Still in process.........in so many ways!

Here is a picture of our house, while it was under construction, around Christmas in 1977.   I am happy to say that, as of tonight, all of those windows and that old door are now gone.  Replaced with much more energy efficient models that will actually open and close!  Imagine that!  Since we started this rather large project (windows, doors, siding) we have not had great weather.  Today our contractor and worker spent the day on ladders, in the rain.  And the temperatures were falling through out the day.  By the time they left at 3:00pm, I could tell that they were cold and wet.  But they are trying to push through and finish this job.  There is still more work to be done.   I am so anxious to have this all done.....so that we can move on to the next project!  Yes, the house is truly a work in process.

So today in my small group I shared these verses that had showed up on my Facebook wall this morning.  They spoke to me so clearly today.

Ephesians 1:17-20 (TPT) personalized
17 - I pray continually that the Father of Glory, the God of my Lord Jesus, the Messiah, would unveil in me the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation through the fullness of being one with Jesus.
18 - I pray that the light of God will brighten the eyes of my innermost being, flooding me with light, until I experience the full revelation of my great hope of glory. I know that is the reason He called me to Himself, and I pray that I explore and experience for myself all the riches of this wealth that has been freely given to me, for I am His true inheritance!
19 - My prayer is that every moment I will experience the measureless power of God made available to me through faith. Then my life will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through me!
20 - This is the resurrection power that was released though Jesus when God raised Him from the dead. This resurrection power raised me up and seated me with Him at His place of supreme authority in the heavenly realm!


Ephesians 3:14-19 (TPT) personalized
14 - When I think of the wisdom of His plan I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of my Lord Jesus, the Messiah,
15 - the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth.
16 - And I pray that He would pour out over me the unlimited riches of His glory and favor until supernatural strength floods my innermost being with His divine might and explosive power.
17 – Then, by constantly using my faith, the life of Jesus will be released deep inside me, and the resting place of His love will become the very source and root of my life, providing me with a secure foundation that grows and grows.
18, 19 - Then, as my spiritual strength increases, I will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences – the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Jesus, the Messiah in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is His love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement, beyond academic knowledge – this extravagant love pours into me until I am filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!

While I am in this process of growing closer to Jesus, I need to be about the business of telling myself exactly who I am and what I have because of Jesus.  And more than that, I love from Ephesians 1 verse 19, that I am an ADVERTISEMENT of the power that is working through me.  Think about that!  How many different commercials can you recall without thinking to much about it?  I am sure it is lots and lots.  I want to be an unforgettable advertisement of all that Jesus can and will do for the world.  I think I am going to make this my new goal and daily prayer.  I want to experience the power and then show it off to the world!  And, interestingly enough, as I typed that last sentence, I make an error and wrote "sow".  Maybe that wasn't an error!  Thinking back to a blog a couple of days ago, this is a season to sow and see that multiplied greatly.  So, yes, I will be praying that I will SOW that power of Jesus into the world even as I SHOW that power to the world.

I am so loving these posts from the Passion Translation Bible.   I strongly encourage you to seek out their Facebook page and also get your hands on these amazing books.  They are even available at Walmart and Sams (at least some of the stores.  I tried to find them in my Walmart and they did not have them or any record that they were getting them).  You will be blessed!

Jesus, thank you for leading me deeper into relationship with you.   Thank you for my small group and the strength and power we have as we join together to worship you and share our burdens and blessings.  Thank you again, for Brian Simmons and The Passion Translation Bible.  Holy Spirit, bring encouragement to us all that we are making a difference in the world as the power of Jesus shows through us.  Thank you for completing all of the work in process.  Amen

Growing in admiration for both my mother AND my daughter!

Okay, so this picture may seem a bit out of place today.  But you will understand better why I selected this picture as you keep reading.   First of all, this picture is from 1980 November when Gwen was 18 months old.  I had taken her to Minnesota to visit my mom and dad.  I love this picture of the three of them.  It is one of my favorites.

So, as you know from my last blog, I spent the weekend at Gwen and Tim's watching their four children.  I had a really wonderful time being with them and got to have some time with each one.  They are really great kids and I had no issues at all over the two days and nights that I spent with them.  They cooperated, slept well, ate well and played hard!  But just let me add, I AM TIRED!  I slept about the same amount as I usually do (with maybe a couple of added interruptions), and we didn't leave the house at all (except to walk to the park), so I am at a loss as to why I am feeling this way!  Except to say that taking care of four children is hard work!  It is hard work at any age, but at 60 - yes it is tiring.

