MOUNTAINS AND EARTH ARE HIS!!!

HIS WORD IS WONDERFUL!

THAT SUNDAY WAS A HUGE BLESSING

FOR ME TO BE THE SPEAKER OF HIS WORD.

THE PASTOR INTERPRETED AND WAS A NICE MAN.

MY HUSBAND WAS A HUGE BLESSING, TOO.

HE TOLD THEM THAT I WOULD BE THE SPEAKER

AND HE TOOK THE VIDEO PIECES AND THE PHOTOS.

LONG TIME AGO: JANUARY, 1991

 

HE LOVED US, DIED FOR US!!

IT WAS WHAT I SAW ONE TIME IN MY LIFE.

I WAS WITH SOME OF MY BHUTANESE DEAR ONES

THAT I HAD DRIVEN THERE TO BE WITH THEIR

FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

THEN, THE NEXT DAY, WE WENT DOWNTOWN 

ON THE CITY "TRAIN" GOING TO

THE VISITOR AREAS FOR HOURS.

I LOVED TO SEE THAT THIS BUILDING WAS IN PLACE

TO HELP MANY TO STEP TO THE LORD.

TRUSTING HIM, NOT ME!

REALITY STRIKES AGAIN!

I NEED TO FOCUS THIS WORD, MOMENT-BY-MOMENT!

MARY MAGDALENE THINKING OF JESUS

CHAPTER THREE

                                       
Mary lay staring into the murky darkness, listening to the wind rustling the leaves of the olive trees outside the window.  She heard the sound of horse's hooves on the rocky pavement somewhere in the distance.  And, through some filtered moonlight drifting across her room she saw the shadowed forms of her family and heard their quiet breathing as they slept.

For Mary, sleep was a vestige of the distant past.  She hadn't slept well since childhood.  It wasn't because she wasn't tired; she had been tired for most of her life.  Sleep, instead of relief and rest, brought dreams and voices ...ghosts from her past, looming "beings"  from her present to repose in her room and mock her when she entered the anteroom of sleep.  So, she survived on short naps when others were nearby to wake her if she became restless or began to cry out.

She had become a joke to many in her village:  "God must be punishing her...the psalmist said God gives his beloved sleep...if she can't sleep that must mean she is hated...If God makes her suffer so, why should WE treat her any better?..."  Most people, not wanting to face a torrent of sarcastic, venomous words, kept their comments outside her range of hearing. Some, though foolish enough, let her hear them.  They received the full brunt of her wrath.

On this particular night, as she waited for daybreak, she thought of Jesus.  He had a deep capacity for compassion, and heart-filled insight into people.  Occasionally, as his eyes searched the crowds, Jesus looked at her, and she knew he could see right into her soul.  She was certain he knew her reputation as a harlot, most of which was a result of her night- time wanderings, but, some, she freely admitted, had a basis in fact.  She was nearly convinced that illicit love was better than no love at all.  What amazed her most was that his eyes carried no condemnation.  She sensed only that he hurt because she did.  And it was that discovery, more than any other, that put a spark of light into the darkness of her life.

She didn't talk about the change she felt inside.  She knew from experience no one would want to listen, so she hid the small piece of hope in one of the far corners of her heart, determined to keep it alive.  She was too realistic to believe the hope might grow, but was content simply to protect it.

As the golden-gray streaks of morning broke across the sky, and the others in the room began to stir, Mary, still thinking of Jesus, pulled her blanket up under her chin, rolled towards the wall, and went to sleep. 

===================================

As I've said and indicated, this story of Mary Magdalene 

was laid on me about 33 years ago.  It's important to me to share with it during the weeks before the Resurrection time and the details that she had to go through and how others were concerned about what she was doing when a friend of Jesus.  I'll keep 

sharing and sharing again and hope to touch 

hearts and turn hearts deeper and deeper to the Lord. 

 He forgave me for the sinfulness I did 

that wasn't a lot different than hers. 

I truly hope to meet her in heaven, since we're "sisters".

HIS WORD IS LOVED BY ME!!!

