Category: Faith Lived Out

Most of us could use a transfusion of smiles and energy about now. So sit back, put your feet up and watch these beautiful children. You won't want to miss a move.

Even if you've seen this before, I promise it will make you smile all over again and give you an energy lift.

Fifth-graders who live in the Yupik Eskimo village of Quinhagak, Alaska, pop. 555 at the 2,000 census, put this together as a school computer project, intended for other Yupik villages in the area.

By now more than 1,200,000 people have viewed this performance of the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's Messiah.

Take a moment to marvel at what God can do with the work of one individual.

In 1741, George Frideric Handel considered himself something of a failure. Then he composed the entire score of Messiah over a period of 24 days. He is said to have felt God gave him the music, but he could not predict how this music would endure.

He could not have imagined that 360 years later, Eskimo children in a small Alaskan village would treat us to this creative performance accompanied by a choir singing the "Hallelujah" chorus.

Tthe teacher of this class in that small Eskimo school could not foresee anyone in any other place would ever see this video.

There's a lesson here for you and me

As individuals and as moms and dads we cannot know what God will do with our work–or our child's work.

Handel composed many other musical works, but only his "Hallelujah" chorus is sung and hummed all over the world. His Messiah is performed every Christmas season by choruses and choirs in huge cities and in tiny villages on every continent. At the time he could not have guessed the value of his work.

I can't help thinking of this Bible verse.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. –Ephesians 2:10

That verse wasn't aimed only at Handel and other famous people. It speaks to you and me, too.

Think you're on a treadmill and going nowhere?

Perhaps today you question the value of your life. Maybe you're facing your first Christmas alone after losing a loved one.

If you're a mom, your family most often notices what you do when you don't do it. Put a positive spin on that. Being taken for granted also means your family knows they can count on you.

Forget looking elsewhere to find your particular "good works." You're living with them. What's more, the family life you create, the love you pour into your days will live on in your children. Every day you are coloring their lives–and their picture of life.

Joy comes from giving ourselves fully and from knowing that what we do matters, whether we see the end result or not. God is faithful. What we do in faith will live on, one way or another.

Believe it. Let that truth put fresh energy in your tired body.

Then look again at the smiles on the faces of those Eskimo school children and sing Hallelujah! in your heart.

Someone needs us, needs our kind words, needs our encouragement. Those are gifts, too.

Now, let's enjoy this wonderful Christ-mas season of giving ourselves,

Lenore

Declare a “joy break” and refresh your heart

December 16, 2011
In Grapevine, Texas, it all started with one man, during the 2008 football season. That's when Coach Chris Hogan made a strange request.

fans.

Gainesville State School is a State Juvenile Correctional Facility for 13 year-old to 19 year-old convicted serious offenders. The 14 teenagers on their football team had been convicted of crimes ranging from drugs to assault to robbery. Few had any contact with their families. They were allowed to play on the Tornadoes team only so long as they maintained strict standards of conduct and academics. Coach Mark Williams worked with players who practiced and played with used, outdated equipment.

Faith Christian Academy basked in 70 players, 11 coaches, and the finest equipment.

Faith's Head Coach Hogan knew no one would cheer for the Gainesville team. He came up with a radical idea. He would ask half the fans and half the cheerleaders to root for the Gainesville team, for just that one night, November 7th. Hogan sent an e-mail around to fans and families that read, "Let's send a message to the Gainesville team." he wrote, "You're just as valuable as any other person on the planet."

Hogan told a player who asked why, "Imagine you don't have a home life, no one to love you, no one pulling for you. Imagine that everyone pretty much has given up on you. Now, imagine what it would feel like and mean to you for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Coach Hogan's idea caught on. When the Gainesville players appeared they ran through their first-ever spirit line, a long line made up of parents, cheerleaders and students. They even crashed through their first banner, made by Faith Academy cheerleaders. Once players were on the field, a crowd of Faith Christian parents and fans seated themselves in the Visitors stands as well as their own.

Isaiah, the Gainesville quarterback-middle linebacker said, "I never in my life thought I would hear parents cheering for us to tackle and hit their kid. Most of the time, when we come out, people are afraid of us, you can see it in their eyes. But these people were yelling for us. They knew our names."

