After having a conversation with my grandsons I started thinking about the ways in which I could write my blog so that they, being 7 and 5, could better understand my words. The boys are two of the reasons why I am writing down my spiritual thoughts in a blog. They will be able to read it for themselves in the future but, now, I want to write words which they can understand. Words sometimes make the things which we feel, see, hear, smell, and taste very complicated. God’s love is not complicated, and all the ways in which I experience God are not complicated. Below are some ways in which God occurs in my life. Many times the feelings that these thoughts and experiences convey, bring tears to my eyes. I know God is in them and He is in me. I love Him with all of my heart.
I see God in the words of the Bible.
I see God in the faces of children.
I see God in the animals we love.
I see God in the moon and stars in the dark night sky.
I see God in the colorful fish swimming in the ocean.
I see God in the waving wheat fields and in the majestic corn fields.
I see God in a red rose and in all of the other beautiful flowers in my yard.
I hear God in the laughter of children.
I hear God in the soft falling rain.
I hear God in the wind rustling through the trees.
I hear God in a baby’s first cry.
I hear God every time someone tells me that they love me.
I hear God each time the church bells ring.
I hear God in the sound of a bird’s sweet song.
I feel God’s presence when I sing a hymn
I feel God’s presence when I pray.
I feel God’s presence when I read His word.
I feel God’s presence when I sit quietly.
I feel God’s presence when I hold a sleeping child.
I feel God’s presence at home, at church, or walking a path in the woods.
I feel God’s presence in a hug and when my family is all together.
I experience God’s presence in the smell of a beautiful flower.
I experience God’s presence in the smell of a freshly powdered new born baby.
I experience God’s presence in the smell of the air after the rain.
I experience God’s presence in the repeat of a smell which I had smelled in a past memory; knowing that He was with me then as He is with me now.
I experience God’s presence as one of my daughters walks into the room with the distinct smell of their favorite perfume.
I experience God in the smell of fresh pine at Christmas time when I celebrate my Savior’s birth.
I experience God’s presence when the aroma of food fills the room where my family is; cooking and preparing to eat a meal together.
I taste the presence of God, at the alter, during communion.
I taste that God is good when I feed on His word.
I taste the presence of God, just knowing that His words are as sweet as honey.
I taste the presence of God when I say grace before a meal to thank Him for the food which He has provided for my family and me to eat.
I taste the presence of God in the way the Israelites did when they were wandering in the dessert God provided them with manna, quail, and streams of living water. He does the same in my life when I am in a troubled, dry place.
I taste the presence of God when He instructs me of the fact that I do not live by bread alone.
I taste the presence of God because I know that He is my daily bread.
God is Good!
God’s presence is all around us and within us!
Look for Him, Seek Him, You WILL find Him!
He is the Creator.
As we live our lives in a conscious awareness of all of His creation;
He continually gives us glimpses of His presence.
Whether a grandchild, or a grandparent;
Don’t miss what He is showing you and what He is trying to tell you throughout your day, and throughout your life.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Vertical and Horizontal Relationships
Our relationship with God is vertical, heaven to earth and earth to heaven. Our worldly relationships are horizontal, from person to person. Jesus wants to be at the point where the vertical and horizontal of our existence meets. Christ became man, a person in the horizontal realm so that we might understand the vertical relationship between ourselves and God. When we choose to believe in Christ Incarnate being flesh and spirit, man and God at the same time, He becomes our way to God. And God now sees believers through the filter of Christ. How can we know how to live and love horizontally without God’s vertical love and direction? Many try to live life without this order and direction, never finding this point of vertical and horizontal intersection.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they took all of humanity with them. We are all born with original sin. No baby has to be taught how to be bad, we all have to learn how to be good and to do the right things. The Bible says that none are righteous, no not one. When we choose to believe in God and His Word we take on Christ’s righteousness. God sees imperfect us through our Perfect Savior. He took our sins with Him to the Cross. God’s Salvation Plan starts in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned and fell from favor with God. No one is good enough or has worked hard enough to be saved because of who he is or what he has done. We are saved because we choose to believe. We experience a personal vertical relationship with God because we come to God through Christ. Christ reconciled us and restored man’s relationship with God.
