Just wanted to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year is filled with joy, peace and love!
My family and I were out of town during Christmas. We drove across the country! We drove all the way from the South Carolina to Arizona to visit my hubby's mother, who is suffering with dementia. We wanted to be able to be with her for a little while she still remembers us.
We had a great trip seeing America and visiting with our extended family for Christmas. We saw swamps, prairie, forests, hill country, mountains and desert - whew! And we saw the license plates of 40 states in the US as well as 2 states of Mexico and 1 Canadian province!
I took along a book called Meditations with Julian of Norwich and enjoyed reading some in it every day.
Here are some things from that book that spoke to my heart:
"My own sin will not hinder the working of God's goodness."
"God does not want us to be burdened because of sorrows and tempests that happen in our lives, because it has always been so before miracles happen."
"Just as the joyful Trinity created all things out of nothing, so also this same blessed Trinity will make well all that is not well."
"Our good Lord answered all my doubts and questions by saying with full energy, 'I can make all things well, I know how to make all things well, I will make all things well. And you will see with your own eyes that every kind of thing will be well.' God wants us to be enclosed in these words restfully and peacefully."
May His grace and love just enfold us all and carry us along in peace and happiness in this coming year and forever!
Photos from Our Waterfall Walk
I thought I would put up some photos here from the walk my daughter and I took recently through the autumn woods to a waterfall. My oldest daughter showed me how to get these photos from cellphone to website. I am not very tech-savvy, so I appreciated her help!
Hope you enjoy these photos. It was like walking in wonderland going through those woods. Every tree was lit up with golden yellow. The place is an arboretum-type area, with labels on the trees and many wildflowers in the Spring. But the real attraction is the lovely waterfall cascading down many 'steps' - I think it is 60 feet tall. There are benches placed around for viewing. My daughter and I took a long time there just soaking in the natural beauty!
The woods were filled with golden-leaved trees!
Lovely stream flowing through the glen..
It was a perfect day, with mild temperatures and blue skies. I love looking up though the forest canopy to the sky.
Along the path to the falls..It's a short hike, but with lots of steps and slippery spots where water drips down over rocks and across the path. This just made the walk all the more interesting and fun.
The lovely waterfall, framed by autumn's color!
A rare photo of shy Sparrow that my daughter took..
Blessings to you all! Hope you are enjoying a lovely autumn in your 'neck of the woods!'
Hope you enjoy these photos. It was like walking in wonderland going through those woods. Every tree was lit up with golden yellow. The place is an arboretum-type area, with labels on the trees and many wildflowers in the Spring. But the real attraction is the lovely waterfall cascading down many 'steps' - I think it is 60 feet tall. There are benches placed around for viewing. My daughter and I took a long time there just soaking in the natural beauty!
Blessings to you all! Hope you are enjoying a lovely autumn in your 'neck of the woods!'
Comfort from Julian of Norwich
I have really been enjoying The Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich. I had read much of the book awhile back, but had forgotten many things there (or else not grasped them the first time through), so it has been a real joy to re-read this book as if for the first time.
It's wonderful how a person who lived 600 years ago can speak to us today with a message just as relevant as any modern "grace message!" I see so much of myself in Julian and her struggles with feeling guilty over sin, wanting to be good enough as a Christian yet putting herself down when she failed, wanting to be a good Christian following church teachings yet feeling God Himself was saying something different from what she had always heard in church...doesn't so much of that sound familiar and similar to the feelings we can have as we come away from performance based ideas into the light of grace and unconditional love? I just love the grace shared in this book. It is truly a message straight from God's heart to Julian's and ours, and as such, it is truly a timeless message that is endlessly satisfying and happy-making!
And there are many other things in this book that God has just pressed into my heart lately, reassuring me, encouraging me, and just warming me all over with a sense of awe at His great love. I guess we can never come to a full understanding of just how great that love is, can we? It's certainly far greater than I ever imagined!
I hope to share some of the ways God has encouraged me through the Revelations of Divine Love. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can do a few posts on that. Hope that is okay with everyone here at our little home on the web!
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the autumn weather and changing leaves. My youngest daughter and I took a lovely walk yesterday through a golden-leaved forest to a beautiful waterfall. We felt like we were in fairyland strolling through the sunlit leafy glen, it was so beautiful! I am sure that where each of you live you are experiencing the same. Do you ever say, 'This year He has really outdone Himself with the display of leaf color!" That's how I feel about this year. What a blessing to enjoy this beautiful world. Blessings to all of you!
It's wonderful how a person who lived 600 years ago can speak to us today with a message just as relevant as any modern "grace message!" I see so much of myself in Julian and her struggles with feeling guilty over sin, wanting to be good enough as a Christian yet putting herself down when she failed, wanting to be a good Christian following church teachings yet feeling God Himself was saying something different from what she had always heard in church...doesn't so much of that sound familiar and similar to the feelings we can have as we come away from performance based ideas into the light of grace and unconditional love? I just love the grace shared in this book. It is truly a message straight from God's heart to Julian's and ours, and as such, it is truly a timeless message that is endlessly satisfying and happy-making!
