Thankful to be flying the flag......

So today is one of those days that lots of people decide to put a flag out to celebrate the Fourth of July!  At our house, we have a flag flying EVERY day - since 9/11.  I can't imagine coming home and not seeing that flag on the house.  Just last weekend Ken put up a new flag.  Something that we do about once a year.  We knew that our old flag had gotten a bit faded and we were planning to change it out.  Then we had a very bad storm with strong winds, and one side of our flag came loose.  So the decision to change to the new flag was an easy one! 

I do love the fourth of July.  For all of my childhood we were at the "Lake" for the 4th.  From the time I was in early grade school, I had firecrackers!  Everyone did.  The little ones (although I know they were still dangerous) were called "Lady Fingers".  And we always had some "Big" firecrackers and fireworks that we shot off, usually off of a raft out in the lake.  Yes, I have lots of great memories of family celebrations around this holiday.  I remember one very memorable July 4th, when I got the worst sunburn of my life!  I had been out on the lake for the entire day.  The backs of my legs were a blistered mess!  And just to get in a plug for the use of sunscreen, I had to have a small growth removed from my leg, thanks in part to that sunburn.  Needless to say, I use sunscreen every day now.  Boy how things have changed! 

So tonight I am also thankful for the wonderful cool air coming from our vents!  Yes, we got our new furnace and air conditioner.  This was not an inexpensive day. 

And it was not an easy day for the guys doing the installation!  Our furnace is in a tight little closet in our powder room.  And we have 37 year old pipes and tubes and wires.  These wonderful men finally left our house around 8:00pm last night.  And even though it was only in the 50's, we ran that air conditioning.  For the first time in several days, I could actually breath!  It's amazing how much difference it makes when you have allergies.  It was money well spent.  We will have a much more efficient furnace for next winter also, and we won't be concerned about having no heat when it is below zero. 

Yes, it has been a couple of thankful days.  I love that even in the midst of various obstacles and not so wonderful events, I am reminded to be thankful for all that we have.  I think somewhere around noon today, I realized that I was feeling quite upbeat!  Normally this would not be something to write about.  But given the past couple of weeks, it was a miracle!  In my Bible reading today, I read

" But you, Lord, are a shield around me, the glory and the One who lifts my head high.  I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.  I lie down and sleep.  I wake again, because the Lord sustains me."  Psalm 3:3-5

I love thinking about Jesus lifting my head up (helping me be upbeat)!  Yes, it is amazing thing to remember that every day that we wake up, it is because Jesus is the one who sustains us.  Yes, its been a good couple of days.  And more fun in the long weekend ahead. 

Jesus, you are an amazing and wonderful Lord.  Thank you for your answers when I call out to you.  Holy Spirit thank you for peace and joy and rest.  Thank you for air conditioning and gifted and talented men to install it.  Thank you for family time and holidays and celebrations.  Amen

Day 27 - Thankful for good health - part 2

So last night I was thinking of 1972 and tonight I am thinking about 1984.  Doug was just over 2.5 years old.  He had a rather serious urinary surgery in September of that year and the hope was the surgery would fix all of his infection problems.  But, alas, it was not to be.  Doug had an appointment at the "Urology Clinic" at Children's Memorial on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Let me tell you that I was NOT used to driving all over Chicago and prior to this time of Doug's illness I had never driven into Chicago by myself.  But when your kid is sick, you will do whatever it takes.  This was our first visit back to see the Urologist who did the "experimental" surgery on Doug.  He was not a very personable man and rather arrogant.  As a matter of fact, when our insurance refused to cover the cost of the surgery because it was "above reasonable and customary" he told the insurance company that it was HIS procedure and how dare they tell him what it should cost.  Needless to say, we lost that battle and ended up paying for the procedure ourselves.  But I digress........ I took the day off of work to take Doug in because it was clear to us that he was indeed sick again. After driving to the hospital and waiting for 4 hours at the clinic, the doctor told me that it was impossible that he was sick and I should just take him home.  Even though he tested positive for infections.  I was so upset.  So I left Children's Memorial and started home.  Only to discover that the tollway was under construction and it was the busiest day for travel.  And the detour I needed to take was........get this......through O'Hare airport (on the busiest day for travel).  So I spent 4 hours on the lovely tollways around Chicago with a sick, crying child in a car seat.  Somewhere around hour 3, I began to cry.  I was so glad to finally arrive home.  A call to our local doctor (who had the test results) resulted in his urging for us to bring Doug to the local hospital for treatment.  At that point, it was clear Doug and I both just needed to be home (at least long enough to stop crying).  However he had a big heart and told us to stay home in the morning, eat some turkey, and to go to the hospital in the afternoon.  So that's what we did.  I was just so thankful to be close to home.  To be in a hospital that I knew well, and to have a Doctor that seemed to really care about Doug. 

