The Widow's Hope

Thinking this evening about a sister in Christ who very recently lost her husband to death and is now grieving her loss. Tomorrow is one of the 'firsts' that she'll be facing--making a trip alone. She needs prayer in the transition to her aloneness, of making plans and decisions herself that before were shared tasks. There are many 'firsts' that must be faced with prayer and God's enablement, so those who care about her pray for her strength and wisdom, that she will rest her hope and trust in the God of her salvation.

I recalled a discussion a few years back on Revive Our Hearts between Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Margaret Nyman, whose husband had died from cancer. They talked about the struggles a widow faces in those first months and the 'firsts' that one must face alone. Margaret also talks about how others reached out to her and what was helpful. I listened again this week to the discussion, and it helped me to understand a little of how to reach out to my friend. I also gained a glimpse of what may lie ahead for myself someday.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in listening to, you can find the discussion here. It's a 5-part series, about 25 minutes each. Margaret has written a devotional book entitled Hope for an Aching Heart: Uplifting Devotions for Widows. I gave a copy of the book and CD to my friend and pray that God will use Margaret to comfort and encourage her.

Sexual Purity: The Joy of Moral Freedom

Just got back a little bit ago from our women's Bible study, where we're discussing Nancy Leigh DeMoss's DVD and book Seeking Him.

 

This evening's topic was Sexual Purity: The Joy of Moral Freedom.

We stayed overtime with some good discussion going on. Why sexual purity in an age gone wild?

Staying sexually pure, or committing to moral purity, can be a big step toward personal revival, deep joy, and true freedom. ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

The God who created us knows what we need to avoid.

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: 

that you abstain from sexual immorality." 

(I Thessalonians 4:3) 

Some of the principles we discussed:

  1. Recognize your potential for moral failure.
  2. Realize that you don't have to give in.
  3. Resolve to be pure.
  4. Remove all bitterness.
  5. Restrain your fleshly desires.
  6. Reject anything that could lead you into moral bondage.
  7. Run from every form of evil.
  8. Renew your mind with the Word of God.
  9. Recruit help.
10. Remember the consequences.
11. Refuse to remain in defeat and depression.
12. Rely on the Holy Spirit.  

If you'd like to hear Nancy discuss sexual purity, and why it's important to your own happiness, you can listen in here.

The Incomparable Christ

Settling in this evening with a good book and a cup of peppermint tea after being out in the cold earlier today with an appointment and running errands.

Did I say settling in with a good book? Not a good book. A wonderful book! This book is a re-read for me. I had read The Incomparable Christ by J. Oswald Sanders a few years ago as a follow-along on ReviveOurHearts.com. Nancy Leigh DeMoss was beginning a 40-day series by the same title, following the outline of the book. She encouraged us to get the book and read through it during the Lenten season leading up to Easter. The book was such a ministry to me in getting to know Jesus in a deeper way, that by the time Resurrection Day came, it was hallelujah for sure! I've given copies to several people over the years. Gave another away just today. It's one of those books that I wish I were rich enough to give everyone.

Nancy is re-running that series again, starting today. I listened in and got an e-book. I thought I had my copy from before, but remembered I had given it to someone and had forgotten to replace it. There are several editions if you look for it online, and Revive Our Hearts has a special edition with a journal. The picture is the hard copy I had before. Be sure that if you purchase the book, that it's the one by Sanders. There are other books by the same title, different authors.

I'm ever-so-eager to listen and go through the study again. Nancy says,

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

So each day over these next weeks, we’re going to look at a different aspect or period of the life and ministry of Christ here on this earth. We’ll look at His birth, His childhood, His baptism, His temptation. We’ll look at the deity of Christ, what that means and why it matters, and the humanity of Christ. We’ll look at His teaching, His humility, His prayer life.
Then as we get closer to Passion Week, we’ll look at the trial of Christ, His atoning work on the cross, what that means for us. We’ll spend a day on each of the seven last words of Christ on the cross. Then we’re actually going to continue this series for a week beyond Easter so that we can consider His resurrection, His ascension, His high priestly ministry in heaven today, and His second coming—the great hope of every child of God.

