Gifts of the day

New mercies every morning, thank God for that.

We are under His protection, I thanked Him for that.

I thanked Him for our brokenness.

I thanked Him for reminding me that there are watchful, innocent eyes on me.

I praised Him for his majesty.


God please drive out the enemy here and protect us all. Make this place our sanctuary. Thank you for another day.

The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,
and your strength will equal your days. "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides on the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
He will drive out your enemy before you,
saying, 'Destroy him!'

Deuteronomy 33:25-27

Simply messy

A simple Christmas. The tree, stockings, and a few lights outside - that's it. Advent scripture together at night. Teaching my daughter about the baby Jesus. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at church. There are still boxes to be unpacked, rooms to be finished, pictures to be hung. But we don't care. We are home. Our house is a mess, our life is a mess. It doesn't matter. God sent Jesus to take care of all that messiness, I'll leave it up to Him.
What a gift, I am amazed.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:17-20

Where to go now

Sometimes we get stripped of so many things that we think are important that we have nowhere to turn it seems. I have found recently that I turn to this place over and over...

I have begun to ask questions again, but not "why?". "Where? Where do I go now?" I get the same answer again and again, which is stunning... "to me".

God thank you for always keeping things simple for me. I usually have the deer in the headlights look when I realize that nothing changes when it comes to you. You're always the same, always there, no matter where I think I need to go for answers.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

Hello old friend

Oh how I miss taking the time to reflect on my day and how God has has his way with me! These months have given me the gift of truly living a day at a time though, for the first time in my life. I have strength for nothing more. The brokenness and rebuilding continue. Satan continues to show all of his names to us.
But so does God....
Gaol - Redeemer, Magen - Shield, Zur - Our Rock, Prince of Peace.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, ^a]">[a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

God you will continue to have your way with me, I wouldn't want it to be any other.

The provision of relationships.

From low lying lake land to high desert mountains. The air is super clear and a little thin, dry, smells of sage, pine, and possible snow.

For me, familiar land. For most of my family, unfamiliar. On the trail this morning I thought of Ruth and Naomi and their journey. The blessings I receive in a house or job doesn't matter so much. What does matter is how I'm blessed through my relationships that are held together by my kinsman redeemer.

Thank you God for the relationships you've given me that provide hope, security, strength, and love. And thank you for sending my kinsman redeemer, your son.

But Ruth replied, "Don't try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I'll go. Where you stay I'll stay. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. Where you die I'll die. And there my body will be buried. I won't let anything except death separate you from me. If I do, may the Lord punish me greatly."

Ruth 1:16-17

Fog in the Brain

Nothing was to clear my head this morning - not coffee, a walk, air so dense with aromas you could almost eat it, colors that seemed to have been painted on vegetation during the night, not even the bright sunshine once we were away from the lake. I like clarity, to see what's ahead but today I just had to go it one step at a time and know that I would get through the day and have peace once it was through.

We've been here 40 days, tomorrow we pack up, the following we leave. Sometimes you just go, not being able to see. I rejoice knowing that I can walk blindly because He knows.

So here is what we can always be certain about. As long as we are at home in our bodies, we are away from the Lord. We live by believing, not by seeing.

2Corinthians 5:6-7

Transformation takes time.

Family walking sticks take time. Shave off the bark, work away the knots, sand down the rough edges. It takes time. The result is something that can be carved into and used for intentional purpose.

It isn't all about the end product. The process brings its own work of art and beauty, its own intentions. If only I can notice the beauty in the process; the whittling away of my layers.

For God loves me in the process of transformation, just as I am.

Thank you God for your transforming power. Take me as I am, transform me, use me for your purpose. Let what has been shaved off of me be a witness to those who are ready to begin a journey themselves. I am thankful to you for the process.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we,who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2Corinthians 3:17-18

Daily Walk

My daily walk to the point gets more and more familiar. The rocks are not in the same places, the lake is changing color and level, I never know what the wind will be on the other side, and the eagles aren't always there; it doesn't get dull. It's familiar because it is always changing. It is a place I like to go every day because it reveals something new each time I go.

My daily walk with Him assures me more each day...He knows where every rock will be, which ones I will pick up, and which ones I will discard.

God thank you for sharing your creation with me on such a personal level. I will look to you for that which is unchanging, always reliable, always there. I love you.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26

Just a day.

I now know where the term poop deck came from...It's the time of year when the geese say goodbye.