As expected, Faith Academy won the game, 33-14. After the game both teams gathered at the 50-yard line to pray. To everyone's surprise Isaiah, the teenage convict-quarterback , asked if he could pray. He prayed, "Lord, I don't know what just happened so I dont know how or who to say thank you to, but I never knew there were so many people in the world who cared about us."

The people of Faith Christian Academy weren't done yet. As Gainesville players walked back to the bus under guard, each one was given a burger, fries, a coke, candy, a Bible, and an encouraging letter from the Faith Academy players .

A reporter for The Dallas Morning News quoted Coach Hogan's rationale. "We wanted to show them unconditional love," he said. "Love covers a multitude of sins, the Bible says, and it wasn't just the Gainesville kids, because we've all sinned. That night, love covered everything up."

That game was not the end of it. Grapevine residents and outsiders continued to provide support for these young men. As each one completed their sentences most had no family ready to welcome them back. So several of the released prisoners went home to stay with Grapevine families.

Since that 2008 football game the story has spread through various media outlets. Coach Hogan was invited to be a guest at the 2009 Super Bowl. This fall a movie is scheduled for release and you can watch the promo if you Google www.oneheart.com .

It began when one Christian individual inspired others to be salt and light in their community. When Jesus talked about that in Matthew 5:13-16, He wanted us to know that our deeds, small and big, have impact. Who knows how He will use them?

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Blessings,

Lenore

Can one person change the world–or one community?

February 15, 2011
Another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. I love it that every time we say the name
of this holiday it reminds us of what it's all about: giving thanks.

Maybe some of us don't feel much like giving thanks right now. Maybe we're slogging through a rough patch that shows no sign of smoothing out. Every day starts and ends with one thought, one prayer: Please let this be over–soon!

Even if things are good in our lives, probably most of us can remember a time when we floundered and fretted. When that's where we are and life feels empty, how are we supposed to feel thankful?

All I can do is tell you what helps me when I find myself walking that long, lonesome road.

That's when I hang on to what I know by faith and by experience: God is still God and His Word is still true. Even if I feel abandoned, the Bible over and over says He loves me. What's more, He doesn't love me because of my shining faith and my perfect life, only because I believe in Jesus.

   [Jesus said] "No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me     and have believed that I came from God."              –John 21:27                                                                                                                                                                                       -Then I search out Bible verses that reassure me. Sometimes I write them down and keep them with me so I can repeat them over and over to myself. Like this one:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                                 –Romans 8:35, 37-39

When I feel weak and overwhelmed this verse reminds me I can draw on power beyond my own:

[The Apostle Paul says] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."                                                                               –2 Corinthians 12:9

When we're feeling down it's easy to lose hope for the future, isn't it? That's when I go to this promise:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                                                                 –Jeremiah 29:11

As for what lies beyond, here's the greatest promise of all:

[Jesus says] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son in to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."    –John 3:16-17

So, it's Thanksgiving. Time for officially thanking the Giver. I forget sometimes that "ordinary" things are a blessing. Like being able to breathe in and out. Like eyes that work. Like the ability to call up happy memories. It took me way too long but I've learned life feels, um, happier when I remember to thank Him every day.

Each of the Bible verses I've quoted is underlined in my Bible. It took me way too many years before I picked up a pen and started underlining, but it has blessed my life. Countless times I've opened my old NIV and gone from one underlined verse to the next. Every time I feel my spirits lift.

Be wiser than I was and start now. Find Bible verses that speak to your heart and your spirit and mark them. Think through how they apply to you and your life. Keep them handy to pass on to someone who's hurting.

By the way, any time you feel alone, think of this verse and the word picture it paints. This is how God feels about you and me:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.                                    –Zephaniah 3:17

Imagine! Now there's a reason to give thanks . . .

Here's to a JOY-filled Thanks-giving day, every day,

Lenore

P. S. I'm thankful for you, my friend, for taking time to read my words.

Thanks-living any day of the year, even in tough times

November 24, 2010
Imagine being thirty-two years old and being told the sore on the back of your tongue is malignant. Surgery, to be performed at once, would involve removing most, if not all, of your tongue. Afterward, you might never be able to swallow on your own, nor speak intelligibly.

