There is no greater warrior
than a mother protecting her child.
It started out like any conversation. She was walking her dog, Mia, and Bert and I were doing some pre-spring gardening in our front yard. There's a "For Sale" sign on their home, and it won't be long until these special neighbors move back east. After all, both of their daughters are now there, one in college and the other starting graduate school.
Moving is a sentimental experience for most of us. You can pack up all your "stuff," but homes hold precious memories, dreams that came true and those that didn't.
The day before she had just heard her oldest daughter play her piano in their home for the very last time.
She talked about this funny feeling she had been having, almost a grief had taken over her heart. She mentioned feeling sentimental about everything, and she voiced feeling confused about the intensity of her emotions. Her eyes watered up, tears at the surface as she talked about her girls growing up and leaving home.
I knew exactly how she felt.
No one can explain it. Unless you have been there,
and had your children leave home, you can't get
the deep range of emotion you feel.
Happy and elated for their goals and success.
Sad to the core of your being that life is changing in ways that you can never quite understand.
While you will always be their Mama, and love them with your whole heart, part of your job of raising them up is completed.
Yet, when most jobs are over, you might get a certificate or reminder of service. Not this one.
As I saw our dear neighbor's tears forming, I remembered how many tears I have cried over our precious girls. Tears of joy, tears of laughter, tears of distress, tears of frustration, and tears of grief.
What a complete and total honor it has been to be their Mama all these years.
Yet I remember so well when they both went off to college, became teachers, got married, had their own homes and their own precious children.
It seemed like in a blink that part of raising them and going to every activity imaginable...it was gone.
Now we go as a cheering crew for our grandchildren's activities. Pure JOY!
So as our neighbor's eyes welled up with tears as she talked about her daughters and how fiercely protective she is of them, I knew.
My heart lurched as I heard her talk... reminiscing at my own days gone by.
Like so many Mamas, I have been there. I have cried those same goodbye tears.
I love being a Mama. Then and now.
And I wouldn't trade a moment of it, not one.
God Bless!
Love, Linda
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
An Important Reminder...
God Bless
The Whole World,
No Exceptions!
It's as if the pillow spoke to me. We were at Mel's
Nursery and as I circled around I couldn't forget the message I read. It seemed as if God had put that message there, on that pillow, just for me.
I badly need the reminder.
At the time I was struggling with the behavior of
a young man who had hurt our family, his behavior
almost unspeakable. I knew it was God's job to judge, not mine. It didn't matter. My heart was full of hurt and resentment.
I didn't need a pillow, just any pillow, but perhaps
this pillow would act as a reminder of an important life-lesson. Its message might jog my heart when it started to harden toward people who had hurt my loved ones.
I bought that pillow and it is staring at me right this very minute.
Good thing. It's message is straight and clear...
God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions!
That's right... NO exceptions! No one is left out of being blessed by God!!
My word for 2016 is "light." That word has so many meanings and reminders for me.
Jesus is the light of the world!
I want to let my little light shine!
Let the light come in to scare away the darkness!
My little light can't really shine if my heart has resentment in it. That's just how it is.
My human heart, when I turn to God, reminds me to "love one another as I have loved you." It reminds me that God is blessing the whole world, no exceptions.
One of the things I love the most about Lent is that it helps me to get back on track. God asks me to look at my own heart and to let Him in, fully. Into every inch, every crevice.
He reminds me that there are no exceptions to His love and forgiveness and there should be no exceptions to mine either.
Tall order for us humans. To love everyone, even those who have hurt us, just like God loves us.
I'm pretty darn sure that the only way that will happen is because of God's grace and endless patience with me.
And I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me with a love that is endless and not dependent on
me perfectly getting all of His lessons for my life. Yet He is here, with me and with those I struggle with, through it all. Whether we are loving or we mess up.
He never leaves us or forsakes us.
And I am grateful for Lent, as hard as some of the learnings are. Lent is opening my heart so God's light can shine through me.
Just as spring is coming to Spokane, and flowers are beginning to bud and blossom, there can be a new beginning and light in my heart.
God is not done with me yet, and I am grateful.
God Bless!
Love, Linda
The Whole World,
No Exceptions!
It's as if the pillow spoke to me. We were at Mel's
Nursery and as I circled around I couldn't forget the message I read. It seemed as if God had put that message there, on that pillow, just for me.
I badly need the reminder.
At the time I was struggling with the behavior of
a young man who had hurt our family, his behavior
almost unspeakable. I knew it was God's job to judge, not mine. It didn't matter. My heart was full of hurt and resentment.
I didn't need a pillow, just any pillow, but perhaps
this pillow would act as a reminder of an important life-lesson. Its message might jog my heart when it started to harden toward people who had hurt my loved ones.
I bought that pillow and it is staring at me right this very minute.
Good thing. It's message is straight and clear...
God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions!
That's right... NO exceptions! No one is left out of being blessed by God!!
My word for 2016 is "light." That word has so many meanings and reminders for me.
Jesus is the light of the world!
I want to let my little light shine!
Let the light come in to scare away the darkness!
My little light can't really shine if my heart has resentment in it. That's just how it is.
My human heart, when I turn to God, reminds me to "love one another as I have loved you." It reminds me that God is blessing the whole world, no exceptions.
