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Tuesday, July 9^th

Day 73

I am thinking today of my mother-in-law.

It is the anniversary of her birth, 112 years ago.

There is a bouquet of pink roses on the table because they were her favorite.

Early in our relationship I found her to be intimidating because she always spoke her mind – forcefully.

But over the years I came to appreciate her work ethic and her many skills.

She taught me a lot about gardening, about being a homemaker, about spending wisely on things that will last, and how to make yeast rolls! She was a good cook except for cookies. She hated to make cookies. So I got a call whenever she needed cookies for her ladies luncheons, usually oatmeal raisin.

She was a true gardener, starting her own tomato plants in her little green house, maintaining her strawberry patch, sharing many of her perennial flowers with me over the years, but most of all she grew the most beautiful rose garden with every color you could want. Every year she would order another rose bush from Jackson-Perkins and she generously shared the blooms with me.

Most of all she loved her “boys” – Olin, Doug, and Jason –  and I believe she came to love me also.

Happy Birthday MomMom Evans!

Monday, July 8^th

Day 72

There is no burden which,

if we lift it cheerfully and bear it with love in our hearts,

will not become a blessing to us.

God means our tasks to be our helpers;

to refuse to bend our shoulders to receive a load,

is to decline a new opportunity for growth.

-J. R. Miller

Blessed is any weight,

however overwhelming,

which God has been so good

as to fasten with His own hand upon our shoulders.

-F. W. Faber

From Streams In The Desert

Thank You Lord, for my “wings” – those burdens I must bear.

The load seems so heavy at times but I do not bear it alone.

Praise God!

Sunday, July 7^th

Day 71

Since God knows what niche we are to fill, let us trust Him to shape us to it.

Since He knows what work we are to do, let us trust Him to drill us to the proper preparation.

“O blows that smite! O hurts that pierce

This shrinking heart of mine!

What are ye but the Master’s tools

Forming a work Divine?”

-Streams In The Desert

God gives us the vision,

then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision,

and it is in the valley that so many faint and give way.

Every vision will be made real if we have patience.

The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what god wants you to be.

Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes,

and as sure as God is God and you are you,

you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision.

Don’t lose heart in the process.

If you have ever had the vision of God,

you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level,

but God will never let you.

-Oswald Chambers – My Utmost For His Highest

YOUR WAY – NOT MINE!

Saturday, July 6^th

Day 70

Do not allow difficult events to cancel the joy of knowing you are a child of God.

Choose to allow God’s Spirit to fill you with His unquenchable joy,

and your life will be a miracle to those who watch you face the trials that come.

-Experiencing God Day By Day

Yes, there are difficult moments –

when something reminds me of unfinished business –

or a special memory of a special time –

or   when I forget to do something that he always took car of

but underneath it all is joy –

            the joy of knowing that it was You, God, who brought us together –

            who blessed us with 55 years –

            who will bring us together again to spend eternity with You

Friday, July 5^th

Day 69

Any time we look into the newspapers, or into our own hearts, and despair, we do well to remember that God’s people have faced similar prospects, similar reversals, similar headlines, similar assaults on faith, and have recovered from the doubt, been rescued from the pessimism and foreboding, and gone on to live in praise of God.

-Eugene H. Peterson

Keep the faith!

Wednesday, July 3^rd

Day 67

-some things we will never understand . . .

Sometimes it is imperative simply to rest in what is happening today and not worry about the future – or about comprehending the reasons for the way things are . . .

Blessedness is indeed promised to those who seek the Lord, but the key lies in the seeking.

That means to study  and pray, to search and wait, to worship and serve – even to be tested, to struggle and suffer.

Such disciplines of mind and spirit are often hard . . .

In those times especially we are invited to cling to this promise:

“Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

In believing that statement to be true we find the contentment to accept whatever blessings are or are not in our lives . . .

Sometimes we will be able to taste and see how good God is, but true maturity of faith will recognize His love even though from a human perspective we might lack good things.

-Marva J. Dawn – I’m Lonely Lord

Lord, the habits formed over 55 years are hard to break.

I find myself hurrying home – and then remember – he isn’t here.

I miss him so.

I thank You for filling the empty place in my heart.

I thank You for the music that soothes my hurt.

I thank You!

July 2nd – Day 66

Hear me when I call,

O God of my righteousness:

Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress;

Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1 KJV

Answer me when I call to You,

O my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

Be merciful unto me and hear my prayer.

NIV

“I have been driven many times to my knees

by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.

My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Lord, You always hear my cry.

You comfort me.

You heal my heart.

You lift my spirit.

You restore my soul.

Monday, July 1^st

Day 65

Luke 1:45

And blessed is she that believed:

for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

KJV

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!

NIV

Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!

The Message

Lord, I believe, help me my unbelief.

Sunday, June 30^th

Day 64

And it came to pass after many days,

that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year,

saying,

Go, show thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

I Kings 18:1

-for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good,

and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 5:45b

And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

James 5:18

It is 4 a.m. and I am listening to the rumble of thunder and the sound of the rain hitting the windows and I am thanking God for sending the rain!

What a beautiful sound it is, especially when it has been so dry.

Thank You, God !

O God, teach me to see You, and reveal Yourself to me when I seek You . . .

Let me seek You in longing, and long for You in seeking.

Let me find You in love, and love You in finding.

-Ambrose of Milan, 339-397