Learning to Breathe

I bless God every chance I get; 

my lungs expand with his praise. 

I live and breathe God; 

Psalm 34:1-2 msg

•

Today I am going to do this

on purpose

I am going to choose to breathe God

blessing Him

every chance I get

•

I am thankful for:

1. blue skies

2. Gracie-girl's laughter

3. chores faithfully completed

4. a toddler's view on life

5. Heaven-directed music filling my home

6. my tall boy-man, finally rising

7. my faithful, ever-strong husband

8. more strength, more words, more healing for Melody

9. The Solid Rock

10. the plow turning my soul-soil 

11. reality revealed, mercy poured, cleansing

12. a new beginning

13. a new commuinty

14. old friends

Heart Cry

Reality bubbles up between the cracks

of my heart

Days of sunshine

can hide

what is underneath

Drifting along

on the stream of comfort

confidence grows 

in the facade

As the storm hits

the paper tears in the wind and rain

What I thought was real

and planted deep within

hadn't taken root

Was still on the page

Break up the dry ground, Father

This love for myself runs so deep

Pull out the roots

Scatter Your seeds

Send the Rain of Your Spirit

Be Life in me

•

This is what the Lord says 

to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:   

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! 

Do not waste your good seed among thorns. 

O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. 

Change your hearts before the Lord...

Jeremiah 4:3-4 nlt

•

The Lord will send rain 

to water the seeds you have planted--

your fields will produce more crops than you need

Isaiah 30:23 cev

Living Water

You, my people, have sinned in two ways--

you have rejected me, the source

of life-giving water,

and you've tried to collect water

in cracked and leaking pits

dug in the ground. 

Jeremiah 2:13 cev 

•

The Fear-of-God is a spring of living water 

so you won't go off drinking from poisoned wells. 

Proverbs 14:27 msg

•

He cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 

Rivers of living water will brim and spill 

out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, 

just as the Scripture says."

John 7:37 msg

•

Never again will they hunger;
   never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
   nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
   he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 7:16-17 niv

Cry Out

I cry out to the Lord;
      I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
I pour out my complaints before him
      and tell him all my troubles.
When I am overwhelmed,
      you alone know the way I should turn.

Psalm 142:1-3 nlt

•

He is there.

Always. 

He wants you to come to Him.

To lay your burden down.

•

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
      for my hope is in him.
 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
      my fortress where I will not be shaken.
My victory and honor come from God alone.
      He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
O my people, trust in him at all times.
      Pour out your heart to him,
      for God is our refuge.

 Psalm 62:5-8 nlt

•

Don't hold it all inside.

Cry out to Him.

He longs to be gracious to you.

This is NOT a New Year's Blog Post

(The photo above doesn't really have anything to do with this post, I just think this sign is really funny. 

And, by the way, it is a very real sign, right by John's Pass.)

I just wanted to drop by and say "Hi!"

 And let you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. 

I just don't have much to say.

Honestly, I'm not reading many other people's blogs

right now, either, although I am skimming through 

blogs with lots of pretty pictures to look at. 

That is about all I feel like doing right now.

So in this time of year when everyone is talking about

the new year, new things, new this, new that

I don't have anything to contribute, really. 

As the excitement and noise of the recent holiday

fades away and the rhythms of life 

return to a more sustainable pace, 

I am taking deep breaths,

and finding pockets of quiet 

to renew and refresh — 

to find the path I am to follow

as the Lord shows me the next step to take. 

This is what the Sovereign Lord,
      the Holy One of Israel, says:
   “Only in returning to me
      and resting in me will you be saved.
   In quietness and confidence is your strength.

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
      so he can show you his love and compassion.
   For the Lord is a faithful God.
      Blessed are those who wait for his help.

Isaiah 30:15, 18 nlt