Immanuel! Yes God IS with us. This is ever comforting. He is my perseverance.
God is with you.
God is with me.
"Fear not, for I AM with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
I find myself pressing into this truth in my emotional aches that pang me for understanding, peace and God's perspective, longing for contentment in this life for my man, and crying out for the ability to surrender my 3M's to the King of Kings because whatever this earthly life may bring..
I have to believe that God IS with us...and this changes my life.
And if God is with us, He is also FOR us...the world whispers that He is not, how could a perfect God be FOR this chaos, mass confusion and violence, why the suicide rates, and stone cold faces, the wide open mouths of disbelief every time we see the news, the thousands that lose the battle to cancer, the many situations that bring hopelessness, and I could go on...
"But if God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
Just ponder that question. What if it's true that God is with us and that He is for us? I don't know your life but I know there are battles you fight daily that seem never ending. I can feel alone in my struggles...but something tells me that I'm wrong. Are our battles different yet the same? What are you believing in the midst of your pain - that God IS with you or do you just bank on that screen to be with you? I've tried that, oh facebook please rid me of my loneliness and deseire for adult conversation, or how 'bout all those times of hard to swallow news when you pick up your cellphone and can so easily call someone from your 'favorites list' ; they will know exactly what to say, right? But these days, I'm asking the Lord to help me to live like Mary as she journeyed with Joseph to Bethlehem. The quickest physical help she had was one earthly man named Joseph, and the faith that angels had been among her...yet without a cell phone she was tired, weary, and pressing on...she knew that God was with her and this MIRACLE that the angel presented to her was growing bigger and drawing nearer ever hour. This didn't seem to lessen the world's disbelief and the overwhelming bombardment of situations to try to detour and prevent and confuse...but guess what?
God is with us.
God is for us.
And if God be for us, who can be against us?
The stable held Immanuel and the animals sang his praises and the star shown brighter than the rest without doubt providing warmth, protection, and certain hope. A baffling overwhelming head shaking realization that this was not of the world....sustained by the One great God - the creator of the universe.
These days have me changing ... I've been kneeling on my knees. Not because I am holy but becasue I cannot stand any longer. I am undone, running out of words. From one conversation to the next, I fail to communicate God's faithfulness and sovereignty, seems the cracks in my voice and look on my face speak frailty to the others. I am a cracked pot. Here is the truth: God is faithful and this world is faithful to try to disapprove it. I won't let it. In the midst of my weariness, I find myself with tears running down my face with such passionate desire to trust that God IS good. I know that His love will endure...can His great faithfulness sustain you and me?
Life is stepping towards another move...at this point, it can be hard to determine what type of move. It might be a physical and spiritual move, or it might end up being only a spiritual move within our hearts and minds. Whatever happens, I know it is going to be life altering. No one moves 5 times in 4 years without forever being changed and may it be because God is with us and God is for us. Yes!
This Christmas season, will you join me in fighting the tides of the culture and living the truth that "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US." Matthew 1:23
And will you fix your eyes up with me...as we each look in expectation for the 'star' that shines so bright to show us the way to go in our 'merry go round' lives...
"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." Matthew 2:10
There are tears along the way, but joy will soon fill us forever and ever.
Endure. Don't give up. Fight the good fight. The WORD is living and active sharper than any two edged sword. (Hebrews 4:12) Choose to declare it even when you and I ask 'why?' because
He
is
Immanuel.
God with us.
God for us.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Memory Care
I prepped them. We can choose to shine our light and spread the love of Jesus. There is nothing to fear in these elderly people. They might look different, smell different, talk different, or act different...They love to see children, you bring health and joy and memory sometimes... We prayed on our walk over that God would be with us.
It was awkward, honestly, knowing the faith and literal value of conversations that three young children possess. Unsure, of how it would go...we were escorted into the locked down facility. Activity time was our invitation. Yahtzee was the game today. My 3 kiddos followed my prep so well and stood in the doorway boldly introducing themselves to the elderly.
My heart broke. There they sat all gazing from person to person, wondering what Yahtzee was, and if they were part of the game.
She had white dandelion hair, she walked so slow yet with much anticipation as she reached my youngest sitting upon my lap, gently stroking my child's face asking to play. My son's lil' smile consumed his face and the elderly gal was comforted. He talked back and said he could play...yet on the walk home, the kids so innocently asked, "can she really come over and play?"
