I keep telling people I am going to report - - and didn't want to do that prematurely - - but since things are on hold for awhile - I will just let you in on it anyway, because it is HUGE for me! My musical that I wrote in 1997 - - and shelved because I couldn't find someone (after asking 1 good friend and 1 professional musician) to write the accompaniment is nearly finished!
But - - equally wonderful is God's timing! He has used the process of this musical as a tool for His divine direction in my life, and is allowing me to see HIS timing, and doors that He has opened - - and now I just trust that all completely to Him! For years it was a dream - - and a touchstone. I believed He did not just give it to me for 'no reason' and He has proved that. But - - it sat in a file for 10 years initially - - then was improved to become the Westminster Edition, which was presented by the Westminster Kid's Choir in 2008 - - and now is being improved again to be the 2010 Edition. Who knows when it will hit the stage again? I don't - - but I am so thrilled it is coming together!
Even yesterday I saw evidence of God's plan and timing - - and it thrills me to be part of that! It's such a joy to see Him weave His patterns in and through our lives! This is a 'bucket list' dream come true for me at this juncture - - that is true - - but all I want is for it to honor the Lord! And I am assured it will!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A NEW INSIGHT!
I have been reading The Psalms for my devotions. Wow, do they speak to me, in reflecting over the past and seeing with gratitude what God has done. Even before I got up this morning, I determined to praise God for the difficult issues I faced in the recent past - and even the distant past. What an attitude adjustment it is to praise God for the bad stuff, from the perspective that He allowed me to experience just a trifle of what he experienced on earth when he was misunderstood, maligned and misrepresented. He, and He alone is my refuge.
I decided to read in the ESV for my devotions - but had read some mornings in the NIV, so during my time of re-reading the first 19 chapters of the Psalms in the ESV this morning, I had an amazing, exciting insight. I realized that running to God in prayer is also praise - because it places him in the place of Lord - the only answer to our problems - and that glorifies Him. I got totally excited by that revelation. We do need to praise Him - just for who He is - and thank Him - - but our prayers of supplication and pouring our woundedness out to Him is also part of worship and honor to God - and therefore is praise! Wow!
It makes the phrase 'He inhabits the praises of His people' even more poignant. He lives with us in every moment of our need, and our seeking His guidance, direction, solace and solutions honors Him, for he is truly the only one who has the solutions - the only one who holds my life in his hands. Wow!
So I'm off to see what the day brings - and looking forward to being able to report on my big 'bucket list' project soon - - I yearn for its completion! And - - am working diligently toward that. Soon - very soon! Al's hunting trip is perfect timing for me - because I can devote myself fully to the project!
Today, Lord, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14.
I decided to read in the ESV for my devotions - but had read some mornings in the NIV, so during my time of re-reading the first 19 chapters of the Psalms in the ESV this morning, I had an amazing, exciting insight. I realized that running to God in prayer is also praise - because it places him in the place of Lord - the only answer to our problems - and that glorifies Him. I got totally excited by that revelation. We do need to praise Him - just for who He is - and thank Him - - but our prayers of supplication and pouring our woundedness out to Him is also part of worship and honor to God - and therefore is praise! Wow!
It makes the phrase 'He inhabits the praises of His people' even more poignant. He lives with us in every moment of our need, and our seeking His guidance, direction, solace and solutions honors Him, for he is truly the only one who has the solutions - the only one who holds my life in his hands. Wow!
So I'm off to see what the day brings - and looking forward to being able to report on my big 'bucket list' project soon - - I yearn for its completion! And - - am working diligently toward that. Soon - very soon! Al's hunting trip is perfect timing for me - because I can devote myself fully to the project!
Today, Lord, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TIME WITH GOD
I typed this into my computer yesterday - did a bit of editing on it this morning, and decided I might as well share it.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TIME WITH GOD
Some people call it devotions – some call it a quiet time with God. Whatever you call it, maintaining a daily devotional time set aside to be alone with God grounds us and keeps our focus directed to Him. It is the perfect way to begin the day – before the clutter of life clouds the mind – or creates the risk of neglecting this special, important personal worship time with God. It requires self-discipline, but it is essential for spiritual growth. God will honor your commitment!