Last night Anna woke up at an unusual time and seemed hungry.  So I gave her a bottle.  For the next 40 minutes I listened to her "playing" in her crib.  She was not crying, she was just "talking".  I don't know exactly what she was looking at (it was dark in her room) or playing with (she had nothing in her crib except her pacifier) but she was just happily vocalizing from her crib.  She eventually went to sleep.  But during that time that I was listening to her, I got to thinking about my mom and dad.  There was a particular event/time that my mom always talked about as being very challenging but also very rewarding for her.  My sister needed to go to Mayo Clinic for some life saving surgery and she lived in Montana at the time.  My parents lived in the Minneapolis area. Unfortunately, my sister's then husband did not make very wise choices and he did not want to take care of their children during this surgery.  My sister's children were ages 9, 7, not yet 3, and just turned 1.  So my mom and dad brought my sister to their home, took her to Rochester for the surgery, and then cared for her four daughters during her hospitalization and recovery.  I was thinking about how much stress that was for all of them - my sister and my parents.  First for my sister......wow!  You are experiencing your own trauma but then you have the worry of your children.  For my parents, not only did they have the concern for their daughter but they had the care of these kids.  But here is what my mom would always say about this time taking care of Elise, Chris, Sara and Staci.  I remember her sort of telling a story on herself about her experience with disposable diapers.  She really had never used them and couldn't figure out how they worked. (This was in 1978 so disposables were quite new!). And having two in diapers was not something that my mom had ever done. The main thing she always talked about from this event was how my dad really stepped up to the plate.  I really think this might have been one of the first times that he was around with little kids.  During all the years that we were growing up, he traveled for his job and was not home much.  We were all spaced far apart and my mom and dad never really had two babies in the house at the same time! At the time of my sister's surgery, my dad had just retired and they had relocated into a smaller house in Minnesota.  Mom told how Dad had fashioned gates for the stairs on the first day that they had the kids.  Dad also took the older two girls under his wing and often took them shopping for groceries or out on errands.  And he would always get them special treats.   I am sure that this time was stressful for them and I know that they must have been tired.  But when my mom talked about this time, she always had a smile on her face.  My sister did well during her surgery and recovery and my parents were thankful that they were able to be there and help her during this crisis.  I think that my sister and her kids spent a couple of months with my parents.  This memory did cause me to admire my parents and see them in a different way than I had before.  They really rose to the occasion and managed very well.

Yes, I was feeling very thankful that it was not an "emergency" that brought me to Gwen's house.  It was a chance for Gwen and Tim to minister and share their gifts and talents with youth from their church.  And it was not a couple of months, it was a couple of days.   But Gwen and Tim do this "parenting of four small children" EVERYDAY!   Yes, it does increase your understanding when you "do" their life for a couple of days.  When Gwen says she is tired, SHE IS TIRED!  When they say they are busy, THEY ARE BUSY!  But I know that they are also filled with the love and joy from those precious children.  There are hugs, kisses and more hugs through out the day.  Zeke likes to do "cannonball" hugs (where he runs across the room and throws himself at you!) And he is not a little boy!  I just loved  hearing  "Grandma Lyn, come here!" When I answered his call, Zeke said "Grandma Lyn, I love you, have good sleep!"  God knew what he was doing when he gives babies to those who are younger and stronger.  And I admire Gwen and Tim for parenting their children with love and most importantly, with Jesus.

Last night, as I watched Lia, Ellie and Zeke in the "big bath tub" splashing around in mounds of bubbles, I couldn't have been happier.  Anna was already sleeping in her crib and we were all laughing at the soap bubble fun.  It was one of those times that I didn't think to get out my camera.  But I have those memories stored up and I won't forget this.  I felt bathed in the warmth and love of these children.   And I am blessed.

Isn't it interesting how Jesus helps us appreciate where we are in our own life through memories and thoughts of other generations?  I love that I can see my mom and dad in a new light, after caring for my own grandchildren.  And I can reflect on the times I had with my own children as I watch them with their children.  Can't we all look back on memories of our family - both good and bad memories - and grow in understanding as we see these events through different eyes.   I am so thankful that this memory of my mom and dad was "re-framed" by my own experiences this weekend.

Jesus, thank you for connecting me once again to both my mother and my daughter through this memory.  Thank you for times in the night to pray and listen to your voice.  Thank you for laughter and hugs and kisses.  Thank you for family and connections between the generations.  And thank you for a warm, comfy bed!  Amen

Day one of fun! Spending time with the Grandkids!

