Category: Just do it

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Journal, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Poetry, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Traveling, Yield

Bearing Fruit

Jesus had much to say about growing plants. These lessons still apply to us today, though most of us no longer live in an agrarian culture. Read what was written in the book of John.

“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. 2 He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. 3 He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. 4 Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.

5 “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. 7 But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 8 My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father.

9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. 10 When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow!

John 15:1-11 TLB

Vine and branches also applies to shrubs and branches. Once while driving the Natchez Trace we came to rest area/ tourist information center that had these shrubs growing along the sidewalk. I was enchanted, especially since purple is my favorite color! (The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive through three states. It roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace,” a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, “Kaintucks,” European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents. Today, people can enjoy a scenic drive as well as hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping along the Parkway.)

Aren’t those berries lovely?

More recently, while on retreat at the Convent of the Transfiguration Spirituality Center I found the shrubs once again. (Photograph above)

I cut one branch. The shrubs were loaded with berries. I knew in a just a few weeks the frost would make everything less lovely. One branch would not destroy the future of the shrub.

Holding the lovely branch, I pondered the fact that Jesus is the Vine and I am just a branch. The shrubs I encountered were producing a bountiful harvest of berries. I, too, want to stay close to my Savior and produce a crop to His glory. These berries are attached with tiny, rather fragile stems.

Then a poem emerged:

So many lovely purple spheres
bespangled tendrils almost
to the ground
delight to my eyes
firm to the touch
but barely affixed
you roll down the spine of my book
making me giggle

Living water flow in me
American beauty bush
Fruit of dark purple
Not in line with liturgical colors
yet gift to me.  ©Molly Lin Dutina

Eventually I took the branch into the library of the Center and placed it on paper so it would not mar the furniture. The retreat was just for a day or two.

Before I departed I disposed of the cut branch, a clear reminder to cling to Christ and stay connected.

Curled leaves, withering branch cut off from the shrub.

The memory of that berry rolling down the spine of my book still makes me giggle. Isn’t it amazing how tiny things can bring us joy if we are willing to slow down and look for them? May your day bring you splendid surprises.

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Illness and Health, Just do it, Listen, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Worship, Writing Life, Yield

So Very True

Here is a wonderful thought to ponder.

No amount of regret changes the past. No amount of anxiety changes the future. Any amount of gratitude changes the present.

Ann Voskamp

Many times I begin my prayer thanking the Father for another day of living and loving. Reflecting upon my recent birthday I thank the Holy One for another year of living and loving.

Best birthday card ever!
From my sister
My sister, Paula
Me

“At our age there are not lots of new friendships, but the ones we experience we hold dear.” Our neighbor, Kathy, has only been known to us a couple of years. Through her first year of struggling to get her brain around what it takes to live with a chronic illness and that illness being also a rare one, we became close. It is difficult to communicate with people who have never suffered from chronic illness. As Kathy says, “They just don’t get it.” Her diagnosis, antisynthetase syndrome, is rare and causes much misery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisynthetase_syndrome Fewer than 50,000 people in the US are thought to have this. Together we have re-affirmed Ann Voskamp’s wisdom that ‘any amount of gratitude changes the present.‘ This year when she returned to Florida, as snowbirds have a tendency to do, it was harder than ever to let her go. We have been married the same length of time, we are the same age, we each have a son and a daughter. Both of us have 3 grandchildren! Her wisdom and friendship bless me deeply. We share our faith freely. When I developed scalp psoriasis I told her I was getting tired of being like her! We don’t speak about dandruff, we refer to blizzards of skin cells falling from our heads after we scratch. We both need to vacuum our beds, our chairs and our cars. It is almost impossible to NOT scratch this sort of itching.

As I unwrap this gift of a new year of life I will try to remain present to all that is given. Life is truly a gift.

With another year of aging, I cling more and more to this verse in Corinthians

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV

Less energy, true that. Less flexibility, true that. Undiagnosed hand and foot itching, yep. More renewal, thank the LORD for that! The Scriptures declare He will never leave me or forsake me. And it is true. There are times when I move away from God, but He is ever near and holds me in His nail-scarred hands.

