I've missed a deadline, fallen asleep on the couch with dishes still in the sink and kids not tucked into bed, and I've felt like I botch everything, mess everything up, and I've had to say it right out loud. "Praise not Perfection. He wants my praise not my perfection."
And when I have just had to take a deep breath and take captive every thought by counting gifts. 'Thank you Lord, for sun lining clouds and hot water to soak these pots, and that my identity is in what Christ did for me, not in what anyone thinks of me, and that your love never lets me go."
Ann Voskamp, A Holy Experience
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Unexpected Gift
#171 – A laying hen
Never did I think a laying hen would be the most significant gift I would ever receive. And not only that, but never did I think the lesson that gift taught me would come from a 3 year old who demonstrated what it means to be truly courageous.
Courage finds its greatest expression in love and sacrifice. That is the Reader’s Digest version of 1 John 3. In The Message, Eugene Peterson writes about love and sacrifice in this way…
For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other. 1 John 11
This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for each other, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 16-17
I believe Pastor Dale would say the Reader’s Digest version of this verse is “Loving and sacrificing with our EVERYTHINGNESS”.
Angel demonstrated that kind of love to me. Not just with the gift of a laying hen, but in the way she goes around her village convincing the young and old that they should love and trust the Mzungu (white foreigner/missionary) by telling them, “Do not be afraid. She is my friend”. I don’t know if Angel knows Christ, but she understands how to live like Christ. I believe her family must be believers, because in their physical “poorness”, they seem to have become completely dependent on God and are spiritually “wealthy”. When you are spiritually “wealthy”, you can give out of your nothingness because you have trust that Christ is taking care of everything.
Ann VosKamp writes about a different, yet similar, kind of courage.
“Jesus calls me to surrender and there’s nothing like releasing fears and falling into peace. It terrifies, true. But it exhilarates. This, this is what I’ve always wanted and never knew; this utter trust, this enlivening fall of surrender into the safe hands.”
Ann understands what it means to be courageous. Angel demonstrates it. I am learning it and I pray each of you will experience this kind of courageous, sacrificial love as well.
Kelly Huenink
Never did I think a laying hen would be the most significant gift I would ever receive. And not only that, but never did I think the lesson that gift taught me would come from a 3 year old who demonstrated what it means to be truly courageous.
Courage finds its greatest expression in love and sacrifice. That is the Reader’s Digest version of 1 John 3. In The Message, Eugene Peterson writes about love and sacrifice in this way…
For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other. 1 John 11
This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for each other, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 16-17
I believe Pastor Dale would say the Reader’s Digest version of this verse is “Loving and sacrificing with our EVERYTHINGNESS”.
Angel demonstrated that kind of love to me. Not just with the gift of a laying hen, but in the way she goes around her village convincing the young and old that they should love and trust the Mzungu (white foreigner/missionary) by telling them, “Do not be afraid. She is my friend”. I don’t know if Angel knows Christ, but she understands how to live like Christ. I believe her family must be believers, because in their physical “poorness”, they seem to have become completely dependent on God and are spiritually “wealthy”. When you are spiritually “wealthy”, you can give out of your nothingness because you have trust that Christ is taking care of everything.
Ann VosKamp writes about a different, yet similar, kind of courage.
“Jesus calls me to surrender and there’s nothing like releasing fears and falling into peace. It terrifies, true. But it exhilarates. This, this is what I’ve always wanted and never knew; this utter trust, this enlivening fall of surrender into the safe hands.”
Ann understands what it means to be courageous. Angel demonstrates it. I am learning it and I pray each of you will experience this kind of courageous, sacrificial love as well.
Kelly Huenink
Saturday, January 14, 2012
"Birds of the air..."
Saturday, January 14, 2012
I had just finished breakfast and noticed a commotion outside the kitchen door. The ditch bank and the trees along the bank were alive with hundreds of blackbirds. Now they are not my favorite bird, but it was obvious they didn’t care. The blackbirds were having great fun. As if watching a wave of water coming in from the ocean, they flew to the ground and back to the trees, slowly moving closer and closer to our yard and then they were gone to another playground. I felt God’s lesson coming my way. I prepared myself to listen to Him.
