Encouraging Deep Roots

Isaiah 26:3-4 ~ "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." Three a.m. seems to be the hour when my over-active brain wakes me up the past few weeks.  I lay there, willing my mind to go back to sleep but inevitably those concerns and worries that I'm facing start invading my thoughts. We have had a stressful few months.  We are dealing with some concerns with family, financial issues and various health concerns.  It seems as if I get over the top of one wave of stress and then am facing another one.  The waves are endless and there are times when I feel like I'm sinking beneath them. I love these verses in Isaiah because it is a reminder that the Lord brings peace to the man or woman who trusts in Him. Trust is the key. When I take my eyes off the Lord and put them onto my circumstances, I can begin to feel anxious and stre...

Throughout the years, I have been told that I'm transparent.  I easily share my feelings.  I don't try to hide things.  I'm a fairly open book.  And by that, I don't mean I share every last thing in my life, but I certainly wouldn't be called reserved. I looked up the meaning of transparent this morning. Transparent - a. light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen. b. Easy to perceive or detect. Yep.  That sums up who I am.  Because in all the times I share and am transparent, my desire is to point people to the Lord.  I want them to see Him in me.  I want them to know that even when I struggle, my desire is to please and serve God. Being transparent can be painful.  Sometimes it means opening myself up to criticism or misunderstanding.  It means I have to be vulnerable.  Some people don't like transparency.  But my desire is that God's light would shine through me and people would be able ...

Psalm 94:18-19 (NIV) ~ When I said, “My foot is slipping, ” your unfailing love, Lord , supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. For the past few weeks, Dan has been speaking about hindrances to our faith.  This Sunday he talked about the lack of joy as one of those hindrances.  We will have trials and troubles in this life.  Not a week or month will go by without some sort of struggle happening.  It's my attitude as I go through those trials that matters. I slip and slide my way through life.  My anxieties often cause me to flail and flounder.  Yet, the joy I have is a result of trusting that the Lord has a reason for allowing me to go through something.  I'm at peace because I know who is in control.  I can lay down and sleep each night because of the hope I have.  I may slip and slide, but God's hand steadies and supports me.  Nehemiah 8:10b (NIV) ~ Do not grieve, for th...

Dan and I walk side by side in silence; the only sound is the crunching of leaves under our feet and the shrill chirp of chipmunks.  Every now and then we are rewarded with the sight of wildlife; a doe and her two fawns, squirrels, or a garter snake, slithering across the path to get out of our way.  The air smells sweet and earthy.  The forest air is thick and humid.  It is our place to retreat and reconnect. There aren't many forests in Central New York and we are happy to have this little oasis.  I mentioned to Dan yesterday that the minute I leave the car and begin walking here, I feel the burden lifting from my shoulders and my head clearing. Being in full-time ministry isn't easy.  So many people look at the pastorate with scorn.  They think it's a cushy job and the joke is that pastors work one day a week.  And the truth is at times it is unique because of the flexibility many pastors have....

Exodus 14:13-16 ~ Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground." The Israelites are at the edge of the Red Sea with Pharoah's army riding hard on their heels. After letting them leave Egypt with Moses, he had a change of heart and was after them to bring them back into captivity. We pick up this story here where the Israelites are panicking and start wailing and lamenting to Moses that he should have let them die in Egypt. I love the Lord's solution to this. He tells the Israelites, "Be quiet!" "Stop whining." "Have fa...

It's been a hard road to have children while being in the ministry and I fear we've made numerous mistakes along the way.  The hardest part is when you see your children affected by decisions you've made.  Moving here was hard on two of my children.  Emily had close friends in our last church and it's been a hard adjustment for her here.  She's made some friends and also lost a few along the way.  The year we first moved here, she went to summer camp, excited to see her friends from her last church.  However, they had moved on and to be honest, were quite unkind to her during the week of camp.  The day we picked her up from camp, she sobbed all the way home.  Then there have been some hurtful situations here as well.  I've watched her close herself off from people quite a bit.  She's more cynical than she ever used to be and that breaks my heart. Stephen is doing okay though still struggles quite regularly with g...

It was such a busy weekend and one in which I didn't do much relaxing. Saturday was taken up with a children's program, cleaning the church and typing up and copying bulletins as well as things around the house.  The majority of my Sunday afternoon was spent canning.  It has been so hot here and yesterday the humidity finally dropped.  So I took advantage of the cooler temperatures in the afternoon and started working on processing the fruit and vegetables I had. I canned the 6 pints of sauerkraut that had been sitting in brine.  I made another 7 pints of bread and butter pickles.  I made 6 - 1/2 pints of blackberry jelly.  I made a batch of cheese - queso blanco. I plan on making bread out of the leftover whey from the cheese. This time of the year is busy but I enjoy it.  I spend time praying while I cook or can.  I reflect on different things.  It's a good time of mentally thinking through a problem....

Ephesians 5:1-2 (HCSB) ~ Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.   And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. When the boys were little they followed Dan around and imitated everything he did.  They loved nothing more than riding in the car with him and going places.  Whatever he did they wanted to do.  When they played, I would often catch them pretending to preach or mimicking something that they had seen their daddy do.  At times, our children's imitation of us wasn't so pleasant.  I would hear attitudes and words come out of them that showed they watching everything we said and did, and it wasn't always positive.  Just as children imitate their parents, we are to imitate our Heavenly Father.  We should be watching how He acts and reacts, what He says and how He responds.  Jesus example should be what we try to mimic.  We ...

Many days when I open up my Facebook to see what's going on in my friends, family and acquaintances lives, I'll see wonderful pictures and positive posts.  But many days I also read words of complaint, discontent and at times, verbal vomit.  It's so easy to fall into the trap of spending the majority of our lives complaining instead of being thankful.  Or to think that if my circumstances were different then I would be happy. Every now and then I too fall into the trap of wanting to take to my keyboard to launch a complaint but then I'll remember these verses in Colossians. Colossians 3:15-17 ~ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the ...

Today was the last day of our frugal staycation and was the most pricey of the week.  Yesterday, I went grocery shopping, read, watched a movie, and basically did a few chores.  So while we didn't go anywhere it was a nice change from our normal breakneck speed. This morning, Dan & I headed to a state park near here and walked about 3 miles.  Then we sat and enjoyed the view for a bit.  We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast before heading home. This afternoon we took the kids and went to see the new Star Trek movie.  Our local movie theater redid some of the rooms and we were happy to find out the movie was in one of the newer ones with reclining seats. Total cost for today = $64.50 ($7 parking at park, $8 coffee and breakfast, $32.50 movie tickets, and $17 snacks at theater). Total cost for 7 days = $144. So while it wasn't the most exciting week, it was a good one and we enjoyed it.  It is possible to have fun and not...

Today was a bit different as we all were dragging today.  Both Emily & I have sore throats.  This afternoon we headed off to an art museum in Syracuse.  It was a modern art museum and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. We came to the conclusion that we were not a fan of it at all.  In fact, I don't think I've seen so many private body parts in one place before!  One whole display devoted to them.  Yikes! What in the world?!? Afterwards, we headed to one of our favorite places - Barnes and Noble.  We wandered around the bookstore, bought a few books and got a drink at Starbucks there. So it was a different type of afternoon but interesting none-the-less.  Total cost for the day = $30 ($22 museum; $8 drinks) Cost for the week to date = $79.50

The kids had dentist appointments this morning so we had a late start.  Nathan treated us to lunch and then we went to play miniature golf and have ice cream. Tonight, Dan and I are attending a free concert at a local park.  It's big band music and it will be enjoyable to sit and listen to music while we watch the sun set over Lake Ontario. Total cost for today - $ 31.50 Cost for the week to date - $ 49.50

I spent the majority of my morning doing work and trying to meet a deadline.  My computer was not cooperating and it was a bit frustrating.  However, after lunch we headed off to the city of Syracuse to go to the Erie Canal Museum. Again, I had no idea that this place existed and it was a great piece of history of our New York State canal systems.  I'm pretty sure Emily would have preferred to be anywhere else!  :-)  However, she was good-natured about it especially when her mother wouldn't let go of her arm and kept cracking jokes the entire visit.  After the museum we walked around the downtown area of the city and stumbled upon a cute little coffee shop.  So we ordered ice coffee and drinks and sat out on the sidewalk.  It was actually a very nice afternoon given my stressful morning. Total Cost for the day - $18.

I mentioned the other day that because money was tight we decided to stay home and find frugal things to do each day.  My goal is to spend as little as possible and yet, have fun.  The nice thing about being home is we can do the meals here. (Love Stephen's face - lol) Today was the first day.  Of course, plans got changed a bit because we had to take Stephen back to the camp where he is working this summer.  It's an hour away from our house.  So we left about 10 this morning and dropped him off there and then Dan and I went by ourselves to our first stop. We went to Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY.  I've driven by it so many times throughout the years and never knew what a jewel this place was!  And the best part is it is free.  We spent the morning learning some of the history of this fort and wandering through it. We came home for a late lunch and headed out the door to hike at a nearby nature trail and water fall.  Emil...

I haven't written a Multitude Monday post since the beginning of June and yet, there have been so many things I'm thankful for in my life.  It's easy to zip along each day and take them for granted.  Often times I go through my days and weeks and hardly give those little blessings a passing glance. I want to be aware and thankful of God's hand on me throughout my days. Psalm 116:12-14 (NLT) ~ What can I offer the Lord      for all he has done for me? I will lift up the cup of salvation      and praise the Lord ’s name for saving me. I will keep my promises to the Lord      in the presence of all his people. God has done so much for me and the reality is that I never could repay Him.  The only thing I have to offer is my thanks and my life.  All I have is the ability to rise each morning and pour out my life in His service.  I'm so thankful for this life I have been given. This week I'm tha...