This blog is such a fulfilling way for me to get my thoughts out....I haven't felt like writing in earnest in such a long time. I am beginning to feel again the little nudges inside that words make when they want to be expressed. But most of all, I am feeling the need to put into words the ideas and convictions that are swirling around and filling increasing amounts of time in my head.

The long and short of it is this. I am not getting any younger. I know now what I did not know when I was much younger--mainly that I will not live forever and want to make choices with my time and my life that mean something for eternity, for others, for things that really matter.
I truly want to go out strong in making a difference somehow. Today I heard a friend say, "We are all going to get tired, I want to get tired over something worthy of getting tired over." That is wonderfully put.
I am coming to realize that the enemy of our soul has one amazingly effective strategy that is keeping countless people from doing what they were called to do. That strategy is nothing more than the 'good' task of keeping us constantly striving "to be better." It is an exhausting and impossible job that seems so worthwhile that we are blinded to the heart of God's will for us-namely, forgetting ourselves and getting on with bettering the lives of every one else.
I feel new "marching orders" are coming for a new season and hopefully I will recognize them for I am pretty sure they won't look familiar or feel comfortable. Stretching one's horizons is a specialty of God's.
More than anything, I want to be about what He is about, no matter how insignificant it may look to me. His economy is vastly different than ours. I think I would see and hear more clearly if I walked around on my hands, seeing everything upside down, right side up.
A precious friend reminded me this morning of the prayer of all prayers, "the prayer that never fails, Thy will be done."
ever grateful for that

Season's end

Well, summer is almost over--actually, it is over when you see big yellow school buses picking up children at the street corner and begin to see the piles of tomatoes dwindling at the farm stands. Oh, the HORROR of dwindling tomatoes.! To me, tomatoes are the only redeeming thing about summer--no, that is not true. It's humid steamy days and constant mosquito bites are redeemed by fresh corn, green beans, bright peppers, and fresh produce of every kind. Of course, I left out hummingbirds, sweet iced tea, never ending jumps off the dock into the lake, crickets at night, giant blossoms on my moon vine opening at dusk, cold suppers, watching the last of daylight every evening from my bed, and many other lovely aspects of the season.
I guess my love affair with fall is making me wish the last vestiges of summer to be on their way. I have been admiring my perfectly seasoned wood pile since April, anticipating that first day that will be cold enough for a fire.
I know I shouldn't wish away a single day. I just don't "do hot" very well, never have, and never will. I look each day much like my end of the season plants--a little droopy and sick of the heat.
I am in Mass. with our daughter Clare for a couple of weeks, and I am certainly seeing those hints of Fall that make me want to shout. We drove through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the rolling hills of the Amish countryside in Pennsylvania thrilling at the beauty and timeless hope seen in the harvested fields. So many deep truths are tied into harvest, such a poignant time for so many people who have labored so long for this season.

Robert Lewis Stevenson said, "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant." Whether summer, fall, winter or spring, that is a wonderful way to live.
ever grateful for that

a morning well spent

I have been honored to spend the morning with a lovely young woman who has been a widow for a year. As she sat on my sofa and spilled out her mending heart, over and over there was a phrase I wanted to say to her, but refrained . Sharing the fears, the trials, the overwhelming 'aloneness' of a now single mom, I saw what she could not see. I saw her deep down strength and her honest but sometimes questioning faith holding her, binding her to her Savior with cords much stronger than she felt.
I saw my Clare a year down the road, saw with hope a fellow traveler who has also been forced to walk a very difficult path with no map and no seeming end, yet still putting one foot in front of the other keeping her eyes on the only compass there is in such a 'fog' as she called it--the person of Jesus, who IS our compass. Isn't He the only one who knows where He is leading us, and why?

Its funny how wonderful and appropriate children's literature can be in very grown up times. I wanted to say to her what Christopher Robin said to Winnie when Christopher had to go away. His words seemed so appropriate today. Words that I believe are true of all of us if we belong to Him. It is a paraphrase of "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

"If ever there is a tomorrow when we are not together, there is something you must always remember--you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think, but the most important thing is, even if we are apart, I'll always be with you."

