The Love of God = Not Something New

I continue to stand amazed in the presence of the tidal wave force of the Love of God

"The Love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair, bowed down with care. God gave His Son to win. His erring child, He reconciled and pardoned from His sin.

Oh Love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. It shall forever more endure, the saint's and angel's song.

When hoary (old, ancient) times shall pass away, and earthly thrones and kingdoms fall. When men who here, refuse to pray on rocks and hills and mountains call. God's love so sure, shall still endure. All measureless and strong. Redeeming grace to Adam's race, the saints and angel's song.

Oh Love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. It shall forever more endure, the saint's and angel's song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were skies of parchment made. Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above, could drain the ocean dry. Nor could scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

O Love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. It shall forever more endure, the saint's and angel's song."

His Love is nothing new BUT it continues to make us new each and every day!!!

Seeing a New Grandson and a New Country

We returned late last night from our trip to The Netherlands to meet in person our newest grandson and to reunite with his parents and brother. This was the very first time for both Steve and I to be in this country. We fell in love with our new grandson and strengthened our bonds with his brother who is now 3 and our daughter and her husband. It was lovely to visit and become familiar with the way that they live life in this adorable little country.

We went for bike rides and lots of walking. We played with the boys and sat up late talking with their parents. We even visited another new country and city for a few hours one day. Took the train for 4 hours there and back. We certainly want to go back to Paris to spend more time there. Having only 6 hours to spend is not even close to having enough time there. We went to the Eiffel Tower and to The Louvre, which is a humongous art and history museum. I wish I would have been able to track how many steps, stairs and miles we walked that day.  We returned to their place around midnight, exhausted and realizing once again that Steve and I are not very fit - everything hurt from head to toe.

I love visiting other countries that have rich histories. I love their rich architectures and layers of centuries of cultures.
But most of all - I love being with my kids and grandsons. That is all for now. We returned home late last night after 21 hours of traveling and immediately fell into a deep sleep until about 3am when jet lag kicked in and now we catching up with all our mail and messages. Naps will come in handy this afternoon.

It's HIS not Mine!

This morning with just a hint of color for a sunrise - it didn't last long at all with the cloudy, rainy skies.
Reading "If" book this morning and this stopped me in my tracks.

"And if you don't despise the day of small beginnings, the God who began a good work will carry it to completion. Why? Because it's not your vision; it's His. It's not your business; it's His. It's not your job; it's His. It's not your cause; it's His.  Someone may have hired you to do your job, but make no mistake about it, they didn't call you. Only God can call us. You may have been elected to your position, but make no mistake about it, your constituents didn't call you; God did. No matter where you work or what you do, you are called by God. Your job is  your sermon. Your colleagues are your congregation. That sense of calling turns Monday morning into ' what if'. " - Mark Batterson

So the faint colors of sunrise this morning is the small beginnings of today's adventures.
Today, I go into the lunch room and push around the garbage can and clean up after children with a renewed perspective.  Pushing around trash cans are small beginnings to grand adventures!

"Sometimes the greatest sermon is dong a good job at a bad job or doing a thankless job with a grateful heart."

A Sunrise, A Few Good Books and a New Resolve

The sunrise this morning was intoxicating!  I couldn't stop watching it. So full of colors and majesty and glory! It was breathtaking.  It was another promise of a new day full of grace and mercy and adventure.

I am reading two books right now that have been convicting, challenging, encouraging and calling my spirit to rise up within me. They are If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities by Mark Batterson. And the one I just started this morning is The Deborah Anointing, Embracing the Call to be a Woman of Wisdom and Discernment by Michelle McClain-Walters.

I am amazed how quickly and subtly fear creeps in and all of a sudden I find myself hiding in the corner and I wonder how in the world I got there. I am not one to be easily intimidated but I allowed a betrayal of confidence and untruths to intimidate me and cause me to back away from the destiny and calling and passion God has placed in me. So I served fear notice that it was done and I wasn't going to allow the smallness of some people to quiet me and cause me to feel small and insignificant. I am Woman - hear me roar!!!  LOL

I am awake and alert now and listening!  I know that when my heart is leaning in to the Heart of the Father - I will be ready to move. I will be hearing His heart beat and know when the timing is right.

