​v Bear one another’s burdens.  Galatians 6: 2 
        I was taught that burdens (extra heavy situations) were not means to be carried alone, and as a Christian, we are to assist. Burden-bearing emulates the love that Jesus has shown to us when He said, “Come to me all ye who are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28


 
Each one should carry his own load. Galatians 6:5
        Self-explanatory to most people.   I guess, not to me.  Throughout my life, I seem to meet more than my share of people who implore me to help them and I rush in full force, often at the expense of my own already depleted time and energy.  And later, I realize, it was only a load—a backpack of issues that were theirs and theirs alone to work out.  OMG!  How old to I have to be to remember to tune into the wisdom God gave me and think before I act?  To reflect and prioritize.  I earnestly pray for God to give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, i.e., other’s peoples lives and issues; the courage to change the things I can, i.e., when true assistance with burdens is needed, and the Wisdom to know the difference.  

        Anyone else out there struggling with this issue?  Am I the only enabler or co-dependent?  Please dear one, study the above pictures and contemplate your Christian outreach. You deserve self-care.  “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matt. 22:39).    Yes, it is okay to say “no” at times.  I give you permission.                                                                                                                 
​                                                                                                                                                                                               Linda

​The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.  Proverbs 11:3
Hello Dear Friend,
          I have some questions for you to contemplate this week:

1. How would you define integrity?
2. Would your friends and family say that you are a person of integrity?
3. What happens to your relationship with God when you refuse to act with integrity?
4. Does integrity need an audience?
5. In what situation this week did you fail to have integrity when you

should have?
          I believe that as a Christian, we know the right way to act.  We are to love our neighbors: red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in God’s sight.  Gay or straight.  Democratic or republican.    Integrity is taking action.  Working together for the good of all.   Let us not give lip service to our love.   Let us get to know our neighbors, their names, their values, their needs and hurts.  And take action to help, behind the scenes, in secret, and your Heavenly Father will reward you.   Our nation will change one person at a time, one neighborhood at a time.  You can make a difference.  Be that person of integrity!
                                                   Love ya,  Linda

Love others as much as you love yourself.  Matthew 22:39

Hello Dear One,
​
        I am praying that you have a truly joyful week.  I try my best to love and serve my neighbors.  I really do!  But as I have been writing the past few weeks, too often I serve from an empty well.  Growing up there was never much money—no savings. On payday my mom would go to Isalys.  They had the best chipped ham ever!!!!  When she got home from the store, we made sandwiches with one slice of ham.  Did you catch the part where I said “chipped ham?”  Then we would add leaf lettuce and tomato from the garden.  I often longed for just one more slice, but that pound of ham had to last a week.  I could have one glass of milk a day at dinner.  No seconds. And, we only used the good dishes on Sunday when we had company.  And I had Sunday shoes which I was never allowed to wear to school.  “Save them for good,”  my mother often bellowed.
 Recently, I have been trying to learn to relax without feeling guilty and indulge a bit.  Last night I had a breakthrough.  I have lovely coconut body wash and I pumped it three (3) times, instead of two.  I felt deliciously naughty. Imagine my delight.
 Life is supposed to be lived joyfully. I am asking you to treat yourself better. Our needs do not always have to be last on the list.  Indulge!  Splurge!  Drink your tea from the good China cup.  Live dangerously and use four sprays of body wash. You are a child of a King, act like it!
                                      Linda

​Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.                                                                                                                                                      Luke 6:35  
Dear Sweet Friend,
            This morning I called you my sweet friend.  I know that in your heart you are loving and merciful.  This week, be kind to everyone, including yourself.  Life is tough and everyone is going to make mistakes.  It is part of being human. And we are not all alike.  We come in many colors, races, religions, and sexual orientations.  We are human, all together, one family under God.   And it is not our job to judge others.  Choose what is right for you, for your family, and allow others the same opportunity to live their lives as they feel led.  Let’s lift others up.  Reach out your hand.  Do what is right.  Racism is ugly.  Sexism is ugly.  And pointing fingers is ugly.  Let us not accept hate speech.  Love and accept others who are trying their best to get through this very day.  Bend down and lift up your brothers and sisters.  Love lifted me. God’s mercy and grace saved me.  And we are called to “love one another as I have loved you.  By this they will know that you are my disciples” (John 13: 34-35).  Let others recognize that you are a Christian by your love. 
                                    Do and say what you know is loving and merciful always,                                                                                                                         Linda

