New Word--Old Word

She seemed to be smiling all the time . . .

By the time I knew my Great Grandma Roth, she had lived a lifetime already. I heard all the stories from my Mom: how she felt that she was the Grandma who used to love pretty things, the Grandma who used to play the piano, until a conversion to a stricter way of life changed her. I heard about the hurtful memories of money not shared for a desperately needed surgery.  

But by the time I knew her, all of those things were part of a distant past.  What I remember is a Grandma who never had a harsh word to say to anyone. I can see in my mind's eye the Grandma whose eyes would light up when we walked into the room of her nursing home, and the largest smile you could imagine would cover her wrinkly, sweet face.

And I am sorry to say that I remember the inside joking that would happen between my siblings and myself when we had to sit at the table before and after every meal for the Mennonite way of silent prayers.  My mind, that was used to loud Pentecostal praying, somehow could not comprehend her old-fashion way of praying silently.

Until this past year, when God spoke an old-fashion word over me for my #Oneword last year:

 "He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.'”

Psalm 46:10 NIV 

If you have been following me this past year, then you might remember some of the lessons that God walked me through,

here, or here,

on this journey of learning to be still. At the beginning of the year I felt a sense of being crushed, when I thought about being still.  You see, I was continuing to grieve my past life, Pre-RA, of being strong, and busy, and full of movement.

But God's convictions always come with such a sweet

intimacy when we will stop and listen.

He has had beautiful times in mind for me in the days of forced stillness.

And He has had beautiful love-notes to speak to me

only heard when I would slow and wait on Him.

And, so while I was reluctant to begin this past year of stillness, now I have found myself reluctant to move onto a different word.

Am I the only one who faces change in that way?

Do you ever find yourself in a similar situation?

But as I have heard the whispers of the Lord moving me ahead into the new #Oneword for this year, I have only begun to realize that the stillness of last year has prepared the way for the fullness of this year's word to be possible. Unless I had allowed Him to teach me the blessing in the still place, I would not have been ready to learn now that my own self-sufficiency had gotten me nowhere during all of those "strong" years.  It has always been only 

Christ-sufficiency

that has given my life any true value.

And so, I pray that my heart 

will be opened

to see

to hear

to learn

a deeper beauty 

than I've known before:

My Jesus is sufficient for all I need.

#Oneword 365~~2018

 

Is God calling you to journey forward

with Him this year?

Will you join me in prayer

for a willing heart to walk with Him?

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you that your shed blood

is sufficient

for everything we need.

Thank You that you gave 

everything

so that we could live.

May we open our hearts to receive

from You what we cannot

earn or strive on our own

to complete.

May we swing wide the gates

and allow Your Spirit

full access

to the deepest caverns

inside our souls.

You are all that we need.

In Your Sweet Name we pray,

Amen.

I think that my Grandma Roth must have learned

the secret of finding Christ's Sufficiency

as she shone with such a deep and inner 

sparkle of love.

Join me back here each week this month for a series on 

The Legacy of Faith that I can see when I look back. Thank you to Jaime Wiebel for her inspiration last month as she shared her own story, and then asked us to think about our own history.

And perhaps Jesus will show us more about what it means to find Him as all-sufficient as we travel together.

Are you hearing a #Oneword for this new year? I would love to hear your comments below! 

I am linking with:

#Glimpses

#Teaandwordtuesday

#Sittingamongfriends 

 

 

  

 

An Invitation for "Whispers of Rest"

In exchange for my review, The Hachette Book Group, publisher, provided this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Today is the day! I have been awaiting this day for several months now.  Shortly after I entered into this year of 2017 sensing that my #Oneword365 would be "Stillness," I was in awe to find that Bonnie Gray was publishing a new Devotional,  Whispers of Rest, with practical daily prayer prompts and Scriptures to help find Soul Rest with God.  So, when the opportunity was given to become part of her Pre-launch Team, I jumped at the chance.  And for the past 21 days I have not been disappointed, as I joined with a great group of other readers who took up challenges to listen more closely for the sweet call of Jesus to daily become His Beloved. 



In fact, if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you've probably seen many posts with the hashtag #Whispersofrest, or #soulrest.  There have been so many beautiful offerings posted from all those who have been part of the Pre-Launch team!




As I read and listened to the prayer prompts, as I opened my eyes and heart to see touches of God's Love for me scattered throughout the moments of my days, I have been overwhelmed at God's timing.  When I entered this challenge, I had just visited my Rheumatologist and heard encouraging words.  He was pleased with the low activity of my Rheumatoid Arthritis.   But only days into this study, I was hit with a sudden flare-up of old symptoms and weakness. 

I was desperate to hear those words

of Soul-Rest

And I was overcome by a shaking

of my own abilities.

How could I join in a study

How could I be an encourager

When I felt so weak myself?

And that is the point of this book.  None of us is strong enough on our own.  Jesus is the ONE who carries all the strength. And Jesus is calling each one of us, to find our place next to His heart, resting as HIS BELOVED.

