Traveling Towards Home

Of all the things I've chosen to do, mothering has been my heart from the time I was small.  I always wanted to be a wife and mother.  I remember telling my own mom, that I wanted to grow up to be just like her.  Nothing more, nothing less. Oh, there were times I wanted to be other things.  Life circumstances would motivate me to investigate nursing, physical therapy, teaching, even midwifery. But looking back, none brought the satisfaction as did mothering my own children.  It was something I believe God planted in my heart and brought about.  It is something that has brought me great frustration, but once you set out on this road, there is no turning back.  I have had to slog on when I was tired, frustrated, disappointed, unprepared. There have been times of deep sorrow and pain.  Experiencing miscarriage a few times made me empathize with others who experienced lose.  Then losing the baby boy we so longed for and nurtured through diffic...

I had the privilege last night of sitting in my husbands Bible class.  They are studying Exodus, chapter 17 to be exact.  As Moses is leading them to the land of Promise, they encounter the Amaleks.  Joshua is enlisted to lead the fighters while Moses climbs far above the battle with two others to rally the troops when they falter.  As long as Moses keeps his staff held high, the Israelites prevail.  But his arms grow weary and as he lowers them to rest, the Amaleks advance against the Hebrew children.   A solution is found in the two men who have climbed the hill with him.  Aaron and Hur find a large stone for him to sit on and they stand on either side to hold his hands steady as he continues to grip the staff for all to see.  The Israelite army takes heart at the sight and are victorious. There are many lessons we might find here.  But the one which struck me last night was the fellowship of these men.  One man, the mighty Moses, ...

"Love suffers long  and  is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. . ." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a I read this passage from 1 Corinthians recently and it just hit me. . . you know, the 'ton of bricks.' I had read those words often and never had it really sunk in that love suffers.   I know, I'm 58 years old.  I've been a Christian for many years, read my Bible and studied.  But it seems there is always something new, something fresh in God's word that I understand on a deeper level as I continue to strive to live the Christian life.  New understanding comes with diligent attendance to the Word. So, the question is:  Am I willing to suffer for love?  Because that ...

Some days are just like that.  I need a hug; not just a little, "Nice to see you," hug, but a big, giant, "You are loved. We need you," hug. My heart has been heavy recently over the state of the world.  How many make blithe promises to 'get closer to God' then never carry through.  Others are on a headlong dash to destruction.  Sadder still, so many in the church seem to be on this same downward dive.  There is little desire to separate ourselves from the world and be different.  No one wants to stand out.  Everyone wants to 'blend in,' to be part of the crowd.   We have the white-faced cow mentality. . . find those who are like us and mingle. I hear the same sermons everyone else does as the gospel is preached, plain and true.  Yet, after the singing of the invitation song, we file out, to do the same things we did last week.  No change in behavior, direction, walk. Jesus came to the world, born to a poor, pious woman and her har...

"  There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife  was  of the daughters of Aaron, and her name  was   Elizabeth .     And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.    But they had no child, because  Elizabeth  was barren, and they were both well advanced in years."  Luke 1:5-7 There are a few things which jump out at me in this section of scripture.   Elizabeth  and Zacharias are described as 'righteous before God,' 'walking in all the commandments and ordinances. . . . .blameless.' How many of us could say we are these things?  Can you say you are righteous before God? What does that mean?  Do you walk in all things in godly ways? We do not live under the commandments and ordinances of the Old Testament, but how do "I" do in walking in the ways set in the n...

Mark 14:7-9 (New King James Version) 7  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  8  She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  9  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” This scripture is perhaps familiar to you.  But, as sometimes happens, it really jumped out at me Sunday when I read it again.  Jesus says some amazing things here, that I think are worth looking at.  You may recall that the woman (and not a 'nice girl' either) brought the costly perfume to Jesus at the supper table and begins by pouring over his (still) dirty feet, crying over them with her tears and then drying them with her hair.  What a sight that must have been.  I wonder how we hostesses would handle this ackward situation today? I w...

Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are my delights. Psalm 119:143 Okay, let us cut to the chase. . . why should I  delight  in God's commands when I'm troubled and in anguish!?  Because putting omy focus upward instead of inward is where God wants my spiritual eyes.  He knows how small and weak I am.  I have to admit to struggling at times, falling into the trap of complaining.  But then I get a gentle reminder from Him that He is still faithful.  His commands are there to guide me in the eternal way. That brings me great  delight ! Yesterday someone tweeted this:  My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorns (G.Matheson). So, today, I'm thanking God for the thorns that poke and prick, for they are the reminders that He faithfully walks with me on that path. . . He walked it Himself long ago.