Rhythm of life.

The creation story in Genesis 1 has rhythm. The passage of day into night is a constant rhythm. The passing of seasons, the changing of tides. We are surrounded by rhythms in nature. Rhythms that sustain the life of our entire planet. affect our metabolism, our cognitive abilities. We create new life rhythmically. Our body keeps its beat through the constancy of our pumping hearts. 

What happens when those rhythms are interrupted? When we interrupt the circadian rhythms that sustain us by not sleeping enough of being over caffeinated? When the rhythms of the seasons are disrupted by climate change? When the rhythms of daily life are obliterated by violence and war? 

I can still remember the first time I read through the book of Ecclesiastes and how encouraged I was. It took away some of my fears, changed my expectations, changed my attitude toward change.

Ecclesiastes invites us to find rhythm in all things, so that we can be at peace with how life is constantly changing. We are also invited to honor those rhythms rather than dominating them when they can be inconvenient for us. With this passage we can embrace that life is, indeed, a part of death; that peace always should follow war; that there are times when we experience sorrow, but that sorrow is followed by joy and laughter.

Anxiety is bound to happen when the rhythm of our lives is changed. I have sure been experiencing my share of this lately. I don't question it anymore because I do believe it's even a part of the rhythm. Out of anxiety we can see our need for the Lord and learn trusting Him for all life brings. Thankful God put Ecclesiastes in the bible for us to draw from during hard times. Age comes to all of us, and with age comes ailments that change the rhythms of our life. I am learning a new song lately, finding the joy of the Lord wrapped up sometimes even in the pains of life.

How the rhythm of your life going?

Kneeling Love

If you ask a man if he should kneel when proposing, they will probably say yes – but why? It’s likely for one of two reasons: either because tradition dictates that males propose with marriage on bended knee or because they want to express humility before their future wife. Some people feel as though a proposal by kneeling signifies more than just submission; rather, it shows respect, and an intent to put the bride before himself.  

Fifty seven years ago my husband ask me to marry him and he did not get down on one knee.  Honestly, I did not even think to ask him too.  In fact until recently I had not given it a thought. 

On 20th of Oct., our 57th anniversary,  I had surgery to repair my bladder. All went well.   Four  hours afterward the doctor declared it safe for me to go home and start recovery. I would see him in two days to get the catheter out.  Ok, I thought, I can do this. 

Had a good night, all was well until early afternoon that next day when I started to have intense pain.  From my experience of having several kidney stones I thought I was trying to pass one.  I developed a low grade fever and throwing up.  Back to the hospital where the surgery was done.  After a few test, x-rays they said I had a blockage but could not tell what it was from.  They tried to put a stint from my kidney to my bladder but it would not go.  Since they could do no more due to lack of personnel they sent me to Fargo, North Dakota, three hour ambulance ride.  

There they did same test, got same conclusions.  To keep me from losing the 30 percent of my kidney I have they put a tube into it to drain into a bag outside my body.  

Every since I started having kidney issue, I have dreaded this might happen to me someday.  The kidney is not repairable when it dies.   A transplant can be done if there is a donor and if the body will accept it.   What is left then is dialysis 3-5 times a week.  Back in December 2020 my kidneys shut down because of Covid. It was at that time I was told one of my kidneys was not working and only 30 person of the other one was.  So, you can see how the dread would build, the quest to keep that 30 percent going.  

Ok, enough about the medical background for this post.  

My husband has taken on the total responsibility of doing all it takes to keep the tube cleaned, put new bandages on the site of where the tube goes into my kidney, flushing the tube every other day.    To take a shower requires lots of work making sure the site keeps dry.  I was so weak when I first came home I could not even dress myself, he did that.  There is more to this but again enough is enough.     

 At one point in order to help me he had to get down on his knees.  I teased him that he did not even get on his knees to ask me to marry him.    I think I started crying somewhere after that as it hit me how much my husband cares for me.  He is so careful to make sure he gets it right and keeps me as healthy as he can.  

This post is not about how sick I am,  It's about how very hard times require a love that goes way beyond that knee he could taken when asking for marriage.  Way beyond even the vows we say, way beyond the romance, and intimacy that comes with marriage.  

This love I have been experiencing comes from a man who knows God loves him.  And whatever trials comes it has to go through that supernatural love.  It's the love Jesus had for us as He hung on the cross. That kind of love will give courage when needed to do the hard stuff. 

Psalm 95:6  Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our making. 

On the 18th I head back to hospital to see if the blockage is all gone and if I still need a tube or a stint or surgery.  Please pray.  

What's On Your Mind?

