I’m a contributing author of Jesus Talked to Me Today and the recently released Seeking His Presence: 30 Devotions Featuring the Timeless Art of Warner Sallman. I am also a devotion writer for Warner Press, and I love reading the Bible and pondering its truths.
I also like sharing the treasures I find there with my readers.
In this blog . . .
Though I aim to write short devotions that bring scriptural insights to everyday life, I may not always succeed in communicating well. I pray God accepts my humble offering and glorifies his name in my attempts. He’s so good at that.
I also comment on Bible resources you might find useful, and I share updates on other projects I’m working on as well.
As a wife, mother, grandmother, foster parent and care provider for children, youth and adults, I’ve observed enough people in my life to know the importance of clear communication. When that special level of understanding is reached, it satisfies something deep in us, like the refreshing that a cool drink brings on a hot day.
So let’s dive in. I’m delighted we can share these moments together.
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.”
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Being in pain has taken a lot out of me, but here are some changes and benefits I’ve noticed so far.
Mornings are usually the hardest time of day. That’s when I struggle with the disappointment that my nighttime dreams are over and I face the reality of continually hurting. I’m thankful though, that I don’t find myself sorrowing over it as much as I used to.
I can, however, remind myself of these things when it’s time to start my day:
1. stretch and move my body before I rise from bed
2. be patient and take it slow as I make my morning tea
3. thank God that he has made a new day and provided for all my needs
4. put aside worry about the things I might not be able to accomplish
5. ask for his help in ordering my priorities so I may serve him well
6. hum or sing his praises, for he is good
. . . I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed is that my accomplishments, though they may be fewer, have greater value. For instance,
I’m judging others less. When I was younger, I looked at people who moved slowly, sighed, groaned, or refused to work as being lazy or unenlightened. I was convinced their difficulties were their own fault. Now I have more compassion for the suffering of others, and can forgive more easily when I am judged unkindly.
I’m more real. My grandmother taught me I should always wear a smile. She thought this was a good way to display the joy of the Lord. When I walked home from school, I would try to make eye contact with approaching drivers to offer them a smile. It was exhausting. Now managing life with pain saps so much of my effort that my face doesn’t always show my inner joy. I try to look past other people’s facial expressions as well. We are all more than our outward appearance shows.
Because I found it annoying to hear others’ health updates, I try really hard to not talk about my current pain level very much. These days I am more generous with other people’s complaints, though. I listen. I understand. I care.
I’m more attentive to invisible treasures, like my grandchild’s laughter, the weight of my son’s head against mine as he hugs me, my daughter’s encouragement to call her when I need help.
I am so glad for the times I took small moments to heart as I walked with God through my days. When I sat in church as a young child, I would occupy myself by tracing the veins in my mother’s hands. I noticed when I was older how her hands had aged. And when she’d passed from this life I studied her hands one last time, and thanked God for them.
Walking and finding interesting rocks in my path is something I enjoy, probably because I watched my father do it. Admire them. See how far I can toss them. Find another rock. Take a child’s hand, put a rock in it. Being mindful, not just because someday I may not be able to pick up a rock, study a small thing, remember a child’s name, or hold a loved one’s hand, but because being in touch with where I am in God’s creation is rich.
One last thing that’s changing which dovetails with much of what I’ve already listed: I’m becoming more determined to set aside my own interests (and my cell phone) in order to pay attention to the person nearest me. Now this is an eternal thing, a most precious thing. I may not have much, but I can share from the abundance of love I’m given every day. And that one person, whom Jesus gave his life for, is worth my attention.
My Prayer: I love how you’ve blessed me in my pain, Lord. May I continue to grow in my love for you and for others as we wait for the day when pain is no more.
Seeking His Presence: 30 Devotions Featuring the Timeless Art of Warner Sallman, is available at Warner Press and on Amazon.com.
My second book was released in September 2022 but since I’d taken a break from my writing I failed to make a big to-do about it.
Seeking His Presence: 30 Devotions Featuring the Timeless Art of Warner Sallman makes an excellent gift book with its historic art that will be familiar to people from many denominations. His Head of Christ, the artist’s most well-known work (*see publisher’s note below), hung in my family’s home through most of my childhood, reminding me daily that Jesus is with me.