(This picture was actually taken at Christmas of 1984.  Look carefully and you will see the IV dripping into Doug's arm (hanging from our Pole Lamp! We willing gave him cheese puffs because he would sit still for the entire time his medicine was running!)  Doug was in the hospital from Thanksgiving until Christmas.  And that same doctor made a way for us to do an IV at home so Doug could get his medicine and we could be home for Christmas.  This was amazing for 1984 - they just didn't do that.  Jesus provided a way for us)
So, once again today, I am so thankful for Doug's wonderful health now as an adult. Thinking back on these days brings it all back to me and I just feel waves of gratefulness. Most people do not really know all of Doug's health history and only a few have heard this story. For me this was sort of a turning point when I discovered that, as a mom I really knew my child better than any doctor or hospital could. It's that "mother's intuition" that is really the Holy Spirit!

So tonight I am celebrating and thanking Jesus for the miracle of my wonderful all grown up healthy adult son! Yes, we have lots to be thankful for!

Jesus, thank you for your protection and your guidance during those very hard years.  Thank you for the plans and purpose you have for Doug and the destiny that you are working out for him.  Holy Spirit, thank you for hearing my heart's cry for Doug in those years.  Thank you Yahweh our healer for the miracle of health for Doug!  Amen

A Different Anniversary.......and feeling thankful

In a couple of days, on the 25th, it would have been my parent's 77th Wedding Anniversary.  Their Wedding Certificate above was in that amazing surprise package from my brother-in-law Roy.  And the picture is their wedding picture.  I have always loved this picture of my mom and dad.  They look so young and so happy.  Today is actually a 48th wedding anniversary of some of my good friends.  And as you know from my last couple of posts, this past weekend was a 50th anniversary of a church.  To top it all off, with my job change, Ken and I have been talking about what to do to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary that is coming up next spring. And today, looking at my mom and dad, 40 years seems kind of short!

 

I was thinking about my mom and dad's wedding.  They decided to get married - on the sly.  Both of them worked at Montgomery Wards and it was against the rules for married people to both work there.  They went on a Sunday afternoon to a nearby town where my dad had found a clergyman who agreed to do the wedding.  My mom's sister Bea and brother-in-law Jim were their witnesses.   My mom didn't even have a new dress for the event.  She wore one of Bea's dresses.  It really didn't matter to her.  She just wanted to be married.  They almost called off the wedding because there was a blizzard!  Not much different than the weather in South Dakota over the last couple of weeks.  But my dad was determined to get married.  My mom made the last entry in her "Five Year Diary" on her wedding day.  It reads "Well, dear diary, I am now married at Clearlake, Jim and Bea attendants.  I am now Mrs. Harry Johnson".  When they got home, Aunt Anna had a lovely cake for them and many came to celebrate.  The next weekend they drove to Ortonville, my dad's home to celebrate there.  Again, many gathered to congratulate them.  It wasn't long before they were discovered at Wards, and my mom willingly gave up her job.  The "Bride and Groom" on their wedding cake was on my cake 39 years ago, and on Gwen and Tim's wedding cake 12 years ago.  Such a very cool thing.

 

I am so thankful for that small, tattered and faded and crumbling, Bride and Groom.  It is a symbol of the importance of the marriage vows - of the covenant.  I felt it was so important to use that on my cake.  I remember my mom saying "why would you want to use this old thing?"  But I knew it was important.  So, when Gwen decided to use the same Bride and Groom, I felt the continuity. 

