Life's Lens

Do something Different - Creativity

2010-09-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered why I thought the way I think. I see something and imediately I question, in my mind "why it is that way". I don't just accept it the way it is. I think every necklace can be made better, each outfit could match something else I own, each room could have different (better) curtains, plants or decorations.

My dad always said that my mind was constantly working. I would sit in the grass, with monarch butterflys landing on my shoulders and find four leaf clovers. I could not even understand why other people did not notice the extra leaf.

Firstly, I would say, I look for the clovers. I turn over the rock to see the bugs under it. Something in my spirit makes me so curious, that I am compelled to question things.

The point I am trying to make is that God's Holy Spirit makes us restless. The Spirit challenges us. We are called to go forward and we move in that direction because we want things to be better. We want to make a difference.

We could fail, but we still have to try. And we learn from the failure. We stretch and we we become stronger, because we were unsettled.

One of my friends asks "what is God inviting you to?" Really the answer is, that he loves you so much, that he wants you to take a chance. When you take that chance, the possiblility that you'll make things better is right there.

Love is a real mystery

2010-05-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking lately about love. It is very hard to define this word. For one thing I see it as action, always a challenge and even quite elusive at times.

The unconditional love (like what God has) is really unbelievable. The closest we come to this is our kids. We look into the crib and we dream, but we know we could some day have to visit a prison, or the north pole, or an African Village for this person, depending on whether they become a missionery, or explorer or even a criminal. But we love them, and that's about as close as we ever get to unconditional. I don't think we really get any closer with friends, parents, or even spouses. We think we can get closer, but in reality I don't think we do. Maybe I'm a negative person, who's not trying hard enough. Perhaps I'm a bit jaded, because I've not felt loved unconditionally.

Actually at this point in my life, my husband has shown me the most love. Kids don't (yet) friends do at times but yeh, the best friend I have is the person I married.

I'm glad I'm the other half. Even though I know it's really two whole people who make a great marriage. It's fun to think that someone completes me. They have some things I admire and they compliment me. That's very rewarding. That's love to me.

It's not at all complicated then. So if you've looked everywhere and looked for a long time, either on E-harmony or next to you in your house. Don't even look at all, just take it in. God is wispering in your ear. "I have given you everything"

"I will never stop giving you what you need" "Surely I would not hold love back from you" "Do not listen to the evil one" "He is the Father of lies"

"I am the Father of Man - I am Love and I cannot be anything else..."

2010-04-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

2010-04-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory...full of grace and truth" John 1:14 NKJV

It's spring again and wow, what a lovely aray of colors, sights, sounds and smells. God is so good and his message is over and over - how we are reborn...I have a heart for those who can touch him at last. I was one of the lost and now am found. I am a sinner and yet Jesus still loves me.

To say that we were once blind and now can see, is just a way of trying to express the wonderful life Jesus has given us. We do not need chemicals to party, we fellowship honestly. We do not need to compete, we are forever complete in our Father.

And most importantly - we belong - We finally belong. Thank God that my eyes were opened - thank God for REBIRTH

Happy
Spring

2010-02-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

Snow Snow Everywhere

2010-02-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

I've always loved the white stuff, but wow. 2 blizards in 1 week. Where to put all the white stuff. That's the question. I dug my car out (finally) and that put even more snow on the driveway. As I walked each shovel full over to a mound that was taller than myself, I realized this is way to much of a good thing.

Don't we do that- in life. We wish we had something and when it's finally dumped on us, full force we are overwhelmed. Man is not like any other creature, in fact the only things we can't ever have too much of - is love.

See -we are created in the image of God and he actually wants love. He certainly doesn't need us, or our complaints, or our lack of faith. He can make the stars and oceans, these people are just another creation.

Not so, we are the children, So the next time you feel like you would give your child everything (even your life) remember the really big father (GOD) He wants your love and then like the snow we have right now -the blessings drown you, because you can actually see them.

You'll see what I mean, think really big and look at your creator, he's got a ton of great things for you. Even more than you can handle...

Amen

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing,
some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2

I saw this in a message from Sandy Cove (the retreat place) and it really made my heart soar. I'm a big angel person. Even though I've looked for them throughout the bible and they are usually men. I say that because we depict them as girls with long flowing gowns and that's funny to me. I don't care what they are. I just feel that they are messengers from God and I know that they have been around longer than us. They are bright and seem to bring hope to man.

On the dark side - God's enemy is an angel (Lucifer) which was the bearer of light. He turned and thus started the actual fued that man is now involved in. God wins though- because he made everything. He made us - he made the stars, earth and sun, and he even made Lucifer. That wasn't even a mistake. He just gives free will and with that - we make the errors...

Just wanted to say Happy New Year! - and entertain some angels this year. They bring allot of hope...We need hope...and they know that!

Be One !