Behold, I am making all things new.                                                                                                                                                             Revelation 21:5                                                                           
Good Morning, dear friend,                                                                                                                                                       
       Last week I wrote to you about allowing myself time to just “be.”  And Madison Taylor, whose writing I adore, wrote this week, “Consider that relaxation should occupy a prominent place on your to-do list.”  God is speaking!
What I didn’t fully explain is that I am delving into a life transformation and learning to relax and enjoy this season is close to the top of my list. I am feeling deep in my soul that God is calling me to renewal.  My oldest son who is 50ish, a personal trainer, and nutrition expert is teaching me about “new” findings on healthy living. As a teenager, he was addicted to clean eating, steaming broccoli for a snack when he came in on a Saturday night.   I clearly need to get him a DNA test to make sure he is mine.  LOL. He has suggested and nagged me for years to make changes in our diet, cleaning products, etc., and informed me of how chemicals and pollution are having negative effects on our health.  So, I am finally listening.  I am embracing renewal.  So, dear one, I ask, “In what area of your life is God calling you to renewal.”   It’s a new day, new adventures await!                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Enjoy your life.                                                                                                                                                                     Linda
 

​I came that they may have and enjoy life. . .John 10:10
 
Hello Dear One,  
            Many years ago, I came across this interesting word:  Anhedonia.  It is a French word coined in 1897 by psychologist Theodule Ribot and means the inability to experience pleasure.  Those suffering from depression or other mental disabilities may actually “fear pleasure.”   They feel that if they for a moment enjoy their life, disaster is just around the corner.  While life certainly contains bumps in the road, it is important not to get stuck in the rut.  Life offers many pleasures as well. 
            I have been known to be a workaholic.  Probably stemming from my childhood when more than once my mother caught me lying on the glider staring up at the clouds daydreaming, and I got reamed out.  Wasting time, that’s what she called it.  Time to daydream in my marriage and while raising two sons, working and attending college, there was barely time for a quick shower.  Perhaps, if I had valued sheer delight more, I would have found more me time. But better late than never.  Jim is on the mend and needs less assistance and I stopped teaching; still pastoring, but only six months of the year.  And wa-la, time for pleasure.  I am reading material that interests me and not work related. And, hold on, I have discovered Netflix and have been binging on a series which shall remain nameless because it is valueless, but super funny and entertaining. So, I ask you, “What are you doing for sheer delight?”  Give yourself permission to enjoy your life.  Now is the time, today is the day.  Daydream.  Just let your mind wander.  Enjoy some down time.   Am I enjoying my life to the full and overflowing?  No yet, but I am on the journey and it feels so good.  Make time for pleasure, you deserve it.                                                                                                                  Linda

​ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . .                                                                                                      Psalm 139:14
Hello Friend,
          Tomorrow is Father’s day.  My dad died over twenty years ago and yet I ponder:  “What pile does my dad fit into?”  I didn’t have that father-daughter relationship of which sappy movies are made.  He was a World War II veteran who made a difficult transition into family life.  While he never talked of his war experience till very late in life, clearly as a young man seeing his best friend blown to pieces right in front of him and slaughtering the enemy would leave a haunting impact on his soul. Not one to display any emotion, he was stoic and unavailable.   Yet, I believe he did his best and isn’t that about all we can ask of others.  I was reading a favorite blog and saw this picture.  I really believe to my core  that it is time to stop sorting people.  We are humans making our way through a complicated existence called life.  We are  going to make mistakes.  We are all going to fail others and ourselves.  But we also have our good days when we are loving and kind.  Let’s extend grace to our dad’s tomorrow.  And then, accept God’s grace for ourselves.  No relationship is without its hiccups.  Acceptance of “what is” and not wishing otherwise brings a great sense of inner peace.  Praising God for all Father’s today,  Linda