There Never Was Time...

Written by an anonymous author from their perspective on American life, particularly in the plain communities they have known...

There never was time...

To marvel at the thousands of sunsets that tinted the western sky with rosy hues.

To wonder at the sky blue robin's eggs that the boys found in the cedar trees by the house.

To walk to the woods and sit by the pond, observing the wildlife and hearing the boy's hopes and dreams.

To pause from the mountains of work created by a lifestyle of materialism and opulence to smile into a child's eyes, or simply rock a baby for no reason at all.

To sit with the family in the grass at dusk and watch the stars come out in the night skies.

To take the country walks they often talked of doing together.

To sit around the Word of God and marvel at its teachings.


There never was time...

To pause and slow down, sitting together with the family to pray over a sick child, or to bring a broken heart to God. It was always more important to get the work done and to push the hurting one aside.

To pray each night, hearing the hearts of the family and taking them to the only One who can hear our deepest needs.

There never was time...

To sit in the middle of the day sometimes and just play games with the children, or eat watermelon at the picnic table on a hazy summer afternoon with the family.

To grow their own food and share the bounty with the neighbors. Always they were in a rush and their attempts at growing a garden ended in disaster some years because their lives were full of trying to make lots of money to pay for all their expensive vehicles and the opulent lifestyle they chose to live.

To sit at the river's edge and watch the current move idly by...pondering life and love and all sorts of meaningful things.

To read a book by a quiet stream

To go on a walk with a hurting soul, letting them share their heart and pointing them to Jesus

To make the Lord the true King of their lives. Always there was a rush to get out the door in the mornings to work to pay the bills (a good third of them which were not needs but wants), or to rush off to revival meetings at church (because after all, the bishop will question you if you are not there). And then it was night and they were tired, and their physical bodies needed rest, but they didn't get to bed as early as they should have because their work kept them up late at night.


There never was time....



And how sad it was that in their old age, they had time to sit in their rockers, diseased from the rushed lifestyle and the rich food they ate in their opulence, while their children rushed about on the rat race their parents taught them to live. They had plenty of time then to think about what life would have been like if only they had taken the time God gave them and used it more wisely than wasting it in riotous living and gathering up treasures on earth and living in the here and now in the pursuit of happiness.

They now had time to wish their children and grandchildren had time to come see them, but they were too busy making a living to keep up with an even more opulent lifestyle than they themselves had lived. They had time now to hear their grandchildren complaining and demanding that their parents provide better things for them than the already expensive things they have been given.

They had time to wish that people had been more important to them than things.

They now had time to weep deeply at the life they could have lived, had they only chosen to take the time...

Make it Count...

So many thots swirl thru my head as I read, ponder, observe, experience, and do each day. So, in the 'spaghetti-brained' fashion that is so often a description of a woman's mind, I take the plunge this morning and 'pen' a few lines.

Life is a gift. You may feel depressed, or be stumbling in grief, or pine for what isn't that God created to be but someone is unfaithfully neglecting their post, or you may be passive and complacent without vision or goal... Wake up, my friends. You are here on this earth for a specific reason. You are in this generation because God needs you to love Him and others, drawing to Himself all who will come to Him (and using the redeemed to be His witnesses and drawing power, many times). This life that is a gift is not to be squandered away in pornography, or petty focus, or in hobbies that require time that you could be giving to love and bless others (I'm not talking about the 'down time' that we need sometimes in the 'desert' to rest, but in your resting, be productive. Feed your soul, become refreshed by refreshing others even in little ways, and always be in tune with the Holy Spirit's direction in your day). Don't waste the day being sad and pining for what you wish was. Get out there, embrace the day! Feed your body wholesome fuel so that it can be healthy and well to do the work God is calling you to do. Go on country walks and admire the beauty of wildflowers, using some of that time to pray the Creator of the wildflowers about whatever He puts on your heart to speak to Him about. Take some of that time to be quiet and listen to the thots He downloads into your heart. Take the time to admire the sunsets He paints (how many thousands do we miss?!) Plunge yourself into the Word of God and in whatever fellowship of the saints that God gives you (Be careful! Fellowship is an idol to many where God intends it to be a gift to spur us on to doing His work. Receive it however He gives it and do not insist that it is given in the way you feel it should be. God always provides. YES, I'm being vulnerable here and sharing what I've learned from personal experience...) Take the time to enjoy your people, whoever they may be (do you know them? What they appreciate...what makes them smile...etc or are you too busy scrolling Facebook posts and playing on your phone to notice? Yes, this is preaching to me, too!)

