Good morning ladies! How are you doing? We are back from a beautiful wedding of our nephew and niece in Michigan. What a quick trip! Whew! I'm so proud of them for handling everything the way they did. It sure wasn't easy. And, of course, it all started when Covid broke out and they had to start changing their plans. And changing their plans.... over and over again, even up until the last week. So, a full indoor wedding with all the arrangements and probably 200 guests or so, turned into an outdoor wedding (on the hottest day of the year--heat index of over 100 degrees) with only family able to attend. Everyone in the state of Michigan had to wear masks, outside gatherings included. No one passed out, and they are now happily married. I'm sure you all have your own stories like this.

We arrived home late Sunday evening and pretty much crashed. On Monday, I woke up and thought I had the stomach flu, which is why the devotion never got out to you. Fortunately, it only lasted that day, because I had so much to do before leaving again. Ah, the whirlwind! We finally got a closing date for our house for August 7. One advantage to Covid though, is that we can't meet with the buyers to sign the papers so we are going to do that next week on Wednesday when we're home. We can meet on our own with the title company. This takes one whole extra, last trip out of the scenario for me. Yay!!! We'll get all the final packing done and then come back here for the last time. Kevin will go out with the moving truck one final time after that, but I won't need to go. We still don't have a moving date, but our apartment is supposed to be available on August 1. I'll keep you posted!

So, let me know how things are going and if you're surviving this heat! Today, we actually woke up to what feels like a Fall morning. Feels so good! It's only for today, but I'll take it.

Devotion

This one brought tears to my eyes. CANCER. It's been in our family, among our friends, and all over the world. I'm sure each one of you has been a part of this story in some way. Have a WINNING WEDNESDAY ladies! 

"This Is My Story"
CBN Ministries, Christy Bass Adams

Cancer has come to our home. It’s a guest that has moved in uninvited and has changed everything in our lives. Endless scans and tests. Familiarity with doctor’s offices. An assigned oncologist. An unknown future.

During a recent worship service, our new reality hung heavy like a plume of smoke. I saw the words flash across the screen that reminded me to trust in the Lord and count my blessings. I didn’t want to trust in the Lord and I definitely didn’t want to count my blessings. I just wanted to go home, put on my pajamas, and hide from this terrible nightmare. I wanted to be sad and mourn what my life was supposed to look like. But instead, I was at a church conference and couldn’t stop the tears.

But then these words showed up on the screen and the old familiar tune filled my ears, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.”

The tears got heavier and I began to pray angrily under my breath, “God, I don’t want this story for my husband and I don’t want this to be the song over our lives. I sure don’t feel like praising you right now, either. I want a new story, God. I want a new song.”

Once I finally uttered those pent up words, the heaving cries began. Slowly I lifted my head and through blurry eyes read the words again. I realized, in that moment, whether I liked it or not, this IS our story and this IS our song. And I had a choice. I could carry on in sadness, too distracted by my weighty emotions to see past the tears, or I could embrace this new reality with the calm assurance that none of this surprised God and he is ultimately good. Then I could make the choice to praise God for all of the blessings in our life. Even this journey through cancer.

So, with much hesitation and fear, I began singing the words to the song. Slowly, I let go and chose to believe God is good, that He will always be good, no matter what. I chose to believe God will never let us down, even in the face of cancer and all of the unknowns that come with that ugly word. I chose to plant the reality of His goodness deep in my soul even though I didn’t have all of the answers. In that moment, I chose victory and decided to let God get the glory in this hard season.

“For the Word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy." Psalm 33:4 (CSB)

“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you. In the presence of everyone you have acted for those who take refuge in you." Psalm 31:19 (CSB)

Cancer, our uninvited guest, has come to our home and changed everything in our lives. But this IS our story. This IS our song. And even when it’s hard. Even when he’s sick. Even when we’re weary, lose hope, and don’t know what is next. Even when we are sad and can’t stop the tears, we will trust our Savior. In the morning, in the night, and when it’s the hardest words to form on our lips — we will praise Him. If He has allowed cancer to be our story and our song, then He will also give us the strength to keep praising Him all the day long.

