Tuesday, May 17, 2011

"Two Ways to 'Roll' "

What a blessing it truly is to have a woodstove in our basement! All throughout the cool/cold months of the year, we use the stove and our house stays toasty warm. This year, in addition to burning wood, we have also used logs made of newspaper to help with the heating. Gladly, each week we collect newspapers from our family and friends. The device we use to make the logs is a simple machine with a hand crank. It is a two "man" operation, and Bill and I enjoy doing this project together. (I feed the paper into the machine and Bill uses the crank to roll the paper into logs.)

One morning recently, I was considering what we would be doing on that particular day. There were several things going on in our lives, (some a bit stressful), but I knew that one activity we wanted to do was to roll some paper logs. At that very moment, the following verse came to mind:

"Commit your way to the Lord,..." Psalm 37:5a

I have known this verse for a long time and do often think of it, but today it seemed I was being lead to take a closer look at that portion of the verse, something I had never done before. I found it quite interesting that it means to "roll" your way to the Lord. The Amplified version reads this way, "Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him],..."

I believe that not only was God encouraging me to commit my whole day to Him, but He also revealed to me the meaning of the word, "commit" in that verse,--"roll." And so, I "roll" my way (my cares) to the Lord and I "roll" newspaper logs. One leads to inner peace and the other leads to physical warmth. (Both from the Lord.)

Thank you, Father, for this delightful revelation and message from You! Thank you for showing Yourself to me in this way and bringing encouragement to my life through Your Word! Amen.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

My Mother's Day Prayer

Father God,
Thank you for my children. They are truly wonderful gifts from You! Thank you for Your help throughout the years to raise them. I have been far from a perfect mom and have made many mistakes, but I thank you for your forgiveness and for Your hand upon my children throughout the years. You answered my prayers for their salvation, for a Christ-following spouse, and that they would walk with You and be Your servants. Thank you for providing them with jobs and homes, and for the blessings of children of their own. Thank you for all of the ways you help them and favor them every day. Continue the work You have begun according to Your will not because I deserve to have my prayers answered, but because of Your incredible love, abundantly rich in grace and mercy. All praise, honor and glory be Yours, O Lord, now and forevermore.
Amen.