Sweet Picture!

My cousin's wife, Jaymie, posted this picture from Thanksgiving on a blog. It is of my dad and my other cousin's daughter, Saylor. I am pretty sure Saylor is the sweetest little girl I have ever known. She has such a sweet nature and is just so smart.....and of course she is gorgeous!

What I love most is the way dad is holding her hand. I know that grasp, it is gentle and warm. I've sat in his lap and held his hand to enough to know how safe a place that is. I have to admit I haven't outgrown sitting in his lap or holding his hand.

This is my favorite picture of Jesus. When I get overwhelmed....when I can't sleep because the thoughts are running rampant......when my heart hurts.....I imagine Jesus is where dad is, and I am where Saylor is. Just rocking, no words, only the warmth and safety of my Savior holding me close.

A Day of Significance

We watched the inauguration at school today, and I was most impressed by Rick Warren's invocation. I am posting it below. I prayed today that God would bless Mr. Warren for declaring Him as the one true God, and for not giving in to the pressures of being politically correct.


Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story.

The Scripture tells us Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today we rejoice not only in America's peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.

And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in Heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.
Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (hay-SOOS), who taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

I believe God was glorified and honored through this humble prayer. I will remember the significance of this day, not because of who is in office, but who is in control. Lord, may we always remember that!

The Whys Will Make You Crazy!

Sometimes I think in many ways I am my own worst enemy. I have a tendency to think and dwell on things too much. I wish sometimes my mind had an off switch.

I guess by nature I am somewhat anxious. I come by it honestly. I envy people who can just let things roll off their shoulders and trust that everything will work out.

One of the things that has been plaguing my mind is the idea of injustice. What I mean in particular is watching people live the way they want to live without regard for God, and yet they seem to have the things in life they want.

I was reading in Jeremiah 12 last night where he questions God's justice. "Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?" My heart and mind cannot reckon this. I completely identify with Jeremiah. It saddens me to watch people prosper who do not live the way God wants us to. I don't mean to sound like I am looking down on people who are not as good as me, because I have my own hangups in my walk with God.

I guess what struck me in looking at Jeremiah is God's response to the whys. He doesn't offer an answer specifically to those questions. Maybe he didn't think he needed to answer whys. I've learned that he rarely, if ever, does. That is his perogative, after all he is God.

I have lots of why questions, and I can make myself CRAZY thinking about them but never find an answer. What I am reminded of are the promises God makes to me about living faithfully.

"Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous." Prov 13:21

"A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble." Prov. 17:20

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." Prov 28:13

"A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper." Prov. 29:25

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Heb 10:23

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Heb 10:36

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Heb 11:9

God is faithful to his promises, so I have to trust that he has and will bring about those things in my own life. I guess my problem is the waiting!

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13-14