Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Monthly Archives: March 2020
Our Father in Heaven
For me to have a deep relationship with God I must mentally reconcile opposites, and simultaneously know that this is humanly impossible, thus let go and let God.
To love I must fear.
To live I must die.
To have peace I must fight.
To have rest I must strive.
Only the Lord can be the beginning and the end together as one. I ponder with wonder, if in heaven, my linear existence and thought pattern will be gone?
Here on earth there is joy and peace to be found in the linear progression of creation. For there is a safety of mind to have the blue flowers (name?) follow the daffodils, and the blue will be followed by the roses, and so on and so forth.
Regardless of mans doings, the sun always rises.
“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever, Amen.” Revelation 7:12
Spring waits for nothing
I must be feeling a wee bit better, because today I could not resist the urge to slip outside and take a picture of the arrival of Spring 🌸
Most of the plants are still emerging, but enough of them have begun to fill out to provide lushness, and many are blooming. I am finding comfort in the continuity of the seasons in this current climate of chaotic change.
Do Not Tempt God
My Pastor sent out this snippet along with the message that we will be having virtual service on Sundays. I do imagine that having 50 people chatting online during fellowship time will be more chaotic then it is in person, but this is the responsible thing do to.
And if the online connection can be maintained after we begin meeting again, it will be an awesome opportunity for those you cannot make it on a given Sunday to still participate.
It makes me wonder if this crisis, by forcing the need to look for alternatives to the status quo, will not open up the church to many who might not otherwise attend.
The message below from the past was perfect for me in the present, for I do not reside now in a spirit of fear, but rather I rest in my position in Christ Jesus and the glory that awaits me, and people still need each other’s help. I cannot shelter in place and just ignore a suffering world. Still, I should not be reckless and put the Lord my God to the test, or put others at risk by reckless behavior.
🌸🌸🌸
When the the bubonic plague returned to the German city of Wittenberg, the students and faculty of Wittenberg were told to leave the city. Martin Luther and his wife stayed behind. He wrote a letter entitled “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague.” In the letter he not only advocates for staying in the city to help the sick and care for one’s neighbor, he also provides some good counsel:
“Use medicine. Take whatever maybe helpful to you. Fumigate your house, yard, and street. Avoid persons and places where you are not needed or where your neighbor has recovered. Act as one who would like to help out a general fire. What is the pestilence, after all, but a fire which consumes body and life instead of wood and straw. Meanwhile think thus: ‘With God’s permission the enemy has sent poison and deadly dung among us, and so I will pray to God that he may be gracious and preserve us. Then I will fumigate to purify the air, give and take medicine, and avoid places and persons where I am not needed in order that I may not abuse myself and that through me others may not be infected and inflamed with the result that I become the cause of their death through my negligence. If God wishes to take me, he will be able to find me. At least I have what he gave me to do and am responsible neither for my own death nor for the death of others. But if my neighbor needs me, I shall avoid neither person nor place but feel free to visit and help him,’ as has already been said. Behold, this is true and God-fearing faith which is neither foolhardy nor rash and does not tempt God.”
God Willing
posted a challenge and I wish I was feeling up to doing it justice. Her posts are always a pleasure to read.
She listed five questions which resonated with me this morning. So I am going to indulge myself in a list!!! 😁
As always, I enjoy getting to know y’all better, so please give a quick answer to her questions yourself in the comments, or elsewhere if that tickles your fancy. Also if you want the complete mystery blogger format, head on over and link to Georgetta’s post, it is open to all.
Georgetta’s 5 questions:
What do you want to accomplish before you depart this earth?
~I would have answered this so differently just three days ago, and then on Saturday while I was in the hospital, so very afraid and isolated, Jesus came softly and brilliantly, and gave me a glimpse of the glory to come, and I was so ready for it then, but I realized that I also wanted more time to love on those people the Lord has put in my life, to keep pointing out the love and providence of God evident in their life’s, and to continue to be an encourager for them to keep God center and first with glory and honor. So what I want to accomplish is time to love my God and my neighbor more, God willing.
What made you follow my blog?
~Your devotion to the Lord
What’s your favorite food?
~Buttered Toast
What is your favorite thing to do?
~This is difficult, I like to do so many things: cook, read, garden, sew, talk to my children, jigsaw puzzles, write and read blog posts……But if it was what can you not live without each day, what do you yearn for, look forward to daily, it would be my quiet time with the Lord. He is the one I invite to have coffee with me each and every morning ❤️
Which place in the world do you wish to travel to?
~I am not much of a traveler. My favorite vacation spot is my garden or sewing machine, places I don’t get to visit as often as I would like.
But someday I would like to visit my cousin in Belgium and let her share her life with me. So one could say that it is not a place I want to visit, but rather her space, to enter her daily life and experience it with her.
Would I answer this question differently if money was in unending supply? Probably, but to covet what I do not have would only lead to dissatisfaction in what the Lord has so bountiful and graciously already provided for me. My cup overflows and I rejoice in His goodness!
Blessings Belinda
The summer fruit is setting well,
And one of my favorites, California poppies, have arrived ❤️
themomfred 
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