Stoop. Bend to tend that broken person that God brings to you today. Kneel to hear a child speak. Be aware of your surroundings, and of how the Spirit is moving you to meet whatever needs He puts in your path. How many days do we sail thru, 'mindlessly' (there is no such thing, according to Scripture!) missing so many opportunities to make a difference in someone's life because we are busy doing our own thing, feeding our own pleasures, and even walking in sinful behavior that no one else but God can see?

Only one life we have. Then it's all over and we will spend an eternity answering for how we lived God's commission on earth.

There are many young people needing discipling. There are parents whose weary hands we can lift up. There are grandparents who could use our physical help and our time to listen to them teaching and reminiscing on their life. No matter what age a person is, if God brings them into your life, seek His heart on how to relate to them and how to encourage them. Make your moves count. Make your
life count!

Are you sad because your family is broken? Are you sad because you never were (and still aren't) close to your parents? Does the pull of addiction lap at your feet daily? (You can fill in the blank but I name some addictions here that are more common among those who name Jesus' name than you would think: pornography and overeating/eating junk food. Both give that dopamine push in the brain that drugs do, which satan uses to pull us over to his side during times of sorrow or weakness. Be aware of it and plan your strategy before tragedy/trauma/sorrow hits!) Do you spend your days pining for different circumstances? I am well aware of these things, both in myself or in the people I have mentored/encountered in life. Please know that there is hope and joy and LIFE abundant in the name of Jesus. Whoever will call on the name of Jesus WILL be saved. Call on His name and walk in His presence. In His presence is FULLNESS of joy. It's true. I can say it's true, both because God says it in His word and because I experience it. The freedom in surrender is beyond words. Try it. You will know it too.

Life is short. Eternity is long. What are we going to do with those 86, 400 seconds in each day that God gives us? Will we spend the seconds living for Him, or will we spend them for ourselves? The difference shows ups fairly quickly in the fruit that grows from our choices. I know Who I want to use the seconds for. What about you?


Because of Jesus, for Jesus, by the power of Jesus...for His glory always.

~Marcia

PS
If you feel alone without anyone to pray with you or for you, or if you wish for counsel/discipling, please feel free to drop a comment here. It does not get publicly seen unless I choose to publish it. I will never publish private information but dropping a comment here is one way that I can be contacted. I have a little group of friends who are willing to pray with people, disciple people, and pray for people with heart needs. We extend our love and blessing to you today.

Learning to Labor and to Wait...

What's on my heart these days?

ALOT.

I've been pondering some things deeply,

especially grieved with the

way many of God's people

walk through life controlling others

out of their fear of  the unknown 

or because they don't know how to

accept "differences in administration."

My thots may seem random but trust me,

in true 'spaghetti brain' fashion, they do connect.

I read about not just pretending to love others...

so I think...

I choose by God's grace to love those who are

disrespecting me and my family.

Choosing is not pretending.

It's not putting on a front. 

It's reaching out to receive the life of Christ

and laying down my own fleshly life

that would react out of hurt and anger.

So I can be genuinely loving 

when I CHOOSE Christ.

I read in 1 Peter 3:8-18:

"You should be like one, big, happy family,

full of sympathy toward each other,

loving one another with tender hearts

and humble minds.

Don't repay evil for evil.

Don't snap back at those who say 

unkind things about you.

Instead, pray for God's help for them,

for we are to be kind to others,

and God will bless us for it.

If you want a happy, good life,

keep control of your tongue,

and guard your lips from telling lies.

Turn away from evil and do good.

Try to live in peace even if you

must run after it to catch and hold it!

For the Lord is watching his children,

listening to their prayers;

but the Lord's face is hard 

against those who do evil.

Usually no one will hurt you for wanting

to do good.

But even if they should, you are envied

for God will reward you for it.

Quietly trust yourself to Christ

your Lord

and if anybody asks why you believe

as you do,

be ready to tell him, and do it in a 

gentle and respectful way.

Do what is right; 

then if men speak against you,

calling you evil names,

they will become ashamed of themselves

for falsely accusing you

when you have only done what is good.

Remember,

if God wants you to suffer, it is better

to suffer for doing good than for

doing wrong.

