A sixteen year old!!

Josh with his favorite of our German Shepherds.

Sixteen years ago God blessed me with the gift of this son. I pray that God continues to work in his life. I'm proud of you, Josh, and the growth we've seen in your life over the past months. Keep your hand in God's. May you feel God's arms about you and His hand guiding your life.

Mother's Day Picture

These are some great kids!  I've had many opportunities to learn from them as well as teach them.  They are all growing up too fast. I'm doing my best to enjoy them each day. Joshua--16; Caleb-14; David-12; Melody-7; Moriah-7.

Are you Ready to Face the World?

A sample of the adorable puppies that are growing up in our kennel. Two litters. 14 puppies in all.

Easter Garden

Last evening the girls and I made an Easter Garden.  (idea from http://www.aholyexperience.com/)  We fill the basket full of dirt from the depths of the earth, we search the forest floor for flowers of His creating.  A rock for a tomb, and small flat rocks for a path leading to the place where death and darkness preside.

We go on a hunt to find moss to "make it beautiful".  We have talked of how sin began in a garden, how Jesus prayed in the garden, and how He was laid in the tomb in the garden.  The garden--the place where death was conquered and He brought life to each of us.   His life that can  erase the sin in our hearts.  Sin that flooded the earth in that first garden so long ago.  The girls say, "That makes gardens pretty special, right?"

We talk of how we are going to make a caterpillar to place in the tomb on Good Friday.  I reminded the girls of how the caterpillar, after making the cocoon looks dead and worthless, but that is not the end.  After the cocoon comes..."beauty" Melody explains.  I thought, 'how apt.'  For Jesus is the Maker of Beauty, the One that can bring beauty to our lives that are filled with darkness and death.  He is the essence of Beauty.  He comes to pour His beauty into our lives as we seek His filling. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;.....to behold the beauty of the Lord,..." Psalm 27:4

As we light the candle, that evening during devotions, we are reminded again that He has come to bring light and life where death and darkness reigned.  He is the Light.   The LIGHT for the whole world.

Ever Present

"...and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  Exodus 3:14

Throughout the Bible are scattered different facets that fit together to show us who God is.  As Moses kneels before the burning bush, hearing the voice of God sending him back to his people, he begins to learn another lesson about who God is.
As God commissions Moses to go, he fits him with the promise of "...Certainly I will be with thee..." (v.12)   Moses asks God for His name to share with the people, God gives His name as I AM.  At first glance, we might think, 'how strange.'  Yet God knows what we need, and that is what He gives.  For the name I AM gives to us a continual promise of His Presence.  It's not I WAS, but I AM.  God is ever present.  I AM here now.  In every moment God is there.  God knew that His name of I AM would reinforce the promise of .."Certainly I will be with thee..."   God was there as Moses left the Mount of God and went back to Egypt.  God was there when Pharoah refused to let the people go.  God was still in those moments when the burden of work become greater and the lash of the whip became more fierce.  God was in each moment. Though the way became dark, God was there.  Through the plagues God was faithful.  It was God that was able to lead them out of Egypt though the Pharoah declared it was not to be.  It was God that rolled back the waters of the Red Sea, when there was no way through.  As each moment was given, God was in that moment.  He was enough when there was no water, nor food.   Through His miracle-working power, God supplied them with the needed sustenance.  When the Israelites were camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, God again assured Moses of His presence.  :And He said, My presence shall go with  thee, and I will give thee rest." ( Exodus 34:14)  It took the Israelites many years to realize that God was in each moment.  That He was a God that could be trusted. 

In our every day moments God wants to become a "realized presence" in our lives.  Throughout the Bible, God shows us over and over again that His presence is what brings joy and peace. When the sky is radiant above us, the birds are singing around us and the earth is bursting with promise of new birth it is easy to realize that God is in that moment. When life is great we praise and thank God for the blessings; for those wonderful moments He has given us.   Yet God wants us to recognize the fact that He is in all our moments.  When trouble lurks on the horizon and we feel the winds of trouble begining to blow are we able to say that God is in that moment?  He is.  For He is I AM.  How do we find the way into recognizing the very presence of God in those dark moments of our lives?    As I was thinking of this, Psalm 16:11 came to mind,  '...In thy presence is fulness of joy..."  God is with us every moment-we are in His presence, consequently we should be full of joy each moment.  Many times that is just not the case in our lives.  We ask "what is wrong?  where is the joy that we are promised in His presence?"  Other verses give us insight into some of our questions. Psalm 100:2 & 4 "Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name."  When we want to realize His presence each moment, we must enter those gates with thanksgiving and praise.  It is when we live with a thankful heart for what He gives, that the moments are crowned with His presence. 

