Sunday Sabbath February 21 2016  A DAY OF REST

A quick hello to tell everyone I survived the party.  My house survived the party.  Two little boys and two big boys survived the party.  But oh boy, can they create quite a ruckus!  Especially, when the little boys want to wrestle with the big boys, and the big boys want to wrestle with the little boys.  I can’t quite figure out just who the biggest kids are?  All I know is that Zach, at eight years old, is getting too strong to wrestle with the “older” generation.  And two, three, or four bodies take up a lot of room.  And the noise enters another decibel level.  And we two women just talk over the cacophony of grunts and giggles and Amy prays that no one gets hurt (as I pray that NOTHING OF VALUE gets destroyed.)  All’s well that ends well.  The evening ended well, but it was a lot of fun for the big boys and the little boys. 

Today is the first Sunday night service at our church which will continue from this point forward.  The service will be a repeat of the two morning services.  Dave and I would like to support this endeavor, and even though we will attend the early A.M. service, we would like to be present for at least the first night of the P.M. service.  This service is to be an outreach to the University of Wisconsin, Madison campus.  I hope it is a successful outreach.

Today I am just checking in to let my faithful readers know that I am taking the afternoon off from writing my blog due to the fact that my day will be so short and I have much rest to do.  I was trying to figure out what I absolutely needed to do so I could tell you how busy I am, but I decided I am not going to do anything but cook and rest.  I need to come down from the past few days of anticipation and excitement.

A DAY OF REST

By Kathleen Martens

February 21, 2016

A day of rest

To replenish

And refill my reservoir.

A day of rest

To finish

And restore.

A day of rest

In silence sweet

To contemplate.

A day of rest

The Lord to meet.

And on him wait.

Have a wonderful Sunday Sabbath!

Friday February 19 2016  A DAY OF RECOVERY

Today is someone else’s birthday.  It is no longer mine.  It is a good thing because I don’t think I could handle two birthday days in a row.  Instead, I must use some of today to cook, clean, and prepare for tomorrow’s birthday party (so you see my birthday is not quite over yet), and the remainder of the day to recuperate from yesterday’s saga.  The entire day yesterday was delightful, even going back to pick up my credit card.  Dave did not complain one iota.  Tomorrow should be fun too because we’ll get to be with our family.  I’ll have the house all decorated with balloons and Valentine décor (which was last Sunday’s theme) so it should be festive and colorful.  Martha Steward I AM NOT, but it is fun trying.

I was up quite late last evening writing yesterday’s blog so I would have everything fresh in my mind.  There was so much more I could have written about but it would probably have made you realize that it was just the random thoughts of “the elderly”.  And so perhaps they would have been.  My blog is the voice I want to be heard, and I write whether anyone reads it or not. Someday my written words will become pictures of the past.  My grandchildren will someday be able to read about their childhood written from grandma’s point of view written in real time. My children will have stories written from the perspective of what I remember first hand.  My blog pages may not seem important in the present, but perhaps someday my family will find pleasure in reading them.  When the elderly pass away, so many stories, so many memories, die with them.  I wish I had my mother’s stories in writing.  I do have her journals but she wrote only about day to day life (which is a story in itself) but she rarely bared her heart and soul to her pen.

When I write personal, hand written journals, I more easily let it all hang out.  I must be a bit more tasteful and “correct” if I am going to write for an audience.  I realize that.  Not all laundry needs to be hung out in public.  But, to my chagrin, I find that even though I hope I am being tactful, I often compose words that others (mostly my family) do not think worth saying, or should simply not be printed.  And that is okay too.  I like hearing from those who think differently.  Never do I intend to come across in my blog as my way is the only way.  It is not.  It is just my view of things from my perspective.  I learned a long time ago that I don’t agree with the way many others believe, or think, or the choices they make for their lives.  Does it stop me from being their friend or from loving them?  Absolutely not!  I know that it is okay to disagree.  We are all different, come from different backgrounds, and though we may even do some of the same things, we do them unalike.  Please don’t think that because I am giving my opinion about a topic that I expect another should do it just like I do.  I do apologize if I have stepped on any toes.  But…I will keep speaking my own voice, my own opinions, and telling about my own experiences.  Who know, just as some may be turned off by what I voice, others may be enlightened by the same words.  The intent of my heart is to write words that will build up, not tear down.  My goal is to give hope to a world that is falling apart in so many ways.  My hope is to reach out and touch a life for the better.  I know I cannot fix the world, but if I even help one person, by my touch, by my action or through my words, I will not have lived in vain.