Christ also suffered..."

And my heart is at peace.

I do not even try to understand

the things that happen on this earth.

I have seen and experienced

shocking things in the Christian world

and wonder...

but I am at peace and I embrace

the life He gives me.

I acknowledge that He is good

and that nothing is allowed into my life

without purpose.

I am glad that I serve a God who

knows all things as they truly are.

I am glad that I do not need to figure things out

but that I just need to 'be' in Christ...

no pretending,

no fighting others needed,

no lifting myself up to be known

of others,

no understanding needed

before I obey the simple words

of the Holy Book.

My God supplies all my needs.

I don't need to wend my way through 

life reacting loudly and trying to

demand my rights.

I want to be like Jesus.

I have work to do.

There is not time to waste

freaking out that others

are out of their place

and doing things that are not

in God's plan in the simplicity

that is in Christ...

I have things to be up and doing

'with a heart for any fate'

every single day that He gives me breath.

Life is too precious to waste

on nursing hurts, holding grudges and

feeling sorry for myself that 

my weaker brother/sister cannot

let me live in peace without

being used of the devil to

ruffle my feathers sometimes.

I am 'learning to labor and to wait'

and the key, I'm finding, is to

be in CHRIST alone...

finding hope in Him and not

trying to make people

be who only He can be.

That frees me up to serve and to love,

to have humility and compassion,

and to not get all riled up when

things happen that are

shocking and like cold water

dumped on my  head,

taking my breath away for a second.

May the Lord Jesus be our everything

all the days of our lives.

Those days are a gift from Him.

They are given to us for a purpose:

to know Him and to make Him known.

I do not want to miss that purpose

because I'm distracted by

the nonsense of others.

When someone takes my 'rights' away,

I want to simply go dig another well.

I will speak for the defenseless,

and I will stand in the gap for the oppressed,

but I will quietly go dig another well

like Isaac did and not fight back

when my well is taken.

That's my ramble this morning

after weeks of thinking and praying

and pondering life and it's 

many twists and turns.

These thoughts are born from 

experiences I've walked thru in life

and from listening to others of

God's people sharing the shocking 

things that happen at times

in the circles of people

who claim Christianity.

I know that He has many things to teach me.

These are some of what I've been learning.

Love and blessings,

Marcia

Be Kind...

I was reading a blog post yesterday, written by a woman whose son has Aspberger's Syndrome, a form of autism where the child more than likely appears normal to most people but in layman's terms can come across as a 'spoiled child without discipline' because of neurological malfunction. I heard this woman's heartcry in her writing, that people often blamed them, the parents for not doing their job well enough and for dropping the ball in parenting. 

And my thoughts roll onward...

Friends, where is grace?
Where is love?
Where is the patience and acceptance of people
 as they are while inspiring them to move on in their lives with God?

I have had many lessons in this,
on either end of the spectrum.
I have misunderstood/lacked patience,
and I have been misunderstood and not
been given grace and love where it should have been.

My encouragement today to us all:

I have thought about this subject at length over the years.

Jesus was always kind.

Oh yes, sometimes he said hard things to religious people,

but He was never rude, always kind, always gracious.

I am not always that way and I want to be more like Jesus.

And I want to follow 1 Cor 13, where it says that

love (that is of God) is never rude...

it is patient,

it is kind,

it is long suffering.

You may not know why that teenager doesn't talk much

in prayer group at Bible school.

Don't assume it's because she is rebellious or

too proud to speak.

It may be that she would rather give place to

those who seem to be more needy and lonely

and she is being kind to them.

You may not know why a woman isn't participating

much today in the conversation after church.

Don't assume it's because she is being snobby.

Maybe she is disturbed about something,

and is feeling pressed in her spirit while

she waits on the Lord to show her how to walk

in whatever the situation is that is disturbing her.

Don't act out of the hurt that may come if 

your husband doesn't respond to you today 

in the way you feel you need it.

Perhaps the weight of his responsibilities is

pressing hard on his shoulders...

shoulders you could massage as you kiss his

whiskered face and whisper and "I  love you"

into his ear...

if only you will lay down  your selfish

desires enough to get to that place!

That child that is rude and obnoxious at church...

don't assume that it's from poor teaching or

because they are really wanting to be extremely selfish.

Perhaps you don't know the situation but can you 

feel compassion for that needy one,

realizing that obviously there is something amiss

that you don't know?

