Morning Thoughts

Happy Wednesday to you and how is your week going? Yesterday was my baby-rocking day and man-o-man did that boy need some rocking (and walking). While I was there, Tracy found a baby picture of Tal and we both laughed when we saw how much Bo resembles his dad. And then my mind ran a quick movie of my son’s life before my eyes. From baby baths and lotion to curly headed toddler to skinny junior high to college to saying goodbye to that sweet little baby going to war.  I know how awful it feels to say goodbye to a son and I know how wonderful it feels when he comes home. So when Jesus tries to explain to the Pharisees and the religious teachers how the Father feels when someone who was lost comes to know Him, he used the illustration of a son who left and returned because these are deep emotions that they should have been able to understand. ““So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran t...

Good Tuesday morning and happy birthday Ozzie! It’s a great day to be turning 8, wouldn’t you say?  Yesterday I was talking to my friend Paula about buying trip insurance for our trip next June to Jerusalem “just in case”. We have every intention of going, Lord willing, but as both of us are all too familiar with, life doesn’t always go as we plan. Sometimes, our nicely organized lives turn to chaos.  “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” ‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬ And those of us on the other side of 50 can certainly attest to the fact that our lives are like a va...

Good Monday morning and happy birthday Lane! I hope your weekend was good and you are ready to begin a great week! Yesterday, I heard the most common criticism Jesus received while on earth was the people he hung out with. I hadn’t thought about it before but that’s why he was always getting scorned. The religious people thought he should not be eating and spending so much time with those folks who were not like them. And you know, Jesus never defended himself against those charges, but he did tell stories.  “Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully ca...

It’s the Weekend and it’s time for all those weekend things! And since it’s “the most wonderful time of the year” for me, I love these Saturdays. And I also love Sundays, the day set aside to corporately worship our God.  A friend of mine has an aunt who turned 106 this week. Her husband was a minister and she worked for the library. A reporter asked her, “What’s the secret to your youthful look at your age?” She replied, “I just love life. I love people and being around people, and I love to see what is inside of people.” At 106 years old, She said, “If you ever wonder what to do next, just talk to the Lord about it, the Lord knows all.” Now that’s some wisdom-sharing from a life well-lived. The message of Jesus fills her life (and it has for quite a few years). I would hope that with each passing year the wisdom that comes from dwelling in the Spirit increases in us. And as we age, we grow in knowledge and grace.  “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill you...

It’s Friday and where I am it is cold! I’m not really ready for winter but I guess the cold days are going to be coming more and more frequently as October gives way to November. Thank you all who have been praying for mom. She is doing much better today and was even doing crafts this afternoon.  Yesterday, it was cold, rainy and all around dreary day. I couldn’t help but think about how dreary our lives become when we start to think of the things of this world as really important and focus our hope and our hearts on the temporary. I have been around some people lately who are advanced in years and are still clinging tightly to things. These are some of the most miserable people I know—those who have put their hope and trust in the temporary. And their spirits just seem to reflect yesterday’s weather, dreary and cold. Contrasting that to others I know who have their priorities in order so that things are for using and people are for loving, have spirits that are warm and bright. Th...

Happy Thursday! Well,, my Wednesday was a bit hectic, how was yours? Mine started with a phone call from my mom’s memory care unit just before 9:00 to let me know she had taken a pretty good fall. The nurse explained to me she had a pretty good cut on her head and they had called 911 and would be transporting her to the hospital. When I got there, she was a bloody mess, to say the least. I was asking questions left and right and then, I heard “...but the EMTs said she walked over to the stretcher and got on it...” My worry turned to a quiet giggle. Mama will be 91 on Saturday and has advanced dementia, but she is still tough. After all the tests and x-rays and even a head and neck CT, she just needed stitches. She bruised like she’s been in a fight, but nothing broken and her labs were “great.”   While I was waiting for those results, I looked at my phone and my verse (that my friend Ashley sends me everyday) was "God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will...