A daily devotional time is not study time. It is simply a specific time – preferably early in the day – to be alone with God – to read something from his Word, perhaps something inspirational as well, and then pray. . .. Before you begin reading your selected portion of the Bible, ask God to open your eyes to see, your mind to understand and your heart to receive what He has for you that day.
Next is prayer time. There are four primary facets of prayer, easily remembered by the acronym A-C-T-S. It isn’t difficult to spend time in prayer when you have a fundamental prayer outline. [Also see Matthew 6:5-15.]
A is for Adoration – simply praising God for who He is. This should not be confused with thanks. It is pure praise – acknowledging God as the wonderful, amazing God He is. Genuine praise is music to our Father’s ears. He inhabits the praises of His people! “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
C is for Confession – a time to search your heart – and allow God to search you as well, inviting His cleansing, and asking His forgiveness for intentional and unintentional sin and shortcomings. Sin falls into two categories: sins of commission (things we do) and sins of omission (things we should have done, but failed to do.) We are most often aware of the sins we have committed. But – what we omit and fail to do is also sin. Confessing is ‘house-cleaning.’ It keeps us right with God and doesn’t give opportunity for sins to fester or grow roots. It is an attitude adjustment! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. “ 1 John 1:9 Isn’t God amazing?
T is for Thanksgiving – simply saying thanks for everything you can think of. You’ll be amazed how your list grows – and how much more thankful you will be by paying attention to all God has done for you, beginning with salvation. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name. Psalm 100:4.
S is for Supplication – asking for what we need from God. This is where we end – not where we begin. Too often we run to God asking – and forget all the other aspects of prayer. We need a lot from God. We need Him daily. We need to pray for our own needs and needs of others. This area includes intercessory prayer. We make commitments to pray for people and bear their burdens. Carry each others' burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TIME WITH GOD
Some people call it devotions – some call it a quiet time with God. Whatever you call it, maintaining a daily devotional time set aside to be alone with God grounds us and keeps our focus directed to Him. It is the perfect way to begin the day – before the clutter of life clouds the mind – or creates the risk of neglecting this special, important personal worship time with God. It requires self-discipline, but it is essential for spiritual growth. God will honor your commitment!
A daily devotional time is not study time. It is simply a specific time – preferably early in the day – to be alone with God – to read something from his Word, perhaps something inspirational as well, and then pray. . .. Before you begin reading your selected portion of the Bible, ask God to open your eyes to see, your mind to understand and your heart to receive what He has for you that day.
Next is prayer time. There are four primary facets of prayer, easily remembered by the acronym A-C-T-S. It isn’t difficult to spend time in prayer when you have a fundamental prayer outline. [Also see Matthew 6:5-15.]
A is for Adoration – simply praising God for who He is. This should not be confused with thanks. It is pure praise – acknowledging God as the wonderful, amazing God He is. Genuine praise is music to our Father’s ears. He inhabits the praises of His people! “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
C is for Confession – a time to search your heart – and allow God to search you as well, inviting His cleansing, and asking His forgiveness for intentional and unintentional sin and shortcomings. Sin falls into two categories: sins of commission (things we do) and sins of omission (things we should have done, but failed to do.) We are most often aware of the sins we have committed. But – what we omit and fail to do is also sin. Confessing is ‘house-cleaning.’ It keeps us right with God and doesn’t give opportunity for sins to fester or grow roots. It is an attitude adjustment! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. “ 1 John 1:9 Isn’t God amazing?
T is for Thanksgiving – simply saying thanks for everything you can think of. You’ll be amazed how your list grows – and how much more thankful you will be by paying attention to all God has done for you, beginning with salvation. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name. Psalm 100:4.
