So Much Like Me

Time passes slowly in a waiting room. They can be an incubator for anxiety. I was there this morning, and a little girl about four years old was also waiting to see the dermatologist. Apparently, this was her first visit, and she was visibly disturbed about it. Her mommy was telling her not to fret or be upset, that it was going to be okay. But the little girl was worried not knowing what the doctor would do. "You're stressing about nothing. You'll see. You'll be okay. I promise."

My heart went out to this precious little girl because I'm so much like her. I oftentimes stress because I've not passed this way before. I don't always know what's going to happen or how a spot will be diagnosed, and I need reassurance as well. God says He cares for me, to cast my anxiety on Him. Everything is going to be okay. Even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment. Even if it doesn't feel like it later.

I know that this little girl's next visit to the dermatologist will find her much less anxious because today's visit gave her reassurance for the next. Her countenance was very different as she came out of the office to go home. And so it is with faith and anxiety. I can recall God's faithfulness in caring for me in the past and know that whatever happens in the present is ultimately for my good and His glory. Even if it seems grievous at the moment, He will strengthen me in my spirit and I will be the better for it.

It'll be okay. He promises.

Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 

Image ~ Young Mother Sewing

Mary Cassatt, 1844-1926

public domain via WikiArt

Recommending - Forty Autumns

I just finished the book Forty Autumns by Nina Willner. It's the story of her mother's family behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Her mother was able to escape when she was twenty years old, but was separated from her family for forty years afterward. It's a story that shows the harsh reality of life under socialism and communism. It's also a story of a family's love for one another that kept hope alive.

Two thoughts kept drifting through my mind throughout the book. The first was the value of extended family. Had they not stood together, they would have suffered apart. They were each other's loyal support and defense, while many others became informants under the pressure. Children played a necessary part in the midst of oppression as well, for they brought normalcy and joy to the daily drudgery and duties of life.

The other thought that trailed me throughout the book was the power of the media. It controlled what the people thought through messages about how grand and glorious East Germany was in protecting its own people. They had no contact with the outside world to know any different, yet how similar, but paradoxical, it is here in America. We listen to and watch whatever we choose, but are constantly bombarded with messages that shape our thinking. We think we are free to make choices, and we are. Yet we, too, are being socially engineered by the elite who control the media.

The book was recommended to me by a friend, and I recommend it to you and its many sub-themes that run through it. It's a poignant picture of life in a country without God.

However Difficult

However difficult and painful your road, it is marked by the footsteps of your Savior; and even when you reach the dark valley of the shadow of death and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, you will find His footprints there. Wherever we go, in every place, He has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel.

- Charles Spurgeon, in Morning by Morning

One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

Image via pixabay

CCO Creative Commons

Recommending - St. John in exile DVD

A good friend had gifted me with the DVD St. John in Exile for Christmas, and my Beloved and I settled in for a viewing this evening. As many others have said, "It's magnificent!" It stars Dean Jones and is his one-man dramatization of John's exile on Patmos. The DVD release date was 2011, but I had not previously heard of it. It's an unforgettable performance.

But of more import than the performance itself, it gave me a broader understanding of John's ministry and a richer understanding of Jesus himself.

From the back cover:
Imprisoned, John, the last living disciple of Jesus' twelve, remains full of humor, strong inspirit and obstinately spry. Through his eyes we relive the moving events in which Jesus Christ changed the course of human history.

If you click on the image, you can view the trailer on Amazon (scroll down on that page), or when you have the time, you could watch it on YouTube.  It's amazing to me that Dean Jones could remember so many lines throughout the production. But as he said in the extras interview, it was truly God's energizing and enablement.

Even When I Can't See His Hand

We've been discussing in our Sunday School class how to read the Bible in its historical context and how we are to relate to it in our present setting. We were asked today about some of our favorite Old Testament narratives and why we are drawn to them.

One of mine is the book of Esther that I'm currently studying. It's a reminder that God works out his purposes and promises even when we might not see his hand or we think he is afar off. I'm still learning that even when I can't see his hand, to trust his heart.

Sharing a thought with you today from my reading as I continue my study.

Even though we cannot see God acting, it does not follow that he is not doing anything. God's work is not all slam-bang action; sometimes it is a quiet faithfulness to his promises in the seemingly ordinary providences of life, bringing about in the hearts of his people what he has purposed.

~ Iain Duguid, in Esther & Ruth Reformed Expository Commentary

Image ~ Reading

Ivan Kramskoy 1837-1887

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Domesticity ~ How to Clean an Iron

Domesticity - home duties and pleasures

Today was laundry day for me. Thought I'd share a link with you that I received from Craftsy this week on methods for cleaning the soleplate of an iron. It's not something I do very often, but probably should do more often than I do. I definitely have to do it when I accidentally press the wrong side of fusible interfacing. Argh!

Some of the described methods I've used, but others were new to me. I surely didn't know about the acetone nailpolish remover. That one may well be the one that works for my fusible accidents! If your iron scares you a little when you're ready to iron that white shirt, click here to go to "How to Clean Your Iron So It's as Good as New."

Oh, and do explore Craftsy a bit while you're there. They have project ideas, tips, kits, patterns, online classes, supplies and much more for sewing, cooking, knitting, photography, gardening, weaving, and more. I've taken several (50+!) of their classes, and all but one has been terrific! Some are free, so you can see what they're like. Craftsy has been a favorite go-to of mine for quite awhile.

Image ~ Drying Clothes, Helen Allingham 1848-1926

public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Thankful Thursday ~ Continuing Her Journey

Thankful that my mother came home from the hospital yesterday, celebrated her 87th birthday today, and is ready to continue her journey. She wrote her memoirs a few years back and has had a few short stories published. There are still stories in her mind that she wants to write and leave to family. She's a C.S. Lewis fan, a lifelong learner, and now she's ready to take another creative writing class at the senior center. She is weak and easily fatigued, but we are thankful for her continued interest in her writing.

A High Honor

It is a high honor for a woman to be chosen from among all womankind

to be the wife of a good and true man.

~ J.R. Miller in Family

Image ~ Midsummer Night, Daniel Ridgway Knight

1839-1924, public domain, Wikimedia

So I Can Practice

The past couple of days have been mostly spent waiting. I had taken my mother to the hospital early yesterday morning for a procedure that we thought was to have been done shortly after she was admitted and was settled into her room with all the preliminaries. We waited several hours, but then it was decided to postpone until today. Thankfully, it was decided this morning that the procedure wasn't necessary, but that she would stay for observation and probably be released tomorrow morning.

Today was a cold, hazardous wintry day with just enough snow and black ice to cancel schools and local government offices and to keep most sensible people off the roads here in the south. Another reason to be thankful that I didn't need to be at the hospital this morning. I was glad for the extra time when I received course access information mid-morning for a tutorial of my classes, but there was some glitch in the system, and even My Beloved guru couldn't get me up and running. So we requested tech support and finally got access about a half hour before I needed to start supper prep. It's been a couple of those kind of days where I got up early, hurried up, and waited.

I'm not very good at waiting. My Beloved has told me upon occasion (not today!) that I'm patient, but I know that I'm impatiently patient. I can tolerate delay without coming unglued because I know there's not really much choice in the matter, but too often I'm not settled in my spirit about it. I just want to get on with whatever. I tend to wait impatiently for whatever is slow to show.

For several years I had Psalm 37:7 framed and sitting on a table where I was often reminded to "Wait on the Lord and wait patiently for Him." He continues to teach me patience by practice. That's how we learn--we practice on whatever we're not very good at yet. And since I'm still not very good at waiting, God keeps bringing situations before me so I can practice. It's a lesson slowly learned.

And today was practice day.

Image ~ Woman With A Fruit Bowl

Carl Vilhelm Holsoe, c1900 

public domain via WikiArt

He Wasn't In Control After All

Sharing a thought as I study the book of Esther, the story that's about God without mentioning him. There are many personal insights to be gained through the characters involved as the story unfolds. Each has his or her own weaknesses, yet God works in and through them all. His purposes are always fulfilled, never thwarted, in spite of who may seem not to be on board with the plan.

