Jesus We Love You

Faith, family, grace, Prayer, rest, Trust, Vulnerability, wonder

On this, the seventh day of Advent, I undo the card from my display.

Remembering my son’s girlfriend, IsabeI chose this as her favorite.

On this Saturday that’s yet to unfold

O’ Glorious Day!

My heart sings an old song.

My Jesus, I love thee

Know thou art mine

For thee all the folly

Of sin, I resign. My precious redeemer

Savior

Art thou. If ever I loved thee

My Jesus ’tis now.

Oh, what a beautiful reminder of peace is the sunshine flooding through my window, remembrance of the gift of day!

As if to say, “Here’s a new day…Let it be good.”

The tree, only partly adorned, reaching out to capture the light of day

And my little journal, gratitude list,

Just one word with a period added for emphasis.

Prayer.

To you, O’ Lord, I lift up my soul. For you are good, and ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. Psalm 86:4-5

Jesus, we love you.

Linking up with Jennifer Dukes Lee today

http://jenniferdukeslee.com/six-steps-to-a-guilt-free-christmas-tellhisstory/

Sing Your Song

Children, Faith, family, grace, praise

I stood outside my daughter’s bedroom one day.

She was singing before church.

Her voice, clear and honest, uninhibited.

Not too long ago, I walked as softly as possible towards my son’s door as he played his guitar.

Day 4 of Advent is depicted in bright, vibrant combination of colors.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing…Glory to the newborn king.

I bet the angels sang like a Sunday morning praise with no one around or a Sunday afternoon strum to calm the soul.

When Jesus was born in a manger under a starry sky of cobalt blue.

Unabashedly, joyously and unreserved.

My friend Carolyn is an accomplished artist. She encourages me.

She prefers oils, pastel or watercolor.

She and I talked of layering, of color and of creating with abandon.

Our hands covered in color, applied with intent or spontaneity, uninhibited.

Velvety vivid, touchable colors created for emotion

With emotion.

Singing when no one’s around or fingertips covered in color.

All art is praise.

Joy.

Glory to the newborn king

Born to be our Savior.

To be gloriously and happily praised.

In the quiet private and the wide open.

Three as Design

Faith, family, grace, Prayer, rest, Trust, Uncategorized, Vulnerability

Day 3, its image soft in color, peaceful again

Beautifully scripted three at the base, centered at the foot of the cross

The chorus of a longing lyric, trading ashes for beauty

Laying burdens down.

Lord, help us to center ourselves at the foot of the cross.

The culmination of your good design.

Help us remember the goodness of three.

Father, Spirit, Son.

Like standing back to reflect on placement of objects to mark occasion in places all around the house.

Like adding a tiny candle, satisfied now.

Let me add nothing to or remove what you purposed for me…

To call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

Reminded of Rescue

courage, Faith, grace, Prayer, rest, Trust, Uncategorized

Advent Thoughts

The Advent image for today, the second day, is darker in color, a brilliantly deep red.

Smooth and symmetrical white lines evenly flowing through color and text,

“Deep calls to Deep.” evoking thoughts of wide, deep ocean.

The red, a deep wash. The hue representing our Savior, the color of love, blood-red.

Psalm 41 and 42 : a cry for rescue

I read Psalm 42 this morning.

A searching for peace, questions of returning to a place of discouragement, of remembering God’s kindness; but, being unable to muffle the sounds of the tumultuous raging of life’s seas.

The waves and surging tides washing over again and again.

Life mirrors the Psalms.

We praise. We thank. We glorify and honor.

We cry out. We question. We long for understanding.

We remember the rescue only to question again the storms.

We search for redemption rather than remember we’re never without.

God’s love is unfailing. He beckons us, calls us, longs for us to experience the deep. Deeply loved, loving deeply.

We find ourselves lost in the deep to eventually find his love is deeper still.

We find ourselves in Him

When we come undone in His presence.

My prayer for Day 2 of Advent, my exercise in mindfulness and peace…

Cleanse me Lord, wash over me anew so that I can believe again, be reminded again…of your rescue.

You have preserved my life because I am innocent; You have brought me into Your presence forever.

Psalm 41: 12

Sparrows and other oddities

Faith, grace, rest, Uncategorized, Vulnerability, wonder

This morning was a chance to sleep a little later.

I sat with coffee and journal, the sun already warming the windows.

Deciding to walk with my daughter, morning instead of late afternoon, I saw sunlight through the pines, wrapping round them in loose embrace.

Earlier this morning, at just the right time, I looked towards the wiry branch of barren crepe myrtle to see a lone cardinal amongst a group of sparrows.

Sparrows flew away quickly, the cardinal too and then one tiny sparrow came back to rest, as if coming back for me.

I believe this to be true.

I’m convinced of it actually.

That my place on this earth is surrounded by beauty waiting to be noticed.

So, I notice.

Out walking, I thought of the poem about growing old, of all things purple. Of wearing purple and living like brilliant purple.

I turned to notice the brightness in sky of clear blue today.

I thought of how odd I may seem to neighbors glancing through living room windows as I pause to capture skies and trees, out for a walk with my phone pointed towards the sky.

I thought, just a minute and then continued on.

I’m not bothered in the least that people might find me odd

My love of sparrows, skies, moons, and trees, the words to my rhyme.

When I am old, I shall notice sparrows and stop to collect blue feathers beside my feet.

