Praying Times

Ephesians 6:18 "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."

Praying friends, it's time to be on our knees for oh so much! In desperate times, we gather to call on each other, go to our churches, seek God in all these uncertainties. It seems we are upon one of these crazy times now. Never has there been such a time...

Yes there has---just.in my lifetime:

President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas

Vietnam War and protests

Nuclear proliferation

Civil Rights movements and racism in the 60's.

Wars and rumors of wars. 

Aides

Cults

School shootings

Serial Killers

The War on drugs

Raising teenagers

Driving California freeways

Mudslides

Earthquakes

Hurricanes

Wildfires

Recessions

9/11

More mass shootings

Work place violence

Murder

Greed

Divorce

Sexual abuse

Sex Trafficing

Disease

Suicide

Opioid addiction and others

Politics and division

Pandemics

More racial tension

Police brutality

Injustice...

Are you thoroughly depressed now?  My apologies, but we live in a broken world. This breaks God's heart even more. 

 Our prayers--sometimes we just don't have the words. But Jesus gave us an example in Matthew 6, The Lord's Prayer. Pray like this, Jesus said, especially when overwhelmed by a world bent on not following God.

Our Father, who art in Heaven

Hallowed be Thy Name

(You are God, I am not) 

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

(Thank You God that I am Your child, a part of Your great and awesome plan. I want to be in Your Will for I know You are Good)

Give us this day our daily bread,

(Provide for me God)

And forgive us our debts 

(Forgive my sins)

As we forgive our debtors

(Help me to forgive and love others).

And do not lead us into temptation

(Let me abide in Your Spirit and listen and obey You)

But deliver us from evil

(Give me discernment and wisdom)

For Thine is the Power and the Glory, forever,

(For You are God, Holy and Righteous, and I want to Love You more and more each day) 

Amen. 

(I agree with my prayer, I surrender and trust You, Thank You Lord).

I pray. I pray continuously. To live and breathe is to pray, an imperative. The enemy creeps about and he wants to destroy all of God's good work in us and mock us as he tries to whisper the doubt, the fear, the unbelief into our ear, trip us up, turn our head from truth with the noise of this world. 

I pray.

I pray with friends over the phone, and with friends at church or where ever the occasion arises. Lately, I've prayed attending Zoom meetings. 

I've prayed a lot in hospital rooms. 

Driving to work is a great time to pray. 

If you catch me in my garden, I am working with my hands, but I am conversating with The Father and enjoying His creation in all the picking up of leaves, planting, chasing butterflies. It's my daily, anointed time with the Lord.

Tonight, a dear young man in my life (well, he's in his 40's but young to me) came over. James, like a son to me, established a routine, a ritual really, since he started training and working in his current career. He comes over to pray before a big test. He said to me that he does not feel fully prepared until we have this special time together.What a blessing and privilege! 

Tonight, we sat in my patio and after chit-chatting over the week and events, I took his hands and prayed for his upcoming test tomorrow morning. 

We've done this a lot over the last 10 years. He's passed every one! I am very proud of him. 

Friends, I've learned a lot over the years about prayer. It's not so much what we say, but our heart attitude, our quiet surrender, our true desire to connect with a God who adores and lavishes our petitions and requests, our sincere hope to walk more closely with Him. I've learned what a surrendered prayer is, the hardest ever to pray, and I've treasured intimate prayers with my closest friends. I've seen prayers answered in the way I prayed but most often, I've seen prayers answered in unexpected, more amazing than I could ever imagine ways. Then, there are the prayers where you know you've prayed a thousand times...

 The waiting is hard, but God's timing is always perfect. He is faithful!  

