There is a magnet on my refrigerator that says:
Well, at least I can save myself!
I am a princess after all.
A child of the King of kings!
I cannot convince anyone
of my claims
to know
my Savior.
The truth is foolishness
to those who are blind.
What if you just BELIEVED!
What miracles
could
be manifest?
Answers.
two weeks
until
I hear
waiting
to know
my fate
Helpless to change my destiny.
It is written.
It is.
Menopause
was suppose
to free me
Jesus says*
“Abide in me…
let my words abide in you,”
This valley
is familiar, Lord
the trees have grown
See
the climb
ahead
How
will I spend
each bright morning star?
Show me
Lord!
Teach me to count my days…
*John 15:7
When you face sickness, it takes over the mind. Every sunny day seems ten times sunnier. Every rainy day seems gloomier than usual. How will this change me? What am I to learn?
I almost welcome the pain. My heart has become as grand and spacious as the heavens opened up. Again, I cry out to God to help me through. I don’t feel alone. I feel helpless.
Update: Just an hour after blogging this, a dear friend sent me this verse, having no idea of what I was searching for. Again, there it is…PEACE, that no man can afford to give, except for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Again, I am in awe of His Majesty!
“4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.” Ps. 46:4-5
This help cannot be seen outwardly.
This help cannot be taken away.
This help will keep me in perfect peace.
This help will I meditate on day and night.
Let this be my prayer Lord…Psalm 43:3 Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
“Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for when they scrawl their names in the snow.” – Margaret Atwood
From an early age, I remember thinking I could write. Curly q’s and flying w’s donned blank pages. I wondered why nobody could understand what I was trying to say. Perhaps, even now, that I can spell, people still scratch their heads and mumble to themselves.
This is an image I snapped, while walking the beach along Lake Michigan. What do you see? Can you hear anything? Memories?
Do you suppose
we have found
a way that super cedes
all other ways?
Do you suppose
the crack
in the sidewalk
will keep cracking?
I suppose
I will need to think
about that
before I can answer!
©jeannelizabeth
I googled Crack in the Sidewalk and found many poems and a book with the same title. How are we any different than those before us? Solomon, the wise man in the Bible, from ages ago, said it well ”What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9. We can repackage the same story, with new words, but the meaning stays the same. What are we trying to figure out? Who created the world? Who created man? Did we just come together in some cosmic explosion, slowly evolve over millions of years, and end up the same as our ancestors? Even they dealt with cracks in the sidewalks. Can you imagine riding a chariot and have a wheel in a crack in the sidewalk?
Love is at the starting line
The place we all begin.
What waits for us at the finish line
Is what we all wonder?
For some it is fame
and others it is death.
For me I place my hope
on eternity.
The place I hang my hat upon
my knees bent in remorse.
For all the times I wandered
aimlessly, without a clue.
Yet, look within yourself
To see if you can make it.
The finish line is just ahead
And God is cheering you on.
©jeannelizabeth
I volunteer with the homeless population, in a Christian mission, where plenty of negative vibes squash the possibilities that God promises. Yet, what is impossible with us is certainly feasible with God and so we should redirect our focus and not dwell on certain facts but instead dream! We are told that if we knock, He will answer. Doors will be opened to us that seemed unimaginable. This is a very creative expression of hope that will change a person’s outlook along with a great many prayers to our Father, through Jesus!
DO you have a creative expression of hope that you cling to in times of despair?
Keep your eyes looking up? From where does my help come from? Even when our hearts are dragging on the dusty road of life,
we know there is a SAVIOR who cares for us inexplicably.
God, In Jesus’s name I pray: As I prepare myself for our upcoming trip to Arizona, to witness the open space of your creation, to experience the forgiveness and mercy of Your love, I ask that you give me the strength I need to stay alert, to be open to hear instruction and utilize the teachable moments ahead to grow in my faith and trust, in Your ability, and not my own. Thank you and AMEN!
©jeannelizabeth
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
Psalm 139:17
If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
Psalm 139:18
August 5, 2011
What am I talking about? Picking tomatoes? No, I am referring to the harvest of souls that are ready and willing to hear the message of salvation through our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Promised Messiah to Israel. I am ready to be a servant of the King and rescue those drowning in their tears. Life is hard, but GOD is good and His promises last forever. I am reminded daily that my life is not my own, that I should use my energy, time and talents for the Kingdom. I strive to make every day count for HIM!
Whether you are wandering in the desert or wilderness, walking by a quiet brook, working in your garden, scaling a mountain peak, treading water, or sitting at the Master’s feet, will you please consider taking up your cross and living as Jesus asks us to…humbly and in prayer!
Luke 10:2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
John 4:35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’?
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
April 13, 2013
Sometime in the future?
I have knocked down doors in hopes that I could save lost souls. The harvest is plentiful, I have found, but I am certainly not equipped to harvest anyone from destruction. I am missing some vital tools. Instruction. To be a vessel of God’s love to the lost and hurting I need to know who I am in Christ. It is not I but Christ who lives in me and all the glory belongs to God. I can have a prideful spirit. I do not mean to step on toes, I am just so excited to tell the story of how Jesus saves, lives and loves. Looking forward to the day I am led to a place I have been called to minister.
Matthew 5:16In the same way, let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Peace,
©jeannelizabeth
September 7, 2011
One of my dreams is to camp a few days in the desert. It intrigues me. The desert invites you to completely remove obstacles that trap you and see life in its starkest image…
Oh, someone will inevitably say to me, “Have you forgotten all about the wildlife and plants that inhabit the desert?” Yes, I understand that. I agree, the desert is not completely barren since life can exist in the harshest of conditions, such as lack of water and extreme heat during the noonday sun, but that is the same for cold climates that freeze, or the vast difference between summer and fall in a four season climate. Living things adapt to the environment. What I am reflecting on is my ability to throw away thoughts that clog my veins and keep my blood from reaching the corners of my body. Some of us struggle with cholesterol. Others struggle with shame, guilt and the myriad of emotions they bring to your life. My life is dependent on throwing away some of my thoughts and the desert makes that possible for me. I am not wrapped up in my surroundings, which are apparently there, but rather I am free to focus on my inner life.
True freedom in our belief that Jesus was the Son of God is allowing ourselves to be refined and molded in the heat of the noon sun and as the evening sets us with the cool air, we find peace in knowing that we have been loved and cared for despite the conditions of our lives. Perhaps living in a desert for a time in our walk as a Christian can honestly help us assess our purpose. Are we truly walking in the footsteps of the one who came to save us from ourselves or are we following a shadow of a false prophet? Who do you seek for advice in times of trouble? If you are avoiding the heat of G-D you are missing out of the love as well. We cannot know peace without having gone through trials.
4/11/2013 My chance to witness life in the desert for a week is actually going to happen. As a preparation, I am reading three books on my Goodreads page (see the link to your right) and I will blog about them sometime this summer/fall. The books selected are a Thomas Merton classic, “The Wisdom of the Desert”, a modern classic bridging off Merton’s work by Henri Nouwen “The Way of the Heart” and then “On the Mountain with God” by Mark W. Hamilton. The house we are renting (I probably will not be camping!) is directly behind a park in Phoenix, a desert with mountains to hike. I am eagerly anticipating this adventure and am preparing myself spiritually to be fed by God.
Isaiah 43:19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!
Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
Peace,
©jeannelizabeth
