​They will make gardens and eat their fruit.
                                                                               
                                                                                     Amos 9:4
Hello Friend,
 
              It is finally springtime and all the earth is getting ready for planting.  New birth is happening all around—lawns are greening, trees are sprouting tiny leaves, flowers are blooming once again.  Whew, it’s been a long winter.   This week, I went to Lowe’s and bought myself some herbs to make a garden.  A celebration of spring?  Sort of! 
 
            You see, I had an epiphany.  Recently, a friend betrayed me in a hurtful way.  The wound was open and festering.  Day after day I focused on my pain—and I was groveling   in self-pity and bewilderment; resentment was turning to anger.    As I went to bed each night, I focused on the unanswerable question, why?  Then I got hit on the head with the Word of God.  Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:1 “Please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.  Now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped” (Message Bible).   Then Paul goes on to say, “in hard times, tough times, when we’re beaten up, working hard, when we’re ignored by the world, immersed by tears, open up your lives, live expansively.”  Wow!  I wasn’t opening up my life; I was closing myself off and living small.  And I had a choice to make.  I decided I would not squander one more minute of my marvelous life; hence my trip to Lowe’s.
 
            As a reminder of what I was growing in my life, I bought some plants.  I knew the constant day to day tending of my herbs would prompt me to ask myself, “What am I planting in my life today.  Am I allowing a few weeds to ruin my garden?”  I share this life lesson with you because we all allow weeds to ruin our days.  What weeds are you nurturing:  resentment, guilt, ingratitude, worry?  We eat the fruit of what we plant.  And negative emotions can actually make us sick.  Doctors tell us many of our ailments come from stress.  Each day, God gives us the present of a brand new day; 86,400 seconds.  I choose today to water my garden with kindness and enthusiasm.  I am preparing the soil of my soul for new growth, new opportunities, and new friendships.   In my heart, I feel the hope of spring.  How is your garden?  Is it time for you to take a trip to Lowe’s?
 
Affirmation:  I am tending my garden and enjoying the delicious fruit of my labors.
 
Thanking God for new growth,
Linda

Hello Friend,
      It is Easter Sunday!  My prayer is that you are celebrating the Risen Lord.  Isn’t that what Easter is all about?  Well, yes, and no! Jesus indeed did conquer the cross, saved us from our sins, and prepared a way for us to enter heaven and live eternally with the Father.
      But that is not “all” Easter is about.   Resurrection Sunday is about new life in the here and now.  A friend just posted the most hope-filled affirmation of faith.  She said, “I’m on my way to church and the resurrected Lord has resurrected me.”  Jesus offers new life, and a fresh start right now.  Today is the day to celebrate your new life!  What will you choose it to be like?  Rejoice! You get a do-over.  Make the rest of your life the best of your life!
   Love you friends,  Happy Resurrection Day,  Linda
​

​Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”                                                                                                                                                                                               Isa. 30:21 (NIV)
Hello Friend,
             Did you wake this morning feeling lost or confused?  Perhaps this week you must make a decision regarding your job.  You’re unhappy at work and are considering leaving but you’re just not sure that’s the right thing to do or the right time with unemployment so high.  Maybe it’s not a job you are considering leaving, perhaps it’s your spouse.  The spark just keeps getting dimmer and your neighbor’s smile keeps getting brighter.  Is there an ethical dilemma that you are mulling over?  All of us, at one time or another, face these crossroad decisions.   I am reminded of the opening lines of one of Robert Frost’s poems, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both.”  Don’t we often wish we didn’t have to choose?  Or we wish someone else would tell us what to do?
            If you are seeking guidance, here are a few scriptures to you to ponder:
“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8 NLT).
“Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6 NLT).
“I will never fail you.  I will never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT).
            God loves you and always desires the best for you.  Recall the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18; the shepherd left the 90 and 9 and went after the stray and rejoices when he finds it.  Make time this week to read Ezekiel 34:11-16.  I love and find great comfort in these verses, “I will seek my lost ones…bring them safely home…I will put splints and bandages upon their broken limbs and heal the sick.”  Friends, God will faithfully guide you and direct your steps.  He is trying to communicate “the way” to you. Trust the “still small voice” within.  God may lead you “on the one less traveled and that will make all the difference.”
Prayer:  Lead me, Lord, I will follow.  Speak a little louder that I may hear.
                                                            Stumbling along the path,                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Linda

​Don’t look for easy shortcuts to God.                                                                                                                                                                                   Matthew 7: 13 (Message)
Hello Friend,
            Is your life as hectic as mine?  Do you feel harried and stressed; not enough time to do all that needs to be done?  I am always looking for an easy way to get my tasks done more efficiently.  I watch these ads on television for the newest miracle cleaner and rush to the store to purchase it knowing that this will cut my scrubbing-the-tub-time in half.  It usually doesn’t.  The bookstores are filled with self-help new editions espousing the latest trends in healing your marriage, finding inner-peace, getting a promotion, or fixing your finances in a quick-as-a-wink moment.  These “newest miracle cures” usually don’t work either.  And too often, we do this with our spiritual lives as well, cutting our prayer time down to the briefest blessing over our food, and thinking that will suffice.  We are a society looking for quick fixes to what ails us.
            Here again a quote from the Message Bible cuts to the heart of the matter. “The market is flooded with sure-fire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time.  Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do.  The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention” (verses 13, 14).  You might be more familiar with the old version of these verses which speaks of the narrow gate to heaven.  “The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way.  But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it” (Living Bible).
            Do few find it because God is mean—because God wants only a select few to enter heaven?  No!  It is not difficult to become a Christian.  But to “live” as a Christian in this culture is not easy or popular.  There are no shortcuts to God.  This week, take a hard look at your spiritual disciplines and try to determine if you are looking for a quick fix, a make-over, or a miracle cure for what ails you.  Then get out your hiking boots, your walking stick, and prepare to navigate that narrow road that leads to the peace that you so desire.  You may get a few bumps and blisters along the way, but oh, the reward for your effort.  God is waiting at the gate with refreshment.
Prayer:  Lead me, Lord, along the narrow path that leads to you.
                                                Making quality time with God is  a priority,                                                                                                                                                                                                   Linda