Saturday, March 11

Happy are those who trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:4a, Good News Bible

After my Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) returned last Spring (2016), I felt depressed and anxious.  Worried about each little thing.  Then, one day it dawned on me something was missing.  I wasn’t trying to be positive.  I feel better when I am not weighted down with worry.  

So, I turned to what I love best: reading Spiritual, uplifting books and writing poetry and plays. I began reading Jesus Calling* again.  Some points I read were:

• Trust is a staff you can lean on when you journey uphill with me.  Lean on, trust in me consistently and the staff will bear as much of your weight as you need. (January 22)
• Hope will get you through.  “Hope is a Golden cord connecting you to Heaven.  The more you cling, the more I bear the weight of your burdens.”  (Jan 8)

Inspired by these words I rewrote the following “poem” (Which I never let anyone read before)

Hope

Hope is a thing you can’t live without

Sometimes it’s cold and grey

Like a slice of sunlight on a cold day

And I know, things will get better

With God’s help.

And they do.

In His way.  

M. Garza 2016

2017 is going to be my year, and even if it isn’t, I know I will be all right.  Happy are those who trust in the Lord.

Dear God, help me to trust in you when things are dark and grey as I trust in you when things are light.  Let me lean on your staff.  Amen

Maggie Garza

1) Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling.  Nashville, INT. Thomas Nelson, C 2004

Friday, March 10

 This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

ANOTHER DAY

Another day to know the love

Of family and friends.

Another day to make amends

Before life's journey ends.

Another day to realize

The joy that life can be.

Another day to thank the Lord

For blessings given me.

by Catherine Janseen Irwin

Gloria LaDue, 1996

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Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.

Luke 11:1b

Jesus taught the disciples the Lord's Prayer, and many of us learned these words from early childhood. We also pray as the Spirit leads us. When we pray, we confess our faith and lift up our concerns, remembering that:  

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening; We meet challenges daily:  Health problems, financial problems, family problems, miscellaneous concerns regarding health, home, transportation, employment, civic affairs.  

Does Jesus care about these things?  The old hymn reminds us that  "His heart is touched by my grief . . I  know my Saviour cares."

What a blessing it is, when we pray, to know that God hears, Jesus prays with us, and the Holy Spirit guides us according to our requests and needs.  

Thanks be to God.

Ginnie Spurr

Thursday, March 9

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

Matthew 7:7

My work requires frequent air travel.  Flying is a high-tech endeavor.  Commercial aircraft are complex machines guided by sensors and backup systems that boggle the mind. The process of arrival and departure is a carefully coordinated series of steps that rely on scanners, detectors, beepers and alarms.  

With all that is high tech in the flying experience, I am always surprised by one small step at the end of each journey that remains low tech.  At the end of the flight when the jet bridge has been extended and the passengers gather in the aisles awaiting their escape, the flight steward stands poised at the door awaiting an “all clear” signal before opening the door.

Finally, the signal arrives.  It is not a radio signal, scanner or flashing light.  There are no special sensors indicating that it is safe to open the door. The signal is a simple knock on the outside of the plane door by the gate agent.  The steward flings the door open and the gate agent and steward greet one another with a smile and words of welcome. Apparently, no technology improves upon this simple human exchange. Knock and the door will be opened for you.

In the busyness of life, it is hard to remember that God wants this kind of simple, direct connection with me. Today’s scripture reminds me of this connection.

I have countless books on prayer. A daily email arrives in my inbox with a scripture reading and a prayer. A meditation app on my iPhone provides a beautiful image and timer to support my prayer practice. At the end of the day, none of these things matter in my relationship with God. What God desires from me is simple personal connection. An ongoing conversation in which I share the contents of my heart with God and then sit quietly, listening for God’s return knock at the door of my soul. “I am here. Open the door and let me in.”

Ever present God, help me remember that the simple yearning of my heart is enough for you. Help me peel away the layers of stuff that get in the way of our simple connection.

Susan Beaumont

Wednesday, March 8

 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3: 16

You have all seen the cartoon of a man wearing a sandwich board on which is written: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand”

Of course it is. It always has been and it always will be. It was here at creation; throughout the Sojourns of the Hebrews; at the birth of Jesus; and at his death and resurrection.

During this reflective period of Lent, we can feel a little closer to God's Kingdom by trying to understand more clearly what he wants us to do, and by asking that he give us the strength to do it. We struggle to love more deeply and without reservation as Jesus taught us; to draw nearer to Him that He may draw nearer to us.

We have such a perfect example of love in Jesus' life, dying and resurrection that we need only to repeat John 3:16, which we all learned as children, to know to what perfection we are striving in our participation in the realm of God.

