Busy Monday Morning

Who would ever dream that we could get excited about paying ONLY $2.99.9 for a gallon of gas!!??

This week will find me celebrating my Blogiversary. How could it have gone so fast??

If you have read me very often in the last year, you know that I love Max Lucado's words. Since I don't have time to create my own this morning, I want to share these with you from Max:

God Still Comes

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed. Psalm 34:18

" 'Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,' Paul penned. 'The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope.' (Romans 15:4).

These are not just Sunday school stories. Not romantic fables . . . They are historical moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question, 'Where is God when I hurt?'

How does God react to dashed hopes? Read the story of Jairus. How does the Father feel about those who are ill? Stand with him at the pool of Bethesda. Do you long for God to speak to your lonely heart? Then listen as he speaks to the Emmaus-bound disciples . . .

He's not doing it just for them. He's doing it for me. He's doing it for you. . .

The God who spoke still speaks. . . The God who came still comes. He comes into our world. He comes into your world. He comes to do what you can't." (From He Still Moves Stones).

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We have a wonderful elderly Jewish lady who attends our church every Sunday morning. She attends our Sunday school class. She is in her 80s, and is still afraid to give her life to Christ because of her Jewish roots. But she LOVES our church and especially our SS class. She asks for prayer for her cataract surgery next week, because she's very afraid. She's from Brooklyn and retains the wonderful brogue of that area of the country. She corrected our Oklahoma/Texas-born-and-bred pastor out loud yesterday morning during the sermon when he incorrectly pronounced "Mordecai" - he pronounced the "ai" at the end A-I. Just as I always have. Seems as though it's supposed to be pronounced MordecI (or Y, maybe makes more sense). Who knew? It kind of threw the pastor off for awhile, but he recovered nicely. She was sitting in the back of the church. We all got a good chuckle. But she is indeed listening! Pray for Flora that her softened heart will yield to Christ soon.

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Last - in my Sunday school paper, which I faithfully read after all these years, there was true story which held words that spoke to my soul. Especially as Kevin and I have finished our series of our journey together, it reminded me of that Sunday morning when God spoke to my spirit and told me that it was going to be okay (see this post ) - never did I dream it would take so long, but He kept His promise.

This is from an article called "After the Angel Leaves," by Mardi Hardwick:

"In times of deep despair, God often reveals himself in many different ways. He breathes warm encouragement into our troubled hearts until we know without any uncertainty things will get better. It comes from knowing that our lives are in His hands, and we'll live through the trial.

However, after the initial 'angel' encouragement encounter is where we get into trouble. The afterward experience sometimes is a long-drawn-out waiting period for things to 'turn out fine', and there seems to be a disconnect, a lull in which we feel nothing is happening. This period can be very long, with doubts swirling around in our heads, and thoughts that produce painful aches in our hearts.

Questions arise. 'Did I really hear God? Or was it just wishful thinking, my imagination?' . . .

It has appeared to me that God usually works the same way. There is a waiting period, a process when our faith is developed and our Lord seems to rearrange all our plans.

A couple of things I have really learned about the Lord. He doesn't seem to be in a hurry. I might try to push things along, but it just doesn't do any good. God looks at the overall picture and positions everything in perfect order for His purpose.

His promises are true, and we learn hard lessons from listening, waiting, and believing that the first 'angel encounter' was real, that God was answering our prayers in His own way and His own time. . . The initial encounter begins the course for God to intricately pull all pieces together to show off His beautiful workmanship."

Talk to you later!