Good morning lovely ladies! How are you? I'm sitting at the little table in the RV in Blue Earth right now as I write to you. We are having a great time here getting to know people and hearing from them as they are so ready to have their church move forward to be a light in their community. The Meet and Greet last Wednesday went well and we were both able to share our stories (well, the basics, at least!) There is one couple in particular, the leader of the church Board and his wife, that we've already connected with. His wife (and their daughter) have been dealing with Lyme's Disease for over ten years and we instantly connected with our health stories and some of the research we've done on medications, doctors, and nutrition. And we have so much more to talk about! They also have a ladies get-together once a month to talk, pray, fellowship, and even do a craft. I'm going to fit right in!  We'll leave for Anoka tomorrow to continue packing up our house and then leave for Michigan on Thursday for our nephew's wedding. Our whole family will be there so I'm excited for that! My husband is performing the ceremony, along with the pastor from their church, our youngest son is the Best Man for his cousin, our oldest son is reading scripture, and our sweet grandson is the Ring Bearer. So fun!  After that, we'll be back in Anoka for a few days, and then back here to Blue Earth. Tell me when the ride is over...I'm getting dizzy!  At this point, the closing on our house is scheduled for August 7. So, just a little update on things for now.

P.S. As I was writing, I noticed that our oldest son posted on Facebook so I'm free to tell you now. They are expecting their second child!!! Woohoo! The due date is in January 2021. Papa and Mimi are SO excited!!! 

Devotion

I love this devotion today! It's interesting that I read it after I wrote my note to you because she mentions a ride and it making her dizzy! Hmm.... Anyway, this one is a keeper! We have no need to worry because God takes care of us. Have a MARVELOUS MONDAY ladies!

"Bird Watching"
CBN Ministries, Cindy K. Sproles

When a storm is on the rise, he starts to pace. My son can’t NOT worry when he sees there’s a storm headed our way. He wanders from room to room, checking the windows, peeking through the shades and repeating, “I’m not worried. Nope. I’m not the least bit worried.” We laugh and he continues to not worry.

Funny thing is, he weathered the six tornados that passed over our house in the early spring without a hitch. He was calm. At peace. The best explanation I can find is it’s the anticipation.

Anticipation is the pits. It’s also the land mind of lies. When anticipation starts, my son imagines all sorts of things that might happen. The more he imagines, the bigger the fear grows. He paces, waiting for the flood of horrible things to hit — the lies he’s conjured up in his own mind.

I can’t say much about him. I worry too. Things sometimes seep into my head I can’t excommunicate. They churn and swizzle until I find myself pacing the halls at 3:00 a.m.

I love Matthew and his recounting of Jesus’ instructions. The words, the instructions Christ left ... should have put every worry we imagine to rest.

Don’t be self-righteous, pray in secret, give in privacy, care for the poor. Here’s how to pray, don’t store up earthly treasure, and more ... so don’t worry. Don’t worry because God has your back. Jesus even gave us the perfect example — the birds don’t fret and yet they are fed.

If anyone had just reason to worry, it was Jesus. He didn’t know from day to day where His next meal would come from or if He’d be welcome in the next town He’d entered. He dined with sinners, protected prostitutes, walked among the deathly ill. Jesus had reason to worry. But He didn’t. Instead, He spent time teaching the people how not to worry.

There’s more to Matthew’s account of this teaching than meets the eye. When we search deeper we find it’s a matter of trust. Unfortunately, trust usually runs a distant second to anticipation and worry. It’s not the direction we head at the first signs of chaos. Instinct seems to point us in the opposite direction — it’s easier to worry than trust.

Psalms reminds us, "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You" (Psalm 9:10 NASB)

Trust in the Lord. Easy words spouted but hard words lived.

Trust is hard. It requires real effort, real faith to stand in the belief God has things under control. Still, trust and worry walk hand in hand. The good news is, I know Christ and He lives in my heart. When I know Him, trust Him, my heavenly Father will not forsake me. In fact, He has yet to fail me.

My worries are nothing compared to the worries of others. But when I focus on them instead of looking to the promises of Jesus, the anticipation starts to gnaw away my foundation. How I wish I could be like the birds.

And so, the vicious cycle continues to spin. When I finally get dizzy enough, then I jump off the merry-go-round and land in the arms of a Savior who eagerly waits to hold me close.

These days, I’m working on bird watching with my son. We’ve added some new feeders by the pond so we can enjoy the beauty of the birds. Now, when I see my son’s anticipation growing, we stand in the doorway and watch the birds. If the feeders are empty, we take note how the birds scratch and pull at the ground, filling their bellies with things we cannot see. We’re learning to not worry and growing in confidence that tomorrow will care for itself.

​Don’t let worry stall you. When you find yourself pacing, go bird watching. See if they worry.

Good morning ladies. How are you doing? A steamy morning again here, so much so that, with the A/C on inside, the windows are steaming up. But now it looks like a storm is rolling in. It's been a stormy season; we've lost a bunch of branches off of our big tree. The other night I thought we might have to go to the basement with the way the wind was blowing! 