I do encourage you to listen in at ReviveOurHearts.com and turn your eyes upon Jesus. I know there are days when we just can't fit in the 20 minutes or so, but each day is archived, so we can catch up when there's opportunity. You'll find the transcript there, too, if you have just a brief few minutes.

I blogged a few times about the book back in 2011. If you look in the right column in my "A few thoughts about" list, scroll down to the book title, click, and you'll find some of my thoughts on it. I'm sure to say more about it this time around.

A few introductory words from J. Oswald Sanders:

This volume does not purport to be a theological treatise, but rather a devotional and doctrinal treatment of the great facts of the person and work of Christ, in a form suited to the average reader.... It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit, who delights to reveal the things of Christ to us, will unveil His glory to those who read this book.

 I, too, pray that He does that for you. I'd be delighted to hear what you think about it!

Vickie

Sexual Purity: Moral Freedom

Continuing to work through my Bible study in the Seeking Him guide by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and sharing a thought with you today. The topic is 'Sexual Purity: The Joy of Moral Freedom'.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the Enemy of all things good is intent on destroying all that reflects the goodness of God. Sexual desire is one of those battlefronts.

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;  that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,  not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.  ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

If immorality is so desirable, one wonders why there's such increasing intensity as people degenerate along that path. They become enslaved to it, in bondage to it, just as one in bondage to drugs must have more and more. It never satisfies, but they keep relentlessly pursuing it. It haunts them and oppresses them (and those they use). The Enemy of all things good has caught them in his trap, and they don't even realize it. They find fulfillment nowhere.

"There is dullness, monotony, sheer boredom in all of life when virginity and purity are no longer protected and prized. By trying to grab fulfillment everywhere, we find it nowhere."     ~ Elisabeth Elliot

In today's study, Nancy offers a checklist of safeguards for those of us pursuing moral freedom. I hope they're an encouragement to you.

• Recognize your potential for moral failure
• Realize that you don't have to give in.
• Resolve to be pure.
• Remove all bitterness.
• Restrain our fleshly desires.
• Reject anything that could lead you back into bondage.
• Run from every form of evil.
• Renew your mind with the Word of God.
• Recruit help.
• Remember the consequences.
• Refuse to remain in defeat and depression.
• Rely on the Holy Spirit.

~ from Seeking Him, Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom

Seeking Him

We're using the study guide Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss to guide our thoughts in our women's Bible study. We had good discussions this evening on obedience to God's Word. I had gone through this study a few years ago when I was in a dry season and was desperately seeking to know God better. I was thirsty for Him, and He used this study to draw me closer to Himself. 

Nancy also has this series online that she presented some time back when the study was introduced. If you'd like to listen in, click on the book image and it will take you to the Revive Our Hearts website. I think you'll be blessed if you have opportunity to follow along.

Sharing a quote from today's lesson:

God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.

~ Elisabeth Elliot

A Mother's Songs

I typically like to listen online to Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss while I'm getting dressed in the mornings. She helps me set my mind on the things of God before I head downstairs to begin my day. Recently I listened to a precious tribute to a mom from her two grown daughters. 

The mom reminded me of my own daughter, who is a young mom and sings a lot to her little ones. Even the goofy stuff is tender to hear. She can even get them to cooperate easier through a song, which brings more harmony to their home. She teaches so much through her songs, and uses singing to draw the children's hearts to Jesus. 

I sent her the link to the program to encourage her, and thought I'd also encourage you to listen in, especially if you have children still at home. It was heartening to this grandma as well. Although the mother was gifted with a beautiful voice, it doesn't require a beautiful voice to sing to children. Here's a brief excerpt from the program, and if you have a few minutes to listen, click here.

Mom used music to introduce us to Jesus. Even though Julie and I had our own rooms, we often had "slumber parties." Mom would sit at our bed. She would scratch our backs, and she would sing to us. We called it "sing and scratch."

And in those sweet bedtime times, she taught us how much Jesus loves us, and how we were His precious treasures, His precious jewels. She'd sing:  

When He cometh, when He cometh to take up His jewels;
All His jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own:
Like the stars of the morning His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty—bright gems for His crown.

Sending up a prayer for those of you who have children still living at home, that God will give wisdom and joy in the journey.

