Each Day*

It's quiet.
It's early.
My coffee is hot.
The day is still black.
The world is still asleep.
The day is coming.

In a few moments the day will arrive.
It will roar down the path with
the rising sun.The stillness of dawn 
will be exchanged for the noise 
of the day.The calm solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the 
human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions 
to be made and deadlines to be met.

It is now that I must make a choice.

Because of Calvary, I am free to choose...

And, so I choose....

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self-control

If I succeed, I will give thanks.

If I fail, I will seek grace.

*Taken from Max Lucado's When God Whispers Your Name

I read Max's words this morning and decided to insert some pictures and share it with you.

Give thanks.

Give God the glory.

Seek his grace.

Each day.

Always.

 

Who, me?

Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains,

at the huge waves of the sea,

at the long courses of the rivers,

at the vast compass of the ocean,

at the circular motion of the stars;

and they pass by themselves 

without wondering.

                    Saint Augustine

You created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you

because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

                              David, Psalm 139:13-14

There were three piles:

 1) throw-a-way,

 2) Good Will,

 3) keep (someone will want this)

As I was sorting through my mother's things after her death, 

I found many books.

This particular one belonged in the #3 pile 

.....(someone will want this: ME).

Copywrighted in 1980--this was its 12th printing.

Dr. Paul Brand explores the human body, God's creation, and reveals how cells, bones, skin, muscles, and nerves authentically express spiritual reality. 

The body of Christ

like our own bodies

is composed of individual, unlike cells 

that are knit together

to form one Body.

A few quotes from the book will help us understand and appreciate our images, give glory, and humble us.

*He invested His great, creative self in this world, and, specifically, in the design of our bodies.

*...there is a mysterious, organic relationship that exists among the people of God.

*In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the church of Christ to the human body.

*Red blood cells, muscle cells, cartilage cells, fat cells, bone cells, etc. ... we are all a collection of people as diverse as the cells in our body.

*I find God in the faces of my fellow worshipers

by sharing with people

who are shockingly different from me.

*We carry within us not just the image of, or the philosophy of..but the actual substance of God.

Do you not realize that Christ is in you?

          --Paul

I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

I am the vine, and you are the branches.

          --Jesus

                                                                 2 Corinthians 13:5, Galations 2;20, John 14:20, Johne 15:5

As Dr. Brand points out, there are incredible benefits of this identity--

but also sobering responsibilities--

          


*When we act in the world,

        we quite literally subject God

       to that activity.

                           

*There are conflicting strains of human helplessness and divine power with us. ...
What matters is our willingness to respond by reaching out
 and connecting with other human beings.

                     

In him you too are being built

together to become a dwelling in which

God lives by his Spirit.

             Ephesians 2:22

The

Who, me?

Yes, you! 

You should know that your body is a temple 

for the Holy Spirit who is in you.

 You have received the Holy Spirit from God.

 So you do not belong to yourselves.

   1 Corinthians 6:15

The Creator has made us each one of a kind.

There is nobody else exactly like us,

and there never will be.

Each of us is his special creation

and is alive for a distinctive purpose.

     Luci Swindull  

 Therefore, we will give PRAISE.

Angels Amongst Us

 May 14, 2013

David and I watched from our large picture window as an unfamiliar car, then another and another drove down our driveway. All the vehicles were black or dark blue.

"What is this?" I asked my husband.

Together, as if directed, they opened their doors and walked toward our house. The women wore long dresses that fell to their ankles--many having been made from the same bolt of cotton. Bonnets adorned their tightly bunned hair. Makeup--there was none. Their shoes were thick-soled and black. The men wore buttoned-down shirts in light blues and whites, dark pants--some with suspenders-- dark heavy-soled shoes. Smiles covered their faces. I knew no one.

By this time, David and I were out on the driveway. We sat on an outdoor bench as these twenty-seven angels sang hymns to us--one after another--for 45 minutes. We did not tire of it. Genuine caring lit their faces; they sang from their hearts.







June 15, 2013

David prayed for guidance, strength in healing, and answers.
So many days in the hospital; so much had happened --cancer surgery, possible bowel obstruction, pneumonia, bacterial infection, and a disease flare.
As he prayed, he remembered his parents--his mother, Roberta, and his father, Eugene Stauffer.
Were they somehow watching over him from this place called heaven?

June 16, Father's Day:

My husband lay in a hospital bed in an otherwise empty room when he heard a light tap on the door.
"Come in," he murmured--thinking the person to be a nurse to take vitals or perhaps the attendant responsible for the blood draw.
Instead, a stranger, a man dressed in plain clothes, entered the room with his hand extended.
"Are you David?"  he asked.
"Yes, I am," David responded and wondered.
"I'm Eugene Stauffer."

How is possible that someone

name Eugene Stauffer

just happened to visit

David on Father's Day.

A man with the same name as

his father.

They visited for a couple of hours.

David hasn't shared what they spoke of.

But, I know it's a God thing.

How often do we attribute miracles

to luck 

or simple circumstances?

When we know better.

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.

 Luciano de Crescenzo

Have you every received a call, a text, a letter from someone at a crucial moment?

Have you ever just happened to run into someone who said something you needed to hear--perhaps someone you had not heard from in a long time.

Luck?

Circumstance?

A God thing?

Recently I've been learning that life comes down to this: 
God is in everything. Regardless of what difficulties I am experiencing at the moment, or what things aren't as we would like them to be, I look at the circumstances and say, "Lord, what are you trying to teach me?"
    Catherine Marshall
    365 Daily Devotions for Women

Hebrews 1:14
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

May you recognize the angels in your life and praise God.

May you be someone's angel this week...and praise God.