Quiet in the Spirit

As I listened to the Lord's promptings this morning, I sensed His words "I hear your cry and know your desire to accomplish all I have for you.  First of all, come to Me.  Allow yourself to become quiet in your spirit so that you can hear Me.  Bask in My presence and allow My healing, My hope, My wisdom to penetrate the marrow of your bones and the muscles and joints of your body and the cells of your body and mind. 

Quiet.

Whispers of love.

Soft breezes of wisdom.

Cleansing water from My Word.

Remember how it sounds when you are deep in the forest,

Or in a mountain meadow.
    

Think on the desert, with only the sound of the wind.

Or listening to the birdcall at a lake in the mountains.

Experience the joy of a bloom covered in raindrops.

Quiet pervades and peace enters your heart.  So it needs to be as you spend time with Me.  Remember the softness of the air.  Remember the lack of disturbing sound.  Let it wrap around you as a cloak of purest softness.  Let silence reign in your heart and mind as you bask in My being.  Go in peace and rest in Me."

A Tree Beside the Water

"Happy is the man . . . the law of the Lord is his delight, the law his meditation night and day. He is like a tree planted beside a watercourse, which yields its fruit in season and its leaf never withers . . ." Psalm 1:1-3 (excerpted)The New English Bible After a long period of no writing, the Lord has opened the way again. It was a hard time . . . a time of testing and of faith-building. I was ill with a debilitating disease. My mother became increasingly ill as she aged. Pressures built upon pressures. I cried to the Lord. "When will I ever be able to finish the work You have given me?" God's still small voice reassured me that I would always have time to accomplish the work He wants me to do. I needed to trust Him. I prayed and trusted and things seemed to only go from bad to worse. My mother took up most of my time and I was totally depleted. She suffered from cancer, dementia and Parkinson's disease. Her care (and I wasn't even her caregiver), both emotional and physical, depleted me completely and my ill health also took its toll. As I searched God's Word, I gained hope, although everything around me spoke the opposite. It was a faith thing. A faith that had to be grounded in the solid fact of God's Word, not my circumstances. I felt I needed to invest more time in the care of my mother and see it through to the end, not knowing how long that would be. We had never had a great relationship, so this didn't make a lot of sense to me, but with prayer and the agreement of my husband, I followed God's leading. It turned out to be a life changing series of events for me. At first, I felt like this picture of stagnant water and a dead tree. Yet, as I gave myself to this ministry, I sensed new strength, both emotional and physical. It was grueling, at times, but I remembered God's Word. I became alive again. I had new energy. I could drive again. I made serious decisions and the relationship with my mother flourished. As she grew more ill, I sat beside her, and she grabbed my hand and held it to her lips and whispered, "Do you know how much I really, really love you?" I told her I did, and she repeated, "Good, because it's important that you know how much I really, really love you." These were words I had longed to hear for most of my life. She eventually passed away (on my birthday). But, I now had new memories--ones of singing hymns to her, holding her hand, being told she loved me, and the knowledge that, even when she could no longer speak, that I made a difference to her as she grasped my hand tightly when she heard my voice. It was a hard but beautiful time. Although I would never want to repeat that time and it took months to recover afterwards, I found healing. I found new life. I flourished under the faithful hand of God. I am now writing again for the first time in many years. I feel good and am excited to get started. God has given me the time He promised me during those bleak years. I rejoice, for by digging my roots into His Word, fruit is growing in abundance and will spill over and bless many. He is faithful. Praise His name.

Cloak of Jesus

Good morning, Lord. Huge flakes of wet snow fall to the street and stick. Branches frosted with snow take on new looks of loveliness in the midst of the wintery day. I love it and can hardly wait to get out and walk in it.
Lord, You are so beautiful. You are filled with glory, majesty and splendor. You are the One Who flings this coat of white over everything, obliterating the ugly and unpleasant. Your beauty is not just superficial, but through and through. There is no ugliness in You. You are the personification of loveliness and perfection. I love You so very much. Blessed is Your holy name.
I love You so much Lord. Let me be a blessing to someone today, in Your name. Amen.
Listening:
“Child, I love you so very much. Even as the snow covers the ugly, I cover you with the cloak of Jesus. Yet, it is much more than a covering. It doesn’t just hide the ugly, but roots it out and cleanses and heals and brings hope and a future. Go in that strength, for I love you with an unending love.”
Blessed Lord, how I love You.

GIMMEE!GIMMEE!GIMMEE!

Short story for children

GIMMEE, GIMMEE, GIMMEE!
(Dusty Doesn’t Want to Share)


"Why are my people bringing that tree in the house?" Dusty didn’t understand as he sniffed the sharp tang of a fir tree. I always thought trees belonged in a forest.
It was the Christmas season and Dusty watched all the activity in bewilderment. What he hated the most about this time was how the furniture got moved around. He had all his little rabbit-trails memorized and then they got blocked by chairs or some other thing. It made him so annoyed that he thumped his hind foot and then he felt better.
Lovely songs played (although to bunny ears they were a trifle loud), as Dusty hopped down hall to see what was happening. He had just settled down for a nice snooze when all the commotion happened out in the living room. Being a bunny, he was very curious and needed to see what they were doing.

Dusty stopped in his tracks. His people set out a big basket of hay and they were putting all sorts of animal toys around it. I hope those animals don’t eat too much hay. I want it and it’s mine! What’s she doing anyway?
He hopped over to the basket, pushed some of the animals away and sat down. He sat frowning but felt better since now he could watch how much they ate. Come to think of it, I’m pretty hungry myself. Mmmm. That hay tastes good. He nibbled some that hung over the edge.
He felt the need to investigate further. It was definitely a mystery. He became tired after all the activity, so he decided to take another nap. That’s something else bunny rabbits are good at. Bunnies are very happy when they have lots of food and take lots of naps.
When he woke up, he looked around and realized where he was. Dusty was not happy about this whole situation. There were entirely too many critters very close to his hay. And the worst was, someone was on top of the hay! What’s this? Why, it’s a little person. What’s he doing in my hay? He didn’t know about Baby Jesus.
He was insulted that someone would sit on his food. In the animal world, many animals sit, stand or lie on their food to tell others that the food belongs to them. And here was this little person wrapped in white on top of his hay! Who does he think he is?

Dusty Guards His Hay photo by Crystal J. Ortmann


Well, he couldn’t allow this other guy to take his hay, so he butted his way through the animals and nudged baby Jesus right out of the basket. Then Dusty climbed into the basket and took another nap. He wasn’t a selfish bunny—it’s just what rabbits do to protect their own things.
“Ahh,” he thought, “it’s all mine. Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee.”
He was happy because he kept all of his hay and pushed Jesus aside to do it.
Sometimes, though, children and grown-ups do the same thing. We want lots of things at Christmas and either push Baby Jesus aside or forget we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday as we receive our presents. God wants us to share and be willing to give others things that will make them happy.

Dusty Takes Over the Manger Scene Photo by Crystal J. Ortmann©

You can read more about giving and receiving in Luke 6:38 . Although Dusty doesn’t understand about Baby Jesus, we can and we can make room for Him in our hearts.

Life's Blasts

Daily I praised God for the beauty of Autumn. The maple tree outside my window was like a lamp shining into the darkened room. Everywhere I looked, the glory of Autumn shouted for my attention. I took pictures and mentally tried to memorize the different shades of red, orange, yellow, brown and green. Sometimes, it took my breath away.

I noticed the air getting nippier and the birds are flocking to our feeders. Winter is on its way.

Then, with one storm, the leaves were blasted away. This is the same tree as at the beginning, but now this is the view from my window.

Sometimes, when life seems most lovely, we can encounter a storm that rips the beauty right out of our lives. The shock is enormous and we feel bare and stripped of life's joys. That is the time to remember that though a tree looks dead after a storm, it is very much in the process of becoming an even more beautiful tree in the Spring. So it is with any storms that come into our lives--God is doing something unseen that will cause us to be more productive and more lovely after a while. Take heart, He is the Master Artist and we can trust Him with the worst storms of our lives.

Morning Thoughts

Journal—October 26, 2011
Good morning, Lord. The sun shines through the yellow maple leaves outside my office window. The sunrise was spectacular. I’m so glad I was able to grab the camera quickly. Thank You for such beauty to greet the newborn day.
I love You, Lord. Why is it so difficult for our finite minds to grasp Who You are? I suppose for that reason—our minds are finite and Yours is infinite. But, in the little bit of understanding that I possess, I praise You. You could take all the sunrises, every beautiful and majestic mountain, the glory of the sea and they would only be a poor showing for Who You really are. If we could grasp that, how different our lives would be. Help us, Lord to know You better and appreciate You more.

Do You Ever Have Days Like These?

The past months have been grueling. There is no other word to describe them. Mentally, you can reason out that all of this is good for you, that you are growing in the Lord, and all the cliche`s ad infintum. Those words may be true but when you are in the midst of the storm, it's easy to be blown this way and that, emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. The last thing you want to hear is how God is doing great things in you. What you want is a hug or a hand clasp and the words I love you. I care about you and am praying for you.

I have been the perpetrator of cliche's at times, wanting to encourage and fix the problems of those hurting around me. However loving and valid those feelings are, I need to be aware that this is perhaps the last thing someone wants to hear. I want to be sensitive to the needs of others and that includes listening to them and really hearing what is being said.

Forgive me, Lord, for the times I have flounced into someone's life and rattled off some words or "comfort" and flounced back out. Attune my heart to Yours and allow me to be the conduit of the love You have for each person.