I love writing, for myself, for my readers, for God, for the peace and release it brings to my soul, and to hopefully leave a legacy behind that in years to come will still touch a heart that I may never know.  What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL FACE

By Kathleen Martens

February 19, 2016

Who we are in body form

Is but the casing of our soul.

The true self only exists

In that illusive inner hole.

Others see the outside casing,

The part that decays and crumbles,

And often ignores the aged one,

Who now is old and mumbles.

But if one would stop and look

And view with spiritual eyes,

They would see the inner being,

The share that never dies.

Often so misunderstood

Until experienced firsthand,

Though our body will grow old,

Our spirit always stands.

But alas, the young don’t see

Beyond the beautiful face

That the true test of time

Is found in the inner space.

I will go and cook, and rest, and clean, and rest some more.

God bless you on this cold, wind-howling day.  It feels like a storm is coming.  It is supposed to be in the 50’s by tomorrow.

GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU!

Wednesday February 17 2016  WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY

The house is quiet.  I am alone…Sounds like the opening lines for a sinister mystery novel.  However, a mystery novel it is not.  Alas, it is only my Wednesday blog.

I decided to tackle my blog early this morning so as to clear my day from anything which will distract me later.  Remember, this is my day to plunge in and work without interruption.  Dave is at the barber.  He then will go and exercise, come home and shower, eat lunch (which is already prepared), and leave again for his afternoon session that takes place each week.  And WALA!  My day is quiet.  And again, I find myself hoping that God is not laughing at that comment!

So, what is happening today?  I plan to continue culling my office.  It is actually a very selfish endeavor due to the fact that I need my work-space back.  I need my file drawers emptied so I can start organizing my manuscripts and poetry.  I need my computer accessible so I can work in my office without all the clutter.  I work much better in neat, organized surroundings.  And that hasn’t happened for quite a while.

So here goes.  Now, what to write?  I asked my husband that very same question this morning as we talked in the twilight of our bedroom, snuggled under the warm blankets. (It is so hard to get up in a cold room on these frosty mornings).   He came up with two topics.  The first topic was “The joy of working” and the second topic I can’t remember at the moment.  So maybe I’ll go with the “Joy of working”. 

The joy of working sounds like an erroneous topic for a new retiree to write about.  And I actually have no idea what will twinkle out of this keyboard as my fingers race across the keys.  Which reminds me, when I was entering my first year of high school (10^th grade for me) we were offered one elective the first semester.  I was determined to be in the first semester of typing.  More than anything I wanted to learn to type.  I was saving my babysitting money to purchase an IBM SELECTRIC TYPEWRITER, the kind with the little round ball with all the letters on it.  As you typed, the ball would rotate and the correct letter would be imprinted onto the page.  That was the day of ink ribbons.  And it was really sophisticated!  The ribbon had a black strip AND A WHITE STRIP so you could make corrections!  How’s that for technology?

If I didn’t learn to type, I would not be able to submit TYPED HOMEWORK REPORTS.  That seemed like a very impressive thing to do.  The type writer cost about $200 dollars and that was a small fortune for me.  My mom paid upfront for a big portion of it and I worked faithfully to pay back every single dollar.  I knew that much money was a fortune to her too.  Well, I did get into the typing class that first semester and from then on all my homework was typed.  For some reason typing came easily for me.  I was very exacting as I learned each finger movement.  I practiced and practiced until it was imprinted as a permanent pattern in my brain.  Now, did I make mistakes?  You bet I did.  That white ribbon was put to good use!  Do I still make mistakes?  You bet I do.  And sometimes it take two or three times of proof reading to even see them.

And what does my typewriter have to do with the joy of working?  For me, it meant if I had a job that required typing, it was not really work to me.  I simply loved to type. I have loved it ever since.  I am so thankful that my arthritic fingers still allow me to type without problems.  I cannot bend some of my fingers, but with hand movements all the keys are accessible, and I can still type rather swiftly.  The hand surgeon I see has suggested on a couple of visits that I have my finger joints fused to eliminate the pain in my fingers.  I would rather type and have pain, than not type, and have no pain.  It is not usually painful to type.  With other tasks I am not quite so fortunate.  But I can still type and that is what matters to me.

I believe one fact that denotes “JOY IN WORKING” is having the proper tools with which to work.  There is nothing more frustrating than having a job assigned to you that needs certain items or tools to complete and not having the correct implements in which to carry out the job.  Whether it be cooking, writing, photography, phone work, building, medical, cleaning, or any other kind of work, if you don’t have what you need to do the job, you are prone to be more frustrated than joyful.  There is not much joy when the tools, time, or space is not available.  Especially when the employer is expecting you do a top notch job, regardless of your limitations.  That can even translate into the category of working with computers.  When there are constant technical failures, the lack of your accessibility to the internet can cause great distress.  If you want to know the opposite of joy, I would call it COMPUTER FAILURE when a deadline is looming.  Deadlines don’t wait.  Bosses don’t wait.  There is absolutely no joy in working on that day.  Dave has had several frustrating such days when computer or phone malfunction threw off all schedules and timelines.  Not a good day.  Not a good evening.  Not much joy.

I suppose “Joy in working” could be summarized as being different for everyone.  When it comes down to the nitty   gritty, I suppose the greatest joy in working would be to have employment.  No matter what kind of job, how dirty, how grueling, whether or not you have the proper tools, to simply have a job, might result in the greatest joy of all.  Especially in the economy we live in.  Whether it is working for a wage, or having your own business that supports you, just the simple fact of working is joyful to many.  Even if it is not the job of your dreams, being able to eat and pay for living expenses can be the stepping stone to the next level.  And perhaps the most important aspect of having joy in working is the attitude you choose.  Even having a less than desirable job, if you have a good attitude, can create joy in your life and give you hope for the future.  Being content in the moment can create joy in whatever you are doing.  And you may even find your joy is contagious to others.

I find great joy in my work here at home.  Perhaps others do not see what I do as work.  Perhaps the definition of work has a new meaning for me now that I don’t compete in the market place and do not go out into the big bad world.  I have decided that what I define as my work, is that which must absolutely be done before I can do what I really want to do.  I would prefer to sleep in everyday and wake up without an alarm, whether it be 4:30 a.m. or 6:30 a.m.  I would prefer to put my energy toward organizing all my writing and selecting what I want to go into my first book (which I hope to finish by December), I would love to work on my own photo collection from my life and trip, and I would prefer to cook.  Yes, cook.  Cooking is not work for me unless I have deadlines, and time constraints.  I would love to spend more time with Dave and have our grandsons over for sleepovers two or three weekends a month.  However, I have other demands calling at the present.  And, I would love to travel more, visit more people, have more company, throw more parties, join a book club, go to the senior center and get to know all the old people.  I would love to volunteer at church and build stronger relationships with my friends.  I would like to read more and get into bed earlier!  So much I would love to do.  And someday, I hope to be able to do all the above I mentioned.   Oh, yes, one thing I forgot to mention.  I would love to finish watching my Christmas movies.

But now is the time to continue working on decluttering, throwing away, giving away, and putting to good use that which I keep.  It is time to organize the sale of all my equipment.  It is the time to let go.  It is the time to finally build the library shelves needed to house the remainder of my book collection.  Books bring me joy.  Some I will donate, some I will cherish and eventually read.  Someone else can discard them when I am gone.  But the rest of everything else I have collected over the years I choose to touch and remember one last time.  And I have chosen to experience great joy as I go about my work.  It will be about memories and it will take me a while to do.  Sometimes I view it as a daunting job but I refuse to become discouraged or overwhelmed.  It must be done moment by moment, in my precious present.  And I refuse to allow the disharmony of my past belongings and possessions rob me of even one moment of experiencing joy as I work.  And in the meantime, I’ll fit some of my little pleasures in-between (like having my grandsons come for a sleepover).