(I happen to know many situations like this

and it is often because the child is bothered

about something and cannot figure out how to

deal with it, and in their immaturity,

they act out of it in ways that are sinful.

Incidentally, there are adults like this too

who have never learned how to deal with the

problems that they have encountered.

They need our kindness too.)

That family who is like a thorn in your side...

who doesn't make the life choices you think they should

(and quite likely they should!)...

It's easy to excuse ourselves and say we do not want to

condone their lifestyle by our help,

and perhaps some of that is righteous,

but consider Jesus...

he fed people who should have thought to bring food

with them into the hills when they followed Him;

he healed the sick, even though their lifestyle might

have caused the disease/sickness in the first place;

He took the time to talk to a fearful Pharisee at night,

never once scolding him for not being brave enough to

come in the daytime.
No where do we see Jesus
berating people or
turning away from them
in their neediness.

Be kind.

Everyone needs our love and compassion.

And many times, there are details

and circumstances surrounding people's lives

that if we fully knew,

we would be ashamed of ourselves

for not being as kind and compassionate

as we could have and should have been.

We are all journeying through life,

and all have struggles and heartaches that

we need to deal with.

Many times, it leaves us unable to fully engage with people

in the way they might feel we should or that they want us to.

If we feel this way (unable to fulfill people's expectations of us),

then by all means, would that not 'automatically' make us

kind and loving to those who are not meeting

what expectations we might have of them?
Unfortunately, we deal with sinful natures,
and it is not an automatic thing,
but with JESUS' life lived in us
and our sinful one aside
it is possible to habitually be
compassionate and full of grace
toward others,
especially those who seem
extra needy.

I'm 'preaching] to me here.

I need this just as much as the next person.

Let's be kind.

Just like Jesus was.

HE was a great example to us all.

By His power, we can overcome our 

stupidity and selfishness,

and let Him supernaturally work 

His life in and thru us.

God bless you, friends.

On Being a Missionary...part 1

Steve Saint posted this recently on Facebook, bringing my thoughts on this to a blog post:

I sometimes cringe when I hear us saying,

"She/he is leaving for THE mission field,"

or when we ask youth what their aspirations are,

they sometimes tell us that they want to 

be a missionary in some foreign country.

Now, please don't misunderstand me.

I think it's wonderful that I have

brothers and sisters in Christ

serving the Lord in China,

and in Haiti, 

and in in Guatemala,

and in Thailand,

and I am so very blessed to know

that they carry the love of Jesus

with them in those places of the earth.

But what about those of us who live 

in America?

What about us?

Do we not know that wherever we are

is THE mission field?

Do we not know that even now

on American soil

there are sinners dying without knowing

Jesus Christ?!

 Do we not know that we have been

created to know Him personally

and making Him known to others,

and that this happens wherever He has us?

Why is it that we seem to think that

America is less in need than other

countries?

Or that if you don't go to another country,

then somehow you missed your calling in life?

Jesus said that that fields are white unto harvest,

but the laborers are few.

Let me tell you, friends, that as a discipler of

converts in America, I KNOW this with a

deep sense of disappointment and my heart

breaks at all the masses to be reached who seem

to be passed by as the church sleeps.

Jesus also said,

"Pray to the Lord of the harvest,

that He will send forth reapers."

So...could it be that we do not pray this because

we have no vision for 'mission' 

(making Him known),

or that we are afraid He will send us?

Whether you live in America or Haiti,

Ghana or Tanzania, 

please hear this:

If God calls you to Tanzania to cuddle little babies and to tend the broken bodies

while showing them Jesus who is the Answer to their heart's needs,

then GOD BLESS YOU! Do it with all of your heart.

If God calls you to China to tend the orphans and to teach in their schools,

then do that with your whole heart!

But if God has called you to America,

to preach the Gospel,

to birth and raise children for Him,

to disciple the converts,

to comfort the sick,

to visit the widows,

and the fatherless,

to adopt the orphan,

to help the homeless,

to send your youth to pick up

surplus apples and help

your fellow churches to

dry them for Haitian missions,

to help the elderly neighbor lady

clear her house roof of snow

when it worries her in winter,

to make meals for that busy mom 

in your church,
to care for the elderly,

to have your church families

over to your house for encouraging them

(and in turn yourself!),

to raise extra rows of veggies in your garden

to donate to the food pantries,

to show younger siblings what it looks like

to have Jesus govern your heart,

to help your parents (after they have spent

years raising you and you are now a youth)

to minister in your community in the

part/work of the Vineyard where God
has called your family...

then please know that this is just as important

as being in a country other than America,
and jump in there and do it with
ALL your heart.

