Good morning, DearHeart.

Yesterday, I was at the Capitol. It is a fast-crazy, slow down and get run-over place right now. Yet, in the midst of that chaos, I noticed genuine kindness, concern, and heard tiny hints of hope.

You know, there is something so beautiful about small things.

Little acts of kindness.

Snippets of time alone with Christ. In the middle of intense busy-ness with that tiny thought flittering through … “awe, yes … even here … Jesus … I saw You there, and there, and in her eyes, and there, and there.”

In the small. In the mundane. In the normal. In the hectic.

If you need encouragement He is here.

Healing – he is here.

Restoration – he is here

Relationship repair – he is here

Jesus is doing enormous things in the small places.

Like the lady who barely touched the hem of his garment … she was healed instantly. He called her out.

Fear and trembling …

In the middle of the chaos …

you need to be highly aware – this, this place you land today, this is the place mighty work is getting done.

In the

small and

normal and

unnatural …

things are getting done in a big and complex and supernatural way.

So, I ask God to keep my heart soft when it seems my petition may have been lost.

Show me my blind spots when I run low on patience.

Supply fresh hope, when mine is empty.

Jesus, unpack the layers, crumble the walls I’ve built til I present before You surrendered wholeheartedly again and again.

“Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” After everyone denied touching him, Peter said, “Teacher, the people are crowding you and pressing against you.” Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I know power has gone out of me.” The woman saw that she couldn’t hide. Trembling, she quickly bowed in front of him. There, in front of all the people, she told why she touched him and how she was cured at once. Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace!” Luke 8:45-48 GW

Wake up.

Go in peace.

Go.

Good Morning, DearHeart.

How many times do we see people get themselves in a pickle then it seems there’s no way out? Gee, how many times do we get ourselves in a pickle and panic? There’s a lot of finger pointing and jump on the mean-girl wagon these days. With social media, it is easy now to share your view from behind a screen of safety. Seems to me we could all step up our efforts toward compassion. A little less “GOTCHA” and a lot more “well, nobody’s perfect, be more careful next time”.

Consider this about Christ & compassion:

⁃ “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36 NLT).

⁃ “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14 NLT).

⁃ “Jesus called his disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” (Matthew 15:32 NIV).

⁃ “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” (Matthew 20:34 NIV).

Jesus cared about the confused, the helpless, the sick, the hungry. But His compassion moved Him so deeply that He did something for them. And, then He gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.

So when asked, “Why should I care?”, may my response be, “We want to be like Jesus.”

And Jesus always had compassion.

Like Him, we can choose to be

A protector for those who need protection,

A guide for those who have lost their way,

A bridge for those with a wide river to cross,

A safe place for those who need a space to land,

A light for those who are in the dark,

A servant for all those who have a need.

Wake up.

Act from compassion.

Go.

Good morning, DearHeart.

Have you ever done a personality type test? I’m drawn to those – drawn to any insight into what makes people tick … what are their strengths and weaknesses, typical behaviors and comfort zones. One word that consistently comes to the top in my type is “compassion”. I recently read a devotional about those who react with “slow compassion”.

Slow compassion

Those things we feel urged to do today but put off:

-the phone call

-the card

-the visit

-the apology

-the hug

-the gift

-the time

-the conversation

We stall, for whatever reason, maybe even a good reason. We decide we will do it another day, maybe tomorrow, or after we think it through a little better. The thought remains just a thought, never becoming the action intended. In putting it off, we lose the passion to do it. Slow compassion often leaves us unmoved.

God’s Word gives us advice on “tomorrow”:

“Teach us to realize the brevity of life …” (Psalm 90:12, NLT)

“For my days disappear like smoke …” (Psalm 102:3, NLT)

“Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.” (Proverbs 27:1, NLT)

What is it you are feeling compelled to do today? If you know in your heart you are to do it, do it. Today.

Wake up.

Don’t wait.

Go.

Good morning DearHeart.