DURING THE  PORTION OF MY LIFE WHEN I WAS AT A LUTHERAN CHURCH A FEW BLOCKS FROM WHERE I LIVED.  MY PARENTS, SURPRISINGLY, FORCED ME TO GO TO IT WHEN I WAS 12.  I KNEW SOME OF THE PEOPLE FROM GRADESCHOOL AND JUNIOR HIGH, BUT WAS NOT HAPPY TO BE GOING ANYWHERE ON SUNDAY MORNING, BECAUSE THAT OFTEN WAS THE ONLY TIME I COULD SLEEP LATE IN THE MORNING, BECAUSE, SINCE I WAS 7,

  I WAS UP SO LATE  TAKING CARE OF MY SISTERS. 

HOWEVER, IT TRULY WAS A GOD-GIFT.  THE PASTOR HULKGREN AND HIS SECRETARY TREATED ME VERY SPECIALLY [I EXPECT THEY KNEW ABOUT OUR FAMILY'S SERIOUSNESS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD PEOPLE] AND HELPED ME READ MORE AND MORE OF THE BIBLE, MEMORIZE THE BIBLE, AND GO TO ALL THE NECESSITIES OF THE CONFIRMATION TEACHING.  I HAD TO BE AT THAT CHURCH ON SATURDAY MORNING, SUNDAY MORNING FOR A STUDY AND THE SERVICE AND SUNDAY EVENING FOR A YOUTH PLAYING TIME.  THE TRULY GRATEFULNESS IS THAT THE LORD POURED HIS WORD INTO ME A WAY IT HAD NOT EVER HAPPENED.  WHEN I'M IN HEAVEN, I TRULY WANT TO SEE THAT PASTOR AND SECRETARY.  THEY TREATED ME SO WELL, AND DIDN'T LET ME HIDE OUT AND SNEAK OUT.  HE ARRANGED FOR ME AND MY SISTERS TO BE BAPTIZED A COUPLE WEEKS BEFORE THE CONFIRMATION SERVICE TOOK PLACE.  THE SECRETARY AND HER HUSBAND STEPPED INTO IT AS THE SUPPORTERS FOR MY PARENTS.

[THE BAPTISM AND THE CONFIRMATION WERE THE ONLY TIMES MY PARENTS WERE EVER IN THAT CHURCH.]

AT ANY RATE, WHEN THE LORD TRULY BROKE INTO MY LIFE WHEN I WAS 20 [APRIL 15, 1966] AND MY HORRIFIC SINFULNESS BEGAN TO SLIDE OFF AND MY IMPERSONAL HATEFULNESS THAT WAS CAUSING ME TO HEAD TO SUICIDE, I'VE LIVED IN THE BIBLE FOR MANY YEARS,

 AND IT HAS HELPED ME TURN STRONGLY TO HIM. 

 TRULY, TRULY LOVE HIS WORD.

AND TRULY, TRULY LOVE HIM!!

FACE-TO-FACE!

I WORSHIP, I PRAY, I GLORIFY TO AND ABOUT JESUS.

I SO LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HIM...

AND HOPE TO SEE HIM SMILE AT ME!

THAT WOULD BE A TREAT!

I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!

CONFIDENCE TO MY HEAVENLY FATHER!

MY FEARFULNESS BECAME A BLESSEDNESS!

I'VE RARELY EVER BEEN A HOSPITAL "DOING ANYTHING" PERSON FOR MY WHOLE LIFE.  THEN, NEARLY 5 YEARS AGO, WHEN THE BHUTANESE WERE DROPPED INTO MY LIFE, BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE CARS OR WALKER-INNERS,  I WOULD TAKE THEM TO HOSPITALS FOR WHATEVER THEY NEEDED.  SOMETIMES I WAS THERE FOR MANY HOURS, AND BACK AND FORTH FOR DAYS WHEN THEY WERE KEPT IN FOR SURGERY OR OTHER TYPES OF HEALINGS THAT WERE NECESSARY.  SINCE WE COULDN'T EASILY SPEAK TOGETHER, I COULD JUST HOLD 

THEIR HANDS AND GIVE THEM HUGS.

 THEN NEARLY 4 YEARS AGO I BEGAN TO HELP A FEW OF THE BHUTANESE TO VISIT AND CHECK INTO AT THE IMMANUEL HOSPITAL WHEN THEIR PREGNANCY WAS OFFICIAL.  THE DOCTOR WAS/IS WONDERFUL FOR THEM AND I WAS USUALLY AT THE CHECKING PORTION...  SOMETIMES FOR EVERY MONTH, SOMETIMES FOR EVERY WEEK.  I HUNG OUT AND HELPED AS I COULD.  