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me.“

Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV

I truly live a varied and pleasing life, rich in adventure and blessings. There is no way I can account for it. One friend tells me I see things others do not when I take a walk. I am blessed to be married to the best man in the world. This year I have continued to work on finding some of the best recipes to cook. (I already miss fresh Ohio tomatoes!) My desk remains stacked about 6 inches deep. If I ever get ‘caught up’ I suppose it will be time to die? Let’s not even discuss how deep the sewing table is with projects.

I have out lived both of my parents. Bob calls it the ‘miracle of modern chemistry.” This year I promise to continue to write this blog as long as I am enabled to come up with new thoughts and inspirations.

May you cling to the One who has you engraved on the palms of His hands. May you rest in the knowledge that the same Holy One is able to renew you day by day. Peace and all blessings to each of you, my dear readers.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Nature, Thanks

Beauty by Sister Joan

Joan Chittister is a well known Benedictine nun and author of a tremendous amount of books. Over many years she has inspired me to grow deeper with Christ. I get a weekly newsletter from her ministry. Here is a quote from a recent newsletter and a link should you want to read the entire article for yourself. Much of what they put in the newsletter is taken from her books.

Because of beauty

Confucius may have said it best: “Everything has beauty,” he taught, “but not everyone sees it.” Seeing it, the spiritual person knows, is the task of a lifetime. It is also the reward of a lifetime well-lived, lived in balance, lived from the inside out as well as from the outside in.

CONTINUE READING AT https://mailchi.mp/benetvision.org/doubt-is-the-mother-of-conviction-751773?e=b2069f7462

Open your eyes to the beauty around you today. This morning was my turn to walk the dog. It was the coldest morning this season. Just meant time to get out my winter coat, and gloves, etc. Had to stop to capture this leaf for you.

After the many days of glorious yellow, red and gold leaves raining down upon us this frosted outline was too lovely to not admire!

Watch for treasures in plain sight. They truly are all around you!

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth

Even Amidst War

We are hearing interviews between Palestinians and Israelis who had already decided to live together in peace. They are speaking to the world in various interviews. I am not on either side, just praying for all those distressed by this war.

This thought from Bishop Curry of Cincinnati brought all this to my mind.

To love, my brothers and sisters, does not mean we have to agree. But maybe agreeing to love is the greatest agreement. And the only one that ultimately matters, because it makes a future possible.

BISHOP MICHAEL B. CURRY

Please pray for the people in this war torn area. Usually we have no idea how fortunate we are. May the Father comfort those who are caught between the military forces. Father speak to those who have been conscripted into service in this war. We pray for peace.

online photo just after war began

I will not try to quote Scripture on this topic. Seems humans perpetuate hatred against human beings. May God have mercy on all of us.

Posted on in Faith, Just do it, Listen, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Learning to Pray

She said, “I am very thankful for your insights. I have so much to learn. Don’t we all, I suppose? I would love for you to teach me more about prayer and how you came to be the prayer warrior you are. It has never come easily to me, and I know having more time in prayer with the Lord would dramatically grow my faith. If you’re willing, maybe we can figure out how you could best teach me?”

That was one email that sat me down hard. I feel as if at age 70 I am just now learning the prayer life. So I thought about her request.

The very first thing that comes to mind is just talk to God. Define a request and then let’s go together to Him and discuss it.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

Mark 10:36 NIV

Jesus likes me to be specific. Not to the point of dictating to Him what He SHOULD do in any given situation, but rather, what the desire of my heart is. Good communication is based upon truth. Tell Him honestly what you want.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4 NIV

If I take delight in Him, He will put His desires in my heart. When I pray for those desires, how can I go wrong?

I find that so many people are at a loss for words when it comes to speaking to God, or even speaking their heart to anyone. Years ago, one woman told me repeatedly, “You always give me the words.” I do not believe you have to be a “word smith” to pray well, but you do need to be able to express what your heart desires. Otherwise, how will you know when your prayer is answered?

