Posts

Roots

Image
  How important are roots? When we look at a plant, we don’t always think about their root system, yet it’s there doing a very important job. Roots help to anchor and nourish a plant. If a plant is pulled out of the soil..it will only last for so long until it begins to wither and die. I have been attempting to grow sunflowers. I love them and always wanted to start my own garden. Well, that has proved to be more complicated than I thought. When my husband and I first purchased some seeds, we thought we would just plant them in a part of the garden at the front of the house. We did just that. We waited and waited, but nothing grew. We planted some more seeds and this time we realized why nothing grew. They had become food for the birds! No sooner did we put them in the ground did the birds pull them out; I’m sure much to their delight. Lesson number one: It matters where you’re planted. After careful consideration we bought a large planting pot and decided that this time we wou
Post a Comment
Read more

Towards the Son

Image
I am not going to pretend I’m a gardener here. I love flowers and plants but more times than not I struggle to keep them alive.  I have gotten better through the years, learning little things about my gentle green friends. One thing that I have learned along the way is how much their tiny branches and flowers love the sun. They need the sun. They move towards the sun. I have learned to “rotate” my flowers because many times they stretch so much towards the sun that they become almost unbalanced in their pots! I constantly spin, they constantly turn. It’s incredible really when you think about it. Their ability to know the direction they need to be in for growth, good health and life.  I want to have that kind of continuous persistence in turning towards the SON.  (see what I did there?) I want to have the innate ability to always lean in His direction. I want to stretch with such desire and devotion that the pot of my life almost tips over in the process! My prayer for all of us today
Post a Comment
Read more

Pouring it out

Image
  " If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what he pours through us that really counts." -Oswald Chambers Our success in Gods eyes  is not measured in the way the world measures success. Things Jesus pours through us cannot be measured at all.  Much like the flask that Mary of Bethany broke and poured on Jesus. It was an act in which no one else saw a special occasion.  Some thought it was a horrible waste. (Mark 14:3-4).  Jesus saw it as devotion and love.  Our lives are the flask. Are we  prepared to pour out our flasks for the sake of Jesus? To surrender what the world views as precious oil and come to him empty and ready to be used?  Jesus poured out his life for us.  "That the world through him might be saved."-John 3:17 Let's encourage each other this season of Lent...to pour out our flasks and make room for Jesus to flow through us. To give up more than cupcakes or TV or internet and reach deep inside to surrender the parts of us that we hold
Post a Comment
Read more

Remember the hope

Image
  The other day I was doing my usual dusting and vacuuming. Each time I move items and shift furniture to get under them and around them. As I do, my mind wanders and contemplates a million other things than what I am actually doing. My mind moves through all the plans and decisions and worries that lay heavy on my heart.   I’m on “auto pilot”.   As I was dusting my hutch and moving around my Nativity pieces my mind was a million miles away…. until I looked right below the pieces and saw the word HOPE. Ironically at that moment I had baby Jesus in my hand. Yes, it is March right now…. but I keep a Nativity out all year long. The purpose of that for me is to remember the gift of Christ. To be able to glance at the Nativity throughout the year and be reminded of the prophetic voices, angelic visits, virgin birth, work of the Holy Spirit and the promises of a coming King. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name sh
Post a Comment
Read more

In His Arms

Image
I have had this statue of Jesus since I was a child. It’s moved with me 14 times, traveling through three different states, usually coming to rest either on my nightstand or dresser. Often times it is the first thing I see when I get up and the last thing I look at before I go to bed. The other night as I was getting into bed I glanced at the small statue and remembered the thought I had as a child…. “That is Jesus holding me!” As I pulled the blankets up and started to get comfortable in bed, I realized I didn’t think of the statue in that way anymore. When I looked at it, I saw an image of Jesus holding “a child”. “When did it stop being me?” I thought to myself, as I lie in bed. When did I stop imagining Jesus was holding me in his arms and why? Did I get too grown up or mature or simply just too self-dependent? When did I begin to lack the ability to feel the vulnerable sense that I still needed to be held in the Saviors arms? I pondered this as I closed my eyes, still picturing th
Post a Comment
Read more

Conflict

Image
  Many of us have seen the bracelets or the t-shirts with the letters WWJD. “What would Jesus do?” As Christians we sometimes laugh at those four trendy letters that are meant to remind us to handle life’s obstacles in the way Jesus would. Conflict is definitely an obstacle that most of us simply just try to avoid. Yet, if we’ve lived life long enough, we come to realize that conflict is usually unavoidable. The opportunity for conflict arises in every aspect of our lives; at work, school, in families, with friends and yes, even in our churches. The interesting thing is that as Christians we many times approach conflict as if we have no point of reference or guide. We may ask the question “What would Jesus do?” but are we prepared to live into the answer? When we talk about being Jesus in the world, we sometimes only equate that to helping, healing and caring. We don’t often enough relate Jesus to conflict resolution and so when a conflict arises, we, well…. just try to dodge the
2 comments
Read more

The Missing Piece

Image
My husband and I received a puzzle for Christmas from a friend. We were excited because neither one of us had put a puzzle together since we were kids! We were also looking forward to it because our busy schedules had not given us a great deal of time to do anything “together”. This, we though would be a great time to reconnect. So we cleared some space on the dinning room table sat down together and dumped the puzzle out. 1000 small pieces scattered out before us. We worked together to turn all the pieces upright since upon pouring out of the box not all of the puzzle landed picture up. Once all the pieces were on the correct side we both surveyed the task in front of us. It was interesting how immediately we each put together a plan in our mind of “how” we were going to go about putting this puzzle together. I had decided that I would organize all the pieces according to design. My husband decided he would collect all the pieces with a straight edge in order to put together the “
Post a Comment
Read more