2009-11-28T16:02:00.000-08:00

I have seen this trivet on my stove a hundred times, but I never really SAW it till today. It tells us "to be a friend", and when I look again - it actually has holly and holly berries. This never meant much to me. But I pray allot and I ask God to tell me things I need to know. I think he showed me this afternoon that this trivet has something to do with Christmas.

My best friend seems to have trials that reveal themselves around the holidays and I fancy myself as the person who can cheer her up. But as my friend shared today and I added words to (hopefully) make her feel better, I realized that she just needs a listener. A friend. To have a friend - I need to be one, especially when my friend is tired. I need to carry her, I need say - "You have a right to those feelings". I need to remember that she is the one who says "Who is the Master"? In an effort to cheer her - I see that she is the one who reminds me of the love Jesus has for us.

It's such a priviledge to have her as a part of my life, because she is the culmination of experiences - high and low- that have made her a true follower of Christ. I admire this quality. It is very priceless.

We are who we are because of times of sadness, of difficulty and just complete adversity. No one would ask for this. It is the exact opposite of what we would want for ourselves or our friends. It's a new thing to seek God in hardship. It's not new to those who have God. They already realized who carries us.

They already know the True friend, that's why they can be one.

2009-08-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

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Glory Garden

2009-08-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

In an effort to lure humming birds to my house, I grow huge morning glory flowers. It is fun to see how much they grow while I'm asleep. They twine around things and try to reach the sky.

We have a corkscrew willow that didn't get leaves but morning glory flowers have given it a nice coat of leaves.

Bees and butterflys go in and out of these trumpets and I am just thrilled at all the activity...

I just weeded today, because I do know that the wild and crazy gardens I grow are not as popular to other people as they are to me...

Sometimes the weeds can be distracting, and taking them out disturbs things for a while. They even try to flower like the other plants, but in the end they have to go!

That's the Glory Garden...

Fellowship

2009-08-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

I'm getting so excited to go to a motorcycle rally we go to each year. I love to pack for it and ride up with all our friends. It's a Christain Rally and when I get there - it's a little like getting to the promise land.

The people all love Jesus and I can be myself and worship and praise him.

In the world we are in but not of, I get some looks when I say "praise the Lord" or "praise God"

But this weekend I can scream it from the mountains.

By the way HE made the mountains, so HE really would like some praise for that...too

Can I get an AMEN!

4th of July - Fireworks

2009-07-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

Fireworks - the shooting stars man creates...

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Holy Spirit - No Mistakes in God's World

2009-07-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

My really close friend said each day on a mission trip they sang this song I love about how God is above all fame - the beginning and end. It's the song that says exactly how I feel about Jesus. Some of my friends even comment that I say King Jesus about God. I really feel that the Holy Spirit sent my best friend a song to remind her of the reason she was there. She went to serve the Kingdom and he's the truth, the light and the way and even if there was rain, or bugs, or language barriers she was in the right place...

I read a man once asked Mother Tereasa to pray for God to give him clarity. She said
she would not pray for such a thing because clarity is not how you serve the Kingdom.
It is by faith and trust. We step out and look back and no one else stepped out with us.

I'm glad a song reminded my friend of me, I'm glad it was a song that told how awsome God is. In some ways I feel I was there in spirit, because the holy spirit
that dwells in all of the children of God can travel everywhere and there are no mistakes in God's World...

Not - Kicking and Screaming

2009-07-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

I was at a huge event for motorcyclists this week and I saw a person carrying a case in the front of them and thought "what's in that?" After watching for a while, out popped a little head. It was a faret, a weazel of sorts and very cute and content to see the crowd. I thought of how it had just been carried there, totally out of it's element and yet it seemed "ok." It has a master and the master took him to the festival. He had to submit, he's a weazel, what can he do? - he may as well cooperate.

I thought about how we get taken places by life, and we really would rather not go, and we kick and scream, but still, we end up there. We aren't as smart as the weazel. He submits, he recgonizes - hey I'm being taken. I'm way out of my element, not sure what's going to happen, but I'm here - gotta pop out and take a look around.

I think it's just hard to see we are being carried. It's hard to know we have a MASTER. Our MASTER really gives us a huge amount of liberty, so we say, I'm not even sure HE exists, if HE did exist "why would HE allow this" or "why wouldn't HE change that".

Uhm - I'm thinking of being more like the weazel...

What can we see

2009-06-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

I thought lately about all the things we depend on - but we do not actually see.
Air - we breathe - so necessary
electricity - we only see the result of it's power
we can't even see love or friendship or the feelings we have,
we only see what they cause to happen.

God is unseen to most of us, he's unheard and just there. We call out - up to the sky he made and expect him to respond.

We put him in a box, like he can be contained or predicted. Wow - we limit what is so powerful we can only dream of understanding a fraction of his plans.