When I pray for others I try to practice my best listening skills. Then say back to the person what I think they said, “Is this how you want me to pray?”

How did I become a prayer warrior? Well it was certainly gradual! I read the New Testament believing the passage that “God is no respecter of persons.” Acts 10:34 various translations say, “He shows no partiality, does not show favoritism.” He gave the Holy Spirit to people in the book of Acts after His resurrection and ascension. He would give it to me for the asking. So I believed and asked. Romans 2:11 reads God does not show favoritism or partiality. If the anointing of the Holy Spirit could be given 2,000 years ago, it can be given today. He gave to me in various ways at various times.

Then the Old Testament passages about giving a word to others in due season.

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

Isaiah 50:4 NIV

I must listen to Him every single day to know the word that sustains. I must yield to Him listening, like on being instructed. Such truth there! This requires my admission that I do not ‘know it all.’ In fact, one of my frequent sayings is, “I know nothing.”

I pray this helps if you,too, are seeking to become a prayer warrior. I do not have the market cornered on how to, but these were my thoughts following that one email.

Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Prayer, Special Event, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Worship, Yield

Retreat Looking at Life of Saint Clare

I attended an Associates retreat at the Convent of the Transfiguration in Glendale, Ohio. The theme was the Life and Inspiration of St. Clare. There is not much known about her. She was friends with St. Francis of Assisi. Like him, she removed herself from her aristocratic family and embraced a life of poverty and dedication to Jesus, praying in a cloistered monastery for 42 years until the end of her life. We are encouraged to follow her courage in finding our own place to follow Christ.

Here is a short prayer (called a collect) regarding Saint Clare.

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we, through his poverty, might be rich: Deliver us from an immediate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Clare, may serve you with singleness of heart and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Recently I learned that there is a Poor Clare convent in Cincinnati! I was thrilled to learn that the “female branch of the Franciscans” exists here. For a time I was a Third Order Franciscan through the Episcopal church. Below is a short video about the Poor Clare’s life together.

There are 20,000 Poor Clare’s worldwide in 70 countries. Francis wrote their initial rule of life. Clare added the commitment to poverty. The Poor Clare’s are a Catholic order.

The life of poverty centers around the beatitude in Matthew 5:3 when Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” And also

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Matthew 19:21 NIV

Clare’s goal was to imitate Christ though total obedience to God. Francis said “You only know as much as you do.” Poverty was her way to unity with the Lord. The sisters made altar linens as a way to support themselves, as well as asking for alms.

Clare encourages us to transform our entire being into the image of God by contemplation. She urges us to go towards the margins, the edges of society and find the risen Lord there.

May her challenge lead you to a closer walk with the Risen Lord.

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Faith, Journal, Just do it, Listen, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Writing Life, Yield

Book Quotes

In Mad Honey Jodi Picoult wrote, “We aren’t here on earth in order to bend over backward to resemble everybody else. We’re here to be ourselves, in all our gnarly brilliance.”

Another author wrote, “Stop trying to be someone. You are someone.”

Are you willing to live the challenge to be your own authentic specially created self? There is no one else on earth who can be you. At almost 73 years lived I am here to tell you that you are a special creation, loved and cherished by the Father with special tasks in mind for you and you alone.

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 NIV

In Sensible Shoes Sharon G. Brown wrote: “She said, ‘Write what you’re feeling. Tell the truth. Write like nobody’s reading.’ And just like that, I was invited to show up authentically to my grief and pain. It was a simple act but nothing short of a revolution for me. It was this revolution that started in this blank notebook 30 years ago that shaped my life’s work. The secret, silent correspondence with myself. Like a gymnast, I started to move beyond the rigidity of denial into what I’ve now come to call emotional agility.”

Have you tried this practice? Years ago when I began journaling I made Bob promise that he would not read the journal. As far as I know he has absolutely kept that promise. Then later I asked him to promise that if I die before him he would not let the children read my journals. I wrote much in there trying to work out how to parent them. It reflects on my ignorance and searching more than on their behavior and how I truly love them, even when they were on my last nerve.