One of the things I love the most about Lent is that it helps me to get back on track. God asks me to look at my own heart and to let Him in, fully. Into every inch, every crevice.
He reminds me that there are no exceptions to His love and forgiveness and there should be no exceptions to mine either.
Tall order for us humans. To love everyone, even those who have hurt us, just like God loves us.
I'm pretty darn sure that the only way that will happen is because of God's grace and endless patience with me.
And I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me with a love that is endless and not dependent on
me perfectly getting all of His lessons for my life. Yet He is here, with me and with those I struggle with, through it all. Whether we are loving or we mess up.
He never leaves us or forsakes us.
And I am grateful for Lent, as hard as some of the learnings are. Lent is opening my heart so God's light can shine through me.
Just as spring is coming to Spokane, and flowers are beginning to bud and blossom, there can be a new beginning and light in my heart.
God is not done with me yet, and I am grateful.
God Bless!
Love, Linda
Thursday, March 03, 2016
Taking a Breath...Lessons in Lent...
It is not easy, this road I am on...
Yet I would never choose easy.
I would choose knowing and loving
and serving my Lord!
-Linda Seppa Salisbury, March 2016
When all is said and done, and I let God's love wash over me, I am filled with a deep sense of love and care and gratitude and compassion and joy. This season of Lent is full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns. It is truly stretching me in new ways I never could have imagined.
Honestly, along with the joy and learnings, I find myself tired to the bone, a kind of weary that has me in tears. A kind of weary that has me turning to Him, the God I know and love and serve.
I am on my knees with the knowings, some so hard and raw. Others gentle and new, forming as I go.
Every morning, on my way to school, I am listening to the latest Casting Crowns songs, a birthday gift from a dear friend. The first two songs, played over and over. It's as if God himself is speaking to me in those words...
"You're a good, good Father
That's who you are, that's who you are
And I am loved by you,
That's who I am, that's who I am."
And the tears just flow when I really let in what a good, good Father He has been to me. I am stunned by His love and His faithfulness. My gratitude is overflowing.
Especially this week.
This week I feel like He is literally holding me up and Bert up after one of the hardest weeks since Bert's stroke in October.
When you have a major health crisis that almost takes your life, it leaves in its wake lots to process. There's a change, one that's sometimes hard to grasp.
The old passes away and the new can be a big change, a big, big change.
Before... life was like this. Now... life is like that.
Not better, not worse just very, very different.
Sometimes the "easy" passes away and there's a new depth to life that is truthfully much harder to navigate gracefully.
Sometimes surrendering to that "new life," that's "different,"takes your breath away. It's scary.
At least it was this week.
My dearly beloved, my Bert, my best friend was struggling with some of the "after-stroke" changes and truth be told, so was I.
Yet through that struggle we clung to each other and to Him. It felt like we were "living Lent" and the lessons Lent has to offer about surrendering more to our Heavenly Father.
For He is a good, good Father, that's who is...
And I am loved by Him, that's who I am.
And while Tuesday ripped us to the core, Wednesday we were holding on to each other and to His hand.
It isn't easy, but I didn't sign on for easy.
I signed on for loving God with all of my heart and mind and soul and strength.
And I signed on, with all my love, to love my sweet Bert with all that I am. Through the easy times and hard times, no matter what.
Even though it doesn't seem possible, I love Bert even more.
We are surrendering together to our "new normal"
knowing that we will get through this together, hand-in hand.
Lent's lessons abound and we are so grateful for each one.
Our biggest lesson? Our biggest reminder this Lenten season?
God is here, in the midst of it all, holding us up, holding us close. Loving us with the deepest love we will ever know. He will never leave us or forsake us, but will walk through the hard with us. He is here.
No matter what, no matter how hard it gets, He is here!
And we are so grateful to God that Bert is still here
and that we still have each other. My dearly beloved and I. We do not, not for one moment, take that for granted.
God Bless,
Love, Linda
Yet I would never choose easy.
I would choose knowing and loving
and serving my Lord!
-Linda Seppa Salisbury, March 2016
When all is said and done, and I let God's love wash over me, I am filled with a deep sense of love and care and gratitude and compassion and joy. This season of Lent is full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns. It is truly stretching me in new ways I never could have imagined.
Honestly, along with the joy and learnings, I find myself tired to the bone, a kind of weary that has me in tears. A kind of weary that has me turning to Him, the God I know and love and serve.
I am on my knees with the knowings, some so hard and raw. Others gentle and new, forming as I go.
Every morning, on my way to school, I am listening to the latest Casting Crowns songs, a birthday gift from a dear friend. The first two songs, played over and over. It's as if God himself is speaking to me in those words...
"You're a good, good Father
That's who you are, that's who you are
And I am loved by you,
That's who I am, that's who I am."
And the tears just flow when I really let in what a good, good Father He has been to me. I am stunned by His love and His faithfulness. My gratitude is overflowing.
Especially this week.
This week I feel like He is literally holding me up and Bert up after one of the hardest weeks since Bert's stroke in October.
When you have a major health crisis that almost takes your life, it leaves in its wake lots to process. There's a change, one that's sometimes hard to grasp.
The old passes away and the new can be a big change, a big, big change.
Before... life was like this. Now... life is like that.
Not better, not worse just very, very different.
