But God....What a Beautiful Phrase

But God.... It's a phrase you find often in Scripture. And it's a phrase that has been ringing in my heart.


Just over a week ago, on a cold and rainy day, we were made aware that we had multiple gas leaks in our house. Some would say it was a lucky coincidence that the leaks were discovered. Since I don't believe in coincidences, I would not be one of those people.


On that cold and rainy Thursday, the gas company was in our neighborhood doing a routine meter check. When he checked our meter, he discovered bubbles coming up from the meter. He checked our generator. More bubbles. He rang our doorbell and informed us of the situation and asked to check inside. When he discovered that there were leaks at all - not some, but all - the connections in our house, he shut off our meter because it was a dangerous situation.


Fortunately, repairs were made quickly and the gas was turned back on before the house got too cold. But as I think back on what might have happened if those leaks had not been discovered, I am overwhelmed. We were completely oblivious to the danger, but God knew exactly what we needed.


Thinking about this potential disaster has reminded me of other almost-disastrous situations. When we lived in the mountains, we had several almost-off-the-road-off-the-side-of-the-mountain experiences. But God intervened.


There was the time in Montana, as we were heading back to the airport after a week on mission that our car hit a patch of black ice as we were driving across a river. We went into a tailspin that could have landed us in the river. But God intervened.



Some years ago, back when we lived in Connecticut, we were driving down Route 2 from the airport in Hartford back to Ledyard where we lived. It was late at night. We were out in the country, and it was very dark. The road was covered in snow. We hit a patch of ice and began to spin. When the spin stopped, we were pointed back in the direction from which we had come. And we could see the headlights of another car coming right toward us. It's really difficult to get a car turned on a patch of ice and get it pointed in the direction you want it to go. But God intervened.



In these, and many other instances, God has intervened. 



But God.  I love that phrase.


Just a few days ago, we could have been victims of a gas explosion. 

But God......

Once I was dead in trespasses and sins, according to Ephesians 2:1.

But God......

And that's the best "but God" of them all!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved......." (Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV)

But God......

What a beautiful phrase!

Maybe Browning Was Right

I was reading through some old blog posts yesterday, mine and those written by others as well. I came across a post I had written several years ago titled That's Not How I Would Do It. I could just as easily written that post this week or this month, because there are a lot of things going on in the world about which I could say that's not how I would do it.

My husband and I often got a good laugh from his dad about this very thing. When we are driving Al's parents around town, to a restaurant or to shop, we usually heard, more than once, "we don't go this way." When Al would be helping his dad with a project around the house, it was common to hear "that's not how I do it" or "we don't do it that way." It became a standing joke around our house! 

 

A few years ago, following Al's dad's knee replacement and his mom's Alzheimer's diagnosis, we had arranged some in-home help for them. That worked only for a short while. The reason it no longer worked? She didn't "cook like we do". She did things differently "than we do them". "We don't do it that way."


The poet Robert Browning once wrote God's in His heaven; all's right with the world. I have to take issue with that. There's a lot that's not right with the world! Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, unemployment, broken marriages, strained relationships, financial strain, riots. Do I need to go on? And that list didn't even mention ISIS and other terrorists. You could probably add other things to the list based on the circumstances of your own life. All we really need to do is turn on a news broadcast for a few minutes to see that there is much that is not right in our world. As I think about all those things, I find myself saying If I were in charge, I wouldn't do it that way.

 

There are any number of things about which I would like to say we don't do it that way. And if you are at all like me, as you look at the circumstances in the world around you, you might also be thinking that if I were in charge, I would do things differently. This is not how I would handle it.

The good news is, we don't have to handle it, at least in terms of making everything turn out right.  That's not our job; it's God's job. Our job is to trust Him, to be obedient to His commands to us in Scripture, to know that He knows what He's doing, and to remember that He has it all under control.  Our God is an awesome God, as the song says. He's also a sovereign God, and He's got it all covered. Our sovereign God has it all under control. 

 

Maybe Browning was right after all!



