Blessed in the garden

God has blessed us with incredible boundaries. The cooler weather today was a real treat.  This evening we had a beautiful sunset and I had sweet thinking time as I did one of my favorite and most gratifying things--- weeding.  The results are worth all the effort.  Here's just a glimpse of what we get to feast our eyes on this time of year!

Because I'm blessed!

So far this Xanga is just for my own personal gratification... but, it's fun when I find a couple people have actually "checked in".  If by chance it can cause someone to have a closer walk with God, then it's all the more worthwhile.

I'm praising the Liberator today, for the fact that He yanked me closer to heaven (as one of my favorite interpreters puts it...) over 9 years ago! Prior to that, I'd lived in the hole of depression... one frustration steam rolled over by the next frustration, downward spiraling, down down down. Full of fear, and the worst of it, the fear of fear itself... clouded my thinking and kept me from the peace I knew was mine~ promised to me anyway.

I knew the truth in my head, and I could sing many a song to proclaim it... I was good at teaching others about it.... but... my mind and my heart were not connected. I knew that the Lord held the world in His hand... that He died to save me from my sins... I had been baptized as an infant and re-baptized to proclaim my relationship as an adult (in the ocean no less)... BUT it wasn't until I was 40 years old-- April 1997--- that the connection was made between my mind and my heart.

Now, almost a decade later... I'm still walking in the New Me--- my previous life is just a faint memory.

What's really awesome is sharing this total freedom in Jesus with my sister... who's been set free, totally free, too!

I'll never forget when my "spiritual Mom" shared Colossians 3 with me, upon my return home from "that week when time stood still". And that's how today --July 28, 2006 intersects with April 1997. I was reading The Word on the Street (WOS)-- Colossians...

I decided that Xanga shall be my place for documenting my spiritual journey... and if anyone wants to tag along... or take a "stroll" with me... cool!

The following is what blessed me today, and took me back to 1997.... portions of Colossians 3 (from Word on the Street).  I've re-ordered it... as my personal reflection... in fact, I'm gonna turn it into my prayer for tonight...

Lord, you are my Liberator... thank you for yanking me up nearer to heaven, I want my wish-list to be more directly full of heavenly goods... I want my thinking to focus on what's worth something...(in the eternal scheme of things). God, you are my life... alone I am dead!  I know that I only live because of my link with you.

I am truly blessed because, by your intervention in my life... I've been able to kill off the dark habits that kept me trapped in my previous life. I remember... the old me... the anger, the rage, the critical spirit... the "old rags" that YOU ripped off, so that I could wear the "New Me".

And, to think... the New Me is "renewable every time I get more of a glimpse of the Tailor". Thank you for picking me out God...to be pure, and passionately loved. Yeah, I know... clothes make a statement and I want to sport an image that reflects the New Me:  [this is how it looks according to WOS, by my friend Rob Lacey] "compassion suits you, kindness goes with the colours of your soul, humility sets you off nicely, gentleness is so "you", patience is perfect with your complexion.  It all fits so well, Tailor-made."

Thank you Lord for helping me bite my lip when someone crosses a line.  It sure is easier to wipe their error off the record when I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my slate's been wiped by YOU!

I don't ever want to be "undressed without the finishing touch-- love."

I know how true it is that "Love holds all the stitches together, love makes it all look just right, love transforms an outfit into a statement'."  Keep me ever mindful of this Abba Father. 

This is my prayer for my sis Terry... "Let the serenity that comes from the Liberator be the boss of your deep places.  If the serenity goes, it you're suddenly at odds with someone--that's your alarm!  Be grateful, all the time.  Let the wisdom of the Liberator soak into your soul, so it seeps out of every part of you and moves (you on...keeps you) on track.  Let your song lyrics be rich with gratitude and wisdom. Whatever you're up to, thinking or doing, act like a rep of our Boss, Jesus,-- getting your thanks to God through him."

I make no promises to anyone in any dimension about this Xanga journal..."journey"... But, when I feel moved to write... that's what I'll do... for now, I'm going to tap into some of that sweet sleep that I've been promised and now enjoy each night, by the love of my life... Michael... God's best gift to me in life as I know it.

The High Life

Wow, we had a good time!  My folks just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a big reunion this past weekend, prepared for and hosted by my two sisters and I.  It was a grand occasion, to say the least!

The best part~ well, one of the best parts, was seeing people we hadn't seen for over 4 years... some for as long as 35 years or more.  It was awesome to see so many people in one place who love the Lord!  My folks were blessed with testimony after testimony of how people see them as servants in Jesus!  It was beautiful.

Another grand part was doing this with my two sisters, Terry and Cheryl.  It was a blessing to see Cheryl working in complete health~ inside and out!  What a joy to know that God is our great healer, provider and protector!

Upon coming home, a dear sister/friend in the Lord wrote these words, that seem to sum up my feelings too!

a "grace base gives us freedom to pursue being who we're created to be, without fear or shame.  I have learned to swim in that grace through the process of.... (much inner healing)-- the grim alternative being sinking in guilt and the fear of man...(through it all) I (have) learned to hold my head up, eyes glued and lifted to the hills, from where my help came from, via the Maker of those hills.
I feel so free and blessed anymore~ so aware that I can drop every ritual and habit that I deem "religious" and yet I am never dropped by my Lord, and I have NO desire to be far from my shepherd.
It's good to be stripped of all pretense and find that the hunger is there. The beliefs are true, the bottom is solid.
I am SO convinced, like Paul, that NOTHING can ever separate me from the love of God I have in Christ."

God is good, all the time!

Grateful to be alive today!

When I think about how good God is, I rejoice, again and again and again.  I am so thankful that he is alive and always working in us and through us!  I'm glad he's in the life changing business.  And, I'm ecstatic that he doesn't leave us unfinished. 

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Phil. 1:6

This morning I found myself singing a new song of worship to the Lord.  What a special moment that was~ to know that He was stirring that up in me.

I've been reading more of the Word lately and that is very satisfying.  I am reading The Word on the Street and my NIV/Message parallel Bible.  The combination helps me process.

To be content in the boundaries in which God has placed me has changed my heart and my head.  I love where I live... who I live with... and what God has called us to do-- right where we are.

May others be encouraged to find that contentment too.

A lifetime learner

Crossed someone's Xanga page today by chance... or was it? I find myself learning new things every day. I feel challenged to some deeper thinking.  Thanks Anna.  I find communication to be most stimulating and this could be a good outlet.  I'd like to have some pro help me make my page more appealing... but that's the least of my "worries".  Anyway... it's cool that such a place exists for those of us who thrive on "words and intimacy". I'll ponder how to make my entries more meaty... but until then, I'm happy to be alive! And thankful to be healed... from the inside out!  God is good!