Sometimes the "easy" passes away and there's a new depth to life that is truthfully much harder to navigate gracefully.
Sometimes surrendering to that "new life," that's "different,"takes your breath away. It's scary.
At least it was this week.
My dearly beloved, my Bert, my best friend was struggling with some of the "after-stroke" changes and truth be told, so was I.
Yet through that struggle we clung to each other and to Him. It felt like we were "living Lent" and the lessons Lent has to offer about surrendering more to our Heavenly Father.
For He is a good, good Father, that's who is...
And I am loved by Him, that's who I am.
And while Tuesday ripped us to the core, Wednesday we were holding on to each other and to His hand.
It isn't easy, but I didn't sign on for easy.
I signed on for loving God with all of my heart and mind and soul and strength.
And I signed on, with all my love, to love my sweet Bert with all that I am. Through the easy times and hard times, no matter what.
Even though it doesn't seem possible, I love Bert even more.
We are surrendering together to our "new normal"
knowing that we will get through this together, hand-in hand.
Lent's lessons abound and we are so grateful for each one.
Our biggest lesson? Our biggest reminder this Lenten season?
God is here, in the midst of it all, holding us up, holding us close. Loving us with the deepest love we will ever know. He will never leave us or forsake us, but will walk through the hard with us. He is here.
No matter what, no matter how hard it gets, He is here!
And we are so grateful to God that Bert is still here
and that we still have each other. My dearly beloved and I. We do not, not for one moment, take that for granted.
God Bless,
Love, Linda
Sunday, February 21, 2016
DEAR GOD...Please help....
Not to spoil the ending for you,
but everything is going to be okay.
*Note: A quick, small but positive update after yesterday's doctor's appointment on 2/24.
Annora Grace's heart beat was strong and she is growing stronger each day. The huge cyst Amy had on her ovary originally, that had the doctors worried, is gone completely. And praise God there was a little movement of her placenta from right over the cervix. She needs more movement of it, but we were thrilled to see so many answered prayers. Please keep praying and thank you for your prayers!!
I am a feeler. I have always been one, even as a little girl.
When I first took the Myers Briggs Inventory the results showed me to be an extrovert, intuitor, feeler and judger (not judgmental but decisive in making decisions). My feeling nature used to drive my dearly beloved Mom, "nuts!" as she used to say. From time to time I would get a small yet loving reminder from my dear Mama that said...
"Just think your way through this, honey, put those big feelings of yours on the back shelf."
She's end the lesson with some great words of wisdom...
"everything is going to be okay."
Luckily she didn't say that it would all turn out just the way I wanted it to. Yet she was clear that even when there were hard
endings, and there certainly would be hard endings, I needed to trust that I would get through things. Even the hardest of things.
Years later, when I gave my heart to Jesus, I could add that I would trust that everything would be okay because God was there, He was in charge.
He would be there no matter how things turned out.
As I look ahead to this next week, and have a hard time staying in the present, I know that God is here...holding my hand. Whispering that "all is well, even though things are scary and not easy."
Our precious daughter Amy is carrying a miracle baby, Annora Grace. Some weeks ago she was diagnosed with complete placenta previa, a condition that has put her on modified bed rest. This has been a very hard pregnancy and Annora Grace is only 29 weeks along and close to three pounds.
This week Amy started to have some contractions that concerned us a bit and this Wednesday at 2:00 Amy will have an ultrasound and some decisions will be made about how to proceed from here. The contractions may just be braxton hicks contractions, in preparation for Annora's birth in late April, or that's what we are praying.
I wish I could say that I trust God so much that I am not scared, but that would not be true.
I know that Jesus was also afraid when things got very hard and asked God to let this cup pass from him. Yet when it didn't pass, He gave his fear over to His Father. I look to Jesus as my Savior and the role model for how to live my life. I have been praying non-stop that this cup would pass and that Amy would be fine and that Annora Grace would not be born prematurely. I have been praying non-stop that the placenta would move from where it is.
Amy has such faith that she reminded me this week that somehow God would use all of this for His good. No matter what, she was trusting Him. Yet I can see in her eyes and hear in her voice so much love and concern for Annora. As a Mama to Amy and a Nana to Annora, it's just plain hard to see them go through this.
So we are doing what we can do, and what God has asked us to do, and that is surrounding Amy and Annora Grace with prayers, lots of prayers!
***Would you please pray with us, especially this Wednesday
at 2:00 (Pacific Standard Time)
This morning I am giving my fear to Him and thanking Him for His presence and His love and His grace!!
Yes, Lord, everything will be okay because I am trusting in You.
God Bless!
Love, Linda
but everything is going to be okay.
*Note: A quick, small but positive update after yesterday's doctor's appointment on 2/24.
Annora Grace's heart beat was strong and she is growing stronger each day. The huge cyst Amy had on her ovary originally, that had the doctors worried, is gone completely. And praise God there was a little movement of her placenta from right over the cervix. She needs more movement of it, but we were thrilled to see so many answered prayers. Please keep praying and thank you for your prayers!!
I am a feeler. I have always been one, even as a little girl.
When I first took the Myers Briggs Inventory the results showed me to be an extrovert, intuitor, feeler and judger (not judgmental but decisive in making decisions). My feeling nature used to drive my dearly beloved Mom, "nuts!" as she used to say. From time to time I would get a small yet loving reminder from my dear Mama that said...