"For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.  All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing and He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of earth.  There is no one who can hold back His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?' " 

(Daniel 4:34-35 HCSB)

A Favorite Picture. A Favorite Place. A Favorite Memory. And A Lesson Learned.

Yesterday I wrote about my memories of Israel. Since then, I have been traveling down memory lane, revisiting other memories of our times in the Holy Land. I'm sure I have written about this often, but today I feel the need to write about it again.

 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures. There we are, Al and I, just walking along with our group, yet completely oblivious to those around us. Strolling along, hand in hand, having a chat. No clue that a friend with a camera was snapping this photo.

 

It's one of my favorite pictures. And taken in one of my favorite places on earth, Jerusalem. We're just outside the Temple Mount, on the southern side. As we walk through the arches just ahead, and then make a left turn, we arrive at one of my favorite places in that favorite city, the southern steps to the Temple Mount.

 



This photo below, taken from the Mount of Olives, can put that into context for you. The walled area in the center of the photo is the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock is just out of the photo, to the far right just beyond the trees. The Southern Steps are there in the center, just outside the wall of the Temple Mount, just above a small clump of trees.

On each of our trips to Jerusalem, we have had opportunity to sit on those steps and worship. What precious memories I have of those times. Being in that place, very near where Peter preached on Pentecost and 3000 souls were saved (Acts 2:14-41). Hearing the Word proclaimed to us by our pastor in that same place. Praying there on those steps. Worshiping. Those are favorite memories indeed.

There's an important lesson to be learned from those Southern Steps up to the Temple Mount. You see, the interesting thing to me about these steps is that they are uneven. Some are wide, some are narrow, some are in-between. The result is that there would have been no casual skipping up the steps to worship at the Temple. The nature of the steps requires that the approach be slow and deliberate.      

 

And therein lies the lesson. Have we become too casual in our approach to worship? 

Consider this quote from Oswald Chambers:  "If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet - getting rid of the excessive informality with which we approach God - it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence."

May we - may I - never be too casual in our approach to a holy God! This is the lesson of the Southern Steps.

"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."  (Psalm 24:4-5 NASB)


"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts."  (Isaiah 6:3 NASB)

Remembering

I read Psalm 42 this morning. And I remembered.

Even if you aren't sure that it's the 42nd Psalm, you're probably familiar with it.

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee......

I've been reading this Psalm for years. I've been singing these words for years. But they really came alive to me on a December Sunday morning at Ein Gedi, in Israel.

It was on that Sunday morning that I saw this:

 

 

 

These are ibex, the "deer" referred to in this Psalm. And as the photo indicates, they live in a dry, barren environment. There's not a lot of water there.  The Dead Sea is in the background, but there's no drinking water there. Not even for an ibex. A deer could get pretty thirsty in an environment like this. As I think about that, and as I look at this picture, I ask myself just how thirsty I am.

 

In the mountains of western North Carolina where I once lived, and here in South Carolina as well, we have a different kind of deer. And a different environment. A deer doesn't have to go far to get a drink of water.

 

 

 

 

It occurs to me that these contrasting environments really illustrate a truth about Christianity in America today. Here in the US we are surrounded by "water" in the sense that we have an abundance of opportunities for Bible study, an abundance of Christian books, Bibles in multiple translations, an abundance of opportunities to drink deep of the water of the Word. Yet the downward shift in our culture would make it seem that we are in a dry and barren land. Why is that the case? How did we get to this point? Is it because we have such abundance that we have become complacent? Is it that we just aren't thirsty enough? Something to think about.

 

But I digress. As I read Psalm 42 this morning, I remembered. I first visited Ein Gedi when we traveled to Israel in 2010. We were at Ein Gedi on a Sunday morning, and it was there that we had our morning worship. As we sat there, watching the ibex, in this oasis in the desert, Dr. Wilton read Psalm 42. And so I will forever associate that Psalm with my memories of being in that place.

