Psalm 8:3-4 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

I just got back from an annual trek to star gaze with my Dad and my kids.  Each year we meet up with a group of amateur astronomers in the mountains where there are dark skies, away from city lights.  In the middle of Colorado wilderness we could not miss the work of God’s fingers on this small planet.  My four year old son asked “what is over there?” I responded “trees, dirt, animals.”  He asked “what is passed that?”  My response was “more trees, dirt and animals.”  We saw the splendor of his creation here on the many walks we took around the area where we camped.  We saw the splendor of his work when we gazed through the many telescopes that were there to see galaxies, nebulae, planets and stars that are never ending.  When I see these things I am humbled.  This awesome most powerful creator of the heavens and earth loves each and every human being he has created.  He loves and cares about you and me.  He wants our love back.  Wow!  Our God is an awesome God!

Lord,

Thank you for the creation of the telescope and the ability to see things beyond our small world.  The splendor of the heavens reminds me of your awesome power and the tender flower in the field reminds me of your gentle care for each of us.  Thank you for these reminders Lord.  Amen.

Blessings and peace to anyone who is reading this blog!  I will return to posting in a few short days but for now I am off to the remote places of Colorado to gaze at the stars and planets that God placed in the heavens so long ago.  They are beautiful to me and I often find the awesome power and grace of God more deeply there than in the city...
until then, God's grace and peace be with you all.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 “a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;”

If you haven’t done your spring cleaning yet (yea, me either!) spring has just about finished and summer is just around the corner!   For the last few days constructions crews have been in my neighborhood replacing sidewalk.  They came and surveyed (a time to seek) and then the cement saw cut nice clean break lines in the cement to be replaced.  As my kids and I have watched the men and their big machines work, I thought they would be kind of rough and not so precise.  I am amazed at how a jackhammer can pound into cement and yet the result is a clean edge.  The new cement is poured by a huge mixer truck and then the next thing I know there is smooth precise sidewalk hardening where the broken sidewalk used to be.  As I search my soul, finding or losing; keeping or throwing away, I will remember this construction crew.  The paving crew that is coming soon will be another reminder to me: spiritual growth may seem rough at times, but it is precise and careful work of the Spirit.  Before we know it the old is replaced something new and beautiful.

Lord,

You speak to us in so many different ways.  Help us listen and hear you however we can.  Thank you for each new day.  Each one is a new day to praise and worship you.  Lift our hearts and our eyes so we can stay focused on you, our God.  Amen.

Psalm 27:11 “Teach me your way, O lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.”

It has been quite an experience to see all this construction out my front window.  Yesterday there were even more trucks and workers, there was more noise and restoration work.  I found a note on my door that today they begin work on the asphalt.  I already have to walk my kids across the street just to be safe and now I wonder how much trouble it will be to get anywhere in my neighborhood while they tear up the street.  When we go get the mail around the corner, will I have to step around even more wet concrete, avoid the flying debris of torn up asphalt?  Will I be able to get my car out to run the errands I need and to pack for camping?  Worry and anxiety are two of my biggest enemies.  They have left me alone for quite some time but they are back again.  As I look out my window and watch the path and road being torn up and then restored I will hold hope in that vision.  I know the Lord makes my path level and he holds my hand through the rubble I encounter.  He will not let me be run over with anxiety or worry but will lead me in love and peace.  That is His way.

Lord,

Thank you for this message today.  Post in on my forehead and on my arm; write in on my heart and soul so I can feel it at every moment.  Thank you for the rest and restoration we all received during the night.  Hold our hands and keep us all on level ground today.  Praise to you, O God.  Amen.

Galatians 5:13-14 “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.  For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment,’ You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Have you ever sat in church and listened to the sermon thinking the pastor must have written this just for you?  Occasionally, I have this experience.  It is like the pastor has been reading my mind and heart and knows exactly what I have been grappling with for the week.  Paul’s letter to the Galatians calls them back to the basics.  I do not know exactly what they were doing or how they were changing their ways, but whatever it was, it was not following the simple gospel message Paul had brought to them.  As I seek a deeper relationship with God, I can see how easy it is to fall into the traps of doing rather than being.  Works are not what keep us in relationship with the Divine; it is our spirit and His Spirit that are in relationship.  We are freed from works and called to spiritual, soul work instead.  We are called to love.

Lord,

Thank you for pastors who are messengers and interpreters of your word.  Thank you for freedom through your grace and the life of Jesus Christ.  Guide me in the steps of your son so that I may learn to love and be loved as he did.  Help me show my love for you by loving others.  Amen.

Luke 1:46-47 “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,’”

Magnifying glasses are cool.  I remember playing with the one my grandparents had when I was a child.  My sisters and I would take turns and it was fun to see how far away we could get and still see clearly.  I liked to see if I could find that perfect distance of clarity and enlargement.  Boys on my street would use a magnifying glass to concentrate the sunlight in a certain spot, increasing the brightness and warmth of the sun.  When I read this passage the word magnifying practically jumped of the page at me.  It begged me to answer the question:  Does my soul magnify the Lord?  When people gaze through me, do they see the Lord more clearly and larger than they did before?  What do I see when I gaze into my soul?  I cannot comprehend Mary’s situation but the trust and faith she had in the Lord is clear.  I hope that as I continue on my faith journey, I will continue to grow so that my soul will magnify the Lord clearly and my spirit will rejoice ever more in my God and my Savior.

Lord,

We have many tools to help us focus on things more clearly.  As I gaze into the mirror and as I look through my eyeglasses, let these simple tools remind me that my soul needs to magnify you.  Guide my words and deeds in rejoicing so that when others gaze into me, they see you more clearly.  Amen.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 “a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;”

If you haven’t done your spring cleaning yet (yea, me either!) spring has just about finished and summer is just around the corner!   For the last few days constructions crews have been in my neighborhood replacing sidewalk.  They came and surveyed (a time to seek) and then the cement saw cut nice clean break lines in the cement to be replaced.  As my kids and I have watched the men and their big machines work, I thought they would be kind of rough and not so precise.  I am amazed at how a jackhammer can pound into cement and yet the result is a clean edge.  The new cement is poured by a huge mixer truck and then the next thing I know there is smooth precise sidewalk hardening where the broken sidewalk used to be.  As I search my soul, finding or losing; keeping or throwing away, I will remember this construction crew.  The paving crew that is coming soon will be another reminder to me: spiritual growth may seem rough at times, but it is precise and careful work of the Spirit.  Before we know it the old is replaced something new and beautiful.

Lord,

You speak to us in so many different ways.  Help us listen and hear you however we can.  Thank you for each new day.  Each one is a new day to praise and worship you.  Lift our hearts and our eyes so we can stay focused on you, our God.  Amen.