W O M E N
F I N D I N G
I came across this picture of our new house taken just one month after we moved in and the next picture was taken just one week ago. I remember standing behind the house and thinking in my mind what a beautiful garden I would plant there some day. The second picture was taken one and a half years later and after a lot of hard work to even get it to the place it is now. I still have many plans and bigger ideas but these two pictures were a great reminder of how far we have come in our progress towards a fruitful kitchen garden.
~REMEMBERING~ I have come to realize the value that lies in embracing memories which encourage the recollection of victories won, battles fought, mountains climbed, prayers answered, difficulties overcome, relationships deepened, personal challenges met... In scripture a book of remembrance would be read to the king on sleepless nights reminding him of battles won, attempted assassination attempts thwarted, history of his ancestors, etc.. How far we have come and the significance of the journey can be a very helpful way in which we can be encouraged, especially in more difficult times. I have seen this to be true in my life many times. I have been able to fall back on so many moments in time seeing God's provision in my life. This excerpt taken from Sarah Clarkson's review on Wendell Berry's book Remembering describes perfectly just how much remembering can affect us and completely alter the direction of our lives. "Remembering is a journey in and through the thoughts of middle-aged farmer Andy Catlett. I knew Andy from previous books as every story Mr. Berry writes is set in the fictional town of Port William. Andy had been a boy when I knew him in Hannah Coulter, but now he was a man who had made the hard decision to return to the farming and family he had left when he was young. The story opens in a dark San Francisco hotel room, where Andy is questioning not only his decision, but everything he loves. Injured, alienated from his wife, far from home, rejected by his peers, feeling that he is a relic from an old time never to be reclaimed, he walks out into the pre-dawn of the San Francisco streets. The first chapters are surreal; as a reader I felt disoriented. Only at the end of the book did I realize that I was meant not just to read, but experience, the terror of being unmoored from the people who love you and the place that knows you. Everything becomes strange. Andy wanders the streets, wondering if he can return to the life he thought he had chosen in Kentucky. Homeless men and suspicious woman grip his eyes; he sees the river-like flow of nameless faces stream through the city, and wonders how anyone can ever be known, can ever get home again. The worst comes gradually to him. He has failed. Does he even want to be found? But then there is this moment as dawn creeps up the edge of the ocean. He sits on a bench, watching. And he begins to remember. Snippets from tales told in his childhood, about the courtship of his great grandparents, or the first farm of his father. The stories of the lives of the men and women whose choices and loves had made possible the shape of his life. They rise up around him and: “He is held, though he does not hold. He is caught up again in the old pattern of entrances: of minds into minds, minds into place, places into minds. The pattern limits and complicates him, singling him out in his own flesh. Out of the multitude of possible lives that have surrounded and beckoned to him like a crowd around a star, he returns now to himself… He has met again his one life and one death, and he takes them back. It is as though, leaving, he has met himself already returning…meeting…a few dead and living whose love has claimed him forever. He will be partial and he will die; he will live out the truth of that. Though he does not hold, he is held. He is grieving, and he is full of joy.” *taken from The Rabbit Room's post by Sarah Clarkson Andy's story of remembrance shows how taking time to reflect changed the direction of his life.. Taking the time to reflect and be reminded of the whys of where we are can be a great reassurance and breathe gratefulness, trust, and hope into our lives. Our lives are connected to the past, lived in the present, and walked in anticipation of hope in the future. I pray you can find grace and peace today in the reminders, sifting through the difficulties to see the victories. "My actions of hope as I search for my place are creating the memories that will one day hold my children. I will find my place on earth. But the story I am making in the process will be part of the “remembering” that grips those coming after me. This journey is a fight, but every step of it is also an act of creation." Sarah Clarkson
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Driving home Friday night from our leadership meeting and making final decisions on how to stream our church service for our small church fellowship I was feeling somewhat distraught. These decisions are not easy to make. Closing our church doors is not to be taken lightly. Per request of the President, Governor, and local leaders, and after much prayer and following the counsel of our church leadership, we felt we needed to show respect to their request in the light of what is happening in our country and our world. On our way home we passed this beautiful cross with the Ten Commandments under it all lit up in the dark night. I have passed it many times but this night the beauty of the lit up cross drew me in. The heaviness in my heart because of the decisions we were having to make to close our doors had weighed very heavy on me but as I passed the cross with the Ten Commandments all lit up in the total darkness I was given a beautiful visual of just how this world is. Although the darkness seems to invade the entire planet at this point, the cross still stands strong to light up the world wherever it is lifted up.
