In Psalms and Hymns...

Recently I have been pondering alot the value of love and kindness. 

I have been given some incredible moments of love and kindness 

recently that have warmed my heart to its very depths. 

These acts of kindness have come after much storm and wilderness

 and it's like God just reached His hands down to earth to remind me 

that He is not cold, silent, and impersonal.

Thank you to my friends, 

if you are reading this, for 

words spoken, 

flowers given,

birthday meals made,

song clips sent, 

 pictures sent to me, 

prayers prayed, 

and for laughter too. 

I appreciated it all!

My song to share today:

Show a Little Bit of Love

and Kindness

by the Collingsworth Family 

Go spread the love.

Spread kindness.

There are people everywhere who hurt,

and who struggle, and who need to

feel the love of Jesus.

Sure, it takes getting out of your

comfort zone.

Many times it takes setting aside

your own pain and sorrow

in order to have room in your

heart for others' needs.

Jesus did it all the time.

As His child,

can I do any less,

if I truly say I am His?!

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

I have so many things to share,

 all relating to community. 

I am out if town today,

Without the convenience of

A computer to type with,

So I decided to stick to

One praise for today, but

Expect more thanksgiving posts

Relating to community

And an explanation of the source

Of this subject of community

In the next several Thursday posts,

The Lord willing.

A few days ago, a very sweet friend

Sent me this song:

I Can Trust Jesus

By the Collingsworth Family

(If the link doesn't work, I will fix it

After I am home but you

Can find it on youtube)

I was and am

grateful this sweet friend took time 

Out if her busy life to send me this song.

She had an idea that I might need it,

Because she has been involved enough

In my life to know the storms

I've encountered.

To be loved and blessed by God's people

Is something I am deeply grateful for.

To have others apply Col. 3:16

To our friendship is a truly beautiful thing.

Thanking God today that there

Are still people living His design,

And that I get to appreciate fellowship

Even when miles of land separate us.

Thanking God for the Body of Christ today.

About Gossip...

"The consequences of gossip:

~Gossip separates friends.

~Gossip causes strife.

~Gossip causes discord in the body of Christ....

~Gossip is just as bad as any other sin.

Never should one of God’s 

beautiful, gracious, godly women 

be a part of separating friends, 

causing strife, and causing division in the church."

I saw this on Jim and Elizabeth George's face book status,

and I AMEN this a thousand times over.

It is a cruel, cruel thing to be the target of gossip,

and I humbly admit that God had to cause me to 

experience it's deeply wounding talons

in order to more fully understand

and come to hate gossip.

It is very true that gossip separates very friends.

It is very true that gossip cuts like a knife down

deep in the soul, and gives satan 

opportunity to cause one to stumble,

or to struggle with focusing on herself

or to lose confidence in who God called her

to be because of gossip and slander.

:

Friends, I beg of you,

think carefully before you talk about others.

Don't feel like you have to share everything 

you know about situations to everyone who

will listen. There are few who need to hear

most of what you may want to share about 

others and situations you might be party to.

Someday, those who wrong you may repent

and I plead with you to be careful how

you share now about them because if they

repent, you will have done them a kindness to

have had love cover a multitude of sins.

(not talking about sharing with whom you 

should be sharing here, I acknowledge that

there are things to be shared sometimes in

appropriate ways and places).

Besides the havoc that comes from gossip,
it is an abomination to the Lord.
Check it out in His Word:

Leviticus 19:16
Prov. 11:3
Prov. 18:8
Prov. 20:19
Prov. 26:20, 22
Titus 2:6-8
Col. 4:6
1 John 3:15
(I cannot see how gossip is loving,
so therefore, it fits in the hatred category,
does it not?)

Whoever has ears
 to hear,
let them hear...

I am thankful for
this painful lesson
I have had to learn.

And I pray that God will always
show me how to navigate through
situations that might require my
sharing
about others.

PS

Photo credit for

the above 

picture with the

cookies and milk,

and the yummy 

peppermint 

chocolate crinkle cookies

we enjoyed after the 

photo shoot 

was done,

are blessings

 from the hand

 of my 

youngest daughter,

Miss Brenna.

Wonderful Words of Life...

In Psalms and Hymns...