Painting ~ Pardon Mama  1888 - Emile Munier 1840-1895

Wiki Commons public domain

Thankful for What I Receive and What I Escape

Finishing up reading through Nancy Leigh DeMoss's book Choosing Gratitude. I read the book a couple of years ago as well during the Thanksgiving season, and God used Nancy to help me understand the importance of the attitude of gratitude, no matter my circumstances or feelings. I've come to realize that times when I pray and don't receive what I desire are in reality avenues of escape -- because God is sovereign and sees the beginning to the end. He may be shielding me from the consequences of what I desire, even though in itself and otherwise it may be a good thing. I long to view much more through the eyes of thankfulness. I'd like to share something that Nancy wrote that spoke to my heart.

Matthew Henry, the eighteenth-century Puritan preacher whose Bible commentary remains among the most popular of all time, was accosted by robbers while living in London.

Perhaps you've experienced this yourself--whether by having your car broken into or coming home to discover that your house had been burglarized. It's among the most unsettling things that can happen to a person. I'm sure it was, as well, for a quiet, thoughtful man of letters like Matthew Henry.

And yet, upon further reflection (as he wrote in his diary), he couldn't help but find something to be thankful for as a result of his misfortune: 

Let me be thankful, first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed. 

What a perspective! As someone has said, "If you can't be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape."

It is simply true that the person who has chosen to make gratitude his or her mind-set and lifestyle can view anything -- anything! -- through the eyes of thankfulness. The whole world looks different when we do. And the one whose gratitude is Christian gratitude -- directed not toward good genes or good timing but toward God Himself--finds that she deepens her relationship with Him on many levels.

 ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss from Choosing Gratitude


Painting ~ Sweet Solitude 1919, Edmund Blaire Leighton 1852-1922
Wikipedia Commons public domain
 

When Eyes Are Open

A word from Nancy:

Who else but a Christian can thank someone for a good meal, a good time, or a good effort, knowing that this has not just been a gift to us from another person but ultimately comes from the living God?

I love knowing that He cares and provides for me, not just air to breathe and food to eat, but countless extras that simply flow from His generous heart.

And I don't want to miss thanking Him for a single one of them.

When my eyes are opened by gratitude to these boundless examples of grace, only then can I see clearly enough to press on in this broken world.

~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude

Image ~ Thank God, CDJ via pixabay

CC0 Creative Commons

The Simple Woman's Daybook

On Saturdays I reflect on simple thoughts and simple pleasures. My leads are somewhat similar to others in The Simple Woman's Daybook group, yet a bit different as well.

 
Outside my window...
Bird feathers scattered by the bedroom window. Two neighborhood cats lying low earlier in the week. Glad I don't know which one did this deed.

A Picture to Share...

 












Almost finished with a wall quilt. This one has a John Deere theme.


From the sewing room...
Pulled out the John Deere tractor quilt top this week that I had completed not long ago to practice some free-motion quilting. I had planned this to be a baby quilt, but I didn't notice on the back while I was quilting that I wasn't getting the tension just right. The stitches aren't even and flat all over, so it won't do for a baby quilt. It'll have to be a wall hanging or maybe a lap quilt that won't get much wear. I just need to bind it and I'll be on to the next lesson. Woo-hoo!

I'm not sure what I'll do with this quilt. I can't think of anyone to give it to, and it won't go with anything in my house. I thought about hanging it in My Beloved's shed where he keeps his John Deere, but he said... uh,... no. He thinks it deserves a better home than that. :-)  So..... I've decided to do a free giveaway to the first person living within the 48 contiguous U.S. states who emails me about it. It's a 34 x 34 size quilt in John Deere tractor motifs and colors--green, yellow, black, with gray tonal blocks. You can email me at HomewardThoughts@gmail.com. Now, keep in mind--this is a practice piece.

Update: The John Deere quilt has been spoken for.  :-)

Learning...
Finished an online video class this week on machine quilting. I can see it's going to take a lot of practice!

This coming week I'm looking forward to...
Seeing little Elijah and his parents. :-)

From the kitchen...

Easy, but a little special. I've made these for so long that I don't measure, so adjust to your own tastes.