Helen Wunch, 1996

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If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:1-5

Heavenly Father, hear my prayer that this world's mankind can free itself of greed, destruction, violence, and cruel inhumanity. Help us to be the Christian people we profess to be - compassionate, understanding, tolerant, loving, sharing, and caring. Amen.

Vera Harkin, 1996

Tuesday, March 7

 For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, it will sprout again. And its shoots will not fail.

 Job 14:7

As I look out the frosted window at the frozen backyard on this January morning with a temperature of 2 degrees, my attention is immediately drawn to the many branches of the trees silhouetted against the clear blue sky. There seem to be hundreds, and I know there are just as many roots beneath the snow covered ground. Just waiting ... waiting for the warmth of Spring when they will burst forth and bloom again.

We had an overgrown honeysuckle bush which we trimmed down to within two feet of the ground. It couldn't bloom, and the weight of many overgrown branches had caused severe damage. Within weeks after the pruning it just took off and new healthy growth appeared. Now I look at it all frozen and try to imagine it when with the sun's warmth in Spring it will bloom.

Having been transferred 15 times within 35 years of marriage I, too, often felt "cut down.” Just when I would get my sons settled in a new school, new community, new church, we would move again. It didn't seem like we had time to "put down roots.” Combined with all the stress incurred with these moves, life continued on constantly presenting us with new problems, situations and choices. So many changes. I often would look “out the window” to gain some perspective after praying for maybe a "sign.” And always there would be a tree. Once a tree was used for a terrible purpose, the Crucifixion of Jesus. Some say it was a dogwood, and if you look at the blossoms closely, you can see why.

I hope that my faith has deep, deep roots which will keep growing so that I may bloom and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord, so that if I believe in him, I will have everlasting life.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

Wilma Sommer, 1996

Monday, March 6

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  

Ephesians 4:2

A new chapter will begin in my life soon… our son will attend college this fall. Acceptance letters that, in my day, used to come by “snail mail” now drop into his email account… only for him to see. As a parent, I don’t always know if that “YES” from the school he really hopes to attend has been received, unless he chooses to share the news.

Countless others of you have gone down this road and share wonderful stories of your adult children and how they have found a path that suits them. I also know that God has gone before me as I embark on this journey of one less person in the house day in and day out… How have we done raising this young man? God has entrusted him to us for these last 18 years … how do I know that we have done a good job? I think he has been raised to be considerate, helpful, compassionate, polite, smart and strong ~ is that enough?

The world is full of people who can’t get enough money, reach the highest level on the company ladder, or own a big house filled with worldly possessions. Are these accomplishments really noteworthy if those around you have been neglected? I hope he has learned to be humble. “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3

Thank you for sharing your stories with me to reassure me that a new “normal” will emerge as this young adult ventures into the world. God, I know, will watch over him and guide his decisions… God has helped me these last 18 years, and now, for the most part, I turn this young man back over to God and pray that the decisions to be made will be a reflection of how he’s been raised.

Thank you, Lord, for teaching us humility, trust and compassion, just to name a few. Help each of us to continue to practice these gifts in our everyday life, through good times and challenging times. Amen

Stephanie Kummer

First Sunday, March 5

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:27

In January, my sister said “yes” to the dress. She tried on a number of beautiful wedding gowns, and narrowed it down to two options. For hours she couldn’t decide between the two. She’d switch in and out of them, walk around in front of the mirrors, text friends and family members for input and advice. It turned out that neither of them was the right dress. She finally went back to a dress she’d put back for some reason, and when she tried it on again, it was just right. She not only looked beautiful (as she had in all the dresses), but she felt like herself. She felt confident and beautiful just with the way she was.

I think this kind of feeling is what the apostle Paul is talking about when he says that we have clothed ourselves with Christ. Being clothed with Christ is that sense of being fully the amazing, beautiful, wondrous person God created us to be.

We spend our lives trying on different “clothes,” different identities and ways we want people to see us. We clothe ourselves with friends, jobs, possessions, sports teams, colleges. We put on appearances of happiness, importance, achievement. But sometimes we walk through our lives and look in the mirror and realize that, while we may look good, while our appearance might be attractive, it just isn’t me. There is just something that is not quite right. We may not even be able to name exactly what it is. But these clothes do not make us feel confident and beautiful just the way we are.

So perhaps Lent is as good a time as any to try going back again and clothing ourselves with Christ. The Lenten season invites us to take off all those other trappings and remember our baptismal identity as beloved children of a gracious God. And in doing this, we can walk through our lives, and look at ourselves in the mirror and see reflected there nothing short of the image of God. And when we see this, all we can say is, “yes.”

Loving God, you created each of us uniquely in your image and you love us endlessly. Help us to clothe ourselves in Christ so that we may see your beauty and wonder reflected in us and in our lives. Amen.

 Rev. Amy Morgan