Hearing that would devastate anyone, but especially a pastor who spends his life speaking, preaching and teaching. Especially the doting father of a two-year old little girl.

Scott Schmieding, a Lutheran pastor then in Baton Rouge, LA, survived the eleven-hour surgery in 1995. Surgeons in Houston opened his neck from ear to ear and removed his tongue through his throat. Then they removed a muscle from his abdomen and reconstructed the cavity in his mouth. Intense radiation followed, which caused mouth blisters. For eight months he breathed through a hole in his neck and ate through a feeding tube. Radiation also eliminated Schmieding's sense of taste and ability to swallow. So he learned a new way to swallow–a quick toss of his head backwards, to move the food to the back of his throat, where gravity took over.

From the moment of his diagnosis one question dogged him. If he lived, how would he talk without a tongue? How could he communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ? That passion drove him to doggedly persevere in speech therapy sessions. With the help of a special retainer which acts somewhat like a megaphone, he learned to pronounce consonants. To make the "T" sound, for example, he shoots air at his retainer.

Finally Scott Schmieding was ready to return to his life as a parish pastor, wondering always what would happen if parishioners couldn't understand his slightly impaired speech. His first Sunday back he baptized his newborn son, there in the Baton Rouge congregation which had loved and prayed for him and his family throughout their long ordeal.

Schmieding says he never asked God, "Why?" Rather, he prayed to understand the purpose of his ordeal. During the past thirteen years he arrived at an answer. Noting that he and his family also lived through five major hurricanes in Louisiana, he says, "I have become an expert at adversity. I know what people are feeling when they face trials and tragedy."

That's why Scott Schmieding has become a sought-after speaker. His message of hope and perseverance comes through loud and clear. In March, 2010, he became pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Charles, MO. Members soon found they didn't notice any speech irregularities because they were so caught up in their new pastor's joy in Jesus.

When asked how he got through it, he points to the Apostle Paul, who faced his own set of daunting challenges. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul repeats the words of Christ to him:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Scott Schmieding knows the truth of those words first-hand. He believes he reaches more people without a tongue than he would have if he'd never had cancer. That doesn't strike him as remarkable. "The history of the Bible is the story of God using imperfect people for his perfect purposes," he says. "I'm just one in a very long line of imperfect people being used by God."

I learned of Pastor Schmieding when our daughter in the St. Louis area clipped an article by Tim Townsend in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the basis for this blog post. I've never met him, but his story lifts my heart. I pray it will do the same for you. If you wonder how he sounds, here's a link to a short clip with sound: http://interact.stltoday.com/mds/projects/html/2428

(If you have trouble with the link, copy and paste it to your search engine.)

Each of us will draw our own lessons from this story of one man's life–and of course, his family's life, too. As I think about the miracle of his healing and the surgery that enables him to talk, it reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses, Jeremiah 32:27:

"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"

God brought Scott Schmieding his long period of suffering and in the midst of it, gave him joy. Despite what looked like the worst kind of loss, he gained not only life through that surgery, but also a deeper understanding of what it feels like to be fearful and in pain. When he ministers to hurting people, they know he's been there and truly understands their emotions and their sometimes doubts.

This story says to me, Live. Live today. Live fully. Live in faith. Don't be too quick to label something "a disaster." Our lives are in God's hands and He often works through human hands.

What about you? What do you draw from this story? Maybe you have a story to share or are living out a hard time. If you tell the rest of us, we can pray for you.

Whatever you're facing, keep on trusting. God is faithful and He can be trusted.

His peace and blessings,

Lenore

Hope in the midst of cancer and meaning in the aftermath

June 22, 2010
We see the images and wonder how anyone could survive this. And yet…people did.

You've heard the unbelievable stories. Here are two that especially touched my heart. I think these two people have much to teach you and me.

One is Romel Joesph, a Haitian-born music teacher…who was born blind, or so sight-impaired that he is legally blind.

