Psalm 40: 1-3

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the Lord."

I caught something this morning when I read this familar psalm and I wanted to share it with you. Notice with me that God lifts us from the pit of despair and sets us on solid ground. But also notice - He has to steady us after we get there!! Isn't that interesting?

I know that after my Mother went to be with the Lord I felt unsteady. I felt like the ground I walked on was shifting beneath my feet. The constant in any child's life - and I guess it doesn't matter the age - is your parents. With both mine gone in such a short space of time, I guess that's why my eyes tarried on the fact that He steadies us on solid ground.

There are many things that pull us, throw us or cause to be in a pit of despair. Some of us just jump in and others are blindsided by it but the pit is deep and dark and full of mire that causes our feet to be stuck with quicksand-like mud that makes walking difficult. Maybe - like me - you have been in that pit for so long that you have gotten used to walking with mud on your feet and as it begins to fall off you need a steady hand to help you walk again. That's what God is telling us. He will pull us out. He will set us out. He will clean us out. It's all about Him. He's the Savior. He's the pit-rescuer, foot-steadier and song-giver. And when it's all said and done - He will get the glory.

I'm just taking some baby steps outside the pit. I need that strong right arm to uphold me. I need the lifter of my head to point me to the Sonshine. And may I just add this to the sore of heart today. I don't know that I even cried out to Him. I was so deep in my pit of grief that I didn't care to leave it. I think He just wooed me with the light to raise my head just enough to see the hand He offered to me.

Beloved, He is the lover of your soul. He not only knows where your pit is, He is already there to facilitate your rescue. A new song awaits you. A steady road is ahead. Wait patiently for the Lord. He is the fulfiller of all He has said. And when it is all said and done - others will come to know Him because of your rescue.

Watching Jesus

Each year I attempt to do something different in my quiet time and this year I changed my Read-Through-the Bible in a year from a chronological to an OT/NT/Psalm/Proverb. I am really enjoying it because I am usually DYING to get to Jesus by late September! That's a good place to be but I'm really enjoying getting a dose of Him everyday in my reading. :)

One of the things I particularly enjoy about reading God's word is 'watching' Jesus. Not just reading the words but watching what He does and what He doesn't do that I think I might have done. Just this morning...He went up to pray early and the disciples came and said, "All these people are here looking for you." And He said, "It's time to move on." He didn't base His plans on what others wanted of Him but on His Father's business. Too often I base mine on the wants of others thinking surely that's His will.

Just this morning.....the friends of the paralyzed man dropped him through the roof for healing and Jesus forgave his sins. Something I noticed was the friends of the paralyzed man were unable to get to Jesus except through the roof. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were on the front row ready to criticize Jesus for forgiving and not healing. So Jesus did both - forgave him and healed him. The paralyzed was ecstatic and the Pharisees were madder than hornets.

Goes to show....you can't always please people and you shouldn't try. Jesus went about His Father's business. He strove to please an audience of One. Even the most religious misjudged Him, labelled Him and sought to kill Him but He shook the dust from His sandals and kept moving. However, He never stopped loving and He never stopped ministering.

I like to watch Jesus. He shows me up when I watch Him do something and I think, "I would have done that differently." That is a heads-up to realign my life to His. Nowhere in scripture do we see Jesus fretting about people's perception of Him. Isn't that interesting? Because we are acutely aware and bothered by how we are perceived by others.....and yet, how about how God perceives us? That was Jesus' number one priority - to be a God-pleaser.

Watch Jesus as you read your Bible this week. Watch to see what He does and what He doesn't do. Ask yourself, "what would I have done?" And begin to realign your life to His ways. Break free from the confines of the dictates of man (and that 'man' might be YOU!) and walk with Jesus.

Have an adventurous and free week!

CHANGE! CHANGE! CHANGE!

My sister and her husband finally got moved last week! They left their log home of eleven years on ten acres in the countryside of Greenville. They sold every stick of furniture in said house including one horse, three dogs and two cats and moved to a townhouse a stone's throw from George Bush Turnpike in Garland. They are beside themselves. So excited to be closer to work and school, to have high speed internet connection (vs. dial-up, can anyone relate?) and no - read this NO - maintenance on the outside of their townhouse. No yard work, no painting, no repairs - PERIOD. They are also buying all NEW furniture and decor after 20 plus years of hunter-green-striped livingroom furniture and hand-me-downs. Oh my yes, they are thrilled to death.

Isn't it interesting how we bemoan change unless we are the ones who initiate it? How many times do we say we don't 'like' change? Yet that's really not true. It's change that we don't initiate that bothers us. Why is that? Oh yea, it's because we like to change things that 'we' think will make our lives better, easier, more comfortable, more convenient, etc. And how many times do we really know best?

So what we're really saying is we think we know better than God does what is best for us. "Please let us arrange the changes in our life God because YOU are making us uncomfortable."

Our country is in a MOST UNCOMFORTABLE period of change right now. Many reading this are hurting from unemployment, loss of income, illness or grief and the discomfort of those changes are real and they are painful. No denying it. Just like there is no denying that my sister's life is made better by the changes they have made. So change is not always a bad thing. It's just a different thing. And different requires change on our parts. Change of attitude and change of vision.

Growing older is a change that I am beginning to appreciate. Oh I don't appreciate the aches and pains, lack of strength and effects of gravity, but I do appreciate the wisdom that comes from living longer. I have lived long enough to know that God is faithful in my troubles. I have lived long enough to know that even the changes I didn't want, see or thought would kill me are used by Him for my good and His glory. I have lived long enough to know that He is more interested in my character than my happiness. I have lived long enough to know that He is molding me into the image of His Son and He uses my circumstances to accomplish that. I have lived long enough to know that this life is not all there is and I would be better served to prepare more for the next one than this one.

I'm really, really excited for my sister. I anticipate this move will make her life simpler and allow her more time to do the things she loves. I have the same prayer for you and me. Wherever you are today - it is a time of change that God is using to make you like Jesus. And that is a good change. The mold itself may be a painful one. The pruning tool may be sharp and cutting deep, but the result will be beautiful for He is the master gardener.

Already February?!

I can't believe we are already into the second month of 2009. This year has already been met for my family with sorrow. Many of you are dealing with challenges and heartaches too. Having a prayer chain for the last ten years via the internet has been an 'in your face' reminder that life is all about seasons. We all have times of trouble and times of joy. God is gracious to blend the two.

I made a german chocolate cake from scratch this weekend. It was my mom's recipe and one that she always made for my uncle - her baby brother - on his birthday each year. And it just so happened that his birthday was the day after her funeral. I thought it would be a way to 'attempt' to repay him for all the wonderful and kind things he had done for my mother through the years.

The recipe was different from anything I had done before. Several ingredients had to be mixed separately and then combined. Dry by themselves. Shortening and sugar by themselves. Wet with dry. Then the egg whites had to be stiffly beaten and folded in. It was a lot of trouble but it was a GREAT cake. Three layers high and topped with an icing of coconut and pecans. I remembered as I stacked those layers how my mother would put toothpicks in between the layers to keep them straight and to avoid their sliding around after the icing was on. It reminded me of life.

God goes to a lot of trouble to blend just the right amount of joy and sorrow into a life. Not too much to make us frivolous or melancholy but enough to make us grateful for the times of goodness and compassionate in times of trouble. He is the toothpick between the layers of troubles to keep us from sliding away under the weight of our cares and He is the icing of sweetness who makes life worth living. In His eyes, the effort is worth the cost and time and trouble because we are being molded into the image of His Son.

We're early into the year and it looks like it will be a challenging one from all predictions. Savor the sweetness. Look back and see how far you've come. Look ahead and know that your destination is sure. My individual ingredients weren't appealing, my kitchen was a mess, but man oh man the outcome was great. Same is true for us.

"O taste and see that that the Lord is good."

A Tribute To Mother

I had planned a trip to Temple to give my stepdad a break from his care of Mother this past week. I intended to arrive Tuesday morning and leave Thursday evening but before I left the house that Tuesday morning he called to say Mother was talking out of her head and had been for 48 hours. When I arrived the room was dark, Grandaddy was weeping in the recliner beside her and she was babbling incoherently. I leaned over her and she said, "Oh, you did come." I asked her who I was and she said, "Sherrie." As she began to babble again, I asked her to slow down so I could understand her and she said, "You don't understand, there is so much light in here." As the days passed, Mother would have moments of lucidity where she knew everyone and could converse very rationally. She told her beloved sister, Jane as she left from a visit, "I love you. Take care of your family. Enjoy every moment." She asked me and her sister-in-law, "Do you see that light?" She called out to her brother and mother (who had passed many years ago), "John, Mother, I'm coming home now." Those are beautiful words of comfort to those of us left behind.

