Picket Fences

  Pretty much every morning I open my eyes to a cute little cat staring at me waiting for me to wake up. My other cat is prowling around the bed meowing trying to get me up, usually way before I want to wake up. I say good morning to them, pet them, and they follow me around the room. Then I go into my office where my dogs sleep and let them out of their kennels. Those two dogs get so excited. Their tails wag, and their little bodies wiggle crazily about me while I pet them. Then they greet each other by panting in each other’s faces, chewing at each other, and wagging their tails more. It is truly an ordeal to get down the stairs safely, they are so excited. Once they go outside and eat, as soon as I sit down, they wiggle their way to me and rub their excited little bodies up against me and just want to be talked to and petted. They get so excited as I talk to them and get full of energy, rolling on the floor, jumping, and ending up wrestling with one another. Each of these 4 animals

  WHAT IF? “What are you going to do if God doesn’t answer your prayer?” My neighbor’s question left me stunned. Surely God would answer my prayer. I could see no reason at all for God to not answer my prayer. I spent quite a while praying that night, in my backyard, looking at the moon. It looked huge and seemed so close to earth that I felt as though I could reach out and touch it or even step right onto it. I knew God created that moon. He spoke it into existence. As a new believer I had not even considered God would not answer my prayer.  He spoke the entire world into existence.  He can answer my prayer. It has been over 30 years since the night my neighbor asked me that question. Did God answer my prayer? Not the way I wanted the prayer to be answered. It was a season of grieving and growing for me. Since then though, there have been many answered prayers. And – My dad’s friend did not heal. My friends did not heal. Some family members did not heal. My husband’

 Peace? Where is it? Chaos and confusion are everywhere. News, videos, people's choices, viruses, cancers, and relationships exploding - information that continually fills our minds.  Closer to home, life can be fast, relationships can totter at the drop of a hat, people are haggard, walking the streets with no home to go to, drug and alcohol addictions is a norm in a lot of families. Where is the peace? I know I can spend time during the day looking and looking for just a moment or two for some space where there is solitude. There is no news, no demands, no need to be emotionally available, and I am just able to take a moment to process life.  Where is the peace for the people who have been taken from their lives and held hostage? Where is the peace for the ones who have been stolen and sold for the perverted pleasure of others? Where is the peace for the one who is caring for a loved one that is suffering in one way or another, and where is the peace for the one

  I had some time to sit on the beach and stare off into the vast unknown. Did you know just sitting there set me up for the boundaries of the ocean to be removed and taken out to the deep never to return? Did you also know that sitting there is so peaceful and shows me the power of God who created such a magnificent vast ocean with the beautiful sky above and the sun that rises and sets each day?  Anxiety and worry, or Peace and relaxation? I cannot tell you how many times I struggle to NOT WORRY instead of staying in the moment. About 35 years ago I had a tough situation in my life. Worry filled my mind about what could happen the next day. When I opened my Bible the verse I read was “Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough troubles of its own.” How hard is that? How hard is it to not worry about things that seem intimidating, scary, or life changing in the future? In a Bible study I am in, the discussion was on Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit from the

 Galatians 2:20 NKJV I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Italics mine)

 Yesterday I watched a short portion of a movie about Anne Frank. I have read the story, so I know the sad ending.   When there is war, or a battle for power over people, there are many victims. Somehow, (usually very cruelly), certain people will be put in a weaker position than the power seeker. Somehow people are forced to live in a way they do not want to live at all. Their normal daily lives are stolen from them. It starts back in biblical times when the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. I can instantly think of some more, for one, after seeing Anne Frank yesterday, the concentration camps for the Jewish religion and those who helped them. There have been slaves throughout history all over the world, even today, such as those who are victims of sex traffiking.  There are those at the mercy of drug lords, due to drug addiction. People dominated and abused in relationships, by a parent, spouse, boyfriend, or friend. I thought of these situations, and the people caught in them