P.R.A.Y.

Many folks use ACTS as a reminder of great steps in our prayer life.

A doration

C onfessiom

T thanksgiving

S upplication

A reminder to worship and search your heart for sin and thanking the Lord for forgiveness before we start asking,

P raise

R epent

A sk 

Y ield

This P.R.A.Y. but I appreciate the reminder to yield to God's will for His answers as we ask/ petitions. 

A great way to align our will with His---so that His will be done!

This past Month my sweet friend from Ukraine shared Lectio 365, an on-line devotional, with me. Today's devotional offered this acronym, for pray.

P ause to be still

R ejoice with a psalm

A sk for God's help for self and others

Y ield to His will, come what may

Regardless of your style of praying, with or without an acronym reminder---how about a rhyming one--PRAY TODAY!

4 WORDS WITH BIG HOPE!!!!

I AM WITH YOU!

Pastor Jim's sermon in Haggai opened my eyes to the many times those words of the Lord were found in Scripture.

Four words of comfort. Words of hope. Words of encouragement.

 

Later scanning the "Sunday" paper, I had another "God with me" heads up. 

There was a fifth word giving "future" reference verb "will be." 

Often "I am with you" tell us where and when. Another adverb often used is the reassuring "always."

I AM WITH YOU! Four words to lessen fear, give needed strength, replace dismay with assurance and put a smile on my face....especially as I pray these words will comfort my Ukrainian friends! 

** I so appreciate the inclusion of scripture continuing in our Commercial Appeal. 

FAMILY TIES

There are many things that tie families together, some better than others. (Romans 12:10)

Hanging our heads out the rolled down windows to avoid cigarette smoke might not have been a good one but we "back-seaters" remembered it even long after our parents quit smoking.

Growing up in Hoptown we shared a "wolf" language taught by Daddy that was only understood by us.

Dalfaddy, Bulfuddy, Dolfotsy and Bolfobby were in the know. Silly. Yes! ....... But to this day it's a tie that binds.

Stories we heard over and over whether we were there when they happened or not. Several years after Daddy came home from the war, my older sibling who was 4 yrs old at the time, asked Daddy to go to church with Mommy and him. Daddy's reply was he couldn't because his shoes weren't polished. Well, that was an easy fix. Older brother, already dressed in his "Sunday go to Meetin' ", white pique suit with white Peter Pan collared shirt proceeded to the cabinet to get the black polish. The shoes were duly polished and his clothes probably had as much blackness as, if not more than, Daddy's size 11 shoes. Daddy went to church that Sunday and for the next 64 years until his stroke incapacitated him. Faith is certainly a tie that binds in a positive way. In 2010 he was honored as one of three oldest living members of Hopkinsville's First United Methodist Church. 

Inside jokes also bind well. "Cut the mustard" always gets snickers at our house....especially as we recall the time Reverend Grimstead said it! Crazy Ada's "Oh just forget about it" rings a bell every time we hear someone refer to it."

These days my youngest child and I have an ongoing "Fun" dispute.

Any one out there have disputes on punctuation marks? Is ampersand in your vocabulary of dispute?

At my house they have been gifted as reminders. Quite a gift! Fun reminder!

From paper weight to wall hanging, I smile every time I walk past an ampersand. 

It's "my" Molly's way of greeting me with a wink!

SWEET FRAGRANCES

For those living in the South, there is nothing quite like the sweet fragrance of a magnolia in full bloom! I know because I smell its aroma every time I pass by the den door.

However, this fragrance fades as the bloom itself fades.

There is a fragrance however that never fades. A believer's service in spreading the gospel is a sweet fragrance to the Lord. An incense of sorts. It's the fragrance of knowledge of His Son. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16) A fragrance of life for those who believe. Savour of life unto life.

A sweet fragrance indeed!

Evening Primrose Blooms

"PIP" SMILES IN THE MAKING........

Nothing seemed to make sense.

People were in physical pain that was draining, friends were comforting their own children in struggles that "ought NOT to be" while one friend was burying her grandson and others burying husbands. 

I went to my Prayer Ponderings with "P" scribbles and saw "Purpose in Pain." 

1 Peter 5:10 came to mind. 

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm strengthen, and establish you. 

Suffering "a little while" in God's time can seem l-o-n-g in today's world.