This evening I'm thinking about Persia's King Ahasuerus, or Xerxes as we remember him in history. He had several bad characteristics, and one of the most glaring was his issue of controlling power--both as a ruler and as a husband. He ruled his queen as he did his kingdom. Or, rather, he tried to rule her as he did his kingdom.

We know that marriages in those days tended to be more political than personal, a way to keep the peace between nations. That it may do, but it won't keep the peace between marriage partners. Any relationship based on control is out of control.

Control doesn't rear its ugly head just with those who have political positions. There are too few among us who don't struggle to control or feel a need to do so. It's often a source of security to those who seek to control another person, yet a source of slavery to those who are.

Our security is not found in control. Control is borne out of fear, that if we do not control then we will lose something or someone, that we will be hurt by something or someone, that we will not gain something or someone, that we will fail without something or someone. We become dependent on our fear and eventually squeeze the very life out of what or whom we hold so tightly.

Security is found only in Jesus Christ and God's Word where we see "that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence" (2 Peter 1:3). There is no need to fear any loss.

King Xerxes wanted kingdom control. He lost much more than his queen. A few years later his own advisors murdered him in his bedchamber. He wasn't the one in control after all.

And neither are we.

Image ~ Lady Rachel Russell in a Green Dress

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, 1802-1873

public domain, via pinterest

The TimeChart of Biblical History

I truly enjoy the Sunday School hour at our church as a variety of different classes are offered each quarter. I'm taking a class this quarter on studying the Bible, and one topic brought up in discussion today was suggested resources for studying the historical context of a book or passage. A friend in the class recommended the Time Chart of Biblical History, which I've also found to be a very helpful resource.

It's handy to keep by my quiet time/study area where I can refer to it as I'm reading. It's 18 inches tall (so it doesn't fit in the bookcase, for sure!) and opens accordion-style to about 17 feet. It provides a visual representation of over 4000 years with charts, maps, lists and chronologies. You can see who's living and what's going on in the known world during the same time period.


If you've wanted to connect the dots in biblical history, the Time Chart of Biblical History would be a great addition to your own home library.

Weekend Daybook

Outside My Window...
We've had a few snowflakes fluttering in the air the past couple of days. I miss the beauty of the new-fallen snow in West Virginia where we used to live.

Around the House...
I finally got the Christmas things put away and re-organized their corner of the attic. I left this guy out for awhile on the front door. For a few days, he's felt at home. Brrr!! It's cold outside!
 



















In the Sewing Room...
I tried another pattern for a little girl's dress, but it's not a pattern that I especially like working with. I didn't want the elasticized sleeves that the pattern called for, so I changed them. (They look a little crooked in the photo, but it's just how the dress is hanging.) It has three pleats at the neck edge, with binding around the neck. Finished the rickrack around that sleeves yesterday, and just need to add a button. I doubt tat I'll make another from this pattern.

 



















Thankful for...
Funerals and memorial services that turn our focus to the Giver of Life and remind us that those who know Jesus pass from this life into His forever kingdom.  

Noticing the sound of...
Beautiful music as two young grandsons played the violin and piano at their grandpa's memorial service today. They will miss his love and encouragement. 

Brought a smile...
The young brothers playing so tenderly. 

Pondering...
Continuing to read through Romans and stopping to ponder 8:16-18, where the Apostle Paul speaks of our "suffering with Him [Christ], in order that we may also be glorified with Him." His suffering was more than physical, as awful as that was. He also suffered emotionally with rejection and hatred, and He told His followers that we would be hated and rejected, too, simply because we follow Him and His way of living. Yet, the suffering we experience while here on earth will enable us to be glorified with Him when we are in His presence. 

Thinking...
I hope we or someone finds My Beloved's wedding ring. He lost it yesterday, and we've searched high and low in the house and retraced errands where it may have come off when he pulled his glove off his hand. An arthritic knuckle made it impossible to get off a few years ago, so he had it cut off, resized, and although it now fits over the knuckle, it can sometimes be loose on his finger. When the knuckle isn't swollen, the ring is more easily removed, and he thinks he must have pulled it off with his glove when he was running errands. This is the second ring he has had. It's just like the first that he cut off himself about the second or third year we were married. He had his car jacked up changing a tire, and when it slipped, he tried to steady the jack and caught his hand between the jack and the car. We still had that ring with our memorabilia, so he took it today to a jeweler to see if it could somehow be refurbished. It can.