I shall marvel at cloudless blue sky and notice the budding of trees after coldest of days.

I shall spend mornings quiet, in quiet home, a satisfied nothingness of retreat.

I shall paint for hours, with abandon and careless grasp of time.

And I shall notice even more each minute.

In this world made to be noticed.

The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship. Psalm 19:1

Heartlight

Faith, grace, praise, Prayer, rest, Trust, Uncategorized, Vulnerability

photo-20_kindlephoto-1686767

Dear Child of God frustrated by life,

If you could ask yourself now, is this the person I want seen…to be seen as, to be joined together with?

And if you know, maybe not so much you at your best.

Just know it’s not God befuddled by you, it’s you conflicted over the place you’ve stopped by to mull your condition.

It’s not God telling you in an earth shaking reminder that this is not your place.

But, it’s a subtle heads up because people around you have noticed and are satisfied in your communion…drinking the wine of bitterness, anger, confusion and retributive response.

And they might be your people, so you share in their meal and the thick bread of satisfaction over like-minded condition is scarfed down with gluttonous abandon.

So, you join because you belong there, sharing in the feast of ugliness.

But, you leave the table feeling bloated by discussion.

Until, you get by yourself and rest in the quiet of whatever reminds of you of light.

Slight breeze, hot bath, quiet rain, crisp sheets, moonlight, or birdsong far off.

It’s a funny type odd thing to me.

The way I don’t always see when I can’t hear.

In the quiet of finally hearing and feeling, I begin to see.

When relieved of the noise that buffers, I’m reminded then that my heart has been listening patiently.

You’re reminded then gently without chastising or shameful correction of a flickering inside gone unflamed.

Ever burning, just a little shadowed by angst.

You remember again.

It’s the light, your light and it hasn’t gone out.

It won’t.

Ever.

Get quiet now and shine

if only a tiny and nondescript tealight kind of shimmer

until you can shine again, a bright luminous glow.

Stay there, rest in the quiet flicker.

Make it your ambition to live a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, so that your daily life may show the world that you are a Christian.

I Thessalonians 4:11-12

Shine now, quiet child. You are loved.

Linking up with Jennifer Dukes Lee along with other story tellers.

http://jenniferdukeslee.com/what-we-all-need-to-know-when-we-want-to-give-up-tellhisstory/

Jennifer Dukes Lee

Entertaining Strangers

courage, family, grace, praise, Teaching, Trust, Uncategorized, Vulnerability

Entertaining strangers

My Gratitude journal entry for today:

Chances to be kind.

Chances to take chances on others.

Chances to offer chances.

Our homeless shelter has an opening, a room. In one day I met a recovering heroine addict, a woman a year younger than me told by friends “you have to go” and a teenage boy who thought we would be afraid to help, that our rules said he was too old.

When I can, I meet women needing shelter. Them and their children.

Last week a, middle schooler named Leila gave me a tiny school picture, writing her name on the back. Her mama gave us pictures, thanking us for covering the cost.

One mama, yesterday had no place for her 17-year-old to sleep. The people who were helping said “no more” and so he would sleep in a hotel room alone until she ran out of money…one more night. We had no room, five families, 13 beds and in “shelter speak” we did not have bedspace. We tried other resources, no help; so we made a plan.

To accommodate, to make it work.

On this Saturday, bright sunshine hopeful…a family, a mama is with her children all together. Her son has joined the family.

There was a lot of talk about Red Cups last week and the Christian responses recommended was to “feed the hungry, clothe the poor…generosity, demonstrating love, accommodating the distressed……Loving one another”

And I keep thinking of sayings and quotes, silly and/or profound…”Blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape.”

“small things with great love” and “every little thing’s gonna be alright.”

Our shelter, a place of blessing and accommodation, a place to entertain strangers.

God, our God will richly bless us. Psalm 67:6

Troubled Hearts and All

courage, Faith, grace, Prayer, Trust, Vulnerability, wonder

The day, already designed

If it were possible for God to be perplexed by us

I wonder which would trouble Him more

Our hearts or our minds?

The sky was filtering early signs of sunlight finally, today.

Just before dawn I noticed and stopped to ponder my wavering faith.

To settle my thoughts on one word, All.

To trust in all my ways with all my heart .

Proverbs 3:5-6

If God were troubled, annoyed, frustrated

Would my less than grateful heart be the cause?

My heart is confident and assured at times, but if reminded somehow of loss or regret I go right back to solemn and sullen. So quickly my mood can move from presence of good to overshadowed by the past.

So, I’m wondering this morning what life would be like if God grew impatient and bewildered when we turn our hearts back to the shadows and we

get stuck there

unwilling to embrace goodness.

Would he be more confounded by darkened hearts or questioning minds?

Minds that doubt His design, losing sleep.

A prayer before sleep last night, a lament of surrender led me to wake earlier today. Vacant thoughts slowly led to recall of a “memory verse” that beckoned me forward.

Trust more, Lisa.

All your heart, not just a little.

All your ways, not just some.

And then in the quiet, a reply, “It’s good that you’re back, Lisa. Hope you stay a little longer this time.”

Grace, grace, God’s grace.

He’s a good, good Father.

Just a hint, rising up, peeking through. Waiting and believing with all my heart, all my mind.

Just a hint of light, peeking through. Waiting and believing with all my heart, all my mind.

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