Updated on February 20, 2014
Are You Lonely?
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)
Loneliness is one of the most difficult aspects of living with chronic illness. Illness so often necessitates isolation, and that is a really hard thing to accept.
As I’ve struggled with isolation this week, this verse keeps echoing in my memory. Jesus sought out lonely places. Other versions of scripture refer to it as “the wilderness.”
I shared this with my family over at Rest Ministries.
We hope you’ll come on over and finish reading there.
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on March 31, 2015
Pregnant with Impatience
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4
When I was pregnant with my second child, my beautiful girl, I was on bedrest for 2 months. My daughter was so excited to greet the world that she decided she didn’t need the 9 months required by other babies to fully develop in the womb. Nope, she figured she only needed 7 months. I and her doctors knew better, however, and so we did everything we could to keep her inside my body for the appropriate amount of time.
In this life of chronic… well, everything… it’s so hard not to feel like my little baby daughter did while she shared my body….
I’m writing over at my friend Kirra’s place today.
Won’t you come over and sit a spell with us?
She’s amazing and I’d love for you to meet her.
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 21, 2014
Sunday Scripture: 2/23/14
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But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.
– Exodus 21:5-6
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Shelly
Updated on February 22, 2014
Recommendation Saturday: Beautiful Joy
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful – Hebrews 10:22-23
Come as you are. Just as I am.
Has there ever been a more beautiful invitation?
A sinner washed clean. A fighter scoring the knockout punch. A beloved realizing their worth.
Is there anything more joyful?
The invitation is for You. You are beloved.
Have you felt the joy?
Will you revel in it? Will you spread it? Will you extend the offer to others?
It’s not really the kind of joy you can hold inside, is it?
Broken and Beautiful–These Women Publicly Profess their Faith! from gemstone-media on GodTube.
We are best when we are community.
I would love to share in some of that community
right here from my website.
You can join in, too!
Share a post from your own blog and then simply click on the
“Add your link” button below and enter your blog information.
Then, please grab my Recommendation Saturday button
below, and place it on your website or post,
so that others can find their way to our little Saturday community!
You can also Tweet your participation with the hashtag
#recommendsat
so that we can all find each other on Twitter!
You may also join in by leaving a comment.
The most important part of our community
is spreading our hope and love to others
by visiting some of the other inspirational sites linked up and leaving comments there.
Heart Hugs, Shelly <3
Loading InLinkz ...If you have been helped by this post and think it could be helpful to someone you know, please share this post on the social network of your choice for me.
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 9, 2014
Point the Way
But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4:5
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Do you ever feel like you’re doing it all wrong?
Boy, I do! In fact, most days I’m dead certain of it. The other days, I have that nagging suspicion.
I fumble, I fail, I mess things up completely.
That’s why I’m so very thankful that nothing I do is meant to point to me.
I want others to see that there is a rock to lean on. Maybe that’s why God ensures that I do so much leaning.
I want others to know that there’s a whisper to guide them. Maybe that’s why He makes certain that I do so much listening in the stillness.
It’s true that most days I get it wrong. But I hope that my faith is what others see. Because sickness or health, disability or strength, I am what I always have been… a sinner. In need of a Savior.
He redeemed me. He’ll do the same for you.
If you’ve never let Him in, make today that day. If you’ve fallen, take my hand and climb back to your feet. If you’re on solid ground at the moment, reach out to someone who isn’t.
Lean. Listen. Point the way.
Heavenly Father, we thank You that it’s not up to us. We beg you to cover us with Your great mercy and keep us on the right path. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 9, 2014
Sound of Melody
Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. – Isaiah 51:3
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My first memory of my grandmother is the one that is the clearest. It’s of her rocking and singing one of my younger cousins to sleep. The sound stopped me in my tracks. It was known to me, warm and familiar, though I don’t remember hearing it before. I can still hear it now, in my heart, and it brings tears of longing to my eyes.
The thing about that lullaby? It was nonsense. Just a jumble of “oh-bee-doh” intermingled thoughtlessly with humming. She was saying nothing.
And her voice meant everything.
Sometimes the sound of melody that comes from a loving, familiar voice can be all the comfort we need. Even when it really says nothing, it can mean everything.
Perhaps God’s lullaby to you is a birdsong in the crispness of dawn. Perhaps it’s the buzzing of locust in the dusk of evening. Maybe it’s in the laughter of your children, or the purring of your pet. Wherever you hear Him, I promise you He is singing.
Where do you hear His voice today?
Dear Lord, please tune our ears to hear your melody. We don’t want to miss it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 14, 2014
Be Mine, Eternally
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).
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I love this verse. The New Living Translation actually reads: My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.
I shared about our Eternal Valentine over at my home away from here, Rest Ministries.
Won’t you come over and join us there?
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 14, 2014
Sunday Scripture: 2/16/14
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Those who trust in the Lord
Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
– Psalm 125:1-2
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 22, 2014
Recommendation Saturday: Who’s Shoveling Your Path?
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“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
– Matthew 7:13-14
Why do we follow a path just because it’s there? It’s human nature.
Be careful as you choose your path, Dear One.
Just because it’s worn doesn’t mean it’s going to get you where you want to go.
We are best when we are community.
I would love to share in some of that community
right here from my website.
You can join in, too!
Share a post from your own blog and then simply click on the
“Add your link” button below and enter your blog information.
Then, please grab my Recommendation Saturday button
below, and place it on your website or post,
so that others can find their way to our little Saturday community!
You can also Tweet your participation with the hashtag
#recommendsat
so that we can all find each other on Twitter!
You may also join in by leaving a comment.
The most important part of our community
is spreading our hope and love to others
by visiting some of the other inspirational sites linked up and leaving comments there.
Heart Hugs, Shelly <3
Loading InLinkz ...If you have been helped by this post and think it could be helpful to someone you know, please share this post on the social network of your choice for me.
All you have to do is click one of the buttons below.
May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on February 9, 2014
Slave or Free?
With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. – Ephesians 6:7-8
As I read this verse today, I asked myself a question. Which am I… slave or free? To be perfectly honest, I am a slave to my illness. I am trapped inside this body that I don’t have much control over anymore. I’m a prisoner to pain and sometimes a wheelchair. Yep, put my name down in the “slave” column.
But my spirit, oh, well that’s another matter altogether. My spirit flies free. She laughs in the face of every challenge, because she knows that each challenge has already been met, each battle is already won, and that her chains are gone. My spirit is not a slave. Put her down in the “free” column.
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So which will dictate the way I live my life?
Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Mark 14:38
Dear Lord, strengthen our weak flesh to match our free spirits. Thank You for working supernaturally in our lives to keep us free and dancing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