Looking forward to...
Beginning some counseling classes. I should get the student link next week, and I'm hoping to complete the coursework within a couple of years, sometime before I'm 70. ;-)

Learning...
To just do it. I wondered if it was a bit late in life for me to do something like working toward another degree, but I felt the same way the previous time. I know that I don't recall things as easily as in the past, but I will just be faithful and see what God will do. And pray like crazy!

Reading...
 
I agree with Ruth...

"If you fear growing old — or the notion of it simply seems distasteful or immaterial to you — be assured that ignoring or resisting it will in no way delay its onset.  In fact, the more you try to disregard or suppress or belittle it, perhaps the more likely it is to shock and upset you when it arrives, whether that's a few short years from now or decades down the road. How much wiser to approach it with eyes and arms and heart wide open, with a healthy, broadly informed sense of expectancy instead of a dark and narrow dread."

- Ruth Myers
31 Days of Encouragement as We Grow Older

The Passage Homeward

Death is a passage through tunneled light.

The tunnel ends, but not the light.

~ unknown

Our church family is mourning the death and celebrating the life
of one of our fellow believers. 

Harold has gone to the One True Light.

I have come as a Light into the world,

so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

~ Jesus the Christ

John 12:46

Jesus is the way Homeward.

Image ~ Light at the End of the Tunnel

via freepik.com

Thankful Thursday ~ Caring Doctors

I took my mother and sister to the doctor today and was once again thankful that he is a very caring person. He explains thoroughly what is going on, and my mother says she has learned a lot in a little more than a year that she has been seeing him. He reminds her of one of her favored grandsons. My sister has just recently become his patient, too, but as yet she is rather unsure about him.

My sister has an aversion to doctors and hospitals after a near death experience several years ago, so at the sound of the word hospital she begins to get agitated, to put it mildly. More like hysterical. The word hospital was said today in regard to my mother, and the hysteria started to rouse itself. I was there to take notes, but we decided I should take her out while the doctor talked with Mom.

When we were called back into his office, she was calmed and he began to talk with her in a very caring, cordial manner. My sister is often difficult to understand, but the doctor carried on a productive conversation with her, and she left in pretty good spirits. The hospital is still in Mom's near future, so when that day comes, so will the hysteria. But for now it has been put at rest.

God's grace is sufficient, and there are those He puts in our path through whom His grace flows. I'm thankful for this doctor who told my sister that he is our friend. And I think he truly is.

Image via pixabay

CCO Creative Commons

Frozen, And Now Alive

The front of this month's issue of World Magazine took my breath away. A picture of a newborn baby with the caption: A 25-year-old Baby. The subheading reads, Meet Emma Wren Gibson, frozen as an embryo in 1992, born on November 25, 2017. 

I don't really know the biblical implications of how life is now being engineered and produced, but I offer the link to you for your own perusal and contemplation. It's certainly food for thought.

Click on the image to go to the article entitled "Hope for the Unchosen" in World Magazine.

Image via pixabay

CCO Creative Commons

A Hope That Doesn't Disappoint

Reading through Romans and coming to chapter 5 today, which reminds us that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. It is through faith in Him that we receive grace upon grace.

As I read, my thoughts go to those in our church family who are suffering. Some with illnesses, some with recent losses of loved ones. Without the peace of God, suffering is a terrible thing to face, yet God's grace enables us to endure and even to exult in our tribulations. Those without faith in God know little of His love and care. One of the blessings of knowing God and being loved through His grace is that we know that He works all things for our good. Even through the suffering and tribulation.

He tells us in His Word that the tribulations we face ultimately bring hope because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It is His Spirit that enables us to persevere, to find grace upon grace, to be carried and lifted up by His abundant love.

And so, as His children, we rest in His everlasting arms. Resting, knowing the hope that does not disappoint. Our final hope will find us Homeward. I hope to see you there, dear one, as every tear is wiped away and we exult in past tribulations where hope set us free.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (Roman 5:1-5)

Image via pixabay 

We Women Need to Be Accountable As Well

Trading a night with the king for a prominent role goes back in ancient history. Some have been willing to do the trade-off, and now that they have it, they want revenge.

