TRUSTING GOD

As I am two days away from the move to Costa Rica, I am trusting God more and expecting Him to give me more purpose in life than I have felt in my simple volunteering in church and other places here in Nashville. And the fact that I don't know everything that will happen is part of the adventure and excitement of the move. I am abandoning a lot of supposed security here in the states, though financially I know it will just get more difficult here. In the process of this thinking I was reminded of the poem/prayer by Thomas Merton which I may have shared here earlier. I discovered it in 2012:

Prayer of Abandonment

Thomas Merton

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain
where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
and that I think I am following your will
does not mean I am actually doing so.

But I believe
the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire
in all I am doing.

I hope
I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear,
for you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

With Ray Waddle Today & Glimmers of Hope Yesterday

Ray Waddle, freelance writer and former Religion Writer for The Tennessean newspaper has always been a favorite short article writer. That is probably because he seems to think like me a lot!  :-)  He spoke at a senior adult luncheon at First Baptist today and kind of rambled, mostly about his new book, Undistorted God, from Abingdon Press. I bought one and had him autograph it and look forward to reading it. Not tonight though. It is time for The Roosevelts by Ken Burns!



Yesterday the Sunday school class discussion kind of confirmed my belief that we need to depend on God and trust Him to provide for us in every situation which is what I'm doing on this overseas move thing. Then in worship Pastor Frank continued his series on the Lord's Prayer,

Your kingdom come.Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 HCSB  -  Which again confirmed my strong feelings that "His Kingdom" is really in us or happening by us as we are incarnate with Jesus acting through us in our daily lives. It is to me more about how we live our lives following Jesus than some future earthly kingdom or heaven. And this is what I want to happen with my life in a new country, regardless of which fellowship of believers I find to relate to. "God help me to be your kingdom that your will may be done in me on earth.  Amen"

Tough Conversations About Death

Tonight I sat in the hospital watching my friend Joe, barely alive, on oxygen, a frail, thinning body just laying there. At the same time I talked with his wife Nancy, grieving, hurting, and wanting to talk about all the decisions that must be made,  - just tomorrow! The hospital is giving her one more day to find a nursing home or other palliative care place to move him or does she dare try to take him home with home care nurses? What appear to be broken promises of what care can be provided and dealing with family members that won't be here to take care of the details but of course with opinions. It is hard work! Glad I had the easier job of being a listening friend. That's one thing friends can do. That is one way to show HIS SPIRIT. And of course I will pray for her! God help Nancy!

Don't shoot off your mouth

There was this Open Windows devotional Sunday night that got my attention, but it was the Scripture verse that really spoke to me at the moment:

Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.
Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better.

That's Ecclesiastes 5:2 in THE MESSAGE, the key verse, with fuller message in verses 1-7. I have always had a problem of talking too much. Somehow, this time, this passage got my attention. Though I've said it before, I'm going to try harder now to talk less, listen more and do most of my talking to God. As a hyperactive adult, prayer has been difficult for me. So I'm setting as a goal again to talk less and pray and listen more. Maybe you will pray that I accomplish it this time. Thanks!  

"Forces concealed in quiet people and plants."

I'm towards the end of reading the Old Testament in The Message version which has given me the most meaning and understanding I have ever gotten from reading the Old Testament. Eugene Peterson has written an overview/introduction to each book of the Bible and they are each brilliant! In his introduction to Nahum he writes:

Larger-than-life figures appear on this stage from time to time, swaggering about, brandishing weapons and money, terrorizing and bullying. The figures are not, as they suppose themselves to be, at the center of the stage--not, in fact anywhere near the center. . . The danger is that the noise of these pretenders to power will distract us from what is going on quietly at the center of the stage in the person and action of God. God's characteristic way of working is in quietness and through prayer. "I speak," says poet George Meredith, "of the unremarked forces that split the heart and make the pavement toss-- forces concealed in quiet people and plants." If we are conditioned to respond to noise and size, we will miss God's word and action. 

This is indeed what happened in the narrative of Nahum and I deeply believe is happening in our world today. Let's yearn for the "forces concealed in quiet people and plants." This is where HIS SPIRIT is at work today. Join me in seeking it.

"Spiritual Sleep"

Pastor Frank one time told us that sleep might be the most spiritual thing we could do for ourselves. 

I think I agree. And this is where I sleep. 

The simple print of Jesus in the Garden hung in my Grandmother Clemmie Hardgrave's bedroom. 

Sometime after Grandmother's death Aunt Iris gave it me. I treasure it!

My bedroom is used only for sleep, prayer, some reading and dressing. (No TV!)
So, it looks like a monastery bedroom - I like it!

On March 19 I changed the photo from one of just the bed and painting 

to this one with an interesting set of afternoon shadows of

my Tudor window, blinds and floor lamp

Love it!