the Lord is your keeper..

as i walk through the present season of my life I have come to know God as my Keeper. looking back on my yesterdays i can honestly say that somewhere along the path i ventured off. i thought i was following my Compass, but little did i know that i was not aligned. i got one degree off. as i kept going i got further and further off from True North. the veering was so subtle that i did not realize how off course i was until i finally looked up and found myself in the blackness of the wilderness.

"And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor (Valley of Trouble ) a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt." -Hosea 2:13-15

my Beloved took me to the wilderness only to bring me back to Him, more steadfast, held more tightly. brutal lessons were learned. pain was for my gain. and now, i am changed. i have been made anew. i feel His hands so tightly around me. His grip holds firm. He has hemmed me in. He is my Keeper, keeping me close. when i make the slightest turn in the wrong direction He quickly comes to nudge me back in place. fear creeps in that i will somehow get off track again, but then i remember that the only safety is found in the hands of my Keeper, and no one can snatch me from His hands. He loves me too much to let me go.

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." -Proverbs 4:23 here we find another translation to the ever so quoted, yet ever so important "guard your heart" line we get thrown at us..i find rest in knowing that the Lord is my Keeper..i can't guard my heart, i can't keep it the way it should be..but i know the One who can. when it is in His hands, it is safe, and i have freedom to live for Him, to love like Him.

Psalm 121:
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.


commentary on psalm 121:1-8:"The safety of the godly. - We must not rely upon men and means, instruments and second causes. Shall I depend upon the strength of the hills? upon princes and great men? No; my confidence is in God only. Or, we must lift up our eyes above the hills; we must look to God who makes all earthly things to us what they are. We must see all our help in God; from him we must expect it, in his own way and time. This psalm teaches us to comfort ourselves in the Lord, when difficulties and dangers are greatest. It is almighty wisdom that contrives, and almighty power that works the safety of those that put themselves under God's protection. He is a wakeful, watchful Keeper; he is never weary; he not only does not sleep, but he does not so much as slumber. Under this shade they may sit with delight and assurance. He is always near his people for their protection and refreshment. The right hand is the working hand; let them but turn to their duty, and they shall find God ready to give them success. He will take care that his people shall not fall. Thou shalt not be hurt, neither by the open assaults, nor by the secret attempts of thine enemies. The Lord shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and sanctify, remove, or lighten the evil thou feelest. He will preserve the soul, that it be not defiled by sin, and disturbed by affliction; he will preserve it from perishing eternally. He will keep thee in life and death; going out to thy labour in the morning of thy days, and coming home to thy rest when the evening of old age calls thee in. It is a protection for life. The Spirit, who is their Preserver and Comforter, shall abide with them for ever."

see the world through someone else's eyes

"The other day I was at my rheumatologist's office, and in walked Marvin. I had never met Marvin, but I immediately summed him up as a patient—a man about 70 years of age with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and several other ills. He wore a plaid flannel shirt, faded jeans, work boots and a scruffy white beard. He sauntered in with an oxygen tank hanging across his shoulder and a box of donuts on his arm. He asked my name and offered me a donut.

Within minutes, I learned that Marvin lives in a small mountain town over 50 miles from Colorado Springs and drives here for each one of his appointments, stopping for donuts along the way. He's lived in the mountains for over 65 years and knows every family in his town. He has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, one of whom was just born; his name is Evan. Marvin is remodeling his house, and his wife keeps asking why it's taking so long; he tells her it's because she keeps sending him to doctor appointments. He assured me that our doctor has taken good care of him since 1984, and he wouldn't go to anyone else.

There is something I absolutely love about talking to (or in this case, listening to) older people. I find them in turn fascinating, hilarious, adorable and inspiring. I almost never pass up an opportunity to meet and listen to an elderly person, and I am rarely disappointed with my choice. I was reading a book when Marvin walked into the room, but I soon put the book away. I wondered if he waits for his trips to the city to unburden himself of his tales and related news, and I was this trip's captive audience—it certainly seemed to be the case.



My visit with Marvin got me thinking how grateful I am for every encounter I have outside my well-worn sphere of acquaintances. Sure, I love my friends and family, but the Marvins of the world give me fresh eyes. They make me stop and give them my full attention, in part because they're new and in part because they're different. Sometimes I'll meet a Marvin in the business of my day (as I did in my trip to the doctor's office), but sometimes I have the privilege of cultivating a relationship with a Marvin over time. These are the friendships that truly bless me—but they're not without sacrifice. They force me to step out of my normal routine; they put me in different surroundings; they can even expose me to sadness and loss. More often than not they make me stop focusing on myself (is that even possible?) and listen to someone else.

But they're worth it. Without these friendships I wouldn't know Olga's recipe for a good marriage (hers lasted 71 years) or Emil's funny stories or the lessons Carrold learned in the Great Depression or what it was like for Minnie to become a Christian at age 75. I've peppered these friends with questions and have gained wisdom that would be difficult to glean elsewhere. Yes, it's been a good investment.

