God’s timing…and ours…

This came out with two different themes…

1. we don’t know our time, but God does…

2. While we are here,  our light for Jesus should shine…

Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment are coming,
    the days of reckoning are at hand.

Mark:13:32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 

John 7:6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

John 7:30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 

 John 7: 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

John 8:19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

1 Peter 1:5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time

1 Peter 5:6 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time…

John 9: 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Luke 8:16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 

Thank YOU…

In  His time…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3A5-89pY9s

“Chance” encounters….

 “Chance “ encounters….

This morning I awakened thinking of “chance” encounters…

I opened up my kitchen’s window blinds and a hummingbird bird was feeding …it saw me and flew over to the window, fluttered there facing me, then flew away …like it was saying hello for the morning…just made me smile…a new day’s greeting…

Years  ago I met someone briefly then  hadn’t seen them until the other day at the cancer center…it was a “chance” encounter…

They didn’t see me, but coming to the cancer center isn’t something you do for fun, so you pretty much know they are there for a serious matter…then as I was going back to my infusion, I walked by where they draw blood and saw them again, sitting in those chairs where blood is drawn…now you know they mean business…I prayed the first time, then I prayed again, not knowing anything, but knowing that they needed prayer…

Reading through the Word, there are so many “chance “ encounters ordained by God…he has a plan for each day…

Reading through the Gospel of John, all the people who met Jesus in various ways…those seemingly “chance” encounters…

I love the phrase in John 10:42….”and in that place many believed in Jesus”….  Did those people know who they would meet that day…did they know their lives would be forever changed…

Watch for “chance” encounters that only God can bring our way…

They can be pretty amazing…

Thank YOU…

God of my days…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYkZE8AogDE&list=RDZYkZE8AogDE&start_radio=1&pp=ygUNTWVldGluZyBqZXN1c6AHAQ%3D%3D

 A walk through the town…

We visited Bibleland or Holyland experience several years ago in Florida…( I think it is gone now)…walking through the narrow streets….or watching “the Chosen”, their narrow streets …or walking around the real Jerusalem, their old narrow streets …the crowds, the noise, the vendors, the running children, the mothers and dads, the religious leaders, the soldiers…just the masses…

Still reading  through John…chapter 7 this time…there were people everywhere….I don’t know how they could get so much information with such crowds…or where the space was for Jesus to talk or teach…and the people sincerely wanted to here him as well as he wanted them to know Him…

He teaches at various synagogues…Capernaum for one…it wasn’t very big by today’s standards …

You’ve got a multitude of groups of people arguing over who this Man was , some for him and some against, while others are still trying to decide …what pandemonium….its no wonder he went secretly into the town before he taught…and then he goes to the temple to teach again…

I often wonder where I would have been, who I would have talked to or listened to…what would have been my response in such masses…

I think I would have liked the hillside settings better…

But, no matter where Jesus taught, in the crowds, the homes, the countryside, people were drawn to Him because he spoke words of truth, God’s words which spoke to the hearts of people…desiring that they believe in Jesus as their redeemer, their Savior, their hope, their healer…

Thank YOU….

John 7:10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

Division Over Who Jesus Is

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

I speak Jesus…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcmqSfr1ENY

 Comfort verses 2

I haven’t shared comfort verses for a while, these have come up again…they never grow old and for some, we cling to them as a lifeline….

Thank YOU….

“Truly, my soul silently waits for God” (Psalm 62:1 NKJV).

“Teach me to do Your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground” (Psalm 143:10 NIV).

“We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9b BSB).

“So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided’” (Genesis 22:14 NIV).

“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7 NIV). 

“Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me” (Psalm 31:2-3 NIV).

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV).

 And Jesus said, ‘Who touched Me?’” (Luke 8:45 NKJV)

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV).

“Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4 HCSB).

“Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast” (Psalm 119:90 ESV).

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV). 

“The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills” (Habakkuk 3:19 NKJV).

