In A Field

When I was younger, shorter, and blonder, I spent a great deal of time in a field that bordered our land.  It sat on the top of a hill, sloped slightly and gave way to the village below.  There was a well-worn, slanting, and crooked path up the middle.  The view from the top took in about as much that was exciting about the land of Goshen.  A lake.  Fields with cattle and sheep.  Our school, the store, the ball field, my house.  And the road that could take you away.  I felt as though I was as far from home as I could be while still being close enough to hear and see my father calling for me on the back doorstep.  This was my safe place.   It was m y retreat when the weight of the world was too much and I could no longer keep it in.  I would walk to the top and sit in the cool grass, watching as my world kept going.  I could step out of things fo...

  My silence has invaded more than just the blank posts that I've tried to compose.  I've been sitting in a quiet rebellion, keeping my thoughts to myself.  Hesitant to speak them into being, afraid I'd not be able to stop the flow of words.  Frustration, disappointment, confusion, uncertainty.  It was somehow easier to just remain silent.  But the silence hasn't been enough.  It never is.  I could feel my white flag being raised over the last few weeks.  A slow unfurling.  Like a realization.  My fight was only hurting one.  Me.   I have had a hard time breaking into my inner sanctum, that quiet place that is mine and mine alone.  I had wandered from there, not being intentional to come aside and stop.  To stop and take time with the One who had inspired this place to begin with.  Truthfully, I've been...

I am... One for whom the Lord throws a party. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one.  Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?  When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, 'Celebrate with me!  I've found my lost sheep!'  Count on it- there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in need of no rescue. The story of the Lost Coin  Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one.  Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it?  And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: 'Celebrate with me!  I found my lost coin!'  Count on it- that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." L...

I am... Filled with the "fullness of God". May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:19

I am... One over whom the Lord rejoices, sings and claps. For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17

Music is playing quietly while I take a few moments to pause, to sit, to listen.  I close my eyes.  The field comes into focus.  I am sitting on a park bench.  The wind is softly blowing. I sense Your nearness.    You sit down beside me, placing one arm around my shoulders.  Your hand, nail-scarred, covers mine.  I put my full weight into You and lay my head on Your arm.  Kissing my head, You begin to softly whisper.   You tell me Who I belong to and all the wonderful things You know about me. "You are my beloved child...my dear friend...I rejoice over you... you fulfill my joy...I will never leave you..."    

I am... One of God's precious works of art. For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

I am... One who will NEVER be abandoned. "Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:  I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

I am ... United with Christ, "one spirit" with Christ. But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. 1 Corinthians 6:17

I am.... Christ's dear friend. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves.  Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.  John 15:15

I am... Declared righteous, holy and blameless. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  Ephesians 1:4* Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 *Scripture is taken from the New Living Translation.

Degrassi's Voula getting ready for her first Jr. High dance Sorting through old pictures, yearbooks, and keepsakes, I try to eliminate useless clutter.  I pick up a stack of pictures from my school days, one for every year.  Surprisingly, one is missing.  Grade 7.  All that I have is the class picture, a tiny frame of myself.  The picture is so small I'm not even sure it's me.  I walk into the bright overhead light and squint with my nearly 40 year old eyes, peering at a 13 year old me.  Hair cut into a strawberry blond bob, a smiling brace-face.  I'm reminded of my first experience with imaginative prayer.  I had been listening to a sermon series  Undivided .  One sermon ended with an exercise where you imagined yourself sitting at a small, round, child's table.  Beside you on one side is an empty chair, on the other a bag full of memories symbolized by snapshots or mementos. ...