Four evidences of help and encouragement in tough times

1. Encouragement can sometimes come vicariously from other's positive care in tough times.

UMC memorial in front of Hospital entrance when I arrived to help my hospitalized brother.

2. When seemingly frozen in time, awaiting tests, decisions, options, risks, answers, may you understand God's timing is always perfect no matter how "hobbled, hackled and hogtied, short-leashed" you may feel. Remember that the tubes, that arrest you, increase your risks of survival.

Fozen fountain at Four Point Sheraton airport Tuscon

3. Never undersestimate the value of friends to love and encourage. Who would believe the value of a post on facebook to reconnect?

A needed breath of fresh air from friends, who discovered my Tuscon arrival on facebook

4. A chance to heal the wounds of an earlier related stress through present circumstances (the same hospital in which my other brother died).

Waiting room aquarium outside the ICU UMC Tuscon

Brother Wally made it through major heart surgery, Dr Smith making his heart new.

"Create in me a pure heart O God, and give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from thy presence or take thy Holy Spirit from me, renew in me the joy of thy deliverance and grant me a willing spirit to uphold me." Psalm 51:10-12

You, God, are Jehova Rapha, the healer of all wounds to the heart, lies we have believed about ourselves, circumstances that keep us from seeing You, and all disease which prevents our connection with You.

How does your heart need reviving? Just ask Jehova Rapha and receive help.

Proud as a Peacock

"Proud as a Peacock" showed up at our door and stayed for three months.

The Lord has been talking to me about pride lately. I am a slow learner.
In trying to organize pictures for the book that I’m working on, I discovered this peacock picture, taken about 9 years ago. I remember that he strutted and fanned out of his feathers in front of the cottage door. I thought then that pride was all about blowing your own horn, giving credit to yourself and not to God, not so..
(As an aside, pride is not the reason for the peacock behavior, but a territorial defense and mating ritual, seeing its reflection in our window thinking it was another bird).

Two months ago, August 20, I read a passage about pride from The Best of Andrew Murray on Prayer*, that has stayed with me.

" God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 NIV

Andrew Murray asked us to offer one prayer to God continuously for a month which I have continued.

“…show me and take from my heart every form of pride...Awaken in me
the depths of humility so that I might be open to Your light and Your Holy
Spirit...O God....(I pray... from the bottom of my heart)...Pain and darkness
results, but meets with Divine Love."
This week a sample of where pride was in the way, the Holy Spirit quenched, and pain resulting:

• What I say: trying to interrupt people with my thoughts and not letting them finish, thinking I will forget what I wanted to say if I don’t. If it is important I won’t forget. Pride keeps me focused on myself and not what others are saying.
• What I like: My husband wanted to throw away an old milk pail bucket filled with what I use to clean the bathroom, kept under the sink and get a plastic bucket instead. I love the old bucket and have intended to make curtains to hide it better so I bristled, besides, he doesn’t clean the bathroom. Pride puts my desires and wishes above other people who may be just testing to see if I love them more than a bucket.
• Defending myself: Arguments in the morning, he criticizing, I arguing back. My pride in the way. Why do I need to defend myself? God knows my circumstances.
• What I look like: A young couple showed up at my door at noon. I was up at six, but with the rainy day, I still had pajamas on. At first I ignored the knock, thinking my husband who was outside would see them, but then I noticed them still there. I had no robe handy so just as I am, I opened the door. I thanked them later for coming and helping me deal with pride in another way.

“But as this prayer of humility is met by divine love, the mercy of God embraces
it. Then your song is changed into songs and thanksgiving.”*

I just realized that the creatures at my door in blog post Focus September 20 was exactly one month from the time I prayed the prayer above. Praise God for his divine love and mercy, blessing and encouragement.

I pray you also might experience His love and mercy and encouragement in a special way this month and hope you might be a faster learner than I.


* Andrew Murray, compiled by Edward A. Elliott, (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing, Inc., 1997)

I get it

For the second week God has been speaking to me everyday through His creatures, encouraging me to write in spite of obstacles.

