Author: Marie

Love the Lord! Wife. Mother. Blessed beyond measure. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Resting As He Rested

As I sketched the above drawing, I originally started out practicing how to draw trees. Funny thing about that tree, drawing it on the left side of the paper proved to be harder for me than drawing it on the right side. 😄 One would think it would be the same. So after I finished with the tree, I thought about something a friend of mine said about writing a thought or something to go with the drawings. I decide to drop a fella in there resting against the tree. After adding the scripture in there I thought about the Friday devotional I needed to send out and since we were headed into the weekend it seemed to fit just right.

Six days we’re to work, to get things done. Whether we work in an office, an industrial setting, a farm, or in the medical field, we are to work six days and then rest. The seventh day is to be a day of rest. To give our bodies and minds a rest. If God, our Father, created the world in six days and on the seventh day rested, shouldn’t we follow His example and do the same? It isn’t that He needed the rest, as much as He was teaching us to rest. He knew that we couldn’t go seven days a week of working and not resting. Do you or someone you know fit in this category? I don’t think the day of the week matters as much as taking that seventh day to rest.

Remember that saying about burning the candle at both ends? Eventually the candle will burn all the way down to the middle and then burn out. Just as the candle burns out, we also will burn out if we aren’t careful. As long as we are here on this earth, there is work for us to do; and when our work is finished, then we will be with Him. I think maybe that’s why God wants us to have a day of rest, to recharge, and refresh so that we can handle the tasks He has for us to do.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

This coming from Jesus, as He goes on to say…

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:29

So take that seventh day to rest, recharge, and listen to the Lord as He refreshes your soul. God bless!

Mighty Waters

Coming into the neighborhood. Taken from my husband’s truck.

Recently we were inundated with a lot of rain. As a result the entrance to our neighborhood flooded. Or you could say the “Faith Pond” arrived. As you can see in the photo the street was most definitely under water. If you had a truck you could with care get through the pond. If you drove an SUV or something smaller, not such a good idea to attempt. Although, I witnessed one person actually make it through there. Me? I wasn’t willing to attempt it and risk something happening to our car. I went home, called my boss and explained the situation. I said I would attempt it later on hoping that the waters would recede. One of my concerns had been that even if I did manage to get out of the neighborhood, with all the rain we were having, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back in. When I went back out a few hours later the pond looked worse than the first time and there was an SUV stalled in the water so I turned around and went back home and let my boss (who happens to be our pastor since I work at our church) know I wasn’t going to make it to work. He said he understood and when I asked him to agree with me in prayer that the waters would recede he did. Later that evening I sent my sister the above photo and asked her to also pray that the waters would recede by morning. I prayed and asked that the road would be clear of all water by morning so that those of us who didn’t drive trucks would be able to get out. We had another heavy rain that night around midnight and at first I said, “okay so if most of the water would be gone by morning that would be fine”. Then I stopped and said “no I asked for the road to be clear of water and I’m believing for the road to be clear”.

Answered prayer! Praise God for clearing the road!

This was the beautiful sight the following morning on my way out of the neighborhood as I was headed to work! Praise God for answered prayer!

It felt strange being isolated from the rest of the county. You could hear the traffic as people went about their daily business. While for those who were stranded, life paused. Thinking about that day and all the heavy rains we’ve recently encountered, I was reminded of God’s promise never to flood the earth again.

Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.

Genesis 9:11

Just as I was reminded of God’s promise, I thought about how He answers prayer.

Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Matthew 18:19

and

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Matthew 21:22

God answers prayers. You only need to believe. To expect. God bless!

The Traveler

A loving Father sent His Son to walk with us through the valleys.

As you travel down the path of life, have you ever looked back and wondered what you would change, if you could? I’m sure we’ve all at some point looked back and had regret whether big or small. We wished we could have done it differently, whatever the it in your life was that led to regret. Join me as we travel through time. A time when all seemed right with world that ended with regret and the journey back to right again. Our journeys are different yet the same.

Continue reading “The Traveler”

The Treat That Distracts

Photo by Monica Silvestre on Pexels.com

Not long ago, I had coffee with a friend of mine (yeah, you got it, my coffee friend who seems to find unique ways to get me out of my zone and now has me blogging, write a devotional book, FB, Twitter and even manages to encourage~ahem~me to continue with learning Japanese. 😉) We talked about family, pets, and life in general. I had shared her about our dog Lucy, and how recently she had become afraid to take walks in the neighborhood. Something she always loved to do with my husband. We talked about different reasons that could have triggered this fear and what to try to encourage her to start taking her walks once more. Once I tried the “give the dog a treat” routine but it didn’t work. She took the treat and ran back inside. If I went with my husband, she would go without being too difficult. My husband didn’t want to force the issue and if she didn’t want to go he didn’t make her.

