What would we do without others in our lives. They make the world sing, they bring us joy and peace; they help us when we are down, sick and just feeling out of sorts.
I belong to a few communities.
We have lived in a small town for almost 9 years. We know many people; our church is our home. When we visit Arizona we belong to a small community and we have found close friends in whom we can confide, chat and just enjoy their company. We have also found a church home. And of course we have our family – close and extended in whom we shower love, affection, and joy.
Our small community in Haliburton has shown me how people can help others. We have so many people doing so many things to make sure everyone gets support. The ones I can name quickly are the 4Cs (who look after food for those in need, and sell clothes at the Lily Ann (thrift store) to help keep the foodbank operational); Community Living who look after those who need a little more help to live on their own; Community Care which brings additional help to seniors; Point in Time which looks after the children in our community; The Bridge which provides a refuge for kids ages 9-20 with activities, games and music. They also bring them Jesus – in a quiet way. Our churches work with many groups as well to build a stronger community.
And online communities – which are growing every day – where we can meet and get to know others who share our interests – isn’t that wonderful?
Thanks for listening,
Time’s up.
My five minutes are up. What do you think of when you hear the word – COMMUNITY
If you want to join The Gypsy Mama in her Five Minute Fridays read below.
Here are the rules:
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
On Fridays we write like we believe we can fly. Won’t you join us? (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
When you read the above verse what is your first impression of Martha? Do you think of her as a complainer, a worrier, or both?
Have you ever considered that Martha’s worry and fret was something more? Jesus said she was “worried and upset about many things.” Let’s think about this for a moment. Martha cared about the same things we do. If Jesus was coming to your house for dinner what would run through your head? Would it be, “What shall I make? What would He like? Is the house clean? Does He prefer fish over chicken? Should I get a place setting for the table?” Or would it be, “I can’t wait till Jesus gets here. I’m going to sit at His feet all night and listen adoringly to every word He speaks. If He gets hungry we’ll deal with that when it comes up. But tonight – I’m taking a break from the cooking and welcoming my honoured guest by giving Him my full attention.”
Be honest now, which person are you? If you chose Martha, it really wouldn’t be a bad thing. Her way of caring for the Lord, of showing her love for Him, was in her service to Him and she falsely believed that Mary’s act of love should be the same as hers. So she complained. But Jesus wanted Martha to know that He wasn’t the type of person who demanded a lot of fuss. In fact, I’m willing to bet that if He did come to my house today, or yours, he would be content to order from Pizza Hut and carry on with the evening.
Yes, Mary knew what was better and while Jesus appreciated all Martha was doing, He wanted her to know that it wasn’t necessary. Sometimes, we just need to stop doing “things” for the Lord and sit back and rest in Him.
Today, spend time with your Saviour. Put on some worship music, pray, read your bible. Think about how you can honour Him. Most of all, be still and know that He is the better choice.
What a pleasure this morning to have a guest pastor, Pastor Brian Plouffe, visit us at my home church in Haliburton. This was our first Sunday back in our church since last October because we spent six months away this winter.
Our homecoming – wonderful. Read my post on Together.
Today here are a few thoughts from Brian’s sermon called “Learning to Trust in the Lord”.
TRUST
What is trust? What do you trust? Brian made us think about what we trust in – will the chair hold me? – do we actually feel it and check it out or just sit down? We know the sun will come up each day even though we may not see it – we know it is there. We can trust in Jesus, His saving grace and our salvation, too.
The passage he chose for his sermon is one of the first ones that I had memorized:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV).
As he went through the passage he took each section so I will do the same.
IN THE LORD
God is worthy of our trust. He sent Jesus – who died for us and made the way for us to be with God – here and in Heaven.
WITH ALL YOUR HEART
That means your whole being – not just a little bit. Everything that is in you. Jesus told us to:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NIV).
I like the analogy he used to help me see trust. He said “plant seeds of trust”. Trust needs to be planted; needs to be watered and nurtured and cared for. How do we do this? Because trust takes time and effort we have to work at it. That means to draw close to God in prayer and in reading the Bible. Not just “go to church”.
He told us a bit of his testimony, which involved his first introduction to reading the Bible. When he first started to read (as a brand new Christian who had no background at all in Christianity) he read the Bible from the beginning but even though the stories were good – Leviticus and Deuteronomy bogged him down and he gave up. That is until one year later when God led him to a Messianic Jew while he visited Europe. She asked if he knew Jesus. He said that someone had led him to know who Jesus was – but He couldn’t find out about Him in the Bible. She explained that there are two testaments in the Bible. Jesus comes in the New Testament. And he followed her advice and found out all about Jesus.