 

As I'm remembering, I also remember a conversation with Dr. Wilton on that same day. We were at Masada, just a few miles down the road. As our group was gathering to ride the cable car back down to the base of the mountain, the few of us standing there were having a chat. I remarked that I was on overload. And I was! Sensory overload. Information overload. Just overloaded and overwhelmed by what I had already experienced. And we hadn't even "walked where Jesus walked" yet!

 

We had spent a few days in Cairo, Egypt, and then had journeyed through the Sinai, following the Exodus route. We had arrived in Israel the afternoon before.  We had seen pyramids and papyrus.  We had visited Christian churches in Egypt. We had been to Mt. Sinai. I was trying to remember everything, so afraid I would forget something. And I was just overwhelmed.

 

Dr. Wilton gave me some good advice that day. He said not to try to remember every detail. Just experience it. And then, he said, when you get back home you will never read the Scriptures in the same way again. When you read the Word, your mind will recall where you were and what you saw and what you experienced. You will see it all in a completely new way. He was right. I often remember that conversation. As I did this morning when I read Psalm 42. 

 

But there's more to that Psalm than deer thirsting for water and the parallel to our souls thirsting for God.

 

David was on the run. King Saul wanted to kill him. And so David hid in a cave. A cave at Ein Gedi.

 

 

 

 

 

In this particular Psalm, David not only wrote about thirsting after God.  He also wrote these words:

 

"Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence." (Psalm 42:5 NASB)

 

Probably no one is trying to kill you this morning. But you may be in despair for some other reason.

 

Perhaps the issue that troubles you is a health concern. Or a financial need. Or perhaps you've experienced a loss. If we could all gather in once place and share the burdens of our hearts, I'm sure there would be quite a long and varied list of issues.

 

But in all those situations, these words hold true, just as they did for David so long ago.

 

Why are you in despair? Hope in God.

 

That's an important truth worth remembering.

 

 

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee.

You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship Thee.

You alone are my strength, my shield;

To You alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship Thee.

 

(-Martin Nystrom)

 



 

 



 

Nothing Is Impossible

"For nothing will be impossible with God."  (Luke 1:13 NASB)



I love Facebook memories. Those reminders of things that are somewhere deep in your memory, but are brought to mind as Facebook tells you what happened on this day in a certain year of your life. Today's Facebook memory was a very special one. It was a banner day in my journey to stroke recovery. On this day in 2017,  I was so blessed and thankful to be able to once again lead our Life Group Bible study. I am a blessed woman indeed!

In 2017 we were studying in the Old Testament book of Ruth. We spent a lot of our time talking about Naomi. If you haven't read it lately, take some time to read Ruth chapter 1. Naomi's story is a sad story. There was a famine. They had no food so Naomi and her family had to relocate to a foreign country. While they were living in the foreign country, her husband died. Then both her sons died. It's a really sad story.

But God made a way for Naomi. God provided exactly what Naomi needed.

Just as God has provided everything I have needed to get through the challenges I have in my post-stroke life.

Your story may not be exactly like Naomi's story. Or exactly like my story. But you have a story. Each of us has challenges and trials and difficult circumstances to deal with. We all have a story. We all have "stuff" to deal with.

God provided everything Naomi needed to deal with the challenges of her life. He has provided everything I have needed to face the challenges of my life.

And He is able to do the same for you.

Because nothing is impossible with God!


"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen"

What's On Your List?

Earlier this month awards were handed out to actors and actresses, directors and producers, these so-called A Listers who are famous for their movies. They walked down a red carpet, were photographed over and over, and were watched on television by millions of Americans. Some of them received the coveted Oscar statue. Since that awards ceremony, these A List individuals have either been lauded or scorned for their fashion choices, their hairstyles, and their acting abilities, or lack thereof.  It's all part of being on the A List.

I have an A List of a different sort. It has nothing to do with celebrities, but everything to do with priorities. Some time ago I compiled this A List of things I am praying for my sons and for their families. These are my priorities for these dear ones who are so precious to me.

Their health is important to me, but it didn't make the list. Financial freedom is important, but that didn't make the list either. Many of the things the world might consider most important in life are not on this list.