Through a series of personal stories, questions, poems, and Scriptures, Bonnie Gray gradually finds us in our deepest heart longings.  Her words have a way of cutting through the surface layers and touching the true heart without striving or pushing.  Each chapter addresses specific prayer prompts, but then goes further and invites us to participate in active ways that engage minds and bodies along with spiritual growth.

  

  

 

The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

Psalm 121:5-6 NIV 

 

 

 

 

During the chapter titled "Shelter" Bonnie talks about a willow tree that was her comfort as a child:

"During sweltering summers, I'd rest under the willow, when the steel slides were too hot to touch. . . . When it rained lightly in autumn, I'd sit and listen to raindrops pelt against the pavement, staying dry under its canopy. Then, I'd pour out my heart and confide in God. I found shelter under its shade."

I too had a willow tree sheltering place when I was a child, in the backyard of my best friend. We'd spend hours up in that tree, singing songs, planning our futures, sharing our dreams.  . . .  I knew there was a connection from God for me in this particular chapter, especially as I read further and saw that the prayer prompt was to join in for a silent time of resting or contemplative prayer. If you've been following my blog, you may remember my post here, where I heard God's nudges to follow Him into a time of learning to be quiet in His presence.  

Come away with ME

my Lord whispers.

Find a stillness

in MY heart

to satisfy every aching

your own heart

has felt.

Find ME as your shelter

He calls out to my heart.

The swaying brances

of a willow tree

to cover every aching

to stir up every dreaming

to fill up every singing.

And when I came to the end of the chapter, the active challenge was to find a beautiful tree and "Rest under its shade . . . Return to a peaceful place with the One who shelters you."  In these days of walking through a trial that makes no sense to me, there is a shelter being offered from the heart of my Lord.  For every day, and every struggle, He wants to bring a peaceful shelter and a beautiful call to rest with Him.

If your heart has stirred

with a longing to find REST

in the middle of your hard,

join me in listening to the 

only ONE

who truly can bring Soul Rest.

And, I would highly encourage you to visit Bonnie Gray's Website at www.whispersofrest.com where you can find more information about ordering her book for yourself.  Your faith will be built up as you read and participate in ways to find "Whispers of Rest" for yourself.  For ordering info click here.

I am linking this week with:


Bonnie Gray, TheFaithBarista 
LMMLinkup 
Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday 
Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday 

 

 

 

 

 

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 

  

Stillness and the Slow Word

Did you write out Goals for yourself at the start of the New Year? Or did you, like many of us who have a hard time looking ahead at a sea of possibilities, choose a #OneWord for your theme this year? How are you doing with the practice of that word?

It's hard to imagine, but it's already the beginning of the 2nd quarter of this year! Many bloggers are doing a check-in about now, to evaluate their progress in how that One Word has affected their days this year.

 My heart has been resting,

and my mind has stopped

spinning so fast,

as I've begun 

the journey

to center

my 

heart

with Jesus.

If you chose a word for your focus, have you seen that word popping up everywhere?

Or perhaps you are finding many variations on your word that help to expand its meaning?

I began the process of slowing down several years ago. 
But there is a difference between moving slowly,

and being still of heart and soul.  

A slow life can just as easily be a

hard-hearted life

And believe me,
I have had enough of those 
hard-hearted moments
to last a life-time!   


God's Presence

and God's Word

have a way of seeping into the 
crevices and cracks of my heart

when I make the choice
to find stillness
and 
softness of heart. 

 

 

One of the ways that God began to stir my heart to see the difference between "slow" and "still" came as I followed a sweet blogger in her leading of a type of Scripture Reading called Lectio Divina.  I popped in at her Youtube channel several times last year, and always came away so refreshed.  When two other friends, from different sources, also joined in with the Lectio Divina, or "Slow Word-Divine Word" type of study, then I knew God was asking me to pay attention.

Lectio Divina is a type of Scripture listening, often read aloud.  This type of pausing and being quiet with the Scriptures is one more way to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly.


But it was this particular passage, led by Summer Gross, for one of her Lectio Divina, that confirmed the direction in my Stillness Journey early this year:

 "Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
    to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
    If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
    to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
    you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
    At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you."

Psalm 139:7-12 MSG 

As the words of Scripture were read, and listened to, and I waited to hear what God would emphasize to me,

these words jumped out at me:

"you're already there waiting."

He had been waiting and speaking 

these same thoughts to me

for over a year:

"Come inside with me. I'm already here,

I'm not offended by any pain or shame you feel. 

I'm waiting for fellowship with you."

Only in softness can our hearts 

respond

when the invitation of God 

is given. 

Only in stillness can our minds

hear His call

when the Lord of Creation

speaks our name.

I have found a sweet rest in a quiet slow-word

Lectio Divina

type of hearing the Word of God.

During these final days of Lent,

as we wait for those moments

when we will pause and remember

the Cross that Jesus

carried,

are you ready to still

and to hear

HIS WORD

for you?

  

If you have a stirring in your heart to pursue more of this Slow Word movement, you can find a good description of Lectio Divina at the BibleGateway site

here.

And if you would like to hear a beautiful reading by Summer Joy Gross, please allow yourself a few moments to rest with God's Word here:

  

I am linking this week with: 

Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday 

 Suzie Eller, #LiveFreeThursday