that as a given.  We are wasting time when we try to begin anyplace else.  God is God.  If we

  4/8/2019 This third year of his death is different.    It is as if I do self-talk and let myself know there is no way possible that I can go through another year of the pain I went through the second year after his death. Each day I have to make myself do some small thing or some big project to know that I am truly progressing and that I am truly alive. Today was an overcast day, then suddenly I looked out of my window and it was raining; a good steady rain, one that wouldn’t stop in a few minutes.   As I stood at my kitchen window, which looked over my backyard and the green grass and saw the rain coming steadily down, an image of Clyde as a young farmer filled my mind.   He would work so hard to plant and tend his crops.   He had no irrigation at that time and depended on the rain to water his crops.   It had been an unusual dry spell and the crops were so thirsty.   I walked through our bedroom and he was sitting on the floor by the window with the window raised.   I said,

  I am passing through this life, with all its' joys, goodness, and strife. I am passing through, only passing through. When I stopped and looked around, I saw others moving along the ground. People who are passing through with me, I am not alone, others are going, some seem on a spree. Some want to make it through quick, they do everything to be done, every trick. They harm themselves with their lifestyle, never giving a thought to the Christ child. But I can only do me, I cannot do them.  Each one of us has to decide to pull off the film. So I look back on my own path, looking ahead, knowing that surely soon all of us will be dead. I had better get busy, and try to make good, make good things happen, as I know I should. The upper, the lower, all people go forth, we are the same, each making our choice. We are all passing through, only passing through.