So this morning I began my "weekend of fun"!  I am up at Gwen's house watching the kids (and the dog) for the weekend.  I have been looking forward to this time for several months.  It is something to spend so much time with these little cuties.  While it would be nice to have them come to my house, with 4 kids and a dog, it is better to be in their own home.  And, here it is 9:14pm and all of them - including Chandler, the dog, are asleep!  I'd call that a good end to the day!

This afternoon a couple of  friends came over for a play date with Lia and Ellie.  Anna was napping so the kids spent most of the time outside, loving the sunshine and wonderful weather.    When Anna woke up, we walked to their local playground, just a couple of blocks away.  The girls rode scooters or bikes and Zeke "mowed the lawn" the entire way there and back with his play lawn mower.  Anna was quite happy just riding along in her stroller.  It was good to be out and enjoying the bright blue sky and the comfortable temperature.

While we were at the park, I spotted this one little flower kind of hidden by the sidewalk.  Since it is October, it is pretty odd to see a flower blooming.  And it was so pretty.  I just loved it.

Anna was just mesmerized in her stroller, looking up at the trees.  The particular tree near the bench I was sitting on, was dropping tons and tons of little seeds.  It sounded like water hitting the pavement.  Anna just laughed every time the wind blew and these seeds fell.  It was so fun to watch her reaction to the leaves and the wind.   You can see some of the seeds on the ground in the flower picture!

You hear it over and over, that we need to be like little children.  All you have to do is spend some time with humans under the age of 9 and you get the picture very clearly.  Here are a few reminders that I got today (thanks to Lia, Ellie, Zeke and Anna)......
*Why walk when you can run?  I mean really, it's much more fun to run!
*there is nothing better than a cold juice box after some time in the sunshine.
*Who needs expensive toys when you can cut up paper into little pieces for over an hour? And then you can spend another 20 minutes picking up all the little pieces on the floor and putting them into a ziplock bag.
*Sisters and brothers are great friends...even if they annoy you at times!  They will always play with you if you ask nicely.
*Helping is so much fun....setting the table, unloading the dishwasher, stirring the food, opening the can....it is ALL fun!

So.... to recap these points......  Let's run into the future!  Let's get out and enjoy the sunshine and the SONSHINE and then refresh with some good drinks of living water.  Look around you and find that you have everything you need, even if it seems really simple and silly.  Cherish the people that are close to you, they will be there for you.  Everyone can use a little help sometimes. And helping is FUN!  Great advise that I need to take in and follow every day!  Thank you Holy Spirit for this revelation!

Yes, this was a great start to this weekend.  But this Grandma is tried and tomorrow will come early, I am sure!  So, goodnight all!

Jesus, thank you for this day and these amazing children.  Thank you for your plans to prosper them and give them a future and hope.   Bless Gwen and Tim and the youth and adults that they are with at Insight.  Give them times of great sharing and great revelation of your presence, Jesus.  Let them hear your voice with clarity.  Thank you for sunshine and special gifts of a beautiful little yellow flower.  Amen

Not the day I had planned.....

I had lots of different errands to run today and some things that I really wanted to accomplish. I had made plans to have lunch with my son and daughter-in-law and was so looking forward to this day.  But somewhere around 8:30am I was on the phone with Gwen.  I began to experience some bizarre and simply terrifying visual disturbances.  All I can tell you is that I was "seeing" a bunch of black dots and zig zag lines across my eyes that were continually changing and moving.  It was so frightening.  I immediately called Ken to come home so that he could take me to the doctor.  Poor Gwen!  She was really afraid that I might be having a stoke!  Before Ken got home, I had called my eye doctor and they were prepared to see me as soon as I could get there.  Thankfully, by the time Ken got home, my vision had cleared.  I think it lasted for around 20 minutes.  My eye doctor did a very detailed exam of my eyes and told me that he was sure that what I had experienced was an "ocular migraine".  I thought this was very weird since I did not have a headache or any other symptoms.  Apparently these are not all  that uncommon and some people have these events only one time and some people have them more often.  They are unsure what causes them and there is nothing that you can do to prevent them or when they are happening.  So, yes, I was breathing out.