Lord, thank You for my "son", James and our beautiful relationship over the years. What a redemptive story that is! Thank You for his success and that You direct him to seek You in his work and throughout his life. Thank You that I get to participate in seeing Your will accomplished in him. Thank You Lord for the sweet times I prayed with my own son this year in his tough moments. Those tender, sorrowful times, though hard, bonded us closer in trust and I see the result. I continue to pray for his complete surrender. Lord, thank You for teaching us how to pray. Thank You for the Holy Spirit who directs our prayers to Heaven and prompts us with sweet whispers of grace in our ears to remember Your goodness. May we pray not just for ourselves, but call on You for Your mercy for Your saints and for Your will to be done in all those we lift to You in concern. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen. 

Tauren Wells "When We Pray" 

Setting Up A Connection

Colossians 1:17 "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." 

I believe this is the close of week 5, possibly 6 including what was supposed to be Spring break, the second week --  #COVID19 social distancing shutdown. I cannot complain. I am getting paid for sleeping in, reading, catching up on streaming shows, a lot of time to work in and enjoy my garden. Witnessing so many caterpillars consume the milkweed I planted for them, grow 1000x their size and find their designated spot in which to shed their skin, pull down a chrysalis blanket around them and reform their protein into a butterfly--simply  amazing!. If you were to come for a visit, I'd point out the 15 hanging, bright green homes where metamorphisis is taking place. 

Is there a metamorphisis taking place in homes across the world? Are families changing for the better? Are we going to be able to see a positive, beautiful transformation after the stay-at-home order is gradually lifted? Is this connectivity to our families going to make a difference in lives and the future? When things return to normal, are they going to be just that...back to normal? Was normal OK? 

I've blogged consistantly about this virus, touching on the subjects of masks, death, hope, mercy and uncertainty. This week, the word, connectivity came to mind. 

Funny, because earlier today, my internet went out on my laptop. Nowhere else did this problem occur, so it definitely presented itself as some sort of glitch in my computer. Several hours of trying to troubleshoot with the provider and a servant at church--no success. I had a plan B, not too happy that I couldn't connect. I sent a prayer request out to my group of friends. Can God please help to intervene in technology? 

I am thinking He, God, has received many such a prayer in these last few weeks as the Body of Christ ministers together in this new normal for now, remotely and virtually, on line in living rooms and on cell phones, Zooming and You-Tubing!  Well, the world tries to stay connected. 

I am reconnected to the internet. It never left. Somehow, a setting changed to a wrong position and it blocked my connection. Maybe that is how some people feel about God--just not fully connected. They know He is there, but they can't seem to find the right way to approach Him, get reaquainted with Him, take the time to see what the "problem" is, relying on a Plan B if it gets to that point. 

God is always connected. It's our "settings" that  need some adjustments.The Apostle Paul reminds us in this verse that the Lord is before all things. He is the provider, the computer, the screen, the router, the WiFi, and we need to be the search engine plucking out on the keyboard of our souls these thoughts: 

Father, You are in Heaven, I am here. Help me to see Your Glory today. Please forgive me of my transgressions, my mess ups, my doubts and fears and lead me into Your will. Help me Lord to stay connected and allow me Lord to see that You hold it all together, all for Your glory, Amen. 

A setting of humility, a setting of recognition-- that God's grace is all sufficient. We are then empowered to do this life and stay connected to Him and to His will, whether we are out and about or home, congregating or social distancing, masked or not, healthy or compromised, young or old, black, white, purple, rich or poor...

Our settings by default need to be placed, in Him, our Creator. It is rather poetic of Paul as I reread this short but mighty verse.

He's before all things and in Him all things hold together. 

I challenge you to write several Post-It notes and strategically place them around your home to remind you of this verse. Where are the places you get caught-up in? Where do you need to see His all sufficient grace? Where do you recognize that God is holding you all together, to trust Him? 

Lord, I pray that this simple poetic line of scripture will help someone out there to reconnect to You and Your plan and Your love for them.Thank You Lord for always being The Mighty connection to what is Holy and worth persevering for. Help us all Lord to stay connected and thwart off the virus of apathy. Wayward settings lead us to false teaching and hoplessness. Lifestyles and choices allow some to feel useless, unable to connect to You Lord. But because You are the Risen Saviour, You provided that setting of Grace for all who believe. May we not choose the setting of our own way, but connect to the Spirit that always provides, from the before to the now and into the after. Amen. 

Outbreak

Galatians 6:17 "For now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brandmarks of Jesus."


I saw them this morning, paused and wondered if they would fade, maybe by summer.  Continuing to moisturize as I do routinely, the purpleish dots decorated both my legs. I knew more scattered across my tummy, my back and my arms.  These scars were left from a troubling time not so long ago, scars from stress, anxiety--scars from an outbreak of hives and the constant itch they generated. 

My body reacts to stress in very wierd ways. At one time in my life I dealt with severe hair loss, and eczema always seems to be an irritant when I'm a bit overwhelmed. This is how God put me together. 

But, I shouldn't be, right? I am a believer. "I trust God in everything"...and my inner voice begins the dialogue with itself, and I open the door to more doubt, more anxiety, worrying about my stress and anxiety! 

Ugh! I pray over and read Philippians 4:6, a mantra I must repeat and pray always and forever. 

It's the world we live in today; too much to process and expect an answer for right away. 

Remember that old saying? "Things will work themselves out in time." 

In the few weeks my son and I were dealing with a relationship issue, also involving a third party, all of our good intentions soothed over some situations, but many layers of hurt and anger deep within could not be buffed away so quickly. I wanted nothing more then for my son to be happy, work together for a good outcome, but his friend's healing did not come on our watch. 

Walking through this grief and dissapointed, this heartache with my son, caused me an outbreak of severe hives. 

Walking, sitting and counseling with my son, hearing him pray with me and for himself and this brokenness caused me an outbreak of praise to God for the best words, the honest cries and now I can say, even the heartbreak and dissappointment he received. The healing continues and insight and forgiveness moves us forward. 

Things DID work themselves out in time. It wasn't so much for her, but for my relationship with my son. We are better for this, closer, and I know he respects me and knows the Lord. It may not look like what we think it should, but God showed up in a very dark time, my son initiating the call, both to God and his believing mom.  In retrospect, we both are wiser. We know where and what we can handle when it comes to wounds cut deep and bleeding out onto others. That is God's undoing, and we continue to pray for that very thing. 

My scars remind me, not of the itchyness, but of the grace that appeared over and over. They remind me of my human nature, the way God created me with nerve endings that give awareness of pain and suffering, and how soothing to the skin of my soul-- prayer and His promises, His timing and His glorious works are. Nothing, absolutely nothing in this world is more intimate than to pray in humility, with someone you love so dearly! 

Evil intentions and hurt wanted to leave a festering blister, but the Lord's healing hands administered an ointment of love and grace. Scars may remain but God's outbreak through our tough and tanned layers when we expose our need for Him, covers us and protects us from further damage. 

Thank You Lord.  Everything will work out in time--in Your  timing in and through prayer and Your will. You know Lord, all the things done out of love and good intentions. Sometimes, we are just a stepping stone for another pathway. I can only pray that whatever roads are chosen that they lead straight to You, Your forgiveness and grace. If Lord, any words or thoughts resonate, let Your grace be magnified. I continue to pray for the lost and the broken, for generations affected by poor choices. You Lord are The Healer. May Your grace and love continue to pour onto my son for continued strength, purpose and healing. You know my skin-deep prayers for him. Help me trust in Your timing and continue to guide us in Your ways, Amen. 

Help Wanted, Help Received, Every Day

Psalm 121:1-2 "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."

It is almost here! We're on the final approach. Crossing the "t"s and dotting the "i"s,  having conversations, testing, cleaning up, stopping and starting, scheduling, seeing this doc and that P.A., this nurse and that other doc. Questions asked and answered and papers documented, going over the dos and don'ts before, preparing and...PRAYING! 





