HIDE

Do you wish sometimes you could just hide from the world, from life, or from yourself? I do! There is a place that I in vision sometimes when I meditate, it is beautiful. I wish the place existed in real life, and maybe it does somewhere I just haven't found it yet. That would be my hiding place. A place to get away from the hustle and bustle of life.

Unfortunately, even if I was able to find that place and go there, I could never be hidden. I can not hide from myself, my thoughts are always going to be there.  I can never hide from God, He will be in that place before I am, He will know my thoughts before I know them. So, even if I think I am hiding, I never am. God wants to be our hiding place. He wants to protect us and helps us through our troubles and pains. He wants to give us peace in the storms of our life and guide us through the world we live in. I need to learn to put my trust in Him more and let Him be my hiding place, His word my shield.

The Quote:

"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. ~Psalms 119:114
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah ~Psalms 32:7"

The Drawing:

DREAMS

Sometimes, I wonder why people dream. I am talking about the dreams we have when we sleep. Dreams of what the future may hold or daydreams are not usually bad in my book. The dreams we have at night (or whenever we sleep) do they have a purpose? I suppose they are outlets for our sub-conscience, to help us deal with things in our lives whether good or bad.

Quite often I have dreams that are not nightmares as such, they are very discomforting. Other times I have dreams that are like normal life and are "happy". I have had a few nightmares also. I almost always remember portions of my dreams, especially the ones that aren't very good. Those memories tend to haunt me for the next day or so.

I try very hard not to let those bad dreams cloud my day and my thoughts. It is hard. I need to remember that if I hide God's Word in my heart, and meditate on that I should not be plagued with the bad thoughts as much. That is also hard to do, I am trying. This is going to be one of those days it seems. I pray that God will help me look to His Word for comfort from these memories of my dreams last night. I Praise Him because I know He will, if I let Him!

The Quote: This might be a scary thought.

"Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you." ~Marsha Norman

The Drawing:

PRAYER

I have been reading about prayer for the past few days. The little booklet I have been reading is discussing the "Lord's Prayer" or the Lord's Model Prayer. The writer brought out that Jesus never could have prayed that prayer himself because He was sinless and would not had to have ask for forgiveness from the Father. I had never thought of that before.

Not to long ago I taught a Children's Church lesson on prayer. The children drew their hand on a piece of paper and wrote some scriptures and what they were supposed to pray for on each of their fingers. It basically went with the model prayer Jesus taught His disciples. Sometimes I forget this as I am praying.

I know that God knows all the desires of my heart, even still He wants to have a conversation with me. He wants to hear it put in my own words. He wants to be part of my daily walk. Prayer without ceasing is what He wants. I can't be on my knees all the time, I can have an open dialog with my Father. I need to get better at doing this. I wish I could find the exact quote from the book "Same Kind of Different as Me." It was something to the effect that if you are angry at God for taking something you loved, go ahead and tell Him, because He already knows anyway. And that is so true, He wants to hear it from your heart! Then He can help you deal with the pain and hurt you feel. It doesn't have to be when you are angry either, if you are full of Joy tell Him, Praise Him.

The Quote:

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."~Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Drawing:

FLUTTER

Strange word I know but that was what my heart was doing most of the evening yesterday. I guess that is what it is called. At times it felt like I had just ran around the block. I don't have those feels as much anymore, not like I did right after my 1st heart attack, and I tell you it is an unwelcome feeling.

I know that God has control of all things in my life, even if I don't think so. He knows what is happening and has allowed it to happen for reasons. A lot of what I was and am feeling with regard to my heart has to do with stress, anxiety, and worry. Things I know I should not do.

Yesterday, evening I did something that I needed to do, even though it was hard. I went to visit some people in the nursing home. I have not been to a nursing home since my Granny was in one, over 30 years ago. So, yesterday was hard and I think the stress of that time may have had a bit to do with the heart fluttering, skipping, or racing I was having. I had a nice time visiting with the people who I visited, the problem is I wish that no one ever had to be in a place like that. It hurts my heart to think about it. I have to remember that at least they are being "cared" for and maybe God will give me the courage to to go back and visit them again. I know that is what they would like. Lord, help me to show your mercy and love by swallowing my fear and uneasiness about visiting people who really need encouragement.

The Quote:

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think its forever.” ~ Dr. Carl Sagan

The Drawing:

FORCE

May the force be with you! OK, today it is not with me. Here it is noon and I am forcing myself to come up with a word that has some meaning. Creativity and meaning can not be forced. I started this blog project and I am going to finish it, hopefully with few hiccups like this along the way.

Force is the strength, energy, power, or intensity exerted upon an object. It is also considered the physical power or strength of a living being. I would go one step further and say it is the mental and spiritual power and strength of a living being. I can do nothing without my force, GOD, and I can do all things through Him. There is nothing that I can not accomplish if I make sure to let God be the instigator of it, or the driving Force.

So, I forced myself to write this and in doing so I reminded myself that I can do anything! All I have to do is let God do it through me! Then the FORCE is with me!

The Quote:

"For my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter. You must feel the force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes, even between the land and the ship.~ Yoda

The Drawing:

Bonus:

CAREFUL

Careful is one of those words that can be used in good or bad ways. We can be careful when crossing a street, or chopping vegetables. When need to be careful when we are doing things that have the potential to be dangerous. Exercising care in those areas will help keep us safe.

Being full of care or careful by worrying about what might happen is not good. God wants us to put our trust in Him. To allow Him to guide our paths. We have every right to ask God for things and He will answer those requests in the way they need to be handled. We have to not worry about what will or won't happen. We need to thank Him for the answers to our prayers and desires before we know the outcome. God knows how it all will work out, He sees the BIG picture. We can only see the here and now, worrying over what the future will bring is silliness.

I have problems with this all the time, I worry what someone thinks about me, what will happen next, or about other things I really can not control. I need to put my faith and trust in God, and pray that He will let things happen the way He wants them to happen, all the while giving me the strength to handle every situation He puts before me. Lord, Help me be a person who is not Careful (a worrier).

The Quote

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." ~Philippians 4:6

The Drawing:

LIFE

Life is not fair. It is not always what we want it to be. Life happens and as it happens we learn or choose not to learn from it. Life still continues on.

In life sometimes looking at the past events will help us in the present and future. If we dwell in the past we are missing the present, and will not have lessons or memories to look back on in the future. It is ok to dream of what Life will be like in the future, again if we dwell there in dreams we are missing all life has to offer in the here and now.

I admit I sometimes find it hard not to look at the past. I often see past failures and successes come up in my present life. I try to use those events as lessons to make my life better here and now. I dream of the future and what might be in store, I don't live in a dream world. Life will move right along, the future will be what I make of it one day at a time. I will take this present, into my future, and use it to guide my life. Life is a wonderful mystery, it will teach us as no other teacher can, if only we will listen.

The Quote:

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." ~Robert Frost

The Drawing: