the Gardener and the Seamstress

It's the most beautiful time of the year in Kentucky. I love fall. The crisp air. The sun is so bright as it causes the brightly colored leaves to glow. And the early morning sky takes my breath as I locate constellations and admire the moon.
 It's a very short season so the gardener must hustle to get her garden ready for the long winter. Bulbs must be gathered for next years plants. Sweet potatoes dug and stored in basement. Mulch put down so the beagles won't be tempted to get mud on their paws. Drain the hot tub and add fresh water. As with all the seasons there is lots to do. But bringing in the harvest lets me anticipate Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This is also a busy time in our shop. Customers want new window treatments or pillows to add finishing touches to their homes. We are working on some beautiful duvets and bedspreads this week. Our work is never boring because it's never the same thing. Different fabrics and styles keep it interesting and satisfying. Meeting people and creating the vision they describe or draw is the best. We are blessed by the work we enjoy so much.
I hope you are able to do the thing you love.

What Would You Ask?

I just got a glimpse of the message that Louie Giglio gave at Passion 2013.  From Isaiah 61 he asks " if its the year of the Lords favor, what would you like? What would you ask for?"

So my mind is spinning from ''me and mine' to the great Big world'.
What to ask for!  ( I takes wishes seriously if I'm asking God)
What will make the biggest difference?

So I start with what God has been teaching me this year.
MAKE DISCIPLES!
Jesus made disciples.
The world will be changed, One disciple at a time!

So if this is the year of the Lords favor,
This is what I ask,
Give me the desire to make disciples
So I will pray for 'divine appointments'.
And recognize them quickly,
And make myself available when they happen.
That I will have Faith to believe that God will answer this prayer,
And Faith that He will 'divinely enable' me to mentor those He brings  to me.

This year as I have studied Genesis in BSF, I am reminded that God always starts small when He plans to do something Big.  So instead of asking Him to change a world that is quickly on her way to the full measure of wickedness (Genesis 15:16), I'm asking that He change my Heart so that I might make a difference in the lives of those He gives me.
And since God is able to do immeasurably more that I ask or imagine, ( Ephesians 3:20). I also asked The Lord, to enable and empower  as many as will respond to the call to make disciples.
And then I Believe we will see a changed world.

Now being filled with Thankfulness and great expectancy I give God the Glory and Thanksgiving for what He will do in 2013 and beyond.

And you my friend are included in this request to the Great God.
Go and make disciples just as our Lord commissioned us.

How Can I 'know for certain'?

As I studied Genesis 15 I was fascinated by Abraham asking The Lord how he could know for certain the the promises he had been given would come to pass.  I always feel terrible when I doubt what The Lord says, but here the Father of the Faithful questioned our Lord. I thought I should step away in case The Lord 'took him out'.  Instead I continued to read and found that God actually answered him and said 'know for certain' that these things will come to pass.  Then as I studied each of the promises I saw that they actually did happen. Just as he had said they would.

Now Abraham did not live to see these things happen. He walked about on the promised land but did not own any of it except enough to bury his dead.  However his descendants were given it many years later.
He did see a son from his own body, the result of a miracle in two very old bodies. And that was enough for Abraham.  He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. If Abraham questioned God and is remembered today as faithful, what can I learn from this passage?

My take away

I should care enough to find out what God has planned for me by reading his word and asking him what he wants to accomplish through my life. I should not be afraid to ask questions. It would be foolish to be disrespectful or accusing. But I see from the example of a man God called his friend that I can ask and that I can 'know for certain'.

My granddaughters name is Lydia and I must say she has always been a little obsessed with Paul's friend from Philippi, Lydia. 
We all remember that Lydia was a dealer of purple cloth. And of course my Lydia loves purple. Her nursery was lovely with purple and sage green.
When Paul arrived in her city he began to teach a group of women who had gathered to pray. And as he spoke "the Lord opened her heart to respond to his message".  I noticed that a few scriptures earlier that Paul had not planned to go to Philippi but through a vision God sent him to Macedonia.  Makes me wonder what those women were praying for....
to make a long story short I discovered that Lydia was the first convert in Asia, and the first church of Philippi was in her home. They faithfully supported Paul's ministry for many years. In fact Paul wrote Philippians to this church ten years later. And as you read you can see that he dearly loved them. He prayed some of the most amazing prayers over this church. I have learned many life lessons from the book of Philippians and refer to it often.
I found out these interesting facts in my BSF study of Acts. So now I have two Lydia's to love.

Last year: Saw the importance of Spreading the Gospel So I memorized scriptures to help me share. Learned how much Jesus Loves the little children So I volunteered to help in AWANNA. Heard God telling me to get sponsors for girls in Guatemala So I moved when he opened the door.

The Secret Place

It is my most joyous time.
To come into the sanctuary of the Most High God.
To rise and see the moon and stars
To hear the gentle breath of the sleeping earth
(mostly the snoring of 3 beagles who gather around me)
Grasping a few more moments of sleep before,
The breaking of the dawn.

A time of solitude and meditation
Where I talk with my God.
He teaches me as I confide in Him.
This is the place where I am strengthened,
Enough to face whatever this day holds.
I could say this is the place
where my tank is filled with fuel.

And that reminds me of another place,
After the breaking of the dawn,
And life comes at me fast,
The fuel gage starts to drop
And it's a long time until morning,

I start to grumble or complain or worse-

Or I remember the secret place
Where my strength is renewed.
I call out
And He is there!

Sometimes He calms the storm.
Sometimes He just calms me.

Dear God, Please invite anyone who reads these words into your secret place. So that they may be strengthened and find answers to the questions they may have. In Jesus Name amen

Transplanted Prayer

About 6 years ago I taught the children of a small group I was a part of. We were meeting at my daughters home so while the adults were occupied I led the children on a prayer walk through the neighborhood. We stopped at a building site down the street and stood on the newly poured foundations. We prayed for the people who would live there, asking for children for my grandaughters to play with and asking God to lead them to salvation if they did not know Him.
Last year while Julie and Paul were in Guatemala on a mission trip and we were taking care of Shelby, 11 and Lydia, 9  I had the great joy of hearing their bedtime prayers. They were very concerned about the salvation of their friends who lived in the house down the street and prayed about them every night. I asked them if they could remember when we prayed over their house and they did not, they were very young then.
This week Lydia was so excited when she came into AWANA leading her friend Colin. I was blown away by the goodness of God. Colin  had an awesome time and I could see the windows of heaven flung open and the invitation for life extended.
I learned that God not only hears our prayers but they are timeless with Him. He took this prayer from many years ago and planted it in the hearts of my grandaughters and now they whisper it to Him and He smiles answers down on them.
He makes my heart glad.
Whose name can you whisper in prayer so that your Father can call them into the light?