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    Rest, Walk, Stand in God’s Love

    The Voices in Our Head What would it take for me to know that I can live fully loved by God? I can live loved when life is smooth, and the sun seems to be shining down on me. When all is good in my world. But when it crashes down around me, I struggle to look up. I wrestle with knowing that this could be a part of the plan of a loving God. I suffocate under the weight of the crush of life. How do I live loved when life is not what I want it to be? When there are not people in my life telling me…

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    Choose To Trust

    Choose to trust: When life disrupts your plans The call came as I was sitting in the hospital waiting room just moments prior to a medical procedure. “I’m sorry.” The nurse apologetically stated. “The doctor you will be seeing later today has had a family emergency, your appointment will need to be canceled and set for a later date.” A later date! Are you kidding me? I just drove 3 ½ hours for this appointment. Thankfully these words never left my mind. In most cases this cancellation would have been a simple glitch in my ordinary day or monthly schedule; but this disruption to my schedule came after hours on…

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    Beneath His Wings

    FOR THIS I HAVE JESUS   NO MATTER HOW STEEP THE HILL I CLIMB NO MATTER HOW SWIFT THE CURRENT I SWIM NO MATTER HOW ROUGH THE ROAD I WALK OR SWIFT THE BREEZES OF THE WIND   NO MATTER HOW STILL THE SILENCE IS NO MATTER HOW THROBBING IS THE PAIN NO MATTER HOW MANY TEARS THAT FALL I KNOW THAT JESUS KNOWS MY NAME.   NO MATTER HOW DEEP MY LONGINGS ARE NO MATTER HOW EMPTY IS MY SOUL NO MATTER HOW MANY PRAYERS I PRAY OR CRIES TO BE MADE WHOLE   NO MATTER HOW WIDE THE CREVICE IS NO MATTER HOW FAR I FEEL FROM HOPE…

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    The Secret Sanctuary

    Enter into the Secret Place Have you ever longed for a secret refuge, a place of your own? That perfect spot where you could tuck yourself away from the world so you could pray or be alone with your thoughts – unnoticed by others. As a young girl I would often watch my oldest sister quietly leave the house and disappear around the curve in our country road. I would watch with mystery, wondering where she was going. Funny how I never thought to follow her. Somehow my heart knew this was her alone time. Years later I asked my sister where she would go and what she would do…

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    A January Day

    “We bless this year for all we learned, For all we loved and lost And the quiet way it brought us Nearer to our invisible destination.” John O’Donohue Okay. Maybe I’m a little bit odd; but I love January. To me January is like a brand-new journal with its pages white and empty, waiting to be filled with heart sentiments as each new day unfurls. A new sketch book. Empty, yet full of possibilities that rise up from my soul, only to appear on the tip of my paintbrush. Astonishing me once again. January is like fresh fallen snow. No deer tracks. No foot prints. No slush…just pristine white. Unmarked, waiting…

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    The Incomparable God: Part Two

    Rehearsing the Greatness of the Incomparable God  I couldn’t believe it. I had lost the diamond in my wedding ring, yet again. Yet this time, not only was my diamond missing, but the entire setting! After getting over my deep dismay I cried out to God. “God, you care about the smallest things that concern me. You see my diamond right now. Please, help me find it!”  The Incomparable God is intimately acquainted with me  The Incomparable God is intimately acquainted with His creation. He cares about what we are concerned about. I have been able to rediscover this truth, time and time again. In the course of three days,…

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    The Incomparable God

      The Incomparable God Part One: Recognizing the Incomparable God  After three international flights, and just as many layovers, I had lost track of how many hours it had been since my husband and I had left Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines. Just hours earlier we had sold our last piece of furniture, and now were rounding the globe towards a new beginning. Tears were crusted on my flushed cheeks revealing a hard ending to eight years of ministry among expat co-workers and our beloved Filipino’s. “Why are good-byes so hard?” I thought to myself, still feeling a pang of wanting to turn the plane around and return…

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    The Broken Bless

      Over the past seven years I have found myself bruised, broken, torn, bewildered, lonely, facing no answer to medical concerns, blanketed with the weight of depression, laying in a hospital bed undergoing back surgery in a foreign country, bombarded with panic attacks, gaining weight despite a healthful diet plan and 2 hour work-outs at the gym, getting the news that my mother had a heart attack and I was too far away to hold her hand or be present by her hospital bed, hearing the news that my son would not be released from prison- yet again, watching my husband bear the load of watching me have seizures on…

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    The Conversation Connection

    As my husband and I sat in a local coffee shop, we began a conversation with a young business man. The emblem on his shirt causing us to wonder what his line of work was. Just one, simple, inquisitive question opened the door for a fascinating conversation in which we learned that he was a financial planner who loved Jesus and used his line of work to represent Christ to those in his sphere of influence. A friendly conversation took off from there as we sat on common spiritual ground. His passion rose to the surface as he expressed that he had been coming to the realization that often what…

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    Selah: Pause and Reflect

      The evening had cooled from the heat of the Florida sun. With butterfly kite in hand, the anticipation of my three-year old granddaughter was evident on her face. Her chubby bare feet sunk into the plush, carpet of grass as the evenings breeze caught beneath her riot of curls. Perfect kite weather! As Daddy and Papa prepared the kite-string she watched with eager anticipation; with Mama and Crème ready with phones to capture the experience.  (*Crème is her sweet name for me- pronounced Cream.) Moments later, we watched as she ran with wild-abandon through the now dew-covered grass. Clear delight and determination showing on her face. String in hand.…