Be One !

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.

Glory Garden

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

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

Fireworks - the shooting stars man creates...

Holy Spirit - No Mistakes in God's World

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

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

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

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

After the Rain

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

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"

Put simply - We need to thank King Jesus

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!

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!

Palm Sunday

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

Spring - Indoors

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

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...

Wonder Full World of Ice Meant to be...

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...