SOMETIMES DROVE THEM AND SOMETIMES WENT 

WITH THEM AS THEY PICKED ME UP.  

THEN, WHENEVER A BABY WAS GOING TO ARRIVE, WE WENT TO THE HOSPITAL ANYTIME THAT WAS NECESSARY... MORNINGS, NOONS, OR NIGHTS.  I, CONSEQUENTLY,  NOW HAVE 10 "GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN" THROUGH THEM.  I ALSO EVENTUALLY WAS USED TO HELP DELIVER THE BABIES, ANYTHING THE NURSES USED ME  TO HELP.  I BECAME USED TO IT...WHATEVER IT WAS... AND WASN'T SHOCKED AS MUCH AS BEFORE IN MY LIFE,

 EVEN THOUGH I WAS IN

 MY MID-60S WHEN THIS BEGAN.

HOWEVER, THIS, SHOWN ON THE PHOTO, WAS THE ONLY TIME I HAD TO GO INTO THE SURGERY SITUATION.

I KNEW I NEEDED TO DO IT, BUT I WAS AFRAID OF WHAT I WOULD SEE AND HOW IT WOULD COME TO PASS.

WELL, I MADE IT, AND THE BABY CAME AND THE MOM WAS NOT IN SERIOUS DIFFICULTY.  DURING THE SURGERY, I SIMPLY HELD HER HAND AND TOUCHED HER HAIR, 

EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS MOSTLY NOT AWAKE,

NOT MOVING AT ALL.

I HAD TAKEN PICTURES OF THE BABY AND THE FAMILY THAT NIGHT, BUT I HAD GONE HOME ABOUT 5:30 IN THE MORNING.  I RUSHED BACK TO THE HOSPITAL AND GOT THERE ABOUT NOON,

 AND THE BABY WAS IN THEIR ROOM 

AND I WAS ABLE TO HOLD HIM. 

WHAT A TREAT!

AS I SAID AT THE BEGINNING...

MY FEARFULNESS BECAME A BLESSEDNESS!!

 

LIFTING UP HEARTS AND HANDS... FOREVER!

IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST, BUT ONE OF THE SADDEST,

AS I BECAME FULLY FILLED WITH THE MINISTRY

CALLED FIRST RESPONDERS.

WE PRAY, WE TURN TO THE LORD,

WE LIFT OUR ARMS AND GIVE OUR HEARTS.

IT'S DEFINITELY MY GOD-JOB.

 

FOR/WITH HIM I REJOICE!!

MY MOMENTS, MY DREAMS, MY DAY, MY NIGHT, 

 MY FOREVERNESS

IS FILLED WITH REJOICE OF MY HEAVENLY FATHER!

HE'S ALL I CAN COUNT ON HERE ON EARTH,

AND KNOWING THAT FOR ME AND MANY OTHERS 

HE IS OPENING THE DOOR TO HEAVEN IN 

THE NOT DISTANT FUTURE.

LOOK FORWARD TO SEE MOM AND DAD WHEN I'M IN HEAVEN!!

THIS WORD HIT ME TODAY AND WHEN I WAS TRYING

TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO SHOW...AND WAS 

MOSTLY LOOKING FOR CEMETERY PIECES...

THEN I SAW MOM AND DAD'S PICTURE.

THEY WERE NOT TOGETHER THAN OFFICIALLY

OR FOR MANY YEARS.

HOWEVER, WHEN DAD DIED IN MAY, '84, 

AT THE AGE OF 65,

AND MOM DIED THE END OF JANUARY, '11,

AT THE AGE OF 90,

THEY HAVE NOW OFFICIALLY MET IN HEAVEN,

HAVE EACH BODY MADE BY AND THROUGH

CHRIST AND WITH HIS HEART IN THEIRS,

AND FORGIVENESS TO EACH OTHER.

[NOW, I OFTEN THINK I CAN HARDLY WAIT

TO BE THERE, TO SEE THEM,

TO WORSHIP AND DANCE AND GLORIFY

THANKFULLY TO JESUS AND OUR FATHER GOD!!]

LET ALL THE EARTH BE SILENT BEFORE HIM!!!