My contribution to the book is related to Mr. Sallman’s rendition of the morning of the resurrection. In it I explore the depths of the women’s grief as they approach the tomb to care for their dead rabbi’s body moments before their mind-boggling encounter.
If you’d like more book release hoopla you can watch my publishing announcement video on my Facebook Writer page. It will also be pinned for a time to the top of the feed on my personal profile.
My first assignment as a devotional writer involved creating an uplifting scriptural meditation in 150 words or less (Thankfully, in Seeking His Presence I was given a higher word count). I soon lost track of the thousands of words I cut during the process, much like I did as I attacked the weeds in our flower bed last spring, my head down and arms flailing.
This before photo shows weeds that were higher than my head.
If you read my last post , where I mentioned my intent to try managing pain by strengthening my back, you might remember how wimpy my early attempts were. Sitting on a low stool to turn the soil and pull the weeds, I could only clear a small patch of ground inches at a time before requiring a break. A small beginning indeed.
I kept at it, however, and soon found myself able to increase my workload. That meant other tasks had to be laid aside, including my writing, which explains why I neglected to announce the release of Seeking His Presence and to fulfill my self-challenge to post daily updates about my progress. Isn’t it true that in all work there’s the need to let some things go? In our work yes, but not in God’s.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
This after photo shows a row of healthy tomato plants, space for the next planting, and no weeds.
A trowel is pushed into the earth and a garden is born, or a pinch of seeds is sprinkled and sprouts lift their heads. Dirt gets pressed down over the tubers and blooms appear. That’s idealist talk, I know, but even when life doesn’t always happen in my garden as I hope, the time and effort I invest works wonders in me.
What God speaks always brings the outcome he expects. How delightful that he enables me to share his words with others and often allows me to see fruit from it.
*Quote from the publisher of Seeking His Presence, taken from its Amazon listing: Artist Warner Sallman’s Head of Christ is likely the most widely recognized image of Jesus in the world, reproduced hundreds of millions of times in various forms all over the globe. It has brought comfort in war zones, on death beds, and in everyday trials. Art has great power, and Sallman’s art speaks to us in a language only our souls can comprehend. For the first time, thirty of Sallman’s best loved works―from Christ at Heart’s Door and Head of Christ to The Lord is My Shepherd and Christ, Our Pilot―are paired with meaningful devotions that speak to the message behind each painting.
I got a late start on my garden this year. You might say five years late. That’s about how long it has been since I gave up working hard because of my bad back. But there are new things happening now, after years of different therapies and such that I’ve tried.
And today, after removing weeds bit by bit and preparing a small space for the off chance I might be able to maintain a few plants, there are beans and tomatoes and dahlias growing in my flower beds.
Which has helped me get a little stronger. And increased strength has motivated me to tackle the entire flower bed, which has also encouraged me to adopt more plants and tubers to stretch myself even further.
Today’s photo is of a sprig from a bean plant reaching for the sun.
Here’s a closer shot. See it there, crawling up the wire? In today’s Verse of the Day, which I receive in my email, we are admonished to assess ourselves reasonably. The little bean seed wasn’t likely aware that the result of its growing and struggling and reaching would have an impact on feeding a couple of hungry humans. It’s just doing what God assigned it to do. And what I’m trying to help it accomplish.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
And also today, I realize that what started with what I thought might be my last solo date to the dahlia farm last Fall (driving was excruciating) and potentially wasting money ordering five lovely tubers that I might not be able to maintain, is an expression of my faith. In taking that step, I expressed hope that months later I might reach a new level of strength and productivity, and have beautiful flowers to bring into my home.
It’s okay to reach, to struggle, to try. And then rest and reach again. But if you’re worried you might think of yourself “more highly” than you ought, I suggest you visit the scriptures more frequently. That can definitely help keep things in proper perspective.
This month my goal is publishing a blog post every weekday from the Verse of the Day. Think I’ll succeed? I’m flexing my muscles and getting ready. May we both be blessed by God’s words.
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