"I'll leave the light on for you!"

"I'll keep the light on!"

I heard new meaning to that familiar saying yesterday as I listened and contemplated a speaker on my local Christian radio. It was a Mothers Day sermon played out of season... but just in season for me. I have always wanted to be a Proverbs 31 woman... who wouldn't want that, but to tell you the truth... I saw her as an idealized compilation and completely unattainable in all her amazing attributes and accomplishments... until.....

Proverbs 31:10

"10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. 15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. 16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. 18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. 21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. "

The speaker started to tell me about this lady... (something most who read this will probably have already known, but to me... I started to SEE her for the first time as real flesh and blood).

She was most likely not a young woman. She was a mother, a wife and a homemaker. She was intelligent and her priorities were her family and the ones whom the LORD had placed in her path or in her home. She cared about the health and well being of her people and although she may have taken note of her grooming and appearance, her beauty was understood as from the truth of who she was, not how she appeared.

These things I understood, and could see, but I never could imagine a woman who never slept (okay I know those who know me are laughing right now, but you know what I mean... working all hours of the night and day to get all the THINGS done that were required of a "good" wife/mother... that's what eluded me) until....... it was explained yesterday about the culture... a term which, even today, we use perhaps without knowledge of it's roots.

"and her lamp does not go out at night"

Wealthy people (and that is not just lots of money!!) of the middle eastern culture often took very personally their responsibility to that gift. (hemmmm interesting huh, no social security)

When there was extra in the household, visitors, wayfarers, or ones in need, would know that

if there was a light on in a window, this home welcomes the ability to be of service

to those in need.

It said... "don't worry, I'm here, I'll help... even if it is in the night!"

Does that strike you as it did me? RIGHT in the HEART of who we are to be in a dark world.

We, sons (daughters) of the Living GOD are RICH beyond the treasures of the world.

I know that the physical often precurses the spiritual, and I am thinking...

"I know my heart for my children, my husband, those whom my Jesus has allowed into my life... I know that I will always 'leave a light on' no matter the hour or day..."

I can and will do that.

AND NOW...

Isaiah 2

" 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord. "

Matthew 5:13-16
13 "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14 You are the light of the world – like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. 15 Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

I must say that most of these words are scripture, but as such, mine make sense to me and offer clear direction to the course ahead. I'm thinking..... I can be some of those things in that amazing woman of Proverbs 31... she is not as unattainable as I'd previously assumed, AND... she absolutely complies with the scriptures that follow after. May I be a candle in the dark... may I be one who shines (my sweet little one's verse from Daniel), may I be one who leads others simply by being a son of God and being about my Father's business...

Light in the darkness!

"I'll leave the light on for YOU!"

God give me eyes to see and ears to hear... and let me be as You call me to be!

Word, dream, VBS

"Don't give them more than they can handle..... even if it appears TO YOU, that they need it!"

"You have been PLACED with the GRACE"

These were the two words I woke with this morning... one came with a dream, the other in a prayer for forgiveness..

*

*note: earlier this month I had another dream about "maturity" and being "ready"

there was also "water" involved... I am asking if there is a correlation for me?*

dream: group was in Europe on VERY hilly, windy roads

-I, and others of my group were on motorcycles and all the people on the road were

running from something bad.

-a slender girl with a baby bundled tightly came to me and asked for my cycle...

she didn't say much at all, merely pleaded from her eyes.

-I gave her the cycle and as I was about to tell her about the road ahead, she just zoomed off.

-I KNEW what was ahead, she was going way too fast AND she had a baby with her

-I heard the splash

-I RAN up the hill, around the curve and down the steep incline

-They had already gone under the water irretrievable to me.........

-if ONLY I'd been able to tell her, or better

... if I hadn't given her the cycle which she clearly could NOT handle!

she would have been safer walking or even running,

NOT on a powerful machine going way too fast for her abilities!

-I was responsible, at least in part, I KNEW!!!

then the word as I journaled this disturbing dream early this morning

(God didn't let Scarlett sleep in... she needed out in spite of my wanting to go back to sleep!!)

so I got up and wrote!

the word to me was a caution in these times....

"do not give out of time,

or more than can be handled

.... even if you assess the circumstances as needing what you have!!!

be on guard..

... walk in the cadence of MY steps,

not out of line or out of time!"

these are important words for me......I'm such a mom... such a "fix it" person... Lord I hear...

help me heed!

Then.... as I prayed about the circumstances of my very very busy daughters.... fun, crazy, busy summer things and then all the stuff that life just adds in.... this week, doggie school, Threshold, and then VBS till 8:30 (so much the overloaded schedule!!! that my eyes see and my heart feels).... I was fussing at my sweet LORD... (yes, I know, maybe no one fusses at the LORD, but me... but He listens, and then HE sometimes.... sometimes.... addresses my heart's cry)......this is one of those times......... and HE Said...

"I know the gift of MY daughters...

I KNOW what they can do because

I've given them the gifts....

I know what fills their days and their hearts,

AND

... I know what is coming next!!!! do you????"

"No Lord, only YOU are God... tell me how to be???"

"I give Grace for the Place.....they are in this place for more than they or you have imagined... it is not just for the small ones to whom they've been assigned... it is for the others who will be where they are too....

what they teach they've LEARNED;

it may come in 4 year old words, but will hit the mark at a

far more imperative target....

I WILL GIVE THE GRACE for this PLACE!!! be assured."

*I do feel like this word is for more than just this week*

"Oh my LORD, forgive my small vision!!! forgive my impulsive protective heart! let me see from Your places....even when it is those closest to my heart! You KNOW and I don't.... Lord let me see more...I will try to hold what You give with the most careful heart that YOU allow. I LOVE YOUR GENTLE CORRECTION to this mother's heart..... YOU KNOW ME!!! YOU SEE ME!!!! YOU LOVE ME!!!! and Jesus, I LOVE YOU!"

Tony Snow: "You have been CALLED"~"God likes to go off-road"~

TONY SNOW'S TESTIMONY

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/tonysnow.asp

This is an outstanding testimony from Tony Snow, President Bush's Press Secretary, and his fight with cancer.Commentator and broadaster Tony Snow

announced that he had colon cancer in 2005.

Following surgery and chemo-thrapy,Snow joined the Bush Administration in April, 2006,

as press secretary.

Unfortunately, on March 23, 2007,Snow, 51, a husband and father of three, announced that the cancer had recurred, with tumors found in his abdomen, leading to surgery in April, followed by more chemotherapy.

Snow went back to work in the White House Briefing Room on May 3,

but has resigned since, 'for economic reasons,'and to pursue 'other interests

.'It needs little intro . . . it speaks for itself.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Blessings arrive in unexpected packages,- in my case, cancer.Those of us with potentially fatal diseases- and there are millions in America today - find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God's will.

Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence

'What It All Means,'

Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.

The first is that we shouldn't spend too much time trying to answer the 'why' questions:

Why me?

Why must people suffer?

Why can't someone else get sick?

We can't answer such things,and the questions themselve

soften are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.

I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care.

It is what it is, a plain and indisputable fact.

Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths began to take shape.

Our maladies define a central feature of ourexistence:

We are fallen.

We are imperfect.

Our bodies give out.

But, despite this, - or because of it,

- God offers the possibility of salvation and grace.

We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end,

but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment

we meet our Creator face-to-face.

Second, we need to get past the anxiety.

The mere thought of dyingcan send adrenaline flooding through your system

A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes you.

Your heart thumps; your head swims.

You think of nothingness and swoon.

You fear partings;

you worry about the impact on family and friends.

You fidget and get nowhere.

To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life

- and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth.

We accept this on faith,

but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many

non-believing hearts- an institution that the gift of life,

once given, cannot be taken away.

Those who have been stricken

enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, mind, and faith

to live fully, richly, exuberantly-

no matter how their days may be numbered.

Third, we can open our eyes and hearts.

God relishes surprise.

We want lives of simple, predictable ease,

- smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see,

- but God likes to go off-road.

He provokes us with twists and turns.

He places us in predicaments

that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension-

and yet don't.

By His love and grace, we persevere.

The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably

strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy

we would not experience otherwise.

'You Have Been Called'.

Picture yourself in a hospital bed.

The fog of anesthesia has begun to wear away.

A doctor stands at your feet,a loved one holds your hand at the side.

'It's cancer,' the healer announces.

The natural reaction is to turn to God

and ask him to serve as a cosmic Santa.

'Dear God, make it all go away.

Make everything simpler.

'But another voice whispers:

'You have been called.'

Your quandary has drawn you closer to God,

closer to those you love,

closer to the issues that matter,

- and has dragged into insignificancethe banal concernsthat occupy our 'normal time.

'There's another kind of response,

although usually short-lived,

an inexplicable shudder of excitement

as if a clarifying moment of calamity

has swept away everything trivial and tiny,

and placed before us the challenge of important questions.

The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change.

You discover that Christianity

is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft.

Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution.

The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals,

triumphs, and epiphanies.

Think of Paul, traipsing through the known world and comtemplating trips to what must have seemed the antipodes (Spain), shaking the dust from his sandals, worrying not about the morrow, but only about the moment.

There's nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue,- for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give,

the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do.

Finally, we can let love change everything.

When Jesus was faced with the prospect of cruicifixion, he grieved not for himself, but for us.

He cried for Jerusalem before entering the Holy City.From the Cross,

he took on the cumulative burden of human sin and weakness,

and begged for forgiveness on our behalf.

We get repeated chances

to learn that life is not about us,that we acquired purpose and satisfaction by

sharing in God's love for others.

Sickness gets us part way there.

It reminds us of our limitations and dependence.

But it also gives us a chance to serve the healthy.

A minister friend of mine observes

that people suffering grave afflictions

often acquire the faith of two people,

while loved ones accept the burdenof two peoples' worries and fears.

'Learning How to Live'.

Most of us have watched friends as they drifted toward God's arms,

not with resignation, but with peace and hope.

In so doing, they have taught us not how to die, but how to live.

They have emulated Christby transmitting the power and authority of live.

I sat by my best friend's bedside a few years ago as a wasting cancer took him away.

He kept at his table a worn Bibleand a 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer.

A shattering grief disabled his family,many of his old friends,

and at least one priest.

Here was an humble and very good guy,someone who apologized when he winced with pain because he thought it made his guest uncomfortable.

He restrained his equanimity and good humor literally until his last conscious moment.

'I'm going to try to beat [this cancer],

'he told me several months before he died.

'But if I don't, I'll see you on the other side.'

His gift was to remind everyone around him that even though God doesn't promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity- filled with life and love we cannot comprehend,

- and that one can, in the throes of sickness, point the rest of us toward timeless truths that will help us weather future storms.

Through such trials, God bids us to choose:

Do we believe, or do we not?

Will we be bold enough to love,daring enough to serve,

humble enough to submit,and strong enough

to acknowledge our limitations?

Can we surrender our concernin things that don't matter

so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?

When our faith flags, He throws reminders in our way.

Think of the prayer warriors in our midst.

They change things,and those of uswho have been on the receiving end

of their petitions and intercessions

know it.

It is hard to describe,but there are times

when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,

and you feel a surge of the Spirit.

Somehow you just know:

Others have chosen,

when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up,

- to speak of us!

This is love of a very special order.

But so is the ability to sit backand appreciate the wonder of every created thing.

The mere thought of death somehow makes every blessing vivid,

every happiness more luminious and intense.

We may not know how our contest with sickness will end,

but we have felt the ineluctable touch of God.

What is man that Thou are mindful of him?

We don't know much, but we know this:

No matter where we are,no matter what we do,

no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects,

each and every one of us who believe each and every day,

lies in the same safe and impregnable place, in the hollow of God's hand.

'T. Snow

When and Who to tell WHAT? maturity is key

I was thinking the other day about something my oldest daughter is quick to do these days...

We used to be able to talk or "spell" anything and continue conversations with all the children in the car with us. Now, because KG can spell anything and is most curious about what the "big people" are talking about (how does she fit in?), when I start a conversation out of her ability to understand, her mom will motion the "don't talk about that now" sign,

and we wait for a better time. Then I was thinking about the times when she will say...

"KG would understand, but we need to be careful not to talk about that around the younger ones because they would misinterpret or become frightened

when there is really not need for that response".

For example... say a storm is coming and one of the children has had unresolved bad experiences with thunder and lightning... if they heard the weather forecasting a storm, they might already be making preparations in their young hearts to sleep in mom and dad's bed on this scary night. It might only be a shower, but because of past experience, or their lack of understanding of the meteorologist's words, they are better off NOT knowing and leaving the details of preparation and safety to mom and dad.

In the wee hours of this morning I had a rather frightening dream... a flood in our area that rendered us incapable of travel (we have had those! like in 2002!)... I came to an intersection that I had to cross and it was flooded... I entered the water anyway, and it covered my car... I was fearful.. I prayed, I emerged from the other side with other cars watching and trying to decide if I'd make it or not (or else trying to decide if they'd choose to do the same thing).

I'm not really thinking this is any kind of prophetic dream... at least not right now...

but I am thinking about how God speaks to me.

At what level of maturity am I in my spiritual growth?

What things will my Father allow me to know, and what things will He keep hidden from my heart, not because He wants me to be surprised or caught off guard, but simply because my maturity level will not handle the knowledge as it should?

Faith comes from HEARING.... well, I'll just put the scripture here... Romans 10:17

"THE R501 WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that F174 if R502 you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe R503 in your heart that God R504 raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting F175 in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting F176 in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER R505 BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED F177 ."
12 For there R506 is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord R507 of all, R508 abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER R509 WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom R510 they have not heard? And how will they hear without a R511 preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW R512 BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING R513 F178 GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" 16 However, they did R514 not all heed the good F179 news; for Isaiah says, "LORD R515 , WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18 But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; "THEIR R518 VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD F181 ." 19 But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, "I R519 WILL MAKE R520 YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU." 20 And Isaiah is very bold and says, "I R521 WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME." 21 But as for Israel He says, "ALL R522 THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE."

****** and then******

Amos 3: (really the whole chapter)

6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? 7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. 8 The lion has roared-- who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken-- who can but prophesy?

anyone reading must realize that when I write in this blog, these are usually thoughts in progress, and as such, should NEVER be taken as anything other than my personal ponderings!

*so now I am considering...... who/what/where am I hearing?

*am I weighing sufficiently and correctly the things I am receiving?

*as I speak, am I considering the maturity of the ones in front of whom I stand before I open my mouth? for them or just for me?

*do I receive the "sent ones"?

*do I recognize them?

*can I hear the VOICE of the ONE WHO is all in all?

*where am I in my maturity?

LORD.....I want to grow in my maturity as your "son". I want to be able to handle whatever is from your loving hands. I want to receive the good and perfect gifts that only You can give, and I want to know what to do with what You've granted. I want to be a trusted child proven in the trials You've allowed for my perfection, and I want to be whatever it is You've ordained for the building of Your kingdom...

There is no room for arrogance or condescension in the kingdom, for there is only one KING, and I believe that the most important and valuable thing I can be is simply what I'm asked to be by that sovereign LORD of ALL! May we each one recognize that place of cherished sonship.....may we never have the spirit of an orphan who must hoard, may we know we are sons in the house of our Father Who provides all we need as we need it because we are His heirs and His beloved ones. May we as sons be distributors, generous and gracious as the One Who's name we bear. LORD help me be the best me that I can be by Your GRACE.

reckoning

"I reckon I'll be gettin round to it sometime"

"I reckon you better get a move on Katie Jane.. or you'll be late"...

I reckon

isn't it a strange word, "reckon"....... or "reconnoiter" is perhaps it's root

RECONNOITER:
v. tr. To make a preliminary inspection of, especially in order to gather military information.

v. intr. To make a reconnaissance.

[Obsolete French reconnoître, from Old French reconoistre, to recognize; see recognize.]

today as I was praying I heard a rather ominous "word"... and I'm still wondering/asking what in the world does that mean??

it was simply this.....

"there will be a reckoning.....do not engage at the skirmish level... that will sap your strength, only engage when you are CALLED to the battle.... you do not have the luxury of picking your fights and joining at your will, you only have the appointment to engage when you are truly called..........then.......there will be a reckoning!"

yep.......I'm supposing that if I get into that arena when it's not time that I won't be properly equipped for that particular fight.... so I'm thinking... I'd just better wait on the LORD and let Him do the lead in work as well as the rear guard job that He said He'd take care of for me and all the rest of us who are called His sons.

Anyway... with my personality, wouldn't that just be the place I'd want to stay anyway... maybe my calling better be really loud and clear because I sorta like the spot from the high places,

don't you?

hummmmmm now about that "reckoning"......do we wanna talk somemore about that?

or maybe not!