The Invitations

Birthdays come no matter how we feel.  Young and energetic, or weary and worn-out, those years add up!  And while we know we should be thankful for every breath that comes our way, if we would be honest, I think each one of us has had a year or two when we just weren't sure HOW to feel about an upcoming Birthday.

Such was the case for me this summer, as my next Birthday was looming before me.  

Where had this past year gone? 

How could it be time for another Birthday already? 

What direction would I, or should I be moving?

I must admit that I have felt a little like a ship without a mooring, as this journey through chronic illness has kept shifting the pathway in front of me. So when my dear blogging friend, Ifeoma Samuel, for whom I had offered a small bit of editing assistance, let me know the date that the book would be released, I felt a surging of encouragement in my soul:

The release date is today, my Birthday. 

  

"Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'"

John 4:10 

The very first invitation that Ifeoma shared in her book, 

"The Invitations: 21 Hearty Devotions for your Soul" 
 was the offer that Jesus put forth to the Woman at the Well. You might have read here, about my own travels with that very woman, about the years of portraying her through a drama with my family. If you did, then you know how this particular passage holds such deep meaning for me. So when Ifeoma closed the first chapter with this prayer, I felt the Lord speaking it personally over me:

 "Lord Jesus, the road looks rough and uncertain. Strengthen me for the journey ahead. The world is in despair, but in you, Jesus, there is hope eternal. The world is a dark and lonely place, but in you is the Light. Flood me with your water of refreshing, and let my soul bask in the beauty of your glory in Jesus name. Amen"

SAMUEL, IFEOMA. THE INVITATIONS: 21 Hearty Devotions For Your Soul. (Kindle Locations 178-180). Purposeful and Meaningful. Kindle Edition. 



His Words are eternal, my friend. When He invited that woman to drink of the water that He would give, she could not have known how many people down through the ages would find the refreshing that only HE could bring.


And when "the Spirit and the Bride say come" they are still speaking to you and to me, today, just as much as they were speaking to the Apostle John who penned those words so many years ago.


"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life."
Revelation 22:17 


 
We tend to think that what we are facing today is worse than any other time in history. Perhaps we are, as Jesus, Himself, told us that evil would increase, as the day of HIS returning draws near.


But there is ONE who has not changed,
ONE who still offers us
INVITATIONS
to draw nearer to His heart.


The ONE who chose the date
of my Birth,
And the ONE who knows the number
of my days,
Sees the days for you, too, my friend.
He has so much 
Life 
and so much
Refreshing
for each of us.


Ifeoma has been used by the Lord to speak these invitations so beautifully, again, to us today. I would encourage you to read along with her, and hear in a new setting, 21 Invitations that our Lord has offered through His Word.

His calling still echoes to us 
as He invites us 
to come and be fed by Him.

 "The Invitations: 21 Hearty Devotions for your Soul," by Ifeoma Samuel

is available now at Amazon
by clicking here. 

I am linking today with these great bloggers:

Barbie Swihart #Glimpses

 Jennifer Dukes Lee, #TellHisStory

Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday 

Life Interrupted

THE ARROW AND THE SONG

"I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of a song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end

I found it again in the heart of a friend."

        --Henry W. Longfellow

The stillness path was opening

before me,

And I thought I understood

the meaning.

Open my heart

Listen for the changes

Walk the new path

And reap the new fruit.

After a busy time with our family all gathering in, I knew I would need to shelter and let the refreshing return. I rested in the beauty of spring, and I waited. . . . and waited some more. . . . But as the Fibro-Flare retreated, an old enemy returned.  The fire of the RA Dragon breathed his heat on my joints again.  When I woke one morning unable to do the simplest tasks, I knew what would be required: a call to the Doctor and the old regimine of prednisone, the most dreaded of my meds, would have to be started. If the inflammation of Rheumatoid Disease is not brought down in time, it spreads to other organs in the body, wreaking havoc on the entire immune system.

Before I made that call, I knew another call needed to be made. A cry to my friends for prayer to ask the Lord for Grace to surrender again. I sent out the texts and I heard back the words, words I had uttered myself so often for each one:

"I am praying for you." 

I held the pills in my palm, the stiffened palm that could not close, and I knew the Lord was near. He orders my days, and He knows the limit of the trial.  As I stared back down the road that I thought I had completed, He whispered words of sweetness in my soul.

"My daughter I see your pain,

and I walk with you still.

There is no turn that surprises Me,

no crooked place I won't make straight.

I am not shocked by the broken ways,

and I do not count your pain 

as failure

in the same way that you do.

I see only LOVE

in your eyes

reflected back from ME

when you gaze 

into My heart.

Just as I carried your burden

all the way to Calvary,

I now carry the trial

as I hold you close.

You are mine

Nothing between us

Look up to My heart

And into My Love."

And I knew the prayers of my friends were being answered as I remembered the Scriptures that were set before me from the online Bible Study offered by my dear friend,

Ifeoma Samuel.