So my friend shares with me about a dog her family once had and how he loved to roam their neighborhood and visit other houses. She said that they used to give their dog a treat just to come INSIDE the house! 🐶 I had a good laugh because I must admit that was a first. But it gets better. She went on to say that the dog would wake them up in the middle of the night to go outside. Her husband would get up, take the dog outside, and the dog would promptly turn around on the porch, sit down and wait for his treat! 😂 Needless to say, that practice stopped rather quickly.

As I reflected on our conversation that day, I thought about the distractions of life and how easily we can get off track if we aren’t careful. The enemy lurks nearby looking for opportunities to distract us and will sometimes dangle a treat before us taking our eyes of the true prize which is Christ Jesus. He entices us with something so good (or so it seems) that we keep coming back for more. He trains us into thinking we have to have more of what he is offering.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

Can you imagine how the enemy must have felt when he heard about this? I can almost imagine him saying something like this: “Who does He think He is? I’m the prize. I’m the one to follow.” I liken his attitude to that of a child not getting his/her way and stomping his/her feet. Don’t get me wrong, the enemy isn’t a child, he is a very dangerous adversary and we need to be on guard. Remember Job? Not only did Satan attack Job’s character, he took Job’s property, his children, and attacked his health. His friends and family were convinced he needed to repent of something.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he tells them that he forgets the things of the past and reaches forward to the things ahead. Why do you think he tells us that? The past, it can’t be changed. No matter how hard you try, the past is already a done deal. Now the prize? That’s something worth reaching for. One day we will attain the prize of being with Christ Jesus. Until that time comes, we need to continue pressing forward and doing the things that we are called to do. God bless!

From Nightmare To Blessing

I personally believe ~ especially with COVID ~ that a patient should be allowed to have at least one person with them

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I have never been a big fan of hospitals. I’ve had my share of hospital stays and from what I can remember, for the most part they were survivable. 😅 Covid-19 only reinforced my dislike of hospitals. Not long ago my husband had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. While waiting to find out when he would have surgery, he became ill and had to be rushed to the ER. That same day he had found out when he was to have surgery. That same day our nightmare began.

While waiting for my husband to be called back, I was allowed to stay with him in the ER waiting area. He was shaking and sweating profusely and his blood pressure was fairly high. He had a difficult time trying to control the shaking, so I wrapped my arms around him hugging him in the hopes of easing the shakes, but to no avail. It would be two, almost three hours before he would be taken to the back and I would have to leave. Now I personally believe ~ especially with COVID ~ that a patient should be allowed to have at least one person with them at all times. There is nothing more lonely than having to face being in the hospital alone without someone being able to be a voice for you if you should need one. Nothing personal to those in the medical profession, however, there are some out there that simply don’t care.

After I left the ER, I started to wait in the car like others were doing. I waited about twenty minutes before I decided to go home since we lived nearby. Boy am I glad I did too. It would be hours later when I would hear from my husband asking me to bring him an overnight bag. He was being admitted to the hospital. So I did. He had been in the ER since early that morning and by the time I heard from him it was mid to late afternoon. It would be almost midnight before they would find a room for him. His experience that day and into the next would be a nightmare. I mean NIGHTMARE. The next day he was asking me to come pick him up before lunch. We still had no idea as to what was wrong with him and we had no idea that if he did go home, he wouldn’t have another episode. By late afternoon he was finally released and was at home resting. There had been little to no communication during his whole stay. The little bit that there had been, no one seemed to know what was going on and there was a lot of confusion taking place.

My husband was told to call his surgeon’s office and see about getting in for surgery the next week since he had been tested for covid. Praise the LORD for He is good! My husband’s surgery was set for August 4th. Again I was allowed to be with him while he waited to go back for surgery. The surgeon came by and explained what would take place and told me that once the procedure was done he would call and let me know how things went. He said it would be about an hour to an hour and a half before I would hear from him. True to his word, the doctor called and said that everything went well and that once they had my husband awake from the anesthesia I could call and talk to him. My husband had to stay overnight, but this time his experience was totally different than the ER experience. Compassion makes a difference.

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Psalm 86:15

The Bible talks about God’s compassion being gracious, longsuffering, overflowing with mercy and truth. When I examine the difference between my husband’s first overnight hospital stay and his second one, it reminds me of the difference between God’s love and compassion, and the enemy’s chaos and destruction. I can see how the enemy took the ER visit and attacked my husband. But I also see how God took that situation and used it for good. You see, my husband would have had to wait until 21st of August for surgery had this incident not happened.

Can you think of an incident that seemed like nothing good could come out of it only to be surprised when it did turn around for good? Isn’t our God so awesome? He takes our struggles, our pains, and our hurts and turns them around for good when we let him. God bless!💖🙏