EMBRACE GRACE!

EMBRACE

GRACE

IN THIS 

PLACE

TODAY!

MONDAY MUSINGS!

As I prepare for today's trip to new cardiologist, I need to cultivate new "heart habits"..........more spiritual than physical. Gratitude for a spouse who has become my "uber" to numerous medical centers in far away places. Acceptance of no longer driving.  

A heart habit of praise and worship! Lead me Lord in this new season of heartache......pain, fear and disappointments.

May I lean into the Most High and abide in His shadow.(Psalm 91:1) 

Help me, Almighty God, to abound in this new season regardless of the circumstances! 

A new year to abide and abound!

MONDAY MEDITATION TRUNCATED!

A prep for tomorrow's book study to keep me from talking more that listening or even talking in circles!

Pain Drains                    Drained!? Fill up with Fellowship

 

Don’t Live Digital Distracted Life (5 words or less)

 

Listen more to talk less. (5 words or less)

 

Travel Light      Lay aside every encumbrance

 

Fix Eyes on Jesus    Focus More on Jesus   

 JESUS + 0 = EVERYTHING!

 

More of THEE—Less of me   THINE—not mine

 

Jesus’ life: Paragon of Righteousness (5 words of less) 

(Blackaby. Experiencing God, p.235)

 

Get Daily Nourishment from Scripture (5 words of less)

 

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve. (David Stevens (1/28/24)

 

HOPE: journey to right destination. (5 words of less) Chuck Swindoll

 

Hope springs from truth rehearsed. (M. Vroegop, T.Billings Incurable Cancer 14)

 

HOPE: not wishful thinking, BUT…CONFIDENT EXPECTATION!

 

trUst       Do you trust me, Dotsy? 

 

Thrust of trust answers meandering thoughts.

 

A heap of worry staggers you.

 (Me, or us…choose own pronoun)

 

Meek is power under control. 

(Not an “in you face” encounter to another)

 

Move from Petition to Praise-----“ACTS” as in Tony Evans NOG  (5 words or less)

 

 

Dotsy THOTS--Trusting Him On This Subject

PATHS OF LIFE

5 PATHWAYS PITHY GRABBERS---Each 25 words or less 

Pain and joy are pathways to the heart. Pain and joy are not mutually exclusive. (Journal Jotting)

Allow God to hush the storms that sweep the lake of the inner life, and ruffle its calm surface. (Robert Morgan)

Carefully consider the path for your feet...(Proverbs 4:26)

A quiet mind anchored with God-led thoughts is a pathway to health, both physical and spiritual. 

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths, I will guide them; (Isaiah 42:16a)

 I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. (Isaiah 42:16b)

Heidi Walter's mixed media sculpture, "Lean" which resides in my home, reminds me of my friend Terry Parlow. Terry was paralyzed and became blind from a work related accident in 2004. He spent the last 11 years of his life in a wheelchair. But....he chose to lean in to the Lord and closely follow Him. Terry often shared with me the many ways the Lord had used his blindness to lead him down a path of more spiritual light than he had ever seen when sighted. 

A path of light without sight. WOW!

CHOOSE: PERTINENT PITHY GRABBERS

Have you ever heard a phrase that so "names you" that it can remain with you all day! It's like one of those ear worms, but without the music. It just gets stuck in one's brain.

"Stress strangles." Yep, it does. I already have trouble swallowing. I think it's an Adams trait but it makes the word "STRANGLE" reverberate in all caps!
A catch in my throat that resonates in my mind!

I sipped a cuppa per-tea-nent this morning because I knew "stress strangles" was a pithy grabber  that was pertinent in my life and I needed to heed it! (Philippians 4:6)

Pithy Grabbers

Succinct phrases that "grab" your attention have been dubbed by me as pithy grabbers----of which, I am a fan! No one knows that better than ljj who finally made a "pithy grabbers" file for our library.

When entertaining, Mother 's pithy grabber was, "a doily covers a multitude of sins" (think foibles/faux pas/mess) 

"My" Molly & I are always saying a doily covers a multitude of something__________.

Recently  she added "a vest is the doily of outerware as it covers a multitude of sin__________(think overeating) 

Religiously I assume that the Catholic doily-like head-coverings worn by women and the skullcap/yarmulke worn by Jewish men are an example of penitence as a way of "covering a multitude of sins" so that they can honor God.

Church Signs 

especially in the "South" 

often display thoughts that are....

pithy with a punch----

packing a lot of weight 

to remind others of "doing right!"