I refrained from saying it for the same reason I refrain from saying it to Clare.
Now may not be the time-their pain, their grief, and their loss is too big to throw in quotes, and scriptures-however true. They must feel what they feel. Telling someone who feels so weak how 'strong' they are, puts a lot of pressure on a wounded soul. In God's good time and good grace, He will show them both whatever they need to know about Himself and the safe place He has for them and their children, yes, and even the place of joy they think they will never know again.
ever grateful for that

home again,home again, without the jiggedy jig

Oh, home. Most of my blogs in the past have been about how I love home. Home, with its comforts, "comfortableness", peace and its unique power to energize. I did find these same wonderful qualities awaiting us after such a long time away, but something is different. I am different. Places and their charms don't hold the same power for me. I do not think I will ever see my home as I always have. I know now, in a way I have never been able to grasp before, that the home that is truly mine, that I was created for, doesn't exist here on this planet.

Barry, our dear son-in-law, died on July 4th. For the last 5 weeks, Phil and I have been at Clare and Barry's home, doing whatever we could to ease the workload for Clare as she cared for, loved, and helped to make Barry's home-going as pain free as possible.

Words can't contain what this journey is teaching me. I'll have to marinate for a while in these rich lessons so that I may attempt to sort them out and share them. I do know that to go to the highest places with God, you have to go to the lowest places. To overcome pain, you have to embrace pain, and to overcome fear, you let God take you to those places you fear most, and let go and watch Him go to battle for you. All this new revelation comes from a person who has a PHD in Pain avoidance. No one has been more expert at keeping pain at bay than moi! The fruit of that avoidance has been a shallow understanding of the immense power of God's love and the instant connection available to me if I won't be so afraid of being broken.
It has been said of God's kingdom that it is an upside down one. RIGHT! Throw out all your preconceived certainties about being a child of God, hold on to your big hat, one that fits a big head if you have one like mine, and dare to let God do whatever He needs to do to show you His paths to joy...the "real McCoy" joy. Let me interject here that joy and happiness are two completely different animals.

I don't know much anymore. Phil always says now, "if there is one thing I know, it is that I don't know." I get it. But the one thing we are certain of now more than any other time in our lives, is that "love never fails." Opinions fail, head knowledge fails, even experience can't be banked on. But God, and God alone, does not disappoint when He is your only source of trust.
more later, maybe not....
grateful for the choice

tender mercy

I do not have words adequate enough to explain the holiness and the sadness and the heart-hope of watching a precious family member slowly go from this life to the next.
Words fail when emotions are so varied, moment by moment. I know one thing for sure though, God is near, and He goes before us, He goes before Barry and we are not traveling this journey by ourselves.

Romans 8: 35-39 says:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril or sword?...yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nt things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
ever grateful for that!

leaving soon

Well, faithful few, soon I will be going to Mass. to stay with Clare, Barry and boys for long while. It seems a little strange watering my garden knowing I won't be here to see it come to fruition, yet I will have Clare's garden to enjoy and to watch unfold. I won't be here cooking for my "best eater" but I will have a house full of good eaters to satisfy. I can watch Clare's birds just outside her window, leaving mine here for Phil to enjoy. I'll watch Clare's chipmunks do their damage on her flower beds instead of watching them here, digging up my bulbs and hiding them under our porch sofa cushions!
Clare was distressed, thinking I was leaving "my life here", putting "my life on hold", and staying away so long. It was such a beautiful and peaceful revelation to my spirit to be able to say, "I am not putting my life on hold, this IS my life!" Whatever God puts before us each day, whatever unique way He wants us to serve Him, that is our real life. I was telling someone the other day in the midst of her mundane, everyday service to her family, "It may not look like a Billy Graham crusade over there to you, but it is the same to God."

So, I head North for a season of service and blessing. I fully anticipate it to be one of the hardest and most painful trips of my life, and to be honest, I don't feel very adequate for the job, and yet I know without a shadow of a doubt, it will be a time of deep fellowship with Jesus, identifying with Him in many ways, watching Him pour out His unfailing love upon our family in our utter dependence upon Him, and just being with them, walking along side and sharing their pain.

