Neighborly Love

April 22, 20197 Comments

When I was a kid every evening after dinner everyone in our neighborhood would come outside to the front of their homes. Most of the adults would be hanging out on their porches visiting with one another and us kids would be riding our bikes or playing games like wiffle ball or tag in the middle of the street. Everyone seemed to know and like each.

Nowadays, people seem to be a lot busier and don’t tend to hang out on their front porches like they used to but, no matter where I’ve lived I have always managed to get to know most of my neighbors and I realize that though they have all been different they still always have two things in common –Neighbors are an important part of one another’s lives and neighborly love is something that I have always been a part of.

Neighbors are the familiar that surrounds you when you go outside of your home and somehow they make you feel secure when you’re on the inside your home too.

Neighbors watch over one another’s children and homes, keep an eye on packages delivered, and help one another fix things. I’ve had neighbors borrow eggs, butter, and sugar and they’ve returned the favor back to me also. I even had a neighbor once who text messaged me pictures of a family of turkeys that she saw hanging out in my front yard. I would have missed them had she not messaged me!

Neighbors somehow feel like an extension of my own family.

About a year and a half ago, after living in the same neighborhood for 18 years, my husband and I moved. Though I was excited about our new adventure I was also a little sad about leaving our old neighborhood behind. Our first summer here our next door neighbor started bringing us homegrown tomatoes from their garden. Their kindness continued all summer long. They then went away on vacation toward the end of the summer and told us we could come over and pick all the tomatoes we wanted while they were gone! Those homegrown tomatoes were not only yummy but most importantly they were a gesture of kindness that made us feel welcomed and also let us know that we were also a part of our new neighborhood family.

Jesus told us to –“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31 NIV)

My whole life I have been a part of neighborly love even before I knew Jesus told us to love them.

I really can’t imagine going through my life without having a neighborhood family.

How about you? Do you have a neighborhood family? How have you experienced neighborly love? Do you have a special neighbor or what is so special about your neighborhood? Share a line or two about your neighbors in the comment section below… or better yet if you have written a blog post about neighbors go ahead and share the link.

Since this post today is about sharing neighborly love I would like to invite you to leave via -> this link to Compassion International’s website. When you click the link you will find out how you can share neighborly love with a child in a neighboring country by helping to protect them from Malaria. There is no obligation so please on your way out go check it out!

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

Don’t forget to leave a comment I am looking forward to hearing your stories!

Taking the Leap

February 23, 2019February 23, 2019Leave a comment

I have 3 grandsons. The two older boys are close in age, 7 and 8, and the youngest is 3. Whatever the two oldest boys are doing the little one is not far behind trying to keep up.

A few weeks ago, as they were leaving my house, my daughter opened the door for them to go to the car the 2 older boys sprang out of the door like they had lightning bolts on their feet. For one split second, the youngest had a bit of worry on his face quickly replaced by determination as he leaped into action and began running to catch up with his older brothers.

Even though he is the little guy his split decision to leap into action left me realizing that to him his size didn’t matter, and he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from keeping up with his older brothers.

He had complete faith that he had what it took to keep up with the big guys.

Wouldn’t it be great if we adults had that sort of faith?

I think our years of getting knocked down by life sometimes stops us from trying out the harder stuff. Sometimes we even freeze up on the stuff God asks us to do to, never taking a leap of faith to trust him to give us what we need to accomplish it.

In my grandson’s case when mom saw the older boys running ahead, she told them to wait, meaning for them to wait for her, but in the second that they waited little brother was able to catch up. He didn’t care that mom making his older brothers wait was the reason he’d caught up. All that mattered to him was that he was right beside the big boys and his little face was beaming with joy to show that he was now a part of the big boy club even though he was just a little guy.

What would it look like if we adults had that same kind of faith like a child? What would it feel like to be presented an opportunity by God to do something harder than we think we have abilities to do and then we then took the leap of faith and we succeeded?

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Think about this – What joy are you missing right now because you are afraid to take that leap?

Ice Storm

January 14, 20172 Comments

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

Breakfast with a Stranger

May 23, 201614 Comments

“Are you Christians?”

I stopped talking to my friend and looked over to see a young man looking at us as if waiting for an answer.

“Are you talking to us?” I said.

“Yes… are you Christians?” he asked again.

“Yes we are,” I replied.

“I knew it,” he said and then he began telling us that he had lived his whole life for God and that even though he had done that, a whole lot of bad stuff had still happened to him.

It was very obvious that he was very upset with God, the church, and Christians.

Before speaking to us he had already spoken to other people in the room and they had all told him to go away. Now even though he didn’t know us he kept rambling on and on, telling us what seemed to be his whole life story. Most of what he was saying was really uncomfortable to take and no matter what we said to try to make him feel better he still kept rambling.

The man was also very strange and he was loud. To be honest he made me feel extremely uncomfortable and also embarrassed because he was drawing the attention of others in the room. Also, I really didn’t have a clue as to what I could have to say that would have been of any help to him. After about 10 minutes of his rambling, like the others who had sent him away, I too was wishing this guy would go away.