Something about that name…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAhvyPJYWrA

 

Me·mo·ri·al Day

/məˈmôrēəl ˌdā/

noun

• 1.
a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May.

My favorite TV program is the Memorial Day Concert and program held every year in Washington DC…patriotic music, patriotic stories of heroes past and present, honoring the military men and women who give of their lives for our country….

This year is the 250th anniversary of America…the 25th anniversary of 911 and both were recognized from the revolutionary war to the present day…in song and stories of men and women who were part of battles over the years…their bravery, tenacity, sacrifice for the nation…

In the Christian realm, we have similar memorials as well…we have Easter, communion, Christmas, testimonies, etc…honoring those who have gone before us and Jesus Christ who met death head on and came out victorious….Resurrection…who plans for our future as no human can…who saves those who believe that He is the Son of God, when we ask for forgiveness…

In the Bible we see the battles of defeat and those of conquest…with the brave soldiers from various nations…the promises of 

God, the Gospel…we see the heroes of the faith, their stories and songs and prayers…examples…

So as we celebrate the birth of our nation and its story, we need to remember where we get our real life …in Christ who is ,who was and will be…never losing, always entreating us to follow him in eternity…through faith in Him alone…

Thank YOU….

In Christ Alone…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-H-rh1rZog

One of the songs featured in the concert….

I have seen my last tomorrow…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA6iP8ld6_I 

 Family pets….

Our family has had a multitude of family “pets”…ducks, chickens, ants, butterflies, lady bugs, turkeys, hamsters, fish, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses…and of course, several cats and dogs…

We went through the typical “old MacDonalds” part of family life where “living in the country is great”….”having animals is good for teaching responsibility “….both of which are true…and we enjoyed all of those ideas…and now three of my four children and families live rurally…and continue to have animals…it will be interesting to see how the next two living generations land on this issue…choices….

One of my daughters found a cute little poodle for me after my husband passed away…(we had had one before he got ill)….great companionship over the years since he passed away…many, many miles of walking…many, many one sided conversations….many, many times of petting and care….my kitchen floor was always clean of any fallen food…he never met a stranger(not good watch dog  material)…

Age came in slowly for him…he still enjoyed life…but lately seeing, hearing and other bodily functions have been deteriorating…which has been sad…he would look at me like, “what is happening?” And I couldn’t explain…

I have known for a while that the time would come to have him put to sleep, but, I have been putting it off…not wanting to face it…I got the message that I would know the right time…yesterday was it….

I thought of a missionary we support who had gotten her chickens up to a great flock and then they all died from a virus overnight …all the time, care, energy, prayer she had put into those chickens had to have been so disappointing and met with tears…

And then you go on…not forgetting , but, moving forward…not without pain, but waiting to see what the next step is…healing….

We do it…through many big and little disappointments, hard times, good times…with God’s grace….and his healing power…

The deeper the hurt, the deeper the ministry….

Thank YOU….

2Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Psalm 119: 50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
    Your promise preserves my life.

Praise you in the rain….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgpaULjZOl8

https://biblehub.com/q/why_does_genesis_1_differ_in_creation_order.htm

Psalm 22…

 Psalm 22….

I know David wrote this psalm, but it such a future picture of Christ on the Cross…a person in extreme pain…at the end…..even to the point of saying, “it is finished”….

The dividing of the clothes, the mocking, the insults, the bones, the dry mouth, the piercings, etc…interspersed with praise…

From His prayer for further generations in John 17…

It is a somber psalm but, Triumphant….

Thank YOU…

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
    you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.

19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!”

My God…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8h3qnV93c

Dumpster diving…

 Dumpster diving…

God chose yesterday to bring me back to some of my roots, “dumpster diving”….