"Just think your way through this, honey, put those big feelings of yours on the back shelf."
She's end the lesson with some great words of wisdom...
"everything is going to be okay."
Luckily she didn't say that it would all turn out just the way I wanted it to. Yet she was clear that even when there were hard
endings, and there certainly would be hard endings, I needed to trust that I would get through things. Even the hardest of things.
Years later, when I gave my heart to Jesus, I could add that I would trust that everything would be okay because God was there, He was in charge.
He would be there no matter how things turned out.
As I look ahead to this next week, and have a hard time staying in the present, I know that God is here...holding my hand. Whispering that "all is well, even though things are scary and not easy."
Our precious daughter Amy is carrying a miracle baby, Annora Grace. Some weeks ago she was diagnosed with complete placenta previa, a condition that has put her on modified bed rest. This has been a very hard pregnancy and Annora Grace is only 29 weeks along and close to three pounds.
This week Amy started to have some contractions that concerned us a bit and this Wednesday at 2:00 Amy will have an ultrasound and some decisions will be made about how to proceed from here. The contractions may just be braxton hicks contractions, in preparation for Annora's birth in late April, or that's what we are praying.
I wish I could say that I trust God so much that I am not scared, but that would not be true.
I know that Jesus was also afraid when things got very hard and asked God to let this cup pass from him. Yet when it didn't pass, He gave his fear over to His Father. I look to Jesus as my Savior and the role model for how to live my life. I have been praying non-stop that this cup would pass and that Amy would be fine and that Annora Grace would not be born prematurely. I have been praying non-stop that the placenta would move from where it is.
Amy has such faith that she reminded me this week that somehow God would use all of this for His good. No matter what, she was trusting Him. Yet I can see in her eyes and hear in her voice so much love and concern for Annora. As a Mama to Amy and a Nana to Annora, it's just plain hard to see them go through this.
So we are doing what we can do, and what God has asked us to do, and that is surrounding Amy and Annora Grace with prayers, lots of prayers!
***Would you please pray with us, especially this Wednesday
at 2:00 (Pacific Standard Time)
This morning I am giving my fear to Him and thanking Him for His presence and His love and His grace!!
Yes, Lord, everything will be okay because I am trusting in You.
God Bless!
Love, Linda
Saturday, February 13, 2016
True Romance...
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides!
-David Viscott
True romance isn't Romeo and Juliet who died together,
but Grandma and Grandpa who grew old together !
Dearest Bert,
You are the love of my life, my soul mate, my best friend and a reminder to me every day about deep love and kindness. We have
been together for 34 years and married for almost 32. You have loved and cherished me every day of those years, given me loving
feedback that saved my life and reminded me daily that God loves me. Your heart is as big as an ocean! You have kept every wedding vow and your integrity and loyalty are so amazing.
Plain and simple, you have my back. You always have and you always will!
The greatest compliment that anyone could pay to you is when one of our granddaughters says, "When I get married I want to marry someone just like Boppa."
I love going to church with you, holding your hand, praying with you, gardening with you and just plain having fun with you. You will forever and always be my favorite valentine!!
I love being there for you in the tough times and the easy times.
You are there for me during those times as well. As we always say to each other, "We are such a great team!"
I love you with all my heart and I thank God every day that He brought you into my life. This Valentine's Day I am even more grateful to God that you are still here with me to celebrate this
holiday and every day.
God Bless you, my sweetie, and may you always know how much He loves you and I love you!
Love you forever, my dearest darling...to the moon and back.
Your Linda
Saturday, February 06, 2016
When God Made YOU, He Made A Miracle!
" When God made YOU,
He made a MIRACLE!"
-Bob Mitchell, Young Life Leader
I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was at Malibu, a Young Life camp in Canada. Young Life is a non-denominational Christian organization that reaches out and shares God's love to young people. I came to Malibu on the recommendation of a life-long friend, Judy Winn. Judy was several years older and almost insisted that I go. She convinced me, and she convinced my parents, that it would be the trip of a life-time, a life-changing trip. I had no idea, and she didn't mention, that Young Life was all about Jesus and His love for me.
When Judy made her case for me to go, I was a fourteen year old girl who was headed into ninth grade knowing full well that
I was very smart academically, but I imagined I would never, ever get married. I had a confident exterior, but only God could see how truly hurt I was on the inside.
I had been born with one "normal" hand and one smaller hand that really had no fingers and only a partial thumb. My grandchildren always tell their friends that I am like Nemo, with one smaller "lucky fin."
It wash't easy for my parents when I was born. They were shocked and hurt that I was so different. They blamed themselves, especially my Mom. My Dad left for three days and left her alone in the hospital to deal with the fact that the perfect baby they had imagined me to be, wasn't the reality they were faced with. They were hurt and scared.
But God knew. He knew even then. He knew that when He created me, and I was born on February 5th, 1947, that He had made a miracle.
He knew the path He had for me. He knew that my small hand would open doors into the hearts of those who were different physically and emotionally. He knew that I would certainly face challenges, but as I did so I would lean on Him for the strength that I didn't have on my own. He knew that He would be the hero in my life story.
He knew that about me and He knows that about YOU!
I remember that night at Malibu when Bob Mitchell told me about Jesus. I remember how Bob told me that God loved me so much that He sent His son to die for me. He looked right at me, or so it seemed, and said...