I was reading yesterday a lovely and true statement from Dear Jesus, one of my daily devotionals. It read, "But I (Jesus) have showered you with humble, rarely sought gifts; neediness and weaknesses. These gifts, properly received and used, help make My ways known on earth."
Isn't that a redeeming and wonderful way to navigate through hard places?
Love to all, I may not have time to write for a while, but, as they say, "I'll be back!"
ever grateful for that

Saturday ramblings....

It's kind of weird writing to no one, really. I get an occasional comment, from close friends, but my most faithful comment givers are the guys selling porn on the internet. I guess they didn't really get the post about trading in your sin and guilt for peace and joy. They probably had a great big laugh and think that I get mad when they continually comment. Well, I don't. I'm just delighted they like to read about birds in my bird bath, sunlight traveling around the rooms in our house, my favorite aprons, and the pain in my heart caused by the terminal illness of our precious son-in-law. I hope they read about the hope that is there too, hope put there by the promise of life eternal if you belong to the family of God. I just ask one thing of this bunch....that they write their comments in English. If I could give them the great news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their language, I would.

I have a favorite person whose quotes set me on fire when I was much younger. Her name is Sister Mary Corita. Today I ran across a little journal where I had written many of them down. I will close with a few choice ones:

"To believe in God is to die and not be embarrassed."
"To believe in God is to get high on love enough to look down at your loneliness and forget it forever!"
"To believe in God is more than I need to make believing more than making believe."

Oh! I love this one from God:
"God is dead."--Nietzsche
"Nietzsche is dead." --God

ever grateful for eternal life in Christ Jesus

bird bathing

What is it about a bird taking a good, vigorous, extra splashy bath in our fountain that perks me up no matter what circumstance I am in? All that wiggling and vibrating serve as a very effective little sprinkler system, watering flowers and plants all around. I have a friend who's fountain inspired mine, and birds line up there for a bath like cars in a car wash line! That is my goal, to have them line up for their turn. So far, Robins and Brown Thrashers top the list of daily bathers. Sparrows love it and take the longest to finish their business. I am waiting for a chickadee to find the perfect little rock in it to perch upon and stop my heart (not permanently of course.)
God does exactly what He says He does in providing for even the birds, knowing what they need without them asking. Could I trust with such abandon as a little bird?

A sad phone call put me into a 'what-if' state of mind this morning. Watching the birds has been comforting to me---watching them stay in the moment, enjoying what is put before them without anxiety over tomorrow. Living like that would bring a "beautiful simplicity to my life; a time for everything, and everything in its time." Is what I am worrying about part of today's portion for me? If it isn't, would I release it into God's care and go on about today's duties?
Thank you, little birds. Your were God's visual today in the "Learning More About Trust" crash course He has assigned me.
ever grateful for that

Would you consider taking what is mine?

I am dedicating this post to you, my mysterious Japanese, Chinese, or some other "eese" reader that sends me comments that lead to your porn site. At first, I was so thrilled that someone outside my little world was reading about my views on life and sharing the same grateful responses to God's care--thrilled until I clicked on your comment.
That is when I discovered your trick, a subtle plan to somehow lure me into your world view.
It amazes me and encourages me that you continue to read about my joy, my pain, my faith, my woodpile and my little fountain. Perky breasts seem to be your cup of tea,(I admit I wish mine were more so) and yet you read about the thrill a first hyacinth brings me and how I am trusting God with everything and everyone I hold dear. Trust is an alluring topic, don't you agree?