The study for that day, the day of my own lameness returning, was 2 Samuel chapter 9, the story of David the King who brought in a forgotten son. This son was called to the King's table all for the sake of a covenant made between David and the son's father, Jonathan. You can read the story for yourself, and find the beautiful words that paint such a picture of our Lord the King, and the way He calls us to sit at His table, because of the covenant of Love that our Savior made on our behalf.  But the words at the end of the chapter brought the beauty of surrender to my heart once again:

"So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet."   2 Samuel 9:11,13

 

The lameness of Mephibosheth was not a hindrance to the covenant of love being fulfilled for him. The King called him in, and treated him like a son.  

Are you feeling the weight of a lameness 

somewhere in your soul?

We all carry a weight.

Do you have a friend you can call

for prayer when that lameness

seeks to overwhelm you?

I would love to join you in prayer today.

Even when the pain subsides,

we can humbly admit 

to each other

the weakness that lies inside our hearts.

There is a covenant of Love

to be shared

and to be spread abroad.

The King calls us to sit with Him,

to join Him at His table

like a son.  

 

I am linking this week with:
Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday
#LMMLinkup
Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday 

  

Day 30: Glean and Listen Part 4

My man and I took our Grandpuppy,
Pepper the Schnauzer
(she's actually the face for my #Write31Days Challenge Thumbnail below!)
for a very short walk yesterday.

As I stood watching the two of them,
thinking that my days of long hikes
are only a memory now,
I can still be thankful for the grace
that allows me to take a short walk
now and then! 


And with that same heart of gratitude,
I feel so blessed by several
new authors that I have been
allowed to "meet"
through the world of blogging.


You may have read one or more of these books
already, but if not,
then allow me to introduce you to these
ones who have helped me so much
on my journey of learning
to listen and walk with God
through this season of chronic illness.



One of the first authors that touched me through
her brave-hearted blogging,
was Joy Lenton, who blogs at
PoetryJoy -- click here to find her site 
She is a fellow chronic illness warrior, and her
words are laced with the poetry of grace
and truth.
I first read her book during hard nights
filled with anxiety attacks and pain.
Her poetry drew me into the heart of Jesus,
and became a stand-by to read again and again
as the Lord brought fresh breath
into my weary soul.
Find her book at Amazon by clicking the link below:

Seeking Solace: Discovering grace in life's hard places 



 Another blogger that touched me
with her heart for Jesus is Ifeoma Samuel.
Find her blogging at
Purposeful And Meaningful -- click here to go to her site 
I was blessed to be part of the Launch team for her book,
and gleaned so much encouragement
from her study of the Scriptures.
She writes from an honest perspective of one
who knows what it feels like to face failure
and brokenness, but then points us 
back to the Grace of Jesus again and again.
Find her book at Amazon by clicking here:

Overcome Failure: Get Back On Your Feet 



If you have walked through the pain
of loss and grieving,
then you really should check out the blog of Anna Louise Smitt.
Click here to find her site: Joy of the Spirit Within.
I purchased the book that told her story 
of grace and redemption
as the Lord walked her through a trail marked
with suffering and PTSD.
But her chapters were packed with so much
beautiful Scripture and gleanings
that I slowed my reading to a simmer
so that I could let the healing sink into
my own soul.
Find her book at Amazon by clicking here:
 
Love Embraced: A Journey in and through Suffering   



I found this next blogger through the recent series
that she joined with Anna to write.
You may remember their series on #31Days of Miracles
that I shared recently here.
Debbie Barrow Michael blogs at
Consider it all Joy -- click here for her site.
She has walked through 
an amazing adventure of obedience,
and has learned to hear God's voice
through the adoption of her son from Russia. 
To read the story of that process, click the link below:

But the Greatest of These Is Love .


I was so blessed to be part of the launch team
for Cindee Snider Re's book this fall.
She is the co-founder of Chronic Joy Ministry
that I mentioned last week.
Her book changed my view of how I approach
living with a chronic illness.
The questions that I had buried deep
were brought to the surface and laid open
before God
as the book moved through it's material
in a study fashion
that begged the reader's participation.
Click the link below to find her book at Amazon:

 Discovering Hope: Beginning the Journey Toward Hope in Chronic Illness  


But here's the surprise that I've been hinting at:
Cindee has sent me two books to offer
as a give-away to two of my faithful readers!
I can't wait to see which of you will be
the next ones to be blessed by this journey
of discovery!

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog
sometime this week.
I will be sharing a reminder with every post
until next weekend.
Then I will draw two of those names, randomly,
and notify you of the winners next week.

Proverbs 4:1-2 (NIV) "Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.  I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching"


This is Day 30 for the #Write31Days Challenge,
and I am so thankful that you have journeyed with me
for #31Days of Listening with Chronic Illness.
 Click here for the Series Index