Gary finished the waterfall today! I added pictures of it at the end of the arbor slideshow.
Arbor
Leo is 3 months today :)
14 years ago
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
In Response to a discussion about Mother Teresa
On my friend Dawn's blog we have had a small discussion about the news about Mother Teresa. It made me think of these three devotions I have copied from Forerunner Meditiations
Song of Songs 2:10
My lover spoke to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, ad come with me.”
He is calling her to come away with Him, to leap and skip over the mountains. Jesus wants His Bride to agree and join with Him in all of His doings. He is asking her to step out of her comfort zone and leave her place of familiarity to partner with Him.
What He is calling her to do is frightening and uncertain to her. It is a step that will force her to trust and obey Him completely. She feels as if she doesn’t like the risks of walking by faith. She does not want to go to the high places because she is afraid of the mountains.
Faith is the way of the Kingdom. God, in His infinite wisdom, has ordained a Kingdom that operates by absolute confidence in the invisible things of God (2 Cor. 5:7,4:18). The way of faith is a mysterious way to operate a Kingdom; however, God, who is perfect in knowledge, desires a Bride for His Son who is willing to take His hand with confidence and partner with Him in all His decisions. The foundation of the Kingdom must be founded on confidence in God. We honor our Lord when we have confidence in His integrity, even though we can’t feel or see anything. It reflects devotion and commitment, much more than seeing and feeling does.
The young Bride did not yet want to be a warrior. She wanted to sit under the shade tree for the rest of her life and enjoy loving and worshipping Jesus. She did no want to war against darkness, yet God wants a worshipping, warring Bride. He wants us to both love and fight, because He is a warrior and He is a lover (Ps. 62:11-12)
My lover is mine and I am His; He browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills. Song of Songs 2:16-17
Now sincere love is expressed. The Bride declares that she belongs only to Jesus. She is proclaiming with confidence that she has not lost her place in the heart of God. She knows that Jesus is still hers, and that she belongs to Him. She is not just loved and cherished by Christ, but she belongs solely to Him and no other.
This is the reality that she is truly starting to accept. She is allowing herself to take her place as the Bride of Christ and profess that she is His. She is a lover of God, and God loves her even in her weaknesses. She is committed and sincere even if she is not yet fully victorious or mature.
However, despite her beginning to understand this truth, she still chooses not to follow Him over the mountains. She bids Him to go on without her. She is refusing to obey Him, not because she is rebellious or because she is a hopeless hypocrite, but because she is spiritually immature.
It is dark until the day breaks and brings new light. The time when day breaks is the time when light or maturity becomes present. She is telling Him that she wants His help to conquer these areas in her heart so she can go on to the mountains with Him. She doesn’t want to go to the mountains until the light of day comes and shadows , or the gray areas, are gone.
She is telling Him that she still has unbelief in her heart, but she wants His light to come and take it away. She says, “God, unless there is more light and I am more mature, You are going to have to turn and go on without me. I cannot rise until the shadows have fled.”
This happens to many Christians during their spiritual journey. They decline when Christ asks them to partner with Him, and because of this, they feel as if they are hopeless hypocrites. They doubt their sincerity towards Christ, and they wonder if they even love Him the way that they thought they did. Then they begin to run away from the things of God instead of toward the things of God.
This is what Satan wants the beloved to do. He wants her mistakes to conquer her instead of causing her to run to God for help. Mistakes do not disqualify you from being with Christ; they qualify you to run to Christ. This does not mean you should try to sin and make mistakes, but it does mean that even if you slip and fall in a time of weakness, you should get right back up and run back to the love Christ.
Ask Christ to shine the light of His countenance down upon your life so the shadows of fear and doubt would flee and the gray areas of immaturity would become as light. Ask Him to give you grace that allows you to run to Him in times of struggle.
By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought Him, but did not find Him SOS 3:1
She told Him to go to the mountain without her, and now His manifest presence in her life is gone. He is still with her, but she cannot feel His immediate presence with her the way she did before.
It is a new experience for her to seek after Him and not find Him. This was her own doing, however, because she chose not to obey His biddings to join with Him. She stayed behind her wall of isolation praying on her bed (her place of rest and comfort). She preferred to sit under the shade tree and eat grapes and raisin cakes instead of following Him.
Because He loves her too much to leave her in a position of disobedience, Jesus refuses to come to her until she obeys Him. He is now absent from her presence, and she is alone. She was sincere in her love and affections for Him, but she is not ready to give up her place of comfort to enter into new levels of partnership.
This love will eventually drive her to pursue Him passionately, but unless she is left without His presence, she will have no reason to leave the security of her bed. She may feel alone and forgotten, but He continues to woo her to come away with Him. Just because His presences is not manifest doesn’t mean He is not beckoning her to arise. Rather, the lack of His Spirit near her will eventually drive her to pursue the One she loves.
This is the bridegrooms pure divine strategy to stir up His Bride. He wants her to discover for herself that the only safe and perfect place is in partnership with Him. Wherever He goes, no matter where He goes, this is where His Bride should be. We should be completely dependant on Him, then He will hide Himself for a time until we are ready to agree with His decisions.
