Eyes to See

Box of Old Journals to Destroy

I've been getting rid of old journals that take up too much room but reading some of them first. 

This week I found this: "Trust me in times of trouble and in plenty", I hear God saying. "Pray not just in the morning but always. Ask, seek, knock. Do not depend on yourself for anything."

I respond,"I cannot really depend on anything but You Lord. Help me to turn to you in everything I do."

Looking back, after the eye operation for a new cornea, the Lord has been showing me and reminding me how to trust and turn to Him. Since December, I put drops in my eye four times a day every day and lay down and be still for two or more minutes each time. So now it is a habit as I wait, "Lord to open my eyes so I can see what You see and what you want me to see.". I pray for needs that He shows me.

I don't think you have to have an eye operation or drops in your eyes four times each day to stop and ask questions of the Lord and talk with him. All I know is that my eyes have been opened to see what I have been blinded to before. I am more aware of what is going on around me and how I need to respond.

The Lost:
He has shown me this last week to have a heart for the lost, More specifically to have a broken heart for the lost.  A few weeks ago I had a blood draw for a 6 month check up and the nurse could not find an adequate vessel and I ended up with a huge bruise.on my forearm. After a week, the bruise turned into a heart shape.

It seemed like it was a strange blessing from God. But sometimes it takes day or more to realize what God is telling me. So last Sunday a week after the picture above was taken, the second week after the blood draw, I noticed that the "heart" bruise on my arm now looked as though it was a broken heart. Not coincidentally, at church, the praise and worship video showed a bandaged heart and song about having a broken heart for the lost! I get the message Lord!

The Lost: (no answer to the meaning and purpose and reality in life and no distinctiveness of man)

It is then that I remember what I have been praying daily for years:

"Lord help me see the lost as you do. Help me to have a broken heart for them and great compassion. Help me think about their spiritual condition. Help them really matter to me. Lord give me a heart that beaks when I encounter non-Christians in a crowd. Give me new eyes to see them as they really are (lost, separated, distressed) and show me what to do for them. Give me words, wisdom and grace. "

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now an found, was blind but now I see." John Newton

So what are you trying to get rid of, so to make room for a new way of looking at what is around you?"
Are you trusting God to show up in unusual places?
How might you be lost?

April blossoms

Last week the cherry trees, plum, early apple and Asian pear were in bloom and I missed a picture, so here is a sample display of pink and white blossoms in our orchard this week to cheer you.

Granny Smith Apple blossom

Crab apple blossoms

Espalier apple just starting to blossom

 Purple and Pink Blooms in the Potager Garden

Pansies and lilies inn a pot

More pansies by the gate 

Tree peony and Clematis Montana at the gate.

 By the way, the bees are out and about!
"...The whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3

Palm Sunday Leading to Easter

We prepared the week before last for special company, cleaning, cooking and decorating to make "fit for a king."  We also prepared for Palm Sunday,  to celebrate the entrance of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, the King of Kings, riding on a donkey, with palm fronds waved by children.

The Chinese Windmill  palm  (Trachycarput fortunei) in the Hot border, the main palm died and this is the new life that came from it.

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Another palm in the past was moved from the hot border to a pot and placed it near the rose arbor tucked away from winter winds when temperatures dropped.

"Open Palms" like a Prayer in Winter Snow (several years ago)

Palm Moved to the Front Deck

So we sacrificed  and clipped off the bottom fronds and a friend helped slice the barbs off the stems so children's hands would not be injured and on Palm Sunday the children of the church waved the palms and sang "Hosanna".

This weekend, Easter, we prepare for the "King of Kings" Jesus. Preparation, not outward cleaning or movements to better spaces but coming clean inside to make us fit so we can open our hearts to receive all that Jesus did for us. He left heaven as the three in one Godhead, took on human form, born of a virgin, lived a life of dependence on the Holy Spirit with all the temptations of humanity but without sin, became the sacrificial lamb of God to take away the sins of the world and all who believe in Him, and sent His Holy Spirit to live in those who believe, so we could be set free from the power and penalty of sin and have access to the same Holy Spirit for every part of our redeemed life. If you have not asked Jesus into your life, do it this Easter. Don't just prepare outwardly but your heart inwardly knowing He has rescued us, setting us apart so we can receive Him. He is risen! He is Alive!


How are you preparing for Easter? Is it just outward preparation or is it the most important preparation you can ever do, that of opening your heart so the King of Kings to come into your life so  Jesus can live through you.   Happy Easter!