There are great needs here.

There are great needs everywhere.

May the Lord depend on you?

Care.

Love.

Pray.

Do.

Be.

Jesus came to preach good tidings.

The good news?

You don't have to live in your

crummy, sinful, selfishness

a day longer than today.

He died to set you free

and He rose to cancel the power

of satan's hold on us on earth.

Do we KNOW this in our own lives?

If we do truly know

my guess is that we already are

making Him known.

Stay tuned for part 2 of

"on being a missionary..."

In This World...

This post as been rolling around in my head

for days,

and in my experience

for a lifetime!

I know I said I would be

away for awhile,

but I just couldn't stay

away! :-)

I think it has finally

sunk into my heart

that this world

is not going to 

be full of 

long stretches of

laughter and 

mirth

because

it is filled with

fallen humanity,

causing all our joy

to be touched with

pain.

I have been learning

what it means

to be broken with

what breaks God's heart,

and yet not become

bitter and hard

about the

brokenness,

but to let Him

fill me with 

compassion and grace,

and a willingness to be a vessel of use

for whatever purpose He plans.

Expect trouble.

If you are a child of God,

there is not a place of

true earthly rest for you here.

YES, in HIM our hearts 

can be solid and peaceful,

but the winds will beat 'round

our ship often on the sea of life,

the hail will batter our gardens

that are growing beautifully,

death comes 'too early',

brokenness touches our families

when we thought that it was

always 'out there' somewhere

where we are not.

a field of sunflowers close to my house

Jesus has told us to take heart, tho,

because He has overcome the world.

We can lay our bleeding hearts at

the foot of the Cross,

hold onto the nail-scarred Hand

He offers daily,

trust our lives into His capable leading,

and live with abandon...

serving faithfully in the

post He calls us to.

black eyed susans blooming along the way,
a gorgeous view from my front porch

We weep.

We sigh.
We want to be Home.

We grow weary.

We find  no place to

truly fit in

because we are 

strangers here.

Guess what,

we are EXACTLY where

He wants us then,

if that is our story.

Take heart...

somehow I can hear

Jesus

speaking those words

and comforting his

disciples with them.

a sunflower that volunteered to bloom her heart out
by my birdfeeder, giving me much cheer every day

I am comforted.

I am willing.

I am His,

and He is mine.

Here's hoping you all are having a beautiful summer.

Mine has been filled with broken things,

but in the midst of it all,

there have been reminders of His grace

and His beauty surrounds me,

teaching me lessons.

Little Swan Echinacea doing what He created it to do:

bring glory to Him thru beauty along the way...

I really wish I could share this beauty with you...
phlox in the evening sunshine, it's perfume
pervading the cool New York air!

Did You Know?

Did You Know...

...that the answer to life's struggle is not in 'knowing myself', but in knowing the One who died to bring us total freedom to live life the way we were created to live it?

...that we cannot possibly forgive ourselves, but we can accept by faith the forgiveness we need from the One against whom have sinned?

...that when we are strong, He is weak in us? It is commonly said that struggle makes you stronger, but really, when we are weak, then He is strong in us!

If you have been listening to the commonly used phrases even among us Christians, you may understand what I'm getting at in the statements up there. But for clarification, I'll list the phrases that have a slant of truth to them but are not entirely Scriptural:

"You have to know yourself before you can (love, help others, be strong, have wisdom, etc)."

"You have to forgive yourself as well as others who have wronged you."

"Struggle makes you stronger." or "Trials make you stronger." or "Hard things make you stronger."

Did you know:

that all of these phrases have roots in Buddhism, Hinduism, and New Age teachings?

As for me, I will serve the Lord.

We shrug and say, oh well, truth is truth. Well...not really. Listen to the words spoken around you, and listen to yourself. Is what you are hearing or saying lining up with what GOD says?

A few years ago, my husband and I went through an experience that sobered us and shocked us. To hear teachings coming into the church that were laced with modern psychology and drew attention to humanism and not to God took our breath away and we went searching for God's thoughts in this. What we found was amazing and to me, alarming as I noticed how much of these things had also influenced me. I wondered how I had come to have so many hints of falsehood in my belief system, and then it hit me: I had read many, many modern "Christian" teaching books. They are full of these teachings, mixed with Scripture and some truth of God.

I purged my bookshelf, asked the Lord to cleanse my thinking, and it is amazing to me just how often I will hear these very things spoken in a group and how I cringe...and I pray that God will open our eyes to where we embraced mixed religion.

My plea to us all is to be very selective in our reading, and to be searching the Scriptures, and by the power of the Holy Spirit making sure that what we read and who we're getting our teaching from is really God's truth.

I'm thankful for that painful experience which still touches parts of my life with sadness and heart breaking reality even today. God used it powerfully in my life, and I am so very blessed to know that He would not let me go down the road of false teaching without showing me the right Way and giving me a choice which way to take. I'm thankful for a husband whose heart is also careful and desires to know and live that Way as well, and who gives me wise direction for how we are going to go. Truly, if we are His, He guides our every footstep, corrects a faltering or slipping footstep, and teaches us the Truth we can embrace without question.

Blessings to all.
Marcia

Of Honesty...

"You should always be honest"

said a woman in my hearing recently.

My heart wanted to agree,

but it didn't because I
know this woman and the
danger in the words she
spoke.
You see, she adopts the
worldly notion that in
order to be totally
honest and right in
this world,
one needs to speak
their mind and
share freely
with others,
regardless of
feelings of others,
and regardless of
Sermon on the Mount
teaching on forgiveness 1 Cor. 13 kind of love, and
the need to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, if we name the name of Christ.

Friends, be careful. It is far better to be silent, than to share with others from a fleshly standpoint.
It is far better to bear the marks of the wounds from evil done against us quietly with Christ
than it is to gossip with many about what others have done to us.
It is far better, dear readers, to let the Lord claim vengeance and to let the Lord
exalt us in due season than for us to lift ourselves up in many words  about
what "I" want and how "I" feel and what "I" think needs to be done
about (whatever situation I am talking of).

It is far better to be like Jesus and walk in His footsteps,
than it is to lie while trying to be honest.
How can we lie while trying to 'be honest'?
We can lie by living in the flesh and 'being honest'
(flinging about our feelings and words that are unsanctified)
all the while we say we are Christ's.
These things should never be!!!!
There is not any record of Jesus speaking of his
deep hurt at being rejected or neglected,
or his anger at being misunderstood or sinned against.
He was about His Father's business,
caring for and about what God's will was for Him.
How can we not do the same if we are calling Christ
our Lord and Redeemer?!

The term 'being honest' comes in line with this thing
of not being a hypocrite and 'being real'. I submit to you
that if we are in Christ, then we will be real in the
sense that we will be walking in the Spirit,
displaying Christlikness and not self on a
regular basis. In that way, by all means, be real.

It is far better to be real in the Spirit and quietly
endure the annoyances and the hurts,
than it is to fling our fleshly words and actions
all over the place, breaking hearts and stirring up
the waters even more in our wake.
It may be helpful at times to admit that satan is
tempting us to sin in a certain area of attitude
or action, but to actually cast about crass remarks
and rude words/actions in order to 'be honest'
is certainly not Sermon-on-the-Mount living,
nor is it following Jesus.

Think on it...
And let's be real in HIM!.

Love and blessings,
Marcia

Work, For the Night Is Coming...

Today, I went on a trip down to Nostalgia.

The little cousin, newly graduated with flying colors

from first grade, was reading to the big cousin, 

my oldest daughter.

The past flashed before my eyes, as I pondered how,

not so long ago, that 'big cousin' was my first

first grader and now, she is about to graduate

from  high school and is entering the world 

of adulthood more each day.

I am loving this stage of my life, with teenagers,

and one 'almost' teenager, and I look forward

to the days when my children are moved on to

their work outside my home,

but I sure did get bitten by nostalgia a little as

I took this picture today.

The 18 years since this child of mine was born

have literally passed by as swiftly as a weaver's shuttle.

What work I have done, I trust to the Lord, and know I have

done it with a heart of sincerity and earnestness.

However, I call out to us all to be purposeful in the work we

are called to do, whatever it is.

It's over before we know it.

Today, while opportunity knocks, let us

be up and doing...

We Have This Moment

He Lets Me Walk Down Roads of Disappointment...

