Scatter the flowers

  "When Jesus said 'Love your neighbor', He knew your neighbor would act, look, believe and love  differently than you.  It's kinda the whole point." ~ Toby Mac, Christian artist Ever have a day?  Like, I mean,  A. DAY .  Somebody slammed on their brakes and my beautifully engineered ever-so-safe car slammed on its' brakes automatically and my pot of soup I was taking to someone went flying off the front seat and all over my car.  Of course it was the best vegetable soup I'd ever made too.  Argh. Isn't that just the way it goes? Our best efforts get s abotaged, or at least our attitudes and joy do.  Sometimes our intentions are so noble, and yet it goes so badly.  I kind of look at that as Satan just trying to kill my joy and get me to grow weary of doing good.  Not today, Satan.   "Let us not become weary of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not give up." Gal 6:9 ...

  "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal." ~ Troy Ramey, artist My mom knocked on heaven's door this week, and was let in.  She had lived 94 years on this earth- through the Great Depression, tragedy, and a host of health issues- but plodded on with feistiness and a sense of humor. My mourning wasn't the only woe being experienced this week- miscarriages, mental illness, broken family relationships, fear of uncertainty - all woes this broken world has handed out to people I love.  And the prince of this world loves to throw them at us relentlessly.  Lord, how do we endure? How do we fight back the tendency to grow tired of it and let it rob us of our  joy? We ask God to give us the fruit of self-control and guard our minds.    "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."...

  "Darkness cannot drive out darkness.   Only light can do that."  ~ Martin Luther King Jr. The divisiveness.  The lies and accusations.  The insults hurled.  Just another day of news and politics and online social media conversations.  So much darkness. It leaves us with daily decisions of if, how and when to participate in these interactions.  It can bog us down, or we can look at it as an opportunity to bring some light into the dark. But we can't manufacture the light - as Christ followers we already have "it" inside of us.  Jesus specifically left us with a gift that sheds light in a world that doesn't see Him or know Him.  It is so inviting and comes completely out of love. "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to  help you and be with you forever-the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot  accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.  But you know  Him, for He lives w...

"Mathematics is the language with which  God  has  ruled the universe." ~ Galileo . Go back with me to a quick math lesson recall from Geometry (stay with me, it's short I promise).    Straight logic, right?  Let's apply one of the principles our Almighty God, the great Mathematician who designed numbers and the universe and our minds, created.   (a) - He knew we would need advice, help and support on this earth, in this broken life. (b) -  He gave us His Holy Scriptures, His Word, that miraculously survived over the years, to guide us. (c) -   He gave us the Holy Spirit as our "advocate", to help us understand His Word. So, therefore, our support, guidance and help comes by way of the Holy Spirit guiding us as we read the Bible- the holy, inspired Word of God.  Isn't math awesome? Don't just take this from an 8th grade math teacher.  Even man-made institutes support the benefits of reading the bible frequently, conclud...

  a tangled tapestry "The world is a place in which God creates order, but humanity has a tendency to create chaos." ~Rabbi Sacks 🕊  Ever feel beat up by life?  Like you're on the merry-go-round and it won't slow down enough to exit?  Having the thought, "If one more thing happens..." running through our mind, wondering what we would do? I remember as a mom of young children often just reacting to the cycling sickness, hectic schedule of activities, never-ending decisions of what to make for dinner, and constant barrage of discipline.  It was Monday, then in a blink it was Friday.  🕊   Or an even quicker blink, the kids were babies and now they're grown. As a retired grandma, I have a second to breathe and think about what's going on around me.  There's still the chaotic events of the world, the cycling of sickness and death, and  the decisions to make about how to invest your time, but I think God wants to remind us to breathe during it an...

  Google image "The greatest glory in living lies in not never falling,  but in rising every time we fall." ~Nelson Mandela 🐕 It's raining cats and dogs outside my window right now.  Where did that phrase come from anyway?  I mean, I would be okay if it rained cats, but dogs ? That's just mean.  Unless upon landing their paws turned into marshmallows.  Cats would just go on with their barren lives upon landing.   🐈 Is that too vicious?  Anyway ... 🐕  Rain turns me into a 'grab a throw and another cup of coffee' kind of person.  Somewhere along the lines I made a decision to respond in that way, and I'm glad.  I don't want rain to make me grouchy.  Yes, it can damper some outdoor plans, but where I live as long as it's raining there won't be fire danger.   These past several weeks a lot of spiritual 'rain' fell across our world.  It was dark, storms raged between people, and suffering and sadness loomed....