 

What's on my mind facebook ask.

Everyday I must meditate on the absolute perfection and completeness of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing we could do ever think, desire, say, or do that could in any way add to the forgiveness and acceptance that you received from God based on Christ's work. You are perfect in the eyes of God because the perfect righteousness of Jesus has been attributed to your spiritual account. Paul Tripp

This truth motivates me to say I'm sorry when I am wrong, change my attitude when I am being selfish. This truth helps me to trust Him to work in me to become more like Him. If I start focusing on my sins, past and present instead of on the forgiveness bought on Calvary for all sins I will become self focused which leads to a comparison trap which leads to either pride or depression. There lies the battle front...God help me to be courageous and drop my self reliance and rest in the finished work of your Son.

The Power of One Vowel

 

"The verbs for a particular African language consistently end in one of three vowels...i, a, and u."  But the word for "love" was only found with i and a.  Why no u?"

The missionary asked the most influential community leaders.  "Could you dvi your wife?"

Yes, that would mean that the wife had been loved, but the love was gone. 

Could you dva your wife?

Yes. That kind of love depends on the wife's actions.  She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and cared for her husband well. 

Could you dvu your wife?

 Of course not!, They all laughed.  If you said that, you would have to keep loving your wife no matter what she did, even if she never got you water and never made you meals. Even if she committed adultery, you would have to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say, dvu. It just doesn't exist. 

The missionary sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, and then he asked, "Could God dvu people"?

There was complete silence for three of four minutes; then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of the elderly men of the community. 

Finally, they responded, "Do you know what this would mean? This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, while all that time we rejected His great love. He would be compelled to love us, even though we have sinned more than any people."

Changing one vowel changed the meaning from, "I love you based on what you do and who you are" to "I love you based on who I am. I love you because of me and not because of you."

Encoded in this African language, but unused for centuries, lay a perfect picture of Christ's unconditional love.  Ethnos360

In the English language there is only one word for love.  We use it to express all kinds of things we love, I love my husband, I love potato chips, I love my cat, I love whatever.  We don't change any of the letters in the word to express our love for different things.  In almost every other language they have several word variation for love. 

One of the Hebrew words for "love" is hesed, (pronounced kheh=ed ), which is actually a difficult word to translate into English.  That is because there is a range of meaning for hesed, which means a completely undeserved kindness and generosity.  Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love (hesed) for will not be shaken.   Hesed is not just a feeling, but an action. It "intervenes on behalf of loved ones and comes to their rescue". 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

 ,

I am into my 74th year by tenth months, two weeks, and a few days day so there is a lot of, "day after's" , that have passed. Which is why I like this quote because it's so easy to lose sight of a day after in the middle of a struggle.

Just the reminder of Sept 11th, 2001, that horrible day is a good example to

think about how many mornings we have woke up since that fateful day. Every day, in the last 20 years we have woke up to a new day. Some of those days are filled with the memories of horrible events but some of those days are been good ones too.

There was time I did not think I would survive the abusive home I grew up in. Thank God there was a day after for that part of my life. God has healed those emotional wounds and used them to help others.

Getting married and having children was the goal of my life. It took 12 years of marriage and 6 miscarriages to have our first child.

Some of us think holding on to our loss makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go. – Herman Hesse

Remembering and holding on are two different ways of handling the pain of loss. Listening and reading testimony after testimony from those who lost someone on 9/11 was encouraging in this way. Most told of how they had went on with life, changed into a new normal. Of course they would wish those they lost back, wished that awful day did not happen. Of course. They're days after, became something to thank God for, a day to be more loving, more aware of others, tp became focus in searching for a purpose for the rest of our days. There is a progression to loss and grief.

The bible is clear, there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance, and a time to die. Life goes on no matter how we deal with the pain. Our days when we mourned are some of the most teachable times we have. Our hearts are raw from the pain and we just want it to go away, for things to go back to what was before the hurt hit. If we live in the day our pain started and do not travel to the day after we will be miserable and those around us miserable too.

Loss and grief is a normal part of life and there is lots of helps from those who have lived past their pain. Loss escapes no one. Everyone faces some kind of loss as they journey through this world. There is no loss so great that God cannot reach and help us with.

en Someone You Love is Dying by Kopp, R. & Sorenson, S. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan (1985).

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Kushner, Harold Schocken Books (1981).

Learning to Say Good-bye: When a Parent Dies by LeShan, Eda New York: Avon (1988).

Remembering with Love: Messages of Hope for the First Year of Grieving and Beyond. by Levang, E. & Ilse, S. Minneapolis, MN: Deaconess Press (1992).

