Morning Coffee ☕ – The Welcome Home

Floundering

Have you stopped to consider that even when you’re floundering, or feel as though you are, God is still present, still at work on your behalf, still working all things together for good according to His mercy (His great-great mercy!)? That is, for our/your good and His glory (His great, great glory). Throughout these last few years I’ve surely seen day to day proof of this. His mercy. His great, great mercy. His great mercy *even* in my floundering. God’s not thwarted by our floundering and He’s not thwarted in our striving. He’s not thwarted or diminished in our thriving. Imagine that! Nothing, absolutely nothing we do thwarts the work — the incredible, indescribable, unfathomable work — of God.

We may think (I have thought) that God’s not deeply moved by the inconsequential things that really get to us — things that, in light of eternity, truly are inconsequential. But they feel big. They feel so big! To us. They feel insurmountable to us. They may even feel like “the end” to us. But to God? No. Nothing’s impossible for Him. Nothing’s insurmountable to Him. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I know this. I’ve seen this. I’ve lived this. I’m living it still. Nothing. Absolutely nothing is tooooo hard for the Lord. He is at once our Creator, our Sustainer, our Provider, our Deliverer, our Redeemer, our Guide, and He is our Lord. At once. All at once. And yet. And yet I dare to say: I flounder, Lord, I’m floundering!

And He sees it. He knows it. He allows it. And… He is bringing me through it. Through it all, all this floundering. Through this long time of floundering. And He carries me. Still. That’s how loving and merciful the Lord is. To me, to you, to us all.

He says: “Be still and know that I am God…” And I trust Him. I trust him to see me through this floundering, this season of floundering. And I trust Him for the fruit of it all.

John 12.24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit…”

As I write this, I pray that whoever reads this will be encouraged to press on… to carry on in faith that the Lord is allowing a season of floundering for your good and His glory. For your good and for the good of another who might be floundering. Maybe you’re a woman standing at a crossroads. Maybe you’re longing for peace, for redemption, for wholeness, for Truth, and for life. God’s not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL would come to repentance and follow Him as Lord. It’s that simple. It’s the truth. Jesus is standing at the door. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life… no one comes to the Father but by Him.

The Race Before Us

Longing to run, but afraid to fail, that’s the story of my life. I’ve let this blog sit idle for so many months, it’s hard to imagine that for years I regularly wrote blog entries. But I love to write. I write nearly every day—just not here. Mu husband’s asked me to write… just write. Every day, just write. In this step of faith season, I was reading in the Word the other day… I read Hebrews 12.1, which says, “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is before us.”

I considered that we’re all compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses… who are they? They’re family, friends, pastors, teachers, creators of music, hymns, spiritual songs, writers, speakers, so many sources… so many witnesses! And then, there are weights — trials, or sins, or regrets, or failings, or shame, or limitations, or whatever: weights—weights that so easily beset us, weights that trip us or prevent us from running the race that is set before us. Later, in this same chapter, I received further encouragement to run the race that’s set before me. And I thought on some of the many, many truths I know.

God’s created us for His good pleasure; He’s also created us to good works. We read in Ephesians 2.10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” So, once again, I’m inspired to press on.

Hebrews 12.11-13 goes on to say, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”
Now, I’m no “name it and claim it” girl, but I trust God’s Word and I believe that He seeks for me —for us— to be healed in such a manner that we will trust Him for the race that is set before us.

All my doubts and failures, all my fears and anxieties that prevent me from stepping out in faith, God wants to heal and forgive. In putting a foot in front of the other to walk by faith and not by sight, to take another step of faith after each previous step… God seeks to encourage. Hope for the next step, God wants to give. God’s ordained that I should walk in faith. And all the good works that’s He’s planned for me? I should walk in them. I pray you see this with me for yourself. That we will run the race…

The good works? I must walk in them. I must run in them. They’re what He’s created me to do. They’re what He’s created you to do.

Run the race. Let’s run the race!

Thanks Giving Is Here

[cp_dropcaps]T[/cp_dropcaps]hanksgiving is here, I heard someone exclaim. And one might immediately wonder how it came so quickly again this year. I mull this over (and, yes, I do marvel that another Thanksgiving is already upon us), I think: Is Thanks-giving here? I mean… here, here. Here in my heart, here in my life, here in my thoughts and in my words.

I stop and take a mental inventory of my days of late. How thankful have I been–or have I displayed thankfulness at all? Is thanks g-i-v-i-n-g a characteristic plainly obvious in my life? Is thanks giving part of my everyday conversation? Is thanks giving the tone my ready reply?

