Never Quit

"Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don't look back at it too long. Mistakes are life's way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. No one wins them all, and your failures, when they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits without an occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come.”

Time of Rejoicing

Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4

Faith's Steps

Faith is taking the first step

even when you don't see the whole staircase.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Silence My Heart

We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Mother Teresa

Grace

Grace, Grace, Wonderful Grace

Coming down from the Father Above

Sweep over my spirit, forever, I pray

in fathomless billows of Love

God supplies perfectly measured grace

to meet the needs of the godly.

For daily needs. . .there is daily grace

For sudden needs. . .sudden grace

For overwhelming need. . .overwhelming grace

God's grace is given wonderfully. . .but not wastefully

Freely. . .but not foolishly

Bountifully. . .but not blindly

John Blanchard

Faith

Faith isn't faith until it's all you're holding on to.

What's Your Place Like?

Whatever the "siding"on our house, we must remember that it is what's on the inside that counts most and holds the most value to the Lord. However, on second thought, He wants us to have a proper exterior too!

BTW: That's license plate siding

I've Got a Long Way to Go

I’ve got a long way to go. . .to be like the Lord.
I’ve got a long way to go. . .to be like Him.
I’ve got to be merciful, dutiful. . .faithful and true,
Kind and just. . .in all that I do.
I’ve got a long way to go. . .to be like the Lord.

I don’t remember trudging
Up a rugged hill,
With a cross upon my back.
I don’t recall a thorny crown
Thrust upon my brow,
Now, as I look back,
I’ve never been spat upon,
Ridiculed, wounded
In my side,
Life’s no bed of roses,
But still I can’t deny,
I’ve got a long way to go. . .to be like the Lord.

Traveling onward, upward,
Daily, Lord, am I
On my way to victory.
And when I reach my Calvary,
Someday by and by,
Lord, remember me.
I want You to strengthen me,
Encourage me, deliver me I pray.
For I know my weakness,
And that is why I say,
I’ve got a long way to go. . .to be like the Lord.

(I love this song!)

Hidden With Him

Sometimes our soul likes to hide

from life's cares. But in that hiding

place, make sure you take God along.

Apostles of Hope

Tradition has it that white lilies (often called "white-robed apostles of hope) were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane where drops of Christ's sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress.
Each time we see an Easter Lily, may we think on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope He has given us through life everlasting.

Life's Downs then Ups

Remember, we can't be built up
until we've been torn down

Important Message

Creation's Covering

Rejoice in a World Draped in His Beauty

O Come Let Us Adore Him

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

Matt 1:21-23 (KJV)

Be A Seeker

Wise Men Still Seek Him

The Name of the Game

Ring-a-ring-a-roses

A pocket full of posies

Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down

What a great old nursery rhyme, first printed in Kate Greenaway's 1881 edition of Mother Goose, and later to become a children's game. I remember playing the game as a child (but not in 1881!!! Mercy me!!!). We would hold hands in a circle and go round and round, chanting/singing the words of the rhyme, then we would all fall down. Not sit, stoop, squat or even curtsy; we would drop to the ground with a thud. Ouch!

We as Christians play a similar game today. We still go round and round, even to the point that sometimes we fall. But in life's game as in the 1881 child's version, when we fall, we must never stay down - we must either be up or getting up. (It's called "Taking Control of Our Falls").

Stepping Higher

Lord, please guide my steps to a new level in You











Added note 11/17:
When I first posted this picture I didn't notice that there was no opening at the top of the stairs - then when I realized what I'd done, I thought, Oh no, what a mistake. But then I started to think of what that truly meant. At the top of the stairs, there is a ledge and a wall which lets me know that sometimes our stepping up in Him isn't easy, and we will either move along the edge, never getting our reward - or we can climb the wall and move into a new dimension in the Lord. It's our decision, and how badly we want it.

Mourn Harp, Weep Organ

A number of years ago, during a very trying time in my life, I fell across scripture speaking of The Mourning of the Harp, the Organ to Weeping. This wonderful set of scripture intrigued me. My world was crushed, my spirit broken, and I had no place to hide. All I could do was throw myself into His Word (and prayer) - that is, if I wanted to have joy once more. Perhaps, I am speaking to someone whose world has exploded into tiny pieces, and you doubt you will ever genuinely possess joy again. I am here to tell you, it can happen.

Mourning, weeping comes for a season, and sometimes several seasons. It is a time, if we permit, to enter into the presence of Our Lord. Then when the harp and organ unite in harmonious bonding, there is an encouragement, a promise of a better day. Here below is a poem I penned after the loss of two precious pieces of my heart. I thought I would never smile again...in fact, I don't think I even wanted to but after holding to His precious Word, and looking to life as He sees best, I was able to find joy once again. We must just believe, and listen for the sounds of the harp and organ uniting in purpose and love.

Enter into the tabernacle of praise,
Sacred, filled with reality’s organized tones.
Musical arrangements presenting a unified theme,
Sounds aesthetically tailored for the soul’s ear,
Connecting rhythmic beats in harmonious composition.
A potpourri mixture of melody’s beauty and grace.

Stringed instruments make joyful announcements,
Exhilaration freed by the radiance of nature.
Horns blast forth messages of major triumphs,
Leaving little doubt as to cherished conquests.
Percussion’s ensemble patiently anticipates its turn
To shatter incarcerations of unwanted darkness.

On the platform, spaced close to the wall,
An instrument of heavenly tones awaits introduction.
A golden harp, its opened frame positioned upright, desiring
To unveil creation through touches on graded string lengths.
Forty-six special cords will meet in unique expression.
From its secluded corner, what message will it propose?

Must the harp alone deliver suffering in strains of agony?
Nay, it will be joined by a soul mate, the organ.
For as the harp mourns, its faithful companion too will cry out,
Lending support to the plucking of designated sorrow.
The organ’s methodical tones placidly filtering the air,
While ivory keys act as agents in charge of suppressed spirits.

The harp and the organ will bond in the unity of soul searching,
Presenting the secrets of strength and endurance.
For as the harp mourns in chords of intimate rejection,
The organ weeps in anguish bore of the flesh,
Their sounds saying that they have found a common ground
Their persistent longing in darkness will bring jubilation at dawn.

“Weeping may endure for the night but Joy comes in the morning…”

Where'd that Rock Go?

"...when my heart is overwhelmed:

Lead me to the Rock that is Higher than I."
Psa 61:2

One Stone at a Time

"Remove hence to yonder place and it shall move..." Matt 17.20

An old Chinese proverb says, "The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." That's a pretty powerful statement because mountains come in many sizes - some tower mightily overhead, some are mid-sized, while others look like ant hills. However, with each mountain comes a challenge - a challenge that each of us face every day.

I can't speak as to when your mountains will be removed. That is up to you. And I don't know when my mountains will either - but everyday I intend to pick up a small pebble of hurt, discouragement, failure, and list goes on, that has lodged in my heart, and place put it in God's wheelbarrow to be carried away. Some days, I will notice a boulder or two has been placed inside the wheelbarrow, not of my doing. It will be the labor of an Unseen Hand who is helping make my load much lighter. Today I will continue my quest, laboring to remove one stone at a time - for in time, one of my mountains will be gone and victory will come. Then I will move to another of my mountains and begin the same process. Will I be defeated? No, I can't be...for when I fail to at least try, I am telling the world that there is no God.