Writing and Art From A Life Redeemed by Jesus Christ

Bitter before sweet.  Most of daily life in one way or another reminds me of scripture. Lately I have considered the process of dehydration.  In our daily walk with God it is all about hydration!  Receiving the life giving water of The Word, staying full of Him and His Spirit.  But the beautiful blueberries I was working with reminded me of pride, a work of the flesh.  The opposite fruit of what God desires to be manifested in His children.  Pride can be very deceiving, but when heat is applied it manifests in its element.  So I consider the blueberry and the dehydration process to shrink its appearance and the bringing out of a different form of beauty in it....wrinkles and all! I am dehydrating blue berries and the smell in the house is terrible.  The berries are beautifully plump and need to be reduced to the size of a raisin.  I have always thought blueberries smelled delicious, but I have only smelled them when they were fresh or...

I have memories of cold mornings as a child where my mom woke me up to dress me for school. It was always dark and cold outside on these mornings. Her efforts to draw me from the warm blanket lined nest met limp resistance as she coaxed me to get ready for school. I remember the fuzzy image of her drawing me forward and encouraging me to get up as I was lifted out of the nest to start a morning routine.  My goal at six years of age was to escape as quickly as possible to the warm nest again!  There she would find me and proceed to dress me as I lay on my back trying unsuccessfully to go back to sleep.  Some mornings a warm cloth was used to wipe the sleep from my eyes to facilitate cooperation with the wake up process. I can still hear her voice as she instructed me to cooperate as she slid my socks on my small feet.  Next a shirt and pants or a dress and tights were put on my small frame. Then came the shoes after I was pulled to a seated po...

Have you ever had someone ask you where something is and you tell them where "the something " is and they tell you it's not there? So you give them more detailed instructions as to the location.  Yet they still tell you that they have looked, but that they still don't see it or that it is not there.   Well sometimes they are correct and what they are looking for is not there, it is somewhere else. But sometimes we are just not looking . When you want to find something that is important to you, you need to "Look"! When something does not appear readily obvious, you may need to adjust some things. Obstacles may need to be moved or removed. If you are a person given to details and structure this advice will seem naturally obvious.   But be patient, not all people see things as you do. So what are you looking for? Diligence will help get the job done. ~Debbie Luke 15:8  Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one...