Happy Wednesday and I trust your week is going well. Yesterday was a beautiful day here and two of my grandkids were at my house after school. They have decided that my new pergola is a nice gym set for climbing. It’s a very good thing that it has been built extra sturdy with heavy duty wood and it sits on a firm foundation of concrete since they act like spider monkeys and swing all over it.  I can’t help but think of Paul telling Timothy about God’s foundation and the engraving on it. “Meanwhile, God’s firm foundation is as firm as ever, these sentences engraved on the stones: GOD KNOWS WHO BELONGS TO HIM. SPURN EVIL, ALL YOU WHO NAME GOD AS GOD.” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2:19‬ ‭MSG‬‬ To build on anything less than a foundation that is firm and secure would be a waste of building materials. Likewise, building our lives on anything less than the Lord Jesus Christ is a waste. A firm foundation allows us to stand strong even when the tough times come and the kids are swinging all over us! We a...

Good Tuesday to you and I hope this finds you well and rested. Over the last couple of weeks, I have heard God referred to as “the man upstairs” more than once. That’s one of those things that I think we do to try to humanize God—to make Him more like us. Yet if He’s more like us, have we stripped His power? Have we taken away all the things that we worship and the reason we pray to Him? Just think about what Isiah said when he saw the Lord.  “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”...“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, ...

It’s Monday and we are right smack dab in the middle of fall y’all. I love lots of things about fall. I love the colors of the trees and I love to decorate for fall. We buy a lot of mums here in the fall and they always look so pretty that we want our porches and sidewalks to show them off. However, by fall we are all sick of watering and lots of us don’t take very good care of those mums. I’ve already killed a couple this year by dehydration. But the truth is, there is a cost to having those flowers stay pretty throughout the season and it’s more than the initial purchase price. It costs us some daily time and effort.  Likewise Jesus told us there was a cost for being his disciple. “One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me ...

It’s the Weekend and while you are doing all of your Saturday-things, don’t forget to prepare your heart for worshipping together with fellow believers on Sunday (or whenever you do corporate worship). Preparation is key to actually being a part of worshipping —an active participant—and not merely a spectator on the sidelines. It’s also vital to prepare your heart so that God can speak to you through His word as it is presented.  I’ve been watching a lot of soccer games and volleyball matches lately and while I watch my grandkids play, the game is really exciting, but if they are on the sidelines, it’s not so much. How much more do you think it effects our Heavenly Father when we just sit on the sidelines rather than enter the game? It’s impossible for Him to cheer us on when we aren’t playing.  “Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bar...

It’s Friday and here we are at the end of another week. Yesterday, I was listening to Dr. Jeremiah speak about the helmet of salvation and it brought to mind those little camping headlamps. Have you ever worn one? We used them a lot in Mexico when there was no electricity. We also always took them camping. (I like them for reading in the dark.) The point is, they are great for seeing about 2 ft in front of you but not much further. Sometimes in the dead of the night, when it’s super dark where you’re camping, you might not want to venture one step because you can’t tell what’s out there—only what’s right in front of you. But if you take that first step, the light goes out a little further. Enough so that you can take another step. One more step and the light shines out further—the light is always just enough ahead of you to allow you to take one more step and you can get to where you need to be.  That’s just how it is with the Spirit’s leading. We probably won’t be able to see the ...

Happy Thursday to you and I hope this has been a good week so far. When my kids were growing up, we had a picture of Jesus with his head thrown back in a big laugh. The kids loved that picture (in fact an unnamed one snuck it out of my house to hang it in her house) but I think it was so beloved because is showed Jesus’ human side so beautifully. Laughing and just enjoying the moment as any of us might do. I love to think that He had a wonderful sense of humor—after all, we are made in His image. He laughed.  And He cried.  “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.” ‭‭John‬ ‭11:32-35‬ ‭NIV‬‬ He cried with Mary and the others who were sad over Lazarus because He ...