S is for Supplication – asking for what we need from God. This is where we end – not where we begin. Too often we run to God asking – and forget all the other aspects of prayer. We need a lot from God. We need Him daily. We need to pray for our own needs and needs of others. This area includes intercessory prayer. We make commitments to pray for people and bear their burdens. Carry each others' burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2.
A BLOG TO LOVE & A LINK TO ENJOY
I have one blog I follow faithfully - - even if it means 'catching up' on a few posts on occasion when life has been too full to check for her entries. I am offering the connection to you because the author both blesses me and challenges me. It's too good not to share - so I'm sharing. During lent each year she posts daily. Other times of the year, less often, but well worth reading.
Type peacefulones.blogspot.com into your Web browser and it will take you to the link - then you can save it as a favorite if you want to follow Rosemarie's blog. I'm a fan!
The other thing I want to share is the following link. You may need to highlight it, copy it, and move it to your browser to see it - - I have never tried to copy a link from an e-mail to my blog before, so I am not sure how that is going to work - but it is excellent. I also posted it on my Facebook site - and I know you can access it there if you have trouble here.
http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html
Type peacefulones.blogspot.com into your Web browser and it will take you to the link - then you can save it as a favorite if you want to follow Rosemarie's blog. I'm a fan!
The other thing I want to share is the following link. You may need to highlight it, copy it, and move it to your browser to see it - - I have never tried to copy a link from an e-mail to my blog before, so I am not sure how that is going to work - but it is excellent. I also posted it on my Facebook site - and I know you can access it there if you have trouble here.
http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
THE SAGA CONTINUES
Wow! I love my grandkid time - but I sure have found that a major deterrent to writing in the blog. In addition to my adorable grandkids there has been a LOT going on! Some I will wait to share....but the good times have included:
Exciting progress on one of my bucket list items - - I will report on that when it comes to fruition....
July 29-30 A trip to Leavenworth to see THE SOUND OF MUSIC in an outdoor theater. Two daughters, 6 grandkids, Pa and I were on the trip. The salient highlights of the trip were the production - and my visit with my friend, Lucy, for a few hours on Friday the 30th. We first met when we were 8 years old. Now she and her husband are up to their gills in being antique dealers - - in a wonderful shop with lots of dealers in Cashmere. What a treat!
July 31 Helped with Children's Church for the Saturday night worship service.
August 1 I was a last-minute fill-in helper for Children's worship for the 11:00 a m service
August 1 Two grandkids came for overnight - and 2 more came for Monday, for a total of 4. The only reason the other two weren't here was that they were at summer camp!
August 3 I had 4 of my college friends here for dinner. Of that group, 3 are pastors. What a treat to have that shared time. I would have loved for it to last longer - but what a gift. I'm 'logging on' for a longer visit when we get to heaven! I relish the memory of it. With the visit with Lucy in Cashmere, and then the visit with Dave, Judy, Dan and Anita on Tuesday, it just extended the 1960's College Reunion ambiance! What a joy! What memories!
August 5 My brother Ken arrived for a visit (from Idaho).
August 6 we celebrated my eldest grandson's GED. All 4 of our kids were there - a rare treat. We didn't have the 2 kids who were away at camp - or one son-in-law who was in his softball league state championship - but considering how hard it is to get everyone together - it was good!
That night, Erin and her two youngest stayed overnight so they could go pick Mak up at camp the next morning, and Kami was here overnight - and my brother - so it was a fairly full house.
August 8 we entertained a group of 30 for the West Tacoma Newsprint Reunion.
August 9 I spent the day with my brother, Ken.
August 10 The Meyer kids came down to spend the night. Ken stayed to see them - then headed south about 2 p m.
August 11 That's today! I had the Olson kids for the day - plus the 3 Meyers until about 1:30....
That's the nutshell version.
Just want you to know I have missed getting to write - - and have missed my pursuit for finding answers - - or at least defining questions - - regarding the eschatological quest.