And there are many other things in this book that God has just pressed into my heart lately, reassuring me, encouraging me, and just warming me all over with a sense of awe at His great love. I guess we can never come to a full understanding of just how great that love is, can we? It's certainly far greater than I ever imagined!
I hope to share some of the ways God has encouraged me through the Revelations of Divine Love. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can do a few posts on that. Hope that is okay with everyone here at our little home on the web!
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the autumn weather and changing leaves. My youngest daughter and I took a lovely walk yesterday through a golden-leaved forest to a beautiful waterfall. We felt like we were in fairyland strolling through the sunlit leafy glen, it was so beautiful! I am sure that where each of you live you are experiencing the same. Do you ever say, 'This year He has really outdone Himself with the display of leaf color!" That's how I feel about this year. What a blessing to enjoy this beautiful world. Blessings to all of you!
Total Eclipse
(image from http://taostyle.net/2017/08/total-eclipse-sun/)
Yesterday the area where we live experienced a total solar eclipse. While my husband saw the eclipse on a break from work in town, the kids and I were home here in the countryside and got to enjoy this beautiful phenomenon right in our own backyard. We were in awe of this beautiful and rare (to us, at least) natural event!
As the sun dimmed, the temperature dropped several degrees. Then for that short time when the moon completely covered the sun, we experienced what looked like sunset/sunrise colors in the sky all around the horizon in every direction!
One thing that was amazing to me was how the animals reacted to the eclipse. In that balmy, deep twilight the crickets began chirping and other night insects began to sing, too! As the sun's rays peeked out again, it was just like morning, because the rooster began to crow from our neighbor's coop! I saw that nature works like clockwork, the animals responding to cues in nature such as temperature and brightness/darkness. Right on cue, when sunset or sunrise cues came, the animals reacted as they always had.
I feel that's how the message of grace is for me. My spirit responds to it just like clockwork. Whenever I hear the truth of God's unconditional love and acceptance, the assurance that He's carrying us to a perfect happy ending, my spirit just leaps up within me and does the happy dance! It's like my inner person can clearly see God's loving face and my heart just melts in joy and peace! I guess God's love sets my inner cricket to chirping every single time..this message never gets old. It's just as special, as fresh and new, as invigorating as the first time I ever heard it.
Thank God for such love that refreshes our hearts every time!
Life in the Past Year..Full of Ups and Downs
I know I haven't been actively posting on this blog for a while.
So many things have happened in my life, with our oldest daughter starting college, my husband switching to a new job, watching my mother deteriorate from dementia so that she no longer recognizes me, and the biggest upheaval of the past year - the passing into heaven of my beloved father, the best daddy in the world and one of the most special people one could ever meet.
So life has been surging on in its ups and downs this past year, and I just haven't been at a place of writing much.
But I want to extend my love and greetings to all and wish all a happy and joyous day in Him. He certainly carries us through the ups and downs of life, doesn't He? Without Him, I couldn't make it. But thankfully, He is here and He is so wonderful. Even when things are dark and we don't feel Him, He's still there. I'm glad of that, especially since the world felt so dark and lonely and cold after I lost my dad. God was there in the coldness. I couldn't feel Him at all, but He was there and He got me through.
I see now that He is with us just as strongly in the dark and cold and lonely times as He is in the 'super-spiritual, receiving great revelations, feeling spiritual joy and strength' times. It doesn't matter what our perception is or what our feelings are; He's still there holding us. He's the constant. He never changes. He never lets go. He never has and He never will.
So I greet everyone and send out blessings and wish you all the best and hope your days are good and full of joy and peace. Isn't it a relief that grace is true, that unconditional love is true, that God is truly good? I'm so thankful that all is well deep down, no matter what's happening on the surface of life. And I'm so thankful this life story is going to end well. That gives me a lot of peace. Everything is going to be okay, for He's involved in the writing of our story and He is the God of happy endings!
So many things have happened in my life, with our oldest daughter starting college, my husband switching to a new job, watching my mother deteriorate from dementia so that she no longer recognizes me, and the biggest upheaval of the past year - the passing into heaven of my beloved father, the best daddy in the world and one of the most special people one could ever meet.
So life has been surging on in its ups and downs this past year, and I just haven't been at a place of writing much.
But I want to extend my love and greetings to all and wish all a happy and joyous day in Him. He certainly carries us through the ups and downs of life, doesn't He? Without Him, I couldn't make it. But thankfully, He is here and He is so wonderful. Even when things are dark and we don't feel Him, He's still there. I'm glad of that, especially since the world felt so dark and lonely and cold after I lost my dad. God was there in the coldness. I couldn't feel Him at all, but He was there and He got me through.
