• 

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.’ (Matthew 6:30-33 MSG)

Mornin’ DearOne,

What “something” do you do that slides across, Spirit-oiled smooth from you? Notice it. The bell will chime, then each time you use the gift, it will grow. You have a super-natural gifting-

Rock the drums.

Give away a smile.

Hear their hurts.

Whisper a new way.

Research a science frontier.

Deliver balanced numbers.

Hold a child.

You exist for a higher calling.

Especially now.

Especially in this environment where answers are few.

Challenge your senses to stand and sway with the Spirit.

When I was a student at West Elementary (it was torn down years ago), we were rewarded on Fridays with a coke party if we had a good week, and … sometimes … the ultimate … a pizza party. It was a big deal. I wonder, in eternity, what’s the equivalent to a pizza party – because I feel sure there is a big one each time you allow your gift to glow.

Wake up.

Take notice.

Do your calling-thing.

Go.

• 

Good morning, DearHeart.

Yesterday morning we sat on the front porch listening to the birds. These days of shielding from the virus have handed over more moments of quiet and reflection than ordinary, normal days. Little moments to notice joy. Psalm 100, shifts our focus towards joy and gratitude. The more I notice of the joys in those moments, the more I find myself lingering just a while longer.

In the dictionary, linger means “to remain or stay longer than usual or expected”.

What would happen if we stayed put – for a few minutes longer than usual and continued to be grateful?

What would happen in each of us, if we lingered and listed a few things we can be grateful for?

Gratefulness flips the switch, turning a negative situation into an opportunity to lean on the Lord and watch Him work.

Being grateful in the middle of the challenge is not easy, and does not come easily … it is a choice.

“Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” Psalms 100:3-5

Wake up.

Linger.

Go.

Good morning DearHeart,

In isolation,

In shelter,

Are you noticing the ones God selected and placed in your arena for this time?

“This is what the LORD says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16 NLT

There’ll always be that thing you want to conquer … overcome … or, have some kind of control. Always a lingering, pressing of more danger on the horizon. These are the days of our lives. No one is spared. But, there’s so much more to our hours than conquering giants and celebrating victoriously in every battle. Along with the tremors of “what-if’s” that hang just below the surface, lift your chin. Let your eyes roam from distant to close. See – really see – the eyes of one who walks near you. Maybe, well, yes … yes, they do … they need to be seen as much as you need to escape your head. The rush will put you back out there – serving … taking the lead in being

His eyes,

His hands,

His feet.

This is the rest in Him that The God of the Ages calls us to. Every once in a while, give away a glance that acknowledges the existence of a lonely soul.

Grin.

Hug.

Speak.

Because, your success in any area of life is meaningless without His joy escaping from you.

Wake up.

Look up. Use your eyes.

See them.

Go.

• 

Good morning, DearHeart.
Normally, when there is a chance for snow, I pray for a snow day. A habit left over from childhood. This is the first time I didn’t. I wonder why they have been so important to me? Maybe, they represent a reprieve, a break from the ordinary.
Maybe, they are a reminder that I am safe and warm – that I am inside and everything else is outside. Snow days usually give my heart a time to just be … to take a break from the cares burdening me. Maybe they have been my reminder to simply “rest”.
This morn, Noah and the ark are on my mind.
“Make yourself an ark of gopher-wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.” (Genesis 6:14, NKJV).
The choice of wood, the covering of pitch – which acted as a tar-like substance – all emphasized that the ark was a protection and hiding place. The ark was to keep the elements out and Noah, his family, and the animals safe.
But there is more….
“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of those things not yet seen, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Hebrews 11:7, NKJV).
Not everything in life is going to make sense.
Coronavirus does not make sense. Surely, for Noah it did not make sense either. Building an ark when he had no idea what rain even looked like. Not even a drizzle.
And … yet … he obeyed.
He followed and completed building the ark, without understanding and enduring the ridicule and the criticism of those around him.
Faith demands an obedience. An obedience to follow God

• when you may not know where you are going,
• or what you are doing
• or what you you will do when you get where you are going.
  In the unknowns of these sheltering days, a fresh reminder … just as the pitch kept the elements outside of the ark and kept Noah and company safe, Christ is my covering.
  He is my protection.
  He is my safety.
  To live by faith.
  To obey by faith.
  Faith doesn’t always make sense at the moment.
  Noah was being warned of things not yet known of or experienced.
  On days you and I are in need of rest, He will close us in and provide all that we need to continue to move forward in obedience.
  Wake up.
  Notice snow in green grass.
  Even there,protected.
  Go.

• 

Good morning, DearHeart.

It’s the morning after.

The colors in the sunrise are brilliant on this Monday after Easter.

A weird, semi-isolated Easter, with only a few near … Dale, Luke, Bryan, and Dani.

It was a thoughtful Easter … do I just want to be near Jesus, too? The way I long to be with all of my family right now?

I love that early that Easter morn we find Mary Magdalene coming early to the Lord’s tomb. The Book of John even tells us it was still dark.

Her grief compelled her to “go”, for grief often has its own reasons, doesn’t it? She expected to find the tomb yet sealed. But, in John 20, what fell on me fresh was this … Mary Magdalene just wanted to be near her Savior.

She had a deep seeded need to be where Jesus was; with Him however that might mean, even if this meant sitting outside a sealed tomb.

Her need to be near Him was the reason she experienced more.

Her need to be near Him caused her to SEE the risen Lord.

She heard Him speak her name bringing hope to what seemed hopeless and life to what appeared to be dead.

Questions mulling around in my heart:

Do I long to be near Jesus?

Does my need drive me to Him?

Does my need cause me to get alone with Him?

To go where He is?