Do you receive joy in the work you do?  Stop and ask yourself that question.  If not, why not?  Life is too short to live without joy.  My joy comes from the Lord and the precious moments we share together each morning, regardless how brief.  I am learning to set limits on myself in some areas because the day is never long enough to accomplish all I would like to do.  But believe me, whatever I am doing, I choose to do it with a joyful heart and attitude.  And I think that is my secret for having joy as I work, regardless the task.  Whatever I do, I do it as unto the Lord.

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY

By Kathleen Martens

February 17, 2016

Each morning when dawn breaks

My time with the Lord begins.

I ask him always to forgive

Any and all of my sins.

I begin my day with joy in my heart,

Basking a short time with my Lord.

Because my moments are ever so precious

Each second with God I hoard.

And then my day begins with relish

And I look at my calendar wall,

To see what beckons ensuing hours

So I make sure to do it all.

Two special days I set aside

So I am not bombarded by the world.

There are too many appointments

That seem continuously hurled.

My WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY is one such day

I set aside to work all alone.

No appointments or visits with friends,

Not even on the phone.

Except for the greatest Friend in my life,

The Lord who sits on His throne.

And  I work throughout my day

Knowing I’m never alone.

Such great plans and expectations

I relish with sweet abandon.

And there is such joy when I work

With such a great companion.

I pray blessings on all of you and wish you much joy as you go about your awesome day.  May God protect and watch over you.

Just the fact that I awakened this morning, makes my day awesome!

P.S.  I receive much joy writing my blog each day.  Thanks to all of you who read it.

Tuesday February 16 2016  A PLATE OF MIRACLES

The mystery of life never ceases to amaze me.  So much we do not know.  So much we cannot comprehend.  So much to wonder about. So much to explore.  Every day is a mystery to me.  One of those mysteries being the food that is on my plate, day after day.  Not only is it a mystery to me, but a miracle as well.

Do a little true-life pretend time with me.  Pretend you are sitting down to my lunch that I ate today.  On your plate is a wonderful salad.  This salad consist of butter lettuce, and a handful of food from a bagged salad purchased from Costco with pieces of kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chicory, dried cranberries, roasted pumpkin seeds, and poppy seed dressing.  Added to the salad are cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, ¼ of an avocado, and diced fresh beets.  Beside the salad is a wonderful slice of chicken breast, also purchased from Costco.  Included on the plate is a multigrain casserole consisting of barley, brown rice, hard winter wheat, and wild rice.  Included in this recipe is olive oil, fresh mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, black beans, a can of corn, soy sauce, Monterey Jack Cheese and fresh parmesan cheese.   Also on the plate are three beautiful strawberries (from Costco) and a small ripe nectarine from Aldi’s.

All that on one plate.  We grab our bags of greens, our pre-roasted chicken, a big spoon of the homemade rice casserole, fresh strawberries from their tidy little box, and pick a ripe nectarine off the counter.  And there is your simple lunch.

Have you ever thought about how many different people have been involved to make it possible to sit down to such a feast?  Let’s look at the rice dish for starters.  Four different grains.  Probably all of them grown in a different region, different state, and possibly even different countries.  Think of the fields barren in the winter waiting for spring plowing.  Someone had to plow the land.  Someone had to plant the grain, till it, harvest it, clean it, and package it.  Not to even mention all the people it took to build the machinery to do the above tasks.  Someone else had to think of the design for the equipment to do all that work.  Some other factory produced all the parts.  Another factory had to assemble them.  Someone had to make the plastic bags to hold the grain and somewhere the bags had to labeled with the contents and information of calorie count, etc.  And someone else had to market it.  Then there are the packers, and loaders, and truck drivers, and train cars to transport across country, and dock workers at the supermarket, stock people, and the shopper.  And that is for a bag of rice or barley or just name all the other ones available.  And what about the canned corn?  Where do the cans come from to hold the corn?  Who makes the cans?  Who designed the sophisticated equipment to actually produce them?  More people, more hands on, more intricate details of marketing and delivery before it is put on the grocery shelf.  And that is even without mentioning the farmer, the land, the toil, the long season of hot summer sun, the harvesters, and on and on and on. 