I compiled this list with a different set of priorities than what the world might consider important.  This list of mine is about the things I consider of most value in their lives. 

My A List, the list of things I consider most important as I pray for my children, is this:

• a passionate love for God and His Holy Word
• an awareness of God's grace
• to know the life and power of God's Word in a real and personal way
• to love others and treat them with kindness and respect
• to be reflections of God's glory
• to glorify God with their lives
• to follow hard after God

That's my A List. What's on your list?

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Philippians 3:7-8 NASB)

And Know

Pascal, the French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher of days gone by, said, "Nearly all the ills of life spring from this simple source: that we are not able to sit still in a room."

God said, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

When we read that verse, we tend to focus on the first phrase. Be still. And of course, that's an important part of the verse.

Be still. Or, as the NASB renders the verse, cease striving. The Amplified Bible puts it this way:  Let be and be still.

But let's not forget the rest of the verse. Just being still, as important as that is, is not enough. 

Be still, and know that I am God.

Don't forget the "and know" part of the verse.

Again, let's look to the Amplified Bible for clarification. Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God.

Be still. That's important. Cease striving. Stop worrying. Be aware.

And know. Not just give mental assent to. Recognize and understand in the very core of your being.  Know. Know that you know that you know. 

Recognize and understand who God is. 

Certainly He is a loving God. He is also a just God. A righteous God. A providing God. He is a Sovereign God. 

Be still and know that I am God. 

Whatever the circumstances of your life. Whatever decisions you are facing. Whatever emotional upheaval may encompass you today. Whatever. In every circumstance of life. In the big things and in the little things. And in all the in-between things. Know this. He is God.

There is nothing facing you or me today that He can't handle. Because He is God.

Think about that today. Ponder that. Live in light of that. Be still. And know.

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted among the earth!" (Psalm 46:10 ESV)

Practice Makes Perfect

You may have heard that phrase somewhere along the way.....practice makes perfect. Maybe from a piano teacher or a coach. Maybe from your parents. I'm quite certain that in my years as a piano teacher, I said it myself. Always with a smile on my face, I'm sure, as I uttered that mantra....practice makes perfect.....at the same time as I gave instruction to do it again.

Over the years I have come to believe that phrase is not entirely accurate. Practice doesn't make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. After all, if you continually practice something, whether a piano scale or a multiplication table or an athletic technique, incorrectly, the end result is that you have learned the wrong thing!

What is the point of practice anyway? Of those endless repetitions? Practice serves more than just filling time. Some might say that practice is done in order to get it right, whatever the "it" might be, whether in music or in math or in athletics or in any other endeavor. And I suppose that is true. But I think practice is more than that. The point is not that we always get it right.  It's so that we never get it wrong.

Let's apply that point to multiplication tables as an example. If you drill repeatedly (practice) on your 9 times table, for example, you will learn that 9x7=63. Once you have practiced that enough, you will always know that 9x7=63. Further, you will never think that 9x7=72, or any other number. Always and only 63. You won't have to stop and try to figure it out. Or count it out on your fingers. Or question whether or not it is true. If you have practiced enough, if you have learned this fact well, then you will always instinctively know it. You will always get it right. 

The same principle applies to musical scales or football plays or how to hold a baseball bat. Perfect practice makes perfect. But imperfect practice (practicing the wrong numbers or the wrong technique repeatedly) will lead to an incorrect result every time. However, when you correctly  practice repeatedly, you will always get the desired result because you are so well trained that you can't do it any other way.

Apply that principle to the spiritual realm. The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to "charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith......by [this] some have made shipwreck of their faith. (1 Timothy 1:3-4, 19 ESV).

How do we hold to sound doctrine? How do we practice our doctrine in such a way as not to "make shipwreck of our faith"? Might I suggest that the place to begin is in the Word of God itself. In learning what God has to say rather than relying solely on what others say about Him. In reading the Word of God rather than relying on books about the Word of God.