Oh dear searching one. First, let me assure you that I have discovered by God's good grace, that indeed, without surrendering to His compelling love in my life, I, like you, am capable of anything that would eventually break my heart and the hearts of my family, foster lust and pride in my mind, and lead me to loneliness and despair. But, hear this! There is a choice that is offered us. It is as much for me as for you. It is for every empty, broken, rich, poor, healthy, sick, and living soul on the planet.
It is Jesus. The same Jesus that sees your life and mine, sees we can never be with Him in paradise because of our sin, sees that without His rescue we will perish, forever.
Oh reader, would you consider taking what is mine? It is a commodity that never runs out, there is always enough to share.You would be taking hope, taking peace of mind and heart, taking joy and clean fun, even taking pain (which you will have, by the way) and being able to walk in it with the comfort of Jesus by your side.
The world you are living in seems to have the answer to your constant pursuit of happiness and satisfaction. It is a lie....there is no true satisfaction outside of knowing God. All else is temporary, needing to be constantly refilled for one more moment of counterfeit happiness.
I am praying for you dear reader; praying for you, not because I am looking down on you and seeing myself as better. I am praying for you because Jesus has shown me we are all alike. I just have met Him first. He has paid for what I have done, and in my heart that is full of self-interest, will do again. I want you to have what I have... a confidence in a Savior that has saved me from myself, a love that never fails, a peace the world cannot give, and a life that never ends.
"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish-come to destruction, be lost-but have eternal and ever lasting life.
For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge-to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on-the world;but that the world (you and me) might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. John 3:16,17 (amplified version)
For that I am forever grateful! May we be safe together....

Small Joys

My husband's favorite quote is "never give up" by Winston Churchill. It is a mighty good thing because he never quit digging 'til the gigantic hole was dug for our fountain. You'll have to read the previous blog to get the full significance of this task.
I am so happy to have the sound and sight of it whenever I go out, or look out the window. I find it has the exact same effect on me as a fire in the winter...it cheers, it comforts and it affords great company. I have had the thrill of watching the birds find it to drink and to bathe.
When life has deep disappointments, or when life is satisfying you with great good fortune, never underestimate the joy there is to be found in the capacity to enjoy small pleasures.

God has lavishly strewn our lives with myriads of small delights that reflect His love for us. Sometimes it takes a will to look for them. I see now more than ever in my life, it is Him in every joy, it is Him in every sadness, it is Him in all things that help us discover true joy. This week, amidst sad days, He provided the joy of this little fountain. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "when it is dark enough, you can see all the stars." Look for stars when your nights are dark. I am finding many small joys when I am looking for the Giver, not the gift.
ever grateful for that!

where there is a will, there IS a way

I am in the season of learning "not my will but yours, Lord." However in the matter of installing and enjoying a fountain in my garden, I am in the throws of finding a way to make this happen for it is a perfect illustration of "where there is a will, there is a way."
I truly think it delights God for me to have a little fountain, so 2 rounds of Advil later, I am only one half of the way down the hole I must dig to place the liner under it. One of my dear friends, a garden and fountain diva, assures me this seemingly family size thing looking more like a hot tub with every few inches I dig, is exactly the right size for the bang I want for my buck. It hasn't helped much to find a family of gnarly roots and an old fence post still stuck in the concrete footing in the middle of my hole!
Moving the fountain location will mess up the design I have envisioned for a year, so I'm counting on that great big ol' man of mine to dynamite the post out if necessary. I'm not going that far, just because he probably won't let me, but it is going to come out! I've got the will, I'll find a way.

Spring is here. Is it there where you are? I cannot imagine a spring moment much richer than feasting my eyes on the new fresh green that wraps itself around the yellows, purples and pinks in my garden, while listening to the splash and gurgle of water running over the sides of my new fountain urn. I fully expect the birds to bathe and drink there while tending to their important bird business (making homes and children, you know). I am very close to the completion of that dream--I'll just lie down for a while with icy hot on my back, then dig a while more then look up the number of "jaws of life" if the big guns need to be called in. I read somewhere that Archimedes said "with a long enough lever and a solid enough place to stand you could move the world." I hope he learned that from moving a fence post in concrete.
My next little blog will feature a photo of my new fountain, Lord willing.
ever grateful for that

"A picture is worth a thousand words", but not in this case!

Dear blog fans, (fans might be an exaggerated term)
I love to write, I love to put into words things that swirl around in my head and heart, but I have been frustrated with the fact that when I write about things that have no picture to enhance the text, the blog lines up with some totally unrelated picture...for example, lets say I have spilled my guts over some tragic experience that totally changed my world view and beside it is a picture of our 5 year old grand daughter standing on her head smiling upside down in the swimming pool! Or even more confusing, a blog about the unexpected joy of discovering purple hyacinths emerging in my garden, aligned directly across from a snapshot of the biggest fish I ever caught!