Mind over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think by D. Greenberger & C.A. Padesky (New York: The Guilford Press, 1995).

Seven Choices: Taking the Steps to a New Life after Losing Someone You Love by Neeld, E. New York: Delacorte (1992).

How to go on Living When Someone You Love Dies by Rando, Therese New York: Bantam (1991).

Beyond grief: A Guide for Recovering From the Death of a Loved One. by Staudacher, C. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger (1987).

Necessary Losses by Viorst, Judith New York: Fawcett Gold Medal (1986).



Promise

What the dictionary says a promise is:

• promise (noun) a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future
• promise, hope (verb) grounds for feeling hopeful about the future “there is little or no promise that he will recover”

It would be easier to write about the promises made to me that have been broken. But I cannot do that without thinking about the promises I have made and did not keep.

Matthew 5:33-37 –  “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

First, promising something an not coming through with it hurts relationships. When we don’t keep our promises it destroys trust and trust is what healthy relationships are built upon
Honesty helps us grow in our relationships with Christ and with others
—Eph. 4:15 – Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

I read this today and conviction sliced to the core of my heart. Because Christ lives in me, I want to be known as a person who keeps her promises and does not lie.

Ask yourself these questions:

“Who has not been startled to hear yourself say something that is an exaggeration without even thinking about it. It is not that you began the conversation with the intention of saying something that was not quite true, but before you knew it you found yourself embellishing a story.

Are you honest about your age?
Have you been thoroughly honest with your taxes?
Have you ever been dishonest about the time you claimed you worked, or not given an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage?
Have you ever cheated on a test?
Have you ever lied to get out of trouble?
Have you ever complimented someone when you didn’t mean it?
Have you ever kept silent when you should have told the truth?
Made yourself appear better than you are?
Lied to gain an advantage or get your way?
Misled someone to save face?”

Eph. 4:25 – Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor…)

Knowing I have failed at times to be honest, and true to my word makes me grateful for His grace. He makes it possible to not live under condemnation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, His Son. He died for the times I fail to keep my promise and gives me chance after chance to right it and try again.

Let me close with two quotes that I think are profound.

No legacy is so rich as honesty.” – William Shakespeare

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” – Thomas Jefferson

Common Sense...

 

Common sense is sound practical judgment concerning everyday matters, or a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge that is shared by ("common to") nearly all people. The first type of common sense, good sense, can be described as "the knack for seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.

The above definition caused me to wonder what God says about having common sense. 

Biblically, common sense can be thought of as a combination of wisdom and discretion.  Wisdom is knowing what to do; discretion is knowing when and where to do it. Proverbs 3:21; 8:12-14

So, without common sense then one will act like a fool.  One must think first like a fool to act like a fool.  The KJV puts it as being void of understanding.  (Proverbs 7:7; 8:24-30)

Proverbs 3:13-14 says it best.  Wisdom allows us to see life the way God does. When we seek God's perspective, we can make decisions based upon their eternal significance rather than selfish interest. When we choose to make decision based on wisdom alone, we are exercising  common sense. 

The desire for instant gratification is the enemy of common sense. We all make bad decisions sometimes.  We go on our feelings instead of wisdom.  We made decisions when upset instead of allowing our feelings to calm down.  

Common sense is often developed by learning from the consequences of such poor choice, the school of hard knocks teach the best.  Some never learn from their mistakes which makes them continue to make foolish decisions.  Wisdom helps us learn from our mistakes so we won't make them again.  

Wisdom and common sense should be continually pursued in order to experience the best God has for us (Proverbs 2:1–8

 A little common sense test...how would you answer the question below??

 This little silver pendant ring with "courage" etched on it has been used almost daily as a reminder of my ever needy soul for courage.  It's caused me to look on purpose for Women who need a touch of courage as they walk through this worlds with all its trials.  

  Recently in California a lady clerk in a grocery store ask me what my pendant said.  My heart raced for I have been waiting for someone to ask me.  After I said, courage, she replied, is that the same as "guts", I smiled and said yeah I think it could be called that. She then went on to say, well with the way the world is going we are going to needs some guts...I couldn't agree more even though I don't think she and I were thinking the same thing.  Her next customer was pushing her groceries up to the line so I knew I might be able to get one more word in for Him.  I took a deep breathe and said Mam I am a Christian and all that is going on does not concern me much for I know the Lord and He will give courage for whatever is to come. I could tell she would have talked more but work called her so I gave a huge thank you and left this dear soul in God's hand, I had planted, someone else will water.