Do you see where I am going with this?  What about the fresh onions and carrots in a Wisconsin February?  What about the garlic cloves?  And what about the olive oil?  Think of the millions of olives that must be grown to create the abundance of olive oil for the world.  And where does it come from?  Mine comes from Italy.  Do you ever imagine the acres and acres of ancient olive trees that live and produce for over 300 years?  Acres and acres of land.  And the ships it takes to transport it across the oceans, not to mention in detail all those who had anything to do with building the ship, working on the ship, and so on… And think of the soy sauce.  Little teaspoons of it used to create so much flavor.  What is it?  Where does it come from?  How many people are involved in bringing that to market?  What about the bottle makers?  The box makers, the packagers, the insulation needed?

Oh, and don’t forget the strawberries.  In February no less.  Do you ever think about the back breaking labor it takes to grow them?  And who are they that are doing that grinding labor so we can go to the store and purchase them in small, beautifully displayed, plastic boxes? 

And we sit down at the table without a second thought of where and how and who went into bringing us the fruits of their labor.  And I wonder if they can afford to buy what they work so hard to grow.  When I sit down to eat I marvel at the sheer beauty of food.  God created such an amazing plethora of shapes and sizes and fragrances and tastes, colors, and varieties.  Do we even pause to say thank you?  Have you ever thought to ask God to bless each one who had a part in making it possible for us to have such an abundance and such a variety at our finger tips?

I know I have probably said enough in past blogs for my relatives to think I am bonkers, so here I go again, giving them even more fodder.  Several years ago before I had my foot operated on I could barely walk.  And going to the grocery store was the greatest pain ever.  Everything was so spread out and the store was so big.  Dave did most of the shopping during those two or three years when my feet were so bad.  Every time I had to go grocery shopping my spirit grumbled inside.  One day, it was as if God tapped me on the shoulder in the produce department.  The thoughts that came pouring into me went something like this: “Take a look around you.  What do you see?  This is My bounty prepared for you.  You did not have to grow these green beans.  You did not have to toil for these strawberries.  My whole world is at your door and you do not see the beauty that surrounds you.  You see not the labor involved, the toil, the heartache for some.  I bless you with choices and you complain.  Rather than grumble, give thanks when you walk through these doors.  In your heart give thanks and pray for blessings over all those who are involved in making this food available.”

Oh man!  Did that hit me right between the eyes.  It sobered me up a bit.  It made my pain seem minimal compared to what it took for all the workers, people like you and I, as well as migrant workers, farmers, and truck drivers, to bring to market all that was available to me on the shelves and in the bins.  My attitude changed that day.  I went home and told Dave about the experience.  It was an eye opener for me.  That must have been about 14 years ago.  I remember the timing because I was still doing film photography at that time and was laid up for several months following the surgery.  Well, going to a grocery store has never again been a chore to me.  It was as if blinders were taken off my eyes. 

When I go to other areas of the country one of my favorite things to do is to go into local grocery stores and walk through the produce section just marveling at all it is stocked with.  When you do that all across the country it gives you a perspective that it isn’t just your little (or big) neighborhood market that is full to overflowing, but all across the United States it is that way.  It gave me perspective as to how much our earth produces just for our country.  It made me grateful for all the machinery, tools, trucks, paper products, can makers, growers, harvesters, packagers, factories, and most of all for God, who created the earth to grow the food.  Never again do I grumble.  I just walk through the aisles thanking and praising God for all He has provided for my enjoyment and my delight.  And because of that, I try diligently to not be wasteful. 