I don't like things out of order, but like many other things in my life, I don't seem to have any control. Someone who is familiar with how settings, layouts, and all the other options work could enlighten me, of course, but for now, you will have to ignore the picture to left of the blog, knowing it has no bearing on the subject. Or, you could just make up an amazing reason how it might somehow illustrate the point--that might work when I'm writing and not making much sense to anyone but myself.

So, Lord willing, I'll be writing more and more. I find life's circumstances a daily teacher of enormous truths just emerging, like my hyacinths, to ponder and to make my own. Why do you have to be 63 to begin to understand what God has been saying to you for 40 years?

I'll close with this enormous question that holds great truth:
"Do you judge God in light of your circumstances? Or do you judge your circumstances in the light of God's character?"

ever grateful for the question, and ever grateful to God who is revealing His true character to me

new friends and family

I have been away from home a month. Actually, I didn't realize I could write on my little blog from anywhere but home, that shows you how technically savy I am. As I write I am tucked into my (actually Joseph's) little bed that has been a comfy haven for me at night. Because I have made several long-term visits here, I have made new and wonderful friends whom I treasure because of their servant's hearts and their tender care of Clare, Barry, Sam and Joseph.

I have seen wonderful meals brought to the back door, rides galore for the children to fun places and play dates, cards, letters, gifts, visits, prayers and every imaginable kindness.
God's people are unique in all the world. The New England branch of His family have astonished me with never-failing love and service. I thought the Southern bunch had a corner on the casserole bringin' and the lending of a hand when you needed it, but I've got to say, this bunch of folks puts us Southerners to shame.
There is really no good time to leave this precious family, but I am so grateful to God that He has placed this little family in the center of a circle of true and trustworthy brothers and sisters who will be here when I cannot be and do for them things that I could never do. I go home seeing Isaiah 41:10 lived out for my daughter, my son-in-law, and my darling grandsons.

"Fear not, for I am with you. I will strengthen you, I will hold you with my righteous right hand, I will help you."

There really isn't any way to thank these precious souls, we just will have to pass it on.
ever grateful for that, e.

Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

As I was making Valentine cards for those I am privileged to love, my heart filled to overflowing with the blessing of having ones to love. It really comes down to seeing the giving of love as thrilling as the getting of it. As I put aside thoughts that try to trouble me, 'what-if's' that want to distract me, let us look at what some others have said about this amazing grace, a thing called love.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." -Jesus
"Without love, the poor and rich man live in the same house."-unknown
"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit." Ustinov
"Love is the condition in which the happiness of the other person is essential to your own. -Moore
"Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world."-Dyer
"Love makes your soul crawl out of its hiding place."-unknown
Love doesn't make the world go around. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."

"A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,
A song is no song 'til you sing it.
Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay,

Love isn't love 'til you give it away." -Oscar Hammerstein

"Love is not love which alters when if alteration finds." -Shakespeare
"There is no greater spectacle than a beautiful woman cooking dinner for someone
she loves."
"I never knew how to worship until I learned how to love." Henry Ward Beecham
"Love is the greatest touch up artist of all." -Braun (ever grateful for that!)
"I love you not only for what you are, but what I am when I am with you." -Browning
"To illustrate the power of love is to set a candle in the sun."
"Hell is to no longer love."
"Love, like death, levels all ranks and lays the shepherd's crook beside the king's scepter."

My advice for the day? Fall in love with love, it never fails!
ever grateful for that!

When your hands are tied

"How reasonable to trust ourselves, our children, to infinite love, infinite wisdom and infinite power."
Have your hands ever been tied by total inability to change something that your heart screams to change? As I seek the Lord for comfort and assurance that HIS hands are never unable to move in behalf of those I love, I am prompted to remember....remember how He has never failed us. Like David, I cry "why are you cast down, oh my soul?" I know the answer. I am cast down today because my child walks around with a broken heart and I have a "fix-it" idol that has met its match. I cannot fix it. I cannot make her circumstances go away. I cannot even tell her they will go away.
We find ourselves in that place we have never wanted to find ourselves in. The place is called "helplessness." It is amazing how seldom I have visited this dreaded place. In my self-centered world where I can tweek most everything a bit to make it more comfortable for me, God, in His love and wisdom, has brought me to a place of complete and utter dependence upon Him.
I have no answers. I have no advice. I have no power. He reminded me today thru a dear friend to never look upon anything without looking at it through the filter of the cross. The cross is the final and ultimate proof of God's love. So, I remember His love. I remember His unfailing love and wait upon Him. He will do for me and my beloved family what we cannot do for ourselves.