I Will Arise

Recently this video was posted on Youtube,

and how it warmed my heart.

You see, those students are my friends.

I have been one of their 'mamas' away from home

the past few years at Bible School,

and how it thrills my heart to be

able to hear 'my children' singing

this song. It was my favorite one 

out of all the beautiful songs they

sang in this program this past term.

I am so glad that God had mercy on

my poor, prodigal soul, and called 

me out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

Many times I have been lonely in life.

But  God makes sure that I know

that I am never alone...

From my wonderful family

and friends comes many

reminders of God's love to me.

A lovely surprise in the mail one day from my first mentor...

Homemade lip balm complete with a cute label and all.

How sweet!

A weekend meet up with my big sis to celebrate our birthdays.

Thanks to my lovely little sister,
Kristina, my house has been getting a major overhaul in the organized/ cleaned department. It was very needed! And after a summer of many 'out of control' moments, where an extra hand was needed to fill in for my oldest daughter who is still recovering from Lyme, and to help me, after a bout of sickness had me unable to do all my duties well for a time, and to help my youngest daughter who has borne up like a trooper and pitched in for her sister, too when necessary, I am so very blessed and grateful to have this wonderful gift.

I have known what it is to have to live with sorrows from broken relationships,

and I am so very thankful that there is the family of God

to fill some needs that only they can fill.

One evening recently

my little sister

Marie,

brought me these lovely

flowers.

They came at 

'just the right time',

after a hard day

and during

a hard

time.

I am so thankful.

I am so blessed.

I am grateful.

I am loved

and cared for

and cannot

imagine a life

where I 

did not 

trust the God

who cares for

everything

in my life.

So today

I post this praise 

here in honor

of Him.

He knows every need.

He sees every falling tear.

He knows the questions.

The unknown is 

known to Him.

I will sing of His mercies forever.

With my mouth (pen, computer)

will I make known 

His faithfulness.

Pray First...

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort,

 but God wants it to be our first line of defense. 

We pray when there's nothing else we can do, 

but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.

Most of us would prefer,

 however, to spend our time doing something 

that will get immediate results. 

We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters

 in His good time because His idea of 'good time'

 is seldom in sync with ours.”   

Oswald Chambers

Struggle...

“Sanctification is God's job,

 but obedience

 is ours.

 Sin has a life cycle--

it either grows or withers depending in whether we

 feed or starve it.”  Shane Idleman

"No other decision will impact

 our lives more

 than who, 

or what,

 we choose to follow."

 - Shane Idleman

Recently my husband

 preached a sermon

defining struggle/temptation versus

 full blown sin.

So often, and especially in our youth, we

feel like the struggle between our flesh and the Spirit

is sinful and we live in condemnation,

when if we would only but realize that

temptation/struggle gives us an opportunity

to choose whose side we are going to be on!

After new birth in Christ,

He makes all things new.

This does not mean our sinful flesh

goes away to never bother us

again.

It does, however, mean we 

have power in His name to

live our lives His Way.

Praise the Lord for that!

Success...

I've been so blessed reading the blog posts on I Do Hard Things.

I was going to just put them all here so you can see them, too,

but I realize there are going to be 20(ISH) days (they are probably about finished by now),

 so I decided to just make you aware of them, and maybe if you want to 

keep reading them, you can find all the rest of them there, too.

In relation to the picture I post today, I simply say:

YES! It works...this obeying God in everything.

It not only brings deep peace, in the midst of sorrow,

but it also brings much glory to God, which in turn,

makes my life very purposeful and meaningful.

Let's go out into the darkness and be lights that shine brightly,

brightened by time well spent in company with Jesus Christ

daily...hourly...

Wonderful Words of Life...

Alone With God...

I read this recently and deeply appreciated it. Yes, some of the best times with God come through the times of deepest heart ache and loss.

"Have You Ever Been Alone with God?

When He was alone…the twelve asked Him about the parable. —Mark 4:10

His Solitude

 with Us. 

When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).

As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him."

~Oswald Chambers

A Wound Dresser of Souls...