With all of the #MeToo accusations, women need to be held more accountable, too. This has all become too extreme in accusations and ruining careers and personal lives without as much as a court hearing.

With some women reaching back far into their memories for any hint of impropriety, it seems that many of these accusations have simply become a way to gain attention by joining the posh parade. Portraying oneself as an innocent victim is characteristic of today's cultural mentality, and many women are simply marching to the beat of the current drummer. Only they and the ones they accuse know for sure.

The issue has rightfully put the spotlight on sexual integrity and its lack, for both participants in whatever impropriety has taken place. Teens, especially in their naive state, need to be reminded and mindful that years down the road their impropriety may cost them more than they want to pay. Living in integrity costs something, but being naive or willing to compromise costs us more. God does not regard sex with the casual attitude that it's often regarded by many, and we all need reminded that any sex outside of marriage is wrong.

There are some things we women should be held accountable for as well. Are we so naive and foolish? I really don't think most of us are. Why is seduction fueled with one breath while we're accusing and ruining with another? And what about flirting? It isn't an innocent game. It's an invitation. Some women say they have a right to dress however they want, and it's the man's problem to control himself. I don't think that's at all fair, and I often wonder if this is personal preference or a power play.

Where do relationships go from here? God created man as the aggressor, and yes, he must learn self-control in how God wired him. We women need to learn discretion and stop flaunting everything we have. If this #MeToo trend continues, it's sure to affect relationships. The feminist movement already has done a great deal in emasculating men by begrudging them expression of their God-given characteristics. Men are being told to stay away until bidden by a higher power, the women. When women take the role of the aggressor, men become more passive and less protective. Certainly not the characteristics of their God-given gender-role. The enemy of all things good turns the beauty of what God created into something fraudulent. And he certainly has his hand in this stewing pot.

I could go on, but I read an article that says some of the things I've been thinking for awhile, and she says it so much better than I could. It's from the NY Times, which I don't read often, but the article was recommended in a blog that I read. Although I don't agree with every point she makes, it's definitely food for thought. Click here for the article: Publicly We Say #MeToo, Privately We Have Misgivings.

Image ~ Thalia, Louis Michel van Loo

1707-1771, public domain via WikiMedia Commons

Sunday Ponderings ~ Where I Want To Go

After listening to our pastor's sermon this morning, I've been pondering this afternoon on what may well be the most important statement from the book of Proverbs, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (9:10).

I think wisdom is something we're all after. It's what Eve went after in the Garden of Eden. Satan convinced her that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was going to make her wise. Now, wisdom is a good thing to have. It helps us make our way through life less haphazardly. So Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. She soon learned, however, that was definitely not a wise thing to do. The price of the fruit was more than she expected to pay.

Eve listened to the wrong voice, and we often do the same. Heeding any voice that contradicts God's Word, as Eve did, can sometimes sound and feel right and good, but it too often takes us where we do not intend to go. Add our own voice to the voices outside of us, and life can become rather confusing. I want wisdom, and I'm pretty sure that you do as well, but we need true, godly wisdom, not the wisdom the world or what Satan offers to us. I've seen the consequences Eve paid, and I don't want to go there. I've learned from some of my own consequences as well.

How do we know what true wisdom is? Where do we begin to gain this kind of wisdom? We first have to look at a foundational truth, and that is the statement in Proverbs, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." If we have no fear of God, no understanding of His holiness and what He requires of us, then we are stuck in the muck and mire of our careless, foolish ways. And life will be one poor decision after another, consequence upon consequence, until we are so totally confused that life itself seems to be a ricochet from one disappointing or even disastrous decision or relationship to another.

That's why the world's wisdom doesn't work for us. There is no fear of God, no understanding of His holiness in it. If we want more wisdom, we must know more about God, for that is where it all begins. Knowing God teaches us the whys and wherefores of daily living, because He created us and knows how to best live this life. Knowing God teaches us about the blessings and consequences of our decisions and patterns of living.

The fear of the Lord, resulting from the knowledge of His holiness, is the beginning of true wisdom. Which takes me where I truly do want to go.