You have to realize, growing up, we lived on ranches which had their own trash pile…but we had very little trash…no plastic, no paper, a few tin cans, very few glass jars( we reused the canning jars) the barn had a barrel for  used hay wire and later, string… we had wood stoves where we  burned the paper…we didn’t live in the Middle Ages, but things have changed in 70 years here in the US…new products…

We had open dumps, people put “good stuff “ along the edge in case  someone else could use it…there were “farm “ sales when the farm was being sold…not garage sales like we have today…

We had less stuff and we made do…

Anyway, some of my children, in college, did dumpster diving. In fact there were people who checked the dorm dumpsters regularly , picking up useable items to sell later to new students…enterprising…

My dad collected tin cans when California started recycling aluminum…some family still does…and so it goes…

I have had two family members minister to people who live in the dumps of two different countries….

So, Yesterday a friend wanted what was filling a dumpster, so here are two 70+ women dumpster diving…I had to laugh the whole time…”what goes around, comes around “…but, it was profitable.

“One man’s trash is another’s treasure”still holds…even worldwide…

We aren’t trash to God…He made a way to redeem us…giving us new life…new purpose…

Thank YOU….

Psalm 103:1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Redeemed…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_82cISZdFg

 

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Psalm 20:1-6, the “mays”….

God uses repeated words, themes, etc…this one is the “mays”…

If we put our names into the “you”…what a blessing…He is speaking to each of us…

1. May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

2. may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

3. May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and grant you support from Zion.

4. May he remember all your sacrifices
    and accept your burnt offerings.

5. May he give you the desire of your heart
    and make all your plans succeed.

6. May we shout for joy over your victory
    and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

7. May the Lord grant all your requests.

6 Now this I know:
    The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
    with the victorious power of his right hand.

Extra….

Psalm 91:14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

Psalm 3: 4 I call out to the Lord,
    and he answers me from his holy mountain.
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

Psalm 21:2 You have granted him his heart’s desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Psalm 20: 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Thank YOU…

Psalm 20 song…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_2vcFdAsUk

Hebrew version…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k3iNvfVgts

 Day 8…. There is no place like home….click, click…there is no place like home….

We had an amazing breakfast with family before leaving to drive home…three of my nieces and their father,my husband’s brother….catching up, laughter,history….

Then off across central Oregon, on a windy clear day…

It is not often you can see all of the  Oregon snow mountains, but yesterday we could ..so we started out by Mount Hood several days ago and ended up seeing it from a distance…beautiful….

Family, friends, sightseeing…a great combination…in a few days while the world around us went on …I barely watched the news until yesterday morning…then is was a praise time in Washington D.C. with the special day of “Rededicate 250” on the Mall…praise music, Christian speakers, families, etc. gathering, not protesting or complaining, but praising God…what a way to start the week…

Oh, that we could come together in peace, working things out in a civilized manner, with concern and care for one another instead of   

Violence and chaos…giving dignity to all…

Thank you for sharing my little trip…my pictures …my life for a week…t has been a blessing to me….

1 Chronicales 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Thank YOU…

If my people…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g08ZUz6ifTE

Day 7…over the mountains and through the trees…

 Day 7….over the mountains and through the trees….

Yesterday we crossed over the mountains and into the trees of western central Oregon to, the beginning of today’s journey across the high desert …and home…

Rainy, snowy, windy, beautiful, cool, warm…we have had it all…

God has given us so much variety, beauty…brilliant greens, blues, seas, flowers, People, foods, homes of all sizes, landscapes…you name it…his handiwork is all around us all the time…friends, family…

“Let us rejoice and be glad!”….

“And He saw that it was good….”

Of course there are the hard things as well…everyone has a story or life they maybe living…but, He is there as well…

“I am with you always…I will never leave you for forsake you…”

The resurrection of spring with its newness of life reminds us that we have made it through the winter and new life has come…

John 11: 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies; 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die. Do you believe this?” 

Thank YOU…

Light of the world…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLhaZIBSpo

 I hope I didn’t bore you with my fun road-trip…God has lessons in everything we do…we just need to look and acknowledge his “fingerprints” on our lives….

