Wonderful Words of Life...

In Psalms and Hymns...

Does Jesus Care?

After walking through an experience today

that brought painful memories to mind

of an experience whose long tentacles

seem to reach us at unexpected times,

and it seems we will never be free of

this unhappy situation,

I thought of this song.

What a blessing to have

the care of Jesus.

I hope this song blesses you, too.

Let Me Go Home Before Dark...

I found this poem in a 2012 journal of mine that I am skimming through this week. It speaks well my own heart sighing these days as I ponder mid life and how I will spend the remainder of my years:

Let Me Go Home Before Dark

It's sundown, Lord.

The shadows of my life stretch back

into the dimness of the years long spent.

I fear not death, for that grim foe betrays

himself at last, thrusting me forever into life:

Life with you, unsoiled and free.

But I do fear.

I fear the Dark Specter may come too soon~

or do I mean too late?

That I should end before I finish...

or finish~but not well.

That I should stain Your honor,

shame Your name, grieve Your loving heart.

Few, they tell me, finish well...

Lord, let me get Home before dark.

The darkness of a spirit 

grown mean and small,

fruit shriveled on the vine,

bitter to the taste of my companions,

burden to be borne by those brave few

who love me still.

No, Lord, let the fruit grow lush and sweet,

A joy to all who taste;

Spirit~sign of God at work,

stronger, fuller, brighter at the end.

Lord, let me get Home before dark.

The darkness of tattered gifts,

rust~locked, half~spent or ill~spent;

A life that once was used of God, now set aside.

Grief for glories gone or 

fretting for a task God never gave.

Mourning in the hollow chambers of memory,

Gazing on the faded banners of victories gone.

Cannot I run well until the end?

Lord, let me get Home before dark.

The outer me decays~

I do not fret or ask reprieve.

The ebbing strength but weans me from

Mere earth and grows me up for heaven.

I do not cling to shadow cast by immortality.

I do not patch the scaffold lent to build

the real, eternal me.

I do not clutch about me my cocoon,

vainly struggling to hold hostage

a free spirit pressing to be born.

But will I reach the gate

in lingering pain, body distorted, grotesque?

Or will it be a mind

wandering untethered among light fantasies

or grim terrors?

Of your grace, Lord, I humbly ask...

Let me get Home before dark...

~Robertson McQuilkan

Wonderful Words of Life...

And the Winners Are...

not professionally done, but they were so delicious!

Remember the giveaway deadline was yesterday? 

And so, here I announce that the winners are:

Rachel Whitaker

Jenna Woodburn

Deanna Swanson

Ashley Brown

Alice Martin

Thank you to  EVERYONE who participated.

 I loved hearing from you and honestly wish 

I could just give a book to everyone who participated!

I need addresses for Rachel and Ashley. 

Could you email them to me at courage225@juno.com 

please?

Love and blessings,

Marcia

If God Brings You to It...

I first saw these words on a wall hanging the first time I 

visited in a new friend's home in 2012.

They have stuck with me ever since,

probably because this woman was and continues to be

a real testimony to me of God's grace to make one

whole, even though huge disappointments and wrongs

have been done against her. 

I have been blessed over and over again

in my own life as I've walked through valleys

and climbed mountains to experience

that as His child, I am not for one second

left alone. I am always under His watchful eye.

Nothing escapes His knowledge.

Even on those days when I wonder

how much more I could take, 

and I feel all alone,

GOD IS STILL THERE.

There is no sorrow on earth

that He cannot heal.

There is no disappointment

that He cannot make 

something better out of.

There is no wrong done against you

that He has not experienced Himself.

What a privilge we have to KNOW HIM

and to give Him our whole trust.

He is worthy.

Of Helping Others...

This inspired me recently from the wall in the kitchen of my husband's aunt's home.

One thing I've learned, in my journey through discipling my children and others, is that I cannot change their hearts where they are off and need God. I only can lead them to the Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Healer of healers, the Good Shepherd of the sheep, the Answer to all of life's problems. 

I can show them love, grace, and tell them whatever the Holy Spirit calls me to share, but I cannot change them. This brings peace to my heart because then I don't need to feel like I have to control the situation(s), and I can simply release the person to God and do the work He calls me to do.

Sometimes people want to make us God to them. We need to be very careful of this. I try very hard to not let myself get into that position but to disentangle their grip before it gets too tight. I try to point them to Jesus, and let them know that they need HIM.

Inspiration for this came from the following:

"We can’t solve problems for others. We CAN introduce them to the Lord."

-Corrie Ten Boom

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

-Isaiah 52:7

...

"And He saith unto them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"

-Matthew 4:19

Let's go forth and show Jesus to those He brings into our lives!

Wonderful Words of Life...

In Psalms and Hymns...

Jesus Will Still Be There

This song is very timely for me,

at the end of two weeks of rough going,

spiritual warfare in huge amounts.

Thank GOD for JESUS,

the one Constant we have

in the midst of stupidity and chaos,

the Solid Rock that we can stand on

when all other ground is sinking sand.

I am so very thankful to know

we are in Good Hands.

Maybe you are going through some rough waters, too.

Maybe this song will minister to your heart as well.

"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

(the words of Jesus in Mt. 28)

He keeps His promises.

Of Lemon Meringue Pie and Life...

Recently we were 

at a wedding where the 

kindly, grandfatherly minister shared a story from 

his many years of marriage. 

His wife tried hard to make  

his favorite dessert,

 lemon meringue pie, 

but alas, each time,

 she would ask him, 

"Is it like your mother's?" 

 he would have to say 

that it wasn't quite like 

his mama's pie.