  For several years I have been collecting courageous wise hearted friends.  Friends I know well, some I only met once, a few I have never met.   It all started when I bought my first courage ring and then went back to buy enough for all the women in my Sunday school class.  Being an older women class I knew they would appreciate the burden God laid on my heart to give out courage.  Over half these ladies were widows so they understood the courage it takes to get back into life after losing a loved one. A couple women live with unsaved husbands, some have to live with  their children after being on their own for so long or their children had to live with them. One had a son in prison, another had family member with cancer, several had chronic ailments of their own, physical pain they bore daily, heartache after heart ache walked into that Sunday school class weekly.    But the challenge to them as I put the courage circle chain on their necks was to look around the church and find a younger women, maybe even a teen who needed a courage touch.  Then if God so leads, give them the courage ring and I would to the best of my ability get them another one or give them the web site to order their own.  

The first one to do so gave it to their grand daughter who was struggling with school.  I begin to pass out these courage rings to other friends, in the states and even overseas with the same exhortation.  Next I heard from another mother who daughter needed a touch of courage, one of our missionaries in the bush gave hers to a tribal lady struggling. Another mother whose daughter had a break down parted with hers and put it around that sweet frail daughter neck.  A missionary laid aside by a debilitation illness must leave their love of their life, missions and come home.  several young missionary women who are just starting out their journey overseas.  A homeless women living in her car brought to the Lord by some courageous wise hearted women.  There is now a band of sisters all over the world who wear the "courage circle" as a reminder to take courage and in a fallen sinful world look for some one to encourage.

  The word courage is in both discourage and encourage and we are the only ones who can chose which to do.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.  You cannot be truthful if you are not courageous.
You cannot be loving if you are not courageous.
You cannot be trusting if you are not courageous.
You cannot enter into reality if you are not courageous.
Hence courage comes first... and everything else follows.”
                   
 Often the real test of courage is not to die, but to live. Hope has two beautiful daughters - their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.Courage is resistance to fear; mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
Mark Twain

My little courage pendant  that hangs from a chain near my heart has helped me conquer my fear of flying.  Given me words when I thought none would come, shut my mouth when too many words spilled out.  Courage has helped me follow my spirit filled husband who has taken me all over the world to serve the Lord.  Now I find at my age, 67 a need for courage still for my body is getting frailer as I type.  Nothing stops time.  I have to wonder in the still nights when I cannot sleep, will that courage be there to be old, you know really old, everyone tells me 67 is not old so there must be older.  My mother lives in a nursing home and at age 87 I see courage every time I get to visit her.  I sense her resistant to give into the dreary life that comes with a nursing home living.  I hear her voice as she goes to the singing, helps the staff stuff Easter eggs for the children egg hunt.  I watch her struggle as the two nurses it takes to get her out of her wheel chair to go anything, she takes courage hand every day.  She may be the bravest women I know right now.  Acceptance takes more courage then action.  God give me courage  This is a re-post with a few changes to fit today for you see...I still need courage.  I wrote it in 2007, we were still serving in the country of Papua New Guinea.  My study on "courage" has been on going and I am always finding little gems that open up this action of valor.  Some I found recently come from the minds of children...pure wisdom. 
Courage can be standing up to a bully or retraining the urge to punch out somebody's light.  REAL COURAGE REQUIRES WISDOM. Chelsea, age 6
One more....Without courage, "You wont' have as much fun because you will always be scared of almost everything," says Alex, age 7. 
Have you heard a good quote on "courage".  Drop it in my comment box, it will give me courage.

(Since I posted this, my mother has went to glory. I am 74 instead of 67, lots of water has pasted under this old bridge. It's ok, to repost a repost...there is new insight as I read what was happening in my life in 2007. So much to be thankful for comes to mind as I re-read this. Don't forget to share a, "courage quote" in your comment if you have one. Blessings.  

Fried Chicken

 Wasn't going to post this week, to many things going on. Then I read a post over at, After Thought, who wrote about her past two years of writing in the blogging world.  I thought it would be good to review and see if I had grown any in my writing skills.  I started blogging 2007 as a way to use the creative side of me and to me it was kinda like a journal.  First blog post below: I am totally white headed now)

Ladies, this is especially for you just in case you are wondering what you could do on the mission field or anywhere God has placed you. 

There are some women who are very gifted at languages and translation, praise the Lord if you are one of them. But I am not, I barely can talk the trade language Pidgin. 

Some of you may be computer smart, skilled in bookkeeping, but that's not me. Which is why my husband Ace does not ask me to help in the finance office. 

