DRAWING NEAR.... to meditate

2/25/13......and to intercede for Jerusalem. Maybe it's because of my study of God's people in the book of Genesis, but.....it's where my heart is today!

16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. 17So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for [b]Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your (desolate sanctuary. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Daniel 9:16-19)

As one of your redeemed O Lord, one called by your name, I ask that you lead us all in the paths of your righteousness.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: A COLORFUL WEEK

 2/24/13 From the colorful set up at church to the colorful set of UM's Russian play, Government Inspector, it's been a bright week!
But......the brightest moment came with 17 month old Lucy's addition to my literature presentation. Rhythmic language of books is a crucial reason for reading aloud books that appeal to children. The cadence of the words leads them into understanding of language sounds, even when they are just beginning to have that verbal aspect of language themselves. Lucy loves Llama Lama Red Pajama---& as she "read" I could hear the words baby and mama as well as llama. I could tell by her voice inflections when she reached the run, run page, she even dipped her head for "run" baby.

 Scroll to the bottom of the pix, click the play button/arrow and listen to Lucy read!!!

AGOG

2/24/13 Saturday prayers always include time interceding for others. This month I have been praying for a long time friend---praying that she would seek the Lord and His face & that His light would shine through her during family times as well as in her workplace. (CMS) I prayed that in her worship she would be agog to see more and more of God's goodness. I'm not sure where "agog" came from but that's the word I had written for her on my March prayer sheet. And then agog began to "take on a life of its own" every time God brought her to mind.

Awed (by) Generosity Of  God

Awed (by) Goodness Of  God

Awed (by) Grace Of  God

Awed (by) Gospel Of  God

Are you all "agog"over spending time in God"s presence and praying for others?

T.G.I.F.

2/22/13 "T.G.I.F." blinked at me this morning as I drove to MS for physical therapy. It seemed  an odd acronym for Trinty Baptist Church's LED sign. Even though today is Friday that seemed really "out of character" for a church's electronic message board, especially from that denomination.

So glad I returned to Memphis via the same route. Mystery solved. There was more to the sign than the first few "blinks." 
Thank God I'm Forgiven!

That makes sense. How thankful all believers can be for forgiveness, not just on Fridays, but everyday!

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Seeing Clearly

2/21/13 A recent optometrist visit had me relating my maladies of dry eye and difficulty driving at night. Tests showed cataracts but not enough growth to warrant surgery---yet. A different prescription was given for my bifocals and so some improvement has been noted. The cloudiness still makes me insecure when driving long distances at night, especially in unfamiliar territory. I want to see clearly---without the fog.

In my BSF small group, one of the gals, often talks of how she just needs to see what God's plan is for her. Kathy, like the rest of us, knows that scripture is truly the lens to seeing the Lord. But sometimes she would like God to make His way BIG & BOLD so that she clearly sees it.  

I understand her frustration. Similar to the wait for cataract surgery, to correct physical eyesight, maybe one also has to wait for a later time for the Lord to correct our spiritual cloudiness in certain areas so that we can clearly see. 

Maybe we won't clearly see until eternity. With Him we will see fully.

Yet, in the waiting room of life, one can continue to gain spiritual "insight" from:

• God's voice through His word,
•  Nudges from the Holy Spirit, 
• God winks in circumstances, or 
• Counsel from godly folks who understand. 

Trusting Him as we wait and loving and serving others will help us keep our focus.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (I Corinthians 13:12)

PLAN A

2/20/13 Readers of my  blog realize that in my life I often move not only to Plan B or Plan C or D...but even further "down" the Dotsy Plan Spectrum. Downward---that's often the spiral.

Why? I've begun to ask myself that. Usually I try new plans because I am the "queen of pain avoidance." Ease and comfort are too often my pursuit.  Along with frugality and convenience, my action plans are too often ruled, to a fault, by these four nouns. Nouns for living life "My Way."

Recently, I was brought up short by a comment from friend Debbie Frazier as she related her prayer during a "hard place" in her life. She asked the Lord for relief.....a Plan B----because Plan A wasn't going so well. She sensed that the Lord was telling her that there was no Plan B.
Plan A. That was it. Plan A was His plan for her life, even in this very difficult situation. 

God's sovereignty at work. We can either rest in it or wrestle with it in resistance as Crickett says.

Resist God's plan. I think not. 

Even if Plan A seems hard, we can trust Him to use the "discipline learned there" to be for our good and  in His timing to bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness." (Hebrews 12:11) 

As Psalm 119:71 states, "It was good that I was afflicted that I might learn from that statues."

Plan A---it's really  the only plan there is.


**For all my friends & blog readers who are in a VERY difficult Plan A right now, I continue to stand in the gap for you in prayer. In no way does this blog entry diminish the pain and hurt that is a part of your life right now. Praying extra measures of God's grace and mercy as you "endure" each moment & asking Him to be your true comfort, as only He can be.

Mobile viewing....

2/19/23 ....for those who were not reading yesterday's blog on a mobile device, increasing the sign on the back of the truck for viewing/reading was impossible. It was the verse I had written out, but....I cropped & increased the actual sign size to show you the verse on the Brim's truck. Hooray for Brim's for sharing scripture on the road. It certainly helped this one who was in need.

GOD'S WORD FOUND

2/18/13 Brief bedside prayers. Scurrying to get out the door. Physical therapy earlier than usual. In Mississippi----though worth the drive. Arrived "just in the nick."

"But God," I thought. "This is "Meditation Monday" and my head is muddled--- full of stress induced chaos."

But God....provided.
As I drove home, God's word was "front and center" as I pulled up behind a Brim's delivery truck. 

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near. (Isaiah 55:16)

Seek---while He may be found---Today is a good day for seeking.

Call on Him---He's always near.

God's word found.....on the back of a truck!

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: VALENTINE'S WEEK

2/17/13 From food to the arts it's been a glorious week of color!

Shrimp cocktail and "fine china"--a V'day must at 1152.

Hubby's colorful gift!

Brown Baguette Bakery in Southhaven, MS---a real find (by the Malco  Theatre)

"75 Rotations" A Project:Motion salute to Maxine Strawder's 75th birthday as her dancing has spanned generations How blessed I  was to have been there with  dear friend Dawn, who is Maxine's daughter.

More theatrics at Sunday night church as lots of slapstick had us all participating in the
story from the book of Esther and learning about
פּוּרִים-(Purim) the holiday soon to be celebrated by our Jewish friends. We even tasted 

hamentaschen, the traditional triangular shaped fruit filled cookie!

TIMELY GIFT

2/14/13 FaceTime with Lucy---a perfect way to begin Valentine's Day. As she "read aloud" to me one of her favorite books, I knew I had 2 perfect examples of my upcoming "Children 's Literature" presentation. Choose books that are meaningful or enjoyable to both the parent and the child. That supports my premise that there is no such thing as a good book written just for children. If it's well written, it will appeal to everyone. 

The second point is the importance of rhythmic language in those beginning picture books. Lucy is a little over 15 months old, but she had the language of "llama, llama, red pajama" down pat. A few llama and mama words were recognizable but the semblance of all the other words were there AND in rhythm. Her intonations even changed when she turned to the page that followed RUN, RUN, RUN!

The perfect timely gift---don't you think!! It warms this old librarian's heart.