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to the which also ye are called in one body;
and be ye thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever you do in word or in deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
Colossians 3.15-17

I was looking through some old photos this morning and it was there that I really got to thinking about thanks giving and what a thankful or thanks-giving life looks like. It’s easy in the moment (when things are going well, supplies are ample and health is strong and full) to be thankful. It’s another thing to be thankful or giving thanks when things aren’t going so well — when the yets of God aren’t yet (I’ll write on that another day).

It’s also pretty normal to consider one’s current state of affairs when feeling thankful or not. But those photos I was looking through changed my perspective quite a bit.

These photos are 10 years old. I’m thankful for this… all this. All the children living at home at the time, gallons of milk, heaps of food, piles of laundry, hundreds of thousands of miles on the fifteen passenger van and on and on. Thankful, really thankful.

Fast forward to today… less and fewer of everything… more and greater of so many other things. In between the more and fewer are sicknesses, health, losses, weddings, funerals, births, disappointments, achievements, mistakes, graduations and countless other life events that have clearly shown the great grace of God — things for which to give thanks. Much thanks. Had all these various things not happened, I’d not known the vastness of the graces of God and how to be thankful, or how to give thanks in/for adversity, loss, failure and regret.

So, this Thanksgiving, this time of giving thanks, I’m truly thankful, very thankful. Thanks giving is here for me. I trust it is for you as well. Or, soon will be.

Drawing a blank

I used to think that drawing a blank (in writing, conversation, blogging) was the result of having nothing to say, or not being able to gather one’s thoughts or whatever. I now think that while there may be times of writer’s block, it’s usually something else that’s preventing someone from moving on in writing. I think, for me, it’s being shot in the foot, or ideas being shot down, or being mentally shot in the head — ideas gone, drawing a blank.

And, it occurred to me the other day that the devil’s generally in the details here–doing the shooting when an idea or writing plan comes about but isn’t acted upon. He’s in the details shooting things up. But here’s the thing I’ve decided to acknowledge: he shoots blanks. He’s ever lurking about in the shadows. In 1Peter 5 (after we’re told, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you) the Word says: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 P 5.6-8)

I’ve taught on this section from time to time — highlighting the fact that the devil is always roaring about seeking to destroy whatever God’s doing, whatever a follower of Jesus is doing, doing whatever he can to destroy it. But he’s a roar, a lion with no teeth. Scary, yes. But shooting blanks.

You get what I mean? Blanks. We’re often held back by the roar of those blanks. The roar of the shot that says we’ve failed too often. The roar of the shot that recounts all those failures and superglue’s us to them. The roar of the shot that says our best days are behind us and there’s no use trying to gain ground now. The roar of the shot that says we’ll never be ___________ or whatever enough. The roar of the shot that says we have no credibility or will just likely fail again so why try.

Those shots are blanks. They roar at us or past us, but they’re blanks. God’s mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is above the heavens. I may feel wounded by the shots of those blanks, but I mustn’t think they’ll destroy me — I must take those thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. I do this bcz of His faith — my faith in Him is His faith. The Word says that when we’re in Christ Jesus, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. (romans 8.37)

I’ve decided to keep writing and when I draw a blank or am shot with one, I know I can go to the well. Drinking at the well of God’s Word fills in the blanks, mends the wounds of the shots of blanks, gives me strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

God bless your day & your home. ♥ –ps

Why I Write

[cp_dropcaps]B[/cp_dropcaps]rowsing Twitter this morning, I noticed the hashtag #WhyIWrite and I decided to click on the link to read why others write. Not surprising, the answers or reasons are very similar—very familiar, albeit with an occasional condescending comment. It’s the occasional condescension that trips me up from time to time, but over time I’m learning to not take negative opinions so seriously (and I sure hope those twitter writers weren’t derailed by some of the rude comments). Insults, along with self-doubt, really have an effect on creativity, so it’s been instructive to me to weigh negative comments carefully, glean what I can and literally ignore the rest. Sometimes, insults can be instructive: they help me refine my message, they help me see what I might be blind to and surely to see what I don’t want to be, and they help me clarify or to attempt to more carefully articulate my thoughts.

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Words in my head every day,
all day long.[/cp_quote]So why do I write? Words. Words in my head every day, all day long. I write because of what the Lord has done for me in all I’ve seen and done in my life. I write because He’s lavished blessings on me (especially in hard days, the deep blessings I couldn’t see at the time!). I write because of His great and precious promises—His unfailing kindness and mercy every day of my life. I write because in all these ways the Lord has given me the gift of words to encourage, instruct, inspire, comfort and/or affirm others. It may well be to a very small or limited number of people, but my goals or purposes have never been dependent on the number of readers or listeners–only with the hope that they would minister to those who do. Incidentally, most all my daily writing is never seen by anyone but me—dozens of journals bear this out.

