His love will wipe away all our tears...

 Over the years since I began this blog, I've had friends send me photos of hearts they discover in their worlds.  I always love it when I see these reminders of God's love in our daily lives.  I especially love that others see them, too... and it's that much more special when they share them with me.

One of my friends has several daughters, and they love to send me photos of the hearts they discover.   The photo below is one the girls sent me awhile ago.   Unfortunately, on my cell phone's tiny screen, I couldn't tell what it actually was and had to ask...

only to discover it was... 

a roll of toilet paper!!!!

 They couldn't wait to send it to me, and it definitely made me smile!!  God uses the strangest things to speak to us, if we have eyes to see! 

...And the Lord GOD 

will wipe tears away from all faces... 

~Isaiah 25:8

2011... day 2....

(butter on my cornbread)

He gives food to every creature.

His love endures forever.

~Psalm 126:35

2011... day 1...

(strawberry in New Year's Day breakfast cereal)

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
~Psalm 107:1

love eggs? ...or, paying attention...

I've been in a bit of a funk the past couple of weeks, and when that happens, I tend to question God... and doubt His love for me. And, I don't pay attention very well either.

This morning when I was eating my breakfast (frittata), I did notice a little something there... (come on... you know what you're looking for!)

And, in case you're like me and not very good at paying attention sometimes,

here's a closer view...

OK. Call me crazy if you want...

but we do have a Father with quite a great sense of humor!

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

~Lamentations 3:21-23

the heart of a tomato...

The other day I was cutting up tomatoes for a batch of salsa. The phone rang, so I laid down the knife and left the kitchen for a couple of minutes. Upon returning, I picked up the knife and was about to finish chopping the tomato, and this is what I saw sitting on the cutting board:

I love it! :) One of those surprise moments of seeing God's love for me in the shape of a random heart in my daily life. They never cease to delight me!

When thinking about a verse that might go with the photo, I automatically thought of Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit. But I decided to do a little digging and see if there was any other reference to fruit and love I could find. This is the one I discovered:

Sow for yourselves righteousness,

reap the fruit of unfailing love,

and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD,

until He comes

and showers righteousness on you.

~Hosea 10:12

I love the likening of our pursuit of God to the process of planting -- sowing righteousness, breaking up the fallow ground, reaping love, being rained upon.

It is about preparing our hearts for God, for the harvest He grows within us! It is about seeking Him and receiving the showers He pours upon us... and it is about the harvest He brings about through us when we are obedient to His call to the fields in our hearts and lives!

All this good food for my soul from the heart of a little tomato...

taste and see that the Lord is good!

love in the parking lot...

Parking lot love.

No, not as in "parking"....

Just a bit of love I found today in the parking lot at the bank. It was pouring down rain (which, by the way, I LOVE!), and I was hurrying into the bank when I spotted this lying on the rain-soaked pavement:


...and me without my camera!! :)

So, when I came back out of the bank, I grabbed my handy cell phone and snapped these wet photos of a wonderful bit of love! (I'm sure the folks in the parking lot were wondering what in the heck the crazy chick was photographing on the pavement in the pouring rain!! but some things just MUST be done!)

Last time, it was aluminum foil... this time a wet towel (or a wet blanket??)...

May we continue to see God's love in our daily lives...
And may we stop and give Him thanks...
even when it's raining...

crickets...

Shhhh. Listen.

Do you hear that sound?

Crickets...

I think that's what you've been hearing at my blog the past few months.... the sounds of silence broken only occasionally by a surprise post here and there.

Well, I'm still trying to work out the discipline of fitting blog-time back into my schedule, and I do appreciate those of you who still pop by to see me! I think I'll get there eventually...

For some reason, the month of January is usually a bit difficult for me. My job is always extremely busy in January, so I feel like I work a lot. And, also, I think it's the let-down after the busy holiday season of spending time with friends and loved ones. The combination usually results in me struggling with being emotional (negatively) and having to work at not being "down."

As you know by now, I love "happening upon" God's little reminders of His amazing love for and thoughts of me. And in January, it's extra special to find them.

Tonight I made a quick stop at Costco (one of my very favorite stores!!) to pick up a couple of photos I had ordered. When I went to get back in my car, I discovered this delightful little message right next to my car door...

...a shimmery silvery message of love...

Thanks, God, for remembering me today...

Thank You, my Father, for reminding me...

...note: the circle around the heart is from my flashlight as I was taking the photo...

heart on the pavement...

Yesterday I was having kind of a hard morning -- bad news at the dentist followed by a flare-up of a painful and frustrating eye problem. I needed to run an errand for work, so once my eye stopped watering enough so I could see to drive, I set out for the office supply store.

When I was leaving the store and walking back to my car, I was looking down at the ground (due to the sun irritating my sore eye) and I noticed something shiny..... (oooh! shiny object!!)... and this is what I saw at my feet:

a shiny piece of foil pressed into the pavement in the shape of a heart!!