His stuff was hard, WAY too hard…. and the truth is this wasn’t the conversation I had envisioned myself having this morning over breakfast.

Today I was having breakfast with my best friend who had moved away last year. She had been back in town for a couple of days for family business and we had planned to get together this morning for breakfast before she went back home. I had been really looking forward to this visit with my best friend.

The plan had been girl talk over breakfast but now instead of my friend and I chit chatting about our lives there was a complete stranger telling us about his life!

A lot of what he said was uncomfortable and also very disturbing to me. He told us that he had been to several churches in our area seeking help and answers about God. From what he told us, it looked as if instead of them sharing God’s love with him he was looked down on and given a bunch of rules of which he had been unable to follow. And now it was pretty obvious that he was coming down pretty hard on himself for his inability to be the ‘perfect’ person that he believed God expected him to be.

This all made me feel sad.

This man was hurting and when he had turned to the church for help he had been pushed away and made to believe that he was not good enough for God.

Our whole breakfast was spent talking to him, and though we tried our best to help him. unfortunately a lot of what he said we really had no answers for.

Eventually, it was time for us to leave. so we told him goodbye and went on our way, but when I got in my car to go to work suddenly this feeling came over me that I should have prayed with the man. A few seconds later my friend called me and we began talking about our experience with the man and we both admitted that we had wanted to hang out with each other instead of talking to him I then mentioned to my friend how the feeling that I should have prayed with him had come over me. She said if I felt that way maybe I should go back.

When she said that suddenly I knew I had to go back.

But I didn’t want to go back! Uggh it would be so uncomfortable and what would I say??

“Just go back” kept running through my head.

Reluctantly, I made a quick turnaround and as I did the giant tea that I had just bought tipped over and dumped all over the floor of my car. I pulled into a parking spot wanting to clean up the mess but I knew the mess had to wait because I had a strong urgency going through me that I needed to get back inside the restaurant right then.

I know this sounds crazy but its true.

As I started walking back into the restaurant I could see him sitting by himself in the back with his head down. I felt nervous, with a feeling of how embarrassing this could be… what if he said no?… I don’t pray out loud well…what will I pray about?? Tons of things were going through my head but then suddenly a feeling of boldness came over me so kept going. As I walked through the restaurant I could hear a hush come over the room as every person around him quit talking. These were the same people who had told him to go away and now I could feel every eye on me as I walked back toward him. He still wasn’t looking up and as I began to speak it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. “Hi … um Z__,” he looked up at me as I said, “would you mind if I prayed with you?”

He seemed a little stunned but said, “Well… I guess you could do that.” So I reached out and took his hands and prayed.

When we were finished I opened my eyes and saw that his eyes were filled with tears and then he said this to me… “God told me to come here today and he told me you were going to be here. Thank you for coming.”

God told him I was going to be here today???!

I really didn’t know what to say but I heard the words “your welcome” come out of my mouth.

Even though I left the man in the restaurant this morning, I somehow feel as if he has stayed with me all day.

God told the man I was going to be there today and I had almost missed it!

After I got back to my car I remembered the dumped tea. I had thought the carpet would be ruined for sure by that time but for some strange reason, all I had to do was shake off the floor mat. The tea didn’t sink into the carpet at all but hopefully, the lesson I learned today will sink deeply into my brain.

Since today is Music Monday I want to share a song with you that I feel goes really well with this story and is also one of my favorites right now.

I hope you enjoy — Christ in Me by Jeremy Camp.

Have a great week!

A Time to Rest

December 1, 20154 Comments

As she was blow drying her hair she happened to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Suddenly she stopped drying her hair and took a closer look.

She didn’t like what she saw in her reflection today.

Instead of the young joyful person she used to be, today her reflection showed a worn out and tired looking old woman.

She suddenly realized what she saw in her reflection was for real… this was really her and YES she was truly exhausted!

How did she get to this place? When did she become so exhausted? And why did she look so old and worn out?? Not to long ago she was doing great. She even had pictures of herself that proved it. Not too long ago her outside appearance had shown a reflection of the joy she had felt on the inside. But now as she looked in the mirror today her outside reflection was showing a totally different person.

When had it happened? Could it really be possible that in such a short amount of time her life had changed so drastically? The answer to that question was yes. In the blink of an eye the way she saw her world had changed. She used to think she was ready for this sort of thing, but from the way she was feeling inside and now in looking at her reflection in the mirror she didn’t like what she was seeing.

Looking at her reflection she realized her outward appearance reflected the downward spiral she was on. When had she given up? This wasn’t the sort of person she was. She had never been a quitter but today she realized that’s exactly what she had done.

She had quit.

Somewhere along the line she unconsciously had made the decision to give up, but today she knew it was time to stand back up.

It was time to make a change but to change she had a new choice to make…

She could continue to be a victim to her circumstances and continue on this downward spiral, or she could make the decision to grab on to the hand that had been reaching out to help her.

