"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." ~David
While working hospice, I inevitably had to say goodbye to my friends. As they stepped through the door to heaven, the last thing I told them was that I was a tad jealous. "Barring any accidents, they were going to see Jesus first and could they please give him a hug for me." My comment was usually rewarded with a chuckle and has been the last conversation I've had with many. The Lord turned this around on me a couple months ago.
I had trouble sleeping when my husband was going in for surgery, while he was in surgery and during his recovery. During that time, I met a photographer from New York online. Over four years, we developed a friendship while we were both learning about photography. He prayed for my husband every time he went into surgery and kept the conversations light and fun. He'd post pictures of his family, his boys playing soccer, his marbles, ballerinas and other random shots. I was really looking forward to someday meeting him and his wife. A couple of months ago though, he died of a massive heart attack. I was stunned.
Going to the Lord, I prayed, "Jesus... I'm a tad jealous of you right now. You got to see Timothy first! Will you please give him a hug for me!" See you later my friend, I miss you.
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" ~John 11:25
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Monday, June 9, 2014
Numbered Days
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" ~Moses
I've always wanted a heart of wisdom so I prayed this song. Teach me to number my days aright, oh Lord! My personality is such that I have no concept of the passing of time. Everything is in the "now" and if not, it must've happened last week. Days flow into months and months into years before I catch up. I must admit when I prayed this prayer, I was totally stumped as to how the Lord was going to get the passing of time through to me. I began to watch for his teaching. As usual, he used something totally unexpected. A bag of goo and two pages of instructions for its care.
I was "blessed" with an Amish Friendship bread start. With two pages of how to care for this obnoxious little blob, I decided to name it. It was obviously a boy so I named it Fred. Fred the Bread. After three days of resting, Fred had to be squeezed every day. On the sixth day, he had to be fed. Back to squeezing until the tenth day when he had to be baked. Since it was a yeast bread that called for sugar, he had to be burped every once in awhile to keep him from exploding. I kid you not. This meant that I have to number the days and have a bake day every ten days. I squirmed under the control. Ten days goes by really fast and what if I didn't want to bake that day or something more fun came along to do? It forced me to plan. Do I have every thing I need to bake that day? When was I going to get what was lacking?
You may laugh but the control that little baggy had over my life became extremely irritating! I started to plot Fred's last bake day. After all, I learned the lesson ... Yeah, yeah... number my days. He'd be gone by Father's Day. Well, long story short: my husband had grown quite attached to Fred. It seems they enjoy second breakfast every day and he didn't want to put an end to that. So, my lesson continues as does the adventures of Fred the Bread. I've resigned myself to the routine of taking care of Fred and realized that numbering my days must be very important to the Lord. So important that he's not going to let me squirm out from under the answer to my prayer. Yes, that bag of goo was and still is an answer to prayer. I just wonder how long I have to keep baking before I get that heart of wisdom!
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." ~James
I've always wanted a heart of wisdom so I prayed this song. Teach me to number my days aright, oh Lord! My personality is such that I have no concept of the passing of time. Everything is in the "now" and if not, it must've happened last week. Days flow into months and months into years before I catch up. I must admit when I prayed this prayer, I was totally stumped as to how the Lord was going to get the passing of time through to me. I began to watch for his teaching. As usual, he used something totally unexpected. A bag of goo and two pages of instructions for its care.
I was "blessed" with an Amish Friendship bread start. With two pages of how to care for this obnoxious little blob, I decided to name it. It was obviously a boy so I named it Fred. Fred the Bread. After three days of resting, Fred had to be squeezed every day. On the sixth day, he had to be fed. Back to squeezing until the tenth day when he had to be baked. Since it was a yeast bread that called for sugar, he had to be burped every once in awhile to keep him from exploding. I kid you not. This meant that I have to number the days and have a bake day every ten days. I squirmed under the control. Ten days goes by really fast and what if I didn't want to bake that day or something more fun came along to do? It forced me to plan. Do I have every thing I need to bake that day? When was I going to get what was lacking?
You may laugh but the control that little baggy had over my life became extremely irritating! I started to plot Fred's last bake day. After all, I learned the lesson ... Yeah, yeah... number my days. He'd be gone by Father's Day. Well, long story short: my husband had grown quite attached to Fred. It seems they enjoy second breakfast every day and he didn't want to put an end to that. So, my lesson continues as does the adventures of Fred the Bread. I've resigned myself to the routine of taking care of Fred and realized that numbering my days must be very important to the Lord. So important that he's not going to let me squirm out from under the answer to my prayer. Yes, that bag of goo was and still is an answer to prayer. I just wonder how long I have to keep baking before I get that heart of wisdom!
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." ~James
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