God is so good!! I love it when He addresses the weariness of my heart...or just a frustrating day... with a special bit of love just for me!!

the delightful heart of a friend...

My friend Sean (age 9) sent the following photos to me today. I was so delighted by his heart and his eyes-to-see...
God's amazing love is everywhere if we will just open our eyes and let Him show it to us...

Thank You, Father, for Your incredible love for us...

Thank you, Sean, for being able to see a glimpse of it in your daily life!

love, sweet love....

I was munching on some blueberries today, enjoying my day's supply of vitamins and antioxidants.... and look what I found!!!!

I do LOVE blueberries...
...and I think they LOVE me, too!!

(and tell me, how can that NOT make you smile?!)

God has a heart for Mexico...

While I was on our house-build mission trip in Mexico this past weekend, I was reminded of God's love for the people of Mexico.....

These hearts of love were in the fence around the pool at "The Ranch" where we stayed in Tecate--Rancho La Paloma.

And, for those of you who prefer to see non-man-made declarations of God's amazing love...

I discovered this one in the road at the work site where we were building the houses for the two families. What delight!

"...he sent the people to their homes,

joyful and glad in heart

for the good things the LORD had done..."

~2 Chronicles 7:10 (in part)

remembering... a key to gratitude...

I ran across this in my Women's Devotional Bible, and it made me think of our adventures in gratitude. As we travel the path of being grateful for the many gifts and blessings in our lives, we must continue to remember... remember what we have been given and from Whom these many blessings come....

Remember

~Judith Couchman

"A warm letter from a friend. A compliment from my boss. An unexpected refund. A comforting Scripture. These arrive as God's good gifts to me. But they usually get overlooked while I'm focusing on what feels like--at least to me--insurmountable trouble. Always, it's trouble that God hasn't solved yet. Often, I complain about His delayed response. But really, my myopic vision isn't fair to Him. If I lift my eyes off the problem, I can spot God's gifts all around me. They may not be the answer I'm searching for at the moment, but they're good and continuous gifts that say, "I still love you, my child." They remind me that God doesn't stop caring for me, even though I live with unfulfilled expectations. Now during the hard times, I remind myself to hunt for God's small surprises while I'm waiting for His big solution. It takes my mind off the problem. It helps me to trust Him...It encourages me to know that God still cares."

And this is just what the heart rocks are for me: "...good and continual gifts that say, "I still love you, my child."...God's small surprises while I'm waiting for His big solution(s)."

more love from georgia...

...just a little bit of love from Georgia...

difficult circumstances

Often times God demonstrates

His faithfulness in adversity

by providing for us what we need

to survive.

He does not change

our painful circumstances.

He sustains us through them.

~ Charles Stanley

as a hen gathers her chicks...

"...how often I have longed to gather your children together,

as a hen gathers her chicks..."

~Matthew 23:37

(in case you miss the connection, this plant is commonly known as a 'hen and chicks' plant)

another blog-iversary!! #300

It's blog-iversary time again!! This is my 300th post! I can hardly believe it, but I have managed to post 300 consecutive days! And I think a few of you may have even read every post... if so, my compliments on your stick-to-it-iveness and my thanks for your interest and support! You've made this cyber adventure so very enjoyable!

I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate my blogiversay with a new heart find... not a rock or a fruit or a leaf this time. It's something quite different.

A few days ago, when I was in Michigan, my mom opened up a grocery bag she had carried into the house, and excitedly said, "Guess what I found?!" She pulled out a container of donut holes, and I responded with, "Donut holes!"

"Yes," she said. "But when I turned the container over, look at what I found on the bottom...."

Aha! A heart-shaped donut hole!!!!

I praised her heart-seeing skills and her great discovery! She said something about it not being the same as when I find them because for me it's a "God thing." My response to her was that I think it's ALWAYS a "God thing"...no matter who finds them! God delights in speaking to us in unusual and unique ways, and I believe it thrills Him when we can see His love in the details of life. These heart sightings are just one of those ways.

I think it's wonderful when we can help open others' eyes to see things differently... when we can encourage others to take delight in the details... when we can find joy in our daily lives. And, isn't that what this whole blogging thing is about anyway?! (I know it is for me!)

So, here's a little bit of sweet love for your day!

And thanks for hanging out with me!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,

for He who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how we may

spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Let us not give up meeting together...

but let us encourage one another..."

~Hebrews 10:23-25

witnessing a miracle...

A couple of days ago, I witnessed a miracle. No, really. I did. It was a modern-day miracle.

Miracles, you know, come in all sizes and shapes. Some are big, some are small. Some even seem like "chance happenings." But, we who believe KNOW that God does miracles in our daily lives if we will open our eyes to see them.