You know… I think most everyone could, should, would write if they recognize the great gift and value of their life—or if they realized that their unique experiences could help someone. Maybe many someone’s.

I began writing newsletters in high school, first as the activities commissioner and then as student council president. From there I wrote the newsletter for a day school and childcare center in Seattle. In those days we used a mimeograph machine using spirit masters and a manual typewriter. It was a banner day when we bought our IBM Correcting Selectric II typewriter (If you’ve never used/seen one, they’re pretty cool!!). Eventually, those were replaced by various computers and, in time, I wrote church newsletters and Bible studies for women which led to the privilege of speaking at women’s retreats and seminars. All of this was just prior to creating the website that ‘launched’ this blog in the late 90’s. This progression of writing projects also included stamping and lettering… and occasionally, my antique Underwood typewriter.

I share all this to hopefully inspire *you* to write… using whatever you have on hand, whatever your experience, whatever your ‘platform,’ to encourage others, to be used of the Lord to bless and relate to others.
In the end, I hope you’ll enjoy the journey, writing it down as you go.

When You Know What God’s Called You To

When you know what God’s called you to, you’ll seek it, you’ll endeavor to walk in Truth, it will be your joy to be called by His name, His great name.

Thanks for joining me for morning coffee ☕
Blessings to you all as you seek to follow what God’s called you to.

When we fail to seek the Lord, to embrace the truths we know, the great and precious promises in God’s Word, and the convictions we hold, we can easily be deceived by smooth speech, pretty lures, and popular trends.

We read in the Word the importance waiting daily at the gates of the Lord: “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” —Proverbs 8.34
And why would we do this—why should we do this? Because the days are evil, the days are filled with deceptions, traps, lures. Look around you, everywhere: traps — sights, sounds, enticements and distractions that would lead us astray if/when we yield to them.

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.[/cp_quote]When you know what God’s called you to, you’ve got to then determine to guard whatever that is. You and I must be vigilant to watch for the snares that would entrap us. Most all sin begins with a deception–sometimes so seemingly inconsequential, it’s easily dismissed. By nature, we want to dismiss sin, and when we’re not walking in the Spirit, we’ll most assuredly be blindsided by the entrapments of sin. If we’re not daily at His gates, abiding in Him, obeying His commands, listening for His promptings, we’ll be prone to entertaining {maybe even personally adopting} deception.

Sometimes we don’t recognize the trap until we’re entrenched in it. Smooth speech, in particular, is but one trap. Think of books, articles, seminars, conferences you may have read or attended. It’s so easy to get caught up in the emotional excitement of the moment, to get tangled up in love for the captivating or entertaining messenger—so much so, that Biblical inaccuracies of the messages may be overlooked. Think of popular Christian women making the circuits today. It might be uncomfortable to stand against the rolling tide, but it’s not that difficult to see deviations from Scripture–though perhaps they’re subtle. Over time, if left unchecked, the deviations might be excused because the messenger is so popular (Luke 6.26), believable, and adored by Christian masses {maybe even our own dear girlfriends—or ourselves!}.

Often, when we see error, we don’t want to be the girl that rocks the boat. But, surely, when we see the girls running to that side of the boat, and we see that it might result in capsizing, we must dare to be that girl to right the ship—to warn the passengers leaning over the edge! We must endeavor to speak the truth in love. With tact. When you know what God’s called you to, you seek to live it.

When we quiet a caution or silence an alarm, we tend to deafen our ears to hearing, dull our consciences listening to the still small Voice, and quiet promptings of the Holy Spirit. When we repeatedly allow this to happen, we become silly women. Those promptings—those great and precious promises we have known—begin to be scattered in the path behind us —opening us to error, heresy, and to embracing the deception of the pretty lures as we begin to accept another gospel—another way—ever learning but never discerning the folly. It may begin with just a small step off the path, but down the way a bit, the path is nowhere to be seen.

“For of this sort are they which creep into houses,
and lead captive silly women laden with sins,
led away with divers lusts, ever learning
but never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth.”
—2Timothy 3.6-7

So, those things God’s called you to? Take in the Word today. Seek it, study it, pray about it. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2T 2.15
When you know what God’s called you to, you’ll seek it, you’ll endeavor to walk in Truth, it will be your joy to be called by His name, His great name.

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart:
for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”
—Jeremiah 15.16