Happy Wednesday! Are you doing well today? Have you had some time in the presence of the Lord yet? Did you feel Him near or did you feel like you were going through the motions? Yesterday, when the day began. I was pretty active and was getting a few things done, but by afternoon, I was tired and I just became a non-participant in the day! (And alas, I didn’t get much accomplished..) Is it ever like that for you with the presence of God? Some days we don’t feel God’s presence. Why does He feel so active in our lives sometimes and asleep at others? It just seems logical that every time we meet with Him, we “feel” Him. But I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who wouldn’t agree that’s simply not the case. Some times that open door of God’s presence just feels shut.    There are a lot of reasons God could “feel” far away, but none of those reasons is because God has pulled away from us. And just because we don’t have the “feeling” doesn’t mean God’s presence isn’t real. We know...

Good Tuesday to you and how are you doing today? I’m slowly but surely getting better. I had a good day yesterday and i was even able to do a few things. However, I showed up at 8:00 for a 9:30 appointment (which I suppose is better than the reverse!) I had it in my calendar wrong, so I had extra time to go to McDonalds and get some breakfast. But it was a little disconcerting when I showed up, because the receptionist couldn’t find my name—I was out of order.  There is an order to most of life. We crawl before we walk, we walk before we run. We learn to add and subtract before we study algebra. An order to how we grow and do and learn. Jesus tells us   “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorr...

It’s Monday and time to start a fresh, new week. I have been sick—as in not out of bed—for the past four days. Last night I started feeling a little better and I think I’m going to make it! I am not feeling like that new creation yet, but I think I’m on my way back to being myself.  I’m just so glad I don’t have to always “feel” like I’m a new person to be a new person in Christ. It’s comforting to know feelings and emotions (that come and go) don’t determine to whom I belong each day.  “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:17-19 I saw a preview for a show about a girl who got int...

Happy Friday and here we are finishing off another week and I’m ending it up sick. My normal fall allergies turned nasty and yesterday, I developed some secondary viral crud. So I’m a bit miserable and when I’m miserable, it’s really hard to think about much but how miserable I feel and how everyone should feel really sorry for me. (This is my pity party where no snacks arrive.) Then, I remember Paul and I re-read Colossians.  Paul wrote this letter to the Christians at Colosse about AD 60 (about 30 years after the resurrection of Christ) during his first time in the Roman prison. In this passage in chapter four he gives us basic instructions on how we should live our lives each day.  “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among ...

It’s Thursday! I hope your week has been half as good as mine, since I’ve been spending quite a bit of time snuggling with a little guy who is one week old today.  Yesterday, I think I learned a couple of things. 1) Let your support and comfort come first from God. People try, but they are going to say and do silly things because we are all people. But if your primary support is from God, you can have the grace to be kind to the silliest of folks. 2) In those areas where we need work, we just may have to “over bend” a little. Shannon, my hand therapist, reshaped my night splint and my knuckle over straightens when it’s in the splint. She is trying to train my finger to be straight so a little over straightening can help it to be straighter. You see people do that with trees that are crooked. They will tie a rope and not straighten the tree, but bend it the other way so that when they let it go, it’s straight.  So as I’m thinking about both of those this morning, I wondered wh...

Happy Wednesday! I hope things are going well for you this week. Please don't forget to pray for those in Florida and along the gulf coast who are in the path of the hurricane.  Since it’s fall and the store is full of candy corn and those awesome little pumpkins, I think I’ve gained 10 pounds! I just keep buying them. A couple of years ago, my aunt showed me how much better that candy is when you mix a can of peanuts with it...WOW! I can literally make myself sick on it. It is just so good!! What do you think is "good?" Your most enjoyable pleasure--is it something you see? Hear? Smell? Touch? Taste? Do you like a good massage? Or a great steak dinner? A concert? In the Old Testament the Hebrew word translated pleasure is SIMKHAH and it literally means enjoyment from the physical senses. It is used as positive, negative, or even neutral in relation to right and wrong. In the book of Ecclesiastes when Solomon talks about SIMKHAH, he's not referring to sin, but rather...

Happy Tuesday. How is it going for you? Yesterday was a rocky start to my week. First my hand doctor tells me my grip is weak and I need to get it stronger. Then, my fence builder called me about a property line dispute. A new pair of boots I was wearing lost a grommet. Then the care center where my mom lives called and said she needs to go to the doctor for swelling. I just wanted to throw up my hands and call timeout!  Then, I thought about what James said. James who refers to himself as a slave of Jesus Christ. James who understood what it meant to be all in.  “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I understand that my troubles were not horrible or terrible but James says “of any kind” and ...

