In Awe

My husband and I took a vacation in September. I wrote what follows from my hotel room while I enjoyed the view as I gazed outside. Below, I’ve included photos from our trip to the Oregon Coast and Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. I’m in awe of the Lord’s creation. He’s blessed us with an amazing world to enjoy.

From our hotel window and to the left, a river flows through Seaside, Oregon. Seagulls fly overhead and squawk their cries, and a lovely heron awaits its next catch from a dock along the Necanicum River. Beyond are hills covered with shades of green.

To my right, other hotels line the street and evergreens emerge from the fog on a hill behind them. The sun tries to sneak a peek at the people below after hiding behind dark clouds that poured down rain the day before and overnight.

Although I can’t see it from my window, past the hotels and a block away, the Pacific Ocean calms its rumblings from the overnight storms. Beach sand settles after blowing across the shore like a soft snow that formed tiny craters along the beach.

Peace fills my heart as I sip my café mocha. The setting reminds me of a dream I had in the wee hours of the morning on September 16—the day we traveled here. I saw beautiful hills and beyond them the sea, and I heard joyful singing. My thoughts turned to heaven. But I doubt the angels will sing The Sound of Music—the song in my dream.

What have you seen in recent months that caused you to be in awe of Creator God?

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
Psalm 65:8, NIV

A Time of Refreshing

Temperatures are falling, and soon leaves will follow, but here in Middle Tennessee we’re expecting highs in the upper eighties. Often after being out in the sun, heat, and humidity, a glass of sweet tea beckons us, along with a refreshing cool shower. And what else do we need in the shower? Soap! Although we won’t find the soap mentioned below there, it offers a time of refreshing, too.

The church we attend distributes a S.O.A.P. Guide each month. Each day suggests a specific chapter from the Bible they invite us to read. Reading from our guide each day is a great way to get God’s Word into our hearts and minds. We read, jot down verses, summarize what we think God is saying, apply what we read to our lives, and pray.

Perhaps you or your church uses the S.O.A.P. method of Bible journaling, too. You can use this method with any Bible reading plan.

S for Scripture—write out a verse or two that spoke to you.

O for Observation—jot down what you think God is saying through the Scripture.

A for Application—note how these verses apply to your life right now.

P for Prayer—ask God to help you apply what you’ve learned.

The journal I use is a weekly planner. I write with a different color ink for each letter response, but I run out of space before I get to my prayer. Instead, often my application is a request or declaration to the Lord.

This is part of my entry for Psalm 42.

Scripture
5. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 

Observation
When we feel down, we are to put our hope in God and trust He will see us through.

 Application
I will trust the Lord!

Prayer—as stated above, I don’t write these out. I can’t stop with one or two verses and take too much space by writing three or four. But if I were to write my prayer, it would be something simple like this: Lord, I put my hope in you and praise your holy name. Help me trust You in every situation that comes my way.

I end with a word of thanksgiving that I place at the top of my entry each day. It may be gratitude for something that happened or thanksgiving for a promise I read from God’s Word that day. With Psalm 42, I wrote—I’m thankful for the rain we’ve gotten and for what is predicted to come.

In checking online, I found a nifty S.O.A.P journal I plan to order that includes a gratitude section at the bottom of each page. There’s enough space to allow me to expand my thoughts and write my prayers, too.

Grab your Bible, journal, and pens and find a time of refreshing with S.O.A.P.

Photo by Roman Synkevych - Unsplash

Sometimes It Hurts

Sometimes it hurts. We feel forgotten or ignored. I’m sure it happens to most of us. It happened to me last weekend.

I’d emailed a few former coworkers three weeks earlier to say hello and to tell them I missed them. None responded. Why? Were they too busy? Did they not miss me too? And the friend I texted? She didn’t respond either.

Although I didn’t know the reasons for their silence, Romans 12:14 instructed me on how to handle the hurt.

Speak blessing, not cursing, over those who reject
and persecute you. (TPT)

No one persecuted me, but I felt rejected. I prayed for God to bless them, to help them in their struggles, and for His will to be done in and through their lives. I reasoned that maybe life was tough for them, and they didn’t want to share—too personal. Or perhaps they were busy but intended to respond later and then forgot. 

After spending time in my Bible and praying for them, I listened to worship music and lifted my hands to “House of the Lord” by Phil Wickham. I have a hard time staying in the mulligrubs while worshipping my Lord.  

I also put on my armor as stated in Ephesians 6:10-20 and prayed the “Warrior’s Prayer.” [Click link for a pdf copy warriors-prayer-printable.pdf (com.s3.amazonaws.com).]

None of my feelings were new to the Lord. Christ understood rejection. He recognized how I felt and offered me comfort and strength as I honored Him.

Sometimes it hurts. The evil one wanted me to spend my day in despair, but I had too much to do. Through Bible reading, prayer, worshipping, and putting on my armor, I found victory and peace in my Lord and Savior.

A special thank you to J.D. Wininger for introducing me to the “Warrior’s Prayer” in his blog post: Preparing for Battle - J.D. Wininger, Christian Author (jdwininger.com).

Photo by Kyle Glenn - Unsplash

The Past Seven Weeks

Since my last blog post, we moved into our new home and traveled to Ohio to visit my family. The past seven weeks have been busy, and this blog post is long overdue.

God is good. He’s blessed me several times with a view of cows from my dining room window. My youngest daughter joined me on the back patio one afternoon while I watered my orange and yellow gerbera daisies. A sound nearby brought a smile to my daughter’s face. “Was that a cow?” Poor city girl—her first time to hear a cow moo.

We’ve met many friendly neighbors. The first was a young boy, about ten years old. Cody came to our door to introduce himself within hours of our closing while we were cleaning. I thought he was such a sweet young man. Later that afternoon, we met another neighbor—an adult from down the street. We told him we’d met Cody. He said, “You met Eddie Haskell.”

What I remember about Eddie on Leave It to Beaver was his sweetness to adults but his sneakiness away from them—an instigator of trouble. So that’s our Cody? Time will tell.

In Ohio we met my sister, her husband, grandson, and two foster boys at a park in Toledo. Kenn and I walked along the paved trails while we waited for them to arrive. We enjoyed the park so much that we returned three more times during our two-day stay to walk and talk. My favorite spot was a covered bridge along our path.

We also visited my brother and his wife and gathered with nieces and nephews for a mini family reunion. The two foster boys surprised me with hugs when they arrived. When they left, they and my sister’s grandson did the same. Three sweet young men.

Another highlight occurred when we attended church with my sister and her family and chatted with our former pastor after the service. This was the man who preached a message during a revival forty-seven years ago that woke me up to my need for a personal relationship with Christ. He, along with his wife, taught me of God’s love and forgiveness. She played matchmaker in getting Kenn and I to date, and this pastor performed our wedding.

God has blessed us for the past seven weeks. I am grateful for His goodness and the people He has placed in my life. I pray that I’m able to share that same goodness with others.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:5, NIV

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