This date of his full knee-replacement is just around the corner. God, our Helper, knows the plan, and guides us to continue in the everyday while we wait and move forward. He showed us the way while some major things were dealt with. In the waiting, the right doctor came back from a leave of absence, and the date given? Just a few days into summer break, when school is out and I am home. God orchestrated all this. In our waiting and obedience, He lined up the ducks all in a row and they are moving swiftly now up a stream of anticipation of healing and hope. 

Where does our help come from? My help comes from the Lord. Your Will, not mine, for Your glory. 

~~~

A wonderful conference came together with volunteers and church staff support. I doubted my abilities, but never God's. I gave it to Him, dedicating the day to my mentor and dear friend and prayed for our purpose. Placing the day at His feet, my eyes gazed upon the beauty of my garden and knew from seeds planted and deep roots, My Helper never fails me. He knows my weaknesses and in them He is glorified. 

Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. You are a Mighty God!

A gathering family, ready to celebrate and regroup--love one another, but news breaks--a difficult situation. Not the expected, yet even in the next few hours, God's indwelling Spirit gives grace, spoken in gentle words and support, unity and hope. Yes, the processing happens but God, already at work, places the right people before and after reassuring in the pain and confusion. He rises above and His magnificence shines and we KNOW because He does a mighty work in us everyday! A vacancy appears and only One can best fill it. The Spirit lifts eyes and hearts and hears the prayers. In this Lord, You will be glorified. In this, we thank You. 

Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. Great and gracious are You, Lord. 

Lord, everyday our own little world brings challenges. Everyday, I look to You, to trust that You are much bigger, omniscient and omnipresent just for me and my circumstances.   Every day Lord, growing closer to You sometimes comes in waiting. Everyday Lord, I need a Helper. Everyday Lord, Your promises guide every step in the waiting, revealed in the doing and glorified in the giving over. You Lord, are the Maker of Heaven and Earth! You know the future and in that I lift my eyes, trust You and keep praying for Your wisdom and strength. I am living in a broken world...I am broken, yet You see me blessed as I strive and call on Your Name, hire You as my Helper, wait on Your answers, feel Your Winds of direction and encourage others waiting and hoping as I am, together, believing that You make all things good in Your perfect timing. Thank You Lord for being our Helper, then and now and always. Amen. 

                          

Praise You in the Storm

Casting Crowns 

For This Reason

Colossians 1:9-10 "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understandings, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God..."

A second storm ended this afternoon as I drove home from the bank and waited to get some dinner. I listen to the news of the day and wondered about the storms to come... 

I know who I shelter under, who my foundation is truly built on, who promises JOY in the morning.

America inaugurated a new President today. I don't have to tell you that he is not well-liked by many, yet he became our choice in this democratic process. He is not a politician but a negotiator. He doesn't use political language that moves around the problem, but speaks and tweets unfiltered while sitting in the middle of a major traffic jam leading to the heart of the issues in this country. Many our prepared to block entrances and exits. I am on the overpass, asking God for the right direction. 

I pledge my allegiance to America, but I serve a King, the eternal King of Kings. As a citizen of His Kingdom, He asks us to pray for those in authority over us. 

And so I will continue to pray for our President. May God guide you, fill you with His knowledge, give you understanding, grace and compassion for all people, citizens of the U.S. or not. You, a billionaire businessman with all your assets can boast of a fruitful life, probably a whole lot of good works with your money, but now this country waits and hopes that the next 100 days will be unifying, not divisive, encouraging, not fearful, strong, not overbearing. 

The fruit the Lord talks about is the kind that quenches a thirst, that leaves seeds to plant hope for eternity, a harvest that feeds thousands spiritual food. Fruit that empowers  to change a generation to end the poverty of hopelessness and degradation. 

A President can do that, can inspire. 
Anyone who lays their hand, their eyes and heart on the pages of a Bible, Abraham Lincoln's or their grandmother's from another generation, can inspire. 

Lincoln's Bible 

Someone with a little orange New Testament given to them on a street corner, can inspire. 

If God so wills it in the pages of His Word and that Word is read and His servant is obedient, miracles can happen. And so we pray for this reason...

For this reason, President Trump; for this reason, my friend, 

For this reason, I read His Word so that I can be continually transformed and a fruit-bearing citizen of this earth, of this country, of my own holy-ground-moments as compared to eternity.  

