Word Filled Wednesday - Arise

Arise, shine; For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1 NKJV

The days are starting later now, but His glory always appears for those who wait! I was able to catch the sun rising behind our big spruce in the front yard.

PennyRaine is hosting us today.

A Higher View

Yesterday Rick and I took a break from shopping and errands and drove up to the National Park to take some autumn pictures. It was cool and cloudy but the park is lovely no matter what the weather and God's glory was on display.

As we were driving back home I had Rick stop and take this picture from the mountain. When we walk or drive down the streets of our town, we're only able to see a small area around us. Things look so different from this higher perspective. The entire region is displayed, appearing small and yet vast all at once.

What would it be like to have God's view of things? He can focus in with laser accuracy on the finest detail yet never lose sight of the big picture. He can keep the entire world in balance while still knowing each and every hair on my head.

I often pray that I would be able to see through His eyes, but somehow I think the enormity of that kind of vision would be far too much for us to handle.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham

Women are hungry to live lives that are satisfying, meaningful and purpose driven. We have more choices than any other time in history, yet statistics show a decline in happiness. Many women have bought into the myth that they could and should “have it all” and that belief led them down a path of disillusionment.

Using carefully structured questions called The Strong Life Test, (available online) Marcus Buckingham suggests primary and secondary roles that you can fill. By working in these areas you will find your strongest life.

As one who trusts God’s Word which says “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Amplified, I was disappointed that so much of Buckingham’s advice leads us to rely on our emotions. I would like to have seen mention made of allowing the Lord into all of our decision making processes. That is where we can truly find our strongest lives.

For more information check the Thomas Nelson product page here: Find Your Strongest Life (Jacketed Hardcover): What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham Book Preview Thomas Nelson Publisher of Christian Products

Facing bad news & foggy days

I spent last week back in the States helping my mother walk through her first chemotherapy treatment and the exhaustion, anxiety and depression that followed. My mother is eighty-one years old and has enjoyed a full life. Yet I can only imagine how difficult it must be for her to face a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer with no belief in heaven. As often as possible I gently spoke of the assurance I have and the ways in which that hope makes each of my days sweeter and more complete. I was scattering seeds.

Yesterday I received news of a dear friend in his early forties who has a tumor on one of his kidneys. He was requesting prayer - that the cancer would be contained, that he would be healed and live, that he and his wife would find the peace and comfort of God, and mostly that God would be glorified through all of it. Again, I can only imagine the thoughts that are racing through their minds, but I know that our God will sustain them.

How do you face bad news when it comes, for surely it comes into every life in one form or another? If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, there is no better time than now to get to know Him. He has the answer to every question. He can shine a light through the thickest fog and He can direct your steps to a place of safety and peace.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV

Shift and settle

This is much to be done in this season of harvest, this season of change. Leaves that seem to have fallen all at once, crackle and snap underfoot. I process tomatoes into chili sauce, salsa, and soup. I think about baking bread.

Light arrives ever later each morning, casting His glory upon our land. I feel the house wrap around me like an embrace. My shelter. My peace. My safety net. I am home, here where God has placed me. Everything in me shifts and settles.

You've always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, A lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest. Psalm 61:3-4 The Message

Chilly days - Chili Sauce

While I was away Rick spent his early evenings in the garden, picking tomatoes and peppers before frost could harm them. There are boxes of green tomatoes in the basement that get checked for ripening progress daily.

Yesterday there were enough ripe tomatoes for me to cook up a batch of chili sauce, using the last of our garden onions and celery. What a great feeling to know that all of the veggies for this recipe were grown chemical free on our own land.

This is a fantastic sauce to have on hand for cooking chicken, pork, sloppy joes and more. I know you'll enjoy it.

FireFly's Chili Sauce

3 quarts peeled & coarsely chopped tomatoes (ice cream pail)
3 cups chopped celery
3 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped peppers (3/4 sweet & 1/4 hot)
¼ cup pickling salt
2 cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp pepper
1 1-1/2 tsp pickling spice wrapped in cheesecloth
1 cup vinegar
½ - 1 tsp cayenne

Combine veggies – sprinkle with salt – cover – let stand over night
Drain but don’t press
Place in large pot – add remaining ingredients
Bring to boil & cook slowly for 1-1/2 hours – stir frequently
Ladle into jars and process in hot water bath for 15 minutes
Makes about 5-1/2 pints

Why am I crying?

Image by fsse8info via Flickr

While I was flying home on Monday I was thinking about how every chance I had to be alone, tears would fall. I would cry in the shower, in the car, walking down hallways and in elevators.

I was journaling and thanking God for the journey and He gave me the following word:

Yes, I am doing something with your heart, little one, and it is bursting, outgrowing its shell and so you need to weep. Weep and wail. Weep and moan. Weep and laugh. For I am filling you with more than you can hold. The tears leak out to release the pressure. I know what I am doing, little one, trust that even when you can trust nothing else. There will yet be greater joy.