I see now that He is with us just as strongly in the dark and cold and lonely times as He is in the 'super-spiritual, receiving great revelations, feeling spiritual joy and strength' times. It doesn't matter what our perception is or what our feelings are; He's still there holding us. He's the constant. He never changes. He never lets go. He never has and He never will.
So I greet everyone and send out blessings and wish you all the best and hope your days are good and full of joy and peace. Isn't it a relief that grace is true, that unconditional love is true, that God is truly good? I'm so thankful that all is well deep down, no matter what's happening on the surface of life. And I'm so thankful this life story is going to end well. That gives me a lot of peace. Everything is going to be okay, for He's involved in the writing of our story and He is the God of happy endings!
Thoughts of Grace After All These Years
It's been years since I first heard about God's grace, acceptance and unconditional love.
Yet I find that reading about that grace and love still makes me cry.
I guess it shows how powerful this message is, how true it is, and how much my heart needs it.
Here are some grace thoughts that have been going through my heart and mind and touching me in deep ways lately:
God made us, not so we could give Him glory, but so He could give us love.
Even when everything is all wrong, deep down everything is all right.
Even if I'm all wrong, I'm all right to God.
God always loved us and always shall love us.
We were always His adorable little innocent ones.
God can't see any sin in us! We're perfect darlings to Him.
My true nature, that I've always had, is good and loving. I take after my Dad, Mr. Love Himself!
He loved us so much He became a human, so He could share every part of our life with us!
I'm part of God, in God, held by God, and therefore always safe.
The universe is a good place because a good God is at its heart. He made it, He sustains it, and He will bring it to perfect fulfillment.
At the heart of it all, everything is ok and always will be okay.
God always wears a smile, always lends a helping hand, always gives an encouraging word.
God wanted to show us He was non-threatening, so He came as a tiny baby to show us we have nothing to fear from Him.
God is vulnerable and sweet, gentle and friendly.
God has no wrath. He is perfect peace, the opposite of wrath.
God does not punish. God heals and restores.
God does not destroy. God is the author of life, not death!
God never demanded our perfection. God has no demands at all of me. God simply accepts and embraces me as I am.
I am totally and fully accepted. I am accepted with all my shadows. I am accepted without any possibility of being rejected. I am accepted now and forevermore.
He is fine with me as I am! I'm perfect to God.
God is delighted with His child - me! He sings over me and loves to just look at me. I'm His pride and joy!
I am a beautiful and awesome person. God is pleased with me right now, as I am in this moment.
God says, "What sin? I see no sin in you. You are beautiful and there is no flaw in you."
At the heart of it all is a grace that embraces us, carries us and isn't going to let us go.
There is a lightness to God's love and grace. He makes our inner heart light. It's the lightness and joy of heaven and we'll enjoy it forever!
Yet I find that reading about that grace and love still makes me cry.
I guess it shows how powerful this message is, how true it is, and how much my heart needs it.
Here are some grace thoughts that have been going through my heart and mind and touching me in deep ways lately:
God made us, not so we could give Him glory, but so He could give us love.
Even when everything is all wrong, deep down everything is all right.
Even if I'm all wrong, I'm all right to God.
God always loved us and always shall love us.
We were always His adorable little innocent ones.
God can't see any sin in us! We're perfect darlings to Him.
My true nature, that I've always had, is good and loving. I take after my Dad, Mr. Love Himself!
He loved us so much He became a human, so He could share every part of our life with us!
I'm part of God, in God, held by God, and therefore always safe.
The universe is a good place because a good God is at its heart. He made it, He sustains it, and He will bring it to perfect fulfillment.
At the heart of it all, everything is ok and always will be okay.
God always wears a smile, always lends a helping hand, always gives an encouraging word.
God wanted to show us He was non-threatening, so He came as a tiny baby to show us we have nothing to fear from Him.
God is vulnerable and sweet, gentle and friendly.
God has no wrath. He is perfect peace, the opposite of wrath.
God does not punish. God heals and restores.
God does not destroy. God is the author of life, not death!
God never demanded our perfection. God has no demands at all of me. God simply accepts and embraces me as I am.
I am totally and fully accepted. I am accepted with all my shadows. I am accepted without any possibility of being rejected. I am accepted now and forevermore.
He is fine with me as I am! I'm perfect to God.
God is delighted with His child - me! He sings over me and loves to just look at me. I'm His pride and joy!
I am a beautiful and awesome person. God is pleased with me right now, as I am in this moment.
God says, "What sin? I see no sin in you. You are beautiful and there is no flaw in you."
At the heart of it all is a grace that embraces us, carries us and isn't going to let us go.
There is a lightness to God's love and grace. He makes our inner heart light. It's the lightness and joy of heaven and we'll enjoy it forever!
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