Do you have an area where you could grow relationally, perhaps by befriending someone different from yourself and serving them at the same time? Maybe, like me, you're drawn to the elderly. Or maybe you like kids and can help an adoptive family juggle their unique demands (this is National Adoption Month—listen to this week's show for a discussion along these lines). Maybe you have a heart for those with special needs, or someone from a different culture, or someone who is struggling to make ends meet. The opportunities are many, so give it a try and let me know what you learn."

-a blog from Boundless Ministries

one thing remains..

Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me.

yet Love is way too much to give us lesser things..

"i know now, Lord, why You utter no answer. You, Yourself are the answers. before Your face, questions die away. what other answers would suffice?"-C.S. Lewis



We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet Love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
As long as we have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

grasping to let go..

the winds of change bluster once again. i am grasping to let go. i find my fingers fluctuating between fumbling to grasp firm the familiar and the release of relinquishment. as i gravitate back and forth, hands closed then open then closed again, i wonder if there is another choice. some sort of balance. experimenting with my hands i find it is hard to find a middle ground..my hand is either open or closed. anything in between makes my hand look, well, simply disfigured. but what if one hand is open and one hand is closed? this, this might work!

just go with me on this for a minute..let’s take it back to the playground. we won’t go as far as the sand box..rewind with me to the monkey bars. once you hoisted yourself up and were holding onto the first bar, you spent a little time there getting your grip on things..getting comfortable. but then didn’t want to just stand there hanging. you realized it was time for a change, time for you to move to the next bar. so what’d you do? with one hand you held your grip unto the old bar, the bar you were sure of, the bar you know you could trust to hold you up; opening wide the other hand you reached to the next bar and upon firmly grasping it you let go of the other. this pattern continued one by one until you had conquer each bar.
now, think of that monkey bar set as life. each bar representing a change, a step in the journey Home. you can’t stay in one place for long. when you find yourself having to release, you still have something, or should i say Someone to hold onto. and as you reach out in faith, the One who has faithfully upheld you in the past, is sure to be there waiting (if not reaching out to take hold of you) for you to grab hold of the things of the future. one hand open, one hand shut (BUT the question then becomes what is your grip on?)



do you want to live your life feeling like you just got beat up by the playground bully? if we hold onto our lives, if we try to grip things of this world so tightly, that’s exactly how we’ll live life: beaten and worn. things of this world..they are not secure. they are not safe. they are fleeting. they aren’t constant. they will fail us. we will fall. God gives and takes away, and well, NOTHING is ours anyway. so if our hands are grasped shut, either we’ll experience the excruciating pain of our hand being ripped open and something removed or we’ll miss out on the opportunity of receiving something better because our hand was not open..

swinging to the next bar, hand open, hand closed, hand opened, hand closed I go..enjoying the adventure..holding firm to the One Thing that remains amidst change; the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the One Who holds secure when all else is shaking; the One Who never lets go; the One Who never fails, Whose love never fails. while simultaneously opening up the other hand..letting go of the past (as He loosens my grasp on the things i am not ready to let go of) and reaching for the Hope and the future that lie ahead; relinquishing control; pressing on to take hold of what Christ Jesus has already taken hold of for me..

"if you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it." -luke 17:33

i cling not to my life, but the Giver of Life, as i rest secure in His grasp.

and they say in life there are no guarantees..

"for no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through Him the "amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 1:20-22).

days like these

winter sets in once again, as i feel myself coming out of hibernation as most of my other furry forest friends are just snuggling in. may the blizzard rage, still i will stand, upheld by Your magnificent hand. with each falling flake i see the intricacy of life, the detail, the uniqueness. purity pours, washed white as snow, covered from head to toe. something about days like these awakens the child within us all. it’s almost magical, if i believed in magic. there’s just no words to describe this sheer delight. “let me hear joy” pleads Psalm 51:8, and in the sounds of laughter and cheer, i hear this joy resound, it’s own supernatural ecstasy. child like faith is reawakened as we feel the warmth of being carried in Daddy's arms. just as we tend to slip around on the ice in life, His hand is always extended to help us stay stable, especially when we don’t feel able. the love of a father prompts his provision for his children, and today Dad has gifted His children with a playground of white; a day of rest; a change of pace; a heavy peace; an opportunity for productivity; a reminder of innocence; a place of resting in Him. days like these are filled with many favorite memories of days i felt most alive, free, and filled with glee. days like these are a glimpse of Heaven to me, or what i dream it may be, a way in which God romances me. i am beyond thankful for days like these. however fleeting today may be, as things melt and white we no longer see, i am overcome with hope, for there will be a day when days like these will never cease, when You usher in final peace.