Today we are heading back to Blue Earth around noon. We'll be there until next Tuesday this time. Originally, I thought I might stay here so I could get more house packing done, but we've gotten quite a bit done in the last few days. Hopefully I'm making the right decision. I wanted to be there tonight because they're having that Meet and Greet for us and I didn't want to turn around and go right back home again, either late tonight or early tomorrow. The trips back and forth are getting a bit much for me. I know that everything will get done when it needs to.

So, what's going on in your lives this summer? Have you ventured out to do anything yet? Hopefully we won't have to go back to quarantine. When I watch the news, the numbers aren't so good. We are choosing to be very cautious still.  

Devotion

Today's devotion is a good reminder that God is a God of mercy! Have a 
WINNING WEDNESDAY ladies! 

"King of Hearts"
CBN Ministries, Daphne Delay

In the famous children's novel, Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts is an interesting character. Overseeing the kingdom with the King of Hearts, she changes from pleasant to enraged every other minute. At the slightest offense, she shouts, "Off with their heads!" It seems ordering executions is one of her hobbies. However, as the story goes, very few were actually beheaded. The kind King of Hearts quietly pardoned many of his subjects while his foul-tempered wife wasn't looking.

This story makes me wonder about how people see God. Do they view Him as a quick-to-judge King who enjoys shelling out punishment like the Queen of Hearts? Or do they see Him as the kind King of Hearts pardoning the offenses of His subjects?

The Apostle Paul asked,

"Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?" Romans 2:4 (NLT)

It's hard to determine exactly how people form their opinion of God - maybe they had a hard father or a moody mother. In those cases, you can almost understand a misguided view of God since our earthly parents are sometimes the only example we have - right or wrong.

When I was growing up, I had a friend who was raised in a very strict Christian home. She often wanted to spend the night at my house because our rules were quite different and she could do what she wanted without consequence. Years later, when we were in college and I had become a Christian, we bumped into each other and I was very excited to share my new-found faith with her. To my surprise, she had abandoned her beliefs. She explained that if God was as hard as her parents made Him out to be, she'd rather spend this lifetime enjoying herself. I didn't know the harsh "God" she spoke of, so I left our conversation very sad.

The God I met and fell in love with is a King of Hearts. Despite all my failures and extreme sins, He pardoned me. And the more realization I had of how much He actually pardoned, the more I loved Him and wanted to serve Him.

"Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But — when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit." Titus 3:3-5 (NLT)

If I were to compare someone to the Queen of Hearts, it sure wouldn't be God. I've yet to hear Him say, "Off with their heads!" His kindness is generous and His love is unfailing.

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8 (NLT)

However, if I were to reject His kindness and remain hard-hearted, there would come a day when instead of standing before the King of Hearts, I would have to give an account before the Judge of Hearts. And in His righteous judgment, He would have to declare me guilty and cast me from His presence. What a sad day that would be! Some have said, "If God is so kind, then why would He send people to hell?" These are mistaken... Because God is kind, He provided a way for people to AVOID hell and eternal separation from Him. He is the King of Hearts and

"... with undeserved kindness, He declares that we [who put our trust in Him now] are righteous. [paraphrase mine] "He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins." Romans 3:24 (NLT)

There was a penalty. But there was also a payment. When the order should have been, "Off with their heads!" - a new and superior order was made: "Restore them to Me!" The King spoke it, and the Word was fulfilled. Not based on anything we have or have not done, His grace covers a multitude of sin.

"And since it is through God's kindness [that we are saved], then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God's grace would not be what it really is--free and undeserved." Romans 11:6 (NLT)

He is the King of kindness and for that reason, He is also the King of my heart.

Good morning ladies. How are you today? We are back home this morning after having our first service yesterday morning at our new church. Everything went well and the people are very nice! Now, it will be back and forth for a bit as we need to pack up our house here and be back there for Sundays. We'll see how all of that goes!

Devotion

Wow, great perspective today on emotional wounds and hurts. We all have them. I love his example! Have a MARVELOUS MONDAY ladies!

"Dirty Gauze and Sticky Tape:
Healing Emotional Wounds"

CBN Ministries, Kevin Nuber

He wore it like a badge of honor. Medals for valor and bravery in the face of battle couldn’t hold more significance for a 7-year-old. He had, after all, vanquished some foe or performed some death-defying act of fearlessness while in his outside playtime world. Unfortunately, with all this bravado came the inevitable skinned knee and shin.