JUST A SIMPLE LUNCH?  I SEE IT AS A PLATE OF MIRACLES.

A PLATE OF MIRACLES

By Kathleen Martens

February 16, 2016

One simple plate

What will it hold?

In just one salad

What story is told?

Whose hands have touched

The soil of earth,

That our plate

Has not dearth?

What back has labored

That we might eat,

In the comfort of home,

On a comfortable seat?

One grain of rice

Added to millions,

Will feed the multitudes

Into the billions.

Who picked the fruit

That we so enjoy?

Regardless the season

Was it man or boy?

Who picked the berries

And gently packed

Each one with care

That we buy off the rack?

And the potato

Hand set in soil.

That we might buy

To bake or boil?

So much beauty

We arrange on our table,

Without considering

Those who were able

To bring to market,

To deliver so near.

And we should give thanks

For that which took a year.

Perhaps we should pause,

And children should be taught,

That without the workers

No food could be bought.

Never take for granted

That which is available

It took hundreds of hours

To make it salable.

Good night and God bless you!

Monday February 15 2016  TO BE HIS INTIMATE FRIEND

A day packed full (again) so I must be brief. 

GOD IS SO GOOD!  I just wish I could somehow let the whole world know.  I sometimes marvel at the miracle of being God’s child!  Sometimes even those who “know” God as their redeemer, lose out on so much of what God desires to give us, all because they chose not to have a personal relationship with Him.  God desires a relationship with us.  Did you know that we are created to PRAISE THE LORD?  We are actually called to PRAISE THE LORD in Psalm.  Psalm 135 speaks about how God has called us into His service and has instructed us, as servants of His ministry, to PRAISE THE LORD.  God doesn’t NEED our service, RATHER HE DESIRES THAT WE HAVE A DAILY RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.  We are to PRAISE HIM AND TO WORSHIP HIM.  God can do more and above what we can do.  Remember, He does not need us, HE DESIRES US!

I wrote about this topic earlier this year, but it bears to be repeated.  GOD DESIRES YOU.  GOD DESIRES ME.  He loved you and me so much that He allowed our sins to come upon Him.  God, in the form of Jesus, hung on a cross for six hours and defeated death…for you and for me!  He sweated drops of blood, for you and for me!  How can we not desire that same relationship with Him that He desires with us?

Is God knocking at your door?  Are there times when you had a daily, current relationship with Him, but life has become too busy now to take the time needed, to be with God, to worship Him, and to give Him Praise?  When I retired I thought I would have so much more time to do just that.  I see now that sometimes I become so busy that some of my “MUSTS” become my “SHOULDS”.  Slowly the routine you (and I am speaking about me too) had at one time seems to disappear.  Before I left on my trip last March I could probably count on one hand all the days I may have missed in one year that I did not spend with the Lord on an intimate level.  When I stepped back into the reality of Wisconsin in July my life exploded with the unexpected.  Slowly I found myself spending shorter times with God.  And then I began to be sporadic.  And then I might miss several days in a row.  So easy to do when you are being pulled from so many different directions. Oh, I listened to great sermons everyday as I exercised, and even praised and worshiped the Lord in the privacy of my thoughts when working out, but somehow, that close, personal intimacy was not felt.  And every day I missed it tremendously.

It is so easy to rationalize and make excuses for missing our rendezvous with God.  “My husband is ill, I must work out at the gym, my grandchildren need child care today, I’m preparing for an event, I must have surgery, I must get ready for vacation, I’ve so many appointments, I need to write my blog, I want to watch a Christmas movie, the food box is here and I must cook it up, company is coming, and the shorter and shorter my time with the Lord becomes.  And then less and less frequent.  And every day the Lord is calling  my name, calling your name.  Every sermon I listen to I hear His voice using the words of the minster to give my heart a reminder.  The songs I listen to beckon me with words of longing from the Lord.  And even the scriptures I read daily are echoing the same refrain.  Yes, I read the scriptures but due to all the excuses above, it is easy to rush off and not sit and dwell in His presence. 