"When God made YOU, He made a miracle."
I was NOT a mistake. I was born as a darling baby who was just a little different. He loved me, no matter what. He would comfort my Mom and Dad and see us through. He would help me to be all He meant for me to be!
Yesterday, on my birthday, I celebrated 69 years on this amazing planet and 55 years knowing that God loves me!
I looked back, as Bert and I had lunch together, at how God has been faithful all of this time. He helped my Mom and Dad to know just what to do in raising me. He brought friends and loves and JOY beyond measure into the life of this grateful Nana. Beyond what I ever could have dreamed or imagined, He has walked this journey with me. And yesterday, as college students sang Happy Birthday, my adored hubby took me to lunch, and text messages and cards came to my door... it reminded me that I mattered.
I was 69 years old and I was filled with such JOY.
Just like that night at Malibu when I asked Jesus into my heart.
I know for certain, that when God made me, He made a miracle!
Amen and Amen!
Today may you know, in your deepest heart of hearts, that
when God made YOU, He made a mracle too!!
God Bless!
Love Linda
Wednesday, February 03, 2016
Thank You God for Answering Prayers!
What an AMAZING week it has been! Time after time we have seen God gracing our family with answered prayers. Yesterday was one of those days where I was on my knees in gratitude.
If you read this blog regularly you know that our precious granddaughter, Glory Sihin, has spent the last eight months working toward getting an ACT 6 Scholarship. This amazing scholarship would allow her to attend a small, private Christian University in Spokane and all four years would be paid in full. Applying for the scholarship meant writing lots of essays, going through three in-person experiences, doing a three day on-campus visit with an in-person writing of an essay, group discussions about assigned articles, doing activities with other applicants and being interviewed by Whitworth faculty. Two thousand students applied, then there were semi-finalists and finally 8 finalists.
The Whitworth envelope and letter arrived yesterday and we were all holding our breath as Glory Sihin opened it. The photograph above shows her grin!!
The letter said that our precious Glory Sihin was one of those 8 finalists and got her scholarship. We have all been crying and celebrating God's love and answered prayers.
So many people have prayed and we are so grateful for your prayers. What a dream come true for our granddaughter, adopted just five years ago from Ethiopia. Glory grew up in an orphanage there and came to live with my daughter after an amazing story of Amy following God's call to say "yes!"
We have also been praying for our daughter, Amy, who has experienced some serious complications in her pregnancy. We are so grateful to God that both Amy and Annora Grace
are hanging in there and Amy, who is on modified bed rest, is getting so much help from all of us who love her. Thank you all for your continued prayers for Amy and Annora Grace.
I truly believe that prayers are powerful. God asks us to pray for one another and I LOVE to pray for others. It is such an honor to bring their names and needs to the Lord. What a humbling experience to have others pray for us. It means the world to me.
How grateful I am to see God's answered prayers this week.
Sending you loves and hugs and prayers!
God Bless!
Linda
Sunday, January 31, 2016
No Matter What...I Choose Jesus!
You can either practice
being RIGHT,
or you can practice
being KIND.
-Anne Lamott
Sometimes the word "stressful" is used to cover a multitude of situations. Your work is stressful. Your health is stressful.
Your family is stressful. Usually when I start to see life as stressful, I am trying to tackle life all on my own. I am trying to control outcomes instead of turning it all over to Him. I am focusing on fear and what ifs and what thens.
When I get like this, and it isn't very often, I am always so glad to go to church and feel that sense of community. I may cry through the entire church service, but then I can surrender to God's will and let Him fill me up again with His love for me. Today is Sunday and I am taking kleenex to church, just in case.
What I know for sure is in the midst of all of this, He never leaves me or forsakes me and that He is right here holding my hand. Right this very minute.
At times like this, I must repeat this phrase many, many times a day...
Just trust Jesus.
Trust Him with everything! Trust Him to take care of me and all of those I love so much.
I'm a pretty tough cookie, a bit like the Little Engine that could.
I just keep going. I don't quit. I don't give up. But I also know
that there are times when life just flows smoothly and I feel joyful and optimistic. Those are great times. Yet right now, if I'm honest with God and myself, I feel pretty tired. I also feel like I am fighting some battles where I am struggling with the difference between being right and being kind.
Bottom line, I'm asking God just what He wants me to do right now. What's His will for my life.
A bit of the back story. Since Bert's stroke we have added lots and lots of medical appointments to our already busy schedule.
I want to be at all of those appointments, and Bert can't drive since his stroke, so we are busier than ever.
On top of that, and our usual life circumstances, our new computer program at the college where I teach has caused lots of unforeseen problems. There is a huge amount of tension at work.
I love to read Anne Lamott at times like this. She is so, so real that it makes me laugh. Her unrefined, tell-it-like-it is style
reminds me that life is not always smooth and easy. There are unexpected bumps and some of those may make us sad or mad.
God can handle all of it. After all, Jesus experienced all of the joys and deep pains of life. Anne's book Help, Thanks, Wow
has a quote that I have been praying about all week...
Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness,
and discomfort and letting it be there until
some light returns.
And there's that word LIGHT again, my word for 2016.
While I am tired, I am not discouraged. I know that the Jesus
I know and love and serve is right here with me. He will strengthen me when my own strength is in short supply.