 So she would try again.

Finally, one day, she asked her mother-in-law 

what she was doing wrong,

 and heard the reply, 

"You have to use the recipe on the back of the cornstarch box." 

And bliss was found in her lemon meringue pie making department.

And although he was making another point with this story in his sermon,
I thought of this:

I won't get it right in life I don't follow the One who is the Way. 

I won't know the Way if I don't seek Him with my whole heart.

 I need to get my directions from the right place. 

If I expect to get where I want to go, and enjoy the peace that only Jesus can give, 

I need to be living the life He came to give me.

Sometimes, I will also have to ask God's people 

for counsel in how to live life ,

because He designed me to need others.

I am unbalanced on my own,

and can learn much from those

who are walking the Way

and producing the sweet fruit

of the Spirit in their lives.

Do you want the 'lemon meringue pie' of life?

 Get your recipe off the back of the 'cornstarch box'!

And ask seasoned 'mothers in law' for advice!

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

I'm thinking today about James 3:17, and how that only

 can happen when we are humble. It is much easier to get along 

with people if we do not have a proud spirit,

 but are approachable and easy to be intreated.

"But the wisdom that is from above

is first pure, then peaceable,

gentle and easy to be intreated,

full of mercy and good fruits,

without partiality and without hypocrisy."

Seems to me that when our minds are being renewed daily,

and our hearts are being changed by the One who

died to save us from our sins,

then this is the kind of fruit that will come

pouring out of our lives.

I am definitely a work in progress,

and I don't want to stall or stop

in my journey with Him...

being changed from glory to glory.

I am thankful today to the many who,

at various times, have spoken into my life.

I have had steady and faithful mentors,

parents, a husband and Christian friends

whom God has used to speak into my life

those things I needed to hear.

I am grateful. 

Even tho I regret not always being humble

and easy to be intreated.

Thank God for mercy

and for working His work of grace

even til this day!

The Opposite of Gossip...

Yes, I know I just wrote about gossip last week. But I want to share with you the opposite of gossip.

What would happen, my friends, if we blessed someone for the good they do instead of standing around speculating and gossiping about the wrongs they have done/are doing/refuse to acknowledge?

What would happen to us, 

do you think?

What happens, is that kind of action allows the Holy Spirit to put compassion in our hearts for someone who may be 'way out of line. It gives us opportunity to walk in grace with those who are blind to the needs they  have in their life, or are too scared to let anyone in to help them to deal with their needs properly.

Will you pray?

Will you let God write compassion on your heart for those in your world who are annoying, or who have wronged you, or have wronged others? Will you be one who lives an extraordinary life by choosing Jesus' way instead of the way of the flesh?

I am still growing in this, 

but I can personally vouch for the

things I wrote above.

He DOES write compassion on our hearts

when we choose to pray 

instead of gossiping or trying
 to figure out

how to make someone change

for the better.

Sure, we may need to talk with 

someone else involved from time to time,

but I wonder what would happen

if the church/believers

prayed more

and gossiped/speculated less.

I wonder what miracles we would see,

what opportunities we would have

to entreat with kindness those who

are wrong/need help...

God bless you today.

Love and blessings,

Marcia

Wonderful Words of Life...

Always Abounding in Joy...

Truly, in sorrow there is still joy when one knows JESUS. I have walked that journey through life, with God teaching me how to be joyful in the presence of sorrow. The flesh recoils from putting on a smile when the heart is crying, and it is no lie to smile like that when your heart is sobbing, if you are smiling the smile of Jesus for another who is hurting and needy. Because there is a Savior, a Redeemer whose life is greater than my own sinful self. He calls me to come higher and work His work, and miraculously, in the process of obedience, comes all the help for meeting my needs in ways I never could imagine!

on a hike in Texas...

A few months ago, I was privileged to visit with a friend after church. Her life was spiraling 'out of control' and had her 'panting for rest'. I listened and as I heard her heart, there came into my own heart a deep conviction that I should pray with her (God has been teaching me alot about prayer the past few months). I asked her if she would like to pray together, and she immediately agreed. So we went to a quiet spot in our old church building, and knelt upon the well-worn hardwood floor that has been walked upon by hundreds of feet over the years. What happened next is something I will carry in my heart the rest of my life...two sisters from very different backgrounds (one Pentecostal Ukranian and one conservative Mennonite) praying in unison...one in Ukranian and one in English, laying our burdens at His feet. What a blessed experience, made even more blessed because you see, that very morning I was very weighed down myself with some cares that were extra perplexing, unmet hopes, unreached dreams, and God met the need of my own heart through ministering to another. She had no idea the turmoil that was going on in my own  heart, but God knew, and He found a way to call me to minister and be ministered to at the same time! What a mighty God we serve!

I am always inspired by the accounts of others lives, both past and present. Have any of you ever read  the book, "A Song for Your Honor"? A powerful story of loss and God's provision in the midst of some very trying, seemingly arbitrary circumstances. The link in this paragraph is a blog post written about the mother in the book, by her daughter. It inspired me to go forth and live life joyfully in spite of sorrow
. Perhaps it will inspire you, too.

Let's go forth and rejoice in the hope of eternal life. One day, we will leave this old sin-cursed earth behind for a land of fadeless day, where no more sorrow can dismay. Jesus will be there and we will worship at His feet forever.

Seven Things to do Always...

The other day as I was sewing, 

I listened to this sermon.

Amazing thoughts.

Powerfully convicting.

I was encouraged 

and challenged.

Perhaps you will have 

some time to listen to it, too?