Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Archive for May, 2016

How Ya Doin’?


Be authentic. 

That was one of the comments Bob Goff made this morning as I listened to him. It was my Bayside Devotional for today – and he was the guest speaker. I love Bob Goff. Do you know him? He wrote “Love Does,” one of the most inspirational books I’ve ever read. Google him! 

In his morning message he concluded, “People who know how they’re doin’ seem to have the ability to give away more hope.” That resonated with me. And he emphasized the importance of our interdependence when he said, “I won’t know how I’m doing until I know how you’re doing.” He was referring to his daughter, his wife, all the people he cares about who are on his daily prayer list. 

I have a hundred people on my prayer list. Really! I put their faces before me and bring each one to God each morning. He knows how they’re doin’! God sees each one and cares for them. But, like Bob Goff, sometimes I gotta know, too. Really know. I whip off a text or an e-mail, make a phone call, write a card, or do a quick “What’sApp” connection. I gotta know. How ya doin’? I won’t know how I’m doin’ til I know how you’re doin’! Be authentic. 

“I’m fine” ain’t an okay response – unless you are! Get real. I really care.  I do!

Bostons

IMG_7047

Yes, I confess, I am a member of BostonTerrierAddicts on its FaceBook page. We post pictures and videos of our dogs and do a lot of ooohing and awwwing. Our Taze is the “Tazmanian Devil with Ears”. As a puppy, when we got her five years ago, her gigantic ears were straight up at only ten weeks young! We were going to name her “Angel,” until we met her. BOING! BOING! BOING! She was a jumping jack! Nope, “Angel” didn’t fit!

Most Bostons’ antennae stick up straight and as puppies the ears seem larger than the rest of the dog put together. When one ear flops and takes its time perking up, some new Boston Terrier people become quite concerned. When is it ever going to straighten up? Ike, one of my favorite Boston Addict pups, is four and a half months. Isn’t he adorable?

Not to worry!! That ear will pop up soon! And if not, who cares?

Well, I think Bostons are precious with or without both antennae working . Don’t you find them irresistible, too?

Camouflaged


Look very closely – 

Slow down so you can see

Camouflaged around you

Nature’s treats for you and me. 

How often in our hustle

Do we pass by unaware

There are sights of untold beauty

Astonishingly visible out there?

Acts of Courage


Standing up and surviving when others around you cave in and die (if not physically, then spiritually it seems) takes courage. What is courage? This quote is attributed to John F Kennedy:

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

It not only tells us what courage involves, but what its results can be, too. I want to be part of that ripple of hope – the daffodil with the will to survive when all around me are shriveling up. Stand up! Speak out!

Instead of building walls of exclusion, let’s erect gates for inclusion. Instead of mass deportation, let’s reinstate “Give me your tired, your poor, your hungry masses yearning to be free.” Instead of bemoaning our ills and sending up rockets of fear and hopelessness, let’s join together with energy to create the Justice and Hope we all long for. 

Are you with me?

Make Us One

IMG_7065

I take notes when I listen to the sermon in church. It helps meĀ  internalize the message in a way that sticks. Then, I can share with my husband, Bob, whose mind wanders during sermons. We discuss it on the way home and I read my notes to him. Usually they are in poetic format. That’s how my mind holds on and interprets.

Here is my take on Rev. Jean Johnson’s message from John 17: 2-26.

MAKE US ONE

May the love I have for you
Also be in you.
May my words echo in your heart
And ring loud and true.

Each day I pray for you and yours,
For health and strength and peace.
My prayers include family and friends,
My kids, my sis, my niece.

I pray for us and our health, too,
And ask for family unity.
Jesus prayed that we be ONE –
Mend divisions between you and me.

From time’s beginnings, splits occurred –
From Adam, to disciples, to now.
Jesus asked God to make us one
Stop our bickering somehow.

Set aside our differences.
Teach us, Lord, to pray
That we can love as Jesus loved.
Make us one today.

Amen?

 

 

 

Montana Beauty


Traveling from the Madison

To the Gallatin Valley

The scenery so gorgeous

I have to pinch myself

To make sure it’s real.
Snow on May the 10th?

After welcoming the spring

Makes me question reality.

But hearing the robins sing,

I know it’s real!

Snow in May

image

All my sisters have withered

In the snows of Montana’s May,

But I’m a winter hold out –

Here to brighten your life today.

 

Mother’s Day – Hope

image

Happy 22nd Birthday, Hope,

Granddaughter full of joy.

Thanks for sharing your special day

With Grammy & Grampy.

It was a special day for us, too –

Mother’s Day always is.

Someday when you’re a mother,

You’ll understand what

Sharing this day really means!

 

National Day of Prayer

May your National Day of Prayer

be a day when your heart strings

are connected to God’s heartstrings

HeartStrings

Enter a caption

And may your prayers be answered

with all the love God, in grace and mercy, can muster.

Amen!

Chris Armstrong’s Challenge

What’s the most important thing

   In your life?

If you’re like me, you’ll answer

   It is Christ!

How do you teach that message

   To your kids?

Let your light shine through the darkness – 

   Take off the lids. 

Lift the top off your overflowing cup;

   Let it flow!

In a big step of faith, step out and

   Let yourself go!

Go to follow God’s decrees and

   Let the Scriptures talk. 

Stay connected to the vine as you

   Imitate Christ’s walk. 

What’s the most prized possession

   That you own?

Are you willing to sell it and strip

   Down to the bone?

Are you willing to give away

   All you have to give?

Are you willing to follow Jesus

   Every day you live?

Are you willing to go where

   God asks you to go?

Are you willing to share God’s love

   With people you don’t know?

If God is calling you to 

   Do something for Him,

Obey the Word of God and feel

   His love; Go out on a limb!

Trust God to guide you – and know 

   He will lead your way. 

Let the Holy Spirit speak through you. 

   Hear what He has to say. 

Amen?

Amen!

Tag Cloud

%d bloggers like this: