God’s work is not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.                                                                                                               Zechariah 4:6
Good morning, my dear one,
          I pray that this week will be filled with blessings for you.  As for me, these blessings will not necessarily be a boatload of money, a job promotion, or any earthly wealth.  The daily blessing that I long for is to hear the “still small voice” of God. 
            This specific reference of a still small voice is found in 1 Kings 18.    Elijah had a dramatic victory over the prophets of Baal.  Told by Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, that the king of Israel, was seeking to kill him, Elijah ran into the wilderness and collapsed in exhaustion.  God sent an angel with food and water to strengthen him and told him to rest.  Then the Lord sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but His voice was in none of them.  After all that, the Lord spoke to Elijah in the still small voice.  A gentle whisper.
              My life is quaking.  Lots of circumstances causing me to fear and to want to hide under the covers and safety of my bed.  I can hear the rumble.  My greatest blessing, however, is that I have learned to recognize the still, small voice of my Savior even when the enemy is shouting in my ear. When I am still, I hear God saying, I’ve got this.”  Stop trying to control an earthquake. 
            Dear one, I don’t know what particular life event has you running in circles.  Causing you to fear.  To hide.  Please know that God sees you and will tend to you.  He will send an angle to strengthen you.  He tells you to rest, dear one.  And he tells you to listen.  He’s whispering to you “I love you with an everlasting love.  I hold you in the palm of my hand.  Cast your burdens upon me and I will give you peace.”  What amazing blessings!   Provision.  Rest.  Love.  Peace.  I long for nothing more.
                            Be still and listen, He’s speaking.     Linda

​Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits…who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. —               Ephesians 3:19 (NIV)
Hello Dear One,
            Did you ever receive news that knocked your socks off?  My prayer is that your news was wonderful:  a marriage proposal, a new baby, job promotion, an unexpected windfall of cash.  Well, praise God for all his benefits.  And its easy when the news is exciting and joyful.  To praise God, we say, sometimes rather flippantly, “Thank you, Jesus,”
            This week, we got a call from the doctor about Jim’s health that knocked my socks off, scared me to the core, and destroyed my emotional balance.  My fear sent me into panic mode for two days.  Anxiety tore through my body and panic coursed through my veins.  Those who know me well understand that I am a great believer in signs.  To distract my mind from  distorted thoughts, Jim and I were bing watching tv.  The lead character in this fictional show said, “Look to the future with the possibility that everything will turn out well!  Trust that better days are ahead.”  Praise God for that wonderful message.  I know it was for me.  My faith went into warp speed.  God can redeem our life from what seemed like the darkest pit.  And he does so with love and compassion.  I humbly ask for your prayers for the complete healing of Jim’s body. 
            Friends, when life throws you into the pits of despair, do whatever you need to do to recenter your mind and heart on God.  Give yourself grace, you are human and will experience the breadth of emotions, including fear.  But don’t allow yourself to dwell there too long.  Be aware that God is looking for ways to speak faith into your soul, even if its through a quote from a fictitious character on tv.  Be well, dear ones.  When life is great, praise God from the mountaintop.  And when life’s challenges throw you deep into the pits of despair, know that God is throwing a lifeline to you, grab on and allow God to lift your head.  Better days are ahead.
                     Join me in prayer this week for Jim, love you all.    Linda  

Teach these new disciples to observe everything that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always {remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstanc and on every occasion}.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Matt 28:20 The Message Bible
Good morning dear one,                                                                                                                                                          
          This week I am presenting you (and me) with a challenge.  You see, as I was cleaning my office, I found on old bracelet with square little blocks of silver with the letters WWJD.  For those of you as old as I, you will remember that many years ago it was quite the Christian thing to do to wear one of those bracelets.   And they went out of fashion, hence my bracelet was packed away only to be discovered yesterday. But the message, that critical message, should never be tucked away.    So, my challenge is simply this:
What would you “do” if you were absolutely confident that God was with you on every occasion, in every moment?
          Would your language change?  Your style of clothing?  Would you hang out at that bar/strip club?  Would you really watch that video if you were absolutely confident Jesus was beside you? 
          Would you really say those words of ridicule or distain if He were with you?   Would you talk about others as “sinners?”  Would you be so quick to judge?  Would you have the same friends?  What would change in your life if you were absolutely confident that God was with you.  Because He is!!!
                                                                             Linda

​When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, and to us, “Put out into deep water and prepare for a catch.”  Luke 5:4
 
Hello dear one,
            Did you ever go white water rafting?  I did once and it was quite a life lesson.  You see not long after starting down the river, Jim, Todd, and I lost control of our raft and flipped, losing our paddles in the process.  Our guide had to fetch our paddles while we made our way to the riverbank and once again climbed into our raft. With both hands, I clasped tall weeds on the bank and refused to let go despite a few choice, not so kind or repeatable words from Jim.  He reminded me that going on this trip was my idea in the first place and to buck up!  I could hear the next set of rapids roaring ferociously. 
“I choose to stay here,” I pronounced quite firmly.  Then, the guide told me I could choose to walk through the woods alone and there were lots of snakes and critters there, or I could continue down the river to the waiting bus to take us back to our cars. I chose to let go and tackle the rapids again.  Would love to tell you the rest of the trip was uneventful, however, we hit a double waterfall, overturned the raft and, this time, in quite deep water.  Jim was rescued first, the kids next, and because I’m a somewhat strong swimmer, I was lassoed to a tree till they could get another guide to save me.  However, about noon, we came to calm waters and a picnic on the riverbank.  Such joy I have never experienced.  Such beautiful calm water for a lovely swim.  A peace I joyfully embraced.
            Life is such an adventure.  We can hold tightly to the shore, but we miss the experience of trusting the process.  And we never discover the calm, promised peace until we go deeper into the waters of life.  It’s a faith journey.   Let go and experience the breadth and depth of all life.  There is no joy in grasping tightly to the shore, but there is a blessing waiting for you, a catch in deep waters.  Let go and discover yours.
                                                                    Linda