Musings and Marvelings on my Jesus Journey

  I am marveling about.... The Girl and her Guitar A week or so ago, several of us women were blessed by a girl and her guitar. This girl has been gifted by the Lord with a beautiful voice, a sensitive heart and obvious skill with her instrument. I have never experienced an evening quite like it. She is allowing God to use her to minister to others in a beautiful way. Let me set the stage. I got an invite (but did not read it thoroughly enough). It had to do with an evening of music. I love music and I had heard her sing and play before. Yes, I wanted to go. We got to the venue. Again, I had not gotten the memo (my fault). My husband came with, but headed home (sorry Honey) when we realized it was a "girls only" event. Everyone was casual. The lights were low. They were all sitting on the floor. The girl with the guitar in the middle. The plan for the evening was simple. And profound. We were to just listen, we could pray or read Scripture aloud if we felt led to (just a coup

 I am musing about.... Scammers, Stars and God's Word Oh, last week was not fun! Not at all.   You see, technologically speaking, it was "one of those weeks".  And then some. It began with my printer. It stopped printing. I was pretty sure I knew why. An HP Insta-ink issue. I was pretty sure I had exceeded my page limit and thus the printer shut down. Thought it should be a pretty easy fix. A quick phone call should take care of it. So I googled HP Customer Support and gave them a call. Unbeknownst to me at the time....I had not reached who I thought I had. May this post be considered a warning to all of you dear readers. Beware. Scammers are slick, tricky and prevalent. I found this out the hard way. So without going into detail...suffice it to say, I was scammed. I was somewhat skeptical from the get-go. But I trusted that I was speaking to HP Customer Support, the company behind my printer. And computer.  As the realization of what had taken place took hold of my mind,

 I am musing about...... Being light! What is it about the glow of twinkle lights, the ambience of a cozy fire, the uplifting of radiant sunlight, the comfort of an illuminating flashlight, the welcome of a soft light in a window, the aura of romantic candlelight? It invites us! It pulls us in. And it warms our soul. The Bible talks a lot about light!  Jesus is called the "Light of the World" (John 8:12) . His Word is a "light unto our path" (Psalm 119:105).  We are told to "let our light shine" (Matthew 5:16)! So how do we best do that? In many ways, it is a "no brainer". Simply show love, share Truth, live with integrity, show the way. But here is my question, my dilemma. How do we draw the sinner? How do we love the sinner, yet hate the sin? We are told to first establish a relationship. Yes. Well, I do not know about you, but if I am to have an  open and honest relationship with someone, I tend to want to know about their life, what makes the

  I am marveling about..... Ruth 4:15 "He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age." My mom! She is such a gift! To us and so many. The youngest of 16 children, left without a father when he passed away when she was but 6, wife, mother of 8 (twin sons died soon after birth), grandmother of 16, great grandmother of soon to be 27, a humble ,thankful and surrendered daughter of God, a mighty prayer warrior, a friend and mentor to many!  And....a painter:)  And a pretty good one at that:) Yes, after many years of raising kids, helping out with the grands, being a farm wife, hauling grain in the fall, tending a good sized garden, cooking, freezing, canning, teaching, refereeing, exemplifying, counseling, car-pooling, sewing, altering, volunteering, hosting, praying, helping, overseeing (homework, 4-H projects, activities).....you get the drift, she finally now has time to do something she loves. She paints! Oh, she did paint a bit some years ago. Took a few lessons. Da

  I am meditating on .... 2 Cor. 12:10 As our world spins faster and faster into craziness and destruction, and as the future for the treatment of Christians grows bleaker with every turn of the earth's axis, I found my reading the other day in 2 Cor. 11-12 to be more meaningful and relevant then ever. Paul actually wrote that he "took pleasure" in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessitates, in persecutions and in destresses FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. Why? Because as he shared, "when I am weak, then am I strong". This verse coincides with verse 9 in which he expounded on Christ's message that "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness". There are several things that God brought to mind. First...that word "pleasure". It made me think of the quote from Eric Liddell, the well known Christian athlete who ran in the Olympics in  Paris in 1924. He shared  that "When I run, I feel God's pleasure".  T