Reminder from 1942....

 Sometimes you find the most amazing things when you clean!  I know, I know!  I've said that more than one time on this blog.  So I cleaned my scrap room and took 4 large bags of books to Goodwill on Saturday.  That was actually just the tip of the iceberg on books that needed to go.  Today Ken and I actually took another 5 big bags of books to Goodwill!  We dusted and cleaned off book shelves and reorganized.  In the middle of the day we realized that Ken needed a book shelf for the Camera Room.  So off to IKEA we went for yet another assembly project.  There was more than one amazing find in
this cleaning process, but this was really amazing.

This little book belonged to Ken's dad, Mervin Rowley.  He served in the Navy in WWII and this was the book he carried with him.  When I opened the book, I couldn't believe what I found on the front cover and flyleaf....

I particularly liked that this prayer was important enough that it was pasted on the front cover.  The sweet little book includes a complete Protestant service, a Catholic service, and a Jewish service.  It also includes about 100 Hymns.  In the back of the book there is a guide for Army and Navy funerals, showing placement of honor guards.  And there are several special prayers for certain ranks.  Quite a complete little book.  

And here is the reason for this blog.  I was so saddened by an article I saw last week about a Marine who is now unemployed and without Veterans benefits because of a Bible Verse. 

A United States Marine was convicted at a court-martial for refusing to remove a Bible verse on her computer – a verse of Scripture the military determined “could easily be seen as contrary to good order and discipline.”

The plight of Lance Corporal Monifa Sterling seems unbelievable – a member of the Armed Forces criminally prosecuted for displaying a slightly altered passage of Scripture from the Old Testament: “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
Sterling, who represented herself at trial, was convicted February 1, 2014 in a court-martial at Camp Lejune, North Carolina after she refused to obey orders from a staff sergeant to remove the Bible verses from her desk.
She was found guilty of failing to go to her appointed place of duty, disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer, and four specifications of disobeying the lawful order of a noncommissioned officer.

Doesn't that just seem impossible? How did we get to this point from that wonderful book of my Father-in-Law?  From 1942 to 2015....... wow!.  Instead of giving out a powerful little book of prayers and hymns, our military men and women may get a dishonorable discharge for posting a one line passage of Scripture.  That change happened in under 75 years.  Yet that prayer from Washington had been around for 153 years! Yes, it seems there has been a sad decline in the last few years.    

 I know that even as there are so many people just seeing gloom and doom for the United States, this just sort of adds fuel to that fire.  But my message tonight is exactly the opposite of that!  I am really encouraged by this little book tonight.  I am blessed to know that my Father-in-law thought enough of this book to keep it.  And I know that my dad most likely had the same book.  I am thankful that our country has these deep, deep roots of faith and trust in God. I am blessed by this prayer of our first President.  I am thankful for all of the seeds that have sown by our military as they have prayed and trusted in the provision of Jesus.  And I am encouraged by the body of Christ that is still standing and praying today.  Jesus is Lord.  He is on the Throne and He reigns over the United States, whether we acknowledge Him or not.   

Jesus, thank you for the years and years of blessing and protection you have given to the United States.  Holy Spirit, bring encouragement and hope to all who are feeling overcome by fear and doubt.  Thank you Jesus for reminding me, even with the discouraging news these days, that you have a destiny for the United States and you are faithful to bring it about.  Thank you for people who are willing to take a stand for you, no matter what the cost.  Bless Monifa Sterling and the many others like her who are being persecuted for their faith.  Thank you for courage and boldness to proclaim your great power.  Amen  

Watching the signs...... or not!

Today I had the experience of driving into Chicago.  And I mean INTO the LOOP!  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not often DRIVE into the city.  But today I was able to take Ken to a conference that he has been looking forward to for a long time.  He had way too many bags to take the train....hence the trip!  It was raining... of course.  And the street that the hotel is on had sewer work, so it was closed.  So I had to take a different street.  Which led me to another street that had this sign exactly where I needed to turn left....

