God-given Fleas~

“You parents -  if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good and advantageous gifts to those who ask Him" (Matthew 7:9-11)!

Greetings,

Corrie Ten Boom is one of my faith heroes.  She was an AMAZING woman who helped many Jews during World War II.  Eventually, she was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.  You can read her inspiring and powerful story in her book The Hiding Place.   As you might imagine, she endured many incredibly difficult situations.  And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she and the others in her barracks came down with fleas.  Fleas in a concentration camp where there were no ointments, baths, remedies or relief.  God, really?  But Corrie was a mighty woman of faith, and she thanked God for those fleas.  She believed as a praying child of God that there must have been a good reason for them. 

It turns out that the fleas were a God-given blessing that spared Corrie and the other women unspeakable horrors at the hands of monstrous, abusive guards who would systematically rape and torture other prisoners; the guards would not go anywhere near the infestation. The God-given fleas even allowed Corrie to share the gospel and have prayer meetings in those barracks.  So many women came to know Jesus because of those fleas.  Imagine that! Fleas being responsible for a legacy that will last all eternity.

If we really think about it, those fleas were actually the choicest of "bread" and "fish" – the best possible gift from God.  Tremendously "good" and beyond "advantageous."

PRAYER: Dear Lord, sometimes we think we have received "fleas" when all along it was exactly what we needed to ultimately be blessed and bless others.  Help us to trust Your goodness over what our eyes see or what our minds think.  Change our perspective today; You are the best Gift-Giver. We are grateful.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Willow's Rope~

*Originally published March 2018

Greetings,

One of my favorite things ever is a bird planter Jorge gave me.  It hangs on my porch, and I have named it Willow.  It pleases me tremendously to water Willow, and the bigger the plant grows, the prettier Willow looks.  Interestingly enough, however, is that before Jorge hung it up on the trusty nail, he took a lighter and set the ends of Willow's rope on fire.  I didn't freak out because I have seen him do this before.  The fire, which is such a destructive force, when applied properly and supervised, actually strengthens the rope. Any loose fibers are melded together and prevent the rope from unraveling.  If Willow's rope ever frayed, she would fall and shatter.

Is it any wonder our Lord talks about refining fire in the Bible?

Psalm 66:8-12 “Bless God! Give Him a thunderous welcome! He set us on the road to life. He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires…pushed us to our very limit…finally brought us to a well-watered place” (The Message Version).

God trains us by allowing certain fiery trials in our lives, but look at the final destination: A well-watered place.  A refreshing place. A place of abundance. A place that flourishes with life.

Difficulties and struggles are prime training ground, and we can easily be pushed to our limit.  But consider the following:

I have a buddy whose child needed certain medical treatment but was turned away because of a scheduling issue.  The treatment was time sensitive, and she called me near hysteria.  Old-timey Yenise would have joined her in screaming, “OH KNOW! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?” But well-trained Yenise, in a calmness that can only come from God, very quietly said that if God wanted that test today, it would happen.  We prayed and handed God the reins on the way to the medical center. I calmly and persistently explained the issue to a less-than-kind receptionist, but I kept my cool, and the child was eventually seen. It was all a result of my having been there in similar situations, situations where my first reaction was to FREAK OUT.  Situations where praying was the last thing on my mind, wondering if it even made a difference. But I learned and continue to learn to seek Him first, no matter what, and practically demand the peace He says He gives.  

I remained unfrazzled in that circumstance, and my buddy and I were both better off because of it.  There is such a benefit to acknowledging God as the Lord of your life and blessing His name.  Thanking Him that He will bring something good out of your troubles.  Thanking Him that you will be stronger as a result of the fire. Thanking Him that the stuff that used to frazzle you is no longer an issue.  Thanking Him that your life will never ever shatter when He is in control.  And thanking Him that a well-watered, cool, refreshing place, drenched in blessings is in your future.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are our Father, and we trust You during our training. We all want to arrive safely to the well-watered places of life, and You know best how to get us there. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

I Have Beautiful Feet!

Tuesday greetings!

I skipped my last pedicure appointment on purpose; I am giving my nails a break from all the polish.  But at this point, I desperately need some clipping, cuticle cutting, and fresh polish.  Essie Marshmallow, please! I will also require a professional-grade sander and copious amounts of coconut oil to smooth out my calluses.  And yet, dear people, I HAVE BEAUTIFUL FEET!

Romans 10:15 "…How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

That’s right!  Whenever you or I get up and go to encourage someone with the good news of God’s forgiveness, eternal salvation, joy, love, hope, provision, faith, peace, healing, and protection, that makes our feet – pedicured or not – BEAUTIFUL!

Notice how this verse does not say, “How beautiful are the lips of those who bring good news.”  Sometimes, we need to get up and go and make a person-to-person connection.   A phone call or a text is not enough.  The best part is that when we show up, the focus will be on God’s goodness and not on how we look.

Over the years there have been many lovely feet that showed up and reached out to help me and pray with me in my moment of need.  It was life-giving and life transforming. 

May all our feet be “beautiful” on a regular basis.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the beautiful feet of those who have reached out to us in the past.  Bless them for their encouraging words, and bless us as we get up and go encourage others.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Our Safe Haven~

Psalm 91:4 "He will cover you and completely protect you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a wall."

Greetings,

Jorge and I like the beach  -  especially early in the morning.  We fill our little wagon with towels, food, a radio, swim noodles, a radio, sunscreen etc...  But the most important thing we take  -  the one thing that will enable us to enjoy our day  -  is our pop-up tent.  Positioned just right, it is the perfect barrier between us and the hot smoking sun.

God covers us as well.  He does so completely, and it's a safe haven.  No matter how hot it gets, we are protected and secure under His wings.   This happens when we pray, and we will always find refuge when we seek it.