He is my LIGHT!
No matter what, I choose Jesus!!!
Today and every day I am grateful for His love!
God Bless!
Love, Linda
being RIGHT,
or you can practice
being KIND.
-Anne Lamott
Sometimes the word "stressful" is used to cover a multitude of situations. Your work is stressful. Your health is stressful.
Your family is stressful. Usually when I start to see life as stressful, I am trying to tackle life all on my own. I am trying to control outcomes instead of turning it all over to Him. I am focusing on fear and what ifs and what thens.
When I get like this, and it isn't very often, I am always so glad to go to church and feel that sense of community. I may cry through the entire church service, but then I can surrender to God's will and let Him fill me up again with His love for me. Today is Sunday and I am taking kleenex to church, just in case.
What I know for sure is in the midst of all of this, He never leaves me or forsakes me and that He is right here holding my hand. Right this very minute.
At times like this, I must repeat this phrase many, many times a day...
Just trust Jesus.
Trust Him with everything! Trust Him to take care of me and all of those I love so much.
I'm a pretty tough cookie, a bit like the Little Engine that could.
I just keep going. I don't quit. I don't give up. But I also know
that there are times when life just flows smoothly and I feel joyful and optimistic. Those are great times. Yet right now, if I'm honest with God and myself, I feel pretty tired. I also feel like I am fighting some battles where I am struggling with the difference between being right and being kind.
Bottom line, I'm asking God just what He wants me to do right now. What's His will for my life.
A bit of the back story. Since Bert's stroke we have added lots and lots of medical appointments to our already busy schedule.
I want to be at all of those appointments, and Bert can't drive since his stroke, so we are busier than ever.
On top of that, and our usual life circumstances, our new computer program at the college where I teach has caused lots of unforeseen problems. There is a huge amount of tension at work.
I love to read Anne Lamott at times like this. She is so, so real that it makes me laugh. Her unrefined, tell-it-like-it is style
reminds me that life is not always smooth and easy. There are unexpected bumps and some of those may make us sad or mad.
God can handle all of it. After all, Jesus experienced all of the joys and deep pains of life. Anne's book Help, Thanks, Wow
has a quote that I have been praying about all week...
Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness,
and discomfort and letting it be there until
some light returns.
And there's that word LIGHT again, my word for 2016.
While I am tired, I am not discouraged. I know that the Jesus
I know and love and serve is right here with me. He will strengthen me when my own strength is in short supply.
He is my LIGHT!
No matter what, I choose Jesus!!!
Today and every day I am grateful for His love!
God Bless!
Love, Linda
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Four Very Important Words of Advice...
And then she gave me the best
advice ever when she said...
"Be Who You Are!"
It has been a crazy, busy, wonderful, and a tiny bit scary time at our house. So much has been going on that my head is spinning.
Yet in the midst of it all, we are soaking in love and gratitude. As we say every Sunday at church...
"God is good all the time,
and all the time God is good!"
I have been especially busy since besides teaching I have been mentoring our precious granddaughter, Glory Sihin, Amy's oldest daughter. Another miracle daughter...the one that Amy adopted from Ethiopia.
Sihin came to our family when she was 14, the oldest child in the orphanage she grew up in. She has been a super bright light in our family with her radiant smile, love for Jesus, servant's heart and her unstoppable work ethic. That girl can out work me and believe me I am no slouch at working. While her
Ethiopian name is Sihin, the American name she gave herself was Glory. She wanted her life to bring glory to God!
This is a HUGE, dream-come-true time for Glory Sihin, as we like to call her. After so, so so much work in her AP classes at North Central High School in Spokane, and so much love and community service, Glory is applying to go to college.
The college of her dreams is a small, Christian university in Spokane called Whitworth University.
She knows that's where God wants her to be. A small Christian university where she can get a rigorous academic education and grow her Christian faith at the same time. Yet college is expensive and her Mom's salary as an adjunct faculty member hardly keeps the family afloat.
Glory knew she would have to apply for every scholarship available, so besides being a full time honors student and doing community service, our precious granddaughter has spent the last eight months doing scholarship applications. That's right...eight months.
And that leads us to today...
After making it through the first two phases of an Act 6 Scholarship application, Glory Sihin is at Whitworth this weekend going through a huge drill...interviews, writing, discussing academic articles...three full days. She is over there right this very minute.
What could this scholarship offer, if she gets it?
She would have a full college scholarship to Whitworth University. All expenses paid.
Glory believes, and we believe, that if this is God's will, she will be there. Yet she has to do the work and the preparation. And she has...countless hours and may of them at our home.
You see English is her third language and just reading these poems and articles has taken her extra time to digest. And she has never been interviewed so she asked me to give her a practice one. Which of course I did.
We prayed together and talked about the fact that she wouldn't be alone this weekend. God would be right there with her. If she got scared, just pray.
We talked about how God had brought her to America, and God has a plan for her life. He has guided her this far, He would not leave her.
And then she asked me, with a few tears spilling down her gorgeous chocolate face, "Nana, what do
I need to remember besides that God loves me?"
I said a prayer asking the words to be His words for her, her heavenly Father's words for her. What came out were these four words...
Be Who You Are!
And then His explanation... I made you. You are perfect in my eyes. Just be the you I made you to be.
