Can You Hear Me Now?

I love weather.  When I see gray clouds approach, I go outside to have a “look and see.”  So today, I sit outside on my deck aware of the change in the breeze, a signal that there may be a rain shower soon. As I speak with my Maker, I become aware of something else.  I live in town, not far from a highway….the sounds are annoying when I am trying to have “quiet time” with God. 

O Lord, it is so noisy, how will I ever hear you.  Right on cue God answers me with resounding thunder!

I smile.  You, O Lord, are louder than all the distracting sounds!  I look up thunder in my Bible.

Verses from Job 37 resonate with my spirit. 

“Listen! Listen to the roar of His voice…

He thunders with His majestic voice…

When His voice resounds He holds nothing back…

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways…

He does great things beyond our understanding!”

You are amazing, Creator of the Universe!  May everyone take notice when you speak!!

First Things First

We depend too much on ourselves. When trouble comes we expect we can handle it. We have a plan A… plan B…. plan C…. and then we find out we can exhaust all of our plans.


The fishermen disciples had a plan because they knew what it meant to be on the water. They knew how to handle a boat. They knew where the rocks were and where the sea tended to be rough. They had crossed to the other side, all by themselves, many times. I believe that the day they gathered in the boat and Jesus curled up in the back to catch a little shut-eye they had everything they could possibly need to get to the other side. They were grateful for the quiet, the calm, the lack of crowds and a time of rest.


Then about half way there a storm hits. Where did it come from? How could they have missed the signs “Red at night sailors delight. Red in the morning sailors take warning!” They didn’t want to bother the Master, besides they were sailors. “We can handle it.” But this was a storm like no other.


I have a feeling they did everything they knew to keep their boat upright and moving forward. They made some difficult decisions and got rid of anything they didn’t need. They positioned themselves in the boat as best they could to keep it from turning over and hung on until they felt they could hang on no longer. Then the ones who knew the sea cried out to the one who calms the storms.


We are the same, aren’t we? We think we have to have things under our control. So we try to calm the storms of life by legalizing abortion, no fault divorce, more social services, gambling and a host of addictions, and the list goes on. But the storms just grow fiercer. When we have exhausted all our ideas and none of them have worked then we turn to God who is never exhausted. He is just waiting to be asked!


I used to think that when Christ answered his disciples, “Where is your faith?” (see Luke 8:25) that He was angry they had cried out. Does crying out show a lack of faith? I don’t think so. I do think He wants us to ask Him first! Like any good parent He would prefer that we trust Him and not fret. He knows we must depend on Him to get us to the other side. When we are weak, He is strong! All we have to do then is stand back and watch the salvation of the Lord occur! (see 2 Chronicles 20:17)


How our Creator longs for the day when His creation will put Him first in all things and faithfully call on Him. The very day we call for help the tide turns, the storms calm, we are safe again and we can see the other side.

Faith asks first.

"You have seen me tossing and turning through the night.
You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle!
You have recorded every one in your book.
The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns. My enemies flee!
This one thing I know: God is for me!" Psalm 56:8-9

Is This Spring?

According to the calendar Spring has arrived! Yet, after such a long, cold, snowy winter this Spring seems rather bitter and cold. Perhaps we expected more than we are getting. Then again, this is probably the most "normal" Spring I remember in a while. Unpredictable weather and temperatures go along with Spring....even ice storms occasionally. I can't help but feel sorry for the Robins, though. They cock their heads and look at me as if to say, "Is this what I came back for?"

The state of life seems to be complaint...when summer arrives I'm sure we will be longing for more Fall like temperatures again. Patience is a virtue that not many of us have in regards to weather.

"Wait patiently for the Master's arrival. Farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the Spring and Autumn rains do there slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time." James 5:7-8

Ready or Not?

Last Fridays earthquake in Japan has given me pause to think about my relationship with my Creator. Am I right with God? Am I ready should something devastating and unexpected come my way? Are those I love ready? Just what does it mean to be ready?

Last Fridays earthquake is not the only thing that is spurring me to this thought…has anyone noticed since 9/11/2001 how many devastations are happening on the earth? Whether they are man made or natural disasters it seems that the magnitude of these disasters shows us that the world is in turmoil like it has never been before! I've also noticed on a personal level an increase in the number of people I know who are battling life threatening diseases or are dying suddenly and unexpectedly. In this I recognize an urgency.