DAILY AND FOREVER IS HOW AND WHEN WE

HEAR HIS WORDS...TEMPLE OR HEART,

SOUL OR SPIRIT.

ALL WE CAN COUNT ON BEFORE HEAVEN!

[I CAN HARDLY WAIT!]

MARY MAGDALENE STORY -- CHAPTER TWO

Have had this on our porches for several years.  Not Jesus in the book exactly shown in the book I've written about Mary Magdalene, but truly smiled when I tried to find a photo of Jesus to share.  Either way He as Lion of Judah is our everyday, everywhere World.

====================================

JESUS

The first time Jesus noticed Mary, it was merely an awareness of her presence.  He didn't see her with his eyes, but he knew she was in the crowd.  His spirit was always attuned to the cry of a desperate heart.

As usually happened when Jesus appeared, people pressed into him on all sides.   A woman, holding a young child, cried out "Jesus...Jesus... over here", and immediately the crowd separated to form a path.  He stopped.  Suddenly, eye-to-eye with her, they were alone. 

"What is it, Woman?" he asked with tenderness. 

Tears filled her eyes.  "Master. His legs.  See how bent they are?  He stumbles and falls always. My heart so hurts to watch him.  Oh, Master,  WILL you help him?" 

"Why did you come to me?"  asked Jesus.

"Sir, I have seen you heal others.  I know you care for us. For all of us."  She looked at him and her eyes had an expression of hope and love that moved his heart.

As everyone nearby watched, Jesus reached out his hands and placed them gently on the child.  For a few moments he stood in silence, and then aloud he said, "My Father, bless this mother and her son, and grant her request." To the amazement of all around, as he spoke, the child's legs straightened.

With tears of joy and gratitude streaming down her face, the happy mother danced through the crowd, her son in her arms.

Standing on the outer edge of the throng, Mary had listened as Jesus talked with the mother.  Mary couldn't see what was happening, but she heard the tenderness, the acceptance, the love in his voice...the eagerness to end the sadness of the family...his joy at THEIR joy...and she was stirred.

From that time onward, Mary followed Jesus, cautiously, from the distance.  She did not trust men...any man.  She agreed with the ancient observation that "the thoughts of a man's heart are only evil continually,"  and she was determined to not be deceived by another one.

But in Jesus, she had seen caring, unselfish service, love... and although she was not ready to step out from behind her wall, she was willing to wait.  To watch ... and to wait.

==============================

Since Ash Wednesday is occurring this week,  my written story will be entering and entering hearts from now until

 a day or a week after Resurrection Sunday.   

Can't not share about her, because in many ways she was me.

I look forward to seeing her in heaven!

THE GLORY OF THE LORD!

EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS SHOWN BEFORE, 

THE LORD LAID IT ON ME AGAIN.

TO SEE ANOTHER PIECE OF THIS OR ANOTHER OCEAN

WOULD BE POSSIBLE.

INSTEAD, THIS JUMPED AT ME AGAIN.

THE WORD IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!

TODAY AND FOREVER. 

JUSTICE!! ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT!!!

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS PHOTO 

AND THESE WORDS HAVE BEEN USED.

HOWEVER, TODAY THE LORD LAID IT ON ME AGAIN!

I COULDN'T FIND A BETTER PHOTO,

SO GRABBED THIS AGAIN.

TRUSTING HIM IS ALL THAT COUNTS FOREVER!!! 

 

AMEN!

AS I INDICATED, IT IS ON MY HEART

CONSISTENTLY!

HOWEVER, IN THE FAR PAST YEARS, IT WAS ON MY HEART

OCCASIONALLY,

BUT, AS I SHARED, NOW TRULY IT IS ON

 MY HEART, SOUL, AND SPIRIT

 CONSTANTLY AND CONSISTENTLY!

I'M A "ROOTER"...DAY BY DAY THROUGH HIM!

A BLESSING HE DOES FOR OUR SINS!

I'M A VERY GRATEFUL COOKIE, 

A SINFUL PERSON IN THE PAST.

WITH WHAT OUR LORD HAS DONE FOR US,

I TRULY REJOICE AND APPRECIATE EVERY DAY!

THE MORNING STAR

HALLELUJAH!!!

LIGHT!!

WHAT I COUNT ON MOMENT-BY-MOMENT!!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!