I couldn’t help but show these miniature ducks…their beaks are about 1/4 inch long, so tiny and cute..

Day 6….land of milk and honey…

 Day 6…land of milk and honey….

No sightseeing yesterday, people day…

We went to the “Market of Choice” for dinner. A favorite…long aisles of various foods, salads, hot dishes, various cultures, etc…aptly named….I wish I had one close to my home…

We are so blessed as a nation to have so many choices…I feel at times like this is the land of milk and honey that God promised the Israelites coming g out of slavery in Egypt…

This trip we have traveled through all kind of agriculture that feeds so many…seafood, cattle, game hunting, fruits and vegetables of all kinds, wineries, canola oil, honey just to name a few…

Where I live it is fruits, potatoes, grains, onions, grapes, dairies, etc…

Another state maybe more minerals, gravel, etc…

 But, so much…Not all nations have that…

Plus, freedom to worship God…abundantly…not all nations have that…

I realize the following was written for the Israelites, but the principles are the same for us now…following Him is imperative…

Thank YOU….

Deuteronomy 11:8 “Therefore, you shall keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land which you are crossing over [the Jordan] to possess; 9 so that you may live long on the land which the Lord swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land [of great abundance,] flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land which you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land into which you are about to cross to possess, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

13 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently and pay attention to My commandments which I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being]— 14 that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early [fall] rain and the late [spring] rain, so that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your [olive] oil. 15 And He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away [from the Lord] and serve other gods and worship them, 17 or [else] the Lord’s anger will be kindled and burn against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “Therefore, you shall impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul, and tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead. 19 You shall teach them [diligently] to your children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths], speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. 22 For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to hold tightly to Him—

26 “Behold, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing, if you listen to and obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to and obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following (acknowledging, worshiping) other gods which you have not known.

29 “It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road, toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall possess it and live in it, 32 and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.

This land….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q7PULELvok

(I realize this song isn’t a hymn or praise song, just a folk tune, but it kept coming to mind)…

Day 5…power…

 Day 5… power….

Tidal pools…

The ocean….

The lighthouse….

The gravesite…

The broken highway …

You know , we can’t make real tidal pools that continue to live…we can’t make an ocean…we can’t make the crumble like earthquakes ….we can’t stop death…

The lighthouse was the only manmade thing of these pictures and all the materials and talent were not manmade either….

God made them all including the power over death through faith in Jesus Christ…

Genesis 1: 20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm and abundantly produce living creatures, and let birds soar above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Revelations 16: 18 And there were flashes of lightning and loud rumblings and peals of thunder; and there was a massive earthquake—nothing like it has ever occurred since mankind originated on the earth, so severe and far-reaching was that earthquake. 

Ecclesiastes 8:8a There is no man who has power and authority over the wind to restrain the wind,
Nor does he have authority over the day of death;

James 4: 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy [the one God who has the absolute power of life and death]; but who are you to [hypocritically or self-righteously] pass judgment on your neighbor?

Jesus is our light…the light of the World…

John 8: 12 Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 

Thank YOU…. 

Day 4…

 Day 4….

Provision of food…

Friendship…

Roads…

The ocean…

That was day 4…

Provision…honey, mustard, fish….

Roads…crowded roads …to the beach…

The ocean…the Pacific…dividing the land, the water and the heavens…

Proverbs 24:13 
My son, eat honey, because it is good,
And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

Proverbs 17: 17a A friend loves at all times….

Genesis 1: 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse].” 7 And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded]. 8 God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that this was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it. 11 So God said, “Let the earth sprout [tender] vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind, whose seed is in them upon the earth”; and it was so. 12 The earth sprouted and abundantly produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Thank YOU…

Day 3

  

Day 3…

Yesterday was flowers and somber….

We went to the beautiful Crystal springs rhododendron garden in Portland …it was in full bloom with dogwood, old plantings of rhododendrons along a lake, creeks,  among towering fir trees…everywhere you looked another color of flowers caught your eye…lots of people, lots of picturesque scenery….