I’m always amazed at how much easier it is for me to enter into praise on a Friday than on a Monday! 😬Y’all, that probably reveals more more about me than I care to explore! 😂

I’m also amazed that Praise to God will stem from a heart that overflows with

devotion,

gratitude,

and love for God.

In Psalm 103, David reminds his own soul to praise the Lord:

“Let all that I am praise the Lord, with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” (verses 1-2, NLT)

And there is much for us to praise God for:

-Forgiveness of sins (verse 3)

-Heals all our diseases (verse 3)

-He redeems us from death (verse 4)

-Crowns us with love and tender mercies (verse 4)

-He fills our lives with good things (verse 5)

-Renews our youth (verse 5)

May we maintain our focus on God for as we do, we will notice His activity in our life every day.

What we focus on grows.

Take in the smells of the new day.

Notice the newness of the day and allow His praise to flow from you with the same degree of fresh wonders.

Challenge+Change+Transition=

Lessons+Gifts+Growth

As our hearts take notice, PRAISE will rise up in our hearts for He alone is worthy.

Wake up.

Overflow.

Go.

Good mornin’ DearHeart.

Big breakthroughs get big applause in today’s world. We often fail to notice the baby steps,

breakthroughs,

or earnest “I tried” but

slipped,

tripped,

and fell flat on my face.

Yet it takes shocking bravery to be at mid-expedition. The place that it is brave ‘just to be there’. Day one of a new thing. Or, in the middle, clawing through.

Maybe you’re in transition. Perhaps you are in

study-mode,

growing a new business,

writing lesson plans,

recovery,

or getting your feet back under you from a necessary divorce.

These are tough times …

times when sharks circle your john-boat,

any which way you step-there’s manure,

your shoes are on the other side of a blistering-hot asphalt lot,

hail beats down,

the moon stays full forever,

your boss changes the game plan, your mom calls delivering “the lecture”,

and your anxiety level explodes for fear that you may age in misery with dreams that never got their chance.

What if you shifted your perspective … brought the Holy Spirit in to circle you with white light. What if you got still enough to feel His light being pulled through you at this very moment?

These are the times we need to ask- to notice – a full surround of His Holy presence.

Hear His applause.

See His power-flow from this radiance in this midstream.

These are the times we must allow ourselves to love and be loved

through the sweat and exhaustion. These are the times when we must cheer for what we’re made of. . . our mettle … you know the source of that, right? What makes us stand is the surround and the filling of the Power of God Almighty who continues to give us strength to move. This “in-midstream” process is the time that we celebrate His Presence and the stubbornness He delivers in us to keep upright and keep us lurching and wobbling forward.

Lately, I’m hyper-aware of shifting perspective. In His strength, you and I have total control over it. Please give yourself the benefit of true perspective. Do not allow the enemy to plant seeds of self-rejection for “not being there yet.”

The One that designed your “there” is

utterly,

entirely,

and completely for you.

Take in His glory here.

You are exactly

Good morning, DearHeart.

Here we are again. Monday morning. You’re still standing, too, I see.

Glory! God is faithful – especially in “those” places.

You know, we don’t always ask for the situations we find ourselves in, do we? And, often, people assume to have all the facts, when really it’s not their place to assume anything outside of their own God-authored life story.

The human mind is an interesting beast.

The human tongue/and in this age, texting thumbs can also exert all shades of judgment outside of one’s own domain. Many times, in climbing mountains, traversing valleys, and fighting the enemy, a thought of: ‘where did this come from, and what am I doing here?,’ can come on like a wave. In weariness and a weakening of the body, there comes a weakening of the mind, but not of the Spirit … this is the time to stand …

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Ephesians 6:13 NIV

So … STAND FIRM THEN!!! And, if we can keep singing and walking with THE SOVEREIGN GOD, He is “building us,” by the experiences of the day.

Your deliverance is in progress. God’s timing is perfect, every single time, and what other people think of you is none of your business. Trust your Creator. Trust His ways. Stay in your own zone with your Savior. Stand.