My friend, who is a very organized person, could not find a file containing several very important documents. It was not just your run-of-the-mill ordinary important file but one she needed for legal purposes, and there was a very tight timeframe in which to produce it. She had looked in the place where it was supposed to be, and it was nowhere to be found. She looked in any other places where it might be, and it was still nowhere to be found. She spent several days looking for the file, but it was just missing. We kept praying that she'd find it.

With the deadline looming ever nearer, my friend woke up exceptionally early Friday morning with the missing file on her mind. She was very tempted to go the very human reactions of exasperation and frustration and anger... but she refused to let the enemy have any ground in this battle. She refused to go to those "old places" of the flesh and determined she would instead, stand firm against the enemy and find a place of peace...trusting in God no matter the outcome of the search.

She put on her armor, prayed for peace, and went back into the garage to search for the file. She bravely faced the file cabinet, prepared to search through every file in every drawer until she found the one she needed. She opened a drawer, and there-- in the first drawer, in the very front WAS THE MISSING FILE!!!

Seriously! It was a miracle!! And, to me, it was somewhat in the same vein as Jesus turning water into wine... making something out of nothing... or like a lost sheep being found.

To me, it was a very vivid reminder how important are the every-day bits of our lives to our Father. And how He loves showing Himself when we refuse to agree with our flesh and the enemy, when we trust in Him, when we rest in His place of peace.

Thank You, God, for the everyday --yet not so everyday-- miracles in our lives!

To You be all the glory!!

He makes all things good in His time...

A journalist friend of mine has been writing a series this week on the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. She was able to go to Colorado and visit the school site as well as to interview the Chief Investigator, the Principal--Frank DeAngelis, and the family of Rachel Scott.

I'm sure many of you remember Rachel Scott. She was the first victim killed by the shooters in that terrible tragedy at Columbine High School. Her name was well known among Christian circles (and beyond), as it was believed she was killed because of her faith in God. But, like the eleven other students and one teacher who were killed that day, her death seemed a pointless loss of life.

Ten years later it's only a little bit easier to look back at that horrible day. There was horrific loss and unimaginable grief...for the students and teachers, the parents and families, the entire community. For us, it was one day. For them, it was many, many days...and months...and years of sorting through the emotional rubble. But the years have eased the horror a bit with the distance created by passing time.

As I've read my friend's articles this week, I have thought a lot about that devastating event. I can understand how some would shake a fist at God and ask "Why?!" I cannot begin to understand how it felt to live through it. I am amazed, however, to see and hear of God's work of healing in the family of Rachel Scott... and of how He is using this seemingly completely bad situation to touch the lives of others in a positive way.

Rachel's parents felt that they were to walk forward in the path that Rachel had made in her short life... a path of kindess and compassion toward others, reaching out to the hurting others with a message of love. As a result they started a non-profit organization called Rachel's Challenge, a presentation given in schools and communities across North America and other countries, in a campaign to quell school violence, bullying, and teen suicide. And, though, Rachel's parents would far rather have her with them still, they have seen God's hand at work through Rachel's death, touching hundreds of students with her message... and at times, even saving lives.

Though I don't believe God makes such things happen, I do believe He uses these broken parts of our lives for His purposes. His work of redemption--of saving us from ourselves!--is about our eternal state. But it can also be seen at work in the brokenness of our world here and now. He loves picking up the pieces of our broken lives and putting them back together in new and different ways--maybe not how we would have envisioned--but good and beautiful just the same. I love it when we can get a small glimpse into this redemptive work He performs... the ways in which He makes good things out of the bad in this world.

If you want to see a bit of it yourself, take a few minutes to read the online article Columbine Family Finds Beauty In Ashes. And let us rejoice with Rachel's parents in the wonderful things God does!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28

another good article today - Remembering Columbine Victim Rachel Scott

a bit of love...

...for Your love is ever before me...

~Psalm 26:3a

... Praise be to the LORD,

for He showed His wonderful love to me...

~Psalm 31:21

...The earth is filled with Your love, O LORD...

~Psalm 119:64

celebrate the Sabbath...preparing our hearts for the Cross

Golgotha.

Calvary.

This is what it SHOULD have looked like:

Crosses covering the hill.

Hundreds and thousands of crosses.

A line, a mass, of crosses-- stretching as far as the eye can see.

"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

All are deserving of death.

And yet, there were only three crosses on the hill that day--

the center one being the focal point.

That ONE CROSS making a way...

A new way.

A way of LIFE instead of death.

"...the result of one act of righteousness was justification

that brings life for all men." Romans 5:18

And, instead of a hill covered in crosses,

we see but One.

One Cross--bearing ONE MAN--Who dies for the many.

Who takes on the sin of the world.

It is

THIS CROSS,

THIS SACRIFICE,

THIS LOVE

for which we must prepare our hearts.