Home … We went to visit friends this weekend and catch up on their lives. Always nice to get away for a bit and see old friends … but also very nice to come back to the comfort of home. Is your home a comforting place for you? A place of peace and quiet and refreshing? If not, take a minute to look around you and inside you to find out why.
Home is where the heart is … I wonder how old that saying is. It’s true though … no matter how elegant and fine someone else’s abode is, your heart – your life – your memories are bound up in the place where you find rest and peace and restoration. Each of us develops a style of living that is familiar and comfortable for our spirit … we bring around us those things that please our senses, beautiful things that maybe only our eye sees as beautiful, memorabilia that only our hearts respond to, familiar pieces handed down from generation to generation that bring continuity to our lives, pictures that remind of us fun times and places, spaces that our spirit responds to.
In every place I’ve lived I’ve always had a special place for me. In my yard I have a wonderful trailing rosebush and here I sit every morning communing with my Lord with the soft Arizona breeze of morning brushing over my skin giving me a few minutes of respite from the intense and unending summer heat. It is one of my favorite places and one of my favorite times … when I am away I miss both that place and that special quiet time.
When we lived aboard our sailboat in San Diego for five years I would sit in the cockpit and watch the sun come up over the Bay in all its splendor and glory and thank my God that I was privileged to live in such a beautiful place. When living outside of Boston on the north side I had a swing under a lovely tree where I spent many a quiet hour just swinging gently and basking in the shade of that tree. When we moved from there to the south of Boston I had a favorite rocking chair that belonged to my husband’s mother in a little room where the sun shone in the morning and I spent my quiet time with a hot cup of tea reading and watching the rays of sun dance over the shiny floor.
I hope in your home you have a special place where you find quiet and peace … a place to regather yourself each day so that you can continue on your journey refreshed and ready to face whatever blessings or challenges come your way.
Blessings, Ann
Welcome
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Purpose
Purpose … Have you ever asked “who am I?”; “what is my purpose here?”; “is there something I’m supposed to be doing that I don’t see?” Sometimes I’ve thought that there must be some wonderfully important thing I’m supposed to do to leave my mark on this world. I usually feel so insignificant, but lately I’m learning that as child of the King, I am loved and cherished by my Savior and the job He has for me is to pass that love on to those around me with whom I share my life and those that just brush up against me from time to time. How important is a kind smile to someone’s day when they’ve been harassed or put down by someone else! My little life may have a great impact on someone even when I don’t know it so it’s important that every contact I have comes away with a good feeling for spending a bit of time in my presence. Reminds me of the simplicity of the Golden Rule; just treat others in the same way I would enjoy being treated. So simple and yet so difficult to make a permanent part of our lives.
As a wife my purpose is to support my husband in all that he wants to do for our family and for our life together and be a helper, not a hindrance. Stand by him through the tough times and encourage him when he falters (as we all do from time to time). Pray for him! We pray for all kinds of things but do we remember our own precious husbands? When he is blessed so am I – how neat is that!
And our children – how much they need our prayers and our encouragement no matter how old they are. When they are small and in their formative years we spend a good deal of time teaching and training them. When they are older, oftentimes they don’t do all that we would like them to do. Many times they reject our lifestyle and go the opposite direction. No matter, they are our children, our special blessings. The power of a praying mother accomplishes much. I know; I’ve seen it in my own family. And I’m still praying and watching and waiting to see God’s mighty hand at work. It can take a long, long time but we must never give up. God never gives up on us -- His children – and neither should we give up on ours.
Bringing children into this world can show us so much about how God looks at us. Our children are born in the midst of great pain and great joy. And God brings us into His kingdom the same way. His Son’s life was given so that we might have life in God’s presence – that was painful for Him – so painful that He even had to turn away when all of our sin was placed upon Jesus. But great joy is His when one of us turns away from the world and searches Him out and accepts that precious gift of His Son’s blood to cover all our sins and mistakes and we are given a bit of the Spirit of God to reside in us and lead us in the way we should go.
Purpose? So simple … seek God and His will for your life … and rejoice in the gift of life every day. Spread God’s love for you around to all you come in contact with so they, too, can rejoice in their lives.
As a wife my purpose is to support my husband in all that he wants to do for our family and for our life together and be a helper, not a hindrance. Stand by him through the tough times and encourage him when he falters (as we all do from time to time). Pray for him! We pray for all kinds of things but do we remember our own precious husbands? When he is blessed so am I – how neat is that!