I've been through times of deep brokenheartedness. And from those experiences, I have learned the meaning of the verse I post here. Jesus said in Isaiah that He came in part to heal the brokenhearted and to bind up their wounds. It is very true that we all have deep hurts sometimes that we have to look at honestly and then deal with a way that allows Jesus to heal them. I tell you truly, Jesus indeed does heal the brokenhearted. He does bind up their wounds.

Sometimes...oftentimes  He uses people to put salve on the wounds and to gently walk through tough times of grief and pain with a wounded person, all the while showing them His love but also His way of hope.

I wonder...do we truly grasp that part of the Matthew 28 admonition to GO includes also sharing Christ in His gentle compassion with others? Can we let Him grow us to the place where we are deeply grateful for grace, that reached down and took us in our sinfulness and honored our request for new beginnings, and apply that same grace to others?

I urge us to get to the place where we allow ourselves to weep over the brokenness that we see all around us...people afflicted by the sin-curse that is inevitable in all of our lives, but binds those with chains who have not yielded their lives to God.

How about the obese lady you see driving a scooter at Wal-Mart. Do you think snide thoughts like "Well! If she would eat right and not be so gluttonous, she would not be so overweight. She should do something about that! She should be walking instead of riding, it would help her weight problems!" Or has Jesus changed you to where you can look with eyes of compassion, and smile a genuine smile, and maybe even help her get a loaf of bread off the shelf too high for her to reach from her position? Can you strike up a conversation with her? You might find out that she has taken medication that helped her gain weight, or that she has been living in fear and depression and that food is her go-to emotion-dulling poison. And then you could follow Christ in helping her to find out more. Or if there is no opportunity to share with her, you could pray, believing that God will honor your  request that someone present the Gospel and Jesus' love to her.

What about the young girl who seems to struggle with so many things that to you seem unnecessary? Do you let Christ's compassion flow through you to feel sympathety towards her while asking the Lord how you can inspire her to love Jesus? Do you allow self-righteous thoughts to grow, "Ugh. If only she would just get over it!" or do you remember struggles you have had, and gratefully praise God for victory in your own life, and the privilege to walk alongside a struggling soul to hopefully spur them on to higher ground?

Or maybe you are the wife of a man who is feeling depressed, and struggles to get involved in family life like he has been called to right now. Could it be that God is calling you to lay aside your own hurt in this to reach out in love and compassion, lifting his spirits in this difficult time of his life? Which way will you take? Will you sympathize with him in the difficulties he faces that satan is using to try to discourage him today, or will you sulk and demand your 'rights' from him? Will you think dark thoughts about his seeming inability to rise above his broken heart at the moment, or will you soothe his spirit with warm smiles, neck rubs, and happy meal times? Will you pray for him, or will you be mad at him for his time of weakness?

Jesus came to heal the broken hearted and to bind up their wounds.

Maybe He would get farther in His work if each of us would heed the call to be a wound dresser of souls...and to be a laborer in the fields white unto harvest.

Couldn't we stop the foolish shopping, 

excessive living and turn our hearts to prayer, 

and our hands and feet to real, true Kingdom work???

I want to.

Will you join me?

Or maybe I'm joining you, since you may already 

be leagues ahead of me on the trail.

Love and blessings,

Marcia



"I would that I could be
a wound-dresser
of souls-
Reaching the aching heart,
The tortured mind,
Calming them as the night
calms the tired bodies
When she drops the mantle of sleep
Over the world.
As each cold, glittering star
So might I stand in mine,
But with the warmth of a smile
On my face,
and in my eyes
an image of the Soul Divine"
~author unknown

A Place of Deep Thriving...

The laborers are few in the fields that are white unto harvest. 

Jesus said it. I sometimes wonder, is that because we are too busy 

staying in the pits of despair and 'what happened to me'

 to actually walk forward by faith in the God who makes all things new?

 Life is too short to not live it wholly and fully in Jesus' name. 

Read where I got my inspiration for this here.

Jesus also said that He came to give us

not only life, but

life more ABUNDANTLY.

I made the choice to 'go for the gold'

years ago. I promised the Lord that

whatever He would ask of me,

wherever He would call me,

I would do.

Has not been an easy place for

my flesh to live,

but it sure has been one of

the best decisions I have

ever made!

GO FOR THE GOLD!

