Rest

"In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."

Isaiah 30:15

Something "Other"

How many of us have a longing to be somewhere else?

To see something else? 

Maybe something "grand"?!

 If we could just go to the mountains!...

Glacier National Park, 2011

Glacier National Park 2011

...or if we could just see the ocean!...

...or even the headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi!!

Lake Itasca, May 2008

Headwaters of Mississippi, May 2008

Yes, it is amazing to see grand places in God's creation! 

It is thrilling to feel dwarfed by towering cliffs, to hear the roar of waves or waterfalls, to imagine the 90-day route of a drop of water leaving a peaceful lake to flow to the ocean.

Maybe these examples don't pique your interest like they do for a prairie-girl.  Maybe you live with mountains or an ocean and don't even notice them - or just wish you could see a field once in a while.  Maybe you aren't able to even get outside... anywhere!

Here = Prairie Fields and Skies

But as we yearn for something "other," how much do we miss right "here"?

Here = Gardens, Sunshine and Storm Clouds

Here = "Mountains" and "Cascades" of Clouds

     

Here = Autumn Colors

Here = Frosty Mornings

Where are you right now? 
What has God placed "there" for you to see and enjoy?

Popularity

Want to be popular?!
I'll tell you how...

1. Grab a quilt and head outside on a cool afternoon.  (Maybe bring some knitting too.)

2. Wrap up your legs and prop up your feet.

3. Just wait.  It won't take long for friends to find you!

Fainting II

How does that saying go?
"Misery loves company."

That sounds awfully selfish. But there is also truth to it. I wouldn't have wished for the great man of God, Hudson Taylor, to go through the experience described below. But I am grateful for his honesty about his humanity. And his example of not fretting over his weakness and inability -- not trying to always "do"-- but just resting and trusting like a little child.

"Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: 'I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray.  I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust.'

"This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust. 

"And that is all God asks of you, His dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction.  Do not try to be strong.  Just be still and know that He is God, and will sustain you, and bring you through."

May 10th - Streams in the Desert compiled by Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman

Are You Tired?

Technical problem: The date function on my watch is frozen.

This glitch caused me to write "September 15th" several times yesterday.  And what entry should I read in my devotional book this morning?  September 16th, of course! 

I think God must enjoy working through our confusion and little mistakes sometimes.  This was precisely what I needed to read this morning and remember through the day...

  

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).  

"You need to find rest just now.  You are so tired.  Tired of yourself and all your worries, tired of sin, emptiness, uncertainty and anguish.  You are tired of weeping and longing, tired of self-accusations and the inner condemnation which always causes you unrest. "You need to receive rest.  You are laboring with so many things so heavy to bear.  How heavy the burden is no one knows but the one who bears it. "'Come to me,' says Jesus.  In other words, move over to Him.  It is only with Him that you find real rest. "He says, 'come.'  There are no conditions. "He says again, 'come ... all you who ... are heavy laden!'  Come without exception.  It applies also to you. "This is an invitation that is extended today!"

P.S. - I can highly recommend this devotional book, thanks to Sara who introduced me to it.
Quiet Moments on the Way Home by H.E. Wisloff
Originally written in Norwegian, it was translated into English in 1993 and is published by Faith and Fellowship Press, Fergus Falls, MN, USA.

Fainting

Have you ever fainted?

I haven't.  Not in the literal sense.  I suppose I used to think when young, like Anne of Green Gables, what a "romantic" thing it would be to faint!  But now I would much rather not have that experience.  And I am sad to hear of a dear friend whose fainting spells have been puzzling doctors at several clinics and hospitals.

But there is another type of "fainting" that can be all too familiar.  You've heard of becoming "faint of heart..."

Psalm 27:13 says it this way:
"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living." (NKJV)

Older English puts it, "I had fainted, unless..." (KJV)

Or maybe you can resonate with this:
"I would have despaired had I not believed..." (AMP)

While staying in this historic river town for one of our doctor's appointments last year, I noticed a cute coffee shop/book shop and enjoyed a few minutes browsing.

A devotional book with a familiar name caught my eye:
"Streams in the Desert" compiled by Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman

What does this have to do with "fainting," you may ask?!  See this excerpt from May 20th:

"...How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering...'I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence.  What shall I do?'"

"What do you do when you are about to faint physically?  You cannot do anything.  You cease from your own doings.  In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one.  You lean hard.  You rest.  You lie still and trust."

"It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction.  
[Get this... Isn't it encouraging?!!]
God's message to us is not, 'Be strong and of good courage,' for He knows our strength and courage have fled away.  But it is that sweet word,
'Be still, and know that I am God.'"

Wings

This morning as I sat eating my breakfast on the deck I heard a sound that made me become very still indeed...

 The hum of tiny wings and the little sociable, chattering "chips" of a glittering green hummingbird drew nearer as she sipped from pot after pot of pink impatiens.
(Can you spot her below?!) 

 This is the first time I've heard a hummingbird's wings beating on the flower petals as they maneuver so deftly.  An awesome creation. 
An Awesome Creator!

 My brave little friend came so close that I even leaned away to stay clear of her little wings.

What do you hear when you are still today?

Grace

"Most gracious God, let Thy grace make my soul beautiful. 

                   
                      

"May I open my life to the reception of Thy bounty!

          

2015 Produce

2014 Apple Harvest

"Let me believe in Thine infinite resources, and let me have faith in Thy willingness to bestow them upon me. 

 Let Thy grace be my sufficiency."

J. H. Jowett
The Daily Altar - April 14

This prayer has been tucked in my books for months now - needing much review.  

Some days I can see God's grace and bounty in my life - even if just in the little, "common" ways that I can count and write down.

6,301 - Colorful sunsets

6,302 - Sunshine to sit in again
6,303 - A back wall to our shed
6,304 - Willing drivers

6,305 - Mild-tasting fish

6,306 - Time to rest and be still

6,307 - Counsel from Your Word

Some days that grace just tantalizes from a distance. Pain and disappointment have closed me up again and shut out the grace God is trying to give.

Some days I just struggle to believe that God actually wants to give good gifts anyway.  And least of all to me.  (Don't worry, He graciously finds ways to reach into even those days and gently teach of His true character and love. Maybe more on that another time...)

It even takes His grace for us to have the faith to believe in His willingness, His love, His bounty.

Will we let His grace be enough for us today?

Photos: Hannah, Elsa, and Maren