Enter like a little child

Oh, precious carefree childhood! When Jesus said you enter the Kingdom of Heaven like a little child, I am just beginning to understand what He means. Children believe, children trust, children accept, children play, children don't hold grudges, children don't worry about tomorrow.

While on a retreat last weekend, a mother told the story about her little boy in his car seat asking when he was going to Heaven. "Not anytime soon," the mother explained. "Jesus is in Heaven making a wonderful home just for you, and when it is ready He will come and get you."
Her son replied, "Do you know what I'm gonna do until Jesus comes and gets me? I'm just gonna play."

Wow! Could we believe like that, entrusting all our cares to Him, and just be? Do we dare try to enjoy this journey down here, leaving all the big stuff to Him ? Could we, like little children, do whatever He asks without having to know all the why's of it all, go wherever He leads without always having to know ahead of time every step of the journey, how long it will take, and what the final destination is? Could we, with child-like faith, put our heads on our pillows tonight not fretting over what tomorrow will hold, how we might hurt, how much faith we will need, how we might fail? The answer is yes, we can. It takes deeply knowing who our Father is and how dearly He loves us.
That is the gospel, trusting God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and believing HE WILL!
Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." Matthew 11:25
ever grateful for that!

The Saturday you've always wanted

Here at last! A snowy Saturday, everything, I mean everything cancelled because of the snow (with the just right amount of ice on top). No wedding shower to attend, no appointment to keep, no ballgame to cheer, no groceries to get, no NOTHING but the building of a fire, studying the Word, listening to music, eating taco soup and cornbread, watching the birds and writing in my little blog!
By the way, 2 comments on yesterday's blog broke my comment record -you know who you are so give yourselves a little squeeze from me.

Let's close with some lovely and true quotes about snow:

"Kindness is like snow-it beautifies everything it covers." -unknown
"Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery."
"Advice is like snow-the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"The Battle is Mine, saith the Lord"

Beware blogger friends. I was so excited to announce that I had a comment from someone in China, written in the lovely Chinese letters which, of course, I cannot read. Hoping to gain understanding and maybe see"love your blog", I showed it to Phil, and I clicked on the message--no, not "love your blog!" Up popped a PORNO KITTEN from China!!! So much for my ego!

Life so far this year has been a case study in "not what one plans" for the new year, or any old year for that matter. However, because of the serious illness of a beloved family member, I have had the privilege of going to the battlefield, serving the troops, and hunkering down in little foxholes with Jesus, our Commander and Chief. He is teaching all of us how to trust him, actually, that He IS our trust.
One of the most valuable lessons thus far is finally sinking in with this training--you do NOT run, there is no peace, no comfort, and no provision for a soldier on the run from the battle God has you in. On the contrary, protection and peace come from meeting your enemy head on, with the knowledge that, unlike normal warfare,we are strengthened by the surrender of our wills to the will of our Lord, and triumphant in the knowledge that God, our Sword and Shield, goes before us in every skirmish.
One thing for certain, in this battle with fear and "what-if", there is an amazing power available to battle weary soldiers. That power comes from trusting in the NAME, the name above all names, the name that has the power to become its name for you in time of need. A name that beckons us to look not at the circumstances of the battle, but look the character of our Leader. Let us learn to trust that name, Jesus, our Advocate, Jesus, our Hiding Place, Jesus, Our Chief Shepherd, Jesus, our deliverer, Jesus, our Shelter, Jesus, the Lover of our Souls.
We will have battles to fight all the rest of our lives. Let us never lose sight of the precious and life altering fact that God Himself, our Redeemer, has already won the War! In every grip of fear the enemy tries to hold you in, look up--God's banner over you is love.
-ever grateful for that!