Show them My love through you. You are more than enough.
And I cried and she cried and her beloved Grandpa cried.
You see Glory adores Bert, just like I do. She brings him flowers and cards and hugs and loves. He is a stable rock in her life and when he had a stroke she was so scared. She prayed and prayed and supported us both in Bert's get well process. She loves, loves, loves her Boppa. And he adores her.
Little did I know that just recently Bert had given her the exact same advice. "Just be yourself, honey. The YOU God made you to be!"
Yes, God works in miraculous ways!
And then it was time for Glory to go back to her home. As she gathered up her book bag and notebook, Glory stopped and gave me a HUGE hug.
And she whispered, "Thanks, Nans, that's the best advice ever!" And off she went...
And now we want to support her.
If you pray, could you please ask God to make His presence known to Glory this weekend?
Could you please pray for her sense of His love and presence and that she just needs to remember His words for her...and His words for me...
Be Who You Are! Be who I made you to be!
And all the people said, "AMEN!"
God Bless!
Love, Linda
advice ever when she said...
"Be Who You Are!"
It has been a crazy, busy, wonderful, and a tiny bit scary time at our house. So much has been going on that my head is spinning.
Yet in the midst of it all, we are soaking in love and gratitude. As we say every Sunday at church...
"God is good all the time,
and all the time God is good!"
I have been especially busy since besides teaching I have been mentoring our precious granddaughter, Glory Sihin, Amy's oldest daughter. Another miracle daughter...the one that Amy adopted from Ethiopia.
Sihin came to our family when she was 14, the oldest child in the orphanage she grew up in. She has been a super bright light in our family with her radiant smile, love for Jesus, servant's heart and her unstoppable work ethic. That girl can out work me and believe me I am no slouch at working. While her
Ethiopian name is Sihin, the American name she gave herself was Glory. She wanted her life to bring glory to God!
This is a HUGE, dream-come-true time for Glory Sihin, as we like to call her. After so, so so much work in her AP classes at North Central High School in Spokane, and so much love and community service, Glory is applying to go to college.
The college of her dreams is a small, Christian university in Spokane called Whitworth University.
She knows that's where God wants her to be. A small Christian university where she can get a rigorous academic education and grow her Christian faith at the same time. Yet college is expensive and her Mom's salary as an adjunct faculty member hardly keeps the family afloat.
Glory knew she would have to apply for every scholarship available, so besides being a full time honors student and doing community service, our precious granddaughter has spent the last eight months doing scholarship applications. That's right...eight months.
And that leads us to today...
After making it through the first two phases of an Act 6 Scholarship application, Glory Sihin is at Whitworth this weekend going through a huge drill...interviews, writing, discussing academic articles...three full days. She is over there right this very minute.
What could this scholarship offer, if she gets it?
She would have a full college scholarship to Whitworth University. All expenses paid.
Glory believes, and we believe, that if this is God's will, she will be there. Yet she has to do the work and the preparation. And she has...countless hours and may of them at our home.
You see English is her third language and just reading these poems and articles has taken her extra time to digest. And she has never been interviewed so she asked me to give her a practice one. Which of course I did.
We prayed together and talked about the fact that she wouldn't be alone this weekend. God would be right there with her. If she got scared, just pray.
We talked about how God had brought her to America, and God has a plan for her life. He has guided her this far, He would not leave her.
And then she asked me, with a few tears spilling down her gorgeous chocolate face, "Nana, what do
I need to remember besides that God loves me?"
I said a prayer asking the words to be His words for her, her heavenly Father's words for her. What came out were these four words...
Be Who You Are!
And then His explanation... I made you. You are perfect in my eyes. Just be the you I made you to be.
Show them My love through you. You are more than enough.
And I cried and she cried and her beloved Grandpa cried.
You see Glory adores Bert, just like I do. She brings him flowers and cards and hugs and loves. He is a stable rock in her life and when he had a stroke she was so scared. She prayed and prayed and supported us both in Bert's get well process. She loves, loves, loves her Boppa. And he adores her.
Little did I know that just recently Bert had given her the exact same advice. "Just be yourself, honey. The YOU God made you to be!"
Yes, God works in miraculous ways!
And then it was time for Glory to go back to her home. As she gathered up her book bag and notebook, Glory stopped and gave me a HUGE hug.
And she whispered, "Thanks, Nans, that's the best advice ever!" And off she went...
And now we want to support her.
If you pray, could you please ask God to make His presence known to Glory this weekend?
Could you please pray for her sense of His love and presence and that she just needs to remember His words for her...and His words for me...
Be Who You Are! Be who I made you to be!
And all the people said, "AMEN!"
God Bless!
Love, Linda
Sunday, January 17, 2016
I CHOOSE...LIGHT and HOPE!
When the sun takes its final breath
just before the last rays of HOPE
drop below the horizon,
let all the twinkling stars in Heaven
remind you that the Light of Hope
never left your side.
-Robert Clancy
One of our daily rituals when we were in Hawaii was to stand on the lanai as the sun went down so we could watch God streak the sky with the most beautiful sunset ever. Bert would pick up the conch shell, like Hawaiians all over the island, and blow the shell's music in reverence to God's artwork.
I found myself, in the moments where the sun started sinking, feeling like a little girl at Christmas...waiting to see the presents under the tree.