It is important for us to draw closer to God.
AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING
We need to use our minds to discover, to read, to watch and to listen. But God will not reveal everything to us. We don’t need explanations of why does such and such happen. We do need to pray for wisdom and understanding. But He doesn’t have to tell us everything.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD” (Isaiah 15:8 NIV).
God is all-knowing – not us. But we do need to read, read and read some more. Encourage our young people to read as well.
IN ALL THY WAYS SUBMIT TO HIM
I liked this part so much. How do we acknowledge God? With a nod? A high five? See ‘ya later God? Or do we bow down just as Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane and said, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 NIV)
AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT
Yes, He will and sometimes we may fall. But when we do we fall into a puddle we need to cry out to God – not stay down in the puddle and whine. We have to ask for help and not moan or mope where we are. We need to ask for that help and stop blaming God or the puddle. This reminded me so much of Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts. To know Eucharisteo – thanks in all situations.
And the ending:
Even in the midst of uncertainty – we can trust a God who has saved us. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) God blesses our hearts if we let Him in.
I had this post all ready to go on Friday – then life happened and I completely forgot that I didn’t post it. Found it in DRAFT mode. I knew I was looking for a picture of together. This week is “pictureless” – but close your eyes and picture yourself together with someone you love. Now that you have that picture here is my post.
Interesting how the words that are chosen from the Gypsy Mama seem to sink into my heart and soul. This week’s word is “together”.
Having spent the winter in Arizona we have been apart from our family and Canadian friends for 6 months with just short trips back. Yesterday we returned home thanks to our youngest daughter driving us after our airplane ride, along with our new 5 week old grandson.
Today we held an open house shower to welcome Bryce to this world and to help the work of our local pregnancy centre. The hugs I received from my friends can’t be measured. I feel that I have come home.
Next weekend all our family come here to join us in being together. We also celebrate April birthdays – 3 of them. I can’t wait to hug my children and grandchildren. It will be the first time we have all been together since February when we celebrated my Mom’s life. And Bryce has met the entire crew at once yet. This coming weekend will be the big hello.
I think God smiles when He sees us together and when we hug one another. It shows we care and that each person is special to us.
Thank you Lord for togetherness – for not wanting to exist alone but with each other.
I am tired and still in jet lag but happy to be home together again.
Time’s up.
My five minutes are up. What do you think of when you hear the word – TOGETHER
If you want to join The Gypsy Mama in her Five Minute Fridays read below.
Here are the rules:
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
On Fridays we write like we believe we can fly. Won’t you join us? (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
One thing I like about the way Pastor John gives a sermon is the historical background he gives us. The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is known to many of us but he also told us the following tidbits of information:
The Samaritans came from the 12 tribes of Jacob, but they were from the northern kingdom of Israel. They had become “half-breeds” because they married the Babylonians and Assyrians. He compared the feud of the Jewish people and the Samaritans to the McCoys and the Hatfields.
The first line of the Scripture says: Jesus had to go through Samaria. He didn’t take that route for travelling necessity but took it because God needed Him to meet the Samaritan woman.
The historicity of the well is such that they can say for almost certain “here is the well”, and that’s after 3000 years since it was dug. That’s authentic.
The time that the Samaritan woman came to the well is noon – very hot. And she came alone. That is not what women did who went for water. They came when it was cooler and they came together so they could talk about all that is going on in their lives. The Samaritan woman was an outcast so she couldn’t go with the others. She came alone.
The four points of the lesson:
God’s love is not based on who we are.
I learned that everyone is important to Jesus. He crossed cultural (a woman), historical (Samaritan), moral (she was an outcast) lines. That means I too have to cross those barriers when I meet others. I can’t label people. I must see them as God sees them – with a genuine love of Jesus. I must make eye contact and show them that I care.
I must be ATTENTIVE.
God’s love is not based on what we know.
If I want an abundant life I need to be different. I can’t be complacent and let life pass me by. God said:
“For I know the plans I have for you, … plans … to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).
Even in retirement God is not finished with me yet. Am I trying to box God in? Or can I take the living water and drink deeply?
I must be CURIOUS.
God’s love is not based on what we’ve done.
This resounded with me because it repeated what I read from Oswald Chambers this morning. I can’t keep changing the subject with God when He is trying to tell me something. The Samaritan woman does her best to take the talk away from her sin. But Jesus keeps bringing it back to her, until she relents and starts listening to Him.
Oswald asks:
“You say – “I know I am right with God”; but still the “high places” remain, there is something over which you have not obeyed” (Oswald Chambers April 15).
Is He talking to me or to you right now? Are we listening to Him or making excuses?
I must LISTEN.
God’s love is based on who Jesus is.
Jesus is the I AM. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus is the Bread of Life. All we need to say is, “I am sorry” and He says, “You are forgiven.”
I must COME TO JESUS.
To top off all I learned today I received an email with a song that is new to me. The words spoke exactly what we learned today. It is called GRACE by Laura Story.
The words are awesome.
Grace
My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.
I see the things You do through me as great things I have done. And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my father and mold me as my maker.
Chorus:
I ask you: “How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abound?”
And you answer: ” My child, I love you.
And as long as you’re seeking My face, You’ll walk in the pow’r of My daily sufficient grace.”
At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You?I know I don’t deserve You. And that’s the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on.
Chorus
I ask you: “How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abounds?”
And you answer: ” My child, I love you.
And as long as you’re seeking My face, You’ll walk in the pow’r of My daily sufficient grace.”
You are so patient with me, Lord.
As I walk with You, I’m learning what Your grace really means. The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary. So, instead of trying to repay You, I’m learning to simply obey You
by giving up my life to you For all that You’ve given to me.
Chorus:
I ask you: “How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abounds?”
And you answer: ” My child, I love you.
And as long as you’re seeking My face, You’ll walk in the pow’r of My daily sufficient grace.
This is an opportune time for the word “goodbye” as we leave for Canada next Wednesday. When I say goodbye it is always in hopes that, God willing, I will see everyone in Arizona next year. Then of course, in the fall, it is the reverse – saying goodbye to my home town friends.
Thanks to the Internet the goodbyes are never permanent. We keep in touch throughout the year.
One group that I have the most trouble saying goodbye to is my Polish friends from my mission trip. They have made a special mark on my life. Three times I have visited Poland for 2 weeks on a mission trip, to teach English at an Evangelical Family Camp. These people have claimed my heart and my soul. Once again this summer I will be returning. I am so excited. When I say goodbye after the 2 weeks, I cry – from happiness at what they are learning, for their passion for Christ and for their hard work at bringing others to know Him.
Family English Camp in Poland
And the other goodbye is saying goodbye to loved ones – as I said goodbye to my Mom this winter. That goodbye isn’t permanent either because I know we will meet again in Heaven. In my heart I am sure that Jesus is looking after my parents – and they are waiting in anticipation of seeing me, too.
Doris Read - 1917-2012
Goodbyes – heart-felt feelings of caring for each other.
Time’s up.
My five minutes are up. What do you think of when you hear the word – GOODBYE?
If you want to join The Gypsy Mama in her Five Minute Fridays read below.
Here are the rules:
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
On Fridays we write like we believe we can fly. Won’t you join us? (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
Our pastor gave a tremendous service on Easter Sunday. You can listen to the sermon on a podcast. I have put in the highlights of what I took from his sermon.
The title was Nick and Joe Save Easter.
Of course he talked about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
The following is how I interpreted his talk.
In Jerusalem in Jesus’ day, a family member could not mourn or remove the body of a crucified victim. The body was to stay up as a reminder to others. The body would, after a few days, be taken to the garbage dump, Gehenna, which always had a fire burning.
Both Nick and Joe were Pharisees (the rule makers; their job was to be good; they believed that God spoke only to them).
But Nick and Joe along with others had secret conversations with Jesus. Nicodemus was selected to go ask Jesus the IMPORTANT QUESTION. “How can I know that I have a right standing with God?” Jesus answered him before he asked the question.
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again”” (John 3:3 NIV).
“Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”” John 3:5 NIV).
All the while this is going on the other Pharisees are preparing to get rid of Jesus. (They were afraid of losing their power.) What really opened Nick and Joe’s eyes was the resurrection of Lazarus. They saw the stone rolled away. They heard Jesus speak and say “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:41-43 NIV).
Most of the Pharisees went away deciding that Jesus had to be dealt with – His power terrified them. The few of the secret group went away questioning what had happened. They knew their history of the Jewish people. They remembered Isaiah 53:5.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Then God’s Hand put the rest of the Easter Story into play. After Jesus was crucified, Joseph went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Pilate sent soldiers to check if Jesus were truly dead. He was. This was extremely important to the Story. Pilate let Joseph take the body down and put it in a tomb. He must have bribed the ‘powers that be’ to do that. He was the right person for the job.