 

Today, I am feeling very thankful.  I am so thankful for a new job!  I am also thankful for a work physical today that gave me the "very healthy" stamp.  I am thankful for the  witness of my mom and dad's long marriage (that was not all fun and games - but was most certainly blessed).  And I am thankful for my own marriage.  I love that Jesus brings me to this point today, after the down and up day I had yesterday.  It is as if he is saying, REMEMBER!  I am so thankful that I have been looking back on family and gaining so much insight.  Today on the Elijah List I saw this from Chuck Pierce:  Godly Roots and Your Bloodline

This past week I have been praying for each of you to connect with your godly roots and to know the One who is your source of every good and perfect thing!

And this is exactly where I have been over the last few months. 

 

Jesus, I pray that you help each person reading this blog to connect to their own family roots.  Thank you Holy Spirit, that you are helping us to see the One that is the source of the good things in our families.  Thank you for anniversaries that remind us to stop and reflect on all that you have done Jesus.  So today, Jesus thank you for having me look back, even as I am on that up escalator!  Amen

I need to pay attention!

In the last two days I have discovered that, even though I have been writing this blog, I have not been taking in everything that I have written!   I blogged about the peace that Yahweh brings in the storms and the shaking.  I blogged about the covering of the love of Yahweh that surrounds us.  I blogged about the bitter-sweet rainbow after the storm.   Yet today I was amazed by Yahweh.

My husband Ken and I have just completed two "legs" of a rather long drive to reach our vacation destination(s).  Last night Ken drove in the worst storm I think I have ever experienced.  It was dark (after 8pm), there was SOOOOOOOOO much traffic - including large semi trucks, and the storm was beyond description.   We had about 45 miles to our hotel and at times I really didn't know if we would make it.  Our car was shaking, the road was covered in several inches of rain and you could not see a thing. The sky was just constant lightening strikes all around.  And did I mention that we were in the middle of downtown Louisville, Kentucky?   At the moment, I confess, I was not thinking about Yahweh's peace!  I should have been.   When we were about 22 miles from the hotel, and mostly out of the city of Louisville, I think I finally took a breath.  It was still a downpour, but the traffic had eased up and you could sort of see.  And I was just simply so grateful to have gotten through this storm.  It stormed for most of the night.  Both Ken and I were a bit shaken up.  As I was laying in bed, in my thankfulness to Yahweh, I remembered His promise of peace in the storm.

There were more storms predicted along our route for today, and I called on my good friends and intercessors to cover our trip in prayer.  And because Yahweh is faithful, we were able to avoid the majority of the major storms that were in our path.  We stopped and had a longer than usual lunch, which kept us out of a major storm crossing our route.  And just as we were passing the last major storm system (which never did cause us any rain), right in front of us, an amazing rainbow formed!  It was truly a reminder of Yahweh's promises to us.  The last 100 miles of our trip were clear sailing. 

So take my advice....... 1.  In the midst of the storm, remember Yahweh's peace!  2.  ASK for prayer covering and support - it makes a difference when you know others are standing with you.  3.  Remember Yahweh's covenant promises!  He always keeps them. 

Thank you Yahweh for calling me your child.  Thank you for your love and your amazing promises.  And thank you for being patient with me - even when I don't remember to trust you in the midst of the storm.  

Thank heavens for Grandchildren

So my work ended and then I got to spend a wonderful day with my grandkids.  Oh my, how I love those kids!  Seriously, there is nothing better than being a grandparent.  Although we just spent the day "doing nothing", it was so enjoyable.  

Over the last 7 years I have collected some insightful and heartwarming thoughts that I call "Lia-isms" or "Ellie-isms".(Quotes from Lia - now age 7 and Ellie, now age 4)  These choice nuggets represent some of the best application of Biblical ideas and prophetic truths. 

Here is this weeks "Ellie-ism".   Ellie asked me to have a "sleep-over" at her house. She is very anxious to have a real sleepover. Lia (the older sister) has already experienced this and Ellie can't wait.  Ellie told me that there was  plenty of room in her "other bed" for both Jesus and me!   If you ask Ellie, she will tell you in great detail about Jesus being in her room with her at night.  (He sleeps in her other bed.)   Now some might say that she just has a good imagination, but this is much more than that.  These nighttime visits started when Ellie was between 2 and 3 years old.  She can tell you exactly what Jesus looks like - He has a "mush-tache"! Which for Ellie, means a beard.  And he has "all the colors" around him and also "has a fire".  I asked Ellie if Jesus talked to her.  She told me that he called her "Ellie".  And held her hand.