I have faith that his plans are well formed, because he holds the whole book, we see each page, each day, unfold. And we would not even want to see tomorrow. It could bring such sadness or happiness that we would want to play today or tomorrow over a thousand times, but God doesn't allow that.

He says not to worry, not to fret, that he cares for the birds in the trees and the flowers are beautiful, and that tomorrow is promised to none of us.

And yet we plan, we fret, we try to control.

I sat the olther day with a man that said he fully controls his world and that I was now entering into it with my talk of this Lord that was King. All I could think of was the saying that we sought wisdom and became fools.

You are not in Control, God is.
He is the King, we are the servants.
and Jesus took it even farther and said we are his friends, it doesn't get much better than that.

Look Again

2009-06-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

Look again into the eyes and see the soul
Look again into the soul and see the hole
Look again into the hole and see the sacrifice
Look again into the sacrifice and see the Love
Look again into the Love and see GOD

2009-06-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

After the Rain

2009-06-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

After the rain, the sun comes out
After the rain, the cry is a shout

There is a time for surrender again
There is a seed to sow or to send

To turn back to God and Jesus his son
He loves us so much - the victory is won

He has the plan - He'll always be there
Turn back to God - put your life in his care...

Jackie Q
after recent events

God Provides

2009-04-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

I say this often, because so many times it seems appropriate. Today a friend and I helped this older couple. They were riding along on their motorcycle and the clutch broke. This old gentleman was pushing the bike and amazingly enough no one came to his aid. Well we know them - so of coarse we were very eager to assist. We just had to do one thing and then swing back around to where they were.

Then I thought in the few minutes we were gone - someone would come along and have already helped them, but no = we were the only ones who could take time for this. They couldn't have possibly been threatening looking to anyone (making them afraid to stop and help) it had to be that no one had time, courage or cared.

What is this world coming to...I must ask...

But then again there was me and my friend -- who saw it as an opportunity to assist, so GOD Provides. I can't judge, not knowing them and with the way people sue and blame others now - maybe people are afraid to help others. I hope that's the case. I'm scared if it's just that we truly no longer care.

You can "not like kids" and that's cool...because you're certainly not going to be a kid again. But to not help the elderly - is just foolish -- you're going in that direction. Thank God that "God Provides"

2009-04-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Put simply - We need to thank King Jesus

2009-04-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

I read an Easter Devotional this week and wow it brought to light the extreme torment God endured for us. Because Jesus is God, he stayed 33 years in skin to see what we were talking about. We went to him over and over with our complaints, so he came down and endured more than any of us ever will. He even looked up and asked for our forgiveness - saying "they know not what they do."

And then he looked up right before death and said pretty much "paid in full."

If somebody offers to pay my bill - I'm right there praising them.

I figure I better do the same with God.

He's had my back for an Eternity --- I can at least give him the credit for it.

Don't ya think!

Come with us - I see Jesus just ahead!

2009-04-07T00:54:00.000-07:00

I don't care about what you do ... I care about what Jesus wants you to do!
I don't care about your past ... I care about your potential - and your future!
I care about what God has in store for you...the things you do not even know you can do...the ones you only dreamed of...the ones Jesus has written in your book.

I will accept you where you are because you can't hide (not from the truth) and not for long ---

I say "I will be your friend" because that is what you need the most!
I'll take you just ahead where Jesus can really make a difference-------

Now Jesus will show you love because that is what HE is!

2009-04-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

Palm Sunday

2009-04-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

I got this antique picture at a yard sale. It has cherub-looking children and all the people worshiping Jesus - as he enters the City on a donkey. How often I've looked at it and thought of how fickle man really is. We love him, we love him not...God really puts up with allot from us. It's just amazing to me that we hailed the King, just a week before our sin put him on the cross. I look at the world today and think we need a Savior more than ever. We are just as fickle as we were 2,000 years ago. We may have electronics and wonderful things to add time to our lives but we are still blind to the fact that the King is reaching out to us.

He wants us to be his friend just as much as he did in the Garden of Eden. He provides everything and we think we got it all on our own...We worship him, we worship him not...

He saves us and he saves us again, over and over, each of us. Happy Easter - praise God - he rises from the dead - for you ------------ just for you!

Good Bye Old Man Winter

2009-03-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

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Spring - Indoors

2009-03-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty cold this spring - well it just started Friday. It's not warm enough for me to really celebrate. I see the yard and everything that needs to get done, but when I go out - it's so chilly I just can't get motivated. Seemed like a long winter, though. My friends and family had some close calls with health and I had to ask God for allot of things.

He came through every time, though. No telling what he's got in store for the summer. I can't wait for the heat of the sun or how it stays light until later at night. All these summer things - we take for granted until the leaves start falling and it get's cold again. Maybe this summer, I'll really see the gifts God has given me...

