Day By Day Delighting

To say that my life has experienced some changes in the past few years would be an understatement and "in your face" obvious!  Cancer changes things.  The cancer world makes sure we know about mastectomies, chemo, support groups,hair loss, nausea etc. That same source says we can "overcome "; we can run races and wear t-shirts and model wigs. We can give rousing speeches, attend events and inspire everyone as we hand out pink ribbons. I read all that.  This was my fourth round with cancer and was by far the hardest battle. I remembered the feelings and phases of the other times. I remember.  I had and still have an absolute dream of a husband and a great support system, for which I am grateful. God still loves me. The tomb is still empty and God's benevolent grace pours over me  continuously. These things were and still are my daily, hourly, minute by minute strengths.  But here, at 10 months since finishing chemo, things are different. I saw a meme on Face...

 Because it is springtime in Nebraska, almost daily, we get to experience some wild weather. Last night was one such adventure .  As usual, my grandsons, (9 & 12 ) went with me to church.  All three of us love the classes and the fellowship. Shortly after arriving, we were serenaded by weather alerts...one after another. Then talk of tornadoes, warnings and watches and concern about sightings and damage by funnels on the ground. The tension and anxiety was tangible. Everyone  was concerned, some left for home, others paced anxiously looking at the windows. Suddenly I felt the tension rising in me. I was anxious . Having lived in Nebraska 20+ years,I am not afraid of storms so why be nervous ?  No, I am not afraid, but my youngest grandson is and I was anxious for him. He was visibly shaking. When the warning sirens began blaring, he began to cry. He was terrified.  He was worried about his mom and his dog, and his house....all the same worries adults ha...

Overwhelming gratitude sweeps over my soul every time I think about "delighting" in God!  Did you know that when we delight in the Lord, He delights in US?  So as I am striving to walk in His path, to meditate on His Word and to keep my eyes focused on Him AND when I try to remain pure, when I love others and share the good news about salvation, HE delights in Me?  That's what it says!  How blessed are we? According to the first chapter of Ephesians, it was His desire to create a people who would delight in Him. In his "commentary"  The Message, Eugene Peterson says "Long before he laid down earth's foundation, he had us in mind and settled on us as the focus of his love"   A couple of sentences later Mr. Peterson adds this parentheses "What pleasure he took planning this".   Don't you just love that?  Such a beautiful thought! And Holy scripture backs it up!  In Genesis we se that after God's created man He said " it's g...

When I think of King David, I always think, "man after God's own heart".  His Psalms are an ever-present reminder to praise God. So it is no surprise that in his writings, I find my favorite verse. Psalms 37:4 "Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. " When I found myself a young widow and single parent, the immediate need for a plan for the future for my children as well as myself, weighed on my heart.  All the previous plans had Eddy in them. So it was time to consider what I (and God), wanted..where we were going, what we'd be doing!  It started off as a daunting task! My mom was a faithful Christian who had to reexamine her hopes and dreams several times.  She always went to God's word for guidance. Inspired by her example, I started reading the Psalms, because here David often put MY heartaches and joys into words. I had read them before, but this time they hit my heart differently. This gem in Psalms 37:4 did just that! ...