My mother was the youngest daughter of 11 children. She was number 9. She married at 16 to my dad and never finished high school. Because of that she always felt like she just wasn't very intelligent but nothing could be further from the truth. My mother - until the week of her death - was sharp as a tack. She had a great memory. She made my sister and I dresses from the time we were little girls and many times with no pattern. She was an excellent cook and could arrange flowers and paint ceramics with the best of them.

My mother was a simple person. She had only traveled to two states in her life and really didn't care. She loved her home, she loved her family and she was content. I never heard her complain about what she hadn't done or couldn't do - she just enjoyed what she had and where she was.

She found love again with my stepdad, Shelby. He adored her and treated her in a way that she had always longed for and deserved. In the first years of their marriage he had cancer and lost his youngest son and she cared for him. In the last years he cared for her. The middle years were spent serving others. They were the most giving people you would ever know. They loved their church and they loved their family - that's where their hearts were. As mother's world closed in due to her vision and mobility problems, they were happy to be together in their home with each other and the many family and church members returned their earlier years of giving by continually supplying them with visits, cards, food and flowers. That never stopped - though Mother was sick for so long.

The day Mother went home was a beautiful sunshiney day. Her aide and I had bathed her and put a beautiful clean gown on her and turned her toward the big picture window in her room. She was sleeping peacefully when I noticed her breathing had changed. My sister, brother, stepdad and I were by her side as her breathing slowed and then stopped. No gasping, gurgling or restlessness. Just a peaceful passing from this life to the next. We spontaneously began to thank God for her life, for her peaceful passing and for the hope that was before us as she was now dancing down streets of gold, hands upraised with perfect vision beholding the wonders of heaven.

Her funeral was packed and she was beautiful. I had seen her sick for so long I had forgotten how very beautiful my mother was. We celebrated her life Monday morning. Over and over again I heard how kind and good my mother was. She never said a bad word about anyone and the love she had for others was sweet and pure. I think our Lord was well pleased with her life and I know that I will miss her greatly. I hope I can leave such a legacy of love and sweetness.

Goodbye for now Mother, I will see you in the morning.

Sisters, Sisters - There were never more devoted sisters

My sister and I spent a day shopping for some office furniture for her new house this week. It was a rare opportunity for us to be together without spouses or children and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. There is such a sweet fellowship present when you have that genetic bond and also a spiritual one. My sister and I have that. We are not only sisters by blood but also in spirit. She loves the Lord and is committed to being all that He wants her to be. So our time together becomes as spiritual as it is functional.

We happened to get caught in a huge traffic jam on the bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard so we decided to exit and have dinner at the Mexican food restaurant that our nephew works at. He happened to be off that night but we made it clear we were his aunts and we were THERE!

We had a nice dinner and then the sweet little waiter brought our ticket. That's when the trouble began. I took my wallet out of my purse and my kleenex fell onto the floor. Being the neat freak I am, I bent over in my seat to pick it up. Now mind you - my feet do not reach the floor in my chair and my arms are really short - so I reached with my right hand and my left hand held onto the seat of my chair and it flipped me out of the chair. Lovely. I so slowly and so gracefully (if that's possible) fell out of my chair at dinnertime in the restaurant where my nephew works.

The sweet little waiter is helping me and asking "are you OK?" and as I get back to my feet I look over at my sister and she is laughing so hard she is purple-faced. This is the same sister who - by the way - walked into the men's restroom at WalMart that very day and USED it! How could she laugh at me?

That's blood for you. A friend would have helped you. A friend would have been mortified for you. Not blood. They laugh their heads off and remind you about it for the rest of your life. Nothing like family.

It's all in the Mind

Just wanted to give you an update on my last post. I told you I was choosing to rest in Christ. To refuse to think negatively just because my circumstances looked negative. To focus on the truth of who God is rather than the way things appeared to be.

Guess what? I'm happier. I'm much less stressed. I'm not 'going there.' It truly is a choice and even though I sometimes fall back into that crummy habit of thinking that I have - I just snatch myself back to my 'new' pattern of thinking. That would be scriptural - 'take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.'

I'm pretty excited. My circumstances haven't changed. My mind has. And that makes all the difference. His word is truth. He gives perfect peace to the mind that is fixed on Him.

May I encourage you to do the same? Begin to focus on the "Who" that God is vs. the "what" you are going through? Let's hold each other to it. Let's honor God with our minds and for once....let's really live this thing out to the praise of His glory. These are exciting days!!!