Our prayer this morning in our "quarantined" home church service went right along with the message of this beautifully lit up cross. We prayed together that we would allow our personal lives, and our home to bring glory and honor to His name..that just like this cross that lit up the night, so would our lives be a light in the world. These days are uncertain but our God is certain. We can trust in His word and in Him to guide our hearts into His wisdom and to provide for all our need. There is nothing that He is not aware of, both in our personal lives and hearts, in our nation, and in the world. The world looks like a most uncertain place at times ~ but God is never uncertain. He is the rock that the Psalmist speaks of , our fortress, our Shepherd ~ our God. No matter what our past looks like or how uncertain our future seems, He can be trusted. If you are feeling shaken sometimes it is good to remember all the times that He has taken care of you and met your needs. These are ways to be reminded that He is Always there and will Always be there with you in every circumstance. "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." Isaiah 59:1 As we continue to walk out this "quarantine" time I pray we can take the time to pray for our leaders. This is a new thing to walk through for all of us and our leaders are having to try and navigate through all of this and they are asking for prayer. Prayer is the main resource we have for our nation. My husband always closes our services with the Aaronic Blessing and it seems to fit here very well. Blessings everyone ~ God is in control. "THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON YOU, AND BE GRACIOUS UNTO YOU; THE LORD LIFT UP HIS COUNTENANCE UPON YOU AND GIVE YOU PEACE. AMEN" Many times we try to measure the favor of God only by the situations in our lives being exactly how we would like them to be, when in reality the favor of God is not measured this way. As we are walking through the fiercest of storms we can still find the presence of God when we are keeping our focus on Him. In the very tangible illustration of the "eye of the hurricane" we can see this truth displayed for us to grasp and lay hold of. In the midst of every hurricane there lies the perfect stillness called the eye. In this eye there is serenity surrounded by rain and winds that can be up to 150 mph. Does this sometimes feel like life? Our lives can suddenly seem to feel like the hurricane and we can feel surrounded with raging storms, yet, in the midst of these times if we could regain our focus back to the "eye of our storm" we can still experience that peace which scripture tells us about. To be able to keep this "peace in the midst of our storms" we must retain our focus. In the midst of all of the things which make up our storms there is a faith that must dig deeper, a hope that must trust in confusion, and an expectation that learns to fully rely on the one in which we keep our confidence. It is only when we begin to step out of the "eye of our storm" that we begin to experience the severity of the raging winds around us. Doubt, confusion, and despair can quickly try to settle in our minds and before we realize our hope can be dashed against the rocks. The encouraging thing about this is that even though the storm may not pass right away there will always be the center, the eye, to which we can return and be uplifted again. Jesus, our Savior, will always be at the center of our storms, always there with an outstretched hand ready to lift us out of the troubled waters and walk with us through every storm we experience this side of heaven. The struggles are real, the pain is real, even confusion is very real at times, yet in these times we can grasp His hand and lean on His strength to guide us and keep us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. When all of life doesn't make sense and you just can't seem to find your way through always remember to pause and reflect on the character of God. Scripture teaches of God's faithfulness, enduring love, and kindness. In these times when so much seems to be wrong and nothing makes much sense to us we can fall back in trusting the very character of God and be reminded that no matter what circumstances may appear to be our God is trustworthy and faithful. Trust is the key word in everything in this journey. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Trust, lean not, and acknowledge and He will direct your path. We can also find comfort in this verse although nothing makes any sense to us "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 In closing I'll share one more verse found in Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Found in all of these verses in the key to being able to stay in the "eye" of your storm. We have to take these steps in trust and keep our focus on our Savior, who is the eye of every storm. Trust Him, this is the key.
Much Love, Debbie |