Musings and Marvelings on my Jesus Journey

   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...

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...

 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...