We continue to have health issues. Bob has another surgery coming up this week and my back and legs continue to torture me with pain. I had complained this very morning about paying for an MRI to find out that the MRI didn’t pick up anything wrong. “Maybe it is …..” I quit listening after I had received the news. All I could think about was how I had wasted our money for a good report. Then I started scolding myself for my negative feelings, as I was reminded that people every day have tests that cost so they CAN get a good report.
That’s when it happened. In my gray, foggy mood, I saw God’s workings in nature – the dance of joy.
“Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And (Helen) you know that you are worth much more than birds. You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.” Matthew 6:26-27
Forgive me Lord for placing the focus of my day on something meaningless. Help me to give you honor and glory each and every moment of my life. Amen
#78 God’s creation enjoying life
--Helen Duncan
I had just finished breakfast and noticed a commotion outside the kitchen door. The ditch bank and the trees along the bank were alive with hundreds of blackbirds. Now they are not my favorite bird, but it was obvious they didn’t care. The blackbirds were having great fun. As if watching a wave of water coming in from the ocean, they flew to the ground and back to the trees, slowly moving closer and closer to our yard and then they were gone to another playground. I felt God’s lesson coming my way. I prepared myself to listen to Him.
We continue to have health issues. Bob has another surgery coming up this week and my back and legs continue to torture me with pain. I had complained this very morning about paying for an MRI to find out that the MRI didn’t pick up anything wrong. “Maybe it is …..” I quit listening after I had received the news. All I could think about was how I had wasted our money for a good report. Then I started scolding myself for my negative feelings, as I was reminded that people every day have tests that cost so they CAN get a good report.
That’s when it happened. In my gray, foggy mood, I saw God’s workings in nature – the dance of joy.
“Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And (Helen) you know that you are worth much more than birds. You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.” Matthew 6:26-27
Forgive me Lord for placing the focus of my day on something meaningless. Help me to give you honor and glory each and every moment of my life. Amen
#78 God’s creation enjoying life
--Helen Duncan
Monday, January 2, 2012
A New Year
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
The one hundred eighteenth psalm reminds us that today, like every other day, is a cause for celebration. God gives us this day; He fills it to the brim with possibilities, and He challenges us to use it to His purposes. The day is presented to us fresh and clean at midnight, free of charge, but we must beware: Today is a non-renewable resource---once it's gone, it's gone forever. Our responsibility, of course, is to use this day in the service of God's will and according to His commandments.
"Help me, Father, to learn from the past but not live in it. And, help me to plan for the future but not to worry about it. This is the day You have given me, Lord. Let me use it according to your master plan, and let me give thanks for Your blessings. Enable me to live each moment to the fullest, totally involved in Your will. Amen" (My Daily Journal with God by Mary Carlisle Beasley)
From Ann Voskamp: I open a Bible and His plans, startling, lie there barefaced. It's hard to believe it, when I read it, and I have to come back to it many times, feel long across those words, make sure they are real. But His love letter forever silences the doubts: "Before the world began, God planned this wisdom for our glory." (1 Corinthians 2:7 NCV)
Thankfulness should never end:
*I met the challenge and read through the Bible in one year.
*A new year has been given to me to grow in faith and become more Chirst-like.
*We celebrated Mom's birthday with cupcakes and talking. She was having a good day.
*My precious Aunt Marilyn Kae and faithful Uncle Spud made her day even more special.
Earline
The one hundred eighteenth psalm reminds us that today, like every other day, is a cause for celebration. God gives us this day; He fills it to the brim with possibilities, and He challenges us to use it to His purposes. The day is presented to us fresh and clean at midnight, free of charge, but we must beware: Today is a non-renewable resource---once it's gone, it's gone forever. Our responsibility, of course, is to use this day in the service of God's will and according to His commandments.