Glazed Carrots

1 lb cut carrots, cooked to crisp-tender (I like to use baby carrots)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1 tsp grated orange peel

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Remove carrots from pan and keep warm. Heat margarine and brown sugar over low heat until bubbly. Stir in orange peel and add carrots, coating with mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, on low for about 10 min. more.

Noticing the sound of...

The dishwasher. Such a homey sound for reading or blogging after supper.

Thinking...

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14

Been thinking for the last couple of days on this verse that I have on my dresser as my constant counsel. My words, whether from my lips, pen, or keyboard flow from the meditations of my heart. Too often my meditations and resulting words are not acceptable in his sight. This has been true this week. And yet... He is faithful and just to forgive and redeem.

Thankful...
Grateful for grace.
 
From the garden...  
Worked a good while in the gardens today, cutting back and clearing leaves. My Beloved mowed and mulched the leaves with his faithful John Deere. This is probably the last big day in the yard. I like a tidy yard with flowers and all, but I welcome autumn with its winding down of outdoor chores and a little rest for us both. 

Around the house...
Rather laid back this week, but after Thanksgiving I need to move around some things in a couple of closets. Not something to do a little here and there. Major work that I've been procrastinating. I'll be more motivated about it, though, as I look forward to my girls coming right after Christmas!

A thought from my Quiet Time...

Pondering 2 Thessalonians 3:10--"If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." I understand how those who walk in the way of the world prefer unemployment checks to finding a job--sometimes those checks pay more than a job would. But for a follower of Christ, it's dishonest gain.

Currently reading...
Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Sharing a brief paragraph with you.

True thankfulness requires a "you" to say "thank you" to. And to be thankful to the living God implies a corresponding level of trust in Him that can only reside in a believer's heart.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

On Saturdays I reflect on simple thoughts and simple pleasures. My leads are somewhat similar to others in The Simple Woman's Daybook group, yet a bit different as well.
 
Outside my window...
Autumn is shedding her color with fallen leaves like a brilliant tree skirt. We took a drive in the mountains today to immerse ourselves in autumn's grandeur.

A Picture to Share...

From the sewing room...
I diverged from my table runner to making a Bible bag for my secret sister last week. Then I decided to make myself one this week, and then another for a friend. It has five inside pockets on one side for a pen, tissues, cell phone, etc. so the Bible can slide easily into the bag, and two pockets on the outside. The back of the black one is quilted. I quilted the front and back of the red one, but I think I like just the back quilted the best. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the first one I made. For my own reminder, I'm including a scan of the feature fabric.

I'm thinking about making them to sell to help fund my fabric love. Maybe opening an Etsy shop, if I can figure out how much my time is worth, and if I have the time to put into it. Only 24 hours for each of us. No, make that 16 for me. I turn into a pumpkin at 10:00. Maybe I should think instead about how much someone might want to pay for one...but I think, as C.S. Lewis might put it, it will have to be the other way 'round. And Etsy will probably have to wait.



Learning...
Which stabilizers are best to use for fabric bags.

This coming week I'm looking forward to...
Making another bag or two, if time allows.

From the kitchen... Simple, yet delicious!  
Simple Sausage Pasta Toss from Healthy Cooking Magazine
(Serves 5, but I cut the recipe in half for the two of us.)

8 oz. uncooked multigrain spaghetti
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp. olive oil
3/4 lb. Italian turkey sausage links, cut into 1/4 in. slices
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
1 an (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast bread crumbs in oil over medium heat; remove from the heat and set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in tomatoes and olives. Cook and stir until heated through. Drain pasta; add to skillet. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Noticing the sound of...

My Beloved listening to hymns online, testing out his new laptop.  

Thinking...
About the sorrow of the sister and long time friend who buried their best friend today. But they do not sorrow as the world sorrows. And so shall they ever be with the Lord.

Thankful...
That this is just an earthly journey on our way to our eternal home. I want you to go with me.
 
From the garden...  
Almost time for cutting back and letting it all rest awhile.

Around the house...
The rhythm of routine for another week or so.

A thought from my Quiet Time...