So I had to go a couple of streets further in order to make that left turn.  And then I ran into a few streets with this sign........

 

And again, unfortunately I wanted to turn LEFT onto streets that were one way with a RIGHT HAND turn!  So, I followed the signs and finally made it to the street that I needed to be on to EXIT the city!  Not a totally uneventful trip, but close!  I managed by following the signs! (I was driving my car which does NOT have navigation, sadly.)

I was thinking about how hard I needed to watch the signs and make sure I was in the right lane  and following all of those pesky traffic rules.  And I remembered something that I saw yesterday on my phone........

Look closely at this picture.  It is a screen shot of the weather page from my phone YESTERDAY - June 25, 2015.  Look at the forecast at the bottom of the picture.  FLURRIES OR SNOW SHOWERS POSSIBLE EARLY???????????   Obviously, you can not always believe or follow everything that you read.  With the weather it is always better to stick your head out the door or window and look at sky and feel the temperature.  But as you can see, it was 81 degrees with a predicted low of 60, so the potential for snow was ZERO!  So you can't always follow what your see with your eyes...........at least not what you see on the internet!

It's true that you always have to make a decision about those signs around you.  Are they real?  Is that road actually closed or is that just a left over sign from last week?  With all those dark clouds out there, should you bring an umbrella?

You have to be very careful what signs you follow.  But Jesus gave some very clear direction to us about signs.......  Mark 16:17  "And these signs will  accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all, they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."    And as you read further in the New Testament, Acts is full of these kind of "signs" as the Apostles spread the Good News of Jesus.  Isn't it interesting that we don't always look for these signs today?  Even though Jesus clearly left the instructions for us to follow?   I am thankful that I have been surrounded by people who are looking for signs to follow them as they walk with Jesus.  In this all, the most important thing, is to be listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to Jesus as you walk (or drive) through your days.  That is the sign that we all need to follow.  The sign that really matters the most.  The minute by minute leading of the Holy Spirit as we walk through each day.

I love when I have days like today.  I can look back and see and appreciate how the Holy Spirit helped to guide me through my day today.  There were signs and I knew which ones I needed to follow.  And I was reminded to listen carefully to the voice of Jesus.

Jesus, thank you for reminding me to listen carefully to you!  Holy Spirit, thank you for those nudges that steer us away from danger and keep us on the right path (or road).   Help us to listen to your voice, to expect those guiding directions, and to watch for those signs from those around us.  Open our spirits to expect signs and wonders and miracles!  And Jesus, bless Ken and all that are attending that conference this weekend!  Amen

The power of the written word!

I began the clear out of the scrapboooking room today.  This included sorting through piles of papers that were stored in two metal file cabinets that were moved into that room awhile ago.  There was a wild mix of stuff from old bank statement to insurance stuff to just plain junk.  But there were a few treasures among the junk!

I found this really sweet letter.  I really didn't remember receiving it.  It was addressed to me from Gwen.  This was during her second year away at college.  I love the VeggiTale stickers on the outside of the envelope!  I love that the letter is addressed "Dear Mommy" (from my 19 year old!).  I love that the letter is all about the little stuff that is going on at college.  Mostly, I love that she even bothered to take the time to write to me.  It just makes my heart happy.  Yes, there is something really so powerful in the written word.....ink on paper.  I know that this is sort of a silly comment coming from a "Blog" (which is NOT ink and NOT on paper).  But this just affirms for me, how important it is to not lose the art of letter writing.  

Now I know this is going to sound really silly, coming after that paragraph, but I am also SO HAPPY that most of our "important" accounts (bank accounts, retirement accounts, etc) now are NOT sending us paper statements anymore!  We do all of that stuff on line and get our statements via email!  And boy oh boy, is that better than all of the stacks of stuff I went through today!  I am so grateful that I will not be spending hours and hours shredding stuff!  And the good news about today is that I now only have one small box of must keep items out of two metal file cabinets!  So it was a very successful day.  