Even when the disciples deserted Jesus, Nicodemus and Joseph believed.
“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there”(John 19:38-42 NIV).
Even though Jesus died they had courage to follow the prophets of old and faith and courage to look after the body.
No disciple stayed at the tomb. Not one of them.
But on Sunday the stone was rolled away and Easter happened.
You know the rest of the story.
I like that God had the plan – He used ordinary people “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14 NIV).
How can He use me? How can He use you?
Let’s ask Him.
Happy Easter. He is risen. He is risen indeed.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Jesus – for giving up Your Son for us. We thank You for using regular people to accomplish Your purposes like Nick and Joe. We ask that You use us as You wish to further Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.
An Addendum
I had read Easter morning before the church service, from Oswald Chambers these words:
“As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.” [Jesus spoke these words before His ascension into Heaven] “Holy Spirit” is the experimental name for Eternal Life working in human beings here and now.”
Once again it confirmed for me that we must be reborn spiritually.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14 NIV).
As I sit and look out at the Arizona cloudless sky I remember why we decided to spend the winter months here – sunshine. This part of the state has so much sunshine – almost every day. It is an historic moment, well at least the weather forecasters get excited, when they see clouds in the future – there MIGHT be rain. And that makes them excited.
I have noticed something very interesting down here – everyone is friendly at the stores – really friendly. Smiles, “how are you?”, “Can I help you?” and they go out of their way to show that they really like us here. In our gated park we wave at everyone, stop to talk, and generally smile all the time.
I can attribute that to the sunshine – we are getting lots of it.
That’s why there is so much talk about Vitamin D. Are we getting enough in the northern parts of the country? We have many dark dreary days up north.
So if light means so much I can understand more of Revelation – there will be LIGHT all the time in Heaven – not from the sun but from the SON. God’s light will shine all the time and we will no longer be in darkness. I like that.
In the meantime whether I am in the north or the south I think looking to the Son is the most important job I have. He can light up my day no matter where I am, and whatever circumstances I am in He lifts my spirits. That is the LIGHT that I will continue to look to.
Time’s up.
My five minutes are up. What do you think of when you hear the word – LIGHT?
If you want to join The Gypsy Mama in her Five Minute Fridays read below.
Here are the rules:
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
On Fridays we write like we believe we can fly. Won’t you join us? (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
I think the best gift of all is the gift of life. Having my own children has blessed our lives. Having grandchildren doubles the blessings. As we watch each child choose a mate, and then decide to have children themselves puts joy in my heart.
This March our youngest daughter gave birth to a sweet baby boy. I had the pleasure to be at their home for one month – 2 weeks leading up to the birth (baby decided to not enter on the date predicted) and 2 weeks after baby boy’s arrival. Such sweetness, little mouth, soft skin and cuddles.
God’s gift to us – life. Do we take our lives for granted? Do we enjoy each minute? Do we listen to God as He speaks into our hearts?
How do we thank Him? Do you thank Him for everything – for being with you through hard time and good times?
I loved reading Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts as it has led me on a journey to seek the gifts of God. They are all around. We only have to LOOK, HEAR, TASTE, SMELL, and TOUCH.
My five minutes are up. What do you think of when you hear the word – GIFT?
If you want to join The Gypsy Mama in her Five Minute Fridays read below.
Here are the rules:
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
On Fridays we write like we believe we can fly. Won’t you join us? (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
Linking to The Gypsy Mama on Fridays. I have 5 minutes to write. The word is LOUD.
Here I go:
LOUD
Snowbirds - Loud
I don’t really like loud music, especially the decibels that make my ears ring. But I love it loud enough that I can hear it.
Yes I think I have a slight hearing problem. I keep saying that I will get my ears checked. But I don’t. I know I don’t hear the timer on the stove when others do; I have to turn up the volume on the TV; I say “pardon” more and more.
It is important to hear clearly. That’s why I ask others to repeat what they have said because I want to know. I wonder if I should do the same for God – should I ask Him to repeat what He has said. Maybe I haven’t heard Him clearly.
There are many things that cover up God’s messages – my emotions, activities around me, other voices, my sense of self.
I need to get away from all the distractions of this world, in order to find the clear message of God.
If you want to join The Gypsy Mama in her Five Minute Fridays read below.
Here are the rules:
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
On Fridays we write like we believe we can fly. Won’t you join us? (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