I sometimes think of this blog as journaling on the screen. Some of what I post comes from my recent journals. Would you take the challenge to be authentic in journal writing? There are no rules in how to do it. At times I write paragraphs with complete sentences. Other times simply a list of words. Phrases that pop up. Prayers, things copied from others, crayon drawings, photographs. Magazine clippings. It is your journal. You can make it any way that you want. The main goal is to be authentic. Having a lousy day? Write that. A great day? Fill the page with sunlit words.

Authentic: genuine, no pretense, transparent. Below is my favorite image of transparent with the Lord.

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 NIV

There is something amazing about putting your thoughts and experiences into words. At times you learn something about yourself that was previously hidden from you. You come across thoughts that were difficult to contact previously. At times, uncovering something you knew earlier in life but then forgot! Sort of like a pen as a steam shovel, excavating a basement, down to a bedrock belief.

The shelf with the open shell and the shelf below it up to the Bible and Harper’s Bible Commentary show my journals minus one or two.

I have had folks tell me they cannot write. I always think to myself, “Well you can think. We all think (unless there is a brain injury of some sort.) Write what you think about.”

“Here to be ourselves…Be the someone we are created to be.” Stop apologizing for who you are. Sharon Brown called journal writing ‘secret, silent correspondence with myself.’ I would expand that thought to include correspondence with the Father. When I write it is often a revelation to me what I am thinking. Many times also, there comes a revelation of what the Father thinks about what I hold as truth. Holding a wrong interpretation, if I am willing to yield, that concept can be corrected.

One of the stories Bob was always glad to read to our children was Mike Mulligan. The story is about Mike and his steam shovel, Mary Anne.

The newer types of shovels took away jobs from the steam shovels.

I think journaling can be a form of self examination. Why not give it a try? You might begin like in a child’s diary just recording events that occur. Given time and prayer and a willingness to go below the surface I believe you can find treasures within your own life experiences.

You will never know unless you give it a try! Use your pen as a steam shovel. You just might come upon treasure you buried a long, long time ago!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Got Nourishment?

by r m dutina

Where do you draw nourishment for your soul? I asked Bob to take the photo above because it stirred something in me. You can see not only how the leaves are attached to the branch, but how the leaves have a nourishment system.

Walking to our garbage can storage area we have been watching the elephant ears develop and then open.

M L Dutina

Again the nourishment avenues within each leaf.

M L Dutina

Can you trace the nourishment in your soul from the river of living water flowing inside of you?

I love the photo above. If you look at the top center of the leaf you can see the rough corner of decorative stone on the house. I can only suppose that a wind storm caused the creases on the left side of the photo. Such contrast between rock and leaf.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 VIV

How is your connection to the LORD? Are you remaining in Him and giving way for Him to remain in you? Then the admonition, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Nothing that lasts, nothing of eternal significance and meaning can be done separate from Him.

As you pass growing leaves or perhaps fallen colored leaves, take a moment to pause and look at the vein system. Is your path of nourishment as clearly defined? How might you deepen and improve that nourishment path?

Steve Green recorded this years ago, 2017. When I heard it for the first time it stopped me in my tracks! Two minutes of challenge. Hoping you will listen!

I am praying that you listen to what the Lord is saying to you personally. I pray you make whatever changes He wishes for you to have better nourishment for your soul and spirit. Will you?

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks

Give Thanks Review

Last Thursday, September 21 I challenged you to give thanks to God, especially when awful things your imagination and fears created as possible outcomes did not happen. How did you do? Did you notice how many times you prayed, asked for an outcome, worried and then when it was resolved turned back to give thanks that your worst possible imagination never happened.

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life,

most of which never happened.”

-Mark Twain

What I was referring to is deeper than Mark Twain, though I agree he is on to something! In our relationship with the LORD do we acknowledge when our worst imaginings never come to pass. Often it is by His hand that those things are averted.