"Help me, Father, to learn from the past but not live in it. And, help me to plan for the future but not to worry about it. This is the day You have given me, Lord. Let me use it according to your master plan, and let me give thanks for Your blessings. Enable me to live each moment to the fullest, totally involved in Your will. Amen" (My Daily Journal with God by Mary Carlisle Beasley)
From Ann Voskamp: I open a Bible and His plans, startling, lie there barefaced. It's hard to believe it, when I read it, and I have to come back to it many times, feel long across those words, make sure they are real. But His love letter forever silences the doubts: "Before the world began, God planned this wisdom for our glory." (1 Corinthians 2:7 NCV)
Thankfulness should never end:
*I met the challenge and read through the Bible in one year.
*A new year has been given to me to grow in faith and become more Chirst-like.
*We celebrated Mom's birthday with cupcakes and talking. She was having a good day.
*My precious Aunt Marilyn Kae and faithful Uncle Spud made her day even more special.
Earline
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Christmas
221. Nativity scenes of all media, paper, ceramic, wooden, metal, lighted shapes, or sculpted in one piece.
222. Christmas carols on the radio, in stores, at church, on the corner
223. CDs of Christmas music to play again and again
224. Shopping for needy children to make their Christmas and life a little sweeter
225. Baking (and eating) cookies and candy
226. Sharing Christmas goodies with friends or strangers
227. Receiving and sending cards of bleslsing and the Good News
228. A better understanding of what Mary, the teenager, went through on the first Christmas
229. Decorated trees, sparkling lights
230. Evergreens, as wreaths, swags, crosses or centerpieces and red bows
231. The brilliant star followed by many to find the the "light of the world", that today is a guiding light for all the who believe in Jesus
We're ready for Christmas, not when we have all the gifts but when we are ready for Christ - when we're ready to give all of ourselves to Christ.
Christmas Blessings to you all. Earline
222. Christmas carols on the radio, in stores, at church, on the corner
223. CDs of Christmas music to play again and again
224. Shopping for needy children to make their Christmas and life a little sweeter
225. Baking (and eating) cookies and candy
226. Sharing Christmas goodies with friends or strangers
227. Receiving and sending cards of bleslsing and the Good News
228. A better understanding of what Mary, the teenager, went through on the first Christmas
229. Decorated trees, sparkling lights
230. Evergreens, as wreaths, swags, crosses or centerpieces and red bows
231. The brilliant star followed by many to find the the "light of the world", that today is a guiding light for all the who believe in Jesus
We're ready for Christmas, not when we have all the gifts but when we are ready for Christ - when we're ready to give all of ourselves to Christ.
Christmas Blessings to you all. Earline
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Jim
Jim
Tender, humble,
Emotional,
ignited by the Spirit of Christ.
Strong and steady, it was his gift.
A manner of quietness, but ready to lead,
with a handshake, a smile, and a twinkle in his eye.
He brought up his family to know the Savior,
And his wife--- he so loved.
His testimony...he lived it each day.
He welcomed with welcoming words.
And the laughter that rang out from the pew,
we will miss that.
The blessings, they keep coming....
Our cup is full, overflowing full.
Celebrate!
Jim
#123 the blessings of Jim - he is loved
From Cindy Kipp
Tender, humble,
Emotional,
ignited by the Spirit of Christ.
Strong and steady, it was his gift.
A manner of quietness, but ready to lead,
with a handshake, a smile, and a twinkle in his eye.
He brought up his family to know the Savior,
And his wife--- he so loved.
His testimony...he lived it each day.
He welcomed with welcoming words.
And the laughter that rang out from the pew,
we will miss that.
The blessings, they keep coming....
Our cup is full, overflowing full.
Celebrate!
Jim
#123 the blessings of Jim - he is loved
From Cindy Kipp
Thursday, November 24, 2011
GIVE THANKS EVERY DAY
Although this is a special day of thanksgiving, we should give our thanks for each and every day. For our lives, our families, our homes, our jobs, our friends; for God's creation all around us and His Spirit within. For Christian brothers and sisters who encourage us, pray with us and for us in times of need or joy; who serve our congration, our community and our world. Today we give thanks for a special, godly man, Jim Kler, who went last night to be with our Lord Jesus. We are grateful for his kindness, his service, his great optimism and his family.
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