A Highway to Connection

This photo is of the highway that leads in or out of Red River, NM where we’re enjoying a week of glorious weather, fishing, sight-seeing, and quality family time. Reconnecting with my childhood buddy, my cousin and her husband, has meant so much to me. And, Staci and Larry have reconnected with them after many years and distances apart. We've been sharing many family stories that included God's blessings in our lives.

Connection is sure no problem in an RV park. Everyone is super friendly as they walk their dogs, drive by in their ATV or stop to get advice for best fishing holes, places to eat, and places to see. We’re connected by the mere fact – we’re in this place together.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Misery loves company”. And, I think it’s true. It’s easy to find “miserable” company these days because so many are, well, miserable, and those who are, seem to thrive on it. And, polar opposite are those who believe “Joy/Happiness/Peace/Gratitude loves company”. I prefer "connecting" with that latter group.

Here we are in unimaginable times. But, we have connected to others like never before because we have things or situations in common: isolation, loss of connection, social-distancing, keeping the family entertained or having to wear a mask in public or having to wear it all day. As unthinkable as it has been, many of us have found solace in the fact that we’re not alone in this. It’s not just my family or yours or theirs that is facing all these challenges. It is all of us – in some way. We’re connected. Many of us are more connected than ever.

And, you know what? Deep inside me, I sense that our sovereign God has been in control. Once upon a time we put up fences to keep us separated from our neighbors. We drove into our garages and shut the garage door behind us. We didn’t even want connection. We were self-sufficient and really didn’t need or even want a connection with others. And that separated us from grieving with those who grieve, from feeling pain with those in deep pain or from the connection of someone who lost a child or a job or a parent. Maybe it's you that has needed connection.

It seems we are becoming more transparent. We are sharing what hurts us, what misery we’re enduring, the good ideas for connecting with those who can encourage us and giving joy and comfort to others. Sharing, caring, and connecting with others is the answer to depression, suicide, despondency and fear.

I titled this blog “A Highway to Connection” for a reason. And, connection we can have by reaching out to someone via text message or email or Facetime or “old school” telephone is a great way to start. Romans 12:5 puts it this way: “so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” I’d say that’s the highway to connection that we ALL need!

Our All-Wise Know-It-All has a Purpose

I have loved watching you moms and dads and your children forge through your, what seems to be, perpetual at-home time together. I've passed by families going on walks together. I’ve seen FB photos of you having family meals together and, I’ve heard you saying: “I’m going to miss this!” I’ve seen you being home school facilitators, and, latest news is you're going to get to supervise through to the end of the school year! Maybe that's more than you bargained for -- but you're surviving!

This time will pass and I pray that you look back on it as a life-changing time that will give you fond memories and many lessons learned, in spite of it being some of the most challenging and even disappointing times. I pray that your new value system of family meals together, playing games together and caring for each other and others, along with the tenacity, perseverance and fortitude you’ve acquired, to be your new non-negotiables.

We might consider these times to be a “hands-on seminar” by our Lord. He wants us to know “I have a purpose in mind”. And it’s verified in James 1: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

We mamas know the pain of childbirth. Oh, but it’s so worth it to hold that little bundle-of-purpose in our arms. We’ve heard it said “No pain – no gain!” There is so much gain that we will have had from these times of isolation and confinement if we but realize God always has a purpose.

Seriously, I'm speaking from firsthand experience. Out of the toughest times of our lives, when my sweetheart was diagnosed with terminal cancer, God had a purpose already planned for me. I had a choice. To waller in self-pity or to allow God to use that season as preparation time in my life. That latter option is what compelled me to start blogging, and from Facebook's notice to me yesterday -- it has now been 10 years of blogging. Our greatest tests turned out to be my daily testimony to others. God had a purpose for me way past my husband's life on this earth. I knew God wanted me to bring His light to the darkness on social media and I promised to blog 365 days a year with a 6 am post goal each and every day. I am driven with a passion for this mission. My passion is telling a lost and hurting world about the love, mercy and grace of Jesus.

I'm pulling out one of my favorite scriptures. Romans 8:28 “For ALL things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His PURPOSES.” Did you get that? HIS purposes! He is on purpose, with a purpose in mind. So, if we but take deep breaths, we’ll weather this season with new purpose right here in the middle or end of it.

