Ever with us...

"Standing on a London street corner, G.K. Chesterton was approached by a newspaper reporter.

'Sir, I understand that you recently became a Christian. May I ask you one question?'

'Certainly,' replied Chesterton. "If the risen Christ suddenly appeared at this very moment and stood behind you, what would you do?'

Chesterton looked the reporter squarely in the eye and said, 'He is.'"

Brennan Manning, "Reflections for Ragamuffins"

And with that piece of perfect wisdom, I leave you with blessings for a wonderful weekend! Call your mother...love, heidi

I've got that joy, joy, joy...

"I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete."

John 15:11

Devotion writer, David Nantais, in today's "Living Faith," asks the question, "When was the last time you experienced delicious, unalloyed joy?" Yesterday. I was just finishing up my second appointment of the morning. As I was getting up to leave, the dear, elderly lady struggled to pull herself up out of the chair. "Oh, you don't need to get up," I assured, "I know my way out." "Oh, I know," she said, "I just want to give you a hug." I left her home and walked out into the gloriously warm, windless morning. I got in the car and realized I had just had two wonderful appointments with two lovely women and had received two grateful hugs, and it wasn't even noon! It doesn't get much better than that! The joy of my life just welled up inside me and I thought I was gonna burst. I recognized it as such a gift. This gift of joy is constantly being given to us, but sometimes it takes many wonderful circumstances coming together at the same time for us to realize it. Today, I can hear the wind is back, but I do know the feeling of that joy, joy, joy, joy...down in my heart! Love, heidi

Pick the right vine!

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower...'"

John 15:1

The word "true" jumped out at me this morning when I read this and it seemed to me that Jesus was implying there are other vines we little branches may try to graft ourselves onto. There are, indeed, I realized. There are more worldly vines, such as the success vine, that puts us on the hamster wheel of trying to succeed at all costs, stepping over others or pushing others out of our way. There is the consumer vine that entices us to buy too much stuff we do not need so we need to have a garage sale to get rid of it all. There is the "it's not my problem" vine that detaches us from the world and its issues because, surely, we can't do anything about problems THAT big! There is also the vine that feeds us the message that we can do it all by ourselves, we don't need anyone or any God. There are many, many vines that may look appealing to us as we travel through life. But, just like Jesus says today, he is the True vine...the vine that gives us True life and feeds us abundantly. The vine that gives us the nourishment to bear True fruit. Let's make the right choice and swing on the right vine! Love, heidi

In the eye of the beholder...

"The issue is whether there is anything in our world that we can call sacred."

Henri Nouwen, "Life of the Beloved"

I'm revisiting this question today because I have thought so much about it since first posting it the other day, as well as tossing it about with others. What DO we consider sacred in the world around us? My first inclination is to say, anything that is a gift from God is sacred. That would be the people in our lives, surely gifts from God. Second, I would say nature around us is sacred. It is definitely among God's greatest gifts. Then, I thought about inanimate objects. Could we call them sacred? Today I'm using the coffee cup my mother-in-law always used when she came to visit us. She had picked the cup, from all our other mugs, because of its unique shape and feminine look. She drank coffee throughout the day and the cup got a good workout when she was visiting, so, the cup will always remind me of her. That is sacred to me. I'd feel terrible if anything happened to it. I guess sacred is in the eye of the beholder, in a way. To me, sacred is whatever God has touched and given to us. Love, heidi

To God be the Glory!

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name give glory..."

Psalm 115

It is so easy for us to get all puffed up when something we do turns out nicely. But, have you ever experienced a situation when things turned out so much better than you ever hoped or imagined? God takes our little gifts and makes them so much more fruitful! To put it in mathematical terms (brace yourself), we can do "x" and then God comes in and suddenly, the effort is "x" to the millionth power! Our part is to try...and trust...and let God work. And, in the end, we are as surprised as we are pleased at the result. And the glory is God's. To God be the glory! Blessings on your Monday! Love, heidi