Category: Trust

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Prayer, Trust

New Ministry coming to Mt Orab, Ohio

Most by now have seen or heard about the sex trade and the movie that introduced Americans to it though the movie “Sound of Freedom” which was released in 2023.

You might not be aware that things are taking shape for Americans to help remove children in the lower 48 to get out of the trade and be helped towards a normal life.

I have friends who have been invited to run a new ministry house sponsored by Bloc ministry in Mt. Orab, Ohio. The home will not open until later this autumn. These friends have experience housing boys protected from the sex trade in a foreign country. Not able to identify where for their safety as Christians. This new home will house girls. They are highly qualified. We are all excited about the opportunity!

You can read more about the ministry at http://www.onebloc.org/redeemed-home

The person due to run the home asked for a sewing machine. I was able to obtain two of them through Facebook. Once I pick them up, Bob and I will take the machines to the sewing machine shop for a tune up. I will also be asking for sewing supplies such as scissors, thread, bobbins, seam rippers. Our first project will be to have each woman make herself a pillow case. Nice simple straight seams. Something each one can keep for herself.

We received the first machine and the repairman noted it was missing the bobbin holder. For those of you unfamiliar with sewing, a machine cannot work without a bobbin. It takes two threads and intertwines them with each stitch. Here is a 26 second video of the action.

This particular older machine is impossible to find new parts for. The repairman is checking his warehouse to learn if they have the used bobbin case to run a diagnostic test. If another part should break or be faulty there may be no hope. The original owner is long dead so there is no asking her! The person who donated it is now out of town but willing to check her basement when she returns.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NIV

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18 NIV

The next machine is being picked up soon. Praying it works and has all of its parts!

Please pray for this new ministry and those who are setting it up. Spiritual warfare is a very real thing. When we make the enemy of our souls upset he can come after us with a vengeance. These young women need this new start in life and they need those of us who are willing to pray for them often and heartily. Having just finished your Lenten disciplines here is a spring-summer prayer project for you! Thanking you in advance!

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

Psalm and Cling

I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:8 NIV

March 21, 2024 I wrote about my fascination with finding dry, dead vines. https://wordpress.com/post/treasures-in-plain-sight.org/15865 The vines remind me of how I, too, need to cling to my Lord.

Recently while reading the Psalms in a month I came across the verse above. To read the Psalms in a month I basically read 5 per day with a portion of Psalm 119 per day. I thought you might like this reminder to cling to God at all times. He is worthy of our praise. He upholds us and accompanies us through all the areas of our lives.

Today may you be blessed by an increased awareness of His Presence!

 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:8a,10 NIV
Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Journal, Just do it, Listen, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust, Worship

Cry of The Deer, The Presence of God

In David Adam’s book The Cry of the Deer, this is probably my favorite chapter so far. I try to always give proper credits and not quote too much from the books I enjoy. This time is going to be difficult!

You can purchase the book used for $4 or $5.oo. Amazon has it new for $14.00.

Quoting from the Hymn of St. Patrick:

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak to me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From the snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From every one who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in a multitude.

On page 98 Adam describes the difficulty I have in trying to transcribe my experiences with God into understandable ideas and actual words.

Experiences cannot be captured and pressed into pages of books or reports without losing much of their vitality. Once we try to put them into words, or to preserve them in any way, change takes place. Too often we attempt to write down an experience because we have already lost it. Words cannot replace the reality any more than a photograph can make up for a lost presence. So much that we experience cannot be tied down or captured in any way.

David Adam Cry of the Deer

So you might see my difficulty here. Adam goes on to say “Since this is true of everyday life, how MUCH MORE is it of the Divine Reality?”

When I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia one of the books I read said that too often we try to put God in a box – a box full of our ideas about God. That author went on to say that if we put God in a box, He loves to flatten the box and make it into a dance floor. Have you found this to be true in your experience? There was another book published forty some years ago entitled “Your God is Too Small” was written by J. B Phillips.