Hope I can get back to this soon - - but it seems that the other blogs I read regularly are in the same boat - busy!
I planned to add a couple of other photos - but it isn't working....so I'll hope to do that later....
Monday, August 2, 2010
THE GIFT OF TIME
Wow! My eldest granddaughter has really entertained the troops today! What a joy! So - I'm taking a little get-away and spending some more time in my office while they traipse off to pick wild berries.... I only had 2 cousins that I saw regularly growing up - and they were a lot older than I was - so I treasure the time my grandkids have with each other - building memories....
But I wonder about their future. Those of us who did a good chunk of our growing up in the 1950's lived in a Pollyanna world politically - or so it seemed. I do remember being terrified of airplanes as a younger kid - fearing it could be the Japanese coming to bomb us. And I grew up fearing the Russians - who were our sworn enemies - but they all seemed so very distant.
Then I grew up. The world got a lot smaller. And my views were informed by being exposed to realities I had not previously known. That process continues, actually! But - with that, I live with an awareness of how fragile the continued existence of the world is. We used to be concerned about someone 'pushing the red button' that would bring nuclear disaster - now we have to be more concerned about the apathy that is paving the way for terrorist ideology to destroy everything we know.
I've begun wondering how a country like Turkey - which was Christian - became Muslim, and I found a fairly concise reply on site called Christian History.com. What I read was shocking. The extremists were ignored until it was too late - then genocide followed. The short version is that all who didn't comply were killed.
We are a country who champions religious freedom. It has even become a dividing factor within Christian churches. Everyone has an opinion. But the bottom line is what God thinks - and His Word portrays Him accurately and clearly. And - - when we lack wisdom, He promises us that he gives liberally to all who ask....yet it is still in His time.... He is in the driver's seat!
But I wonder about their future. Those of us who did a good chunk of our growing up in the 1950's lived in a Pollyanna world politically - or so it seemed. I do remember being terrified of airplanes as a younger kid - fearing it could be the Japanese coming to bomb us. And I grew up fearing the Russians - who were our sworn enemies - but they all seemed so very distant.
Then I grew up. The world got a lot smaller. And my views were informed by being exposed to realities I had not previously known. That process continues, actually! But - with that, I live with an awareness of how fragile the continued existence of the world is. We used to be concerned about someone 'pushing the red button' that would bring nuclear disaster - now we have to be more concerned about the apathy that is paving the way for terrorist ideology to destroy everything we know.
I've begun wondering how a country like Turkey - which was Christian - became Muslim, and I found a fairly concise reply on site called Christian History.com. What I read was shocking. The extremists were ignored until it was too late - then genocide followed. The short version is that all who didn't comply were killed.
We are a country who champions religious freedom. It has even become a dividing factor within Christian churches. Everyone has an opinion. But the bottom line is what God thinks - and His Word portrays Him accurately and clearly. And - - when we lack wisdom, He promises us that he gives liberally to all who ask....yet it is still in His time.... He is in the driver's seat!
SENIOR ROAD TRIP
In lieu of what I'd love to write today - I am just going to give you the treat of a cute story....I have 4 grandkids here - so my time is parametered for me!
SENIOR ROAD TRIP - author unknown - I received it as an e-mail....
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip.
When leaving, the elderly woman accidentally left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes.
By then, to add to their aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.
All the way back, the elderly husband was the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became…. He just wouldn't let up for a single minute.
To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card."
This coming week is National Senior Mental Health Week…. You can do your part by remembering to contact at least one unstable Senior to show you care.
SENIOR ROAD TRIP - author unknown - I received it as an e-mail....
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip.
When leaving, the elderly woman accidentally left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes.
By then, to add to their aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.
All the way back, the elderly husband was the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became…. He just wouldn't let up for a single minute.
To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card."
This coming week is National Senior Mental Health Week…. You can do your part by remembering to contact at least one unstable Senior to show you care.
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