There all out there - I've just got to appreciate them. He comes through every time.

Thanks God, for a winter of close calls. I'll look for you in the clouds, and the flowers and the trees and the bees...

Things to Accept

2009-02-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

I remember this picture, always, when I think of what I have to accept. I have to accept that my brother has cancer. I have to accept that I am getting older. I have to accept that relationships in my family have changed to the point that they are not what they once were.

When I remember this picture I see what God accepts from his people and how he moves on to make the absolute best of it. He's always the example to me. Jesus always sets the standard. I fall very short, and only aspire to what he wants, but he can read the heart and see that I tried.

One thing so easy to accept is his grace and yet so many walk by it. Can they not see his hand extended? I have to accept the fact (also) ONLY THEY can reach for the hand of Christ. It's just a thing to accept. I'm going to pray that they accept grace. He'll keep offering it, I know he will...

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Wonder Full World of Ice Meant to be...

2009-01-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

I looked outside today and couldn't believe my eyes. Each plant and item was covered with ice. It was lovely.

I thought of how we humans could never survive such a thing and how God takes care of everything he created. We breathe in what plants exhale. Even the smallest parts of life can be provided for in the balance. His plan is very deliberate.

My New Year's Resolution or New Life's Resolution is gonna be to appreciate what God has done, not constantly ask for a change. When I'm prompted to go - I'm gonna go. When I'm prompted to share - I'm gonna give.

His plan is very deliberate...

The Shack

2008-11-06T07:04:00.000-08:00

Wow what a book. I normally don't think much of elaborate tales like that. But this really puts a great spin on Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit. I've been trying to corner those three my whole life and they've been right here with me.

I used to think I was so far away from God, how could he care for an individual. Well I see now, he's just as unlimited as I am limited!

Self reliant - in control - I think not...tee hee

Just beginning

2008-10-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm wrapped up tightly, because right now everybody I know takes care of me. They greet me with happiness. I'm going to grow and as I do - I'm going to accumulate information at an incredible rate.

May I change the world and not the other way around. I want to make a difference. These ones that influence me now, they'll see I can do things on my own. At first they may be shocked and even somewhat afraid for me. They'll keep saying I should be carefull. I'll tell them "I will be," but sometimes I'm just going to take chances.

- I've got to do my thing. Maybe I can remind them, somehow, that they once did their own thing. They'll want me to really take my time, not get hurt, stay on the straight and narrow. They are just people and they love me so much.

Can you imagine what my Heavenly Father feels?, he's REALLY concerned. But God too, will let me learn. He loves me too much to FORCE me to do something. It will be so much better when I choose the RIGHT THING on my own...

Jesus Freak

2008-10-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to be known as something different and now that I am - I wish more people had my passion. I see Jesus in allot of things, the grass so green, the flowers in the field, the face of a stranger. He just shows up. Then, when I'm not looking - I see a painting or a picture of him. I wish the 33 years he stayed with man were here and now. I wish I was like John the baptist (who lept in the womb of his mother) in anticipation of the Lord. I'm even crazy enough to look forward with great delight to the day I meet him. Like the song "I Can Only Imagine" I just love to think of how it's going to be. There are no shadows in his presence. I'm gonna fly up there dude...I'm gonna finally sing with a great voice. The gold I've worn here as jewelry is going to line the streets. Some I've expected to be at the feast may not be, but there will be people there I didn't expect. Meet me there - don't separate yourself from Jesus. He's gotta know you - to let you in...

This lovely thing - really is scarry

2008-10-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

This really beautiful thing hides the danger (in the middle) of the spider. A dark, sneaky, creature that will emerge with lightning speed. It consumes anything that has fallen for the lovely lure that makes it's web shimmer like diamonds.

The world has traps like this. They are so enticing - we cannot possible imagine what lurks in them.

As we fall, we wonder how evil could have looked so good/it used all it's resources, all it's power to get us. It surely will be hard to escape.

Then the rope, the saving grace - why is it given to us so easily by one who is so powerful. We do not deserve this favor.

Only God needs no tricks = honesty, love, integrity...his power is so apparent. He needs no trap. Only truth and even that is hard for us to swallow...

Grace - free to all who accept HIS SON

Cute can be scarry

2008-10-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

This cute guy, just yawns and you feel like you should run. The great thing is he is kind hearted so he never uses any of his claws or jaws for weapons. I'm sure glad of that.

Baby touches Baby - Furries from the York Fair 2008

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Fuzzy Start to Life

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Open your ears and your eyes. Behold the one who comes to save us. He will restore our connection to God. He will heal. He will love.

Jesus - The King of all Kings

Statue - Susquehana Gardens, Dallastown, PA

Light of the World

2008-08-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

The path is straight and narrow. It is not chosen by many. He shines above, never leaving, always loving. You cannot touch him. You can only see his light and feel his warmth...