She continued to move towards the seat at the end of the table, stopping at my middle child and he so lovingly looked over his shoulder at her, his brown eyes tossing rays of acceptance and wonder...
Another gal sat quietly in the corner, I told my youngest to go say hi. He did. She talked of nothing that made sense and how she wanted to hold him on her lap...he declined the invitation. But over came my middle child accepting the invitation and was suddenly, being held. My oldest sat beside her, nodding her head as the elderly gal rambled on about past regrets that seemed but recent to her and how she marveled at the seam on the shorts of my middle child she was holding. My heart continued to break as the Yahtzee game continued, the activity therapist went from one to the next telling them how to shake and what to shake and then writing their score for each of them.
Another elderly gentlemen sat beside us, commenting on his similar haircut to my two boys.
He asked his name,
"Malachi." my youngest son replied.
"He will change his name," the man responded looking at me.
"Oh do you know what his name means?" I ask. "Would you like me to tell you?"
"No one knows," the elderly man replied.
And then I told them, "it means a messenger of God."
And it brought the greatest stir of the Yahtzee game thus far and many spoke in agreement of this lil' boy's purpose. Many spoke about the blessing of children from the Lord.
There was another elderly man who prompted a treasured confirmation for my broken heart. I asked him of his day, and he said his wife and him were reading through the old testament together. I asked him his favorite scripture and he began to say, "The Lord is my shepherd..." I said that the kids and I had just memorized it and then it filled the room, the rich voice of the elderly man and the comfort of my children's voices quoting Psalm 23.
It was the moment we came for, the moment we prayed for...and the elderly were still, some with tear filled eyes and red noses...it might have been the best memory care of the day even.
My heart continues to break for the failing minds and the bondage that wasn't chosen or intended but now most are prone to wonder. But one thing was confirmed today...God cares for the memory of His greatness.
Psalm 145;7 "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. They shall abundantly utter the memory of they goodness."
His word is our Memory Care whether we know it or not.
It was awkward, honestly, knowing the faith and literal value of conversations that three young children possess. Unsure, of how it would go...we were escorted into the locked down facility. Activity time was our invitation. Yahtzee was the game today. My 3 kiddos followed my prep so well and stood in the doorway boldly introducing themselves to the elderly.
My heart broke. There they sat all gazing from person to person, wondering what Yahtzee was, and if they were part of the game.
She had white dandelion hair, she walked so slow yet with much anticipation as she reached my youngest sitting upon my lap, gently stroking my child's face asking to play. My son's lil' smile consumed his face and the elderly gal was comforted. He talked back and said he could play...yet on the walk home, the kids so innocently asked, "can she really come over and play?"
She continued to move towards the seat at the end of the table, stopping at my middle child and he so lovingly looked over his shoulder at her, his brown eyes tossing rays of acceptance and wonder...
Another gal sat quietly in the corner, I told my youngest to go say hi. He did. She talked of nothing that made sense and how she wanted to hold him on her lap...he declined the invitation. But over came my middle child accepting the invitation and was suddenly, being held. My oldest sat beside her, nodding her head as the elderly gal rambled on about past regrets that seemed but recent to her and how she marveled at the seam on the shorts of my middle child she was holding. My heart continued to break as the Yahtzee game continued, the activity therapist went from one to the next telling them how to shake and what to shake and then writing their score for each of them.
Another elderly gentlemen sat beside us, commenting on his similar haircut to my two boys.
He asked his name,
"Malachi." my youngest son replied.
"He will change his name," the man responded looking at me.
"Oh do you know what his name means?" I ask. "Would you like me to tell you?"
"No one knows," the elderly man replied.
And then I told them, "it means a messenger of God."
And it brought the greatest stir of the Yahtzee game thus far and many spoke in agreement of this lil' boy's purpose. Many spoke about the blessing of children from the Lord.
There was another elderly man who prompted a treasured confirmation for my broken heart. I asked him of his day, and he said his wife and him were reading through the old testament together. I asked him his favorite scripture and he began to say, "The Lord is my shepherd..." I said that the kids and I had just memorized it and then it filled the room, the rich voice of the elderly man and the comfort of my children's voices quoting Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,a
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
My heart continues to break for the failing minds and the bondage that wasn't chosen or intended but now most are prone to wonder. But one thing was confirmed today...God cares for the memory of His greatness.
Psalm 145;7 "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. They shall abundantly utter the memory of they goodness."
His word is our Memory Care whether we know it or not.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)