But for now.....I help to usher in the Kingdom of Love into the Goshen School System. Wherever I put my feet - the Kingdom will be brought.

The Language of Love

There are so many ways in which Steve and I are on the extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. One of those many ways is in our language of love.

I interpret how much anyone loves me by them spending time with me, time thinking of me, time telling me nice things - basically TIME!  And the other way is WORDS - I thrive on recognition, encouragement, noticing, validation - all to do with words.

Steve on the other hand is all about SERVICE - doing nice things, going the extra mile, making things, doing chores - basically anything that requires acts of service.

In our marriage it has been rocky to try and learn each other's love language and then be willing to recognize them and accept them and then to doing something about it.

I would tend to feel insecure about the way he feels about me because he doesn't tell me how nice I look, or how much he loves, or why he loves me or............or........

He would get irritated because I wouldn't make him dinner, or mow the yard, or take out the garbage or notice when he's had a hard day and do something nice for him.

So you can see the hamster wheel begin to turn and for a number of years - it was not pretty.

We have learned to communicate, to listen, and to be loving enough to go out of our comfort zones to learn how to communicate love in the language of the other. It's very freeing to lay down my right to my way of love and do what isn't natural for me. And then it's really fun to realize that when I do that - I then am blessed by the way he lays down his rights and communicates love to me in my way.

I am also recognizing being the recipient of the blessing of Steve's love language is really cool.  I try to not take advantage of it.

But here is a tangible way in which he expresses his love for me.

I wanted a work bench and space to do my hobbies in the garage and today, his day off work - this is what he did for me.  I then showered him with praise and words of gratitude and he told me to stop gushing....hahaha  So we're learning how to accept and admire and receive each other's languages of love.

It's the Little Things

I began my new job with Goshen Schools being the Cafeteria Sub for all the schools this week. I am at the Middle School for the last 3 days and then all of next week. Mainly, I clean tables, monitor the dining room, push trash cans around, smile at the kids, say hello, say a little something to them, make eye contact, etc.

Yesterday morning I was journaling and thinking about my new job and was tempted to think "what am I doing?"  I came from being a Kitchen Administrator with all the responsibilities to pushing around trash cans for the kids to throw their trash into. But as soon as that thought crossed my mind, the next thought came that "whatever my hand finds to do, to do it with all my might."  That my folks is where the rubber meets the road - at least for me.  I then remembered the past couple of days where some of the kids thanked me as they threw their trash in the can that I was offering. Wednesday, one boy called me over and said that I looked like "Little Debbie" - not sure if that's a compliment or not but I took it as such; and yesterday, he kept calling me over to his table because he wanted to say hi to Little Debbie.....hahaha

Yesterday, I stopped by one young lady and remarked about how long her hair was and asked her if she's grown it since she was little. She thanked me for noticing. I stopped by another young lady who was sketching a drawing from looking at a photo and I remarked on how incredibly talented she is. Another young man, I had to ask him to please settle down. He acquiesced and gave me a nod. A young lady came running up to me and hugged me hugely because she remembered me from The Window. At the end of one table, sat 2 girls and as I bent to pick up something off the floor - I startled one of them. I apologized and then I (in my own unique way) told them to never startle me because I might pee my pants - oh that sent them into gales of laughter. I know they will never forget this old lunch lady.

Am I making a huge difference - I have no idea. But as I push around those trash cans, I know that I am making my Father proud as notice the little things in these precious young men and women. My prayer is that whatever school I find myself in - that I would notice the little things and recognize the beauty of Almighty God in each nuance and "thank you" and the color of their eyes.

For now, this is the season where God has me and I will do everything in my power to make it an adventure and bring glory to my Father who is guiding my every step.