Morning Thoughts

Happy Tuesday to you! Last night, I was so very tired that my feelings were on my shoulders and everything I heard or read made me sad. I felt lost and out of sorts. I needed rest—solid, good sleep. I hate feeling like that because there isn’t really anything wrong. It reminds me of when things are really wrong and all those things come on you for real—not just for lack of sleep. It can be all sorts of things from in a job you’re don’t like to having difficulty with someone close to great despair and grief. We get when we are in places where we things are just broken aren’t sure how we got there and certainly have no idea how to fix them. Or where to go next or how to get out of it all together. Have you ever been in one of those places where the world felt like it was crashing all around you and you wanted to say “Just make it all stop”? “The Lord will make a way for you where no feet have been before. That which, like a sea threatens to drown you, shall be a highway for your escape.”...

Good Monday to you! Last night forty or so of us got together for information and instructions about our Israel-trip. Naturally, I slept very little and my bed is covered in maps, books and brochures—I am so excited that I can hardly contain myself! I’ve read, watched videos, and paid careful attention to places when I’m in the Scripture, trying to take it all in. We will go to Jordan for two days, see Petra—land of the Moabites (where Ruth was from). To get to the city “half as old as time” and one of the “seven wonders of the world” you must go by horseback (or camel).  Maybe one of the most exciting is the visit to the city of Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene). This city was excavated in 2006 and the synagogue is in really good shape. This is one of the few places where we can be fairly certain Jesus stood and preached. Just to stand where Jesus stood and to walk where Jesus walked. I think it may be a life-changer for me. But as I’m looking and thinking about how great this trip...

It’s the weekend. Last night I went fishing for a while. Or maybe I should say that I went bobber-watching. I didn’t even get a bite. That only time the red and white floatie-thing moved was when I moved it. I was bored in less than an hour and ready to do something else—I put in a few more lines but time for alternative entertainment.  I don’t know how on earth Peter and the others fished all night long without catching anything. I’m sure I would have been finished way before dawn. And when they fished, it was work. Hard work. They had no fancy rod and reels and cute little tackle boxes full of fancy lures. They had nets and their hands. They flung those heavy nets out (it’s quite a talent) and pulled them in. All. Night. Long.  ““I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it ...

Happy Friday to you. Has anything ever happened in your family that changed how you do things? Fourteen years ago we had a death in our family that changed us and changed how we approached things. Our Christmas is very different now—there is no formal meal, but a casual, intimate gathering with very little emphasis on gifts.  When the children of Israel were slaves under Pharaoh, times were rough. But Moses pleaded on their behalf and God heard their cries. Finally after many times trying to get through to Pharaoh, God gave careful instructions for the Passover. Find a perfect.lamb. Sacrifice it. Smear the blood over the top and sides of the door. Roast the lamb with bitter herbs. Fix bread with no leaven. Then eat it with your shoes on. Be ready to go at a moment’s notice and the death angel will Passover your house. Those who had not obeyed, lost their firstborn on that night; those who had, the firstborns were spared.  The Jews practiced the Passover in remembrance of that ...

Happy Wednesday to you. I saw part of a movie yesterday all about a couple trying to figure out why they couldn’t still be “in love” like they had been. They keep holding on to old hurts and mistakes. It seemed to be a silly thing to me so I didn’t watch much of it, but it’s a principle I think many of us have problems dealing with. Intellectually, we understand Jesus died on the cross and the blood that flows from Calvary cleanses us and washes us clean. From that day forward all our sins are washed away—gone.  But...emotionally, do we really ever let go of all that “stuff” that we know is under God’s forgetfulness? How many people do you know that just won’t ever go back to that church because someone hurt their feelings there? Or business people who are afraid to live up to their potential because someone stole from them or cheated them? Or they are holding on so tight to hurts from a divorce they are afraid to ever love again? Or they can’t see their own good qualities because ...

Happy Thursday! And how are you doing? I have been thinking since yesterday afternoon about something a young co-worker asked me. She said “Pam, do you have a lot of church girl friends? Because it seems to me that church ladies are mostly up tight and not very fun. They seem to be afraid to let their hair down and relax.” We had been laughing about quite a few thing just before that and then, that came seemingly out of the blue. It took me by surprise at first but then, I began to understand where the confused, 20-something was coming from.  I think it’s exactly what Jesus was telling us when He said:  ““And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when y...

Happy Tuesday! My granddaughter Bailey is graduating from high school this yea and I can’t even believe how time has flown by. I’ve been thinking a lot about what to get her but more than that, I’ve been thinking about my letter to her. I’ve started writing it and a couple of times I’ve written “sometimes when you ——, think of me” because I don’t want her to forget me. I want her to remember her Nina as someone who loved her like crazy and always had open arms for her.  It’s part of who we are as people I think That we want to be remembered by those who come behind us. I put flowers on the graves of people I never met, but I know their stories because they were told to me to me by others who are already gone, so I remember them all. And I tell my kids and grandkids “Because they were, I am and because I am, you are.” When King David began writing Psalm 22, he opens with the lament of “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”—the very same words quoted by our Savior on the cross. ...