Rescue Me

I will praise you Lord, for you have rescued me.

Today is one of those days when I would most certainly like to be rescued. Deadlines loom, house is a mess, after school schedule is full, dinner is not planned . . . and so it goes. The story is familiar to us all. Jammed packed days, restless nights.

In the hectic pace of daily life, it's so easy to lose touch with who I am. I start defining myself by what I do and how much. For me, being rescued today means remembering that I'm more than what I need to accomplish. I'm blessed beyond measure. I am grateful.

Life's hectic. But you are blessed with God's grace. Remember, you have already been rescued.

In the whirlwind of life, in the hurly-burly of things and people and work, we risk the loss of life itself. We risk the loss of focus. Suddenly, we one day realize, we don't know what our lives actually are anymore, except that they are about too much. We risk the loss of relationships. We get too busy, too scattered, to attend to the truly human intimacies we need if we are to say in touch with what it means to be human. We risk the loss of balance. We risk the loss of direction.  

It's not the busyness that destroys us. It is simply being perpetually busy with things that only scatter rather than deepen us.
~ Joan Chittister from Welcome to the Wisdom of the World

Take some time today to think deeply, love deeply, and pray deeply. It may make all the difference.

I will praise you Lord, for you have rescued me.

Small Voices

I am the Lord your God; hear my voice.


Wouldn't it be great if things were that easy, if God just texted or messaged you on Facebook? "Here I am!" It would certainly take away a lot of doubt and confusion.

One of my favorite Old Testament stories is from Kings. Elijah goes to the mount and is waiting for God. First comes the great wind, but God is not in the wind. Then comes the earthquake, still no God. A fire rages, but God is not in the fire. Then finally Elijah hears a still small voice. You guessed it, that's God.

I think in all of us there remains an expectation that God will speak in grand and forceful ways. Somehow it makes the whole spiritual quest seem more romantic. Witness stories are less dramatic when our direction comes in the form of a whisper. But all signs point us in that direction.

Think for a minute, are you in tune enough to hear a still small voice? Or are you walking through life with headphones anticipating the next great wind, earthquake, or fire?

Why is it so difficult to be still and quiet and let God speak to me about the meaning of my life? Is it because I don't trust God? Is it because I don't know God? Is it because I wonder if God is really there for me? Is it because I am afraid of God? Is it because everything else is more real for me than God? Is it because, deep down, I do not believe that God cares what happens at [my] corner? 

Still there is a voice [. . .] 

Can I trust that voice and follow it? It is not a very loud voice, and often it is drowned out by the clamor of the inner city. Still, when I listen attentively, I will hear that voice again and again and come to recognize it as the voice speaking to the deepest places of my heart.
~ Henri Nouwen from Here and Now

I am the Lord your God; hear my voice.

I Hear You

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Stubborn. I admit it. I tend to be a bit . . . maybe more than a bit . . . stubborn. I like to do things on my own. In my quest for self-sufficiency, I don't ask for help or receive it well. As I've gotten older, I see more and more the fault in this. I've missed out on many lessons in life because I was convinced I could "figure things out." Sometimes I did. Often times it took far longer than necessary and required much more pain and anguish than needed. If I had simply heard the voices around me offering assistance, or heaven forbid sought them out, I might have moved much more quickly and become far more proficient in many things.

Today's Psalm reminds me of the stubborn soul. Sometimes God speaks, and I am too stubborn to listen.  Surely my way will work out just fine. Often, by God's grace, it does. But man, what a hike! I'm working on releasing some of my stubborn tendencies. When I feel them tighten around me, I consciously try to breathe in openness and melt them away. I want to hear God's voice and listen.

What about you? Are you open to hearing and receiving?

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

A Music Moment

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem

Some praise and worship music for your day.






More of the beautiful music of Fernando Ortega can be found at his website
http://www.fernandoortega.com/

  Praise the Lord, Jerusalem

Wonder as I Wander

Remember your mercies, O Lord.

I love the words in today's Psalm,

Make known to me your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
~Psalm 25: 4–5

Such beautiful poetry, the words and rhythm are soothing to the soul. I also love the imagery. I see a compassionate and wise Father who knows what's best . He sees the bigger picture, but doesn't impose the route on me. Instead, he waits patiently as I wander about, often taking the long way. Still, it's good to know he's there for the times when I stop being stubborn and willingly ask for directions.

When was the last time you checked in and asked God to show you the way? What path are you on? Is it leading you where you want and need to go?

A Prayer for the Journey 

God, set me on the path again.
Turn me to the rising sun
     when I need to be inspired.
Turn me to wilderness
     when I need to be lost.
Turn me toward the business of the world
     when I need to work.
Turn me toward the mountain
     when I need to be refreshed.
Then turn me toward the sunset
     when I need rest.
Amen.
~poem by Becca Stevens from Hither and Yon

Remember your mercies, O Lord.

A Time to Wait

Athirst is my soul for the living God. 
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

I spend a lot of time waiting. Usually it involves waiting in a carpool lane, for a lesson to be over, or for everyone to finally make it home. I think waiting gets a bad rap. In fact, over the years I've found it can be a very productive time. In times of waiting I have read hundreds of pages, scribbled notes for work, finished craft projects, and caught up on the news. The lesson is that waiting is what you make of it.

Let's face it, a great deal of life is spent waiting. We wait with anticipation for the celebrations and with dread for the inevitable sorrows. We wait for the mundane and the magnificent. We anxiously await the beginnings and impatiently wait for the ends. We wait, and we wait, and we wait.

Lent is sometimes called a time of waiting. We look toward Easter and are reminded once again of our wait for eternal life. But it most certainly is not a wasted time.

We are now halfway through our Lenten journey. If we use the metaphor of going out into the desert, we find ourselves squarely in the middle of it. It's time to turn around and start the long walk back. We haven't been sitting in one place, we have spent these days walking, searching, thinking, and praying.

Take a moment to reflect on your waiting time. In these last weeks, how you have changed? What have you experienced? What have you discovered? What still lies ahead?

Psalm 42
As the deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My being thirsts for God, the living God.
When can I go and see the face of God? 

A waiting person is a patient person. The word "patience" implies the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Impatient people expect the real thing to happen somewhere else, and therefore they want to get away from the present situation and go elsewhere. For them the moment is emptly. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Waiting, then is not passive. It involves nurturing and the growth of something growing within. 

~Finding My Way Home by Henri Nouwen

Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

Marvelous Creation

Remember the marvels the Lord has done.





A peaceful view of His
marvelous creation.





Remember the marvels the Lord has done.