MARY MAGDALENE -- CHAPTER 1

                                             
                                             DESOLATE
                      
Desolate.     The word caught the edge of the wind and plummeted into her heart echoing, reverberating, until it encompassed and inundated every part of her soul.

Desolate.    She stared into the darkness, searching the recesses of her mind.  Then she remembered.  The prophet Isaiah had used that word to describe Babylon.

"It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation:... And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in the pleasant palaces...".

She shrugged.  "All those times I listened, to search, to wander through the dark narrow bends in memory."  She had hoped -- hoped desperately -- to discover a reason, one tiny reason, to live.

As she delved further, searched deeper, any glimmer of hope she had was extinguished.  Wilderness surrounded her.  A stark, empty, forlorn barrenness.

As the light of dawn broke and dispelled the darkness, she stood up from the rock where she sat, the decision made.  A gust of wind caught her red-brown hair and, as it swirled about her, she gloried in the freedom of her new course.  Since she had nothing to live for -- no one to live for -- she would stop living.  She did not know when or how, but she knew the day would come -- and come soon -- when she would end her life.  Momentarily, she recalled the Law, and knew that to kill herself was to murder and would separate her from the God of her Fathers; but Law, in her heart, had no hope -- and without hope there was no life.

The sun's rays caught the crest of a wave that danced toward her.  She moved back from the water instinctively, realizing even in this freedom of death, the reality of life -- wet robes would be uncomfortable, cold, and heavy as she walked home.

"Mary"

A man came toward her.  She saw the boldness in his eyes and the cocky smirk that played the corners of his mouth.  He was a large man, broad shouldered and big muscled with dark curly hair and beard.  Normally, she would have played with him ... teased him.  But not this morning.  The seductive gestures, coy looks, and bawdy words that came so naturally to her were gone.  Free from life, free from a future, she also was free from the demands of her past.

Without a word, with hardly a glance toward him, Mary slowly turned, pulled her cloak tightly about her, and walked away.

=======================================

In 1978 to 1982, I was Bible-teaching men every Tuesday noontime at an Omaha downtown skidrow missions location.  One day in the Fall of 1980 when I arrived, one of the older cowboy fellows, Frankie, looked frustrated.  He told me that across the street a woman had jumped from a window about 7 stories up and had landed on a roof a story above the street and died of suicide.  Basically, he said, "Why would anyone do that?  And why would a woman ever make that choice?"  His life hadn't been perfect, believe me, and he'd been through a lot with his alcohol and farm and ranch battles with men.  I was so surprised that he didn't know "reality".  I'd thought of suicide often from the age of 12 ... because I was so tired of fighting for making it through a day.  I'd changed my mind about suicide after I had come to the Lord when nearly 21, but occasionally still struggled with that until I was 29.  I tried to get Frankie to understand that the suicide was a challenge to avoid sometimes and that the Lord could bring victory to us through growing in Him, through more and more of His people entering our hearts.

Later, as I was driving home, I wanted to somehow write a story that would help Frankie understand.  Before I pulled into my driveway, I had already thought of Mary Magdalene.  Within a couple of weeks, I wrote 9 scenes.  Four years later, for Lenten services in 1985, I wrote the Mary Magdalene monologue, which I have performed many times over the years.  I have been "her" in many ways ... my early behavior, struggles, frustration, grief for life, desire for death and NOW the joy of having a loving Father, and kind Savior and Brother, and, through those caring Ones —  the Trinity —  filled with deliverance and healing.                              Joyfulness can be a good thing!

NOPE! CAN'T HIDE FROM HIM!!

HE IS...I'M HAPPY!!

   MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO READ AND SEE THIS!

I WILL PRAISE...FOREVER!

THE PICTURE HAS BEEN SHOWN SO MANY TIMES

ON FACEBOOK OR MY BLOG.

A FRIEND AND I WERE ON THE BOAT 

TO VASHON ISLAND OUTSIDE OF TACOMA, WA.

HOWEVER, I PRAISED HIM BEFORE AND THEN DAILY

AND I PRAISE NOW, DAILY,

MOMENT-BY-MOMENT.

THIS VERSE HIT MY HEART,

AND I FOUND "ME" AGAIN.

[WANTED TO USE PHOTOS OF OTHERS, TOO, INSTEAD OF ME,

 BUT THIS ONE OF ME TRULY GRABBED ME AGAIN!]