Good Monday morning! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to begin this week in service to the Savior. This weekend for me was spent with family ooh-ing and ahh-ing over our new little one. He really doesn’t do much yet, not even a smile, but we all still think he’s pretty special. (His oldest cousin won’t be able to see him for a while—he’s in the Navy, stationed in Connecticut on the submarine base, but we are hoping he’ll be home for the holidays.) If anyone were to ask me about our new one, I’d have to tell them how pretty is and how great he’s doing. But you can ask anyone in our family about “the baby” and we know exactly who you’re talking about. Because there is only one (at least right now). However he will grow, and more than likely, others will follow and there will be a new “baby.”  “For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to th...

Happy Thursday! Well today is the day. This morning the Hudson clan increases by one. (Check Facebook and later for pics and play-by-play). We are excited as we wait patiently to catch the first glimpse of that precious child. And as we wait, I think of waiting to see his daddy’s face and what a sweet baby he was and how sweet all the babies were. I suppose that is one thing that time has never changed—mothers and fathers and families excited about the new babies.  I was talking with a friend yesterday about how fast that love overtakes you. How all consuming a parent’s love for a child is almost instant. And yet if we, as fallible humans can feel this much for one of our children, how much more does God care for us? When we sing of his overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love, that’s exactly what it is. But I t’s also a life-giving, surrounding, infusing, life-changing love and so much more. It’s amazing.  Any parent can tell you the minute that parental love hit them like a...

Happy Friday. Here it is. Another week is coming to an end and we also started a new month this week. At the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of the month, can we measure what we have done for the kingdom? And not necessarily on a green accounting tablet or in excel, but at some point, we should be able to count what we have accomplished for the cause of Christ.  “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Sometimes I tend to fall into the trap of thinking because I’ve accepted Jesus and He loves me with a redeeming love beyond all measure, I can just kick back and take life easy. But that attitude completely ignores the scriptures. If we are Christ’s servant, we are commanded to be His hands and His feet and we are called to do His good works according to His purpose (not ours).  And the Jesus pushes us one step further. Not to “just” do go...

Happy Wednesday. Are you good today? Yesterday, I had an Echo Dot come in the mail. I’d been told they were great to help you out with things like turning off lights you’d forgotten. I’d been told they were super simple to use. I’d been told there was nothing to the set up. So, I followed the instructions to the letter and guess what? It didn’t work. So I started all over, it still didn’t work. The Echo just sits there with its fancy light and mocks me. My phone ap looks at me like “any kid could do this!” And last night I still had to get out of bed when the kitchen light was still on.  Have you ever been there? Followed those directions and it just didn’t work? Maybe you skipped a step or read through a comma or maybe they left something our you were just suppose to “know” intuitively (although who on earth knows why you would?) But it happens! Man’s instructions are simply fallible.      “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with lov...

Happy Tuesday friends. I hope you’re having a good day. After I wrote yesterday’s devotion, I went back and re-read the verses again that preceded the passage I used. And i just kept reading it over and over. In multiple translations trying to wrap my brain around it.  In Luke 13:24, Jesus is speaking to a random person as He is traveling through the towns and villages on His was to Jerusalem. The person asked “Lord are only a few people going to be saved?” ““Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’” Luke‬ ‭13:24-27‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I don’...

Happy Monday. I hope you had a great weekend and were able to worship the Lord your God in fullness and truth. It’s such an awesome privilege to be with other believers and collectively praise our God and study the ancient words that are the only truth for our eternity.  We looked at the end of Luke chapter 13 and the last two verses certainly resonated with me. (Maybe because I’m making plans to visit Jerusalem next June.) ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned. And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭13:34-35‬ ‭NLT‬‬ When Jesus says “Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” I can’t help but hear the anguish in His voice. The city that He so loved has been disappointing to Him time and time again. This is the...