Country Church Music - From the Heart

Greetings dear friends and family,

According to the calendar spring is just a few weeks away. A quick look outside might make a person wonder. But if we pause and take a closer look we can find hints that spring is approaching.

We might see the beautiful green of the Siberian iris pushing up through the dead leaves. If we listen closely, the melody of the robins might reach our ears.  And before we know it, the chirping of their little ones will also be heard. If we examine the lower branches of the trees we might notice the fattening of its buds as the sap inside begins to rise.

The images I just mentioned are signs of new life here on earth. There is sign that reminds us of another new life. That sign: the cross. Out of love God sent his Son to the cross to bear our sins. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we have the hope and promise of eternal life. Let us live this day and everyday with our focus on the now empty cross, remembering that it is a sign of new life in Christ.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19-20.

Let us pray: God of mercy, as we journey through this time of Lent help us to seek you in ways that draw us closer to you and deepen our faith. You have claimed us as your own; boldly may we proclaim your love in our actions and in our words. In your everlasting name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

I’m starting with the words of Jesus today. As some of your already know, my grandma Erma died last Thursday. Yesterday at her funeral those tender loving words of Jesus were read. Words filled with comfort and hope.

As I look back on the past few days I am moved to tears by the love, prayers, words, actions and support of not only those I have seen face to face, but also from those afar. I have been so moved by the timing of many of the e-mails and phone calls that I have received, arriving just when I needed them. Bringing comfort and hope to my grieving heart.

Through the yoke of Christ we are united as brothers and sisters in him. He carries the burdens of us all and calls us to carry the burdens of one another. Trusting that in him our souls can find rest. Thank you, dear Jesus.

I will end with verses from Romans. A caring friend sent them to me over the weekend. He as well as the rest of you reading this are blessings in my life. To each of you I say thank you, thank you for allowing me to share my heart with you each week and for being a part of my life. Together we journey……..yoked at children of God.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-29.

Let us pray: God of comfort and hope, you have called your daughter Erma home into your eternal care. We give you thanks for her life and the many ways she touched our lives. You know our grief and sorrow as well as the grief and sorrow of all your children. Remind our hearts that through the resurrection of your dear Son that we have the hope and promise of one day being united in heaven with you. In your glorious and everlasting name we pray. Amen

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

My journey to church Sunday morning was uneventful. The roads had been cleared of last weekend’s snow, so travel was easy. The journey home was quite different. While we worshiped, the wind had caused fallen snow to drift across the highway. In the open where the wind blew freely, the road had become snow packed and very slick. Yet once I began my decent down a hill not far from church, the road was clear. The trees and hills had sheltered the road from the wind.

Without warning, the winds of life can blow across the road upon which we journey. Suddenly, what once was a clear route has become slippery and dangerous. But there is hope. There is a shelter waiting for us where those winds cannot reach us. It is when we take refuge in God that we find shelter from those winds. There we can become renewed and empowered to face whatever blows our way. No wind is ever too powerful for God. He is our fortress, our rock.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

Let us pray: God of refuge, enable our hearts to see that it is when we dwell in you we will find the strength needed to face the winds of life and that as we move forward in faith, with you at our side, nothing is impossible. In you everlasting name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Sunday morning Kenny and I began a journey. But just a few miles outside of Fremont we knew we would not reach our intended destination. The falling snow and winds were creating white out conditions as well as slick and drifting roads. We turned around and headed home, unable to complete our journey.

Our lives are filled with journeys and destinations. At times on our journeys, plans change. People or events can cause us to fail to reach our destinations.

This Wednesday we begin our Lenten journey. Our destination: the foot of the cross. It is there at Christ’s feet we can unburden our hearts and souls. We can let go of all that weighs us down. It is there we find mercy, grace, and peace.

As we begin our Lenten journey we can trust that we never make the journey alone. Jesus walks with us, helping us to find our way to the cross. It was there that he died for you and for me. Giving us the assurance that one day we will reach our final destination, our eternal home.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51: 1-2,10

Let us pray: Merciful God, as we begin this journey to the cross help us to slow down, to look into our hearts and to empty them of all that takes our focus off of you. Fill our hearts with a passion for serving you, to give to those in need hope. In your name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Each day we see hundreds of images. On our computers, televisions, cell phones, billboards, store windows, just to name a few. These images can mean nothing to us at times and then there are times when an image speaks to us in ways unexpected.

While attending a conference recently many images appeared on the screen as the speaker gave her presentation. But one image has stuck with me and I continue to reflect on it.

It is the image of an old stone well with stones inside of it. The speaker told us the stones and grit are the things in our lives that cause us to fill in our inner beings, our wells. They are the things that separate us from God.

Often we have the image of God reaching down to us. This time it is reversed. God is reaching up to us. He dwells in the depth of our being, the wellspring of life. And he reaches up through those stones to draw us down. Way down, deep inside ourselves where we can be renewed by the life sustaining waters of our baptism. We must simply be still. God will take it from there.