It will be a life well lived,

and only eternity will reveal

just how much an impact

for the kingdom

lives lived abundantly

in His life will

have made.

The Pure Word...

In Psalms and Hymns...

Our God,  He Is Alive

"Commit thy works unto the LORD,

 and thy thoughts shall be established."

Prov. 16:3

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

Random things to be thankful for today:

Life had been full, heavy and hard to deal with,

 increasing as 2014 progressed. 

A few weeks ago, my darling husband scooped his wife up

 and whisked her away for a night and a day of alone time with him.

 It was much needed.

What a blessing. 

We came home refreshed, and reconnected,

ready to face the drama of life.

New Year's Day 2015

was spent as we spend most

New Year's days...

quietly at home,

enjoying the company of our

little family,

appreciating good relationships

and just being together.

I am so thankful

 for my family.

There was a time

 when I

cried out to God

 to let me

repair the broken

 down places

that came to me 

from 

generations

 past...

that we would 

live out family

as He designed it.

He has honored

 my request,

and I am in awe 

of the

peace and blessing

 that comes

when we live

 His way.

Does this mean we never have 

snags in our home?

No, certainly not!

We have many 

places where

the enemy of souls would love

to get relationships wedged apart

and broken

 into pieces.

I am thankful that my family

loves the Lord,

and loves me in the learning

that I walk through daily.

For every family that chooses His Way,

we send a message to a broken, dying world

that God is still in the business of 

transforming lives today,

and that He is powerful enough to 

create beauty where we can only

create ashes.

"Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, 

make known his deeds among the people."

1 Chron. 16:8

Give Attendance to Reading...

Thanks to my little sister Kristina, 

my house is once again getting a deep cleaning, 

with me being determined to downsize again this year. 

We have so much, and things we do not need. 

Why not lighten the load of this old farm house?!

One day recently, the many books we own were pulled off their shelves 

and I took the opportunity to sort through all of them,

 both to downsize the pile (if needed), 

and to decide if anything needed to go 

because it wasn't as edifying as it should be.

and as I sorted, I went on a
trip down memory lane.

When my children were young, 

we made the choice to spend
hard earned money on

worthwhile reading material, 

believing that books can be
a powerful influence in a person's life. 

I bought books that were educational, 

but interesting to read as well, 

and books that encouraged
quality character traits. 

Recently my daughters were
 telling me that they 

realize just how much the books
they  have read have 

taught them things and influenced
them in a good way.

 One of my daughters told me
 that she is just realizing 

how much she has learned from books,
and that as she goes through 

her history in school,
she remembers things she learned 

from the stories she has read over the years.

Books can be influences to help our families

 on to godliness, or they can be influences that help them

 to develop a taste for fluff and a very earthly world view. 

I am becoming aware more and more 

just how important it is to select our reading material wisely.

 It matters.

"Give attendance to reading..."
1 Tim. 4:13

Get Off the Couch...

Today I read the blog post that accompanies the picture above.

I have long held similar thoughts in my own heart.

I had to think of how it was when my children were

learning to walk. We sometimes encouraged them

to try it out by moving away from them so they

would toddle over to wherever it was we had gone.

I think that is what the words of the picture above,

and the article below, are supposed to illustrate.

I post the words here, besides the link to her blog:

"Every road to healing requires sitting on the couch of life and talking about real pain and real hurt. Processing circumstances we’ve walked through is perfectly normal. It is absolutely understandable to have a need to process and assess the wreckage left by pain and hurt. But the problem comes when we don’t get up from the couch. We learn to live there. We get comfortable talking about the wrongs done to us, re-living the details of every negative experience over and over, and nursing our pain. Then, we plan another party…yep…it’s called a PITY PARTY. Yes, the one where you’re the guest of honor. All things must be directed to and about you. Sadly, time flies when we’re sitting on our self-pity couches. We get absorbed. We miss out on so much.

The problem comes when we don’t get up from the couch.

Our thoughts and daydreams find themselves dwelling in the past, re-living each unhappy ending in our head. Sometimes we give ourselves too much permission to sit on the couch of life and throw a pity party. Maybe you find that your deep conversations end up reciting past failures and disappointments?