Jesus came to show us how to live horizontally and how to treat and respond to others. The Bible is our guide book and also God’s love letter to each of us. As we grow in our Christian walk we should become more like Christ. We must examine our lives and our spiritual growth. Our spirits must be continually fed. Are we feeding our spirits at all? Are we satisfied with our eternal security thinking that we don’t have to grow from a baby Christian to a mature Christian? Do we listen to sermons, read the word, fellowship with other Christians, and study the scriptures? Are we still only feeding ourselves the milk of the word or are we getting into the meat of the word? We cannot become more “Christlike” if we don’t know what Christ was like!
Our Savior and King was first seen by the world in a humble stable. He came to show us how to humbly serve and love one another. Our Lord demonstrated servant-hood by bending down and washing His disciples’ feet. He is the Good Shepherd and we are His sheep. He was kind, soft-spoken, loving, forgiving, humble, generous, thoughtful, truthful, trustworthy, and obedient. Horizontal relationships require humility and love. As Christ bore our burdens, He wants us to bear each others burdens. He says that if you have helped or given aid to anyone, even the least of your brothers, it is as if you have done the good deed unto Him. The opposite is also true; if we harm someone we hurt our Lord and His spirit is grieved.
I will continue to study the word and nurture my faith. Faith is a gift and as I use and expand my faith it grows and develops into a mature faith. The more I stand out in my faith the more it becomes who I am. I will train the habit of faith. I trust God’s word and strive to be obedient to God’s leading in my life. I will persist to seek a more intimate vertical relationship with God and a more loving horizontal relationship with my family, friends, and everyone I meet. I want to hear God’s voice and do His will.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they took all of humanity with them. We are all born with original sin. No baby has to be taught how to be bad, we all have to learn how to be good and to do the right things. The Bible says that none are righteous, no not one. When we choose to believe in God and His Word we take on Christ’s righteousness. God sees imperfect us through our Perfect Savior. He took our sins with Him to the Cross. God’s Salvation Plan starts in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned and fell from favor with God. No one is good enough or has worked hard enough to be saved because of who he is or what he has done. We are saved because we choose to believe. We experience a personal vertical relationship with God because we come to God through Christ. Christ reconciled us and restored man’s relationship with God.
Jesus came to show us how to live horizontally and how to treat and respond to others. The Bible is our guide book and also God’s love letter to each of us. As we grow in our Christian walk we should become more like Christ. We must examine our lives and our spiritual growth. Our spirits must be continually fed. Are we feeding our spirits at all? Are we satisfied with our eternal security thinking that we don’t have to grow from a baby Christian to a mature Christian? Do we listen to sermons, read the word, fellowship with other Christians, and study the scriptures? Are we still only feeding ourselves the milk of the word or are we getting into the meat of the word? We cannot become more “Christlike” if we don’t know what Christ was like!
Our Savior and King was first seen by the world in a humble stable. He came to show us how to humbly serve and love one another. Our Lord demonstrated servant-hood by bending down and washing His disciples’ feet. He is the Good Shepherd and we are His sheep. He was kind, soft-spoken, loving, forgiving, humble, generous, thoughtful, truthful, trustworthy, and obedient. Horizontal relationships require humility and love. As Christ bore our burdens, He wants us to bear each others burdens. He says that if you have helped or given aid to anyone, even the least of your brothers, it is as if you have done the good deed unto Him. The opposite is also true; if we harm someone we hurt our Lord and His spirit is grieved.
I will continue to study the word and nurture my faith. Faith is a gift and as I use and expand my faith it grows and develops into a mature faith. The more I stand out in my faith the more it becomes who I am. I will train the habit of faith. I trust God’s word and strive to be obedient to God’s leading in my life. I will persist to seek a more intimate vertical relationship with God and a more loving horizontal relationship with my family, friends, and everyone I meet. I want to hear God’s voice and do His will.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
A Special Expression of Love on Mother's Day
Mother’s Day is bitter sweet for me. Each year memories of the 1970 Mother’s Day floods my mind. This was the day I went into labor with our first child, Elisa Lynn. She was born on May 11, 1970. Richard and I spent the day with my parents, my sisters, and their families at my sister Jane’s house on Sunday the 10th. I was in labor for more than 16 hours and Elisa was born on Monday morning. Elisa was nine years old when she died on June 27, 1979.
