Category: prayer

Posted in compassion, Emotional, eyes, faith, God, heart, heaven, hope, Mental, mercy, Physical, prayer, scripture, Spiritual, temporal

A Heart Knowing

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

Do you ever talk until your blue in the face, like talking to a wall or deaf ears? Maybe the trouble is that the person you are trying to reach has a stoppage somewhere. Either the head doesn’t know, or it is that the heart doesn’t know, or both.

Uh, prayer! Prayer for me for more patience. And prayer for him to open up his doors to God’s heart of compassion and mercy. Look beyond what can be seen with the physical eyes. Big eyes of faith, I call to our Father for this because I lack right now.

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. ~ Hebrews 11:1 GNT

And for him, that he realize what is more important. The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of our loved ones or stuff, stuff that is temporal. Give each of us a heart knowing and then, living out God’s heart in these matters. Two hearts melting together for a heavenly purpose.

 For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:18 GNT

Posted in faith, God, goodness, Holy Spirit, humble, Jesus, kind, love, patient, peace, power, prayer, rest, scripture, self-control, Spiritual

Our Higher Power

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

The Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. ~ John 14:26 NLT

I don’t claim to know everything. I am learning along the way. One fact I know is Jesus is alive today in you and me. The Holy Spirit resides in us. Have you made yourself aware, are you available to hear our God’s promptings? Are you listening? I know there is a higher power watching over the comings and goings of you and me. And that higher power is the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you and me as Romans 8:11 reminds us. Over 2000 years ago Pentecost Sunday brought the promise that we, too can live with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, comfort, and power.

And if the Spirit of God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, lives in you, he will make your dying bodies live again after you die, by means of this same Holy Spirit living within you. ~ Romans 8:11 TLB

The Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. ~ Romans 20:26 GNT

Some days I feel weak, I feel my hands are tied, my brain fried trying to figure it out, running at full speed, then brake just before hitting a brick wall. When I stop my motions long enough, pray, and listen to our Father God, and do what Jesus would do, then the fruits of the Spirit are evident.

“The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control …” ~ Galatians 5:22 – 23.

Posted in care, comfort, faith, God, Jesus, need, People, Physical, prayer, scripture, Spiritual

The Sheep of His Pasture

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

I need Your tender, loving care. The Good Sheperd, guide me the way I should go, provide for my every need. You know me better than I know me. We each are the sheep of Your pasture. Not one of us go astray.

The Lord Our Shepherd

23 The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have everything I need.
2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass
    and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
    as he has promised.
4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
    I will not be afraid, Lord,
    for you are with me.
Your shepherd’s rod and staff protect me.

5 You prepare a banquet for me,
    where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honored guest
    and fill my cup to the brim.
6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
    and your house will be my home as long as I live.

Posted in breathe, brother, challenges, comfort, day, death, devastation, Family, feelings, friend, God, grief, heart, help, Holy Spirit, hurt, Jesus, love, need, pain, praise, prayer, scripture, sorrow

The Grief

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

This day before the winter solstice is a cold blustery day. It is colder this afternoon than it was when I was up at 5am this morning. The forecast promises the winter solstice to be the same. The cold wind slaps my face and takes my breath away like the cold-hard fact that my brother is not here on earth any longer.

The grief of it all is too much some days. I went into my boss’ office the other day and had a “good cry”. Just days ago I wrote on my other blog a post about my 65-year-old brother’s untimely death, and how good will come of it. Today, I am thinking, why, God? What good comes from the death of a loved one? And if only Dean or I had been available to take Rick and Joan to the airport, so he wouldn’t have had to clean the snow off their car and have that heart incident the day they arrived back at Lambert Field.

I know I am bargaining now. I cannot reverse what has been done. The “if only” cannot change the outcome. Bargaining is one of the stages of grief. This online resource describes the 5 or 7 stages of grief. These are the basic five: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The seven stages expand on the five: shock/denial, pain/guilt, anger/bargaining, depression, the upward turn, reconstruction/working through, and acceptance/hope.

A friend of ours lost his son and two grandchildren in a fatal car accident on Tuesday. The pain these friends and their family are feeling must be incredibly deep. The wife and mother of the two children, I cannot even fathom where her heart is right now. All I can do is pray, “God, gracious Father, send your Holy Spirit to comfort. Bring each sorrow to a place where a healing salve gently massages the raw, open heart to receive Your Love, Your Words, Your Comfort.”

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
Posted in faith, Family, flower, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, life, love, Martha, Mary, prayer, season, Spiritual, thankful, works

A Season For Martha And For Mary

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

I am coming out of a very busy few weeks with St. Jude fundraiser and Asheville outreach projects. I finally am able to sit down and breathe deep breathes even though Thanksgiving brunch preparations started. Cooking for nine or ten family members seems easy compared to cooking for the hundred or double that many meal-on-wheels and seniors on any given day last week. I have a four-day weekend ahead of me. Nice.