~~~

I'm baking a cake right now. It's for a memorial service tomorrow for Rev. Harvey Boese, a servant of the Lord. Just a few months shy of 100 years of age, he faithfully attended my church with his wife and daughter and her husband for the last several years of his long life. I read his obituary in last Saturday's paper. Here is a part of it: 

Rev. Harvey Gilbert Boese, 99, a resident of Chino Hills for 18 years, died Jan. 6, 2017, at home

He was born April 9, 1917, in Bloomfield, Mont. He grew up on a farm near Avon, S.D., where he completed eighth grade. He attended a school for the speech-handicapped for one year. 

He graduated from St. Paul Bible Institute (now Crown College, Minn.) in 1941. He received his bachelor of arts and bachelor of divinity degrees from Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary in 1943. He attended Mission Training Institute (now Nyack College, N.Y.) in 1944 and later attended Fuller School of World Missions. He earned his GED in 1975 at age 58.

He married Grace Chadderdon on June 15, 1944.

He was a Christian & Missionary Alliance missionary to Thailand for 28 years. He was pastor of Baldwin Park Alliance Church for five years. He provided translation services and pastoral care for Asian refugees for 11 years.

He lived in Chino Hills since 1998, when he retired from pastoral ministries.

Someone prayed for Harvey Boese. He leaves a legacy that impacted the world for hope and the Truth. He never stopped attending church. He wanted and knew he needed the fellowship and the "knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understandings."

I know without a doubt, that the Lord is pleased with Rev. Harvey Boese. 

I know the Lord is pleased with me...because...because...
because I write? 
because I baked a cake?
because I told a woman she dropped her money in a puddle in the pouring rain (didn't notice it) today at the bank? 

None of the above. The Lord is pleased with us when we pray, when we take the time to humble ourselves, empty ourselves and give of ourselves to pray for others, even those who may or may not be someone we respect, or someone who has hurt us...or someone we fear. The Lord is pleased when our heart's desire is to be in His  will, not ours. It's never about our own goodness. It is because He is good. 

I am sure Harvey had a lot of stories of people who prayed for him, and I am sure at the service tomorrow, there will be stories from people who Harvey prayed for. 

For this reason, because God ordains it, I pray: God Bless you President Trump, God Bless America. God DID bless you Rev. Harvey Boese. God, bless his family, his dear wife Grace and his children and grandchildren. Give them the comfort and the legacy of faith to carry on. May You continue to use the seeds of the fruit planted for Your Harvest. I ask you Lord, for those souls who say they belong to You, to be obedient to Your Word and not their own agenda, to have words of love, especially for those who refuse, do not or cannot see You in the diluting of Your Truth in our country. Thank you Lord for Your Kingdom which will rule eternally and for the privilege to be a part of Your plan. Amen. 

Let us pray for this country, against division, hatred and violence--for unity and understanding, to work together, despite our own bias and opinions, for the greater Good. For so many reasons Lord, we pray, but if only for one reason Lord, that we might bring You glory and be privileged to partner with You to make Your truth known. 

Inspired. Affirmed. Redeemed.

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." 