As a Christian I am commanded to be ready and to warn others that they need to be ready and then tell them how to get ready. So the first thing I did was get on my knees before God and tell him that I am sorry for everything that I have done that has offended Him. You see, as I thought about this I realized that my love for God was not as vibrant as it once was. I was growing spiritually lazy. Where before I was praying regularly and reading my Bible daily, now I had been growing undisciplined. I can’t blame that on anyone but, me! It was getting to where I was only reading my Bible some of the time and praying mostly when I was worried rather than as daily communication with God. The Bible tells us that we are to pray without ceasing. This reminds me of a song, “Make My Life a Prayer to You” by Keith Green and of a time when my life exemplified that. I treasure that kind of a life with my God and I want it back!

The second thing I did was to begin praying for those I love, including my family, church family, and coworkers. I prayed that we would all be revived in following our God obediently. I prayed that our relationships with God would be refreshed where they have become stagnant. We are to be a pleasing aroma to God, not a stench! And I prayed that in that refreshment we would receive more of the Holy Spirit to help us reach those who do not have a relationship with God.

And finally I prayed for the lost, the devastated, the ill and those who are dying. I prayed that they would find God and that God would find them and that they would know the Way, the Truth and the Life in Jesus so that even if they lost their physical lives they would not lose a glorious eternity with God. I prayed that they would be reached before it is too late and that they would learn about the Good News of the coming of our Savior and how He came to rescue us from sin so that we would not perish eternally.

In the book of John 3:16-18 Jesus himself tells us that God sent Him to be with us: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” Jesus can be with you today. He can give you the sense of security you have been longing for – an eternal security – no matter what comes your way. Are you ready?

As Jesus’ disciples began putting their faith in Him they realized that they didn’t even know how to pray effectively. So they asked Him to teach them how to pray. He shared with them a prayer that has become known throughout the world as The Lord’s Prayer. What a beautiful way to begin a relationship with God.

Jesus’ prayer as I learned it:

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name!
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!
Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses(sins), as we forgive those who trespass(sin) against us,
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Christians added this to the prayer later:

“For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory,
Forever and ever, Amen.”

(Jesus’ prayer was recorded in the Bible in the books of Matthew Ch. 6 and Luke Ch. 11. You can read them for yourself here: Luke, Chapter 11.)

Cooking Up Joy!

If you were going to eat joy it would come in the shape of a cookie! One of my fondest memories growing up was coming home with my siblings to a plate of my mothers homemade cookies on Fridays after school. She usually made the oatmeal raisin cookie recipe from the Quaker Oats box. Boy they were good! It wasn't long before our friends found out about the cookies and they would come home with us! She quickly became "Mom" to all of those neighborhood rascals that were hoping for a delectable treat. We didn't have a cookie jar because we never needed one...there were simply no leftovers!

To this day my mother is still cooking up joy! My children, even though they are grown now, talk about the wonders of Grandmas cookies. They are particularly fond of her pineapple cookies. One recipe that she and I used to pass back and forth with little changes and a "try it like this" note we dubbed "Mother-Daughter Cookies". These cookies are enjoyed by everyone in the family. I love to eat them for breakfast. Hope you enjoy this recipe, too!


Mother-Daughter Cookies

½ Cup sugar
1/3 Cup oil
3 eggs
2 Tablespoon black strap molasses
1/4 Cup honey
3 Tablespoon yogurt
1 3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 Cups oats
3 Tablespoons toasted wheat germ
1 Cup raisins
3/4 Cup chopped nuts (walnuts &/or pecans)

Preheat oven 375 F.

1)Mix the sugar and oil. Beat in the eggs, honey, molasses and yogurt

2)Sift together flour, salt, soda and cinnamon

3)Mix dry ingredients into sugar mixture. Add raisins, nuts and oats and mix thoroughly.

4)Drop by tsp. onto oiled baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 min. (until top of cookie is just firm. Do not over bake.)

Well, Here It Goes!

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now. I have finally succumbed.

What shall I write about? The people, places and things that I love most. The issues I am most concerned about. Those things that happen in life that just crack me up or perhaps bring me to tears!

May you find joy and grace here!

Blessings!