Peter did. Remember what a coward he was? He denied even knowing Christ. Tough season for him and the other disciples. Everything they staked their lives on ended up in their Leader’s demise. Oh, but God had a purpose. The PURPOSE rose from the grave and ascended to heaven. The PURPOSE was to radically transform lives so we can live for eternity with THE PURPOSE. The coward, Peter, turned into a vibrant, Holy Spirit-filled, preaching machine after Pentecost. His first message brought in over 3,000 people to Christ.

What if God’s purpose is packaged in temporary pain and inconvenience? What if we understand that God’s purposes are always right on. What if we yield to our divine “Know-it-All” and surrender to His ways without whining and complaining? We should follow James’ words to “Count it ALL joy” – because a creative idea, a witty invention, a new way of solving problems, and a family bond is created that will never be broken. What if we hold tight and watch God do what He does best? He is our God and Father of PURPOSE, and Father knows best.

Mercy, Lord! Lord, Have Mercy!

We’re one week into the 40 days of Easter through to Jesus' ascension to heaven. It’s been an unusual time of “incubation” – I like that word better than “isolation” – because I believe God is doing a sovereign work in our lives during this time and we are going to emerge out of this season as the mature “chicks” that He planned for us all along.

That’s the visual I get about “incubation”. Last summer, as a Volunteer at Children’s Hospital, I was in charge of the baby chicks in their incubation at their Ranch Days Fair. I had to keep little children from reaching into the incubator to pick them up. They weren’t big enough to handle yet and stayed under a warm light so they could absorb what they needed to develop and grow stronger.

That’s a choice we can make too. We can continue to think we’re being punished by a Daddy Who carries a big stick or we can realize our Daddy doesn’t carry a stick at all. Well, maybe He does carry a couple of sticks that remind us what we received from Christ on the cross at Calvary.

Oh, the mercy of our Father Who loves us so much that He gave us His beloved one and only Son to take on our sins – the sins of all humanity – so that we can live with him forever and ever. Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Saint Faustina wrote some beautiful words in her Diary about God’s mercy: “All grace flows from mercy . . . even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery. One thing alone is necessary: that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God’s merciful grace, and then God will do the rest.” (Diary of Saint Faustina)

If we open our hearts, just a little, even a tiny crack, God’s light (like those little chicks’ light in the incubator) can shine in and He can work marvels of transformation within us.

“Stay at Home” orders are no match for Jesus. Remember how afraid Jesus’ disciples were of the Jewish leaders and were huddled in fear behind locked doors? But….then Jesus came in. He could have had an agenda that included setting them straight. He could have started in a rant about their weaknesses and failures. He could have displayed His disappointment in their betrayal and denial of Him. His first words could have been, “Thanks…. for NOTHING! What were you thinking? Where were you when I needed you?” He had every right to unload His righteous indignation on them. But, no, His first words to them were “Peace be with you”. Isn’t that the way He continues to speak to us – in spite of our mistakes & failures? He loves us unconditionally and speaks “Peace be with you.” Yes, He is our "Divine Mercy" Jesus!

None of us need to be defined by our past because Divine Mercy is open to us all. Whether our sins are small or great, the mercy of God is available to all of us. The mercy of God is real! The mercy of God is His love! The mercy of God is the power of the resurrection still working today. You are not your past. Believe it! Embrace it! God’s Divine Mercy forgives, forgets and even forges the way to becoming all God destined for us in the first place. So, shouldn’t His example cause us to be His people of mercy, too — forgiving and loving others with mercy? Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy!

Turning our Cocoons into Divine Preparation

In my interactions with friends and family lately, I’ve been referring to this time of isolation as “being in a cocoon”. I sense that we are growing in our gratitude and being made over mentally in ways that are so good for us. I saw this on a friend’s FB page yesterday. It confirmed what I had been thinking:

“TRAFFIC is gone, GAS is affordable, BILLS extended.
KIDS are at home with their FAMILIES.
PARENTS are home taking care of their CHILDREN.
FAST FOOD replaced by HOME COOKED MEALS.
Hectic SCHEDULES replaced by NAPS, REST, and RELAXATION.
The AIR seems CLEANER. The WORLD quieter.
PEOPLE are conscious about HYGIENE and HEALTH.
MONEY doesn't seem to make the world go round any more.
We have TIME, finally, to STOP and SMELL the ROSES.
And lastly, We've become closer to THE MOST HIGH and more praising HIM every day of our LIVES. Yes, I want this to be over but there is some positive in this.”