Much has happened in my life since then. My daughters, Erica and Christa, have given me many sweet memories throughout my years as a mother. I am blessed and consider being a mother my most important life time mission. They make me so proud. They are my legacy. Now this legacy has been wonderfully extended to include my grandsons, Trevor (7 1/2) and Hunter (5).
This year Christa visited me a couple days prior to Mother’s Day with her good wishes and a beautiful White Trumpet Lily Plant. Richard and I were with Erica, Trevor, Trevor, and Hunter for dinner on Mother’s Day. I have been going to physical therapy for leg muscle and sciatic nerve pain. Something which I needed was an exercise mat so I can do my exercises at home. This was my very welcomed Mother’s Day gift from Erica.
After dinner I was presented with a special and priceless gift from Trevor and Hunter. It was their precious sweet little voices reading the Hallmark Book, “All The Ways I Love You”. When I first opened the package I thought that they wanted me to record the readings but soon found out that they had recorded their words for me. At Christmas time I had recorded a Hallmark book for them. I was “The Christmas Story”. It took me a long time to read and record each page because I couldn’t do it without crying. It was very emotional for me because of the thought, “if I am able to pass on anything to my grandsons, my faith, my spiritual legacy, is by far the most important thing I can do”. I want them to know Jesus and the Christmas Story. I feel a deep sense of responsibility and honor to be part of their lives.
Erica’s job getting the boys to read, say, and record each page was not easy and is much appreciated. Having 5 and 7 year old boys sit still and concentrate for any length of time is a feat in itself.
I would like to share the words which they recorded for me. I only wish you could hear their little voices as they took turns reading or memorizing the words on each page. Trevor is in the first grade and can read. Hunter is Pre-K so had to memorize his half of each page.
“Happy Mother’s Day Grandma. We love you.”
“I love you quicker than a minute. I love you longer than an hour.”
“I love you stronger than the wind. I love you softer than a cloud.”
“I love when you are quiet. And I love when you are loud.”
“I love you closer than your shadow. I love you further than the sun.”
“I love you, too, when raindrops fall;...one...by one...by one.
“I love you round and round the world. I love you through and through.”
“And when it seems impossible to love you more.....I do.”
My grandsons sure know how to melt a grandmother’s heart!
I thank you Lord for all you have brought me through. I thank you for our daughters, for our son-in-laws, and for our grandsons. As you have loved me, I love them. May each of us pass on your love to others. Thank you Father, for allowing me to be a mother and a grandmother. Amen
Much has happened in my life since then. My daughters, Erica and Christa, have given me many sweet memories throughout my years as a mother. I am blessed and consider being a mother my most important life time mission. They make me so proud. They are my legacy. Now this legacy has been wonderfully extended to include my grandsons, Trevor (7 1/2) and Hunter (5).
This year Christa visited me a couple days prior to Mother’s Day with her good wishes and a beautiful White Trumpet Lily Plant. Richard and I were with Erica, Trevor, Trevor, and Hunter for dinner on Mother’s Day. I have been going to physical therapy for leg muscle and sciatic nerve pain. Something which I needed was an exercise mat so I can do my exercises at home. This was my very welcomed Mother’s Day gift from Erica.
After dinner I was presented with a special and priceless gift from Trevor and Hunter. It was their precious sweet little voices reading the Hallmark Book, “All The Ways I Love You”. When I first opened the package I thought that they wanted me to record the readings but soon found out that they had recorded their words for me. At Christmas time I had recorded a Hallmark book for them. I was “The Christmas Story”. It took me a long time to read and record each page because I couldn’t do it without crying. It was very emotional for me because of the thought, “if I am able to pass on anything to my grandsons, my faith, my spiritual legacy, is by far the most important thing I can do”. I want them to know Jesus and the Christmas Story. I feel a deep sense of responsibility and honor to be part of their lives.
Erica’s job getting the boys to read, say, and record each page was not easy and is much appreciated. Having 5 and 7 year old boys sit still and concentrate for any length of time is a feat in itself.
I would like to share the words which they recorded for me. I only wish you could hear their little voices as they took turns reading or memorizing the words on each page. Trevor is in the first grade and can read. Hunter is Pre-K so had to memorize his half of each page.
“Happy Mother’s Day Grandma. We love you.”
“I love you quicker than a minute. I love you longer than an hour.”
“I love you stronger than the wind. I love you softer than a cloud.”
“I love when you are quiet. And I love when you are loud.”