In order to hold to sound doctrine, we must immerse ourselves in the Word of God. We must read it regularly and repeatedly. Not just once in a while. Not just once in a lifetime. But over and over. It must become so ingrained in us that we will know with certainty when something we hear is contrary to the Word. So that our senses are finely tuned to what God has to say. So that we know it well. So that we can't get it wrong!

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."  (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB)

With All My Heart

My earliest Valentine memories are of red construction paper hearts and white paper doilies and heart-shaped candies with messages like "Be Mine". Back in elementary school we made our valentine "mailboxes" out of construction paper, or by decorating brown paper bags with construction paper hearts.

As I grew older, Valentine's Day came to be less about construction paper and more about flowers and chocolates that came in heart-shaped boxes.

Fast-forward to 1971, when I met a special young man. A little more than a year later, on a warm summer evening, I married that young man! We drove away from the church that evening singing along with Karen Carpenter......"We've only just begun....".
For the nearly 48 years that we have been married, that has remained "our song".

But today, I have another song ringing in my heart.  On this day when all the world is thinking about hearts and flowers and chocolates and love, my thoughts have turned to what love is really all about. To that greatest expression of love. To the Savior who gave His life that I might have life eternal. Today, this is the song I'm singing......

With all my heart

I want to love you, Lord,

And live my life

Each day to know you more.

All that is in me

Is yours completely.

I'll serve you only

With all my heart.

(--Babbie Mason)

On this Valentine's Day, yes, I love my husband.......my sweetheart for all these years......and I'm so grateful for that party invitation all those years ago. He really is my Knight in Shining Armour, my very own Prince Charming!

But even more than that, I am so very grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved me, not because I am worthy of His love, but even though I am not. Who loved me enough to die for me!  That's the best Valentine ever!

"We love because He first loved us."  (1 John 4:19 NASB)

My Furry Valentine

Over the years, my husband and I have celebrated a lot of Valentine's Days. And we have celebrated in a lot of different ways. There have been fancy dinners in elegant restaurants, and there have been quiet dinners at home. There have been fancy Valentine cards, and there have been homemade ones.  There have been roses and chocolates and jewelry. But my favorite of all the Valentine gift from my husband was this little fur person he gifted to me in 2004.



 



There may be one possible exception to her status as "favorite Valentine gift ever". That would be the chocolate dipped strawberries Al brought me from the Ghiaradelli store at Disney a few of years ago! It's a close competition! But since those strawberries didn't last, and Molly was with us for many years, she wins! On that Valentine's Day 2004, I never even imagined what a delight she would be. How much I would love her. I knew she was a beautiful puppy, but I had no idea how much fun she would be or what a bubbly personality she would have. She was by far the best little fur companion I could ever have asked for. 

 

Molly is no longer with us now. We had 15 wonderful years together. In her last years, she was not quite as energetic as she once was. She spent most of her time eating or sleeping. But she was still a delight to have around and I miss her!

 

 

A Vallentine Love Story

Once upon a time a shy young woman was visiting a girlfriend she had met the previous summer when they both worked on the staff of a church camp. This young woman and the girlfriend made plans to attend the church "college and career" valentine party. Also attending this party was a young man who had recently been discharged from the Air Force and had come back home.

I was that shy young woman, and the only thing I remember about that party was that young man. The young man is now my husband. I was told many months later that he went home that night and informed his dad he had met the woman he was going to marry. I confess it took me a little longer to come to that conclusion, but it didn't take many weeks for me to realize this young man was my soulmate, the love of my life.

And now, 49 years later (we met February 13, 1971), nothing has changed. Well, a few things have changed! We have grayer hair, and a few more pounds, and some wrinkles.....all those things that are part of the aging process. What has not changed is the absolute certainty that this man is one of the very best parts of my life! These days, when I think about Valentine's Day, I don't think about hearts and flowers and where we will go out to dinner, or even if we will. I think about that Valentine's Day in 1971, one of the most significant days in my life.

In an era when love is defined by Hallmark movies and ridiculous sitcoms where life's problems are easily resolved in less than 30 minutes, I am grateful to God that He knew exactly who would be best for me. I'm grateful beyond words that this one He placed in my life is so much more than I ever dreamed of!