Imagine yourself pinned beneath rubble for eighteen hours, unable to move, not able even to see. Imagine knowing all along that while you were on the third floor when the earthquake struck, your pregnant wife had been on the first floor and you could not know whether she was alive or dead. (She did not survive.)

Romel Joseph told interviewers how he got through that wrenching time. I caught his story while driving and later looked it up in the N.P.R. archives. Here's the gist of how he survived the horror.

"I knew I could not allow my mind to wander and to keep thinking only about rescue. So I decided to keep a strict schedule, hour by hour. I set aside the first twenty minutes for prayer and meditation," Joseph says. "After that I focused my mind on favorite pieces of music I knew, one at a time. I forced myself to concentrate, note by note, as precisely as if I were directing an orchestra. In effect, that took me to another place in my mind. For that time I did not feel my pain, did not allow myself to wonder whether help would arrive.

"Hour by hour, that's what I did. First the prayer and meditation, then the music. So I not only killed time, but I reminded myself I was not alone. I told myself I was brushing up on my directing skills and I mentally escaped the space where I was."

Romel Joseph is no stranger to tragedy. He founded the New Victorian School in 1991, in Port-au-Prince, to teach music to Haitian children. That school burned to the ground exactly ten years to the day before this earthquake once again leveled the school.

Friends dug him out after eighteen hours lying there with his leg pinned and crushed under concrete. Surgeons also repaired his severely fractured left hand, but they cannot say whether he'll regain full function…and what is a violinist without a left hand that works?

But Joseph plans to rebuild as soon as he can. As he puts it, "I need more than an earthquake to make me stop my work in Haiti!"

I think this man shows us how in the midst of fears and troubles we can deliberately turn our thoughts to other things, to people we love, to happier times and, yes, to God. Our situation may not change, but our ability to cope will.

Another rescued woman in a television interview (couldn't find her story in print) told what enabled her to hang on. She said something like this. "I lost everything except what matters most," she said, holding up her Bible. "I could not move, there in the dark, so I searched my memory and remembered some Psalms. I kept repeating them over and over, especially Psalm 46. God brought me through this, praise be, and here I am."

For thousands in Haiti, this was–and is–the worst of times. Thank God most of us will not be caught in anything like that earthquake. Yet I think these two accounts teach us a lot about surviving our own fears and sorrows without crumbling under the load.

Perhaps you love Psalm 46, too. I often find myself going back to my old, dog-eared Bible, to reread sections I've underlined in the past. Always, that includes these favorite verses of Psalm 46.

Psalm 46

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging…

⁵God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day…

¹⁰ "Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth."

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
   Selah

God's peace and blessings,

Lenore

Learning from Haiti survivors how to make it through our tough times

January 27, 2010
It's time to put up those new calendars. If you're like me, you're thinking about the year ahead and asking yourself some questions.

How will I fill my time? What will I read? What will I look at?
Who will I hang around with?

That matters. I can't recall who said this, but it's good.

The person you will be five years from now will be determined by the books you read, the television you watch and the people you spend your time with.

A friend loved to remind anyone within hearing, "You gotta put the good stuff in if you want to get the good stuff out."

He thought that saying applied to all of life…and he was right.

You probably know this well-loved summary of how you and I can "put the good stuff in."

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. –Philippians 4:8

Lots of people make jokes about New Year's resolutions, because we usually fall short. It helps to remind ourselves that the only person who never fails is the one who never tries.

So I resolve to reread Phil. 4:8 frequently and: Think it. Speak it. Live it.

I hesitate to write down my other resolution. You see, I've been working on a book for moms for a very long time. For no good reason, I have delayed sending off queries. This year I will not rest until I find an editor or agent who believes in this book as much as I do and wants to publish it.

What's your resolution? Why not share it, so we can encourage each other? Just keep scrolling to the "Post a Comment" box below and follow directions.)

Friends, I wish you blessings and great JOY in every day of the year ahead!

Lenore

What kind of “stuff” do you plan to put into your days?

December 31, 2009
What makes some people maintain that spunk and feisty spirit into old age? Is it a temperament they're born with or do they choose it?

