From My Daybook - Brenda Leyland

From Brenda's Daybook
For Today -- Nov 18th





Outside my window... Blue skies mottled with fluffy grayish clouds, leafless treetops barely moving in the breeze, a bluejay piercing the calm with his screech.


I am thinking... What is it we actually mean when we wish someone, Have a great day?

Now that you've asked.... I guess what I'm wishing for is that the individual could truly enjoy their day and not have anything spoil it. That they could be free from sickness and pain. That any broken and difficult relationships could be mended, that bad hair days don't affect their cheerful frame of mind, that work situations would be fulfilling and interesting. I would wish that God make their path smooth and that things would be pleasant, even when they're in the 5 o'clock grocery store lineup.

So now comes the question, do you think God desires us to have a great day? I know that sometimes it doesn't work out that way for us, but knowing He is a good Father, I truly believe His heart desires that we have a great day too!


I am thankful for... experiences that remind me walking in the Royal Law of Love toward every living creature is really what makes life beautiful.


I am wearing... Oh rats! Do I have to admit I'm still in my pretty pale green jammies?


I am going... to get my home ready for Christmas by setting aside the rest of this month to clean every corner and put things to right, so I can start bringing out the festive stuff December 1st.


On my mind... The other stuff I'm going to do today. Write. Clean. Sing. Laugh. Meet a friend for coffee. Hang out with Jesus!


Pondering these words... "Give and it shall be given." I'm beginning to grasp the idea that this seems to be a universal law that is meant to touch absolutely every area of our lives, not only in our finances. Whatever I want and hope to enjoy, I must first plant a seed if I hope for a harvest in that area. If I wish friendship, I must offer it to others. If I wish to be treated with kindness, I must ensure I offer kindness to every person I meet. If I wish blessings to come to me, I must first bless others. If I wish for favour, I must offer it to others as well.


Around the house... The sun is shining through the front window. I love how it makes the room feel cozy and comfortable.


One of my favorite things... the Yankee Candle sitting on my desk with the fragrance "Autumn Wreath". I've had the candle for a couple of seasons, and still I'll often catch a whiff of its autumny fragrance. Kind of a mix of spicy pumpkin pie, apple cider, and cinnamon. I love the surprise of how it releases its scent when I'm not expecting it.

Here's wishing you a great day, and all that it means to you!

Brenda
http://awordfromhome.blogspot.com

Rescued

by Pam Mytroen

I still remember the rescue. My sister and I along with my sister-in-law decided to wander off the path of Vancouver’s Lynn Canyon. Rays of sunshine fell short of penetrating the river snaking far below the suspension bridge but the shadowed blue ribbon beckoned us to a foolish dip in its cool embrace.

An innocent trickle plummeted off the cliff beside me as I leaped. Cold greedy water pulled me under and mocked me in its rebuke: “Don’t you know better?” It forgave me, though, as it tossed me back up, but I’ll never forget its icy slap. It let me swim to the next cliff and jump again. But this time mercy shook its head. When I dove I slipped and landed short of my aim. Rocks under the dark water sliced into my knee.

Numb, I swam to shore and collapsed when I tried to stand. I gazed up at the suspension bridge as a line-up of tiny-specked people began to form. The fire department held them back from crossing the bridge. A police siren echoed throughout the canyon walls. And finally, a team of paramedics rapelled their way down to me.

Onlookers from the cliffs shouted down encouragement. One generous guy threw down his t-shirt to wrap my knee. White bone protruded through my skin. Warm red blood lapped up the shirt. My brother, who had stayed behind us ‘silly girls’ now joined me. I felt guilty for putting the rest of my family in danger as they had to continue jumping off the cliffs until they could reach the bottom of the canyon where a path would lead them out.

However, I was grateful for the harness and the paramedic who made a pathway for me up the steep rocky side of the mountain.

For several days after the rescue I shivered whenever I thought of what I had been saved from. The shock of icy water and the smash of my skull against granite filled my dreams. Death left an aftertaste of fear.

The Vancouver team showed great compassion and care in their rescue efforts but that was several years ago now and I seldom think of them anymore.

However, I should never forget my rescuer Jesus. Paul reminds us that He “rescued us from this evil world in which we live” (Galatians 1:4b).

How often do I think of the grip of sin that Jesus plucked me from? Do I shiver when I remember the icy-depths of selfishness that threatened to drown me? When was the last time I woke up damp with fear?

Maybe God needs to open my eyes to the darkness around me, and my ears to the cries of others who are drowning, so that I will appreciate my Savior.

Thank you Lord Jesus that you rescued me from the cold winter of greed, from the bitterness of pleasure, and from the darkness of death. You rescued me unto light, freedom and life. May I ever be mindful of your strong Hands around me, and of your selfless saving act. Touch me with the sting of sin that I appreciate the spring of new life. Amen.