One of the greatest traps of doing HARD THINGS is the “Why Me?” trap. It’s a place where the enemy wants us to believe that God somehow actually gave us more than we could handle. He wants us to believe that instead of God being a good Father to us, we are left to depend on ourselves. The enemy tries to convince us that God is not a present Papa but rather a forgetful Father. That He is someone who likes to give us more than we can handle, only to watch and judge us for our lack of ability to follow through and do them well. It’s a lie that we can easily buy into! The enemy likes us to stay in our pit. He will try to get us to buy into any lie he can in order to keep us bound, never victorious, and always feeling defeated. The enemy knows that if he can get us to take these HARD THINGS as a personal assault from God, we will no longer believe that He is a good God but a lying and deceitful God, who likes to punish His people. If we believe this lie, we will stay in the pit and our inner lives become dark and cold without hope. We have to identify the “why me?” lie and understand it is a trap that will try to keep us bound. Once we recognize it as a trap, it empowers us to no longer nurture our fallen souls with “why me?” but empower our spirits with “why not” and to climb out of the pit and move forward.

Part of the seduction of “why me?” is that we expect a reward for our suffering. It’s like we expect our families and friends to turn around and feel sorry for us and somehow ease the pain and make it all better. We expect people and God to rescue us from our pain and helplessness. But God is not trying to spoil you, He’s trying to raise you. He’s looking at you face to face, saying, “Come on! You can do this! You’re the only one that can climb out of this pit. If I come and rescue you from where you are, you’ll stay there!” In fact, it’s His kindness that is trying to coach you out of your pit. If you feel like He is not near you, I would suggest it’s because He wants you to come after Him and the only way to get you out of the pit is to remove His tangible presence to cause you to run after Him and climb out of the pit."

There is much work to be done. May we all rise up and grow up in Him, so that we can bring Him much glory, and so we can go out as laborers in the fields that are white unto harvest.

In Psalms and Hymns...

I Remember Calvary

Remember Calvary every day

is one sure way to be in 

fellowship with the One

who died on Calvary...

and to keep us in a constant

state of thankfulness for

LIFE.

Trust His Heart...

Words that inspired me at the end of 2013. 

Little did I know, as I journaled them, 

how real they would become to me in 2014.

“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.

You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.

We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you."

Psalm 39.4-7

Trust His Heart

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

It's about time I resurrect this Thursday thing I've had going on my blog! After months of busyness, and dealing with life in a raw and real way, I have come here to dust off the covers of "Thanksgiving on Thursday" to keep us thinking about gratitude.

As I look back on 2014, several threads run bright throughout the year. One of them is gratitude, spreading it's sunshiney yellow hue through the thread of red that reminds me of the amazing gift of abundant life in Christ that I have been given, paid for by Jesus' blood.

It's been about two years since I have been delving more into purposeful gratitude. More than just acknowledging God at meal times, or when we narrowly escape an accident on the road, or when a dispute is settled easily. Since I've begun climbing to new heights in gratitude, I have noticed how many times in Scripture we are told to pray WITH THANKSGIVING, or to not forget to give thanks, etc. Paul's especially seems to have written it often in his letters to the believers.

I have this journal that I've been keeping lately especially for recording gratefulness. Of course I don't record it all, but I do try to purposefully place entries in it a few times a week...

My encouragement, as we begin a new year: be grateful. I have found it curbs the selfish thinking that leaves one feeling she is owed something by others or even God. Thankfulness is certainly an aid in thinking well of others and in being able to be more Christlike in serving others.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 

and into his courts with praise:

 be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalm 100:4

Involve the family in gratitude to each other.

My sister gave me the idea to hang a paper on the fridge

with several columns:

I (enter your name)

am grateful to (write family member's name)

for (write what you're grateful for)

Recently on Facebook, I found a wonderful idea

to involve my whole family in gratitude:

Go forth and be thankful.

He is worthy.

Life is tough.

Hard things happen.

Sad, sad things happen.

But gratitude tells God

that we believe He is still good,

and are willing to

 recognize  His goodness

in the midst of brokenness

and the ripples of the sin-curse

that touch our lives in very real 

and painful ways.

Happy 2015, friends.

May we make Jesus our everything

as long as He gives us breath.

If I Can Love