And our children – how much they need our prayers and our encouragement no matter how old they are. When they are small and in their formative years we spend a good deal of time teaching and training them. When they are older, oftentimes they don’t do all that we would like them to do. Many times they reject our lifestyle and go the opposite direction. No matter, they are our children, our special blessings. The power of a praying mother accomplishes much. I know; I’ve seen it in my own family. And I’m still praying and watching and waiting to see God’s mighty hand at work. It can take a long, long time but we must never give up. God never gives up on us -- His children – and neither should we give up on ours.
Bringing children into this world can show us so much about how God looks at us. Our children are born in the midst of great pain and great joy. And God brings us into His kingdom the same way. His Son’s life was given so that we might have life in God’s presence – that was painful for Him – so painful that He even had to turn away when all of our sin was placed upon Jesus. But great joy is His when one of us turns away from the world and searches Him out and accepts that precious gift of His Son’s blood to cover all our sins and mistakes and we are given a bit of the Spirit of God to reside in us and lead us in the way we should go.
Purpose? So simple … seek God and His will for your life … and rejoice in the gift of life every day. Spread God’s love for you around to all you come in contact with so they, too, can rejoice in their lives.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Reflections
Reflections … I’m at that age where the life behind me is longer than the days ahead (not that I’m planning to check out soon but it is a fact of living.) Maturity brings some semblance of peace and balance to my life even through the tough times – it’s a good place to be.
I’ve been a baptized follower of Christ and His Way for a little over 40 years of my adult life. Prior to that time I always had an interest in “religion” often studying books and information from a number of Christian ministries and I still do that to this day. I’ve discovered that my walk with God is a life-long challenge and He is dealing with me on a deeper level now than ever before. The rewards are encouraging showing me that there is never a time in our lives when we cannot learn and change and grow. Now that there is less distraction of children and issues in my life I have more quality time to spend in my pursuit of understanding and truth. This will keep my brain cells humming for a good long time perhaps even averting some of the maladies of old age when I get to that point.
In January of this year I was challenged to lose the excess weight that had been my nemesis for the past 15 years and I’m pleased that I am successfully doing so. My “temple” is getting healthier and smaller at the same time and this, too, is encouraging. I’ve tried to lose weight in the past and sometimes have been successful for a short period of time, but for reasons that I do not understand I would revert to my old eating habits and the weight would gladly find its way back into its comfortable hiding spots. I would feel discouraged for a while and then just let it pass. This time I felt God was asking me to take better care of this temple of His Holy Spirit – that He had given me this life as a precious gift; and if I am to enjoy it into my later years, I needed to take control of my body and submit it to my will. So I asked Him to give me the desire and the self control I needed to make this venture a success and I am pleased to report He has done so. My journey of weight loss continues.
As every day goes by I see more and more of the things in me that need a “spiritual adjustment” and I’m finding it an exciting challenge to work on these and at the same time develop a closer, more intimate, relationship with my Creator. He is an awesome God and He has a good plan for my life to prosper me and give me hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11) and I am learning that I need to wholeheartedly take in and make His Word part of my being so I can be all that He has created me to be.
My saga continues …
I’ve been a baptized follower of Christ and His Way for a little over 40 years of my adult life. Prior to that time I always had an interest in “religion” often studying books and information from a number of Christian ministries and I still do that to this day. I’ve discovered that my walk with God is a life-long challenge and He is dealing with me on a deeper level now than ever before. The rewards are encouraging showing me that there is never a time in our lives when we cannot learn and change and grow. Now that there is less distraction of children and issues in my life I have more quality time to spend in my pursuit of understanding and truth. This will keep my brain cells humming for a good long time perhaps even averting some of the maladies of old age when I get to that point.
In January of this year I was challenged to lose the excess weight that had been my nemesis for the past 15 years and I’m pleased that I am successfully doing so. My “temple” is getting healthier and smaller at the same time and this, too, is encouraging. I’ve tried to lose weight in the past and sometimes have been successful for a short period of time, but for reasons that I do not understand I would revert to my old eating habits and the weight would gladly find its way back into its comfortable hiding spots. I would feel discouraged for a while and then just let it pass. This time I felt God was asking me to take better care of this temple of His Holy Spirit – that He had given me this life as a precious gift; and if I am to enjoy it into my later years, I needed to take control of my body and submit it to my will. So I asked Him to give me the desire and the self control I needed to make this venture a success and I am pleased to report He has done so. My journey of weight loss continues.
As every day goes by I see more and more of the things in me that need a “spiritual adjustment” and I’m finding it an exciting challenge to work on these and at the same time develop a closer, more intimate, relationship with my Creator. He is an awesome God and He has a good plan for my life to prosper me and give me hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11) and I am learning that I need to wholeheartedly take in and make His Word part of my being so I can be all that He has created me to be.
My saga continues …
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