Cleaning House (part 2) - Nesdoly

Read Part 1

The story so far: Arlene has done a thorough cleaning of her house.  But now she can’t find a copy of her husband’s will, or the passwords to all her online accounts. Will her new start be sabotaged by her need for security from stuff?

*************

Part 2

            

All day Arlene battled anxiety. Besides all the money-related papers she’d thrown out, she’d surely also been too hasty about tossing things she needed only once in a while, and the spares, and the craft and hobby supplies, and the old clothes which could have been made into quilts, and the old Reader’s Digests she’d never got around to reading… What should she do?  If only Dave were here to tell her. Frantically she grabbed a pencil and scrap of paper, and began making a list of all the things she’d have to replace.

           

When she couldn’t think of anything more for the list, she turned on the TV to get her mind off the whole fiasco. But as she clicked from channel to channel and glimpsed first a young couple in sober conversation with their insurance agent, then a woman loading her shopping cart, and another dusting her well-appointed house, she felt worse, not better, until a nice young man telling a story on the Christian Channel caught her attention.

He told about a seventy-year-old Mozambican pastor he’d met. One Friday afternoon at work the elderly African man had heard God tell him to go to South Africa and plant churches among the tribal people who worked in the mines. “And so he went home,” the young man said, “and told his wife, ‘Tomorrow we’re leaving for South Africa.’

           

“On their way out of the country, a Mozambican immigration officer met them at the border. He asked them where they were going, and could he see their passports.

           

“’We’re on our way to South Africa,’ the old pastor told him, ‘and we don’t have passports.’

           

“’How will you get in?’ the officer asked.

           

“’God will help us,’ the pastor replied.

“The officer let the man and his wife enter no-man’s land between Mozambique and South Africa. Before they got to the border, someone noticed them, thought they were tardy bus passengers, and motioned them onto a bus, which took them directly into the country.

           

“Once there, the miracles continued. At one point, though they were stopped by soldiers and asked again for papers, not only were they allowed go to on, but a soldier gave them money.

           

“The pastor didn’t have a passport. He didn’t have any papers. But he just got up the morning after God called him and left obediently with what he had. In the last ten years,” the man concluded, “he’s planted twenty churches…”

           

Arlene turned off the TV, stunned. This was the kind of unhampered faith and obedience she’d imagined the day she’d begun cleaning the house. And to think that just now she’d almost forfeited it by looking again to things for security and purpose.

She had just spent a month doing the best she could to obey the first part of Jesus’ command, “Sell whatsoever thou hast.” Who knew what His “Come ... follow me,” would mean for her? She could see herself mothering an orphanage of kids in Africa, cooking at camp all summer, doing hospital visits or – even volunteering at the church office.

           

She took the list she’d written, crumpled it in a ball, and laughed out loud as she threw it across the room. She wouldn’t be needing it after all.

Web: http://violetnesdoly.com
Blog: promptings
Poetry portfolio: Violet Nesdoly / poems
Daily devotions for kids: Bible Drive-Thru
Twitter: @vnesdoly

Works in Progress - Joanna Mallory

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
1 Peter 1:18-19, NIV*

“You were redeemed from the empty way of life...”

These words caught me today. They’re a promise we can rely on when we’re tempted to despair of ever changing and growing in our new life with God.

He has redeemed us, rescued us from the empty way of life. No, He didn’t zap us into instant holiness or godliness, but we can be sure that if we cooperate with His Spirit’s work in our lives and choose to turn from the old empty, self-centred ways, we will change.

He has a lot to do in our lives, and it won’t happen overnight, but the transaction has been done. Ownership of our “house” has changed, and we really are in the “renovation” stage.

God is good.

*New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

© Joanna Mallory, 2009
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For devotionals, reviews and monthly draws for Canadian Christian books, stop by Joanna Mallory's blog, God with Us: Finding Joy.

A Matter of Perspective

I just finished reading an interesting novel, The Noticer. It is a story about an old man, Jones, who notices things that other people overlook; things that are in plain sight. Jones claims people lack perspective. They don’t see the big picture.

It makes me ask myself, do I lack perspective? Do I see the half empty cup instead of the half full one? Do I dwell on the thunder and lightning and miss the rainbow. Do I begrudge all the laundry instead of being thankful I have family to serve.

Take LOL for another example. For a long time I thought it meant Lots of Love, only to find out it means Laugh out loud .I had the wrong perspective.

Back in the 60’s, I asked my father if he believed in God. His reply, “Everyone has their own utopia. The Indians have their happy hunting grounds.” That didn’t give me much of an answer back then but it got him off the hook from telling me what he believed.

It was in the early 70’s, when he had but a few months to live, that he surrendered his life to Christ. God gave him a new perspective on his need. He was waiting for someone to talk to him about his spiritual condition. His eventual passing gave him life, not death.

Paul said in Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Paul had a right perspective.

I pray God will give me wisdom and the right perspective, helping me to notice things that are in plain sight; things that can change my life to be more like Him.