Journaling Post - Empty

I think my quiet time from the last post is finished. Actually that's not true; I've been avoiding the next prompt on my list -- I need to empty my soul of anger.

This one has been very frustrating for me. I know there must be some anger some place in my soul. All I seem to be finding is a little bit of frustration here and there. I decided that this must be good; God is at work helping me to overcome anger, the Holy Spirit is guiding me to rid myself of old hurts & anger. I look back through my life & know that there have been times when I've been very angry; so angry that I'm sure my blood pressure was elevated! Now when I look back at those situation I can see where they led me & I'm in a much better place than I was then, than I would have been if I had taken the road where anger was leading. If it hadn't been for the incidents that caused the anger, I wouldn't have been able to move down a new path. I would guess that if there's anyone that I haven't truly forgiven it would be the one person that caused so much stress in Andy's life. Perhaps if she hadn't caused so much stress he would still be here with us. I used to cringe every time she called after he died; I used to delete any messages from her so I didn't even have to see her name in my email; sometimes I'd even put posts on his Face Book account so her posts didn't show when I opened it up -- I was even about to the point that I thought about blocking her posts. But I know she needs that outlet too to get over his death. I can't say that I'm angry with her now. Yes, I'm still annoyed with her, appalled even, but not angry. I am glad she's across the country from me & I don't have to run into her around town.
Maybe there is still anger there, but it is whisked away when I turn it over to God.
Maybe I'm deluding myself & there is anger in my soul that I don't recognize.
Can it be possible that for three days I've been trying to put my finger on something I'm angry about & not find anything? I wonder if satan snuck in this prompt to make us stirred up to anger; or maybe to give us a sense of false pride?
No, I'm going to give this one over to God & praise Him for the peace that He has given me. A peace that can come from only Him! Thank you God for Your loving mercy; for Your presence; for Your peace!

Journal Post Three - Whisper

In the quiet comes a whisper; guess the last few days have been so noisy that I haven't heard the whisper. At least I haven't heard it clearly enough to take time to write about it. But I have been thinking a lot about it. Sometimes life gets so busy that we forget to listen for the still small voice of God. He's always there, all we have to do is stop & listen!
There has been a gentle breeze lately & the weather was warm enough last week to put out my wind chimes. I've been collecting them for about six years now I think. Each time we take a vacation I try to find a new one & my husband & kids have been giving them to me for gifts too. Now I think I have about 20 hanging on the patio. You may think it would be loud & distracting, but it's really not. I like to think of them not only as a reminder of the trips we've taken & the love of my family but also of God's whispers as they chime in the breeze. They have many different tones from little tingles to wooden claps (soft ones) and that makes me think of the many ways that God inspires me & talks to me. Sometimes it's just a nudge to do something I should; other times He has to almost hit me up the side of my head to get my attention. As I grow in my faith, I'm learning more & more to listen for His instruction before I go out & do it on my own. How about you? What are some ways that you listen for/to God?

Journaling Prompt Two

Sunday -A union with Him brings loving grace.
God's grace is an awesome thing. He gives it so freely, all we have to do is say "YES!" and we receive grace & salvation. But it does go beyond just saying yes; we need to bring glory to God in our life every day -- this should be our mission in life.
This morning's sermon by Jean was one of glorifying God. She used John 12:20-33 for her scripture base and talked about how a seed must die before it produces any fruit. Metaphorically Jesus was saying that He must die before His mission here on earth will come to fruition. And we are left behind to glorify God & spread His word throughout the world; this message was not just for the Jews, but to the whole world.
The take-away points that I wrote down in my Bible were as follows:
1. This passage does not to mean that we should not like our life here on earth, but rather that we should look beyond our life here to an eternity with Him.
2. What we do to glorify God is limited only by our imagination.
3. Our Christian life should be like the path that a lamp lighter left as he traveled down the road; one that is visible to all who gazed down the road, lighting the path that he took. He certainly walked in the light as we should; he made the path light for others to see as we should strive to do in our daily walk while we are here on earth. And who would want to walk toward Christ if we hated our life here?
4. Our desire should be to glorify God daily & receive His give of salvation.
So today I come to God in praise & adoration; glorifying His goodness & mercy - thanking Him for His gift of life for eternity and lighting the way for all who follow!

Journaling Prompt One

Prompt - It is startling to realize the miracles occurring.

It is amazing to think about all the miracles that happen around us everyday. As spring approaches, the miracle of rebirth surrounds us. The leaves emerging; the flower buds forming & some even in full bloom already; we need to take time to thank God for His marvelous creation. He is totally awesome! And at this season of Lent we are reminded to dwell on the sacrifice Christ made to save us from our sinful nature.

More of the Rat-A-Tat-Tat -- A Duet Even!

Another exciting day in the birding world. We have been hearing the pileated woodpecker for about a week now; actually he makes quite an loud call & his rat-a-tat-tat is almost deafening. If you want to listen to it go here, scroll down listen - http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id/ac  When Dave spotted him yesterday it was thrilling. Today was even more thrilling because he was in a tree in the back yard...and there were two of them. I tried to get a photo of them, but didn't manage. I did get a poor quality shot of one of them (it was a rainy, dreary day - not good for using the camera.)

It is amazing to me to watch the birds that are here. When I think of the way nature works together I am in awe of the way that God created the universe & I thank Him for making me aware of what there is to watch & learn from. I have learned to keep my eyes & ears open; I have learned to pay attention to what the birds & critters are doing. And as I think on this, I work hard to keep my eyes & ears on my Lord for I have much to learn from Him.

Rat-A-Tat-Tat

We are so excited! We've been hearing a very loud woodpecker lately and hoping that it might just be a Pileated Woodpecker. Dave spotted a pair of them this afternoon. By the time I got out there, I saw them flying down river but didn't have enough time to capture them with my camera. All evening we heard them off & on very near here -- sounded like there was a pecking on metal, but Dave says that they sound like that on a tree. After listening to them on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (great website!) I quite agree with him. And we've been hearing their call too, wondered what it was...now I know!
This is one of the birds that we've seen only occasionally for the last 39 years we've lived here & one that we've been wanting to add to our photo collection. Now we'll be watching for them more closely. Soon I hope to be able to post one here. :)

Word for the Day - Hope

Today we had our last Lenten Study at the church. We've been using Adam Hamilton's book Why? Making Sense of God's Will. This lesson was about why God's love prevails. One of the things that God gives us is "Hope". I've been having some ideas about scrapping a page or two on the concept of hope. At first I was going to use this: H-His; O-Omniscient; P-Power; E-Eternally. Then I thought perhaps the P should be for Presence. Lastly I thought of Peace. Now I'm thinking perhaps I should use all three. It's coming around in my mind & I know that God will guide me to do an awesome page.
I'm really excited that I finally decided to do an 8x8 book for my Faithbook. And the ideas are really flowing. I think I want to do 2 double pages based on the study we just finished.
I'm also very tired this evening, so this one is going to be very short; but I wanted to get these ideas down somewhere so I can remember my thoughts.