As Christians, we cannot have Martha without Mary, and vice versa, Mary without Martha. This is the pull for each of us. “Faith without works is dead.” Then there is the contrasting scripture. “She has chosen the better,” Jesus tells Martha after her complaint about Mary sitting at our Savior’s feet. I sit in the quiet before sunrise, before steps are heard from any other eleven family members (including the furry creatures) in the cottage and meditate. So much to be thankful for. God, You give me life. You give me Jesus. You give me the Holy Spirit. You give me love.

My Novena Rose Prayer
O Little Therese of the Child Jesus,
please pick for me a rose
from the heavenly gardens and
send it to me as a message of love.
O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God to grant the favors
I now place with confidence in your hands…
St. Therese, help me to always believe, as you did,
In God’s great love for me,
so that I might imitate your “Little Way” each day.
Amen.

Posted in children, connection, death, devastation, Family, food, give, God, grace, grandchild, health, help, Holy Spirit, live, love, mountains, need, People, prayer, provision, spirit, Spiritual, water

Need

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

I had an odd feeling this week; it was kind of like a deja’ vu feeling. But instead of the feeling that I have been somewhere already, it is the feeling that I need to be someplace I have been before. And that need to be somewhere is now, or as soon as I am able. It is a place Dean and I had vacationed at for a 3-day stay while Airbnbing for a 9-day vacation through Tennessee and the Appalachians over 7 years ago. Asheville, North Carolina. We fell in love with the mountains and streams there. I felt a spiritual connection to its people. For my health, it is a locale we considered moving to for milder winters than the St. Louis area. God hasn’t moved us yet. We are needed here in St. Charles, Missouri as a help to our children and grandchildren.

"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." 
~ 1 John 4:16 NLT

Asheville and surrounding counties are one of the hardest hit areas by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene over a week ago. Death and devastation for so many. Out of this disastrous storm follows stories of great loss, but also great humanity, sacrifice, love, God’s love seen through His people. The Appalachian people will have months and even years of recovery from this one. The need is calling us.

"Your Father knows what you need even before you ask." 
~ Matthew 6: 8 CEV

This week Dean and I looked over our calendar of commitments, and mid-November is the best time to get to Asheville for a weekend of hurricane relief service. We already booked a place to stay nearby where we stayed 7 years ago. We will keep our eyes peeled and ears open to hear God’s voice on the best organization to be involved with to provide assistance. I hope to be cooking meals. Dean wants to be loading and unloading supplies. We will see what the needs are of the people in Asheville when we get there. Meantime, we will gather bottles of water and toiletry items to take for one of the charitable organizations to distribute.

"In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words." 
~ Romans 8:26 CEV

Our God’s Holy Spirit is at work in us. It is with confidence that we can pray because God, Our Father knows what we and those we love need even before we do. The Holy Spirit prays for us. God loves us, so we can come to Him by the grace that He has given just when we need it.

"Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it." 
~ Hebrews 4:16 GNT

Posted in barrier, book, boundary, change, feelings, God, heart, Holy Spirit, hurt, listen, memoir, path, prayer, quote, rejection, scripture, season, spirit, Spiritual, time, write

A Turned-Up Hand

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

“There is a time and place for everything“ an old saying goes probably based on the holy scripture in Ecclesiastes. I know it is not what you or I want to hear after a turned-up hand shows up in the face. I have had plenty of turned-up hands, rejections, and boundaries set lately. But a boundary set gives me permission to thrive and live within the boundaries God has given me.

“There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens …” Ecclesiastes 3:1

For the time being I have laid aside teaching culinary classes. The continuing education courses at the local community college have made too many changes I am comfortable with. Hence, the boundary set, and I take heed to. I will and have taken opportunities to teach culinary and writing-related workshops to young adults and adults. I am open to more venues to share my love of cooking and writing. In the meantime, God has prepared a time space whereas I can be more available at the senior center. Besides being a culinary professional, I have taken on more training and duties with regards to inventory and ordering at this season.

“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” ~ Flannery O’Connor 

I have completed the first draft of my memoir. I have two readers combing through proofreading and making edit suggestions. The next steps are a professional editor, then the publisher. I have folks in mind for each of those roles for my first full-length book. There may be a hand turned-up in the process, but those brakes are a barrier that leads me to something better. In the meantime, I completed a 49 haiku challenge, seven haikus written for seven days. It was very therapeutic, and I was able to see my thought and feeling process after a difficult week. Writing does that for me. A green light means “go for it”! I have taken the opportunity to have my haikus printed into a mini book entitled Balancing The Seesaw.