Image ~ Posing With Posies, Wilhelm Menzler, 1846-1926 

public domain, via Tumblr

Weekend Daybook

Outside My Window...

Very, very cold in the South for this time of year, but I can imagine that it's warmer with the beautiful sunshine today.

Thankful...

That our daughter and her family were able to come for a visit the week after Christmas. It was to have been an extended family get-together, but our other daughter was sick. Thankful, though, that she is better now. 

Noticing the sound of...

The hum of the vaporizer. The air is so dry with the furnace running so much these days.

Looking forward to...

Meeting up with our daughter and her husband halfway in Knoxville later in the month for lunch.

Learning...

Not to dwell unduly on cares and concerns.

Pondering..

"The  Good News is packaged and marketed (using, uncritically, all the techniques of modern advertising) as a religious product offering 'peace of mind', 'how to get to heaven', 'health and prosperity', 'inner healing', 'the answer to all your problems', etc. What is promoted as 'faith in God' often turns out, on closer inspection, to be a means of obtaining emotional security or material blessing in this life and an insurance policy the next. This kind of preaching leaves the status quo untouched." 

~ Vinoth Ramachandra, in Gods that Fail.

In the Kitchen...

My favorite cookies were requested while the grandchildren were visiting. Sharing the recipe with you.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

1 ¼ cup mashed bananas (2-3)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup wheat germ

1.5 cup quick oatmeal, uncooked

1/3 cup raisins (I sometimes use Craisins)

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cream sugar with softened butter and add eggs, bananas, vanilla. Sift flour with baking soda, cinnamon; then fold into mixture. Combine remaining ingredients. Add to mixture. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Drop by heaping teaspoons. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 30 cookies.

Around the house...

Almost finished with packing away Christmas.

Thinking...

I was reminded in my devotional reading this morning of why I don't vote for those who live in perversion, why they are not a positive influence in government. Reading through Romans 1 this morning and seeing in verses 18-32 that it is not only their sexual life that characterizes them. Through the writings of the Apostle Paul, God exposes the depths of their heart and their mind. There's quite a list of character qualities that they bring to the office to which they are elected. God says that He gives them over to their degrading passions. I don't know if that is a permanent state they find themselves in or not. Perhaps it's to bring them to the reality of where their rejection of God has lead them. I do know, though, that He is not willing that any perish.

Brought a smile...

My precious grandchildren whenever they visit, as most grandchildren are apt to do. :-)

Reading...
The NIV Application Commentary on Esther by Karen Jobes in preparation for a class I'll be teaching in the fall. The book of Esther doesn't tell us very much about the thoughts of Esther herself, so I'm finding Jobe's insights particularly helpful. Not only does she give the original cultural context of the book of Esther, she also builds the bridge to contemporary application. The book of Esther has been rather romanticized over the years, and Esther herself has sometimes been held up as a feminist role model. Jobes does none of that.

Image ~ Charles Dana Gibson

1867-1944, public domain

Fully Engaged

Distant Thoughts, Wilhelm Amberg

One of the things I like about a new year is that it brings me to a point of re-focusing. Toward the end of a year, holiday preparations, celebrations, and getting things then back to normal interrupts the rhythmic flow of routine for me for more than a month. Not that I in the least would want it any other way, for it motivates me to think about what's truly important.

So, in rejuvenating and refreshing, I've been considering a focus word for 2018. My word for 2017 was intentional, in that I wanted to initiate and follow though on things I thought were important. As I evaluate the past year in light of intentionality, I wasn't 100% or anywhere close, but it did serve to keep me alert.

My new word for 2018 is engage. I've felt myself being too passive, not engaging fully mentally or emotionally in whatever may be going on at the time. Just letting myself float. I think I've been preoccupied with areas that I tend to let weigh too heavily and divert me from the joy and blessing of drawing from the present moment or giving to it.

I want to be fully engaged with whatever God brings across my path as I journey through 2018. And I hope to engage myself more often here on Homeward as well. I do hope you might find a thought or two that will encourage you in your own journey through 2018.

Painting ~ Distant Thoughts

Wilhelm Amberg, 1822-1899

public domain via Wikimedia Commons