Wow!   She certainly hasn't heard passages from Revelation, but there is a rainbow of colors surrounding Jesus and fire!  And she also wouldn't know that Yahweh knows every one's name.   Jesus called Ellie by name.

Several years ago I wrote a small booklet called "Gods Plan and Purpose for Children". 
That booklet was born out of the idea that adults needed to have a better understanding of the destiny that Yahweh has for us that begins before we are born.  Yahweh intends to use children when they are children - not just after they have grown up.While there are many good concepts in that booklet, I had really only scratched the surface.  Now, thanks to Lia and Ellie, I am seeing first hand how much more is available through our kids.  Ellie and Lia know Jesus.  They don't just know stories about Jesus, they have encountered him, talked with him and even held his hand.

I love how much I am learning from these little ones.  

Here is the address to read my booklet -  God's Plan and Purpose for Children

  

Bitter Sweet

Today has been a day of contemplating all things "bitter-sweet".   My regular employment as a nanny for 4 children, will be ending for the summer in just a couple of days.  While I am so looking forward to some time off, one tight hug from the sweet 16 month old had me thinking how this job-ending thing is so bitter sweet.  I love these kids.  They make me smile and laugh on a daily basis.  I have the joy of watching them grow and change and learn new things.  And I get to go home at the end of the day and on the weekends.  And I get the summer off.  Of course, its not all fun and games.  There are the arguments and the homework (which is really a lot harder now then I remembered). Its not quite so hard with the older kids,  They won't change as much over the next couple of months (although it seems like they are growing taller overnight). And they won't forget me.   Its that little guy that is most on my mind.  When my duties resume in August, he will be 19 months old.  He will be a different little boy when I next see him.  Yep, this summer off thing is bitter sweet. 

Isn't it great how Yahweh gives us the "sweet" to balance the "bitter"?  I am so thankful for the sweet things that I haven't stopped to appreciate.  The little things that make a big difference.  The rainbows after the storms.  The light after the dark - the joy after the sorrow.  I'm going to start a list of all the SWEET that is in my world right now.   Tops on my list are my family -Ken, my kids and grandkids.  And today I am especially thankful to have another grandbaby joining our family in February, 2014. Summer after a long winter and vacation after a long year of work are on that list.  That wonderful hug from Michael will be on the list also. 

Thunder, Lightning, and shofar blasts

Last night there was a dozy of a storm.  The entire building at the Cyrus Ministries Big Rock facility was shaking as the thunder roared (with the added vibration of a passing freight train!).  The lightning was just flashing all over the sky.  And during worship I heard the blast of a shofar.  Now, I confess, that I am more apt to SEE something unusual during worship, but last night I heard that shofar blast.  And that reminded me.......

One night last week I had my sleep interrupted three different times when I was sure that there was a shofar blast!  I have learned that when something like this happens, it is best to take time to stop and ask Yahweh for an explanation.  I was awake for quite some time, but did not have any clear answer.  Just after I got up early the next morning, I heard "the three shofar blasts were three walls broken and three gates opened" 

Okay - this is an exciting word!  I could imagine some walls that I have been facing just crumbling.  I was thinking about Joshua and the walls of Jericho.  But what were these opened gates?

Then several hours later, just going about my daily routine, and continuing to ponder those shofar blasts, I heard Yahweh's explanation.....

     Wall of hopelessness and despair broken and gate of joy and peace opened!
     Wall of disease and infirmity broken and gate of health and healing opened!
     Wall of disappointment & discouragement broken and gate of provision & opportunity opened!

Last night when that shofar sounded, Yahweh was sending forth His power and doing battle in the heavenly realm FOR US!   At those times when we are so tired, so hopeless and so beaten down, HE is sending forth his angels to break down those walls.  When we are sick and hurting, HE has opened the gate of restored health for us.  No matter what our current situation is - how bleak things may look, HE has not only provision but opportunities for us. 

What a comforting thought. I am so glad that I am not responsible for all the spiritual warfare.   It's great to be reminded that Yahweh wants to breakthrough even the nasty, tough areas of my life.  And His plan for me includes everything that is needed and the place to complete it. 