“Be still, and know that I am God;” Psalm 46:10a

Let us pray: God of all life, so often we separate ourselves from you through our actions and words. Without knowing it we fill in our wells. Reach up through the rocks, stones, and boulders that separate us from you and draw us deep down into our being where the waters of your endless love can splash over us and wash off the grit and grime of our lives. In your glorious name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

My web browser shut down the other day while I was looking up some things on my computer. When I restarted it, the only way I was allowed to go further was to type in my password. Without my password I would be denied access.

Our lives have become filled with pin numbers, access codes, passwords, and more. All ways to hopefully keep our private information secure. But at times we forget those numbers and letters and are denied access.

Thankfully with God there is no need for codes, numbers, or passwords. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have been given total access to God’s love. Nothing can separate us from his love. Our hearts and souls are secure with him now and for all eternity.

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

Let us pray: Gracious God, with you we are secure, no matter what happens to us in this life, nothing can separate us from you. Help us to see what a gift we have been given, set free to live as your children, filled with hope, and reflectors of your love. In your everlasting name we pray. Amen

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

This past Saturday it warmed up enough so that the snow started to melt. Water began flowing along the curb towards the drain at the end of our street. But there was a problem. The end of our neighbor’s driveway was covered with packed ice. And snow from when they cleared the street filled the curb. The water was halted there. It wasn’t long before we had a small lake forming in front of our house.

Kenny and our son Mark took shovels and went along cutting and chipping a trench in the ice and snow so the water could have a new path to follow. Soon the water was flowing again. It was following a new path to its destination.

How are things going on your path? Are they flowing smoothly or does it feel like you have come upon an ice packed snow back.

Maybe that snow bank is God trying to redirect us. That he has a need for us on a different path. Sometimes we have to stop and remember that it is not always about us, but God at work through us. That he leads us onto certain path to be his hands for him.

We need not know what lies ahead. If we did we would start relying on ourselves instead of God. God will show us the way. He will give us the faith needed as well as the gifts necessary for the paths upon which he has chosen to leads us. Paths that will ultimately lead us to our final destination.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3.

Let us pray: Loving God, you and only you knows what lies ahead. You sent your Son to bear our sins and your Spirit to lead us on right paths, paths that may at times seem overwhelming. Fill us with trust and hope so that as we journey step by step we can bring glory and praise to your name though our witness to the Light, Jesus Christ our Shepherd and King. In your glorious name we pray. Amen.

With love and prayers,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

We are once again blanketed by dense fog here in eastern Nebraska, making it more difficult for those on the road to find their way to their destinations.

There are times in our lives when we feel like we are fogged in. We struggle to understand why things happen as they do. We can lose sight of our destination.

But there is a beacon of hope that can cut through even the thickest of fogs. That beacon is Jesus. He is the light of the world and nothing, not even death, can extinguish his light.

By faith we are able move forward. We can trust that the light of Jesus will guide our steps whether we are fogged in or can see the path clearly. He remains by our side as we journey homeward to our eternal destination.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

Let us pray: Loving God, we give thanks and praise for your unending love, mercy, grace, and peace. Help us to see that in the midst of all the death and destruction, the light of your Son shines even brighter. Show us the way and use us to bring hope and comfort to those who are suffering. Help us to always be a light to those in the darkness. In your everlasting name we pray. Amen.

I would also like to say to my dear Wartburg Seminary friends reading this, that you all remain in my heart and my prayers as you grieve the loss Ben Larson, beloved child of God whose light will continue to shine through his music and the many lives he has touched. May God give you and his loved ones strength and courage for days ahead.

With love and prayers from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

It will be some time before we can remove the Christmas decorations from our front yard. With each new snowfall the wind has caused the snow to drift in around everything. Until the sun melts the snow away, the decorations will remain frozen where they are.

Life is filled with distractions. And like the blowing snow those distractions can quickly drift in around us. They can cause us to become “frozen” where we are, to lose our focus. Thankfully, we need only to look up to the Son. He will melt away the fears and doubts that can rob us of our focus. Then we are able to continue on the path before us. The path filled with the light of Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Let us pray: Loving God, you sent your Son to be the Light for the world. When we struggle, become lost and confused, help us to look up and to feel the warmth of your Son’s love shining down on us, as he lights the way home to you. In your everlasting name we pray. Amen.

With love from the heart,

Diane

Greetings dear friends and family,

Happy New Day! No, it’s not a mistake. I’m wishing you a Happy New Day.

Each and every morning we receive a new beginning, a fresh start to a new day. It is a gift from God. Like the thick new blanket of snow that now covers our back yard, we too are covered. We are covered by the warm and loving blanket of God’s mercy and grace. Unlike the blanket of snow, God’s blanket will not melt away. His love covers us for all eternity.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians13:13

Let us pray: Loving God, each day we begin anew, blanketed by your merciful love. Help us to remember that you have given us faith enough for the journey that we are on and that our hope lies with you. May we love as you have loved us. In your name we pray. Amen.

Have a blessed Happy New Day today and every day.

With love and prayers from the heart,

Diane