Alone On A Hill?

The Lord gave me these words to share with a sister who stands pretty much alone in her stand and calling for Christ. I then realized we all fit that description from time to time and decided to share it with whosoever. That means you. God is no respecter of persons and you can take this as a word for you as well.




Just a word of encouragement. Abba hasn't disconnected from the beacon on the hill. When others can't see your value you must burn all the brighter for the blind are headed for the rocks.

A lighthouse stands alone on the craggy rocks. It never moves from its spot and does its greatest work in the worst of weather and the darkest of nights.

When we are tempted to feel alone realize there is a light keeper that makes sure the light in the lighthouse is burning brightly. He tends the lighthouse with the utmost care.



- love never fails.

Plodding Persistence

It's early Wednesday morning and I'm thinking back to last night's late spring rain storm.

I've been building a barn storage building which will become my art studio when it's done. I hadn't prayed for rain because so much of the material it's made of is pressed fiber board. Rain is not it's friend. I did however know that we needed rain so as soon as the last shingle was on and even before I had built the barn doors I began to pray for rain. That was Monday afternoon and yesterday being Tuesday a rain storm came our way.
I'm quite amazed that the building is up and is sturdy and standing. I've had a different kind of crew helping me build this miracle. A couple visiting from Belarus were my first volunteers. Neither speak much English and my Russian is in its juvenile stage of development at best. With this gracious couple I was able to get the foundation set up on cinder blocks and the four walls constructed.
My next volunteers were a fellow widow and her thirty something son and his wife. We erected the walls, put the roof trusses up and sheathed the roof.
My last and most recent helper was a young Russian American boy. He helped me paper and shingle the roof. Just beginning his summer vacation he rose late in the mornings and discovered the temperature fluctuations on black roofing felt can be drastic. We finished the roof on a day when the temperature outside was 110 and the surface temperature on the felt was a good twenty degrees higher.
Today I've decided to get busy and build the doors for my barn slash art studio slash spare guest room. I don't want another rain storm to come and ruin the interior of my barn.
I was rather overwhelmed when the delivery guy dropped a large plastic covered stack of wood in my yard. I thought to myself, "What have I gotten myself into?".

I have more volunteers waiting in the wings to help with interior projects. I have yet to electrify the building. I have yet to insulate, floor, cover the walls or decorate it. All of these are but items on a long list of "to dos" that will get done in the process of time.
I've said before that if you just do something for fifteen minutes everyday you can finish, or master it. This project didn't follow that exact path, but with plodding persistence I know I shall finish it!
- love never fails.

Blast From the Past

I'm sitting in Starbucks waiting for a friend I've never met before and find myself back in the 60s and 70s. First the Monkees are filling the air with familiar melodies, then the Beetles! Now Bread is adding to the nostalgiafest!
It seems that the last eight months since my husband bugged out for heaven has been constantly filled with remembering and with trying to forget. I'm sure my soul and mind have been stretched beyond all normal parameters!
I've learned that mourning is a predictably unpredictable course in life. I lost a child early in my married life. At the time it was the hardest thing I'd suffered. It was more than the loss of a child, it was the loss of hopes and dreams. I discovered strengths and weaknesses I never imagined could come from within my heart. I learned to lean on God and on friends. I learned compassion and put it to practice in practical ways for others who were hurting.
Today I'm past a lot of the horrific fear and torment of losing a spouse of 34 years. I know grief will rear its ugly head when I least expect it. I'm not afraid of confrontation so I'll slam dunk it with proactive resolve. I know mourning is normal, but grief is an ugly self preservative spirit I won't suffer.
The latest tune playing is "The Day The Music Died". I'm glad that title is just that, a popular song. The music of life is running in my veins again and I'm looking forward to living once again.
My good friend Susan shared a bible verse with me: Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
I'm working to leave behind the hardest parts of the past and hold fast to the good. I'm learning to shun self pity and absorption and return to the giving woman I have come to know and love. The process seems slow, but the end result will be good I'm confident!
- love never fails.