Prayer was a very significant part of my difficult week, too. Relationships hurt sometimes. I was able to give my feelings of rejection to our God, who “knows when I sit and stand … understands my thoughts from afar” as Psalms 139:2 tells me. Are you listening to your own comfort zone? What stop sign have you encountered? What has God laid on your heart? What new path is the Spirit directing you to? There is a season for everything.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time for hate,
a time for war, and a time for peace.
~Ecclesiastes 3: 1 – 8

Posted in boundary, discernment, eyes, faith, God, Holy Spirit, Lysa Terkeurst, Physical, prayer, refuge, scripture, Spiritual, trust, water

Still The Waters, God!

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

Do you ever feel the ocean’s tide, the rough sea, or the stormy lake waters? For me that is my life right now. While reading Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lysa Terkeurst I am reminded that God spoke about this already in the Holy Scriptures.

"The waves may toss and roar,
    but they can never pass the boundaries I set."
~ Jeremiah 5:22 NLT

There are natural boundaries, spiritual boundaries, and emotional boundaries. Boundaries for every realm and situation we are placed in. I want to scream “stop” to the rough waters. Paddle my way to a quiet cove. As always it is God’s perfect timing and purposes that prevail. This morning the Holy Spirit spoke to me again when I read in my devotional.

"Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him.  
That is all the doing you have to worry about."  
~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal

As God has commanded, onto the shoreline I am, eyes on God. The boundary God has put in place is before me. “Watch how you are safe behind this line I have drawn. Pray for the others you concern yourself with.”

"Be still and know that I am God."  
~ Psalms 46:10 NLT
Posted in Alice Morse Earle, authors, change, church, Emotional, gift, God, Gretchen Rubin, Jesus, listen, love, prayer, present, quote, Spiritual, thankful, well, words

One Word For This Year

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

Years ago I would begin the new year with writing down a few resolutions, a list of goals to accomplish. I have curbed this down, so life’s goals can be more focused and obtainable. A couple of years ago I read a suggestion from author Gretchen Rubin. Think of one word to summarize your new year’s resolution(s). For example, this year Gretchen has chosen “revisit”. Her goals and actions in 2024 will reflect “revisit”. For me the word for this year is “present”. To coincide with the 7-dimensions of wellness model I believe in, for 2024 I have in mind to be “present” in the spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual, social, environmental, and occupational aspects of my life. 

The first thought to the word “present” is to be “present moment”. That could fall into every aspect of my life, but I feel it most pertains to my spiritual life. Prayer, talking to God and being present with God throughout my day, every day, every moment. A relationship is a 2-way street, so listening to God every moment of every day throughout my day most importantly. ”Present day” is an extension of “present moment”. It is living each day like it is a present. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it ‘The Present’,” a saying attributed to Alice Morse Earle, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bil Keane, and A.A. Milne. Treat each day as a gift. Giving thanks to God for this day He has gifted me with. Like the awesome sunrise He gave me this morning as I sat on the couch looking out the front window covered with ice and snow. 

"This is the day which the Lord has made;
 Let’s rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalms 118:24 NASB

It is Sunday today. With the frigid subzero temperatures and my severe allergy to the cold, my husband and I chose to stay home and participate with the televised Mass from our home parish St. Charles Borromeo. So happy we chose to be present in this worship time and to hear the homily even if via online. This homily is one of the most compassionate messages to address nontraditional marriage. The truth is the infinite value God has placed on each and every human being at the price of the blood of Jesus Christ. Then charity shown by sharing and acting on this message of infinite value, and the change that takes place in each of us when meeting our Savior.

I will stop here for today. To be continued in future posts a reflection on the word “present” related to the other aspects of life. What’s your one word for this year?

Posted in Christmas, church, courage, God, hate, heart, Holy Spirit, Jesus, love, peace, prayer, purpose, scripture, strength, strife

Willingness and Readiness

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart 
“Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road straight and smooth,
    a highway fit for our God."
 ~ Isaiah 40:3 The Message version

Christmas Day is two weeks away. Are you prepared in your heart? Am I prepared in my heart? All the commercialism can get me off track. Even going to church this past Sunday white twinkle lights at the altar are blinking to catch attention. Has the commercialism invaded the church sanctuary, too? Preparing for Jesus is a heart matter.

This craziness this world is in can have our heads spinning and our hearts aching. The hatred, wars, and unrest are disturbing, distracting from what matters. The love of God is there for each of us to embrace. Hatred has to stop! We think we arrive with our religious views, rituals, and teachings. But what is in each heart of man, woman, and child?

"As John preached he said, 'The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out.'"
~ Mark 1:8 The Message version

God, change me from the inside out. Help me to be an instrument of Your peace, Your love, and Your purposes. Give me courage and strength to carry out Your will today, tomorrow, and always.