Psalm 103

As I dwell on God’s great love for us at this time of remembrance and celebration, I am both humbled and grateful.

My thankful list this week is taken directly from Psalm 103, which is one of my favorites.

Today’s list is plain, but powerful.

I invite you to ponder each of these individual phrases along with me. There is so much to think about as we remember Christ’s sacrifice for all of us during this Passover season.

 

I am so very thankful that God…

176 …forgives my iniquities (sins)

175 …heals me

176 …redeems my life from destruction

177 …crowns me with lovingkindness

178 …satisfies my mouth with good things

179 …renews my strength

180 …executes righteousness and justice

181 …has made known His ways to me through His word

181 …is merciful

182 …is gracious

183 …is slow to anger

184 …abounds in mercy

185 …will not keep His anger forever

186 …has not dealt with me according to my sins

187 …removes my sin as far away as the east is from the west

188 …has compassion on me like a father does

189 …knows my frame

190 …remembers that I am dust

191 …has established His throne in heaven

192 …rules over all

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Psalm 103

A Psalm of David.

 ¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
² Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
³ Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
⁸ The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
⁹ He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
¹² As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

¹⁹ The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
²¹ Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
²² Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

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Reposted from my 2010 archives…

More thankful thoughts HERE.

Photo credit: Windows XP sample photo

At the end of the day

We said good-bye to a member of my mother’s family this week, a great-uncle to me and friend to my children.

Very early in the morning on the day he passed away, before I had even heard the news, I came into the library where Dan was studying and sighed my heavy heart into the large, soft chair.

What is it? he asked.

I’ve been thinking about my goals for this year’s school and the goals we have for the farm. I want to have goals – it’s good to have goals – but what if my goals aren’t how God wants me spending my days? What if my goals and His goals for me don’t line up? Am I living my days well?

I had laid in bed pondering these questions for a long time before rising that morning. When I arose, my heart was troubled with the thought of not wanting to waste my life on the quest of fleeting or irrelevant goals and pursuits.

What if I miss the important things because of my own sense of busyness and accomplishment?

I believe that God created us with a desire to be productive – to create things, to plan things, and to enjoy the fruits of our labor. I don’t think there is anything wrong with being ambitious. Yet I also know that sometimes we can let our own desires crowd out what God desires for us. The areas in which He wants us to grow may never be touched if we merely follow our own agenda.

Over the past few days, a scripture has been simmering in my mind. It is one that my mother had me memorize as a very young child:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; 
      And what does the LORD require of you 
      But to do justly, 
      To love mercy, 
      And to walk humbly with your God…”

Micah 6:8

At the end of the day, or at the end of my life, will I look back and be able to say I’d done those three things? Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God…

Will I be able to say that I’d lived life well?

 

No answers today, simply the ponderings of my heart…

Photos: Sunset on our farm

Mornings with my Father

Ashamed as I am to admit, the first thing I used to do in the morning would be to open my Facebook account to see what was going on and or to go into my email and check my messages. If nothing was happening, I would move along with my morning routine. But if something caught my eye, I might end up spending all of my quiet alone time with my computer and before I knew it, it would be time to go out and do the morning chores.

Since closing my Facebook account, it seems like I have much more time in the morning all of the sudden. I’ve been enjoying spending it with my Father. Sometimes I lay in bed and read my Bible and sometimes I just sit and talk to Him. Last week as I was lying on my bed reading around 6:15am, something caught my eye out my window. It was a fawn moving slowly across the front yard. I grabbed my camera and quietly slipped out onto my front porch to get a better view.

The fawn saw me and started to frantically search for which direction to run in. He finally started toward the pond and then turning back, he ran back across in front of me. I soon realized why.

His mother was standing there very close to me, staring me down. She was not about to run away and leave her baby there, helpless. She snorted at me and stamped her front hoof repeatedly on the dewy ground. Although her baby had hidden in the brush by now, she did not want to leave until she “scared” me away.

I sat there on the bench, breathless, then whispered a “thank you” for the glimpse into His awesome creation.

After she finally moved slowly away, I sat there in the morning sun, listening to the birds and bullfrogs. It is in the quiet morning moments that I feel like God is closest to me – just spending time with me and listening to anything I have to ask.

The relationship that God wants to have with us is just like the relationship that we would have with a human father. If we were blessed enough to have a loving father, he wanted to protect us and not have us worry about anything. And as children, we trusted that. I feel that way talking to God. I just lay out what my concerns are, as detailed as I feel I need to. He has time. Then I leave them there in His hands, thanking Him for whatever He chooses to do.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

What a wonderful feeling it is, to know that I don’t need to worry about working everything out perfectly on my own. I am able to leave my concerns and requests with One who is perfect, who has righteous judgement and who knows how to work everything out “to the good”. That’s more than I can say about myself, so why do I worry so much about the outcome of things?

It is a wonderful feeling.

It is peace.

Lost and Found

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMY!!!!   MOMMY!!!!! MOMMY!!!!!”

The sound pierced my ear and my heart at the same time. I thought for sure something horrible had happened to someone outside and Jonathan was running in to tell me about it. I was way across the house and I could hear his feet and his breath pounding heavy as he fairly flew toward me.

He burst into my room, out of breath and eyes wild with joyous excitement. (My heart started to return to its normal speed after one glance at his face.)

He was waving something around in the air.

“LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!” he screamed as he jumped up and down excitedly.

“What?!?!? What is it?”

“My very fave-o-rit BLUE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“O…………..K………….” (he has about a dozen of them and they all look the same to me!)

“I’ve been looking and looking and looking for it for a LONG time!”

(Me to myself): “That’s it? You came in here whooping and hollering about a silly match box car?”

(Me to him): “WOW! That’s great, Jonathan!”

His happy feet raced back outside with his treasured possession firmly grasped in his hand. He wasn’t about to lose it again.

I stood there for quite awhile after he had left the room, marveling at what I had just witnessed. Is that how God feels when one who is lost is found? One of His precious treasures? One whom He lovingly created?

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:4-7

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Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ Luke 15:11-31

Artwork by: Liz Lemon Swindle

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” II Peter 3:9

It’s amazing to me to think of our Heavenly Father loving so much each and every human being that He created. For we are His children, and are much, much more precious than any matchbox car!

The Words We Say

We coasted along the top edge of the ravine, sun streaming in the window and wind making my hair move in currents. I was alternately gazing at the some of the most beautiful scenery in the USA and over at my handsome prince, whom I had pledged to love forever only 3 days earlier.

I was on top of the world.

A newly purchased CD spun in the player and Steven Curtis Chapman’s voice called out to God in his talented way:

“Bring it on…

Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow…

Bring it on…

Let the trouble come, let the hard rain fall, let it make me strong…

Bring it on!”

I cranked up the volume and loudly joined Steven in a heartfelt melodic prayer of my own:

“Bring it on…

Let the trouble come,

Let it make me fall on the One who’s strong…”

It was so easy to sing.

Those early weeks and months of wedded bliss melded into years and the trials came and oh, how they did come. And as I was brought down to my knees – sometimes with my face flat to the floor – I cried out:

“Why? Why are You letting this happen? I know that trials are supposed to bring us closer to You, but not this way. Please, not. this. way.”

What ever happened to those bold words I sang out to the mountains years ago?

“…But I’m not gonna run from the very things

That would drive me closer to Him…

So bring it on!”

I played that CD the other day after years of it sitting on the shelf. When the song “Bring It On” began to play, I thought back to that moment and clearly saw myself as that young woman who didn’t really know what she was saying. At least, she didn’t take the words she was saying seriously.

Of course, all of us speak naively, in ignorance, at one time or another. However, as I thought back to that time this week, it caused me to dwell on my words. Do I really mean the things I say? Does my speech actually have anything to back it up with or do I have a habit of speaking empty words?

I think this is something worth considering in a day where we are encouraged to say anything and everything:

Facebook asks us: ” What’s on your mind?” 95 million “tweets” are written per day. We are encouraged everywhere to “Leave a comment”, “Sound off in the comments below”, “Take our poll today”, “Tell us what YOU think”, “Call in and give us a piece of your mind”, etc.

We are told by psychologists to “share our feelings and emotions”, to “get it off your chest”, and to emote anything and everything that we feel like. (I blogged about this several years ago before I had many readers.)

And so I ask myself: Do I think about the words that I speak? Do the words I say have meaning? Do people take what I say seriously? Am I a person of my word? Does every thought that comes into my head need to be articulated?

I’ve been considering what the Bible says about our words (our speech). Perhaps you would like to consider these with me today?

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Set a guard over my mouth, LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalm 141: 3

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In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.

Proverbs 10:19

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He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

Proverbs 13:3

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A man has joy by the answer of his mouth,
And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

Proverbs 15:23

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He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.

Proverbs 17:27-28

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A fool has no delight in understanding,
But in expressing his own heart.

Proverbs 18:2

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He who answers a matter before he hears it,
It is folly and shame to him.

Proverbs 18:13

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Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.

Proverbs 21:23

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A fool vents all his feelings,
But a wise man holds them back.

Proverbs 29:11

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Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 29:20

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Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

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We are given lots to think about on this topic, and I’m sure that I haven’t touched on every Scripture that addresses this subject. I know that I have room to grow in this area. How about you?

Photo courtesy of: National Park Service

The Wooden Box

Last week the children and I had the opportunity to go to a farm estate sale. We had so much fun going through all of the vintage items that the man and his family had used throughout the last 50 years or so. Our “to buy” pile kept growing and after an hour or so of browsing, we finally got in line to pay for our treasures – a real hammer just Jonathan’s size, a curry comb for Abigail and new bike pedals for Iliana, among other things. Under one of the tables near the checkout table, in a box full of what looked like the old man’s paperwork, I spied it – a plain wooden box of a particular size.

With a squeal of delight, I bent down to grab it and the girls both cried out at the same time, “A recipe box! Just like the kind you wanted but that Daddy said you’d never find!” I noticed that it had no price tag. When I asked the woman running the sale (who was the daughter of the farmer who had passed away) she said:

“Oh that? Just take it.”

The little box is jam-packed with hundreds of recipe cards, all neatly written in one person’s handwriting. It is clear that the farmer’s wife took great care of her recipes. On almost every card, there are notes as to who she got the recipe from as well as her own personal notes about it. Much time and care went into the contents of the little wooden box. Yet it was worthless to her daughter, tossed aside in a box of junk.

The wooden box got me thinking this week about the things that I’m storing up for myself. I can spend my entire lifetime collecting material things – recipes, books, music, electronics, houses, land, money - that all may be for nothing when I die. We never know what our children will do with the things we diligently work for our entire lives. In the end, the physical things will not last.

As I flipped through the cards and read the carefully scripted words, other words came to my mind -

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20

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“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33

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Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” John 6:27

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And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:16-21

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It is both proper and edifying to engage in daily physical labor, but we cannot neglect to actively “lay up” a spiritual inheritance for ourselves and our children. The only things that will remain forever are our relationships with others and with God. This must be our focus.

Practicing outgoing concern for others, teaching our children to value the spiritual gifts over the physical ones and living our lives to bring glory to God and not to ourselves – these are the true treasures. 

They will carry on long after our physical treasures have been sold off by our children or grandchildren.

The wooden box now sits on my counter and serves as a simple reminder of this truth.

The gift of comfort

As I moved from one sick child to another this week, I thought quite a bit about comfort. I think that one of the most precious things that we can give each other as human beings is the gift of comfort…

a loving touch…

a cool hand on a fevered forehead…

a soft stroking of the hair on an aching head…

a hug at the end of a stressful day…

a smile to a pair of searching eyes, coupled with the words, “I’m here. You’re going to be just fine.”…

a hand that grasps another in encouragement…

a strong shoulder to lean into when tears come…

an encouraging letter…

All of these manifestations of comfort cannot be manufactured. This is amazing to realize in our modern age where almost everything can be replicated! Of course, there are artificial comforters to be found in bottles and boxes of various kinds, but you can’t go to the pharmacy and buy a bottle labeled “hugs” or “smiles” or “touch”.

Everyone desires to be comforted at some point in their lives – so much so that if they don’t receive it from another person they can be driven to those artificial comforters that can be potentially damaging.

Giving comfort to someone is such a powerful thing and can only be done very personally. 

I’ve seen it repeatedly this week, both when I’ve reached out to comfort my children and when I’ve received comfort in my own sickness and frustration. Comfort from another person is like a soothing balm – it just makes everything seem just a little bit easier to bear.

Let’s not underestimate the beautiful gift of comfort we have the opportunity to share as mothers, wives and friends – not only in times of sickness, but in times where encouragement and love is needed as well.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

II Corinthians 1:3-4

 

Hospitality

One of the areas of my life that I want to work on this year is hospitality.

I’m not very good at hospitality.

If you’ve asked anyone who has been over my house, they might disagree with that statement, but they don’t see the whole story. You see, we don’t have people over very often for two reasons.

One, we moved far away from most of our family and all of our friends, and we haven’t made too many new ones yet.

And two, (I hate to admit this, but…) it stresses me out!

I’m always concerned about what our guests will think about all sorts of things. For example:

~ How my house looks. Is it clean enough? Is it too old and rickety?

~ How our barns and property look

~ If I’m preparing the right foods, the right assortment of flavors, fancy enough foods, etc.

~ How my children will act, especially with Iliana’s hyperactivity issues

When I think about how much physical and mental energy it will take to prepare for such a visit, I often procrastinate inviting people over.

And asking someone to stop by without adequate prep time? Forget about it.

Stress and/or worry also makes me really grumpy with Dan and the children about keeping the house in perfect order and I hate that!

I’m not sure how I came to be this way. Growing up, I my mom was very hospitable. I remember her always opening her home up to anyone, never apologizing for a cluttered room or what she had prepared to eat. Somehow, because of the people I surrounded myself with as a young adult, my view on hospitality changed from being “hospitable” to “entertaining”. I learned how to cook fancy dishes to fit into the way my husband’s family ate – dishes that are impressive but take a lot of work. I learned the “right way” to entertain. I became too focused on appearance.

But what is hospitality? In the Bible, the word is “philoxenia”, from the Greek words philo (love) and xenos (stranger), so the word literally means ”the love of strangers”. 

Some scriptures that I’ve pondered as I’ve thought about the idea of hospitality:

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. I Peter 4:9

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Hebrews 13:2

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;  not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Romans 12:10-13

Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  Luke 14:12-13

It seems from these verses and others that I’ve read, that being hospitable is something that should be an integral part of being a Christian. God’s Word isn’t talking about only inviting my old friends over, but inviting neighbors and new friends over, too. It’s talking about becoming more aware of the people in my community who really need someone to care for them. Not to be too focused on my own life to see who we can bless in our home. I really desire God’s love to shine through me and my family and I can’t do that if I’m too focused on appearance – or to put it honestly – on myself.

So, I’m going to step out of my comfort zone this year and try to both learn what hospitality means and to practice it.

There are a couple of websites that I’ve come across that give great ideas for learning to practice hospitality. One of my favorites is a blog called The King’s Missus. Lindsay is always showing great ways that she can be hospitable and giving without spending lots of money, like in this post HERE. Another woman I’ve been learning from is Kendra at Preschoolers and Peace in articles like this one.

In keeping with the idea of being more ready and willing to serve someone in my home, I’ve recently purchased the More With Less Cookbook. I just learned of this book a few weeks ago and it is exactly the kind of cookbook I have been looking for! It has all sorts of delicious recipes by Mennonite women that use simple and healthy ingredients and are relatively easy to prepare. No cans of cream of mushroom soup or cake mixes. Just recipes for plain and good food. I’ve tried some of them out this week in the effort to make having people over less stressful in the food aspect.

As far as the heart aspect goes, that is something that God is working on in me. I’ll let you know what kind of progress we make!

Do you have any suggestions for me as I learn in this area? I’d love to hear them!