The Emptying of Motherhood: Alone?

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The Emptying of Motherhood: Alone?

Motherhood is filled with emptyings -- from the emptying of the womb in childbirth to the emptying of self in child-raising to the emptying of the nest, the ultimate goal. The stripping is hard, every step along the way. . . .

For a dear sister of mine, my mama-sister Blondezena, this is a hard one. She has just launched her “baby boy” Michael into military service. Thank you, Michael … but also thank you, Blonde, for YOUR service. May this post be a comfort to you and to all those mamas who are hurting in what could be a very hard time in their mothering.

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Knowing the God who LOVES you and Who is THERE Wherever You Are

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Knowing the God who LOVES you and Who is THERE Wherever You Are

… the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” Ezekiel 48:35

Early one recent morning, John was up, dressed, and on his regular Tuesday morning ZOOM call with his guys’ Bible study group. I was in the kitchen pouring my morning coffee into my favorite mug, ready to begin my own personal devotions and Bible study.

All of a sudden, I heard banging and crashing coming from John’s office….

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Knowing the God Who LOVES You and MEETS You in the Secret Place

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Knowing the God Who LOVES You and MEETS You in the Secret Place

Where do you go to commune with God?

Do you go to a chapel or a church? to a favorite place near a stream, at a mountain retreat, or on a beach? Do you go to a "prayer closet," a special place in your own home?

… Can I tell you about how I began to learn about this place of communion ... this “deep place where nobody goes* or can go? For me it was at a very dark time in our family.

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Knowing the God Who Made You and LOVES You. Stop self-rejecting!

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Knowing the God Who Made You and LOVES You. Stop self-rejecting!

The imago Dei [image of God] is that in man
which constitutes him as him-whom-God-loves. John Piper

There is a God Who is the sovereign Creator of all things.

And this sovereign, creator God LOVES His creation.

And who can blame Him, especially this time of year with the flowers and trees blooming and the birds singing, the sun shining and poof-y clouds accenting a gloriously blue sky.

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Knowing the God Who LOVES You

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Knowing the God Who LOVES You

Did you know. . .

  • the most important thing about you is what you think about God?

  • the next most important thing about you is what you believe He thinks about you?

These are basic to who you think YOU are. And they will also influence how you think and live your life.

And in reality, what you believe about God and yourself in relationship to Him are based either on God’s truth or on lies instigated by the enemy of your soul. Those lies are most often perpetrated by significant people in your life who have been believing and living by these same lies for themselves — parents, family members, friends and “enemies,” the “culture,” and even religious leaders.

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God LOVES Me! What if I Said it Differently?

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God LOVES Me! What if I Said it Differently?

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
1 John 4:16a NLT

I have an adorable three year old granddaughter named Claire. She lights up my life. The sad part though is that she lives miles away, so I don’t get to see her very often, certainly not as often as I would like (as in “every day”)! When I do get to visit with her, we like to walk together, holding hands and chatting about all kinds of things along their street — birds, houses, street signs, holiday decorations — you get the idea.

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Biking and the Bible -- A Story of Faith

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Biking and the Bible -- A Story of Faith

Today I have the absolute delight to introduce you to one of my favorite people in the whole world, Theo Hale, my current “Guest Branch.”

I met Theo a couple years ago at our grandson’s basketball game in Kettering. As I observed Theo that day in the bleachers of the gym, I came to realize that this is a special young man. EVERYONE seemed to know and love Theo. And I could see why as I got to know him. Theo is friendly, kind, helpful, interested and interesting. There is never a boring conversation when you are talking with my friend Theo.

It didn’t take me long to discover that Theo loves bikes and trains and people. And he travels many miles by bike to spend time with people and even to view trains and other sights.

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Holy Week: 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001

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Holy Week: 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001

A few years ago, I came across an inspiring cartoon in my "Easter" file (See enlarged image below).  I think my husband John, who had been the family reader of the Sunday funnies in years gone by, cut it out and gave it to me back in April 2001.  So there in my file, this little treasure has been tucked away for all these years.

For those of you who have been following the Lenten Meditations on a branch in the Vine, this piece serves as a fitting climax during Holy Week.

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Reunion

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Reunion

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

So goes a traditional nighttime prayer taught by American moms to their children for generations. It may seem odd to us today that there would be the mention of death in a child's prayer.  But scientists say that sleep is the closest we come to death while still alive.  The Greeks even had a proverb,

Sleep and death are brothers.

However, in the first century, Jewish moms taught their children a different bedtime prayer...quoting Psalm 31:

Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Completion

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Completion

Tetelestai!* It is finished! The death of Christ on the Cross is the HINGE of human history...and nowbefore He breathes His last breath... a cry of victory,It is finished!

What's finished? It must be something BIG,...look at what happened when Jesus died:

At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.

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St Patrick's Prayer for our COVID Quarantine and All our Sojourning on this Earth

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St Patrick's Prayer for our COVID Quarantine and All our Sojourning on this Earth

First posted last year on March 17, 2020…still applicable today, a year later—
St PATRICK’S DAY has snuck up on me this year — so much stress and angst and change and distress because of the COVID-19 outbreak in the world and now in our beloved United States. But I realized that today more than ever we need the beautiful truths expressed in what is traditionally known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Personal Need

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Personal Need

Thirst is a primal need in all of us humans...more demanding even than hunger!  We can go quite awhile without eating, but a very short time without drinking. Jesus on the Cross had refrained up to this point from satisfying His thirst.  Instead He drank the Father's cup to the very last drop! He became sin for us...the Sinless One!  Jesus took our place, and the Father turned His back.  The punishment for sin had been accomplished...spiritual separation from God....for US!

Now in fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus expresses His own physical need:

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. John 19:28-29 ESV

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God LOVES Me! What if I Said it Differently?

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God LOVES Me! What if I Said it Differently?

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
1 John 4:16a NLT

I have an adorable three year old granddaughter named Claire. She lights up my life. The sad part though is that she lives miles away, so I don’t get to see her very often, certainly not as often as I would like (as in “every day”)! When I do get to visit with her, we like to walk together, holding hands and chatting about all kinds of things along their street — birds, houses, street signs, holiday decorations — you get the idea.

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Abandonment

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Abandonment

Abandoned!  Left on the "doorstep of Life"...but with no Rescuer in sight! What happens next in the unfolding drama of the crucifixion of our Lord is incomprehensible!

It's an abandonment so profoundly mysterious that it boggles the mind...but ravishes the believing heart! Let's watch it unfold...

It is noon. By this time, Jesus has already forgiven ... 

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