Roads of disappointment. We all know them. The dreams we had as starry eyed youth, (or older), that come crashing down at our feet one day...the health that leaves us for a time...the parent whose death leaves us reeling and crushed...the friends who disappoint or betray us...the state we want to live in but are called to move away from...the work we think we are fitted for but is given to someone else while we are given work we don't understand or like...the spouse whose unfaithulness leaves you deeply hurt and wondering why...the house that burns to the ground...the job that doesn't turn out to be all that we wanted for our lives...the church that fails...the churchES that fail in your life...

Those are not all scenarios from my life (some of them are), and I've pondered long and hard the meaning of disappointments. Here is what I have learned so far in my short 39 year life span:

1. Disappointments are really God's way of telling us He's got this. He knows what's best for us.
2. Disappointments teach us to rely on God, and not on ourselves.
3. Disappointments don't mean the end of the road, they simply mean a bend in the road we could not see coming, but God knew.
4. Disappointments give us opportunities to hear from God what exactly He would like us to do/speak/hear/see in the situation.
5. Disappointments can give us opportunities to go to the backside of the desert to an oasis we may otherwise not have ever known was there. That oasis is closer communion with Jesus with less distraction and less demands upon our time. That oasis is Living Water, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.

So when we are facing disappointment, we should remember:

*That nothing or no one can pluck us from His hand
*That we are given opportunity to walk by faith and not by sight
*That simple, child-like faith is the way to simply rest in Him and to follow His leading
*That if we are His, and following Him faithfully, then we are exactly where He chose for us to be presently
*That as His children, we can tell Him anything
*That He has promised to perfect that which concerns us; we don't need to push open doors or force our way into the situation to muscle through what we think needs to happen.

Love and blessings to each of you. Life is hard and troubling at times, but He knows the way we take. When He has tried us, (if we yield and follow) we will come forth as gold that shows His reflection beautifully and more clearly with each passing polishing.

~Marcia

Here is a song I knew from my childhood.

It has a great message about 

disappointment.

That's Just His Way

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

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!

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.

A Father to the Fatherless...

I was asked to share at our church on Sunday, 

some of my experiences relating to being adopted.

 I was excited to have the opportunity,

 because I have something I love to share with people 

who are interested.

As I pondered how/what

 to share

 (I was to share to an audience that included small children), 

the Lord reminded me that often Scripture refers to Him

 being a father of the fatherless. 

So I decided to look up a Scripture about that,

 so I could use it at church. 

I also had in the back 

of my mind,

 the Scripture I LOVE about how He sets the lonely

 in families.

Lo and behold, 

the very Scripture I chose about Him being the Father

 to the fatherless 

is only one verse before the one 

about Him setting the lonely in families!

"He is a father to the fatherless,

defender of widows,

this is God, 

whose dwelling is holy.

God places the lonely in families,

He sets the prisoners free

and gives them joy,

but the He makes the

rebellious live in 

a sun-scorched land."

Psalm 68:5, 6

My heart leaps at those words.

To be a child of the everlasting Father,

who is truly a Father to the fatherless,

and to have been given a family

when I could not stay with

my birth parents,

is a blessing I do not take lightly.

I was bound with chains for many years.

Chains of bitterness over injustice

done against me...

chains of loneliness from

years of letting roots grow deep

in unbelief that God truly knows 

what He is doing in my world...

roots from believing satan's lies

that I am unwanted, 

unloved,

and uncared for,

common lies adopted children

are often bombarded with.

But the day that I stopped rebelling

against the wrongs brought to 

my life by the sin curse

and that were beyond my control,

is the day I started finding

complete healing.

The day I decided to 

let  Jesus be my everything

is the day I found

LIVING WATER

instead of the desert,

and the day I began 

to be completely whole.

Hallelujah!

There are sorrows in this world

too hard for us to bear alone.

But there is a Father to

the fatherless,

a God of justice and mercy,

whose Son came to

set every captive free,

who, in ways beyond our

human understanding,

takes the imperfections

in this world,

and makes beauty from ashes,

for our good

and His glory.

May He always receive 

praise and honor.

Love and blessings,

Marcia

PS
I write from my own experience,
and the chains that satan commonly
rattles for the fatherless.
I fully embrace and acknowledge
the fact that he rattles chains and
shoots fiery darts at every single
person who walks the face of the earth.
The Answer is the same for us all!

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.