It sounds so good in words, but the test comes in real life.  If we have fallen into an ungrateful attitude, it will be hard work to change that habit.  Thanksgiving will come with practice, recognition of His presence in the moment will follow, as we learn to accept the fact that each moment, whether good or bad, is given to us out of the Father-heart of God that is full of love and care for each of us.   We might fall over and over again, yet God will be there to help us up, and fill the moment with the grace of His forgiveness.  He will be there to give us the strength to go on. To go on learning to recognize that each moment of our lives is filled with the very Presence of our gracious and loving God.

Snow Globe

As I sit beside the window, watching the snow come down, it seems as if I have become a part of one of those beautiful snow globes. Beauty pervades the world outside, all is peaceful and quiet inside.
As layer after layer of snowflakes fall, cloaking this world in a garment of white, I long for a fresh layer of the peace and beauty of God's presence to envelop and surround my life.
As I ponder, I realize that the earth awaits and then accepts this flurry of heavenly blessing with open arms. I, too must wait before my Creator with expectation and acceptance.
The Snow Globe effect is broken as members of the household awake and I am drawn away to comb hair, fix breakfast, fold laundry, as well as numerous other responsibilites. Hope of God's presence enveloping my life seems a dream amidst the turmoil of the day.
God whispers once again, "If your heart is ready and waiting, even though your hands and feet are busy I can come. And so my heart beats in expectation for the beauty of the Lord to be found in my life as I follow His example of caring for my loved ones.

The Gift in Waiting

I sit in the quiet of the night, with the glimmering lights upon the tree.  I wait for sleep to come, but instead a gift...Here is that gift.

To the people of Israel, waiting had become a drudgery.  The prophets of God had long ago become silent.  Darkness pervaded their lives.  The Messiah they were waiting for had not come.  At first, expectation was high.  Words such as,  "He said the Messiah would come, it must be soon." could be heard.  The years marched on. Disappointment, despair, and discouragement rolled over them as the waiting continued.  Nothing happened.  No voice from heaven, no promise fulfilled, no Messiah.  Just silence.  That awful, deafening silence.  Years and years of silence.

In our times of silence, each must choose to go on or to give up.  Many of God's people had given up.  They had given up on God.  They had given up on the promise of the Messiah.  Nothing had happened.  Why keep on hoping and have those hopes dashed year after year.
Yet, others chose to linger a bit longer on the Scriptures.  The promises of the Creator God were read again and again.  Hearts were drawn upward and became strangely warmed.

For instance, the shepherds, though a poor group, had a heart still longing for a word from heaven.  The waiting seemed interminable, yet they still hung on.  The hope kindled by the promises of the bygone prophets once again did its work among this humble gathering of shepherds.  With determination, they climbed away from despair and upward toward God Almighty.

As the days and years marched on in their lives, they continued to feed the flame of hope until the day came when heaven's angels swept down to that cold and darkened hillside.  Light filled the sky, as well as their hearts.  The glorious news swept through their being.  The Messiah had come!  Hope was not in vain.  They lingered their on the hillside for a moment, as the last words were spoken and the light began to fade.  Nevertheless, the light in their spirit burned ever brighter.  With glad hearts, they hurried to Bethlehem.  There in the that lowly stable they worshipped the Son of God.  The long nights of despair and discouragement were in the past.  The promise had been fulfilled.  Their waiting had not been in vain.

This Advent Season, as we read the Scriptures each night, we hear those words spoke so long ago.  Words that can kindle the hope once again.  We know now, that God has fulfilled the promises of sending a Saviour for the world.  If He can keep promises that huge, he is still able to keep promises today, though they be long in coming.

Sometimes the waiting for that answer, for direction, for a light to fill the darkened sky of our lives is long and lonely.  The waiting seems to be all  for nothing.  Yet,  when we choose to turn our hearts back to the words of the Father, something happens within us.  Our hearts yearn to hear His voice again.  Our spirit once again longs for that inner knowledge that God does not fail.

The 300+ prophecies that involve Christ, which have been fulfilled, feed our souls.  We are astounded at all the circumstances that were ordered by our God.  In His time, it came to pass.  As this knowledge seeps into our souls, we know that God is in control of our circumstances, of our waiting time.  In his time, his work will be accomplished in our lives.

Throughout this Advent season, as we await His coming, our hearts must be awakened and our lives ready for the Saviour's dawning on our individual lives.  Grasp this waiting time as a gift to feed our hearts with the words and promises of our Faithful God.

I linger just a moment longer in the soft lights of the tree, and I thank God for the times of waiting that become filled with the hope and knowledge of His Word.  The times when discouragement is pushed back and this gift found in waiting is accepted.