FRIDAY 13TH = BANDWIDTH STRETCHED

Today's third day of my elective homebound status, mixed with cabin fever and way too much TV, including a National Emergency Declaration by our President, has had me stretched!
Stretched out of control.....as if I ever had control!
So...what have I learned.

• First, I am "elderly"----just ask the CDC.
• My pulmonary obstructive airways disease is a risk factor for contracting the coronavirus.
• Pandemics are epidemics jumping borders of countries worldwide.
• Pandemics can cause panic.
• I do not have to panic.

What is the take-a-way?

I, and you, don't have to let extraneous worries of our current pandemic declaration "mess" with our personal bandwidth! As my dotsydetails 2017 entry shared, & as Carol N. often reminds me, our bandwidth can be stretched beyond our energy or mental capacity----even to disabling our ability to  handle our actions appropriately.

Remember God's bandwidth is inexhaustible! Ever present.
Therefore ever-present verses can offer comfort, especially when needed in the night watches.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear......(Psalm 46:1-3)
He is a God who is near.  (Jeremiah 23:23) Omnipresent.

Knowing His Word, reminds me that He holds me fast in love, (Psalm 91:14); He scrutinizes my path and my lying down and is intimately acquainted with all my ways, (Psalm 139:3); having enclosed me behind and before, (Psalm 139:4); and can "instruct me and teach me, in the way I should go; and counsel you (me) with His eye upon you (me). (Psalm 132:8)

God is an ever-present bandwidth. Amen to that on this Friday the thirteenth!

KINDNESS : PAID FORWARD

Saturdays have been a special prayer time for me for 25 years now. As the years have gone by, many young folks have been a part of those prayers. 

My K4K list----Kids for the Kingdom.

Just last month I met an answer to one of those prayers for a godly spouse--Michael, Sara Beth's fiancé. I've loved attending weddings of couples who are answers to those prayers as well. 

For the last couple of years the focus of those prayers has been on kindness. Practicing kindness without prejudice. 

Meet Charlotte one of my Kingdom Kids. A girl with a heart for kindness.

This morning, I received a text from her Grandmother, Linda, telling me that she is one of 10 finalists in the Seasalt Kid's Superstar Search.* When I heard her interview, it was if receiving affirmation for praying for her and other youngsters on my list to practice kindness as a way of paying it forward.

* If you want to hear her "super power" answer just click on the  blue Seasalt Kid's link above---you can even vote for sweet Charlotte, who knows the One who is the true power in her life.

LIFE'S CHALLENGES

We all have our mountains to climb. Challenges and struggles in our daily lives.

For our "little nugget" it seems like play.....but his physical therapist said he needs this challenge each day to aid him in standing with stability, walking more than just 1 or 2 steps, and even squatting,

 The climb to the top might be easier with encouragers cheering along side BUT without doing it for him.

It's just so important to call down from the summit to those below in order to encourage them in their own struggles---that they, too, may see clearly how the climb is worth the struggle. (Michele Phoenix)

There will be applause from heaven or in the case of a child, who speaks "Jack-anese", applause from a loving family. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

WORDS MISCONSTRUED?

Words are often misconstrued. Misheard, especially when similar sounding.

Loath and Loathe---seem similar but adding one little E makes a BIG difference.

Loath--reluctant, unwilling (adj)

Loathe-- feel intense dislike or disgust for (verb)

I am the loath one. Loath to vote because I loathe the political ads, media interviews and tweets filled with so much hatred and insults. 

TV political ads----WORDS. WORDS. WORDS. $-$-$-$-$

Maybe I'm misconstruing their intentions. 

Maybe I'm misinterpreting their meanings.

Probably not. Votes are wanted. Their intention is winning.

After all, it's Super Tuesday in America. 

I, for one of many,  desire a "win" for our country. One nation under God.

I'm more interested in a candidate's character than his/her rhetoric.

My desire is for a President who can work and walk hallowed in a hollow land.

I am praying to that end......... 

hoping that my words are not misconstrued. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

LEAP DAY LOVE NOTE

Some things "bother me".  Having no devotional on February 29 is one of those.

Don't misunderstand me, I had my morning quiet time BUT the first devotional book I chose did NOT have a 2/29 entry. As I checked the copy right date I noticed it was not published in a leap year, so maybe that was the reason for the omission.  

As a somewhat OCD female, I like order and structure. So...... the absence of a day's devotional in my "2nd choice book" labeled, A Year of Devotionals had me a little off-kilter. Plus, it was published during 2012, a leap year, no less. In another of that author's books, he had stated, "There's Nothing wrong with devotional books, ---Ive written some myself---but they are to be supplements to our spiritual diet, NOT the main course." (Morgan p.60) I sense his absence of a 2/29 entry emphasizes that.

But God, who knows me well....had me look up and right on the table in front of me was my old favorite, Jesus Calling DayBrightener. As I flipped the card to today's devotional, there was February 29. How special for an OCD soul.

Plus, I was affirmed as Sarah Young's entry spoke right to my heart because earlier this morning, I had prayed for others to find the right pathway to love......and "My One Word" for the year is LISTEN. "Listen more to Me" leapt right off the page and into my heart. 

My today's love note reminder from the Lord.

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

I am asked, at church at the gym and in my neighborhood---"what are you reading?". Hm-m-m---that must mean I'm a reader. A reader whom they can trust. That's a big responsibility.

