A New Season

 It was so beautiful to see the grass sparkling in the sun-lit dew drops this morning.

I read a devotional before that likened the refreshment of God's Spirit in us to the way dew 

refreshes the grass. It was a nice reflective moment for me.

 This healthy budding plant was near death a few weeks ago. When the nights turned cold, it was more than this delicate plant could take. All but one stalk was completely withered. I have since kept the plant indoors, and through the extra warmth and T.L.C, it has come back to life. It made me think of life. At times, the weather of life can leave us feeling lifeless and near death, but with time and proper care, it comes back... ready to bloom beautifully, just like before the trials hit hard. Thank goodness for God's continued care in our messes!

 Last, but not least, these leaves reminded me that there is a time when the old must be shed to bring on a new season of life. Without the trees shedding their leaves, winter snow would come and break branches, causing massive destruction to the tree. To shed the leaves is to preserve the tree. It made me realize how in my life, there must be a time to let go to what once was, in the hope of what God will bring in the future.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Selective Hearing

The Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. Gather up your belongings to leave the land. This is what the Lord says: "At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured." They are a senseless people who do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper. I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own' it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, Lord, but only  with justice- not in anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. The Lord, the God of Israel says: "Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of my covenant. From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, "Obey me." But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but they did not keep." Therefore this is what the Lord says: "I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. Do no pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress." 

Jeremiah 10 & 11, selected

As I continue to read through the Old Testament, I am amazed at how the God then, compared to Jesus in the New Testament do seem to differ so much. It continues to serve as a reminder to me that I don't have a Savior of love and forgiveness without a God of wrath and justice. He is one and the same. At times it can be confusing, but who ever said we were ever capable of understanding His ways completely? I find comfort in knowing He is all these things, as I know that not a crime will go unpunished. I also find peace in knowing that although no one is perfect, all He requires is that we turn our hearts to Him, and He is quick to forgive and give us a fresh start. What a wonderful Savior! I love the God that I am continually getting to know on a deeper level each day. I wish the same for you. Fall in love with Him.... He's crazy about you!

Giving and Taking

How can you (the Lord's people) say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected to word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do the have? Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike. all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord. What I have given them will be taken from them. The Lord our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against Him. We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there was only terror. "I will send venomous snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you," declares the Lord. They are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me," declares the Lord. Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the Lord. Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says; "I will refine and test them, for what else can I do? With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him. Should I not punish them for this?" declares the Lord. Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? The Lord said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts. Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says, "See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. I will scatter them among nations and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them."

Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight."

Jeremiah 8 & 9, selected

Deep or Shallow?

More from "Beautiful Offering" by Angela Thomas

"I don't know about this deeper walk with God. Maybe I just want to be shallow." 

I know what shallow feels like. I see what shallow looks like. I don't want to skim across the surface with God. There is no life or passion in the shallow heart. God wants your broken spirit. He wants you to come into His presence and lay all the pieces of your heartache on His altar. 

Grow in your faith through relationships. Wounded people heal in relationships, and unbelievers come to the Lord through relationships. Pride got in the way. I mistakenly believed I could become strong enough to get healthy alone. I have even acted like I could trust God enough to heal all by myself. What a desperately foolish idea. You and I were made for relationship. We are supposed to live in community with loving people. Burdens are meant to be carried. Broken hearts and broken lives don't get put back together while you're laying on your bed in the dark. They get healed inside the arms of healthy love. 

I am tired of being "a really strong woman who can get it all done." I am tired of feeling like I have to live like I don't need anybody but Jesus. Growth began when I asked people to pray for me. Why do we wait so long to ask?

I truly believe that one of the best things I carry into my future ministry and relationships is my brokenness. When you know what it feels like to be blown into a million pieces and then picked up and held by the tenderness of God, something happens in that transaction of grace. You want to give what you have received. The Father makes all things new. Tell people they can dance again because God said we can dance in His arms for His glory. 

Thank God for the treasure He makes from our heartache.

Brokenness in the hands of God

I began a new study that is proving to be more of God's perfect timing of meeting me where I am. I hope this will encourage you the way it has me. I love the way God doesn't turn from our brokenness and leave us on our own the way some people tend to do. 

This study is from Angela Thomas, called, "Living your life as a Beautiful Offering" I have taken out the underlined portions that spoke to me.

Good intentions are how I start most everything, but somewhere along the way my humanity usually kicks in. When life's moments are more than I can take, I cry. Ever cried yourself to sleep? Exhaustion seemed to highlight every area of my brokenness. It magnified my frustration over every imperfection. The places this poverty of spirit take me can be depressing; paralyzing; and overwhelming. When I hit the wall, my energy is gone, my heart is flat, and all i can see are my flaws. I begin to evaluate every area of my life like I'm a failure. I can hear my poor spirit making out a list: I should bake more, and dust more, and give more, and exercise more and play more and pray more-

It's embarrassing to come to Jesus with a poor spirit. I think, Look at all God has done for me. I should be stronger, I should be an overcomer. I should have renewed energy because of my joy over His love for me. I should be healed by now. More godly by now. Near perfect by now. 

There is blessing for the poor in spirit. 

Psalm 34:18 He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit

Psalm 147:3 He heals and binds up the wounded

Isaiah 61:1 He will bind up the brokenhearted

Figure out where you are. Take the truth of where you are and lift it to heaven. 

I can find myself mostly embarrassed that I still have this stuff to deal with. However, what is important is that my poor spirit is turned toward God. What is inward is being turned upward, handed over to my heavenly Father. We must have TRUTH before God. Freedom only comes from openness. Desire the presence of God instead of the shadows of loneliness or the distraction of sin. 

Choices for Restoration, Beauty for Today

I have seen her ways, but I will heal her; I will guide her and restore comfort to her, creating praise on the lips of the mourners. 

"There is no peace for the wicked," says my God. Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Declare to my people their rebellion and their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. "Why have we fasted and you have not seen?" they say. "Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?" Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, ONLY A DAY for a man to humble himself? Is that what you call a fast, a DAY acceptable to the Lord? "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords, to set the oppressed free? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? THEN your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; THEN your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. THEN you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here I Am. IF you do away with oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and IF you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, THEN your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters will not fail. You will find joy in the Lord. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. 

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear, BUT your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt, your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their deeds are evil deeds. Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts, ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of people they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace. 

We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. Our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. 

According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay their due. Men will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. 

"THE REDEEMER WILL COME TO THOSE WHO REPENT OF THEIR SINS ," DECLARES THE LORD.

Isaiah 57-59, selected verses

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion...

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. This is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. 

Now I want you to know, what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body. 

Philippians 1, selected verses

In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; for you are my rock and my fortress. You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; I will ever praise you. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. Do not cast me away, do not forsake me when my strength is gone. My enemies speak against me; they say, "God has forsaken her; pursue her and seize her, for no one will rescue her." Be not far from me, O God. May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace. But as for me, I will always have hope, I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone. Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. I will praise you for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you. My lips will shout for joy. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion.

Psalm 71, selected verses

Pumpkinville

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the Pumpkin Farm. There are 3 different farms to choose from! Two of them we have visited in the past, as they are only 15 minutes away. This place was a new one for us, and the drive was about an hour and a half, but well worth it. It is located closer to Pennsylvania, so the terrain is much more mountainous, and the color change takes effect earlier. 

 Emily adores her big sister. 

 This was the Indian Corn Building. We were in awe

of all the colors. Emily found a kernel that she was excited about.

 Face Painting! Emily is checking out the work before she

decides to get hers done. 

 She has agreed art is acceptable. lol

 She chose "Bats in the Night Sky"

                                   

 This was a giant jumping pillow. The kids had a blast!

                                        Pumpkins have been chosen! The small ones were won 
                                                            from the corn maize they did. 

 One happy camper, the other not so happy. It was an up & down afternoon for Emily.

 Phil made this trip possible. He took his girls here when they were young.

We had a great new adventure!