This whole "letter" thing was another reminder to me of how important my actual Bible is to me!  I know I have talked about always having my "EBible" with me on my cellphone.  But, when I pick up my well used, all marked up with notes, Bible and feel the weight of it in my hands and see those pen marks, I just feel that rush of love.  Yes, that also makes my heart happy!  

Thankfully Gwen knows that I keep all of the thank yous that I receive from the kids and always include them in my yearly scrapbooks.  I just know that someday they will love to look back on these.  And just like Gwen's letter, these make my heart happy!  

Yes, there is power in the written word.  No matter what the content, no matter what the occasion - or no occasion at all - there is power.    So I guess that the final thing about all of this is, the written word is important!  Whether it is ink on paper or typed in an email or into a blog or even on an app on a cell phone, every word is important.  This has me thinking about all of the letters that I need to write.  My encouragement to you today is to sit down and write that letter, that thank you or that little note you have been meaning to send.  Pick up a few blank cards the next time you are at the store and just ask Jesus to show you who might need a thought or a prayer from you.  I am sure that we can start a cascade of blessings by doing this!  Let's make someones heart happy today!

Jesus, thank you for letting me find this special letter from Gwen.  Holy Spirit, you bring encouragement to us so often through other people.  Remind us to take the time to put words onto a page - either in ink or on email.   Jesus, thank you for Your Word - the Bible.  What power there is in those pages. Holy Spirit, give us creative ways to share Your Word with others!  Amen

A Father's Day weekend....according to us

Ken and I spent the entire weekend working on the house.  Or at least one part of the house....Ken's Camera Room.  He has been in the process of preparing the room by painting the walls and ceiling.  We had cleaned out the closet and decided exactly what he was going to have in the room, we just needed to actually do it.  So this weekend we actually completed this project.  We started with the flooring.  Ken and I decided on carpet tiles.

The project was actually quicker and easier than I expected.  We love the finished project.  From there we moved on to furniture.  Now IKEA stuff is usually not so bad to assemble.   But as we were almost in the home stretch of desk assembly, we noticed that the top of the desk had a dimple right in the middle.  So, a second trip to IKEA was required.  So, needless to say, it was a long day and a late night last night.  Today we had to hang the wall cabinet that we had previously purchased. We made a couple of trips to the store to actually get all of the screws, anchors, etc that were necessary to complete this process.  This morning we purchased a desk chair, which was the last thing assembled, just a few minutes ago.  Here is the finished project.....

Ken is very pleased with the room and that is the most important thing. I am so thankful that Ken is willing to take on all of these projects and complete them.    The next project is my scrapbook room.  I have already selected the paint, but we have lots of cleaning to do before we can even think about painting.  Seems like there will be many weekends ahead filled with projects!

All day today, I could think about was how very similar Ken is to my dad.  I can't list the number of times that my dad spent weekend, after weekend doing some project or other around the house.  It seemed that no project was outside of what my dad could accomplish.  There was never a time without a project at Lake Maud.   And when I was thinking about my dad, I was remembering when he put central air conditioning into our house in 1969.  And he did it all by himself.  Yes, he never met a project that he didn't love.  My dad has been dead since 1985.  But on a day like today, I wish that he could see our finished project.  My dad really loved Ken.  I know that he felt that Ken was a kindred spirit.  I remember that at my wedding, dad told me that he was sure that I had picked a good one.  He was right.  So, on this Father's day, I am celebrating who my dad was, and who Ken is and also the great fathers my grandchildren have.   

Yes, this was perfect way to celebrate this "hallmark" holiday.  Amid the really hard work, I remembered all that my dad sowed into my birth family.  And then I also saw that same spirit at work in Ken.  Even when not everything was "perfect" in my family growing up, Jesus is reminding me to see from His perspective. When I do that, I remember my hardworking dad.  And I feel very thankful for my hardworking husband.   And just like my last blog, there are so many things that we just seem to overlook. Today I also took a bit of time to do some yard work.  I pulled a bunch of weeds and then planted some flowers.  So now our house has a "pop" of color!  It's funny that looking at those flowers, I don't remember all of the weeds.  And that is just about what happens when we see from Jesus' perspective.  The weeds are gone and we are able to see the flowers in our life.  I highly recommend it!  