Let us seek!

PRAYER: Dear Lord,  We look to You today to be our protector.  It is comforting to know that in an increasingly dangerous world, You keep us from evil and temptation.  When we are under Your wings, we are close to Your heart and that gives us peace.  How beautiful it is to pray and activate our faith in You.  In Jesus' name, Amen~

This is the Moment!

Greetings,

When Jorge and I were first married we happily moved into our little condo with all the joy that comes from being newlyweds.  Our first washer/dryer was a small stackable combo unit, and I remember how nicely it fit in the small utility room.  One day the dryer started making a funny noise, and Jorge, Mr. Fix-it that he is, removed the back panel, tinkered with it for a while, and reassembled it.  It worked perfectly fine, except there were 16 tiny screws left over that Jorge did not know where they were supposed to go, so off to the surplus screw jar they went.  Jorge, of course, was proud of himself nonetheless.

He and I have something in common: Jorge enjoys taking things apart, rebuilding them, and feeling a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.  I also enjoy breaking down scripture, examining every bit of a verse, extracting as much truth as I can so I can build myself up – encourage myself, bring joy to myself, and bring peace to myself.

Take Esther 4:14, “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?" 

I have known this verse since forever.  But yesterday I read another translation that says, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.”

Suddenly, I wanted to break this verse down.  I wanted to examine and extract any inspiration God had for me. 

Let’s think about it.  Why were we born when we were born?  Why weren’t we born in 1865?  Why weren’t we born 20 years ago or 20 years from now?

Could it be that right now, at this very moment, we are to use our life, and the season of our personal existence in the continuum of history, to do something AMAZING?

Esther had to be born at just the right time to just the right family to be just the right age when God called her to literally marry the one person who could save the Jews, her own race, from annihilation.   It’s an incredible story that reminds us that this is the moment for which we have been created.

In the absence of history-altering scenarios like saving an entire race of people, is there still something grand that we can be a part of?

Absolutely! We can all pray, and prayer changes lives and circumstances.  It has positive effects on our families, friends, communities, churches, and yes, even the government. We should never ever underestimate its power because of the Almighty One to Whom we are praying.  

Not one of us is alive on October 2, 2018 by accident.  God has us here for a GREAT PURPOSE!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that we are important and matter to You.  We are living right now because You have a purpose for us that only we can fulfill.  Make it clear to us what You want us to do. We are willing to step in and change the course of history.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Toddlers Shout!

“Nursing infants gurgle choruses about You; toddlers shout the songs that drown out the enemy talk, and silence atheist babble” (Psalm 8:2 THE Message version).

Greetings,

One of my favorite activities is pushing my little grandbaby on her porch swing.  Every morning I take her outside, put on her favorite music, strap into her pink swing, and push away.  She loves it, and I love watching her love it.  She cracks herself up, and it’s really the only time she opens her mouth where I can see her precious teeth without fear of being viciously bitten. 

This morning, however, I actually paid attention to the lyrics of the songs booming out of my portable speaker.  It’s a collection of Christian toddler tunes, and as I listened to lyrics like, “Jesus loves me,” “Bless the Lord – o my soul,” “Hosanna, Jesus saved me," and “I have the joy of the Lord,” I found myself grateful for:

Living in a nation where this type of wholesome, uplifting music is readily available for babies and everyone.

Sweet children singing their hearts out about Jesus.

The truths they are singing about are for babies, and for those of us who are not so young anymore.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we bless You and thank You that You love us.  We bless You today for all the blessings You constantly shower on us.  We are inundated with wisdom, peace, joy, faith, hope, health, and love. We are also saved from having to live this life on our own and saved for all eternity.  And thank You that when we praise You, all enemy talk is drowned out! In Jesus’ name,

we pray, AMEN.

It's a GOOD Habit!

“Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come endure them patiently, steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Greetings,

When my children were in elementary school they had one particular teacher with a very stern approach to dealing with bad behavior. She had a big, colorful construction-paper dog house on the bulletin board with all the kids’ names written on big, white, construction-paper bones.  If you misbehaved your bone was placed in the dog house.

It seems like every single day there were more bones in the doghouse than not.  I know because I made it a habit to check for my own kids’ names. And every kind of bad habit could get you sent to the dog house.

“Don’t bite your nails!” or “Don’t pick your nose!”

Then came the loveliest of all teachers, Mrs. Albury.  She had a completely different approach.  Rather than point out all the stuff the kids were always doing wrong, she made it a point to catch them doing something good. And then the world would find out because she would put a little bee with the student’s name on it in the big yellow and black beehive on her bulletin board. Trust me when I tell you that all those second graders worked hard to make it to the beehive.  

Mrs. Albury’s personal philosophy was that little children could unlearn bad habits and relearn good ones with some gentle encouragement.  She was right. She noticed that practicing good behavior led to more good behavior.  It became almost automatic for doors to be held open and for children to happily share with each other.  

Likewise, in the verse above, God encourages us to make prayer a habit because it will become the go-to response when things get rough.  Rather than freaking out and losing control, someone who is in the habit of prayer will first go to God rather than go crazy. 

Notice how the right way – the only way, really – to go through a trial is to pray your way through it.   Each of us, regardless, is going to have to endure some stuff.  How we endure is key.  Living in fear is an unbearable way to live.  Complaining won’t change a thing.  But maintaining the habit of prayer will.  Even if everything all around you is out of control, staying on a steady course of prayer will work wonders.  It will invite joy, peace, hope, and the promise of better days ahead into your situation.  I’ve heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, which is great news for all of us.  We have all been praying longer than that!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, prayer is one habit we want to keep.  Help us, strengthen us, and bless us as we pray.  We welcome You into our lives and thank You that You cover us with Your love.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~