Have you every had a child or grandchild you decided to bless, just because you love them? You were not necessarily looking for a thank you in return. There are usually two possible outcomes to this. Either they thank you and you are delighted with their gratitude, or they go on their way with no recognition of your grace and you think ‘What an ungrateful brat.’ In the eyes of my Father and my Savior I do not want to be the ungrateful brat.

In the painting Ten Lepers by James C. Christensen, I want to be the one young man who turned back to give thanks. Jesus did not take away the cleansing of the other nine, as far as we know. Just imagine the affirmation of healing that the one young man received by going back to the Lord and saying thank you! That is relationship! And that is what my faith calls for. Relationship with the indwelling Christ through the Spirit of God.

Are you in relationship with the Risen Lord? Regardless of church attendance or activity, do you know Him? Have you spoken with Him lately? I was meeting with a friend recently and we agreed that the gold star for church attendance or pats on the back for activity participation is not what our hearts long for. We want relationship with Him and friends who can challenge us to deepen that relationship. There is nothing wrong with church attendance and participation, but without that deep relationship with Jesus there is not much to keep us going on the journey. The challenges are huge and the cost is enormous. The Lord will not rest until we give Him all of ourselves.

As I go deeper and deeper into relationship with the Trinity the forgiveness I am offered and the immense love disarms me. I want to give my entire life and attention to this eternal cause. If you are flummoxed about where to begin I suggest you approach the throne room of grace with the same candor that you bring to a best friend.

Brandon Lake and Thomas Rhett have ideas for you here. “There’s no wrong way to do it. No bad time to start…”

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Traveling, Yield

Amy Carmichael and Faithfulness lyric

This is from the writings of Amy Carmichael in Edges of His Ways.

Deuteronomy 2:3: Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
It would take too long to tell what this word has said to me. I will only say it spoke about a mountain of thought around which I have walked rather often. It is time to stop compassing that mountain.
After settling that matter, I remembered one who for two whole years has been walking around a certain Mountain of Desire. When the desired thing was not given at the expected time, there was great disappointment. Perhaps the Lord is saying to that one and to others who are constantly praying about something personally desired, “Leave the matter to Me: you have prayed enough about it. You have compassed that mountain long enough.”
I know another who always seems to be walking around a mountain of rubble. Self and the feelings of self, doubts and questions, grumblings, little piled-up ingratitudes, what are these but rubble? Is it not very dull to keep on compassing so dull a mountain? Hear the heartening word of the Lord, ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. “Rise ye up, take your journey” (v. 24), “fight the good fight of faith,” begin to possess your possessions.

Trekking in Rubble

This morning after reading Amy Carmichael I kept hearing ‘strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.’ I had to find the source of that line. It is from Great is Thy Faithfulness, by Thomas O Chisholm, verse 3.

Vs. 1 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Vs. 2 Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Vs. 3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow—
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

What mountain are you trekking around? In the Old Testament God told the Israelites to “take another lap around the mountain.” They were ungrateful and unbelieving.

10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,

They shall never enter my rest.

Psalm 95:10-11 NIV

I think the New Testament has brought us hope and a challenge to put down our ungrateful hearts and enter into His rest through the shed blood of Jesus. Will we embrace His faithfulness today and marry it with our own? Our faithfulness comes from the faithfulness of Jesus.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

2 Peter 1:3 NIV

Jesus can help us live a godly life and stop trekking about the same mountain ’round and around and around. Are we willing to stop and listen for His direction off the path of endless repetition and futile thinking? He gives us strength for today. There have been days I thought I would never get through. Yet, He gives me strength. Sufficient strength for today.

Bob and I find that as we age (seemingly faster and faster) God gives us strength for each day. Just as the Israelites could not store manna for the next day, but needed to gather it each day, we draw our strength from Him one day at a time. He gives us faith and if we are willing to look for it, joy, too.

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV

I pray this blog helps you to stop walking in the same old ruts, around and around. Stop and ask the Lord of your faith to help you as Amy Carmichael wrote, “Hear the heartening word of the Lord, ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. “Rise ye up, take your journey” (v. 24), “fight the good fight of faith,” begin to possess your possessions.“