Eye opening for sure. I’ve been through some painful seasons when it felt like I was in an uncomfortable cocoon. It seemed God had a deaf ear to my heart cries. The seasons of financial concerns, illnesses, disappointments, broken relationships, family deaths – including, my own precious husband’s passing. I was in the cocoon during those times – going through what seemed to be personal death, but, God was using those seasons to instill in me hope, trust and belief that He was in control, and that He was creating a butterfly that could soar further and higher than I could have imagined.

It was in those dark seasons that my faith grew stronger. No question -- the cocoon WAS painful. But were it not for that dark season and the changes made in me, I would have never known the joy, freedom and beauty of flying to such heights today.

Hold on, my beloved children and friends. Soon, we will be breaking out of these cocoons. Count on it -- when we are free again, we will not be ashamed to dance in the rain, to celebrate each new day with the wonderment of a child, to laugh at ourselves, to value each other more than ever before, to look in the mirror and see LIFE being lived to its fullest again.

Soon, this dark cocoon will be in our past. We’ll realize that it was worth the stillness and death and preparation for the wings we were given to fly higher than we’ve ever flown before. We’ll soon break free from this isolation and we’ll never take so much for granted ever again. Before long, we'll be spreading our wings to fly and we'll start flying AND dancing again.

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy." Psalm 30:11

When God's Timing Seems So Slow

We’re counting the minutes, hours, days and now weeks. For some of us, we're three weeks into this time of isolation. And we keep asking “How much longer?” Only to hear "At least through April 30th!" That’s not surprising God at all. He’s been listening to us ask those questions long before this pandemic. “When will this baby get here?” “When will my job promotion come?" “When will my financial breakthrough come through?” So, it’s not surprising God at all that we wonder when our lives will get back to normal again.

Before this pandemic, I was driving to an appointment – running a little late. I had to come to a screeching "slower than molasses" speed. A covey of bicyclers were ahead of me on a two lane road and they had no intention of getting into a single line so that other vehicles could pass them. Mind you, they were going at record speed for bicyclers, but not to the speed this pistol-packin'-mama needed them to go. After all, I had things to do, places to go and people to see!

Once my patience was stretched to its limit, I completely lost it and started yelling, “Hurry! Hurry!” Good news. They didn't hear me. My impatience didn’t speed up the procession at all. How many times have we approached God’s timing the same way? Like right now. But God isn’t bound by time. He rarely operates at a pace that pleases us because we want the answer, the problem solved, the check in the mail, the baby arrived, and all other matters – to hurry, hurry, hurry!

But God's perfect timing....is well....perfect. We might as well just breathe because, in God’s perfect timing, we’ll be right where He planned for us to be. Remember Sarah, Abraham's wife? She had trouble with God's timing. Not with bicyclers or donkeys in her road, but a 25-year wait for the baby God had promised her (Genesis 12-21). We know how she took matters into her own hands by giving her maidservant Hagar to her husband, and the two of them had a child. Even our modern-day television dramas don’t hold a candle to what ensued! It turned out “helping” didn’t help, and the promise still wasn’t fulfilled.

But, in God's perfect timing, Isaac, the child who God had promised 25 years before, was born. God was not late. God called Isaac's birth-day "the appointed time." (Genesis 18:14) "Appointed” means “predetermined; arranged; set.” Isaac’s birth came at the exact time God had planned all along!

Perhaps we all hear our own unbelief and questions about God’s timing? I hear mine. "When will this be over, Lord? Aren’t You just a little late? " God may seem like a covey of bicyclers in the road, slowing down our plans and our dreams, but He knows the entirety of our story from beginning to end. He also knows how our story weaves into the lives of others. We may be tapping our watches, but He is never late. He may seem slow, but He’s always right on time. God Himself holds the appointed time in His hands.

For all who are disappointed about delayed weddings, missed proms, vacations, interrupted plans, remember God's ways are higher than our ways and "Oh, the plans He has for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. We can relate with each other on the waiting part and we can relate with each other on the impatience part, too, but let’s stand together in confident hope! God is faithful, and we can rely on His perfect timing. Though it's not easy in this wait, we can trust in Him and rely on His ways, His thoughts and His perfect timing.

The Full-Body – Immaculate -- Inside and Out Cleaning

It’s Sunday morning. My first thoughts are of misdeeds I did long, long ago. "WHAT? Lord, why am I thinking those thoughts? I know when I ask for forgiveness from my faltering and failings – You forgive me, instantly. So why am I going back to my childhood this morning?" I thought those times were long past. But, then I realize that maybe, just maybe, I never consciously asked God for forgiveness of some specific times when I was just a kid. But today I did ask.