Today she decided it was time to stop fighting alone, because fighting alone wasn’t doing anything at all except exhausting her.

Today she realized it was time for her to rest in the arms of the one who would help her fight this fight or better yet fight this fight for her.

It was time to stop worrying about what may or may not happen and instead live in this moment right here right now.

This moment may still be hard and yes it may still be painful, but she didn’t have to live in it alone.

Today she was tired but she finally knew it was time…

Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.

Today it was time for her to REST in the arms of her Savior.

Are you going through a hard time right now? Is life making you tired? Or maybe you have already given up? You don’t have to go through any of this alone. Jesus is waiting for you. You can take his hand or if you want to you can dive into His arms. Both are open wide and He is ready to help you, all you have to do is come…. Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28

Breaking Through the Clouds

November 7, 20158 Comments

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

I recently went on a trip and on my way home I had a short layover in Atlanta. As the plane taxied down the runway for the last leg of the journey back to St. Louis I noticed it was a drizzley dark day.

As the plane began lifting off the ground rain drops slide across the window. The clouds were so thick that you couldn’t see anything outside at all.

Within only a matter of a just a few minutes the clouds surrounding the plane started becoming a little brighter and soon the plane was breaking through and was soon on top of the clouds as sunshine streamed through the windows.

What had been dark just moments ago was now magnificently bright!

This reminds me of how it is when Jesus saves a life.

Without Jesus life can be a pretty dark place, but once you let Him in immediately that darkness begins to change. His light starts filtering through the darkness making things become brighter and brighter until suddenly you see yourself beginning to break through the clouds that surround you. Eventually finding yourself reaching the place on top where his great light shines magnificently bright and the darkness is now left far far behind!

What a great place to be!

If you don’t know Jesus and would like more information you can contact me via email at tluvs2trvl@gmail.com. No pressure at all just the information you request.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

We are God’s Handiwork

August 21, 20154 Comments

We see the work of God’s hands in the world around us each and every day. From the beauty of a field of flowers, to the waves of the ocean lapping at the edges of white powdered sand beaches, to the beautiful colors that lavish the sky each day as the sunrises and sets. All of which are masterpieces created by the master creator of all. As you begin your day, don’t forget who you are and that YOU also are the work of his hands which means YOU my friend are a masterpiece created by God.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Have a wonderful day,

Was I Invited?

August 16, 20159 Comments

Today I was doing my Bible study ‘He Speaks to Me’ by Priscilla Shirer‘ and I came across a part that really struck me. It was about emotion and how we can get really excited about things and allow our emotions to get in the way. It talked about how sometimes we get so caught up in our emotion that we may say yes to a project that the Holy Spirit hadn’t planned for us to participate in at that time.

I am not sure that I ever thought of this before, but now that I have read this, I can see how true that could be. I also know how easy it is to feel flattered when someone asks me to do something and there have been times that I just wanted to immediately say yes. I can also see how there may be times when we weren’t even asked to be a part of something but we might try to finagle our way in because we really want to be a part of it. And then we also have those times that we may invite ourselves just because we think we are the only one who could possibly do it right.

I then had the thought….If it’s not God’s plan for me to participate and I decide to participate anyway what could the consequences end up being?

If God has a plan for each and every one of us and we are off doing things that he didn’t plan on us participating in, who is going to do what he has planned for us to do? Also who might we be pushing out of the way that God had planned to be there in the first place?

Are we capable of messing up the God’s plan? Or slowing it down? Or does God just rethink his plan eventually allowing us to see in the end that we were not where we were supposed to be and allow us to learn a lesson the hard way.

I am a little embarrassed to say that there have been times that I have jumped in where God did not plan for me to be… and I have done this on more than one occasion.

I think we all have times that we really want to be a part of something we were not supposed to be a part of or we think our way is the best way of doing something. But the truth is we need to pray about everything we do, AlWAYS. Period. Because God’s way is the only way that will work in the end.

Unfortunately there are going to be times that we may want to be invited, but will realize that we were not invited by the Holy Spirit to participate; and those are the times we need to just step back and let go.

Each and every one of us has a job to do, and sometimes the first part of that job may be to just let go. I have a feeling that once we let go and realize we were not invited to that project, we will soon find out we were invited somewhere even better than we could have ever have imagined.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight

Have a wonderful day,

Church on the Beach

August 13, 20151 Comment

I took these pictures last Sunday morning while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.
I couldn’t go to church that day because my husband and I had to catch an early flight home. Since our resort was on the the ocean I decided to go to watch the sunrise on the beach. As I watched the sky change from dark to light I could feel God’s presence surrounding me and as the day began to dawn, suddenly it dawned on me that I didn’t have to be at church to have church. I realized I can have church anywhere that I happen to be, because God is always with me wherever I am. So I had church right there on the beach that morning. No building, no pastor or music were needed and there wasn’t anyone else there except just me and God. I watched his glory unfold before my eyes as he painted the sky, with beautiful color and brilliant light. It was a moment that seemed to be specially made for worship in my own private church on the beach.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23