Tonight I am very thankful - thankful for safe travel home during that nasty storm last night.  And thankful for a deeper revelation of Yahweh.  I am also thankful that I am going deeper in "getting" who Jesus is!

Good time with an old friend...

Isn't it great to spend time with our friends?  Especially those people who we know God has brought into our lives for a special reason.  I am so thankful for the many wonderful friends that I have who are always there for me.  The ones that listen to my rants and raves and still want to be friends.    Quite honestly, I don't know what I would do without them.   Today I spent a few hours with a dear friend of many, many years.  (Actually, I just stopped to figure out that it has been 23 years!)  We have walked through a lot together - good times and bad times.  But the important thing is that we have prayed for each other and with each other and celebrated answered prayers.  Sometimes we don't talk for a month or more and lately, we only see each other every few months.  When we do talk or get together, it is as if no time has passed and we just pick up where we left off.   The best part of being together is knowing that she "gets" me! And I know that I "get" her!  We understand each other.  

Jesus understood about friends when he walked this earth.  He had a close circle of friends in the disciples.  And he had some close friends like Lazarus that he cared deeply about (and wept for) - that were not among the 12.  Jesus even had a few closer ties with Peter and John, his beloved. 

Today as I was traveling home from my friends house I was thinking about Jesus and friendship.   The old familiar song, "What a Friend we have in Jesus" came into my thoughts......
                    What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
                    What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
                    Oh what peace we often forfeit, of what needless pain we bear
                    All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

                    Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
                    We should never be discouraged - take it to the Lord in prayer
                    Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
                    Jesus knows our every weakness - Take it to the Lord in prayer.
 
                    Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
                    Precious Savior, still our refuge - take it to the Lord in prayer.
                    Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
                    In his arms he'll take and shield you.  You will find a solace there.   

So many things in this world are pictures of  the character of Yahweh.  We can see him in all of creation and today I realized that we see him in these dear friends.  Jesus wants to be friends with us in a deep and real way.  He wants us to know that he "gets" us and more importantly, he wants us to "get" him.  I am  going to spend the next several days pondering exactly what this means for me. I will also be more aware of  "Taking it to the Lord in prayer". 

A good time with an old friend and also a deeper understanding of what a friend we have in Jesus!

One Liners

NOTE - I am extremely convinced that this post needs to happen today!  I have typed this three times and each time it has "vanished" from my computer screen.  I will be saving this over and over as I type so that I don't lose it again! 

I have been writing in journals for the last 24 years.  I have boxes and boxes of notebooks filled with my thoughts, emotions, prayers and answers to prayers as well as words from Yahweh.  Tonight I happened to find a stray journal and it fell open to a page of "one liners".  These one sentence thoughts that had no lead in, no explanation.  As I read through them, they all spoke to me for today. 
So here they are....

*You are the solution to someones problem
*The need to be approved by people or the church can rob us our position with Yahweh.
*If you try to "fit in " you will fail.
*We need to go the position of our destiny and Yahweh will do the rest.
*Our heart has a brain that imagines.
*Accept Yahweh's direction even when it is contrary to your normal ideas and thoughts.
*Expect miraculous results.
*Yahweh wants to provide an abundance not a minimum or just enough.
*Worship bring surrender.
*The highest position you can ever hold is Yahweh's child.
*Don't be worldly or you will lose your destiny.
*Each day report to the heavenly office and ask for your duties for that day.
*Yahweh has a will do list for you to replace your to do list.
*When people are speaking death to your vision hold up your promises and say no to the people.
*Jesus is about the restoration of all creation.
*Yahweh has deep emotion for all of us -He longs for us to be who He wants us to be.
*Chew on a word from Yahweh - meditate on it, digest it, and then give it out.
*Don't respond to the needs of people, respond to what Yahweh is saying and doing.
*Jesus knew that the cross was not the end - it was just the vehicle to get to the end.
*See the Lamb (get revelation every day) and See the Land (hang on to the vision and promises of Yahweh)

I am so thankful for my journals.  If you don't take the time to write down your thoughts each day, you will lose them.  (And if you don't save your blog post, you will lose it also!) Over and over I have been amazed at the insight I have gained just by looking back at my journals.  So pick up a pen and find some paper and start writing!  Be blessed!