"Whose turn is it?" "Does it matter?"

"Twelve year old boy turns into old character due to extended vacation at the lake."

"I've done nothing wrong."

Thank you God for the gift of laughter and the animals and people that make me do so.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing.

C.S. Lewis

Season of Change

Scared, relieved, apprehensive, exhausted, hopeful. Does that fit our faces? She had been waiting for so very long for me to come. Moments before this photo was taken we were standing in a run down, moldy, dark orphanage - this day - one year ago. The little one outside waving goodbye is unknown to me but she went back in, waiting I'm sure for someone to come take her home. I wanted to take them all home that day. I was overwhelmed by what had God had done in bringing us to our daughter. All that time, all that distance, all that waiting, all the faith steps we took are fresh in my mind but so much has changed. I had news today that the orphanage is overflowing with children due to tough economic times in the area. More suffering, waiting children.

So, change, waiting, and periods of adjustment seem to be the theme for us in August. What does God have in store for us this year? We are waiting to find out, waiting, trying to not ask why.

Today though, we just celebrate our family of four, established August, 2008!

God thank you for my daughter, for the changes you initiate, and the patience you demand. Forgive me for my questioning and lack of patience. Take our lives and reform them into what you want. We will try and not ask why.

But with you there is forgiveness so that we can, with reverence serve you. I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Psalm 130:4-6

Friends, Feet, Fishing, and Frogs

Relationships are to me, to my family, the most important things. All of them, unique and special - with family, friends, and most importantly, God.

Thank you Jesus for my relationship with you.

Thank you for feet that sometimes go before me and know the way, and sometimes follow behind.

Thank you for my family.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1Corinthians 13:4-7, 13

Extended Vacation

The headline of this photo might read: "Former city girl becomes old character due to extended vacation at the lake." We have been here for three weeks and I can count on my index finger the number of times I've put makeup on. The days go by. The lake tells me what to do; rock hunting, on the boat, walk in the woods, in the water, read inside, attempt real dinner without blowing a fuse (not mine - the one in the 100 year old cabin), dominoes, stare at the water, stare at the stars. Such a strange, wonderful time in our lives.

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.

Charles Spurgeon

The Real Hannah Hurnard

The truth can be so disappointing sometimes. When I become consumed by a book, a devotional, a Christian book, I like to investigate the author. In researching Hannah Hurnard author of Hinds' Feet on High Places I found out the following:

• She believed in universal salvation, that we save ourselves by suffering and affliction and that suffering brings us into unity with Christ.


• Later she taught that once we are unified with Christ that we could have revelations, do astral projection, etc. Very new age stuff.

I will still read the rest of the book but with my eyes more fully on Christ than before. How easily I can be taken in by beautiful words, how easy it is for me to stray, so prone to wander. It's always good to seek the deeper truth. Through this information being revealed, I've opened yet another can of worms about myself. I'm vulnerable, easily attacked, and susceptible to pretty lies.

Thank you God for opening my eyes once again to how much I need you, how much I don't know, and my need for greater focus on your word, just your word.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. DO people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?"

Matthew 7:14-16

Music in Low Places

So did I hear the beautiful songs in this low place? I did, I opened my mind and ears and God spoke to me quietly in the wind through the trees on my walk in the woods. He offered me peace and grace and lifted me high.

And at the end of the day we breathed in our surroundings and enjoyed.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

James 4:10

Rough Water

This day has one good thing about it...it is almost over. We feel much like the water out there, rough. In the allegory Hinds' Feet in High Places, Much Afraid learns that there are beautiful songs in the valley as well as in high places. The high places are just a starting point to go down into the lowest places. I shouldn't have a continuous desire to get out of the low places but learn to hear all the beautiful songs that are in the valley. Someday, if I learn the language of love, His love, I'll be able to "mount to the High Places swifter than eagles, for it is only up on the High Places of Love that anyone can receive the power to pour themselves down in an utter abandonment of self-giving."

"For you shall go out...with joy, and be led forth...with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands:

Isaiah 55:12

God, help me to hear the beautiful songs in the valley. I give myself to you to do whatever you want. Thank you for this difficult situation we are in. I want to know you for who you are.

Jump for Joy!

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,

God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts unfold like flow'rs before Thee,

Op'ning to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;

Drive the dark of doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness,

Fill us with the light of day!

Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
Henry J. Van Dyke, 1907

Psalm 71:23