Little Grass Shack!

So, what would you buy for this gorgeous little house on Maui, not to far from a marine preserve? This is one of those amazing places--and there was a for sale sign on it and everything when we were there. Oh, I have to tell you, that in my wildest dreams, I'd end up in a house like that. Which I suppose shows just how wild my dreams can get.

The truth of the matter is, all of us in the US are more wealthy, more comfortable than many other people in the world--and our current state of affairs, even though they be poor ones, show us to be wealthier than many on the planet.

I went to the vegetable market today and filled our fridge with good things. Many people don't have a fridge, and consider themselves blessed to have one meal a day. And we don't stop to say "Thank You" to the One who is "the giver of every good and perfect gift."

Sometimes, His gifts come in funny wrapping paper and it is hard to recognize them as gifts at all. The loss of a job. The loss of a relationship. The loss of a loved one, who fought valiantly against the ravages of cancer. Those crisis points--a sudden surgery, a sudden accident seem like rotten intruders. BUT--and this is big--when God brings something into our lives, it is for our ultimate good and His glory. If we love a job more than Him, we need a reality check, because He's the King of the Universe. If we love any human person more than Him, they have become for us an idol. But when we give Him first place in our lives, when He gets the surrender of our hearts, and our wills to His--wow. Because everyone has trouble--hey, we live in a sin filled world. But if you know the Messiah, He turns those troubles to gold in your life. He refines you in the process and makes you more able to see His goodness and His plan. And when you don't crumble like a cracker people under the stress, because you are abiding in Him, people wonder what you're doing that's so different. And then you can tell them that you have a faithful, loving, Great God most High who has lavished His love on you in Messiah and He makes no mistakes. I don't need this little grass shack. What He's preparing for me because He's poured His grace on my heart and opened my eyes to my sin and need for forgiveness is HUGE. Heaven is way better than Hawaii. One day, because of a righteousness that has been gifted to me, that I don't deserve, I will be there. And the flowers will be more fragrant than any I've ever smelled here. There won't be a sun, the Lord will be the Light. No tears, no crying, no sorrow, no illness, no pain. In the meantime, I want to help as many people as I can go there too! There's an invitation with your name on it...now is the time to RSVP.....
Click on the link below to discover your invitation to joy in Him:

http://viewthestory.com/1475

Some days are a bit of a challenge

I love this photo of a hibiscus blossom that we found on one of our walks on Maui. It was here today, and two days later it was withered and gone. The grass withers, and so does the flowers, but the Word of our God will stand forever, last forever. Today was an unexpected kind of a day for me. My plans had fallen through--and what happened instead was something not quite so high stress, high demand on me. I guess I needed a quieter day than I had originally planned.

It is hard to be "home alone" much harder than I thought it would be. I swam on Monday, and again today. Monday, I did two "victory laps" for my husband who was winging his way on the way to Israel. I was praying as I counted strokes, repeating just how many laps I had done (because I forget so easily as I'm swimming). So instead of my usual 36, I did 38. Today, I bumped it up to 40. Another five laps, and I'll be doing a mile and a quarter. It has been a long time since I tried to add laps, and it's about time. I'm hovering very, very close to a "new number" that I want to be in, and in order for it to happen, I have to move more.

Speaking of moving, last night, I was sitting in my chair with my feet up, reading my Bible and I felt movement. I wasn't sure what it was. Was it an earthquake? You've got to understand that I'm from New England, generally a very sensible place where the earth doesn't move so much. Not so California, where all of this lovely mountainous beauty comes with a price--mountains, volcanoes, tectonic plates deciding to move...it happened more than once. But I stayed blissfully ignorant, merely because I have decided pretty much to keep the TV off while Steve my beloved is away on this adventure. We had peace about me not coming along--and no peace about me going, so the best thing to do under those circumstances is to obey what you believe is God informing you of what you should be doing.

Now, I may change my mind about TV viewing as we get to the end of this trip because it is the longest time we've had away since we decided that whenever possible, I would go with him. Sometimes it is nice to know what's going on in the world--but mostly it has been bad news left and right. So while he's gone, I want to especially concentrate on the Good News that Y'shua loves me and is changing me--even though sometimes change seems slow and hard as adding a lap or two to your swim.

Today I swam...and did some errands. One dear lady at the pool was singing in the shower--"I did my swim, now I'm going to do a little lunch, and then to top it all off, I'm going to take a little nap!"

That little song kept playing in my head while I did my errands. When I got home I took her advice...had a little lunch and took a little nap.
That turned out to be very good advice!