Sweet friend, Margie Hornor, is always adding to my "pithy" repertoire. She introduced me to arrow prayers.  Just those  two words indicate the forceful trajectory of said prayers----launched from earth and heading upward to God. 

Panic Prayers are similar (pithy plus alliterative, of which I am also a fan). Think URGENCY in all CAPS when there's no time for words. "HELP!" comes to mind

Recently Margie introduced me to "stinking thinking." Doesn't that just "reek" of negativity. 

The good news is, she gave a remedy for the stinking diagnosis---a grateful heart!

Dorm friend, Susan Featherston Coates, who knew me well suggested a pithy grabber for my tombstone---"just down for a quick nap." NOT only do fewer letters appeal to this "frugal fanny," but it lets the world know of my sleep patterns.

Nowadays, I'm rethinking that choice.

How's this for a tea aficionado?

"She ran out of tea." More a epithet than an epitaph....but it's a perfect final "pithy grabber" for me!

"Quotabili-TEA"

Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. (Ruth 2:15, NKJV)

Ruth's gleaning was a harvesting---all a part of her plan to obtain food. In Bible Study one often looks for nourishment from God's word in much the same way. Often the truth that sticks is a quip or a pithy grabber that nourishes my memory.

Indulge me in a few snippets of truth taken from my Bible marginalia. Three Bibles in all; NASB, (birthday gift from hubby, 1977) NIV, (Christmas gift from Diane A, 1995) & NKJV. ("Cove" gift from Lo, 11-4-04) 

Just my succinct notes that come from others, often not identified, that carry a life message gleaned* from Scripture, & given in user friendly terms, so I clearly "get" the idea! 

*Gleaning or extracting information from various sources collected & recorded gradually and bit by bit since 1977 have given me lots of "food for thought."

Pithy with a punch, as I like to say. Messages of wisdom and knowledge with practical applications. 

(NASB)

• There are no atheists in foxholes.
• Bible is the textbook for relational living. (L. Crabb)
• Sorry looks back. Worry looks around. Faith looks up. (C. Swindoll)
• Is it right? (Yes) Should you do it? (Yes) Will you do it? (Probably not) "Probably not" hardens one's heart.
• When there is sin in our life, God has to work "on us" rather than through us.
• The "will" can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
• We worship our work, work at our play and play at our worship.

(NIV)

• All want deliverance from hell but few want the deliverance from sin---we clutch the pleasures of it.
• A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a big thing. (Hudson Taylor)
• Humility is a right estimation of our life (self) toward God and others. (B. Liles)
• Purpose of prayer is not to change God but to change us.
• Satan doesn't make you do anything; he just fluffs the pillows.
• Ether sin will keep you from this book, or this book will keep you from sin. (D.L. Moody?)

(NKJV) 

• Bible is not an answer book---it just leads you to the One who is the Answer.
• Giving is living the gospel, not just believing the gospel.
• Growth is the only evidence of life. (Growth is visible.)
• Hearing is "seeding" for obedience.
• In fellowship, Jesus is the "fellow" in the ship with you.
• Prayer is the God-ordained alternative to worry. (C. Swindoll)

No special order for gleanings---just a cuppa quotabili-TEA to sip and share.

Wearisome Words

7/15/10 Too verbose on blog. Succinct is the answer. Will try for terse verse, not burdensome blogs. Won’t resort to texting shortcuts---don’t know them anyway. S. Young has the pithy grabber prose (saying the most with the fewest words) down pat in today’s Jesus Calling. Here’s my take on her notes:

• Command=do not worry.
• God gives manageable portions.
• His grace sufficient one day at a time.
• A heap of worry staggers you.
• Thrust of trust is answer to meandering, crisscrossing, anxious thoughts.
• Let those shackels fall. Enjoy Him.

::poof:: (Text 4 I'm gone.)

Worry can be wearisome!

A succinct sign for the day!

Wedding Dance

Date Unknown-until 1 hour ago The Wedding Dance

Remember the Western Union telegrams of old---those yellow paper messages with short snippets that were delivered (stop)---sometimes by a kid on a bike(stop)? I think they were a precursor for text messages. They were “pithy grabbers” of sorts. I even have a file of pithy grabbers b/c I love them---saying lots w/ few words---like poetry, concise but full of meaning. TP, a caringbridge blogger & CD, an author, gave me the idea---the one my Molly enters in the blog will be based on the outcome of my surgeries.

If I return to Memphis---and I am coming home today.

Coming home STOP
Put out my dancing shoes STOP
The Lord and I are dancing to a new song STOP
We’ll never stop!!

Coming home to dance at Halle & Kyle’s wedding---MAC was not the last dance for me.