“I love you closer than your shadow. I love you further than the sun.”
“I love you, too, when raindrops fall;...one...by one...by one.
“I love you round and round the world. I love you through and through.”
“And when it seems impossible to love you more.....I do.”
My grandsons sure know how to melt a grandmother’s heart!
I thank you Lord for all you have brought me through. I thank you for our daughters, for our son-in-laws, and for our grandsons. As you have loved me, I love them. May each of us pass on your love to others. Thank you Father, for allowing me to be a mother and a grandmother. Amen
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Loving Others is a Reason For Our Existence
Life is a journey. God is with us throughout the earthly journey which we are on. He knows and cares for our physical needs and uses the circumstances of life to help us mature spiritually. We are mind, body, and spirit. He is working in every area of our lives. We are spiritual beings in a temporary physical body. God, at times, allows us to experience problems and pain. He uses our times of suffering as a pathway to our spiritual maturation and growth.
In my life’s journey, I have found out that whatever God leads me to; He will see me through. I have also learned that God’s Will never takes me where His grace will not care for me. When I am in the middle of a storm, God is there to give me direction and a quiet peace; a peace that only comes from knowing Him personally. The more I trust Him and demonstrate my obedience to Him, the more my faith grows. We grow in faith by watching God work in our lives and work in the lives of others. Faith is contagious and it is an action word. Our faith grows as we use it. We see God’s power at work and we become bolder in the expression of our faith. God can use me in the lives of others as I allow His reflection to shine through me. Because He loves me, I can love others. I do not want any credit for being His reflection or His vessel. I give God all the Glory for everything He has and will be doing in my life.
The following is a written piece by Claudia Minden Weisz called,
“And God Said No”.
“I asked God to take away my pride, And God said ‘No’.
He said it was not for Him to take away, But for me to give up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, And God said ‘No’.
He said, ‘her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary’.
I asked God to grant me patience, And God said ‘No’.
He said that patience is a byproduct of tribulation, ‘It isn’t granted, it’s earned’.
I asked God to give me happiness, And God said ‘No’.
He said He gives blessings, ‘happiness is up to me’.
I asked God to spare me pain, And God said ‘No’.
He said, ‘suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to Me’.
I asked God to make my spirit grow, And God said ‘No’.
He said I must grow on my own, But He will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked God to help me love others, As much as He loves me,
And God said, ‘Ah, finally you have the idea'."
Loving others is truly a reason for our existence. I love The Lord and I hope my love for each of my readers shines through my writings. I love all of you; family, friends, and everyone reading this blog, even if I don’t personally know you. May each of us pass on to others, God’s unconditional love.
In my life’s journey, I have found out that whatever God leads me to; He will see me through. I have also learned that God’s Will never takes me where His grace will not care for me. When I am in the middle of a storm, God is there to give me direction and a quiet peace; a peace that only comes from knowing Him personally. The more I trust Him and demonstrate my obedience to Him, the more my faith grows. We grow in faith by watching God work in our lives and work in the lives of others. Faith is contagious and it is an action word. Our faith grows as we use it. We see God’s power at work and we become bolder in the expression of our faith. God can use me in the lives of others as I allow His reflection to shine through me. Because He loves me, I can love others. I do not want any credit for being His reflection or His vessel. I give God all the Glory for everything He has and will be doing in my life.
The following is a written piece by Claudia Minden Weisz called,
“And God Said No”.
“I asked God to take away my pride, And God said ‘No’.
He said it was not for Him to take away, But for me to give up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, And God said ‘No’.
He said, ‘her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary’.
I asked God to grant me patience, And God said ‘No’.
He said that patience is a byproduct of tribulation, ‘It isn’t granted, it’s earned’.
I asked God to give me happiness, And God said ‘No’.
He said He gives blessings, ‘happiness is up to me’.
I asked God to spare me pain, And God said ‘No’.
He said, ‘suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to Me’.
I asked God to make my spirit grow, And God said ‘No’.
He said I must grow on my own, But He will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked God to help me love others, As much as He loves me,
And God said, ‘Ah, finally you have the idea'."
Loving others is truly a reason for our existence. I love The Lord and I hope my love for each of my readers shines through my writings. I love all of you; family, friends, and everyone reading this blog, even if I don’t personally know you. May each of us pass on to others, God’s unconditional love.
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