Seek the Lord, but don’t just seek Him like you did in other seasons of you life. Seek Him in the night seasons as well as the day, when you feel His presence and when you do not. Isaiah 64:7 says, “Is there anyone who calls upon God’s name, who stirs Himself up to take hold of God?” There is a time to stir yourself up to take hold of God because sometimes God does hide His face until we seek Him. However, He promises that if you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him He will be found by you.
Song of Songs 2:10
My lover spoke to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, ad come with me.”
He is calling her to come away with Him, to leap and skip over the mountains. Jesus wants His Bride to agree and join with Him in all of His doings. He is asking her to step out of her comfort zone and leave her place of familiarity to partner with Him.
What He is calling her to do is frightening and uncertain to her. It is a step that will force her to trust and obey Him completely. She feels as if she doesn’t like the risks of walking by faith. She does not want to go to the high places because she is afraid of the mountains.
Faith is the way of the Kingdom. God, in His infinite wisdom, has ordained a Kingdom that operates by absolute confidence in the invisible things of God (2 Cor. 5:7,4:18). The way of faith is a mysterious way to operate a Kingdom; however, God, who is perfect in knowledge, desires a Bride for His Son who is willing to take His hand with confidence and partner with Him in all His decisions. The foundation of the Kingdom must be founded on confidence in God. We honor our Lord when we have confidence in His integrity, even though we can’t feel or see anything. It reflects devotion and commitment, much more than seeing and feeling does.
The young Bride did not yet want to be a warrior. She wanted to sit under the shade tree for the rest of her life and enjoy loving and worshipping Jesus. She did no want to war against darkness, yet God wants a worshipping, warring Bride. He wants us to both love and fight, because He is a warrior and He is a lover (Ps. 62:11-12)
My lover is mine and I am His; He browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills. Song of Songs 2:16-17
Now sincere love is expressed. The Bride declares that she belongs only to Jesus. She is proclaiming with confidence that she has not lost her place in the heart of God. She knows that Jesus is still hers, and that she belongs to Him. She is not just loved and cherished by Christ, but she belongs solely to Him and no other.
This is the reality that she is truly starting to accept. She is allowing herself to take her place as the Bride of Christ and profess that she is His. She is a lover of God, and God loves her even in her weaknesses. She is committed and sincere even if she is not yet fully victorious or mature.
However, despite her beginning to understand this truth, she still chooses not to follow Him over the mountains. She bids Him to go on without her. She is refusing to obey Him, not because she is rebellious or because she is a hopeless hypocrite, but because she is spiritually immature.
It is dark until the day breaks and brings new light. The time when day breaks is the time when light or maturity becomes present. She is telling Him that she wants His help to conquer these areas in her heart so she can go on to the mountains with Him. She doesn’t want to go to the mountains until the light of day comes and shadows , or the gray areas, are gone.
She is telling Him that she still has unbelief in her heart, but she wants His light to come and take it away. She says, “God, unless there is more light and I am more mature, You are going to have to turn and go on without me. I cannot rise until the shadows have fled.”
This happens to many Christians during their spiritual journey. They decline when Christ asks them to partner with Him, and because of this, they feel as if they are hopeless hypocrites. They doubt their sincerity towards Christ, and they wonder if they even love Him the way that they thought they did. Then they begin to run away from the things of God instead of toward the things of God.
This is what Satan wants the beloved to do. He wants her mistakes to conquer her instead of causing her to run to God for help. Mistakes do not disqualify you from being with Christ; they qualify you to run to Christ. This does not mean you should try to sin and make mistakes, but it does mean that even if you slip and fall in a time of weakness, you should get right back up and run back to the love Christ.
Ask Christ to shine the light of His countenance down upon your life so the shadows of fear and doubt would flee and the gray areas of immaturity would become as light. Ask Him to give you grace that allows you to run to Him in times of struggle.
By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought Him, but did not find Him SOS 3:1
She told Him to go to the mountain without her, and now His manifest presence in her life is gone. He is still with her, but she cannot feel His immediate presence with her the way she did before.
It is a new experience for her to seek after Him and not find Him. This was her own doing, however, because she chose not to obey His biddings to join with Him. She stayed behind her wall of isolation praying on her bed (her place of rest and comfort). She preferred to sit under the shade tree and eat grapes and raisin cakes instead of following Him.
Because He loves her too much to leave her in a position of disobedience, Jesus refuses to come to her until she obeys Him. He is now absent from her presence, and she is alone. She was sincere in her love and affections for Him, but she is not ready to give up her place of comfort to enter into new levels of partnership.
This love will eventually drive her to pursue Him passionately, but unless she is left without His presence, she will have no reason to leave the security of her bed. She may feel alone and forgotten, but He continues to woo her to come away with Him. Just because His presences is not manifest doesn’t mean He is not beckoning her to arise. Rather, the lack of His Spirit near her will eventually drive her to pursue the One she loves.
This is the bridegrooms pure divine strategy to stir up His Bride. He wants her to discover for herself that the only safe and perfect place is in partnership with Him. Wherever He goes, no matter where He goes, this is where His Bride should be. We should be completely dependant on Him, then He will hide Himself for a time until we are ready to agree with His decisions.
