My Happy Place

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

This is my happiest time of day.  Sitting in my office, surrounded by my books and my kittens in the wee hours of the morning. The house is quiet, except for the hum of the furnace taking the chill off of my early morning reverie. My cup is filled with hot steamy coffee and I can breathe. This is the time of day when I feel the closest to God. My head is clear, not yet cluttered by the events and worries of the day. I am able to sit quietly and open my mind and my heart to receive guidance from our Father.  I cherish this time, like no other as it is when I am at peace with the world and myself, at least for a short time. 

Of course, this is the time when my best writing is done. Dear Lord, please use me as your instrument and when the words start to flow from my head to paper, I am grateful and filled with awe. Did I write that?  

I believe that God talks to all of us through others. We all are and can be instruments of God, if only we ask. Advice is easy to give and sometimes it is difficult to distill the message properly depending on the giver. God doesn't use everyone to get messages to us, so we need to be discerning. 

Sometimes he uses strangers passing through our lives that we will never see again.  He also uses select people who are in our lives for a long period of time. In our hearts we know who they are, because they are the ones that love us without condition, without self-serving motives or malice. They are not perfect either, but these are the people who generally do things for us without expectation that we reciprocate and they want the best for us, even if it means less for them. If you have someone who loves you in that way and you can learn to love others in that way, you are truly blessed. 

I pray that God uses someone today to get a message to you that you need to hear. An answer to prayer or assurance that you need that God is in your life and in control. He knows the purpose of your life, has plans for you and asks that you trust him.     

I love this peace prayer from St. Francis of Assisi 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

when there is injury, pardon;w

here there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 

to be understood, as to understand,

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.

Happy Easter!

Today we celebrate a new day, our freedom from sin, a second chance and new beginnings. All, thanks to our sweet Jesus and by the grace of God. Easter is the blessed Christian  holiday in which we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his ascension into heaven. What an amazing experience for those who were able to observe it first hand! Nothing is more beautifully written about this than the scripture and testimony of the disciples and Mary Magdalene. 

John 20: 1-23 (NLT)

The Resurrection

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.  ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.  ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— ⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then they went home.

Jesus Appeared to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.  ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”  ¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.  ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”   ¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said.She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). ¹⁷ “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

^{Jesus Appears to His Disciples}

¹⁹ That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.  ²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!  ²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”  ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Easter also marks the beginning of Spring, my second favorite time of year. With spring comes new life, rebirth and renewal. Life that lay dormant over the winter starts to emerge.  As I look out my office window this morning, I can see the calla lily's and roses in bloom.  There are new tiny lime colored green leaves emerging on the walnut tree and new fragrant blossoms on the orange tree.  I take a deep breath and inhale the fresh, clean air of Spring and my spirit is filled with joy.

As with nature, this is also a time of renewal for us.  Take time to see the possibilities, filled with hope and with gratitude for the second chance that God has given us to live our lives as he intended.   

"Twas Easter Sunday. The full-blossomed trees filled all the air with the fragrance of joy.—" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  On this day Jesus rode on the back of a donkey into Jerusalem and was welcomed by cheering crowds of people who threw down their cloaks and palms in his honor.   His victorious ride was met with acknowledgment and celebration of his authority from the multitudes, but with great resistance from the Roman rulers.   

Matthew 21:6-11 (NKJV)

⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. ⁸ And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹ So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

This is a week of mixed emotions as we experience grief over the horrible Crucifixion of our sweet Jesus to save us from our sins.  We also get to celebrate his beautiful resurrection and the blessings we enjoy today, because of Him.    

I found this beautiful video on YouTube.  It illustrates the events of Holy week.  The precious song that accompanies the video is called Footprints in the Sand and it is performed by Leona Lewis.  I hope you will enjoy it.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GjlSepH0nw

May God bless you, keep you and fill your hearts with love and gratitude during this glorious Holy week.