And God doesn't disappoint. He never disappoints.
This week has been a week of anticipation in our family as we waited to see what the doctor had to say
about Amy and Annora Grace.
I did what I always do in times like this, times when my heart feels like it is in my throat. I just kept taking one step at a time, praying all the while for His guidance, for His peace to fall on all of us.
I knew God would show up big time in our hearts if we just turned to Him instead of leaning into our fears.
And God doesn't disappoint. He never disappoints.
When one of His children gets great news that rocks your socks off, I am reminded that He is there, answering prayers.
One of the very, very, VERY best "knock your socks
off moments" this week came when I learned that my dear friend Vicky Westra, who has stage four breast cancer, got her MRI and PET scan results back.
The results were nothing short of a miracle- Vicky has no evidence of disease. NED. While some folks might thank all of the awful chemo she has taken week after week, and I don't want to minimize its impact, Vicky holds this miracle to be one that came from answered prayers. Thousands and thousands of prayers. Prayers daily and hourly by prayer warriors all over.
God doesn't disappoint. He never disappoints.
He doesn't disappoint even when the news isn't easy to hear. He is still there. Right there with us ALWAYS.
He is the HOPE and the LIGHT in the darkness.
If you read my last post, you know about our daughter and the challenges she faces in her pregnancy. You know about the hard news and the concerns for our daughter and her precious baby.
You know that we asked people to pray for Amy and for Annora Grace.
And you know what? The light and hope of this week was the outpouring of prayers from God's faithful.
When I think of Vicky Westra's comments and Jackie putting our prayer request on her blog...well
I just can't stop crying. Knowing that you are holding up our precious daughter and praying for her pregnancy and praying for Annora Grace, well we are overwhelmed with gratitude, hope and light.
We are choosing HOPE and LIGHT, no matter what!
While Amy has been given some tough news and put on modified bed rest for the next three months, we believe God and take Him at His word that He is right here, right now.
This won't be easy, especially with her teaching, running a home, and caring for her other children, but we are choosing hope and light, knowing we will rally with help and support. We will keep praying and turning to God. He is our peace.
As it says in Jesus Calling...
"My face is shining upon you, beaming out PEACE that transcends all understanding. You are surrounded by a sea of problems, but you are Face to face with Me, your Peace. If you gaze too long at the myriad of problems you will sink under the weight of your burdens. When you start to sink, simply call out, " Help me, Jesus!" and I will lift you up."
And God doesn't disappoint. He never disappoints.
He is lifting us up! And we are calling out...
"Help us, Jesus!"
He is the Light of Hope that never leaves our side!
Amen and Amen!!
God Bless!
Please keep praying! We are so, so grateful for
every prayer!
Love,
Linda
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Please, Please Pray for our daughter...
Don't tell God how big the storm is...
Tell the storm how big God is!
After hearing today's news...only two words keep coming back to me...please pray. I so believe in the power of prayer and my youngest daughter, Amy, needs your prayers right now.
Amy is pregnant and this pregnancy hasn't been easy.
Yet it seemed that things were going well and the sweet baby, Annora Grace, was growing just as she should.
Yesterday Amy, who is suffering from a miserable cold and can't take medication because of her pregnancy, had an appointment with her OBGYN. They looked at the results of the latest ultrasound.
The doctor was shocked. Amy was shocked.
It seems that Amy has a condition called placenta previa where her placenta is covering her cervix where the baby comes out. This condition can cause bleeding, early delivery, severe blood loss, and the loss of the mother and baby.
Annora Grace is due April 24th...and our prayer is that
this condition reverses itself, the placenta moves and that
both Amy and her precious daughter are fine.
Would you please pray with us.
We would so covet your prayers. Amy knows God and loves God with all of her heart, and she is so scared about this news. I am too. Would you please pray for her peace of mind (and ours)? Would you please pray that God protects Amy and this precious baby?
We know God can do miracles and we are praying for a miracle for Amy and Annora.
Thank you so much for your love, support,and most of all...
your prayers!
God Bless!
Love, Linda
Tell the storm how big God is!
After hearing today's news...only two words keep coming back to me...please pray. I so believe in the power of prayer and my youngest daughter, Amy, needs your prayers right now.
Amy is pregnant and this pregnancy hasn't been easy.
Yet it seemed that things were going well and the sweet baby, Annora Grace, was growing just as she should.
Yesterday Amy, who is suffering from a miserable cold and can't take medication because of her pregnancy, had an appointment with her OBGYN. They looked at the results of the latest ultrasound.
The doctor was shocked. Amy was shocked.
It seems that Amy has a condition called placenta previa where her placenta is covering her cervix where the baby comes out. This condition can cause bleeding, early delivery, severe blood loss, and the loss of the mother and baby.
Annora Grace is due April 24th...and our prayer is that
this condition reverses itself, the placenta moves and that
both Amy and her precious daughter are fine.
Would you please pray with us.
We would so covet your prayers. Amy knows God and loves God with all of her heart, and she is so scared about this news. I am too. Would you please pray for her peace of mind (and ours)? Would you please pray that God protects Amy and this precious baby?
We know God can do miracles and we are praying for a miracle for Amy and Annora.
Thank you so much for your love, support,and most of all...
your prayers!
God Bless!
Love, Linda
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