Seek the Lord, but don’t just seek Him like you did in other seasons of you life. Seek Him in the night seasons as well as the day, when you feel His presence and when you do not. Isaiah 64:7 says, “Is there anyone who calls upon God’s name, who stirs Himself up to take hold of God?” There is a time to stir yourself up to take hold of God because sometimes God does hide His face until we seek Him. However, He promises that if you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him He will be found by you.
Friday, August 17, 2007
What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswiYEXZrIg
I got this from a friend today....what does this do for you?
I got this from a friend today....what does this do for you?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Are You In the Fire?
The Quiet Sermon... A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man home alone, sitting at a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday." We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken. If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything!
Monday, August 13, 2007
It's The Middle Of August!
And I am growing endeared to these little guys!
Even though they startle me when they come right up next to me. They are noisy little fliers
I thought I had lost one of my ferns to our Spring's deep freeze
Only to discover today that there is life! Good thing I didn't dig it up!
Today I also discovered this guy is living in the water holding tank of my pot!
My wisteria is blooming...in spite of what the deep freeze did to it earlier!
Ohhhhh, soooo cute!
I haven't been able to get a picture of the ruby throated one yet.Saturday, August 11, 2007
Stop and Smell the Roses...
OR WATCH THE HUMMINGBIRDS!
Early this spring I ordered a hummingbird garden. I posted those plants all around my back yard so that I could attract hummingbirds all over the back yard. I have been complaining that now that I have a hummingbird garden I don't even get hummingbirds! Yesterday as I was watering the plants I screamed as something big was about to land on my face! BIG? Well a hummingbird is big when it is "in your face"!!!!!! As I continued watering I got to thinking about the fact that Gary has built so many gardens for me that I spend more time working them than sitting back and enjoying them. I determined this morning that I would sit back and watch and see if indeed I have attracted hummingbirds. Oh yes!!!!! You cannot imagine the delight I experienced this morning as I sat and watched many hummingbirds going from one flower to the next. Butterflies, bigger than the hummingbirds intimidating the birds! What attracts hummingbirds attracts bees as well. I saw so many different kind of bees. Some actually competing with the birds!
As you can imagine I was in a state of great delight! While in that "intoxicated" state I heard from Father.
He said, "Joyce, did you know that my delight when you come into My presence is even more than what you are experiencing now with the birds & butterflies and bees?"
Oh folks...He delights in us and we just keep being busy with all the "important" things that keep us from coming into His presence.I'm in love with God....God's In Love with me!
Monday, August 06, 2007
The Power of Children's Ministries
As noted in my last post I received recognition at camp for retiring after 21 years. Something has stayed on my mind that I just have to post about. The work I have done at camp the last few years has pretty much kept me as an unknown among the children. As Pastor M announced my retirement she had a few good words to say about me and I had a few tears. What happened afterwards with the 3rd and 4th graders has left me thinking!!!!! Probably a good 50 to 75 kids ran up to hug me. It was very interesting to note the desperateness some had to comfort me. One boy even gave me his last two tickets to the snack shack! Of course he had no idea that I am the one who buys the roll of tickets and I can go into the snack shack without tickets and get whatever I want!!!!!
It was interesting to note the desperateness some had to be touched by the new hero. What I mean by that is this. The few words Pastor M had to say....my tears....my few words changed the whole dynamics of who I was at camp!!!!!! Even the following day the kids had a need to comfort me or receive a touch from me.
What has stayed on my mind is how easily their little minds can be molded at that age. Oh, how careful we must be!!!!! We must choose our words wisely as we build up people in their lives. We must be careful to not have negative things to say about people who deserve their respect.
I have worked in children's ministries for years but have stepped out of direct work and had forgotten that we can easily mold their heroes for them. So many of them have fake heroes. Let's find the godly men and women in our lives and help shape our children by giving them as their heroes!!!!!!
It was interesting to note the desperateness some had to be touched by the new hero. What I mean by that is this. The few words Pastor M had to say....my tears....my few words changed the whole dynamics of who I was at camp!!!!!! Even the following day the kids had a need to comfort me or receive a touch from me.
What has stayed on my mind is how easily their little minds can be molded at that age. Oh, how careful we must be!!!!! We must choose our words wisely as we build up people in their lives. We must be careful to not have negative things to say about people who deserve their respect.
I have worked in children's ministries for years but have stepped out of direct work and had forgotten that we can easily mold their heroes for them. So many of them have fake heroes. Let's find the godly men and women in our lives and help shape our children by giving them as their heroes!!!!!!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
My Treasures
You might think that the quilt is my treasure with the title and picture....but that is not so!The quilt REPRESENTS some treasures in my life.
Last night my friends at camp threw a surprise party for me because I have retired from camp after 21 years of wonderful times. This was their gift to me.
The memories, the friendships, the prayer times, the laughter, the joy of watching so many children coming to know Jesus Christ will all be brought back to my mind over and over as I make and remake my bed with this lovely quilt.
I thank God for this journey I have been through with these wonderful treasures in my life!
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