The Rod is not the Staff...

It has been a while since I've been in front of this computer. So my purpose was to go back over the past week and see what I've missed...alot. Emails that I should have responded to days ago. Facebook "stuff" and now this blog. Don't have much time, so will just share what made an impression. I am always amazed at the people that read this, and I wish more would make comments just so's I know who's been here, but I understand you don't have any more time than I do most days.
One thing that I will take home though, is that it's incredibly encouraging and upbuilding to see the growth that God gives in lives of my friends. Believe it or not, I have my down days too, and more times than not God uses YOU, yes you, to remind me that it's about all of us. We all touch and affect each other. The truth of it is that He will finish what He started no matter how I feel, hopeless or happy. He is not "detoured" by me at all...and is only after finishing His perfect work IN me and you. He is the master physician, orchestrator, fixer-upper, and He has the perfect plan where we are concerned. You know those "rods" spoken about in the 23rd Psalm....those are to keep us in line. When we fight and try to go the other direction, he has to use them and it hurts sometimes, but protects us from ourselves in doing so. So, I'm very grateful that He doesn't give up on us, and we shouldn't give up on each other either. Love you all. Have a wonderful time in church tomorrow.

The following is a quote from the pastor of my home church in San Luis Obispo... and I am the second blogger to use it. "Parenting can be painful. We can only survive the pain if our kids are not the center of our lives - Jesus needs to be the center of our lives, so we have Someone to hold onto when life hurts."Our kiddos are now 26, 23, & 19 years of age. Side note here: How come I can remember their birth weights, likes, dislikes, whereabouts, etc. and can't remember these days where I parked the car, or set my purse or phone down...SAD, Sad, sad! Seems that parenting in many ways never gets easier than it does to live our lives as unto the Lord each day. We deal with growing pains, sleepless nights, and ATTITUDE non-stop, don't we. Big pay-back, I think. As I usually do these days, I find myself contrasting my own experience as a Mom to how God deals with us on a moment by moment basis. However, He responds differently than I....I, much of the time fail to "respond" and "react" instead. Everything is a picture of His relationship with us. The old hymnn goes like this, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazerene...and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned unclean. He took my sins and my sorrow, He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be, How marvelous how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me."

Just a little something to get your long week-end a humming. Wish I could share a cup of coffee or tea with each of you! &;-)

CRAZY LOVE

I know it's been awhile since I've written but ... hopefully you will be able to see where I've been and continue to be. It's a good place, for many reasons. I haven't been hiding, but I have been searching, because this "journey" never ends. Life happens and the quest to figure things out don't satisfy except to eventually bring us to the end of ourselves and magnify the fact that all roads lead back to the heart of God...if we are ready to recognize that we are "finite" and He is "infinite." This excerpt from a book aptly entitled, CRAZY LOVE, is my next read. Having completed more books in the past two years (most especially the past 12 months), than the past twenty, I have come to the conclusion once again that it's not what I add to what I already know, but rather how little I know ... when it comes to God and how I fit into all of this. He only is my Creator, my Friend, the one whose greatest desire is to have a personal, intimate relationship with me on a daily basis...Good, bad, or indifferent. Read and see what you think. Does it whet your appetite to know more? Does mine.

"There is an epidemic of spiritual amnesia going around, and none of us
is immune. No matter how many fascinating details we learn about
God’s creation, no matter how many pictures we see of His galaxies,
and no matter how many sunsets we watch, we still forget.
Most of us know that we are supposed to love and fear God; that we
are supposed to read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know
Him better; that we are supposed to worship Him with our lives. But
actually living it out is challenging.
It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn’t it be easy to love
a God so wonderful?When we love God because we feel we should love
Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten
who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again.
It may sound “un-Christian” to say that on some mornings I don’t
feel like loving God, or I just forget to. But I do. In our world, where
hundreds of things distract us from God, we have to intentionally and
consistently remind ourselves of Him."
See for yourself ~ http://www.crazylovebook.com

Acts 5:38, 39

He leads,

He shows,

He reveals,

He gives,

He opens,

He closes,

He knows,

He arranges,

He challenges,

He asks,

He answers,

He speaks.