Wake up.

Stand firm.

Go

Good morning, DearHeart.

‘Praise the LORD, my soul!

All my being, praise his holy name!

Praise the LORD, my soul,

and do not forget how kind he is.

He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases.

He keeps me from the grave

and blesses me with love and mercy.’ (Psalm 103:1-4 GNT)

Very often, when I pick up a pen to write, I have no clue what shades of words will lift out of the paper. My thoughts are scattered chaos (like my journals/scraps of paper/notes). No order. Lying around everywhere. Stuck in between pages of books. I used to think I was A.D.D. Now I know it’s just the way I am cut out. So, my thoughts scatter. It’s the trait of the creatives. Scattered thoughts still create something someone somewhere needs when those thoughts are placed in the hands of God Most High.

So, this is my prayer each day: ‘Father, use me.

I am nothing without You.

But, here I am again.

Willing to be used.

My time is yours.

Simply use me.’

When I miss those first words with Him….I get tangled up in my shorts with ‘what-ifs’: ‘who am I that anyone might read anything I write?’

Pit-dweller thoughts: ‘I am not good enough.’

I am a flawed one, indeed …but The Almighty can and will use any heart, flaws and all, that comes to Him and says, “I’m Yours. Use me”.

Relax into the truth that you and your purpose belong to God Most High. He is telling you to relax … right

where

you

are.

Accept this space – the air He supplies for your next breath … accept life, that it might move through you with grace.

And, carry it out into a world where you freely give it away.

Wake up.

Live in His love and mercy.

Go.

Good morning, DearHeart.

In children’s church in the 70’s Ken and Shirley Davis taught my friends and me these verses. They were written on a long piece of newsprint that rolled out across the room and we would all scramble to be the helpers that held the ends. We memorized the King James Version and the verses became a part of us

like skin

or bones

or muscle.

I didn’t understand them then. Now, I know. And, to this day I can recite them inside out … in KJV, of course!

Mr. and Mrs. Davis had a passion for preparing us for what we would need to know to stand for Christ in a future world … to have Him imprinted on our psyche so we could even simply stand and keep standing as we stepped out of bed into the new day each morning.

They knew we would need to have this imprinted on the air we breath so that we could dedicate the work of our hands and our minds to God Almighty … it would be needed …

to fly with Him to through the heavens each day in a world that may or may not share our passion;

… to shower His love … our love onto the world;

… to accept life – that it might move through us – move through me with grace;

… to accept His faith in me that such a glorious mission has been placed in my hands;

… and, I am filled warm with gratitude for those who blasted His passion into my life.

How do hearts even beat without Christ?

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2 MSG

Wake up.

Stand out.

Go.

Good morning, DearHeart.

Is your work interesting?

Even if you are a

student – that’s your work;

perhaps a patient – healing mindset is your work;

retired – you do work;

grandparenting – special kind of work;

job searching – you’re doing work;

healer – your working;

employee – you work.

What gets you through?

God Most High, lift our minds to Your higher truth … that our work today is to love for You, that our world might be renewed.

When I think of my people, my family, my work family … when I think of

my people,

circumstances,

situations …

allow me to surrender them all to You.

Remind me to infuse wisdom and love into my judgements and interpretations. Withdrawing any personal agendas. Let me be a healing force.

Let all we do lift others. Let this be a healing place where we lift them out of a frightened place into a place of confidence. Victory. Let them know we are their support system. Let me contribute with my gifts and my resources.

Heal me of my limited vision. May I only see the greater vision as I work from a place of

excellence,

integrity,

filled with the full force of Your power within me.

Remind me of my strength as I contribute.

Sustain and strengthen me through Satan’s attacks.

Allow my presence and the presence of my team to be a blessing to others.

Your will, Lord.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Nothing else.

“There’s nothing better than being wise, Knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes, And gives gentleness to words and manners. Ecclesiastes 8:1 MSG

Wake up.

See with eyes full of wisdom.

Go.