My youngest son, Curt, sat before me on the edge of the bathroom sink as I cleaned the soiled wound. “Blood ... real blood!” His deep, dark brown eyes sparkled through the dirt and grime on his face, showing his childish delight at the sight of the red fluid. His momentary winces of discomfort gave way to wide-eyed smiles that revealed the significance of this event.

“Cool!” his satisfied expression said.

Through his pain, his pride swelled. Sure, he was hurting — but it felt good! In his mind, this moment was really special!

I was preparing to send him on his way after a thorough cleaning when he suddenly stopped and realized that daddy had not given him his full reward. With a trembling lip, he reminded me that he needed a bandage — a recognition of his conflict, a reminder of his conquest, and a centerpiece of conversation for all of his friends.

The scrape on his knee and shin was several scratches that ran in an odd three-inch lengthwise pattern from his knee toward his foot. The inch-wide sterile strips we normally used for “ow-ies” would not easily cover this wound. After rifling through the bathroom cabinets for larger strips, I came across two four-inch square gauze pads in their waxpaper-like protective wrappings. “Too big,” I thought. This would certainly be too much bandage for such a minor wound. Yet there were no other sterile strips to be used.

After a brief moment of indecision over which kind of bandage to use, I finally squeezed some antibiotic ointment on the square of gauze and pressed it to his leg. I cut two generous strips of white medical sticky tape and wrapped them around the gauze and the boy’s leg at the top and bottom of the square.

Finally! Now he was able to relax and enjoy the notoriety this badge of honor would soon become. After returning to the yard, he was already walking straighter and taller than he ever had before. Confidence and pride filled his being.

Two days later, after avoiding a thorough bathing for long enough, it was time for me to remove the now dirty gauze square and the sticky tape that had faithfully held the gauze in place. As the bath water began to fill, I sat Curt down and began to carefully peel off the bandage. On the outside, the gauze reflected the grime of two days of school playgrounds and evening playtimes. On the inside, two pink dots were the only reminders of the blood that flowed days before. Even the wound was now a light pink discoloration on the boy’s leg. After a cleansing bath, even that reminder would soon fade.

I stood up in the bathroom and chuckled to myself at how filthy the bandage had become, and I remembered all the fuss made to dress the wound. It was at that moment that I sensed God’s feedback on my musings, “That’s how My people treat the wounds of their hearts.”

At that moment, I began to catch a small glimpse of God’s perspective on those minor hurts, small offenses and relational breakdowns among His children. I could sense His frustration when His people treat minor hurts, scrapes, and bruises like major, gaping mortal wounds.

We all have felt justified in demanding the gauze and sticky tape for our minor soulish scratches. After days of parading around our “badges of honor”, we suddenly realize how dirty our self-righteousness has become. To bathe in God’s forgiveness and cleansing, our dirty gauze must be removed.

In a split-second, I perceived a healing strategy from God’s Word for those who have endured wounds of the soul: 

Keep a grace perspective! Wounds of the soul are just as real as wounds of the body. Lies, deceit, slander, selfishness, verbal and emotional abuse, misunderstanding -- regardless of the cause, these wounds cut deep and have a profound and lasting effect on the believer.

I am reasonably sure that you have been the target of cruelty and mean-spiritedness, just as I have. The first step to victory and healing of soulish wounds is to realize that Jesus is the Healer of your emotional wounds, just as He clearly is the Healer of our bodies. His healing virtue is only appropriated by grace through faith, so our only “action,” when we have been wounded, is to believe — to accept His healing grace by faith.

“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Psalm 107:20 (KJV)

Nothing is happening to you that is personal or unique: it’s occurring in all the rest of the Body of Christ as well (see 1 Peter 5:9).

Keep it accountable! A key to healing lies in the sharing of the need, the widening of the circle of trust.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church ... confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." James 5:14, 16 (NKJV)

Don’t stifle or trivialize hurts or emotional wounds. Share them with a trusted friend or minister, and ask for this prayer of healing promised to the local church. By verbalizing hurts, we help keep the healthiest perspective on life issues. Keep pressing into praise until joy wins out! The power and majesty of praise and worship help to diminish the hurt and magnify the Healer! A former pastor of mine said, “Worship is establishing the relative positions between God and man.” Therefore, the act of “trading our sorrows” helps to release the “oil of joy for gladness.”

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Proverbs 15:13 (NKJV)

​By applying these truths to our prayer life, we can overcome hurts and soulish wounds. Just like Curt found his wounds had healed, when we remove the dirty gauze and sticky tape from our emotional hurts, and then cleanse the wounded area, we are able to relish the healing grace of Jesus Christ. May God give you boldness to obtain His promised freedom!