Inspired. Affirmed. Redeemed.  All these words fill my heart and mind as I interact with those around me and continue to move forward in my own spiritual trust-walk. Yet God still allows challenges and concerns before me, before this country and the world we live in. It seems everyday this summer swings like a pendulum--up to the heights of knowing God's love and plan, seeing it play out in front of me, bravery and achievement of goals, reunions and celebrations, vacations and beauty in the garden... butterfly wings. Then the news and politics fill our Facebook and living rooms, the heartbreak and evil, the disease and estrangement, the entitlement; the blatant disregard for human life...the tragedy this world has become. That last bit... is a darkness that's always existed, seeping in the cracks we ignore, the things we compromise, the choices we make to appease instead of stand up for truth, and ignorance of what God already accomplished.  God is sovereign and is always, always GOOD!

I am inspired by a young man who chose a profession of service, that of a police officer. Not only did he choose to be an officer of the law, but to do so in the big city, the City of Angels. At such a time as this, we climbed into a car in the early predawn hour on the morning after 5 Dallas policemen were taken out, executed. We watched the brave young recruits receive their handshake from the Chief of Police and the Mayor, listened to the heart breaking yet determined speeches--bittersweet words unintended for that morning, but determined to comfort and strengthen, assure and...give gratitude and love. I was so honored to sit with my closest friend and her family and pray for her son...our sons and daughters.

I am affirmed when my own story of "Grace Upon Amazing Grace, " my work in progress these last few summers, winds down to concluding thoughts, and a point of view switching from myself to my son in heaven. Incidents that to some might seem coincidence or "weird," I know and feel God reaching down and giving me a high-five, a thumbs up in a song or two, butterflies, and many other occurences. It bestows a  confidence... (sigh and smile) that the pages will be tangible soon. Words will be read, and hearts will see and turn to His grace in their own grief. 

I feel the redemption flow when I recognize the nudge, the need to tell someone's story, someone I haven't seen in 25 years. When they show up out of nowhere, open up to me about life and struggles and their own redemption through the gift they've been given late in life, to discover a talent beyond their wildest dreams in the throes of a cancer diagnosis...

"Maybe you're meant to tell my story," he said. Maybe I am. 

 "Genesis"  (God Creating Mars). 

***Creating art for only 11 months now,  a suggestion given to him by a counselor to use the other part of his brain, his three-D paintings are unique, the colors amazing in the detail and texture, and the subjects...inspiring!  

It happens again, a different person, a different dialogue  She writes in a message, ..."I need to tell you stories of the Holy Spirit, true stories of Hope I've experienced.  I need a writer." 

Then again, another person from the far past..."help me please, pray for me, how do I connect back to God in my prayer life?"

Three different souls, me and One God that unites us all. 

 I am redeemed because I am every one of these friends. I lived a life on the fence, one step in the world and a foothold on faith, straddling for balance, ignoring God until tragedy struck. In time and through genuine confession and wanting Him front and center, in control, did grace come pouring back, flooding me with peace and a hope I never felt before. I connected by writing in the pages of a journal and reading with intent, the Holy Words of Scripture. My prayers and my whole self became for the first time, authentic before God, highlighting spiritual gifts and purpose I never believed I was worthy enough to offer. I am used of Him now to bless others. In my darkest moments of this life, God revealed to me in the true supernatural, the ministry of the Holy Spirit and I long to share this miraculous gift of that very grace with everyone. 

So now, in my thoughts, I think on the good, the good God brings out to those that love Him and how it does all work together, even if it takes years. We all need to want to be an inspiration, to have affirmation in our  prayers, to want to serve and protect and give back a bit of ourselves so others can feel hope, and tell of His goodness. He still is in the miracle business. He does it in lives and hearts of His children who always have mattered since Creation began. Yet He allows us the free will to choose. I pray that God matters in your life today; allow Him to show you how to swing again and reach for the clouds. It's only a matter of a little push, a pump of the feet...and you'll feel the power of redemption pulling you up and out towards your own destiny in Him...

...because that is what makes evil benign--that is what keeps the swing going high to touch the clouds of heaven, that is what brings us intimacy and purpose in the opportunity we have to be grateful to Him everyday. 