Jesus, thank you for my father and his hard work.  Thank you for the reminder to see the bright and good things.  Holy Spirit, help us to keep our eyes focused on your working in our lives.  Jesus, you have an amazing plan for each of us that begins with our birth families.  Help us to appreciate the heritage that you designed for us.   Pour out your blessings on all fathers.  Amen

Thankful for water..........

This is my backyard this week.  The little creek behind our house is way beyond flooded.  As are all of the rivers and creeks around here.  And it poured rain this morning......again.  All of the ground is saturated, squishy, and waterlogged.  But, hey, look at how green the grass is!  Which brings me to what has been on my mind all day........water.

Early this morning I saw a post on Facebook from "Humans of New York".  I love this particular page.  They post interesting stories of random people that they meet on the streets of New York.  Here is the post from today.....

“I’m single, unemployed, and late middle-aged. But I don’t really get sad. I just don’t think sadness is in my brain chemistry. When I go home to my apartment, I’ve got a faucet that releases both hot and cold water. You know how many billions of people don’t even have clean drinking water? And I’ve got two types of clean water: hot and cold.”

I just could not get this off of my mind, all day today.  How powerful and thought provoking.  We are so blessed!  We have a solid roof over our heads, we have protection from the elements.  We have safe HOT and COLD water.  We have lights and power for appliances, we have computers and televisions and cellphones.  And so, so much more.  Isn't it amazing that it takes a single paragraph post on Facebook to cause me to stop short and really think about just how blessed I am?   So even though we have had a bit too much rain, and we have a bit of flooding, we are still so blessed.

I was remembering last January.  I was at a conference and Heidi Baker was speaking.  She is a missionary in Mozambique Africa.  Just before the conference there had been disastrous flooding in Mozambique.  I mean really devastating.  Their entire base had been wiped out.

Even before the floods, they didn't have much.  But just like this man in New York, Heidi Baker was just so grateful for what they did have.  And how very blessed they are...because they have Jesus.  

I have not been very much like that man in New York or Heidi Baker.  As a matter of fact, I would have to say honestly that I have not been very thankful for these little things (which are really BIG things).  After reading that post this morning, every time I went to the sink, I thought about that clean water pouring out.  And I remembered all of the people around the world, who don't have a sink or clean water anywhere.  Those that have to walk miles and miles for dirty and contaminated water.  Or those that simply don't have any water.  Would you join me tonight in praying for all of those people?  And would you also pray that those of us with access to clean water, would not take it for granted.  Most of all, would you join me in prayer for them to know Jesus, the living water!   I can't help but think of  John 4:13-14....

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life".

Jesus, thank you for this reminder today of all of the great blessings you have poured out on us. Holy Spirit, help us to see all that you have provided for us.  What a gift water is to us.  Thank you for missionaries who give their life to bring the Good News to other nations.  Jesus, you are the Living Water!  Amen

Time sitting on the lap of Jesus.....

Today I spent time with my small group in worship and prayer.  In the quiet and peaceful atmosphere we were all feeling as if we were sitting on the lap of Jesus.  It was such a comforting place and it was so easy to hear the gentle whisper of Jesus reminding us that we are his daughters and He sees us very differently than we see ourselves.  We spent some time talking about "body image" and other ways that our society has changed the way we view our value as women.  It was a good reminder that we are children of the King of Kings.  We prayed not only for ourselves, but for our daughters and granddaughters and future generations.  I was thinking of yesterday, watching Anna playing in the park.

She had Lia's sparkly purse and she was putting it on her shoulder and walking on the path.  She was very intent that the purse had to be just right.  It's hard to imagine that at 16 months old she is already being impacted by watching her sisters.  I am so thankful that Gwen has done a good job of talking to the kids about their bodies being a temple of Jesus.  They are developing a very good sense of their true identity as children of the King.

Yesterday I got this amazing video from my sweet little Lia.  This little nine year old recently was given a cellphone that only enables her to text certain people.  I am one of those fortunate enough to get her texts. I was brought to tears as I watched her read this little book to me.  I had made this book for her when she was very young.  And here she was, now able to read this book, sharing it with me!  I was thinking about the way that we have influence over our children and grandchildren often through things that we don't expect.  When I assembled this little book, I never imagined that she would be reading this as a nine year old.

Yes, I believe that I will be paying more attention to ways that I can have an impact on my grandchildren.  Meanwhile, I will be spending some more time just sitting on the lap of Jesus.
Don't we all need that?  I know that I do.

Jesus, thank you for pulling us closer when we come to you.  What a gift it is to be in your presence and then to be pulled even closer.  Jesus help us to keep our focus on how YOU see us and to remember that we can show the world who you are, through our eyes.  Holy Spirit, keep our mind free of the influence of our society and give us the mind of Christ.  Thank you for our families.  Remind us that we can influence future generations!  Amen

Flag Day revelation.............

Home from vacation, good nights sleep (in my own bed), unpacked and 4 loads of laundry done and put away, refrigerator filled up with food......so now I am ready to get back to my normal life.  I was so tired last night but I could not fall asleep.  So I picked up my Bible and started looking at those 5:19 verses and just for good measure, I looked at the 51:9 verses also.  I got stuck on Jeremiah 5:19... "And when the people ask, "Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?, you will tell them, "As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own."

Well, this certainly hit a cord with me.  I couldn't help but reflect on all that I saw in Washington DC and New York City.  It was so clear that God was a part of the establishment of the United States.  Every document, every display, every where you turned, there was God.  I simply don't understand how anyone could not accept and embrace that the United States welcomed the presence of God and He is the solid foundation that our nation was built on.  When you look at the current state of things, it is quite clear that many have turned their back on this reality.  The thing is, whether they like it or not, or want to admit it, this land belongs to God.  

And then I visited a sight of an attack on our own soil.... of terrorism, death, and destruction.  And the reality of war - here at home... well it was real and it was right there. There was one part of the museum that had the "response" to 9/11.  The first wall was pictures of flags.  Lots and lots of American Flags.  As a matter of fact, it said that Walmart sold 22,000 flags in one day.  They sold out their entire warehouse of flags and had to order more from the manufacturer.  There were videos of people saying that they had gone from store to store to store and could not find a flag to buy. 

As I was putting away our suitcases and kind of cleaning up in my scrapping room, I noticed this sitting on the table.......

Before we left on vacation Ken and I were cleaning out some closets.  We had saved this magazine from September 20, 2001.  I hadn't really looked at it before we left, but I read it from cover to cover this afternoon.  What really struck me was the bold title......GOD BLESS AMERICA!  The terrible event brought us back to our foundation.  To God.  As we were raising the flags, we were asking for God to rescue us.  To bless us.  To restore us once again.  

How interesting that today is Flag Day.  I am so sure that there are not many flags flying especially today.  But I was thinking about this........

I was reminded of a newspaper headline that I saw, not long after 9/11.  It said, "They wanted to change America forever on 9/11.....and they have!"  It reminded us that we need to stand up and be American and to ask God to bless us.    Yes, it accomplished something.  

I love how Jesus has given me some clear direction on how to pray for America.  I will be praying for us to remember the foundation....the strong and clear basis of our country.  

Jesus, thank you for bringing me to those 5:19 verses.  Holy Spirit help us to stay out of the fear of terrorism and keep us IN the peace that passes all understanding.  Jesus, bring truth into all of the political arena.  Bring revelation and wisdom to everyone in our government.   Give courage and boldness to all of your people Jesus, so that they can rise and shine amid the darkness of this world.  Help us all to effect the environment around us!  Amen