Here are 2  "real" books on my shelf. My other book is an e-book---not my favorite choice but it
is the only access I had to Dear Mr. Knightley! I'm only 65% through the story but it already is in my 4 star category. It's a "reader's" delight as it has many classic book references in the text!

Timothy Keller is always a good read for me when I'm seeking insight.  Following the Intro of Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering, I have used the Table of Contents a lot.  It's often the way I "read" non-fiction. For me. the third part of the book provided the most practical material. From the crushed in Spirit to those in the fiery furnace, the author offers hope, within the reality of suffering, through Scripture. I appreciate that Keller is a reader and appropriately quotes from a variety of backgrounds, e,g. Shakespeare and Patchett to Lloyd-Jones and C.S. Lewis. 

A few take-aways for me: Suffering puts its fingers on good things that have become too important to us (me). (p.308) Human beings are hoped-shaped creatures. The way you live now is controlled by what you believe about your future. (p.334)

For fiction, Elizabeth Musser's books have long been a favorite. She had me hooked with Swan House, the first on I read.  Hopefully, I will soon be able to borrow her latest one, When I Close My Eyes. Two take-aways from The Long Highway Home deal with courage and faith. The book highlights the terror and horror of refugees as they flee their homelands.   

Courage is fear that has said its prayers. (p. 334)

Faith has changed my perspectives on things. My wants and needs and desires. (p.369)

Books, both fiction and non-fiction, change me as I read with my spiritual insight lenses intact. 

As I age, more and more of my books are audio---hearing those words give me vision as clearly as the printed text.

Sight without vision. Sight beyond vision. Think periscope. Periscopic. Seeing things that are out of sight but spiritually intact. Close by. Sounds like faith to me.

What are you reading?

KINDNESS IN ANY LANGUAGE......

Hubby just called  from the road to tell me today is national "kindness day", more specifically Random Acts of Kindness Day. For me, I seek to b more intentional in kindness. But.....random mentions can bring me back to focus.

Going back to pic log from this week-end as "kindness" were at every turn. Boomers think back to  Kodak moments.

No matter the language of the culture may all take seriously the words of Ephesians 4:32, "Be kind to one another" -----regardless of their ethnicity.

There is no special language for acts of kindness from a pure heart. Maybe it's in braille

 or signed or..

...just pronounced uniquely. Even the English language can have the clip of the British or the drawl of the South in USA. Kindness is a language of action for the benefit of others, not self.

BOOK----UNFINISHED.

The verdict is still out on the rating of this Charles Martin Book. It's not his "typical" writing style. 

Of  course, I've only read his fiction and this is my first non-fiction by Martin. Plus, I have not quite finished it,

His meticulous research is delivered in a very readable form. Martin is a seasoned storyteller and this strength shines in the pages I have read so far......and I am just beginning this journey with What if I't's True?: a storyteller's Journey with Jesus.

One jewel I have already discovered as Martin asks the question, "Who is this Jesus?" Jesus Himself said, I am the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:16)

If Jesus is the way, then He's taking us some where. 

But where? I believe the answer is to HIs Father. (p.15)

One reviewer for Christianity Today said that Martin won him over with his sincere love for Jesus.

As I continue to read this author's journey through God's Word, I sensed that Valentine's Day would be the right time to post this author's work focusing on his Savior. 

Valentine's Day--a day of celebrating Love.

"Greater love hath no man that He lay down his life for His friends." (John 15:13)

That fact stands. 

"Jesus loves me, this I know"--- even if I don't finish reading the book today!

Life is not always as it seems.....

Punxsutawney Phil told us at the first of the week that spring is just around the corner! My daffodils around the mailbox, ready to bloom, would certainly bear witness to that..

Hubby, my resident meteorologist, cut them and brought them into the house a few days later.

He knew things are not always as they seem and "storms" were on the way.

A day later, a severe thunderstorm came barreling through battering down many pre-blooming flowers on our street. 

Mine, however, were in a small vase in the kitchen put there by Hubby himself.

He has an awareness about many things which slip right past me. One being weather.

Life is often that way and we are caught off guard. 

Why? Because our perceptions are limited. Our vision is obstructed when we think that all we can see, is all that there is. We think that way because we don't know the whole story. 

Christians are blessed to know the whole story. Even in the midst of the diagnosis we hate to hear, or the hurtful words that have been thrown our way, we can still have hope---hope for the very thing we cannot see. That's what our faith is. Never does it feel more real than when life doesn't make sense.

God did it for Joseph as well as the thief on the cross beside Jesus. All the "not" seen goodness of those situations were made known. (Matthew 10:26)

"We only "see in part." (I Corinthians 13:12, NLT)

God promises enlightenment, total and true throughout eternity. We will see Him.

"Things are not always the way they seem" is truly an understatement for believers. Aren't we glad!

KALEIDOSCOPIC LIFE

Just like the quick twist of a toy kaleidoscope, a harsh word or unexpected hurt can reshape my  image of a person---turning my world upside down or coloring it gray.
Behavior that is more a reaction than a response. "That's my bad," as the kid's say!
There are kaleidoscopes of responses to counteract self-centered reactions. Forgiveness is at the top of the list. Forgiveness is not only an act of kindness to the offender, but it's a kindness to self as well.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, ....(Ephesians 4:32a)

Life is complex. Ever changing. Kaleidoscopic.
Relationships can cause shifts in our views and expectations of others.
People change.
God doesn't.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
......and forgiving. ",......forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32b)