Country Church Music - From the Heart

Greetings dear friends and family,

For the past few weeks our grandsons and I have been watching the caterpillar we have in a clear container go through many changes. It ate, grew, and shed its skin several times. Last weekend it slowly made its way up the side. Later when we looked at it, it had made a little silk like mat. The caterpillar has eight pairs of legs yet it only used one pair to attach itself to the mat.

It hung there upside down for about a day in the shape of the letter J. The next day I watched in amazement as it shed its skin one last time. It hung there twisting and turning as it worked off the old skin. All that was holding it in place was that little mat. Soon the old skin fell off and underneath was the chrysalis. Inside which the caterpillar will transform into a butterfly.

What are we attached to? Do we attach ourselves to the things of this world or do we by faith attach ourselves to the hope we have through Jesus.

Jesus holds onto us even tighter as we face the struggles in our lives. He will not let go no matter how much we may twist and turn. His love will hold us firmly in place as we cling to him in faith till that day when he shall come again.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Let us pray: Loving God, fill us with a faith so deep that no matter what we may face we are able to feel the power of your love holding us tightly. Help us to share our faith and your love with others so they too can have the hope that comes from believing in you. In your name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

As I have sat here pondering what to share I noticed a card I have with the word blessings on the front of it.

I could share with you all of the blessings in my life. But instead I encourage you to pause and count the many blessings in your own lives as I count mine. And then let’s give thanks and praise to God for them.

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. Psalm 147:1

Let us pray: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Have a blessed week.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

This past spring two flowers emerged in one of our flowerbeds. At first we were unsure what they were. Soon it became clear that they were milkweed plants. As many of you know, the Monarch Butterfly is dependent upon the milkweed for survival. Several Monarchs have found the plants. I’m hopeful that some will eventually lay their eggs there so we can watch the larvae feed off the leaves and begin the process of transforming into a butterfly.

At our baptisms a transformation began. We became heirs of the kingdom and dependent upon Christ for survival. He is the bread of life. He gave his life upon the cross so that one day our transformations will be complete. Thanks be to God!

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. John 6:51

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, you have claimed us as your own. At times we forget that and become lost and feel all alone. We hunger for your mercy, love, grace, and peace.  Feed us with the bread of life so that we may be transformed not only now but for all eternity. In your name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Time. So often we don’t seem to have enough time to get things done. And yet there are times when it seems to take forever until the time we are waiting for arrives. We often grow impatient. We are reminded in the following verses from Ecclesiastes 3 that it is not about our timing, but God’s.

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Let us pray: Loving God, it is hard at times to understand how and why things happen as they do. Help us to understand that no matter what time it is in our lives that you walk with us every step of the way. In your everlasting name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Last week Kenny and I were sitting in our back yard enjoying the evening. When suddenly a bird flew into our yard and slammed into the back wall of our house. It landed in the grass and sat there looking rather dazed for a few minutes before flying off. Makes you wonder how it could be so distracted that it did not see the house.

But don’t we do the same thing some times? We get so wrapped up our hectic lives and then suddenly we hit a wall and are knocked flat to the ground. We end up dazed and confused. Our focus has shifted from God to ourselves.

Thankfully God does not just stand there shaking a finger at us; instead he reaches out with a loving hand. But we have to let go of the things that are distracting us before we can feel the power of his uplifting love. Then we can once again focus on the cross and continue in faith on the path set before us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Let us pray: Merciful Father, as we run the race set before us, we continue to stumble and fall. Give us the faith and courage needed to live lives that bring glory and praise to your name. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

There is a tree that has stood for many years among several other trees not far from the banks of a nearby river. This past weekend that tree basically tipped over. The sandy, rain saturated soil could no longer hold the tree’s roots in place.

What is holding our roots in place? We can easily put down roots in the sandy soil of life. But soon we realize that we are not firmly rooted. We must go deeper. We have to push on and go deep down into the faith grounding soil of God’s love. We then are able to face whatever lies before us knowing that we are firmly rooted in his strength and his love.

do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will hold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Let us pray: God of strength and courage, help us to see that we are rooted in your love and of the strong hold you have on our lives. Give us voices to proclaim and hands to serve so others can know of the power of your love. In your name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

The colors of the eastern horizon were breathtakingly beautiful this morning before sunrise. Rays of sunshine began streaming in my window. Then thick clouds moved in and suddenly the light was gone. But that does not mean the sun had disappeared. It was and is still there shining brightly above the clouds

So it is with the Son of God. Though we cannot see Jesus, it doesn’t mean that he is not there. Often we can see and feel the light of his love at work in our lives and in our hearts. Yet there are times when troubles, fears, and doubts cloud our world around us. We lose sight of the light of Jesus. But Jesus never loses sight of us.

Jesus is always right here with us. And he can break through even the thickest and stormiest clouds of our lives. Jesus will light the way for our hearts.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27: 1,14

Let us pray: Loving God, help us to see that you sent your Son to be the Light of the world. Open our hearts to receive his light so that we may shine for him in all we do, and to trust that no matter what the clouds of life may bring our way, his light will show us the way home. In your name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Looking out the window I could see the leaves blowing in the early morning breeze. Yet I couldn’t feel the breeze. The walls around me prevented the breeze from entering. By simply opening the window changes occurred. Not only can I feel the wonderful breeze but had I not opened the window I would have missed the beautiful songs of the birds.

How about our hearts? Do we have walls around our hearts that prevent God from entering? What are we missing when we do? Changes can and do occur when we open up the window to our hearts. The renewing Breath of God enters as well as his love and his peace.

So let’s fling wide open the window to our hearts and journey through this day trusting in the awesome power of God’s Spirit in our lives.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans15:13

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, pour into our hearts the gift of your Spirit and lead us on paths where we can serve others in your name bringing glory and praise to you, our Creator and Redeemer. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Endings and new beginnings, our lives are filled with them. I was reminded of that the other evening by our grandsons Mason and Andrew. They arrived here all excited to tell me that they each had passed their grade at school. They then went on to tell me who their teachers would be next fall and how they were going to meet them this week.

But sometimes the endings and new beginnings we may encounter can be difficult. The loss of a job and the beginning a new one can be overwhelming. Facing life after the death of a loved one is painful and often lonely. And the list goes on.

Endings and beginnings touch our lives in so many ways. But we never journey alone. As I have sat here pondering what to write next the words of a poem by Mary Stevenson came to mind. So I will let her words that so often speak to me, hopefully speak to you.

Footprints in the Sand

Last night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to me, the other to the Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.  “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of suffering, when you could see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, as we face our endings and new beginnings may we grow in faith and trust in you and that no matter what lies before us, you will journey with us. And that one day we will have a new beginning with you for all eternity. In your name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Kenny and our son Matt fertilized our yard Saturday. Until this morning the fertilizer just laid on top of the ground. For it to work properly, it needed to reach the roots. This morning we had a nice rain and now the yard is being fed.

How about you, are you being fed? No, not just your body, but your spirit, your soul. The nourishment is there. But it needs to reach our roots.

Out of love, God feeds our spiritual hunger. He has given us the Bible to guide us, friends to walk with us, and most important of all: a Savior who died for us. And it is at His table we are fed the bread of life, eternal life. Thanks be to God.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” John 6:47-51

Let us pray: Nourishing God, feed our souls and fill our hearts with your endless love, strengthening us to serve you in ways that will bring glory and praise to your everlasting name. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane