Encouraging Thoughts for the New Year

My meditation for this last day of 2012 was from Psalm 68:19. It popped into my head during my quiet time this morning. In the King James version (the version I'd memorized) it says...

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

I've always loved this verse; it brought pictures to my mind of God loading my life with good things--much in the same way that I load the back of my Jeep up with groceries at the market. So I decided to research further and see what these 'benefits' might be. I checked my parallel Bible to see how the verse reads in other translations. I must admit, at first I was a little disappointed. (For you scholars out there...when the KJV Bible italicizes words, you know that the italicized words were added by the translators for clarification and were not a part of the original Hebrew or Greek text. This is why its good to study scripture in many translations.) The Amplified translation more correctly reads...

Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation. Pause and calmly think about that!

What!!! No backing my Jeep  up to Heaven's back door and loading it up with blessings???  I was a crestfallen.

The Still Small Voice said, "No, something infinitely better. I have committed to be in your life each and every day. To carry you through whatever circumstance you are in, and to shoulder the burden of your human limitations for you."

Wow! I decided to take the Psalmist's advice and pause to calmly think about that! (That's what 'selah' means.) It means that on the brink of a brand New Year, I (and you) can expect God's abiding presence in all 365 days of 2013. It means that when I'm troubled or worried or distressed, He promises to carry the load for me. It means quite simply that-- He's got my back! Your's too, if you'll accept it.

And that, my dear ones, is why I can say to you "Happy, Happy New Year!"

Go forward confidently friends...You are so very blessed!

***

I'm back sort of...

Whew! Just a quick update to say I've been INCOMMUNICADO because my laptop is not speaking to my router, which in turn is not speaking to me because I forgot my password. My hubby was almost not speaking to me either; just because I pushed one tiny little button on our ancient PC. I still don't think I froze it up like he said! But what goes around comes around...our internet provider it seems, has decided not to speak to hubby..they dumped his call after being on hold for half a day! However after all of this non communicatin' it came to me like a lightning-bolt: the Voice said "Deb, all you need is love-and if that don't work; download a Blogger app! So I'm back a bloggin' via my smartphone! Hope y'all are still speaking to me!

Gloomy December Greetings

The Pacific Northwest is gloomy in the winter. But with the gloominess comes a certain serenity and introspection. It' a time to be pensive; to think about things. Oh yes I do love the sun, but I would not trade my gloomy Decembers for sun-filled ones. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Many  a damp Saturday mornings will find us in the woods with our labrador retriever. He loves to race over brambles and logs; sniffing deeply the scent of rabbits and squirrel. I love the walk for different reasons...the heady smell of fern and moss beneath my boots, a single maple leaf floating silently to the ground, and the sound of Canadian geese calling out to one another...we watch them sail over the treetops and then they are gone. And then it is quiet in the woods once more. Maybe this is why I decided not to make my home all Victorian fru-fru this Christmas season. I want need something more simple.

Oh yes, the grandchildren set up the Nutcracker Village on the armoire in my living room. And the Christmas tree is adorned with jewel-colored lights this year. (Albeit I must admit to not having put a single ornament on it this year, except for the one that Isabella made for me for my birthday with her very own little hands.)

But my family room, the place where we really live is different. Just a few select items here...a wooden nativity, a woodsy centerpiece and perhaps a few sprigs of fir. And three bark-wrapped candles sit on the kitchen eating nook. When lit they remind me of the Trinity...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Blessings to you this gloomy December!

 May He lighten your darkness and warm your hearts this holiday season...and may you always sense His abiding Peace.