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Thank You and God Bless!!

  Thank you friends and family for coming along on this musing and marveling journey the last three and half years. The journey is not over. There is still plenty of musing and marveling to do. But for now, I have come to a place of pause and reflection. As 2023 rolls to its close, I am considering taking a step of faith to put this into a book to be shared with those I love, and those who love (or will love) Jesus! All along, it has been about using God given stories and random analogies to encourage and inspire, as together we let life point us to our life-giver, Jesus! And that is my prayer for each of you dear readers...that you may be encouraged, each day, to continue on in this Christ-following journey. Look to Him! Shine for Him! Love Him! Share Him! It is what we are called to do! For this life is all about serving our Lord and bringing others to the Father's throne of mercy and grace, that place where we all find hope, purpose and peace. And to each of our precious grand-c...
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A story of a story of The Story

   Updated:  Jul 19, 2023 So I have a story. A sweet story. It has to do with my Dad. I love my Dad. He is caring and helpful. He is intelligent and thoughtful. He loves God. He loves his family. And, he wrote a book. A children's book. He called it Ben and Kit. Let's back up a bit. For years, our folks would head down to Florida for the winter. They enjoyed their time there. It gave them a chance to pursue some interests. And to just relax. My mom is a painter. I wrote a blog about her awhile back. You may recall of the winter that she was given an opportunity to paint a mural on the wall of a lanai for a lady that she met down there. She painted a lovely beach scene and had so much fun doing it. She did a great job! Our Dad was proud of her. He shared of how Mom was enjoying this creative venture. We all were happy for her. But I felt a little bad for Dad, who was left alone somewhat while mom was away painting. After all, that was not their norm, for they usu...
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A Valentine's Love Letter

   A Valentine's Love Letter On this Valentine's Day, how many of you got a card from someone you love? Precious words that made you feel cared about, treasured...loved! It means alot doesn't it? I especially appreciate when those cards have my husband's (or children's) own handwriting on them, their personal expression, their genuine sentiments of endearment. And so may I take this opportunity to remind all of you, that God has written a love letter for you. Written in red even (perfect for Valentine's Day)! His Holy Bible is your love letter, for it delivers the beautiful Gospel message, the proclamation of hope, the recipe for joy, the instruction manuel for life, the map for salvation. His letter shares of His Creator heart, of His desire for relationship, to have those He can pour all His love into and on. It relates of how He miraculously and lovingly created a beatiful world for His creation. Of how He realized that only by giving His created people a fre...
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A New Hymn Book!

I am musing about something...  Our church has a new hymn book! And it is exciting! We are still keeping our old ones, just adding a new one into our worship options! Some of us got together the other night to practice. It was fun! We sang. We laughed. We messed up. We tried again. We harmonized. We got it. Sometimes we didn't. But the more we practiced, the more it all came together and it gave us joy! The songs were reverant. They inspired worship. It is my prayer that this new songbook will be a great blessing. That the worship it moves us toward  will be rich. That the words of the new hymns will speak to many hearts. That the times of fellowship and praise experienced as this book is held, will be many! I love that there is a wide gamut of hymns; new and old. Some of the songs date back to the 17 and 1800's! I noticed that one melody was from 1566! Isn't that amazing? Just consider how many voices through the generations have lifted songs of praise to our God using the...
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The Other Side Of The Coin

 I am musing a about... The other side of the coin. Two sides. Two distinctly different presentations. Different engravings and wording. That is the situation of both sides of the same coin. When you are looking at one side, you are unable to see the other. I was contemplating this truth the other day in relationship to relationships. How many of you have felt misunderstood in the past? How many of you have misunderstood others? Misunderstandings can hurt. What is it about us that we each desire so intensely to be understood, that others see things from our point of view? We all have a need for validation. But we also all desire, or should desire, to understand. To be able to empathize with the "heart place", the journey, of those we love and care about.  How many times in books and movies, are there ongoing issues in the storyline, that could easily be cleared up if the characters simply stopped, listened and took the time to truly understand one another. Oh the tension that...
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When life is hard. Really hard

  I am musing about... When life is hard. Really hard. There are dear ones who's lives are hard. There is no other way to put it. At times, I think about those who live in third world countries, or in slums, or the ghetto, or crack houses. Those who were born into poverty and pain. Those involved in addiction, maybe trafficking, sickness, heartache and despair. It is real. It sounds beyond hard. It breaks my heart. But not enough. There are those who appear to have good lives in a middle or upper class situation. But their lives are  full of challenges, confusion and sadness. There are those who things just do not seem to go well for. They suffer rejection and disapointment time and again. There are those who find themselves reaching for things they know they should not to try to heal the hurt. Even those who have reached for the Great Physician and have come to know His love and grace, and still they succumb and fall. And the layers of hard deepen. I recently listened to an a...
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Malls, Nostalgia and God

 I am musing about... Malls, Nostalgia and God I know. Random, right? You just never know what the Lord will lay on my mind to share. But this time...it has to do with shopping malls. Have you been to one lately? I do not know how it is in your "neck of the woods" but around here they seem to be a thing of the past. Their glory days have come and gone. I remember being in Jr. High and all the excitement over the building of the Northwoods Mall in Peoria. It was a big deal. It became the shopping experience of my generation. Heading to the mall for a fun outing with friends! And you have to admit that it was a convenient way to get multiple purchasing tasks done. But thanks (or no thanks) to the arrival of Amazon and digital shopping, the brick and mortar retail industry is on an obvious decline. At least around here. The mall nearest us (not Northwoods) is just sad. One after another, the anchor stores have closed. It has been quite awhile since I have been there, but honestl...
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