Although there were lots of flowers, you didn’t feel crowed…just impressed…in awe of the beauty and variety….

Thai lunch…

Then to Omsi, Oregon Museum of science and industry…

I have to admit, I didn’t take one picture, and I didn’t realize it until we were through it…but the section we traveled through, I would have been hard pressed to capture it in pictures…

We went through the life of the Titanic and the thousands p

Of lives it touched….from the dream to its death…and lives and deaths of the people who road it…artifacts scavenged on the ocean floor…

(When I was on my first trip after my husband’s passing we visited a cemetery in eastern Canada which many people from that ship were buried…it was sobering reading many of the epitaphs on the burial stones..)

At this display, each ticket holder was given a card with a name and information about a person on the trip…at the end of of the display, you could look up your person to find out if your person lived or died…my person was a young mother who was going home with her children to Canada from Scotland with her husband….as the ship was going down she as frantically searching for her nanny and children who had taken them to safety on the rescue boats…the mother and father  died while the children lived…story after story of real lives who were in the ship….

Both places we visited started with a dream…a goal to serve people in one way or another…one grew and grew into a thing of beauty….the other sank to the ocean floor…both involving thousands of people from all walks of  life….both have lessons of life…both included building ….

What are we building, life or destruction?

Thank YOU….

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

https://www.portland.gov/parks/crystal-springs-rhododendron-garden

https://omsi.edu.     (Oregon museum of science and industry)

        Titanic…

 Day 2…

My oldest son and I travelled from Pendleton, Oregon to Portland…we followed the Columbia river..the weather was wonderful, the wide river like glass winding between the winding basalt walls. Barges, a cruise ship, fishermen chugged along, winding their way to their destinations…

Upon arrival at my daughter’s home, we unpacked, then headed out to the donkey sanctuary where she works. We petted and brushed the donkeys who have found their forever homes after being abused, abandoned, etc…is it like being around great big dogs, with minds of their own…

Dinner at a Japanese restaurant with robot servers….(there are live people as well )… 

Fellowship with one another is key…adding a few fun, interesting visits to the itinerary is great…something out of our ordinary days…

Most of us have ordinary days…with a treat along the way…

We have had them for eons of time…we rejoice in each day…because each day is a day that the Lord has made…”let us rejoice and be glad in it”…

Thank YOU…

This the day…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4A5klnLG2uM&list=RD4A5klnLG2uM&start_radio=1&pp=ygUmdGhpcyBpcyB0aGUgZGF5IHRoYXQgdGhlIGxvcmQgaGFzIG1hZGWgBwE%3D 

Backroads…

 Backroads….

Adventure # ?….

My husband and I travelled some, China-2 times, Mongolia, across the USA, USA East coast, Alaska-2 times, trans Canada via train, around the islands of Hawaii, visiting children and parents  wherever they were….we had a bucket list and actually checked off a few…several got cancelled for various reasons. When I look at this accomplished list, I feel so blessed… But we hadn’t finished, when he got cancer…that was an abrupt halt…actually I felt guilty even thinking about traveling without him or even having fun without him…I finally realized I still had to live for whatever years God granted me…it wasn’t being disrespectful to go on living.

So I have a friend who was “willing” to travel and we had great adventures and travelled some more, plus I had the opportunity to travel with my children a bit as well…all were soooo fun and places out of the ordinary…

Now I have cancer, which has dampened the traveling quite a bit…not the amount of energy that I used to have, lots of meds and still under treatment…

My children/grandchildren continue to travel to “exotic” places, some on missions, some as pleasure…so seeing their photos is mostly my way of traveling now…enjoying their joy….