It is during those quiet, restful times when I hear the voice of the Lord through the thoughts he places within me.  It is during those times when my spirit opens up like a spring flower, soaking in the light of His presence.  It is when I quiet myself in the stillness of my library that I am able to experience the heart of God in my life.  It is when my spirit longs to praise and worship and intercede for my lost friends and loved ones.  It is when I remember the prayers that people ask me to pray for.  It is when I write in my THANK YOU JOURNAL and am reminded of how great and how good our God is.  It is a time of renewal; a renewal of faith and strength and love and hope and joy.  And my heart is now LONGING for those quiet interludes.  My soul is thirsting, my need is great.  I WANT MORE OF GOD.

It’s as if this time in my life was designed to allow me to spend it in God’s presence.  God must be my priority.  I cannot live without that precious time with Him.  I believe God is bringing so many people across my path to minister to.  Yet, I feel empty and less than capable to do the work He has for me to do.  Remember, He doesn’t “need me”, but I need Him.  Almost every day my path crosses with those who may need to hear about His love for them.  Almost everyday someone asks me to pray for them.  I need to be full to overflowing of God’s love so that I am more than ready.  I need to be fed on His word, not just read it.  I need to pray and worship aloud, not just silently, I need to take the time to hear His voice and write down what is impressed upon my heart, so I can listen to His voice over and over, as I go back and re-read my “HEART SOUNDS”.  What it boils down to, I just need more of God.  I need to set aside my morning so I can have the quality time it takes to have a deep and true relationship with the God of the universe.  And everything I am hearing, and everything I am reading, and the sermons I listen to at the gym, testimonies at the Ladies Brunch on Saturday, and words from those who were baptized yesterday, emails received from friends with the perfect scripture verse I needed to hear, all keep tugging at my heart.  I hear God’s voice calling.  He has my attention!  I am listening.  There are some “MUSTS” I must prioritize. Not next week or next month, but now, this moment.  And of course it is now, during one my busiest times, that I must stop, look, and listen.  Stop what I am doing, look into the eyes of God, and listen to what He is speaking into my heart!

I meant to spend just a few minutes writing so I could complete and fulfill the rest of my obligations for the day.  Earlier it was necessary for me to cancel one event (movie night), due to my overbooked agenda.  And here I am pouring out my heart to my readers.  Right now the thought just went through my head that perhaps I should not send this blog.  I will wait and see.  Perhaps it is time for me to come to grips with what is going on and to let you, my readers in on my situation also.  I always find time to write my blog (because it is important to me), but I sometimes do not find time for my quality one on one time with the Lord.  I must change that.  I want God to be the most important EVERYTHING in my life!

Thanks for reading this if you have so inclined.  The banquet table is spread before me.  I desire to partake of what the Lord has prepared for me.  I hope you will come along with me and allow me to share the fruits of His table with you.  Actually, He has a table already prepared just for you.  All you need do, is take time to partake.

TO BE HIS INTIMATE FRIEND

By Kathleen Martens

February 15, 2016

To know that the Lord of the Universe

Loved me enough to die for my sin,

Is reason enough for me

To allow Him to come in.

To come into my life,

Ruler and King over all.

For He is the one who loves me.

He is the one who calls.

He calls me to be His own,

To lay down all my burdens and cares.

His blood alone is my salvation

He has defeated the devil’s lair.

He longs for my hours and days

That He reign supreme in my heart.

So I offer my mornings as sacrifice,

That with Him each dawn I start.

There is no other like Him

Who satisfies my thirsty soul.

None can ever match His love,

To be more like Him, my goal.

He gives me rest in the night.

He calms my stormy sea.

In Him is true freedom.

Only through Him I’m free.

And He beckons me to come, 

And what’s broken He will mend.

All He truly desires of me

Is to be His intimate friend.

If you do not journey with God on a daily basis, think about it.  You may be surprised at the peace and joy that will bubble up in your soul when you take time to listen to that what He desires to speak into your life.

Good night and God bless you.