Allowing God to be Himself

I'm not the type who asks a lot of why questions.  Not about life, not about God. At some point it must have seemed easier to not go there.  Since my mom died when I was 9 and a lot of bad things happened from then on, it makes sense that I would be more intent on surviving than figuring out the whys of it all.  I was looking back in journals I had written in as far back as 10 years.  I never went down the why road in those recorded thoughts either.  Right now I see this as a blessing.  I feel comfortable with God being mysterious.  Actually, I LOVE that He is.  

Boundaries

I was observing the fish on the sidebar of my family/marriage blog :   chuckanddeli.blogspot

I know these are only pretend fish in cyberspace, but they keep going to the edge of their little imaginary box -- their boundary.  It made me think about me.  Recently I prayed with someone who is experiencing confusion about boundaries now that she's read the popular book widely known in Christian circles.  She is more confused than ever, it seems.  I'll soon be 60 and I haven't even figured out what a boundary is much less live by them.  So here is my question -- if a person isn't aware of a boundary, does one even exist?  Hmmm

A thought provoking scripture

God's written word is not only living, it is on fire and its heat catches us offguard at times. This was the case for me about 3 days ago as I picked up a book that was talking about prophecy. It cited the example of Samuel with this one verse. Listen -- "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." I Sam. 3:19 So, we know Samuel's mom Hannah vowed to let God have her son if only God would favor her with one as she endured the heartache of childlessness. She turned Samuel over to the priest Eli when he was a whopping 3 yrs old. Samuel benefited from Eli's parenting even though Eli's biological sons were bad news. Samuel was called by God to be His messenger, a prophet whose track record is referred to in this one verse. God granted such a good ear to Samuel that "none of his words fell to the ground". They were all reliable and true messages. I've been pondering this verse for 3 days now. I am in awe of how rich such a few words are. I'm thinking about how important the obedience of an individual is to God's plan. I'm thinking about God's truth never falling to the ground even in the "hands" of us mere mortals. Good stuff . . .

Vacation

We finally made it to a winery on our last day in Missouri.  It was very warm, but a breeze helped as we sat on the deck at Montelle Winery out of Augusta, MO.  As we ate lunch there, we observed a lot of tipsy young women.  It was 1 p.m. on a Sat.  Some of them were in pretty bad shape.  I've been there so I know all about the process including the hangover and embarrassment afterwards.  I haven't been around drunk people for a long time.  I didn't expect to see so many at a winery mid-day.  They just wanted some fun.  I get that.  But I couldn't help but think of what God says -- be drunk with His Holy Spirit, not wine.  There's no shame or hangover or ugly consequences, just joy and all those other fruits. 

A special day more than a Kodak moment

There is truly nothing lovelier than people held together with God's love.  This photo is from the last day of God's Girls.  I could go on and on about how much I have grown to love these sisters of mine.  Many of my God's Girls sisters are not in the photo.  Wish I could cut and paste them into the rest of us.  I will always carry them in my heart - right into eternity.  Their faith and desire for more of Jesus has grown me in ways nothing else could have.  God is so good.