Life hasn't always been easy. We have had to deal with some really hard stuff over the years. We've laughed together. We've cried together. We've prayed together. There has been some sickness and some health, some better and some worse. 

Yet through it all, life has been gloriously wonderful, and I wouldn't want to do this journey called life with anyone else. 

Every Careless Word

"Every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." (Matthew 12:36)

Jesus spoke those words. 

Every careless word. Oh my. 

Every careless word. Not some careless words. Not just the words I meant to say. But every careless word. Including the ones that just slipped out of my mouth. And the words I mumbled under my breath. The words that caused me then to think,"Did I really just say that?".

Every careless word. Not just the kind, thoughtful, loving words. But every word. Including the ones uttered in frustration or in bad temper or in anger or disappointment. Including the ones spoken about the bad driver ahead or the neighbor's kids or about the politician or the television pundit.

As I have been thinking about these words of Jesus, I wonder how many careless words I have spoken already today. Or how many I spoke yesterday.

How many careless words have I spoken this week?

Or this month?

And I realize that I can't even begin to keep up! How sad that is.....

Every careless word. That's a lot of words. And it's a reminder that we really do need to think before we speak.




"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24 KJV)

Finish Well

It has happened again. It often does, really. There's a song running through my head on a continuous loop. I can't get it out of my head ever since we sang it in Church yesterday.

Maybe that's a good thing. It's a reminder of some things God has been teaching me lately.




Here's a portion of the song, written and recorded by Karen Peck and New River:

Finish well
Every day that we are given
Finish well
For the glory of His name
Finish strong
Until the Savior finally calls us home
Give it everything we have
Finish well.

I remembered, as I was thinking about that song, that I had written about this several years ago when I had just finished reading a book by Jean Fleming titled Pursue the Intentional Life. That book caught my eye on my bookshelf yesterday, so I'm thinking of pulling that book off the shelf to read again. 

About finishing well, Fleming has this to say: "I long to see Christ's life formed in me, to live my highest until the Lord calls me home. I want to become the person God had in mind when He created me. I yearn to touch the world for God's glory and advance His kingdom. [It is] my earnest desire to 'number my days that I may gain a heart of wisdom'. (Psalm 90:12)"

Fleming's thoughts mirror my own, and it is in this area that much of my prayer time has been focused recently and that God has been speaking to my heart. I become more aware day by day that I am no longer a young woman. How shall I spend the remaining days allotted to me? Shall I just sit and wait for life to be over? Shall I just waste my days away? Shall I have pity party after pity party?  I think not.

As I'm pondering how to remain useful in this post-stroke season of my life, the Lord has brought several Scriptures to mind. I continue to ponder, and be encouraged by, these passages.

Perhaps they will encourage you as well, no matter what your season of life.

"It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."  (Philippians 2:20-21 ESV)

"So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."  (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV)

How will I - or you - finish well? What will I be doing for the remainder of my days? I don't know.

Perhaps finishing well means continuing to encourage others through the words I write, here on this blog or on Facebook. Perhaps it means writing even more words, perhaps in book form. Perhaps it means continuing to be a student, and a teacher, of God's Word. Perhaps it means developing my skills as a photographer. Perhaps it means mentoring or developing and deepening interpersonal relationships. Perhaps it means baking cookies or cakes. Or visiting with those further along in life's journey than I.


But finishing well is not just about finishing out the remaining days allotted to me. It's about finishing each day well. Numbering each day so as to "gain a heart of wisdom." Living each day for His glory.

Whatever finishing well may look like in my life, my prayer is that, when doors of opportunity are open to me, I will be obedient to walk through. That I will be found faithful. That I will "discipline myself for the purpose of godliness." (1 Timothy 4:7).  That I will finish well.

And that's my prayer for you, too.

"O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds.  and even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come."  (Psalm 71:17-18 NASB)

You can listen to Finish Well by Karen Peck and New River here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ahOPJyKyG8