Prayers. Tears. Stomach ache. Discouragement.

So............prayers continue. 

But God......... gave me a moment to smile. Brief but needed. 

A reminder to recognize and sometimes even share moments.

Blooming Evening Primrose Link to Video in next entry if I can't load it here!

May my blooming evening primrose moment give you a timeout from your pain to reflect with praise as you are...

Patient

In

Pain................as you wait to find God's Purpose In Pain uniquely for you!

PUNCTUATIONS OF LIFE!

Is the "old" MLA guide on your bookshelf? Probably not. But it certainly influenced many "seniors," aka old folks, not graduates, back in the day.

These days one can sometimes tell the age of someone by their use of punctation. Not sure of all the alphabet soup of names from age groups, but it's my guess that "Baby Boomers" often use too many commas and "Millennials" rarely use commas or even periods for that matter.

Last Sunday, Pastor Taylor Park stressed the importance of correct punctuation in Scripture.

Sometimes in sharing biblical truth verbally one will add a lilt in his/her voice, as if doubting, wondering or asking a question. Jesus is the son of God? That is a true statement----not a question!

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. (1John 4:16)

The commas tell us there is more to say. More to the story/statement.

Note the period. That ends it. Period indicates a full stop.  It's truth declared.

One might even add a relational explanation point to indicate profound truth as it applies to him/her!

Allow God's word to erase the question marks in your faith life and add more periods allowing your life of faith to be filled with the best punctuation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOREVER..... FRIENDS!

Yesterday's post said "nothing is forever"........ but, there is eternity for sisters in the faith!

Sometimes God in His love and mercy allows them to see each other this side of eternity. 

When we couldn't get to Ukraine in 2022, God brought Ukraine to us! 

a sweet friendship refreshes the soul. (Proverbs 27:9) *

Hallelujah! God be praised!!

*Sweet Friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God's presence. (Proverbs 27:9, TPT) 

TPT is, the new to me, The Passion Translation. I have included it in the Dancing Script font, a choice which my Ukrainian friends will understand.

FOREVER!

Forever---always, continually, everlasting, interminable, perpetual, on-going...for all time.

Those synonyms for forever are not relatable this side of heaven. Even death and taxes go away after we pass on.....except for believers. We may leave the taxes behind but we enter everlasting life. 

I thought of this when I went out this morning to cut magnolias for my "master gardener" neighbor and one to bring in to grace our kitchen table. They had been beautiful yesterday. 

Today....not so much! they were already beginning to fade and that's putting it mildly.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

God's Word---forever, Forever, FOREVER, FOREVER!!!

A ROYAL REIGN!

Royal Reign. An appropriate BBC title. 

 

Across the ocean it's a weekend of celebration as Queen Elizabeth II is honored with her Platinum Jubilee.

70 years---quite a milestone. Quite an airshow! 

As the royal pomp continues from concerts and street parties, I'm grateful that a service at  St. Paul's was part of the schedule. Part of the reason the monarch has "prospered" has been seen by many as her commitment to her faith. She has emphasized family values of spiritual and moral ideas. 

For me, this has been especially true in her Christmas messages. Most times those pre-recorded televised messages which I saw focused on family both hers personally and the family of man who could respond to the needs of the "lonely, the sick and the elderly"---often children were mentioned and in 1989 she spoke to children at the end of the message. Hope and peace permeated her messages and Christians throughout the world could  recognize Jesus the one who is our Hope and our Peace. At the start of the new millennium, she reflected on the role of faith in communities & 2001 spoke of the importance of faith when drawing strength in troubled  times & comfort she received from her faith during a year of personal loss of her mother (Queen Mother) and sister, Princess Margaret. In 2002 she spoke of reliance during times of loss of "message of hope"  in the Christian gospel. In '04 she sent a separate radio Christmas message to UK troops. More and more through the years she became more personal and more focused on her faith, including references to Jesus' birth, (2007) and leading charitable lives in service to others. In 20015 she encouraged all to find hope in "moments of darkness" and quoted the Gospel of John saying 'light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it' and encouraged all to be thankful....as she promised servant during the Pandemic as she evoked the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Her reign has become more royal through the years as she's recognized her spiritual lineage as a daughter of the true King!

As children of the One True King, we have our own royal reign---just without the all the trappings!