Thinking about the woman of Athens mentioned in Acts 17, when Paul preached Christ and some came to belief.  "But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them." This is the only mention of her, but it makes me wonder what it was about her that caused her to be named among the believers. Little known, yet counted among the believers. What could be greater?

Currently reading...
Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I read this book last year as well during November. I'm taking my time to read and ponder the thoughts once again. Sharing a brief paragraph with you.

Gratitude is a lifestyle. A hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle. And though there's a sense in which anyone can be thankful--for God has extended His common grace to all--the true glory and the transforming power of gratitude are reserved for those who know and acknowledge the Giver of every good gift and who are recipients of His redeeming grace.

Intentional Thanksgiving

November brings Thanksgiving, a time to remember and celebrate God’s abundant blessings. In our current culture, though, Thanksgiving is overshadowed by Halloween, and then there's a jump right into the commercialization of Christmas. I was running errands on Nov. 1st, and one of the stores had secular Christmas music playing already. Translated: Buy! Buy! Buy! So it’s especially imperative that we intentionally teach our children and grandchildren the meaning of this God-oriented holiday of Thanksgiving. I've added some items to the Book Nook for our church this month to help: an easy reader for ages 3-7 and a Thanksgiving coloring book.  And for us adults, Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Thought I'd share just a few thoughts with you about them.

Let’s Celebrate God’s Blessings on Thanksgiving

This 16-page booklet written by Lise Caldwell is filled with colorful illustrations that teach children that Thanksgiving is a special time to honor God for His many blessings. While little is said in our current culture about Thanksgiving, this booklet reminds all of us what the first Thanksgiving was like as the Pilgrims ate with family and friends and thanked God for all their blessings. Recommended for ages 3 to 7.

Happy Thanksgiving Coloring Book

Another way to help children understand the meaning of Thanksgiving.  Sixteen pages with simple text portraying the first Thanksgiving in the New World and today’s family celebration.

Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy

Nancy shows us the need for building a life based on thankfulness. Gratitude is a choice that brings our thoughts to the benefits and blessings of our wise and caring God. As Nancy says, it's our journey to joy.

 

 
------------------------

I'm thankful for those who care enough for brothers and sisters in Christ to take the time and effort to minister through the written word. I've especially been blessed by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. God introduced me to her writing when I was in a desert season of my life. For that I will be eternally grateful. He used her to draw me back to Himself.

Why Do You Read the Bible?

We live in a therapeutic culture. And it subtly pervades the church. Do we recognize it? How often do you attend a worship service hoping the pastor will say something that will make you feel better about what's going on in your life? To encourage you or cheer you on? How often do you start your day with Bible reading so your day will run smoother? Skip the reading and what do you expect? A not-so-good day. Do you have your favorite passages that give you a boost when you're feeling down? Not that any of these reasons are wrong, but what is truly at the core of why you read your Bible? Is it about you? Or is it about God?

As I was recently listening to a conversation on Revive Our Hearts between Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Richard Owen Roberts, Mr. Roberts made the following statement that gave me pause. It's part of a series entitled When God Revives A Heart.

What if you were to call a moratorium on all misuse of the Bible? What if you were to say to yourself, “I’m tired of using the Bible as a medicine cabinet—going to the Bible to get a pill to pick me up; to get a vitamin—something to encourage me. I’m going to use the Bible for the next six months to gain such a picture of God that His holiness becomes my holiness.”  

Desiring God Himself.

If you'd like to hear the conversation, you can listen in here. This day's segment is entitled "Reversing the Decline."

Painting ~ Woman Reading by a Paper-Bell Shade 1766, Henry Robert Morland 1716-1797

Wikimedia Commons public domain

Intentionally Growing

I've been listening to more of "The Incomparable Christ" on Revive Our Hearts  as I've been on the treadmill. I've backed up and started at the beginning of the series, and yesterday came to the childhood of Jesus. I'd like to share just a portion of it for those of you who have children or grandchildren, whose lives you are steering and shaping. I think it will be an encouragement to you as your own children are growing. We jump into the middle of the discussion, where Nancy Leigh DeMoss is talking about Jesus' childhood years.