Monday noon God sent a mink to our front door and birdbath.

I have created a folder for the mink stories. Mink signify the obstacles to me, they steal the ground nesting bird’s eggs and are quite vicious, attacking neighbor’s chickens. They even eat my planted peas and crocus every year just as they sprout. I hardly ever see them in broad daylight except today.
Later that day I tripped and hurt my hip on our hard stone floor and my head on a chair. I am still limping around and can only get to my writing loft by holding onto the banister and stepping lightly on my left leg. Obstacles encourage me that I am on the right track. (scripture coming soon)

Tuesday 11:30 a.m. a buck came to the front door. This is not a usual occurrance

Later in the day he pushed his way through the closed but unlocked gate. We managed to get him out after he stripped the lower branches of the apple trees and then we found him back in again in the orchard after ramming his way through another gate. I have created a folder for the deer stories. They also keep me focused on overcoming the obstacles.

Canned pears on our Monarch wood stove

Wednesday, God brought a friend, Cherie, a published author and gardener, to encourage me while helping peel pears. She suggested I organize my files, writing area, and contacts, and to set aside time each day for writing. She also suggested that I start rug hooking with her again so I can finish the “Raven” hooked rug that I started well over ten years ago, when I first knew I was going to write this book. She thought a picture of it would work well in my book.


Thursday night several friends came to our door. They come every week for prayer meeting. I had the opportunity to ask them to pray for me: to keep focused on what God is calling me to do, for wisdom and persistence to do it and for protection.
Friday: Another friend stopped by and sat outside my door in the wonderful sunshine and I was able to encourage her through my experiences while we sipped lemonade.
Saturday: The bleating of a fawn outside our bedroom window woke me up early to pray and write. I am grateful for God’s continued incredible encouragement and even the bumps that show me the importance of pressing on. I am determined, by God’s grace, to get this book proposal off as soon as possible.

Focus

The place set aside for writing

Over 10 years ago I knew in many ways, God was calling me to write a book, a bird lover's devotional. I had found an interested publisher and worked with them for several years, changing it to meet their needs, but then their focus changed so they let me go. One of the editors pleaded for me to keep persuing a place for it, but I stopped sending it out to anyone else.

I didn't stop thinking about it, so secured a private place accessable only by a ladder, the loft in our cottage, as recommended by an author at a writing conference, a place that was only for writing, nothing else. Here I gathered and organized files for uncompleted stories and every time I found an encouragement to write, I would post it around the window above the desk, so I would be reminded of the task I needed to finish.

I even started this blog, thinking that if I could write every week and be able to meet a deadline, I would be able to finish the book if accepted by a publisher. For years I have done everything except complete the book and send it to a publisher.

A week or so ago, God sent three swallows, one to the greenhouse, two into the cottage. Although the greenhouse door was open for bees to pollinate the cucumbers and tomatoes growing there, our cottage door was only open for a few minutes and two swallows flew right up to the loft and landed on my desk and then up to the window ledge above where the notes are posted. I climbed the ladder, opened the window and they flew out, their mission accomplished.

I pondered this experience for a week until it dawned on me. It is time to finish the bird book. I have already decided on sending a proposal to a publisher connected with the very first time God sent a bird to encourage me. (You'll have to read the book to find that one out)

The 3x5 note below the window ledge with the largest print on it says "FOCUS!" I even took a toilet paper tube as suggested in a writing book, and wrote FOCUS on the outside, looking through it to see what it was like to block everything out but the task at hand. I pray I can make a priority of getting the proposal out. Thank you God for sending birds once again to get your will to the front of my mind.

• Keep at it "I must work the works of Him that sent me. While it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work - John 9:4
• Follow through what He has willed "The sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will" Isaiah 50:4
• Be obedient "God's mark is on everything that obeys Him." Martin Luther
• When I feel like I cannot do it "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

I hope these will encourage you as well to continue what you are called to do.