Teachers are greatly needed to teach missionary children at the boarding school but since I do not have a teaching degree no one is after me to teach.

 

There is also no call on my life to preach , but there is a call to teach women. 

God has called me to be a wise hearted woman just as He did those women in Exodus 35 who were helping to build the Tabernacle. Those women were willing to use the gifts and abilities, such as spinning goat hair to be use for the curtain surrounding the Tabernacle. Again something else I cannot do, spin goat hair but my desire to be a "wise hearted woman" led me to ask the Lord to give me a ministry that would support those reaching people who have never heard the gospel. 

That's how the fried chicken ministry got started.....a good dinner of fried chicken with the works will fill the belly but will also provide a time of fellowship that can be used to encouraged and help our missionaries adjust to living in a third world country. 

Most of missionaries are tucked away in remote bush locations for months at a time and when they come out need somewhere to stay and refresh themselves. A fried chicken dinner is a little touch of home and puts a smile on everyone face and gives me great joy and brings God glory.

 I will never be famous like Colonel Sanders but here in the country of Papua New Guinea,  just ask any New Tribe missionary and others we have hosted about Betty's fried chicken. Just this past week we had a family out for a break with their children and what a treat to see those children chow down on that chicken leg and drink sweet southern tea. Conversation flows freely around a table set with love and has the feel of home to those who have left their homes to minister in far away places. 

Because of this part of my ministry I have rubbed shoulders with women whose lives and experiences have made them wise beyond their years. So let me invite you to come visit us and we will sit down together over a plate of chicken, mashed potatoes and the ever full pitcher of ice tea and talk of the things God is teaching us. Then after our food has digested we can take a walk in a nearby village where what you will see will affect your heart forever. 

You might be wondering what part does my husband play in my ministry beside helping to eat all left over chicken when there is some. Well he is the best dishwasher a wife could ask for. I am really praying he does not break down for I do not know where I would get another like him. 

Let me challenge your heart first to be "wise hearted", willing to look for ways to use what ever skills, talents, abilities God has given you at what ever age. I have many friends who use the gift of encouragement in so many different ways. some send packages to missionaries, emails, cards, support financially and pray a lot. These women are my support team helping me support another team reaching people who have never heard the gospel. Be a 'wise hearted" women today and bring God glory.

 

Have you even been called, "extreme", concerning your faith? Have you had someone to say, "you need to cool it with that religious stuff"!

,If you have, then you realize you do not fit in with the world view and this is sad to say, sometimes not in Christian circles. 

 Last night I sit with a bunch of younger than me women, and listened to their conversations. Not once did they talk about the Lord, not once. What they did do was talk about other people issues, not their issues, but others issues. The bible calls it gossip. It was hard to keep my mouth shut, this radical Jesus believer wanted to call them out for their gossip. At one point I thought maybe, I should say, hey, wait a minutes, why don't we stop and pray for the ones they were talking about. But I didn't...my bad, I felt awful about not saying anything. I am sure a couple would have been offended but maybe I am wrong about that too. Anyway, I can't stop thinking about it. One reason is I am one of the, "older women the bible talks about that is suppose to teach the younger ones.

I am going to order a book titles, Faithfully Different by Natasha Crain. Read a post on it this morning and was convicted again for not saying anything last night. I am wondering if I am still an extreme believer? When did I slip into a worldly world view and worry about offending others by calling forth truth.

The author of the book says, the worldview that surrounds us is putting significant pressure on what we believe, how we think, and how we live. She goes onto say, she wrote the book to help Christians clearly understand the fundamental difference between secular and biblically worldview, both for the strength of our own faith and for our ability to be salt and light to others.

,I have to ask myself, when did I lose my extreme biblical world view? When did I stop shifting everything I heard through the Bible worldview. What stopped me from saying something as I listen to that extreme gossip. We, and I say we, because even though I did not enter into the conversation, I sit listening to it. So, what stopped me from calling it out, in love, and say, hey girls, lets just pray for this couple we are gossiping about. When did it get ok to gossip?

The most foundational difference between those with a biblical worldview and those with a secular one is our source of authority.

Therefore to him or her that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17. My biblical world view was confronted last night and I failed to hold to it. God help me to be salt and light in the darkness that can even surround a group of Christian women just sitting around talking.

Last night was a wake up call for me, one I am happy to be woke from. Grateful for His love despite my failures to be His mouth piece.

You might think I am being a little too hard on myself, I think not. You see, I pray to be one of those extreme Godly women and that conviction that has hit my heart I am thankful for. I believe I am called to be extreme in God's authority and His Word.