I remembered my next-door neighbor (and 2nd grade friend) was home by herself a lot. We played lots of games but I recall her showing me money she had taken from her mom’s and dad’s bedroom. She said, “They’ll never notice it. Let’s go to the store!” The store was just a couple of blocks away. I was excited because she was going to share her loot with me. The loot was just candy, but still, it was stolen goods. I remember the next time at her house, we did it again. I was her accomplice.

I know when I asked Jesus into my heart when I was just eight years old and asked for forgiveness of my sins – I was completely and wholly made clean. He threw all of those sins into the Sea of Forgetfulness. (Micah 7:19) But, I don’t think I ever specifically asked forgiveness for the things I had forgotten about. Apparently, I needed to. But, more than dredging up the past, I think God was reminding me how my personal value system developed over the years. Now, I don't even accept more change than I should be given from a cashier.

Nevertheless, maybe, it’s this “aloneness” during this isolation period with less distractions that has me in this “coming clean” mode. Yesterday, my blog was about “clean hands AND a pure heart”. It seems God has me in His complete sanitizing wash today. I sense Him nudging me to pray the “Litany of Humility”. I pull it out and I pray it. I am asking Him to cure me from way more than my childhood mistakes. I'm asking for even my desires and thoughts to come clean, too. My car wash has levels of washes I can buy – the basic and the full-body, then the extras for tires and wax and then the full deal -- inside and out cleaning. I ask Him for that today as I read and pray this Litany of Humility prayer which covers all my desires to be more like Jesus. Just in case you’d like the full-wash-deal today, I offer this prayer image for you to “come clean” too!

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
"O come to the altar
The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ!"

Prayer is the Key and Faith Unlocks the Door

Prayer is the Key and Faith Unlocks the Door
I defer my writings to this beautiful prayer today -- the day our President declared it to be a National Day of Prayer. May we pray it with complete faith and trust in our God -- with Whom nothing is impossible:
🙏🙏🙏Prayer for the Coronavirus Epidemic Crisis🙏🙏🙏
LORD JESUS, we ask you to protect us from the coronavirus. You are powerful and merciful; let this be our prayer -

🙏🏻 “Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” (Ps‬alm ‭57:1‬)

JEHOVAH SHALOM, Lord of Peace, we remember those living in coronavirus hotspots and those currently in isolation. May they know your presence in their isolation, your peace in their turmoil and your patience in their waiting. Prince of Peace, you are powerful and merciful; let this be their prayer.

🙏🏻 “May your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of Your name.” ‭‭(Psalm‬ ‭79:8)

GOD OF ALL COMFORT AND COUNSEL, we pray for those who are grieving because of this virus, reeling from the sudden loss of loved-ones. May they somehow know Your fellowship in their suffering, Your comfort in their loss, and Your hope in their despair. We name before you those known to us who are vulnerable and scared - the frail, the sick and the elderly. [pause] We also remember those doctors, pastors and family-members who are caring for all such people right now. God of all Comfort, You are powerful and merciful; may this be our prayer.

🙏🏻 “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us.” ‭‭(2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:10‬)

JEHOVAH RAPHA, God who heals, we pray for all medical professionals dealing daily with the intense added pressures of this crisis. Grant them resilience in weariness, discernment in diagnosis, and compassion upon compassion as they care. We thank You for the army of researchers cooperating towards a cure - give them clarity, serendipity and breakthroughs we pray. Rise Sun of righteousness, above this present darkness with healing in Your rays. You are powerful and merciful; may this be our prayer.

🙏🏻 “Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭32:17‬)

GOD OF ALL WISDOM, we pray for our leaders - the WHO and national governments, and local leaders too - heads of schools, hospitals and other institutions. Since you have positioned these people in public service for this hour, we ask You to grant them wisdom beyond their own wisdom to contain this virus, faith beyond their own faith to fight this fear, and strength beyond their own strength to sustain vital institutions through this time of turmoil. God of all Wisdom and Counsel, you are powerful and merciful; may this be our prayer.

🙏🏻 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.” (Ps‬alm ‭46:1-2‬)

“Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” ‭‭(Ps‬alm ‭91:3-7‬)

🙏🏻 “Answer me when I call to You, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” (Psalm‬ ‭4:1‬)

May El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty who loves you protect you. May Jesus Christ, His Son who died for you save you. And may the Holy Spirit who broods over the chaos and fills your life with peace, intercede for you and in you for others at this time.

🙏🏻 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy‬ ‭4:18‬)
(Thursday, March 12 2020 by Pete Greig/24-7 Prayer)