WALK WISELY!!!

STOP ANGER!

AND THE SUN WAS DOWN.

NOT AN OK THING, EVER.

HOWEVER, AS I OFTEN SAY,

THE HUGE BLESSING IN OUR LIVES,

ANGRY OR NOT, 

IS

   "GOD   IS   BIGGER!!"

THE LORD'S MIGHTY POWER

YES, HIS POWER IS WHAT COUNTS. 

 NOT MINE!
 

FULL OF LIGHT

AND MY BEHAVIOR SHOULD TRULY SHOW 

MY LIGHT, MY LIFE, MY LORD.

AND, BTW, I PERSONALIZED THE VERSE.

 IT WAS A "ME" NOT A "YOU".

[DAVE TOOK MY PHOTO IN 1990

 DURING OUR PLAYTIME AT LAKE SUPERIOR, 

NEAR OUR 5TH ANNIVERSARY.

AND JUST SO YOU MIGHT SMILE, 

THIS IS WHAT I TOOK OF HIM THEN,

STANDING IN "GOLD",

LOVING ME.]

HEAVEN AND EARTH

HIS WORD, HIS INSTRUCTIONS, HIS ENCOURAGEMENT

TO BE MEMBERS OF HIS GREAT FAMILY.

F O R E V E R.

DARKNESS AND LIGHT

THIS WORD FROM THE LORD HAS VERY MUCH BEEN CONNECTED TO MY HEART, DESCRIBING MY WHOLE LIFE.

AS I'VE SAID A NUMBER OF TIMES, I WAS 

A "TOUGH COOKIE" WHILE GROWING UP, 

AND, INSIDE OR OUTSIDE, 

I WAS A "FIGHTER".

NOW, I OFTEN STILL AM A "FIGHTER", BUT IT'S ONLY TO SERVE THE LORD, GO ANYWHERE HE DESIRES FOR ME TO GO, 

DO ANYTHING HE TELLS ME TO DO.

HE'S LIGHT, AND I TRY TO BEHAVE.  REALLY TRY.

[SOMETIMES AIN'T PERFECT, BUT I DO TRY.]

HIS LOVE...

THAT IS WHAT I/WE MUST COUNT ON!

FOREVER AND EVER.

GO ALONG... LEARN... EPH. 5:10

One of the most delightful trips in Uganda that were ever taken in all those stretches of time we were there. 

 And filled with dear friends.  

What a treat!

The only really bad part:  Dave and I had our first malaria hit us a few days after our return, which means that on that wonderful trip the mosquitoes really got us.  We were always very careful.  But, oh, well.  However, we eventually made it.  Took several weeks get back to health, but, you wanta know what I think?

It was worth it!  Sipi Falls and Friends were WORTH IT!

EPHESIANS 5:9 -- DO RIGHT, DO TRUE

ANOTHER "ALL THAT COUNTS" WORD FROM GOD!

EPHESIANS 5:8 -- WE ARE...

DARKNESS TO LIGHT...

THROUGH HIM.

CAN'T FORGET OR NOT BE FAITHFUL IN OUR WALK

WITH HIM AND FOR OTHERS.

EPHESIANS 4:26 -- SUNSET, ANGER, SATAN

This was laid on my heart this morning in the Word.

Still on my heart.

The photo at Darlene's, my blog-friend's house, up in the hills north of Spokane, shortly after I arrived there last October. 

 Darkness and light.

And HE is the only Light that can cleanse us of anger -- thoroughly!

WALK STEADY

Ephesians 4:1 [KJV] states in part, "that ye walk worthy of the vocation...".   In my old Bible, penned in the margin, is the lofty thought, "a walk is steady."

My son, Steve, when he was ten years old, was a "string bean" with hands and feet too large for his lean frame. 
 

It seemed he was always in trouble for bumping, tripping, falling, or dropping.  Praise God for wise teachers ... one encouraged me by saying, "Steve doesn't have any trouble he won't outgrow.  He'll get all his parts going the same direction.  It just takes time."

When I passed the age of ten in my Christian walk 36 years ago, I also wondered when all my parts would go the same direction ... when I wouldn't have to flinch when I read the words "a walk is steady."

Yes, I loved my Lord then, and I dearly love Him now.  My heart yearns for more closeness with Him.  My heart is in the right place.

But --  this wife, mother, grandmother, missionary [local and beyond], knee-jerk-taking-care-of-people-person...

    ...sometimes finds her feet tangled, trying to be all things to all people;

    ...sometimes cries in tiredness and frustration;

    ...sometimes whispers a sleepy "I love you" to Jesus as another hectic or complicated day ends.

I know that the malady of our cultural age -- too much activity crammed into too little time -- has no easy answers.  Most of my activities are not options and, even those that are, do appear to be God-directed.

So -- I gallop jerkily along, occasionally coming to a screeching halt, tripping over gravel in the road, definitely not walking, and definitely not steady.

But God loves me anyhow.  He loves me when I over-book my schedule ... and when I use my few times of leisure inappropriately (Who, ME??? staring off into space??) ... when I am undisciplined in my study and writing needs and have to "cram" ... when I open the Word, the posts, the FB life ... to read it, only to fall asleep half way through the intended scriptures.

Why am I sharing this "negative confession?"  Because I am not alone.  In the work-world, our living day-by-day world, the [not me!!] texting-instantly world, the FB world, I hear and see that others struggle with the same awkward gait ... who long to be that fine-tuned specimen of Christian maturity and "walk steady."

And I'm sharing this because of the common ground we share,  the ground of God's love -- our joy, hope and crown.  He knows our hearts, and, in spite of our busyness, He knows we love Him.

That gives me HOPE... forever and ever.  AMEN!!