Yesterday, one of my sons drove a few miles of backroads after leaving my house…smelling the forest air, seeing the spring flowers in bloom on the mountain sides was a treat! Today, Lord willing, we travel on to one of my daughter’s home in Oregon…

Backroads or detours, changed plans are part of life…new chapters…sometimes they come abruptly…other times they come safely into life…

I think of Mary, mother of Jesus..she had an abrupt change when the Angel came to give her her Life changing news…or even the disciples, who quickly left their nets to follow Jesus…reading  through whole Word, people made life changing directional decisions, going on adventures that God had planned…

We are still doing that…maybe a few backroads along the way…

Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Thank YOU…

Plans…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBhuLCPZ_0Q

Mothers….

 Mothers…

Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

    she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

    and faithful instruction is on her tongue…

28 Her children arise and call her blessed…

John 16: . 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has pain because her time [to give birth] has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of her joy that a child has come into the world…

Thank YOU….

Mamas…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ8uJ16P9Cs

Words…

 Words…

5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.Colossians 4:5-6

5 Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders (non-believers), make the most of each opportunity [treating it as something precious]. 6 Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].

 

Sow and sow…

 

Sow and sow….

I know many people who put their heart and soul into their ministries…whether to adults, children, teens…

They sow and sow , sometimes reaping abundantly, while other times , those faith-building  times, the crop maybe sparse for whatever reason…

I thought of them as I looked at my fruit trees this week..

They bloomed early this year, consequently the frost took most of the crop…usually every year I throw buckets away of the pruned  out fruit…there has always been too much…this year I may have a dozen peaches or nectarines…a few pears and apples…I tended them the same as before, but God gave the amount…He is in charge even of the amount of fruit on my trees…just as He is in charge of the harvest of people…we do what we are supposed to do, but He is the Controller…

Another one of my trees , the persimmon, leaves out with tender shoots and then blooms later…this year, it was leafing out and the frost hit it as well…froze whole branches of tender shoots…now I see, under those tiny brown frozen leaves, new green  growth is peeking out on some….belated growth after a season of hidden growing…we see that in ministry as well…the life is there, but hidden from view due many reasons…hurt, sorrow, tiredness, the claims of the world, etc…then it bursts forth in newness…

God’s lessons are all around us…

Thank YOU….

What we sow…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_PNUNmw9c

Evangelism 101….

 Evangelism…101…

Evangelicalism taught and prayed for…we have a mighty teacher…

Thank YOU…

John 1: 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

John 4: 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 17: 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Matt.28: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

People need the Lord…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uZcGaixMhg

Love is…

 

Love is…

For whatever reason I needed this this morning…maybe there are others…

1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. 

2Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Psalm 86: 15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;

Psalm 103: 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

John 8: 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Numbers 23 : 19 God is not human, that he should lie,
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.

Thank YOU…

Love is patient…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuBwkEp_mEQ

Royalty…

 Royalty…

I “grew up” with King Charles of England. My daughters “grew up with his sons, William and Charles…royalty…

We never them, but we “knew them”…not that we followed them, but they happened to be in the news…so we just knew that they were in the worlds we grew up in….

This week it has been a break from the ordinary in that King Charles spoke to our Congress and at an important dinner in Washington DC…both of historical importance…with the 250 anniversary of the US this year…I enjoyed watching the pomp of the welcoming of the King and Queen, the reviewing the the troops, the music….it gave a chance to honor the troops and a break from war status….

I don’t need it everyday or often, but, to bring honor where honor is due is encouraging…

I don’t serve an earthly King…I serve an eternal and heavenly King ….Jesus…and the honor due him is beyond my comprehension…he is personal and is personally involved in all of our lives…

Thank YOU…

1Tim 6:14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Rev 17:14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Rev 19: 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.

King of Kings…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of5IcFWiEpg

Comfort verses…

 Comfort verses…

Some comfort verses….

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV).

“My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word” (Psalm 119:148 NKJV).

“He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches’” (Matthew 13:31-32 NIV).

“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV).

“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26 NIV). 

Lamentation 3: 21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

I comfort you…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2r4mwab5O8