We only ask you Lord to keep us humble in our own inspiration, in our own affirmation of You and keep redeeming us all for Your glory. May we serve each other in a holy way that unites us in love because all of us matter, everyone of us. Amen.

 Jars of Clay  Higher Than the Sun

The Prayer Garden

Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O Lord, Thou wilt hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch. 

I don't know why, but something called me outside this morning. I knew what that meant--I'd be lolly gagging with the flowers and bugs and not getting my walk in before the heat. Still cool, I grabbed my coffee and camera and went out back to sit and chat with the Lord. A dialogue happens while walking too, but a garden...well it just seems like a natural place to connect. 

OK God, here's the deal. You are so awesome in all things that You orchestrated this week. How can I not trust you?  And here I am, asking for just that, ... a little more faith, guidance, some peace.

The Tiger Swallowtail moves in on the end of that thought and for once...actually lands and stays on a zinnia right in front of me. I know this guys name for sure. He's been with me for 8 years now, coming alongside me in my grief, healing and purpose. I take his picture in his graceful pose and I name him Grace butterfly. I feel the bubbling up of faith and trust and I can't help but be thankful. 

In less than the time it takes to fly from one flower to the next, his buddy comes soaring in. Bright orange and white, I am thinking it is a Monarch.  Making his appearance quite regularly these last few weeks, today he is not at all camera shy. Diving in, he takes a look around and pops over the fence, around the tree and continues the relay. I hear God tell me something;  this guy has a different name. The butterfly provides for me an opportunity to take his picture many times. His name is Provision. 

How many more can I capture this morning Lord? What else are you giving me, that I asked for, sought for, knocked this morning for?  I am overwhelmed and blessed. 

When we think we don't have any peace, maybe we're just focusing on the negative, not seeing the goodness. It's there, really. Push back the clutter, the midnight minions that worry us  and ask God to open up your eyes to see Him. He waits for the discovery, down in the mess of fallen leaves...but also near the root, where life springs forth. 

The white flag of peace, waving in the earth, another attribute of the Lord along with His sovereign Grace and Provision. When I look in my garden at any given time, I see these guys. They love to fly in pairs, playing off each other and enjoying the flowers.  Now I name her Peace. She flies through and I know she wants to visit everywhere;  to go around the world in her life time,  fly into classrooms and executive board meetings, into huts and alleys, homeless shelters and NICU's, cemeteries and slums, GOP debates and over oceans where people are lost or sailing away to look for her. Peace, it's not elusive. It's so much like the butterfly, something that became transformed, a beautiful hope. 

The hummingbird reminds me to keep busy, keep praying, keep believing, knowing and sharing the GRACE that meets me every morning.  He hears my prayers and PROVIDES His mercy, within His will and timing. It is OK that I ask Him again, for I am weak at times, many times...I live in this crazy world, still human every morning but graced. Each day I ask for continued strength. The PEACE of God, I read and cling to in His Word and know it. I recognize His voice.  He promises that His goodness is sufficient. I am among the transformed and He gave me a new name as well. I continue to eagerly watch  and listen to His voice of Love. 

These guys, clipper butterflies, too numerous to count, I named my  PRAYER WARRIORS; my church, my closest friends here and a far. I love you and your strength. Your  love and support in return cannot be captured in a blog or a few pictures. 

Lord, I am just thankful for so much this week. To want to express it in my writing, sometimes  does not feel like enough. I never want to stop being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and how You minister to me. Keep flying in Lord.  What ever words I can come up with, may it be all for Your Glory. Not just working in me, but  Lord, my family is seeing You as well. Your goodness flies all over this world and may those who seek your GRACE, Your PROVISION, Your strength in FELLOWSHIP  and Your PEACE, find it soon and continue until Your Glory returns. Amen.  

~~~

When I came in from my garden, the morning sun ablaze now, I postponed my walk.  Logging  back into my Facebook account, an old classmate sent me this picture, the exclamation mark to my prayers.  God is good.