I've wondered about that for years,. The other day I got an e-mail from a relative with a photo of my aunt, who lives in Minnesota. Aunt Elsie is my father's baby sister and the only one of those five siblings still living on earth.

At age 101, she maintains the spirit and humor I always loved as a child. Now she lives in an assisted-living residence and walks with a walker. When someone commented she gets around very well, she said yes, she does. Then she smiled her old smile and said, "And I would dance, too, if I had a partner!"

That doesn't surprise me one bit. I haven't seen Aunt Elsie for years, but I always delighted in how she seemed to have fun wherever she was. I remember so well her laugh and her sparkling eyes.

Yet that didn't flow out of getting all the breaks in life. She and her husband worked hard running their own business. Childless for many years, they adopted a daughter and shortly thereafter had three kids of their own. At age four their oldest boy received a brain injury as the result of another driver hitting him while he crossed the street. He came out of the coma, but never was the same, never able to keep up with his siblings.

But life went on and so did Aunt Elsie and Uncle Earl and the rest of the family. That catastrophe took awhile for all of them to take in and get used to. Mostly they coped. They never doubted that God let their son live for a reason and they wouldn't look back. They suffered through all the usual emotions and grief, but they survived…and kept on believing, kept on loving.

These two lived through the usual ups and downs of rearing children to adulthood–and much more, besides. Aunt Elsie dealt with illnesses and the death of two husbands. But she never gave up. She lives on and laughs and jokes.

All along the way, she had choices to make. Would she become a harpy? A bitter woman, angry at God, perpetually expecting disaster? And who would have blamed her if she had.

But she didn't. She chose to go on believing that God loves her and her family, and watches over all of them. I'm betting she has read Psalm 139 over and over, sometimes looking for answers to her whys and sometimes soaking up reassurance.

Since my mom died before she reached age 55, I look at older women for role models of how to do it. I look at Aunt Elsie and all the others who choose to go on living with gusto and faith every day of their lives.

To me they're shining examples of the truth of Psalm 92:12, 14-15:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The LORD is upright' he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

Let's choose to be ageless…fresh and green every day of our lives!

Here's wishing you JOY in your journey through life,

Lenore

Your comments welcomed!

The secret of youth–and it doesn’t come in a jar

October 21, 2009
Imagine standing where your front door used to be, looking up and down your street– and seeing only smoldering rubble.

No, it's not Baghdad or Kabul. It's here in California. Scenes like this are playing out all over the state.

If you live in another state, you might wonder why we have so many wildfires. For one thing, we have lots of hilly areas, with brush and trees growing on them. Homes, expensive homes, often dot those canyon areas. People build there for the privacy and the view.

With almost no rain from April or May until November, we get dry. So we Californians always feel a bit edgy when our weather turns windy, with low humidity. In the Los Angeles area people cringe every time wild Santa Ana winds howl through the canyons and humidity drops below 10 percent. Sometimes fires rage even without those "devil winds," as they're often called.

This year, for instance. Being in our third year of drought means that everything is as combustible as a pile of kindling. Warnings go out all the time to avoid anything that can strike sparks, to skip building campfires, to be sure barbecue grill fires are out, etc. Even then, "harmless" activities can be dangerous. Not long ago one enormous fire started when a fellow was mowing and hit a rock.

So far in the Sacramento area we've had some fires, but nothing big.

That changed yesterday. Our humidity levels hovered beween 10 and 15 per cent. Then came dry winds blowing at 25 mph.

In the middle of nearby Auburn, along a busy road right through town, a fire broke out. Flames quickly spread and burned uphill into a residential area. We saw the black cloud of billowing smoke–and smelled it, too. Firefighters turned out from all over. Nevertheless, by nightfall, sixty-three homes and three businesses had burned to the ground. Dream homes, picture-perfect homes on large lots, some new, some older…all of them gone. This morning's television newscasts show streets and neighborhoods with nothing standing, only ruins.

Some people didn't even have time to grab a picture album or any important papers. One said, "I was taking an afternoon nap and somebody banged on our door, saying the fire was fifteen feet from my place. I got out with only the clothes I was wearing."

