9/11/11 This entry keeps coming to mind everytime some one comments on my DotsyDetails blog or e-mails me a profound †hought based on †ruth. Points to ponder or questions to ask myself. A new perception of an old familiar verse or hymn. Insight into suffering. An interpretation of a Jesus Calling entry. A thank you. A great acrostic or just a funny “religious” cartoon to make me smile. All are encouraging. Thus today’s verse with some perceptions and encouragement from 15 “guest bloggers”---6 of whom, I’ve never even met. … that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love …” (Ephesians 2:2)Carolyn (MS) I have never had a problem trusting Him for my life, but for other things?? My actions say I don’t. “Practicing the Presence of God,” (from your blog) I need to be speaking to Him more throughout the day. (copy of e-mail still wedged in my Jesus Calling 9/9 entry w/ ? for self, “Do my actions reflect trust?)
Carolyn (AL) I used to say that “wait” is a four-letter word. Although wait still has only four letters in it, I’m learning to see that waiting is only tolerable through the power, strength, and grace of the Lord. A powerful lesson to learn and one for which I am so truly grateful.
Rachel (NY) The same God that you trusted with every breath before the news (cancer) is the same God who reigns over you and protects you now.
Debbie (MS) Glory to God whom we can trust because He alone can give “the grace-filled capacity to face the unthinkable and be fruitful in the unimaginable.” (When I Lay My Isaac Down, p. 377)
Edie (TN) The words on your blog convey such a sense of peace, trust, and joy that I am overwhelmed. Thank you for sharing them and know that they serve as encouragement as well as direction…..
Norm (TN) The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.
Karla (TN) A friend in choir gave me a Jesus Calling. Now I can read along with you. Later found out she even knows you---a true “God thing.”
Maggie (CT & FL) I ordered Jesus Calling so I can be with you daily through His words. (& this book)
Sarah Young (Australia—author of Jesus Calling) Dotsy, I read your pithy-with-punch blog with great interest. Well done!
JoAnne (TN) Please do not stop writing. Your writings remind me of devotionals as they spur me on in my real life relationship with Jesus. It’s theology wrapped in skin and handed off to us.
Mary Flo (TX) What a joy to read your blog, and yet it left me wanting more!!! Loved the mailman story (w/grandson) & of your walk with him. I was thrilled to know that your favorite hymn is Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing…MINE, TOO!!!
Agnes (France) Interesting how the Father seems to be saying the same things to His children, even though separated geographically by great distances. Years ago I heard Dave and Karen Maines on a Moody B.I. radio program, telling about their family's "Where did I see God in my life today" journal. The idea caught my attention and I began my personal journal, putting in writing each evening some incident or way in which I had seen God in my life that day. After awhle I stopped, but later while re-reading some of the entries realized the tremendous value of recording God's faithfulness. So it's become part of my daily life. A great way to REMEMBER God's presence, whether in big or little ways - but can anything that our great God does be called "little"?!.
Ron (NC) The spiritual angle you bring to your life events is very refreshing and inspirational.
Jenni (MS) I have no idea who you are, and I’m sure we have never met….. but today I stumbled on your blog. Isn’t it awesome to see the hand of the Lord in our “coincidences.”……Please know that another stranger has prayed Romans 8:26) for you today. (4/9/10)
Michèle (Germany) Dotsy---your faith will be your fiercest ally during the challenges ahead, though you have no idea yet of what that “mountain” will truly entail. Here’s her blog excerpt “…… battles against this disease are much more taxing than mine was, which leaves me with little other than prayers to offer…except that I am a survivor. I’ve been there, (cancer mountain) climbed that, and now have the “view” to prove it. That alone, even without words put to it, carries a victorious message.”
As Michèle’s blog continued I realized how universal it was for any of us facing trials and sufferings in life.
“Whether they’re emotional, physical, or spiritual, the mountains we’ve conquered are not ours to own, but ours to share. We might not always want to revisit the pain we’ve suffered or the crippling we’ve endured, but if we don’t offer them to others as a testimony of God’s sustenance and love, our fellow travelers may not have to courage to find their way to the top.
“I am reminded of the responsibility we have, as survivors, to stand at the top and call down to those still struggling to the summit. Whether they’re emotional, physical, or spiritual, the mountains we’ve conquered are not ours to own, but ours to share. My encouragement to you? Speak of the treacherous paths and looming precipices you’ve known, tell the story of your climb, the tale of your survival. And when you’ve reached a place that is beautiful and stable and “breathable,” call down to those who follow and tell them of the strength that comes from surrendered weakness, of the peace that comes from vulnerable faith. Tell them that you stumbled. Tell them that you wanted to give up. Tell them that you were bruised by doubt and battered by despair…but that you made it. You. Made. It. And the view from the summit of survival? It’s priceless.”