On the way to the eye doctor, I was trying to relax and just trust that Jesus would give me an answer about this event.  I suddenly remembered that several weeks ago, while I was at a worship service where healings were taking place, I had heard that I should get prayers for my eyes.  The funny thing was, I really didn't have any reason for this prayer.  I had an eye appointment for my yearly exam during the following week, but I had not been having any issues with my eyes.  I thought it was really odd.  I decided that I needed to pray for my spiritual eyes to be opened and to see with greater clarity all that Jesus had for me.  I ended up leaving that meeting never getting any prayer.  It was very late and there were so many people waiting for prayer, so I opted to leave.  Today I wondered if this was the reason for that nudge of the Holy Spirit, encouraging me to pray and get prayer for my eyes!

After the eye doctor, Ken decided to stay home for the rest of the day, We ended up both going out to lunch with our son and daughter-in-law which was wonderful.  There were several little jobs that Ken needed to do for our home improvement projects going on.  I spent some time just relaxing.  While I was thinking about the day, I was filled with thankfulness.   And I prayed that Jesus would touch my eyes - physical and spiritual - so that His will would be done through me.  Tonight I am just so thankful for SIGHT!

Wow...this was not the day I had planned.  But tonight I am so thankful for Ken and his care and concern for me.  And I am thankful for Gwen and Doug and their families.  I am very blessed to have a wonderful eye doctor who fit me in and then spent time explaining to me what this odd occurrence was and assuring me that I was really going to be okay. And I am so, so thankful that I was reminded that the Holy Spirit will nudge me when there is something that I need to be praying about.

I am encouraging all of you reading this, to be sensitive to that little whisper from the Holy Spirit.  And I am speaking to myself also.  We just need to be quiet and listen.  And we need to DO!  If we hear, PRAY, then we need to pray.  If someone's face comes to our mind, we need to CALL (and pray).  If there is a cause or topic that keeps coming to our minds, we need to listen to that whisper and than follow through with action.   I will be reminding myself of this daily!

Jesus, thank you for your care and concern for every little detail in our life.  Thank you for family that stands with us.  Thank you for doctors and tests and all the things that we sometimes take for granted in our medical world today.  Thank you for being THE healer.  Amen

When things seem to be not quite done......

So our house transformation is underway.  We love the new color and the windows are simply amazing.  There is still a bit of work to do but we can begin to see how wonderful it will be once it is completed.  I am so thankful for an amazing contractor.  And we have been blessed with really good weather.  As a matter of fact they were predicting an 80% chance of rain for today.  As you can see from the photo it was a clear blue, picture perfect day today.  What a blessing!

As I mentioned earlier this week, I also feel a bit like I have been undergoing a personal transformation.  Appropriately, I feel that there is still quite a bit more work to do before I feel fully "new".  Yes, I feel a bit like my house looks.  There is a part of the house that has been stripped bare and is exposed to the elements.   Since Saturday I have been reflecting on so many of the routines and habits that I have fallen into that needed to be stripped away.  I needed to have my inner voice totally changed.  The good news is that I have a clear plan that was laid out before me on Saturday night.  There were clear steps to take to begin to move into that new place.  The last thing from Saturday night was an impartation of "Divine Intelligence".  It is with this new way of thinking that we will be able to SMILE AT THE FUTURE and SOW SEEDS THAT MULTIPLY INTO AN AMAZING HARVEST.  In fact, that is the key to these messages.  We need to have the mind and thought process of Jesus in order to walk out that mandate.  In this season  he is pouring out this divine intelligence that will enable us to know exactly what seeds to sow and where to sow them.  Additionally we will be given new and creative ways to complete the harvest.  And when we are thinking in this new way, we will be smiling at the future,

So while I know that something extremely important happened within me, I feel a bit like our house looks right now.  The good news is that everything is in place - already purchased to finish our house project.  The rest of the siding is sitting on the driveway.  The garage is full of all the "stuff" that is needed to complete this project.   And I know that I have everything I need within me!  It was already purchased by Jesus on the cross.  And it was delivered to me through the Holy Spirit.  So even though it may LOOK like the project is not going along very well, the TRUTH is that everything is fine!  As a matter of fact the really good news is that when God looks at me, he sees the finished product.

Jesus, thank you for this reminder that even when I am critical of myself, you see so much more.  What a great picture you have presented to me with my home repairs!  Thank you for speaking to us in our everyday stuff.  Thank you for bringing this message as a reminder to us that you are imparting a new way of thinking for all of us for this new season.  Holy Spirit, help us see how equipped we are through Jesus.    Amen

The blessing is in the pressing!

Okay.... that title has a couple of different "interpretations".  First, for me anyway, is in pressing in to get closer to Jesus.  Yes, there is a blessing as you just rest and stay in that place of quietness, so that Jesus can come closer to us.  I love to consider this!  What a blessing it is to draw into that deeper place of closeness through the Holy Spirit.   I love this picture above, however, because I need to be reminded that it is NOT about striving!  The pressing in is always about being quiet and resting so that Jesus can bring me closer.

And then there is another PRESSING.  You know, when the world seems to weigh you down.  Or even circumstances that feel crushing.  There have certainly been plenty of those times in my own life.  And my facebook feed seems to be filled with people who have really pressing situations going on right now.   So I love this reminder that there is BLESSING in that pressing time.  Notice it does not say blessing when you are out of the pressing stuff.  The blessing can be found IN the bad times.  That is hard for people who are in the midst of "stuff".  That is why I am declaring that blessing right now for all of them!  

Isn't it great that we can stand with our brothers and sisters who are in tough situations and remind them that Jesus is all about blessing them?  I don't know where I would be without the body of Christ standing with me.  Seriously, being alone is not good!

Now for the truth telling.   My notes from Saturday night begin like this.....
"I am feeling very lonely here tonight.  It seems like everyone is in a group or there are lots of couples around me.  Does this mean that I shouldn't have come tonight?  How can I feel so alone and so lonely when I am surround by a large crowd of people?"
Isn't it interesting to read that after you have seen my last two blogs.  Remember I said that Saturday was amazing and changed so much for me?  Yes, that's right.  I started the night feeling like I shouldn't have bothered going to this event.   You see, Satan will do whatever he can to try to keep us out of the blessing.   But the joke is on him.  Because in the uncertainty and pressure, that is where the blessing is.  So, when those feelings were hitting me and I started to feel overwhelmed, I just stopped and took a deep breath and cried out to Jesus.  The worship began and then everything was okay.  Surely there was a blessing in the pressing.

Jesus, thank you, again for Saturday night.  Thank you for the reminder that you will draw close to us when we seek to draw close to you.  Thank you for giving me a very real example of feeling "pressed" and then knowing I had been very blessed.   Holy Spirit, reach out to us tonight and bring that measure of quiet peace that will help us to feel that blessing - where ever we are and no matter what our circumstance say.  Thank you for the body of Christ - our sisters and brothers - that stand with us and believe and hope FOR us.  Amen

Changes on the outside AND the inside.

Today a very exciting event began at my home.  We are getting new siding, new windows, new doors even a new garage door!  Isn't that exciting?  Our 37 year old house really needed this face lift. And we needed it for our energy bills.  In a short time, our house will look very different from the outside since we changed the color of our siding.  And from the inside we will also notice the new windows in every room.   And we will be warm and comfy this winter.  Yes, quite a change.

Since last Saturday I have been noticing some very big changes within me -not visible on the outside.  But big changes none the less.  As I mentioned yesterday, smiling is a part of this change.   That smile at the future was the FIRST point made by Patricia King.  The second point was "this is the season when Jesus will greatly bless and multiply the seeds that have been sown and the harvest will be amazing"  This is a time to SOW greatly so that the harvest will be multiplied!  You know all those "footprints" blogs that I've been writing over the last week or so?  Well, those are all seeds that have been sown into my life.  And there are many, many more.  I think that one of the main things I have focused on in this blog are the people who have sown into my life and the seeds that were sown.  So when I heard this word on Saturday, something in my spirit just jumped!  There is a reason that the Holy Spirit has been reminding me and bringing to light all of those seeds sown into me and my generations!  It is to prepare for the harvest from those seeds.  WOW!  That's all I can say about that.  At this point I don't know what that harvest will be.  But I am convinced that there WILL be a harvest and it will be much much more than I could ever think or imagine! Suddenly, sowing seeds seems like a very important task.  This has made a big change deep within me.  Call it an excitement or expectation.  Whatever it is, well, it feels GREAT!  And here is the really great news about this!  IT IS NOT JUST FOR ME -   IT IS FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE READING THIS BLOG!  I will just have to trust that the Holy Spirit will touch each of you and bring some of this excitement that I am feeling, into your spirit.  I suppose that some of you may be thinking that this is an old message that you have heard before.   But this message is for this NEW YEAR and this NEW SEASON.  Yes, this is a time of new beginnings.

Jesus, thank you for bringing revelation to me that comes with excitement and expectation.  Holy Spirit, touch all who are reading with this message of multiplication.  Thank you for connecting us to our past generations and giving us encouragement to sow into the future.  Thank you for provision for improvements to my home.  Amen