The tight-knit community of Auburn grieves today, but they're pulling together, offering food and shelter. People like me feel sad, too, thinking what it would be like to lose everything. No one died, thank God. Yet the outward trappings of our earthly life do carry meaning, if only for sentimental value.

Of course, we needn't have our homes burn down to have our lives change in an instant. All it takes is a car accident, a nasty tumble, a dreaded medical diagnosis, the death of one we love or job loss.

So how shall we get through this risky business of living without quivering in a corner? I only know one way: Trust in the Lord.

Yes, it's true, Christians suffer loss and illness and death, like everyone else. But believing that we're not alone and knowing others pray for us lightens the burden, however crushing it may be. In the midst of the pain we trust that God somehow will bring good out of the experience. Over time I've learned that what makes no sense at the time almost always turns out to have a blessing hidden in it, even if we have to wait awhile to see it.

What helps me get through tough times is to cling to Bible verses that speak to my heart. For me, it helps to write them down, then reread them whenever my courage wavers. Repeating them to myself calms my spirit. Here are a few verses I have underlined in my Bible.

      I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell            in safety.       –Psalm 4:8

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.                –Psalm 46:1-2

   When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust;                       I will not be afraid.    –Psalm 56:3-4

Surely God is my help; the Lord in the one who sustains me. –Psalm 54:4

As we go about living our lives, let's be watchful, of course. But let's not give in to panic or constant low-level anxiety. All that does is churn us up even more–and our family members, too. We rob life of its joy.

Remember, you're in good hands–and I don't mean "with Allstate."

Peace and blessings,

Lenore

Question for you: Do you have a favorite Bible verse that blesses you? Why not share it with the rest of us? Just click on the word "Comments" below and a message form will pop up. Then follow the simple directions.

Terror on a Sunday afternoon

August 31, 2009
Schools around here are back in session–or soon will be. Kids of all ages, along with adults of all ages, are trekking back, or maybe for the first time.

Education is a wonderful thing. We say that all the time, don't we? And it's true.

Still, it takes courage to take that first step, whether you're a first-grader or an adult first-timer who's been away from school for a long time. There's a saying that goes something like this, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Beginnings are like that. The "first step" is the hardest. Each one that follows feels easier.

That truth applies, even when we're beginning a new way of doing things in our personal lives. What we know always feels more comfortable and safe than stepping off into the unknown.

Every one of us has "been there, done that" at least a couple of times. We all know that sinking feeling, that self-doubt that we can handle what's ahead. What to do?

One simple tactic is to change the way we think and hang a new label on what we're feeling. Instead of "fear" and "discomfort," we can call it "excitement." After all, can't you remember times when you felt excited and you had those same butterflies? Me, too.

So if you're stepping off into the unknown–or your children are–here's a benediction on your week and for this new undertaking. We sang it at church today. First our pastor sang it to us, all of us standing. Then each side turned to face the other and we sang it together, each side to the other side. How lovely to sing these words to the smiling folks facing us!

So I "sing" it to you, with all my best wishes.

As you go on your way may Christ go with you,

May He go before you to show you the way,

May He go behind you to encourage you,

Beside you to befriend you,

Above you to watch over,

Within you to give you peace.

God bless you, whoever you are–and thanks for taking time to read this blog now and then,

Lenore

Question for you: What new activities are you–or a family member–undertaking?

A benediction for your week–and your life

August 23, 2009
How's the mood at your house? Or in your mind?

Maybe we're all suffering from hearing too much gloomy news and soaking it up like sponges. No wonder we feel heavy.

Whatever the cause is–or isn't–we can do a U-turn in our thinking. Here's how, in the words of the Apostle Paul.

And now, dear friends, let me say one more thing as I close this letter.

Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right.

Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worth of praise.

Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

–Philippians 4:8-9 (New Living Translation)

Reading over that list, maybe you think this sounds like something you've heard on television. Just remember that the Paul and other Bible writers said it long before Oprah or Dr. Phil.

It's pretty simple, really. We're to keep putting the good stuff in (a la Paul) and commit our days and our future to God. He'll do the rest.

His peace to you, dear readers, wherever you are,

Love,

Lenore

Your comments welcomed!

Here’s a prescription for a healthy outlook

July 25, 2009