Your God is Too Small is a groundbreaking work of faith, which challenges the constraints of traditional religion. In his discussion of God, author J.B. Phillips encourages Christians to redefine their understanding of a creator without labels or earthly constraints and instead search for a meaningful concept of God. Phillips explains that the trouble facing many of us today is that we have not found a God big enough for our modern needs. In a world where our experience of life has grown in myriad directions and our mental horizons have been expanded to the point of bewilderment by world events and scientific discoveries, our ideas of God have remained largely static. This inspirational work tackles tough topics and inspires readers to reevaluate and connect more deeply with a God that is relevant to current experience and big enough to command respect and admiration.

Description by Simon and Schuster, Publishers https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Your-God-Is-Too-Small/J-B-Phillips/9780743255097

Perhaps the most powerful quote from the Cry Of The Deer:

Let us remember that creeds cannot satisfy our innermost longings, nor can any book, only a personal experience of Him in whom we live and move and have our being.

David Adam, Page 100, Cry of The Deer

How is your relationship with the Lord God Almighty? Have you tried practicing His Presence one second of every minute like Laubach? Do you talk with Him like the Celts? Is your relationship intimate and constant? Have you tried to describe your relationship in a journal or letter? Do you know Him? Is the Trinity a reality to you or just a far off religious idea?

One of my best Bible teachers ever called all of this “experiential knowledge”. Give yourself to this practice for 3 minutes every morning. In a week or two move to 5 minutes. Build your practice just as you would build a relationship with a new friend.

It has been said that prayer is talking to God. Meditation is listening for His voice. Call it what you want. I know time spent in this practice will never be time lost. Discover the One who loves you best and loves you the most!

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Psalm 27:8 NIV
Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Poetry, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust

Another Poem by Amy

Reading the entry for April 4 in The Edges of His Ways I came to this verse of her poem and thought you too might benefit from reading.

So individual is His thought
For all of us, did one let go
The hand of Joy, and, sore distraught,
Forget to sing, His heart would know

Amy Carmichael

Father God knows the needs of each child and He is intimately involved in each formation and need. You are known. You are loved. The Almighty cares. Lean on Him for He cares about you! He has a personal walk with you. It will not be like that of any other person. We can share our insights and experiences, but our walk is personal.

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 NRSV
Posted on in Art, Faith, Nature, Poetry, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust, Yield

Updating Poetry

I have been printing my poetry and placing it in the collection notebook. I am amazed that so far there 168 poems in the notebook. Some are a few lines long. Some are many verses. Some still need editing (not a task I like to do)!

Having spent much of Lent reflecting on Jesus asleep in the boat with me and the other disciples terrified in the storm I think it is perhaps time to share this poem. I am actually uncertain which poems i have shared and which ones I have not. Yes, I should have taken greater care with keeping a record of these!

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. 27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

Matthew 8:23-27 NRSV
Lord of the Tempest © 2000 Molly Lin Dutina 

MT 8:27 NRSV They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Lord of the tempest, calm my soul
I turn my troubled heart to You.

Arise in my vessel.
Rebuke the winds and waves
that I might serve You
in holy calm.

Oh me of little faith
cry out to your Master,
become like Him,
faithful even in storms.

There is much to complete.
Lord, order my workday,
my prayer life,
speak to my little faith,
make me new.

Even in a furious storm,
You slept, You arose, You spoke.
Fill me with that same holiness.
Calm my fears and flights of negativity.

I thirst, my Lord,
I ache for You.
Come fill me with Your living water
	reservoir of life
	spring of eternity
purposeful spirituality.

Presence that can be grasped 
in the midst of things to do.
Like the mask that drops down
in an airline emergency
provide for me the breath of life.

Sustain, refresh and keep me
help me to deeply breathe in Your Spirit
even as I serve You at work, at church, at home.

Amen.