"For those of you who are Christian parents seeking to raise children for the glory of God, don’t underestimate the importance, the necessity, and the value of those childhood years. Don’t be trying to get your child to be twelve when he’s three. There’s a process. There’s growth. It takes time and patience. Enjoy the season. Enjoy the moment. Ask God to give you a vision, a sense of purpose for their childhood. That will help you to be intentional as you're parenting, as you realize that the patterns that are established in their childhood, seeds sown in their childhood, will bear fruit in their adulthood.

What your children are doing at the age of two or three and six and eight and ten matters. It matters that they are growing, that you are being intentional in helping to steer and shape their growth in the dependence on the grace of God. Because they are being shaped into the person and the man or the woman they are going to be in adulthood.

As you pray for your children, don’t just pray for their safety and protection. You want that, but also pray and believe God for growth in every area of their lives—from infancy to childhood and into manhood for the glory of God."

The next segment of the series is on the youth of Christ, the transition from childhood to adulthood. Our culture prolongs this period, but it should be filled with intentional maturity. You might want to listen in to both days' discussion.

Painting ~ Ring-A-Ring-A-Roses-Oh!, Fredrick Morgan (1885)

The Incomparable Christ

As many of us enter the season of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I'd like to encourage you to tune in to Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. She's tracking the book by J. Oswald Sanders entitled The Incomparable Christ, focusing on different aspects of the life of Christ. Nancy says this about her discussions:

We’ll look at His birth, His childhood, His baptism, His temptation. We’ll look at the deity of Christ, what that means and why it matters, and the humanity of Christ. We’ll look at His teaching, His humility, His prayer life.

Then as we get closer to Passion Week, we’ll look at the trial of Christ, His atoning work on the cross, what that means for us. We’ll spend a day on each of the seven last words of Christ on the cross. Then we’re actually going to continue this series for a week beyond Easter so that we can consider His resurrection, His ascension, His high priestly ministry in heaven today, and His second coming—the great hope of every child of God.

Nancy actually began this series on March 9th, but you can jump into it anytime. I just started listening and downloaded past broadcasts onto my ipod. I do hope you have an opportunity to listen in as Nancy shows us the uniqueness of the incomparable Christ.

Magnifying the Lord Together ~ Married or Widowed

As I was walking with a friend a couple of days ago, our conversation turned to growing older and perhaps someday living as a widow. She mentioned that Nancy Leigh DeMoss had been talking with Anne Ortlund about the same thing on Revive Our Hearts for the past several days. So this morning I downloaded the sessions and began listening on my ipod as I was on the treadmill.

As a getting-older woman myself, I like to listen to older women and hear what God has taught them and what they're still learning. Anne touched on something that struck a chord with me this morning.

I had mentioned to my friend on our walk that if it weren't for God's grace that I knew I would just spend my days sitting in a corner and waste away if My Beloved went to be with the Lord before I did. I would miss him terribly and probably die of a broken heart. Good friend that she is, she admonished me about that kind of thinking. God wouldn't want me to do that, and My Beloved wouldn't want it either. We had a good chat then about God's grace and care and talked about women who continued to glorify God in their widowhood.

Anne Ortlund is 86 years old and has been a widow for a few years.  As I was listening to her and Nancy this morning, she said that for the first year after her husband's death, that when she would pray she would tell God she couldn't wait to get to heaven and see Him and Ray (her husband). Then one day it dawned on her that she was putting her husband on the same pedestal as God, and she realized that God might not even have her and Ray living in the same area in heaven. Her desire for heaven had to be in seeing Jesus, not in seeing Ray--although of course, that would be delightful.

Anne's comments today reminded me that my hope for purpose in my life is not in my husband--as much as I enjoy being with him and being his help mate--that my purpose in life will go on should he precede me in death. That purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

Anne shared that her husband proposed to her with Psalm 43:3
"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

They had 61 years magnifying the Lord together here on earth. He is now magnifying the Lord in heaven; she is magnifying the Lord still living here on the earth. She says they are still magnifying the Lord together.

It was a sweet discussion. I'm looking forward to listening to Nancy and Anne chat some more. You may want to listen in yourself online at Revive Our Hearts. You can listen in anytime you like. Check out the archives, too--lots of good stuff for women there!

Psalm 146:9 

[God] upholds the widow and the fatherless.