Mary went to the grave much the way we would go to the graveside of a loved one …

to sit,

think,

cry,

and mourn.

She already missed spending time with Jesus. She missed their conversations and being with Him.

Her need was for Jesus alone, no strings attached. She did not want anything from Him. She did not need to ask Him for provision or to do something for her. Her need to be with Him is what caused her to see Him in all of His glory.

“Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.” (John 20:18, NLT)

Seeing Him and being with Him was dearest to her heart.

Wake up.

Draw near.

Just to be with Him.

Go.

• 

Good morning, DearHeart.
My nephew and his wife, Turner and Taylor, are stationed in South Korea. Every time she posts on FB or Turner FaceTimes the boys we notice and we share – we won’t be whole again until they are back on American soil. She recently posted the results of a game where she interviewed Turner … so, sitting on the back porch the other day, for fun, I asked Dale the same questions:
Me: What is something I say a lot?
Him: I want to go see my momma.
(I’m going to kiss her whole face when I get to hug her again!)
Me: Someplace I’d like to go?
Him: The Holy Land.
He didn’t hesitate on any question.
Well, except ‘who is your celebrity crush’; he couldn’t think of one. I couldn’t either! 🤷🏼‍♀️
He knows me well.
The Holy Land. Walking the trails where Jesus walked. Splashing the water of His familiar sea on my face … mmm.
In his triumph, Jesus could have paraded through those streets of Jerusalem. He could have knocked on Pilate’s door. “Surprise!” He could have confronted the high priest.
But, the first person our resurrected Lord appears to is a woman … without hope. And, the first words He spoke were, “Why are you crying?”
What a Savior we serve, or rather … serves us. In His hour of greatest triumph, He doesn’t shout about His victory from the rooftops. He comes quietly to a woman who grieves … who desperately needs to hear His voice … see His face … and feel His embrace.
“Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them His message.” John‬ ‭20:18‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Wake up.
See the Lord.
Go.

• 

Good morning, DearHeart.
Maundy Thursday.
Secluded in an upper room.
A last supper.
Even there, Christ washed their feet.
Even there,
locked in,
quarantined
… He found a way to serve.
Surely, they were thinking of the events of the past week…the images – Jesus riding on a lowly donkey. The crowd around Him. The palms waving as He passes by.
The people had expectations of Him which, now, would go unmet. They wanted Him to come and restore kingship, leadership to Israel.
His very actions were proof … this would not be. He had not come to be the military and political leader they were hoping to receive. No matter how big of a reception they were to give Him, He was not going to overthrow and take political action.
Their shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” were shouts for Him to save them.
They missed the point – He was not coming to save them from the oppression of their society. Instead of salvation from their political and social oppression, He had come to bring salvation for their souls.
The ones who stood praising and waving palms would soon be the very ones to yell, “Crucify Him!” when they faced disappointment in His mission.
Are we any different than the crowd that day?
We have a tendency to desire an ‘out’ to our present circumstances rather than see the treasure that may lie hidden in the dark times. We want the immediate relief or comfort over the eternal.
And yet Jesus still says to us today:
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33b, NIV
I think of our front line medical people, serving through troubled days. Putting their life at risk – a nurse somewhere, holding the hand of one whose family can’t be with them.
Jesus knew this world would bring each of us much turmoil and discomforts. But He gave us Himself – His Presence – to get us through these times. Even when surrounded by that which makes us fearful, anxious, and unsettled, we can be in peace and have peace. And, find a way to serve others.
On this, a Holy day, may our adoration of Jesus be firmly established in our hearts and minds.
And may we wave our palms in worship to Him, each and every day, as we, too, wash the feet of others.
Wake up.
Wash their feet.
Go.

• 

“When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes, With your other hand save me. Finish what you started in me, GOD. Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now.” Psalm‬ ‭138:7-8‬ ‭MSG‬‬
Good morning, DearHeart.
Yesterday, a friend of mine sent a text. We had been praying for a couple who are friends of hers – the wife had dropped her husband off at the hospital, he had the virus, and could not go in, so she had to leave him to go home to self-quarantine. A couple of days later, the wife got a call that he had passed. Because of our current pandemic status, the funeral home will bury the body with no one present, and the wife can go to the cemetery after they leave. I cannot imagine this kind of solitary grief. A funeral will take place sometime in the future.
We forget that we live on a bubble.
That every minute …
every minute …
every minute is a gift.
There is something about loss that creates a gaping wound … a wound that challenges us to do better for each other … to nod and allow questions to come that are not part of our usual days … and, to greet one another in life-affirming ways. It’s in the shadows of life, just beyond the curtain – on the edge of the stage, watching, helplessly, hopefully – it is there when there is nothing left to do that surrender happens, and the Source of Life takes over.
God Almighty responds to empty.
He streams Himself in like a very gentle white light through one heart, straight into another. Healing energy. The trauma must stay fluid, and moving through as only God can do. The enemy wants it stuck so we live in defeat. The Holy Spirit moves through whispers and songs. All around. He moves through the pens and the voices of others when they use words like: care, gentle, love, healing, grace, deeply held, I’m here, hope, and peace, and more peace. Wounded hearts grieve with certain raw tenderness when loss happens. It is every kind of right to sob, to feel hot tears. Feel all the impact and power of loss that reminds us how deep love drives. By feeling the sickness and swirling of everything wrong, God clears us to see Him and to burn brighter in His love and in life. This is the power of His Light in you and me. His Light wins over dark. People begin healing when the force of pain is allowed to shudder you to the core. We meet that pain together with our faith, and our love for our Savior. His capacity to transform far exceeds ours to move from pain into healing. So we wait.
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!” Job‬ ‭13:15-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬
Wake up.
Let His Holy Whisper flow.
Go.