Walking with my neighbors who are so ill has brought me to a new place of asking the Lord for strength. On Monday she and I sat through 2 hours of appointments with 3 different medical and financial persons in the Oncology office. She has decided she will forego treatment. Her pancreatic cancer is Stage 3. Stage 4 is when it moves to any other organ. With treatment there is only a small percentage of a chance to prolong her life. The pain of her death will be brutal, but the treatment would be brutal also. She will turn 83 in a few months. Now she is praying for courage to tell her husband who is still hospitalized and desperately ill. She said when she saw him over the weekend his legs were like tree trunks. She did not know skin could stretch so far. She has watched his treatment and declared she does not want to become like him. By the time you read this she will likely have told him.
It was difficult to sit with her through those appointments and watch her make her decision. I was exhausted last evening. This morning I read several things about strength and finding strength. I am praying that as you read this writing you will be strengthened in your life.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19 NRSVUE
“Grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit.” Yes, please Lord God my Father.
Help me truly be rooted and grounded in love. Help that love to overflow to all those around me who are in need.
“According to the riches of Your glory”, grant this I pray. Help me abide in the love of Christ.
Are you weary today? Perhaps soaking in the above Scriptures and this song will help to sustain you.
I first heard this song at a retreat. In times like this it comes back to me.
On February 4 and March 23 the selections from Amy Carmichael in Edges of His Ways were both about strength. This morning the selection from Just One Thing by Rick Hanson, phd was entitled Find Strength. He wrote:
Strength comes in many forms, including endurance, losing on the little things in order to win on the big ones, and restraint. Inner strength is not all or nothing. You can build it, just like muscle. Appreciate how your strength empowers your caring, protectiveness, and love. Tell yourself that you are strong. That you can endure, persist, cope, and prevail. That you are strong enough to hold your experience in awareness without being over whelmed. That the winds of life can blow, and blow hard, but you are a deeply rooted tree, and winds just make you even stronger. And when they are done blowing, there you still stand. Offering shade and shelter, flowers and fruit. Strong and lasting.
I will with God’s help.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. Psalm 1:1-3 NRSVUE
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. 30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted, 31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 NRSVUE
Today on the Calm app they quoted H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.
I often tell people, “Remember we are all broken. Some just hide it better than others.”
We are not so unalike. I was recently asked to read my poem Called Forth from the Cave to a group. The stanza “We’ve got to touch, we’re not so unalike,” keeps ringing through my soul.
I first learned of Ubuntu through the book about Joy from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dali Lama.
“Ubuntu is a deeply rooted African philosophy that embodies the interconnectedness of humanity. Originating from Southern Africa, the term comes from the Bantu languages, often expressed as “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”—meaning “a person is a person through other people.” This guiding principle emphasizes community over individuality, recognizing that our identities and actions are shaped by our relationships and interactions.”
We are interconnected whether we recognize it or not. We are all human beings. I had a license plate frame made that reads, “We are humankind. Be both, human and kind.” As wars rage on and unrest grips our country as well as so many places around the world it is more important now than ever before to remember our human link to others. In high school speech class the instructor reminded us to look at our audience as we spoke and remember they put on their underwear the same way we do, one leg at a time.
I challenge you today to remember the above truths. We need each other. We each need kindness. There are many things we can do to practice kindness with one another, even total strangers. Remember, if you see someone without a smile today, give them one of yours!
My husband and I have been listening to Lenten meditations offered through our church from Holy Habits by Sister Monica Clare. “Written by an Episcopal nun, author and unlikely TikTok star, our 2026 meditations offer an invitation to rediscover—or deepen— HOLY HABITS of prayer, worship and engagement with Scripture. These holy habits provide a path to a life that is given shape, meaning and direction by being rooted in a deeper relationship with God.” If you want to meet her you can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=org7Dam8yJg
Quoting Mark 7:20-23 she wrote, “And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
She noted we often say, “So and so made me feel judged. But then I remember that no one can make me feel anything. My feelings are based on my own thoughts and perceptions of what enters my heart from the outside. Transforming my reactions into healthy responses is something that happens deep within.”
At first her insight sounds like a tall order. The transformation she speaks of can bring us peace and health like no other. “Transforming my reactions into healthy responses is something that happens deep within.” My reactions, taming myself to form responses instead of quickly reacting. Ooh, so often I am tempted to react. Slow down, Molly, form a response.
James 1:19 “Quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.” I stumble over which one to do quickly and which one slowly. Get it right old woman. QUICK to hear. Slow to speak, slow to anger.
Slow to speak, Molly. Slow to anger, Molly. That is what I need more of, (just ask my husband).
Quick to listen, like my beloved wild rabbits with their acute sense of hearing. Quick to listen. I wish when my ears are triggered by another person’s voice my self would assume a posture of full attentiveness and folded hands. I bet AI could make that picture. Lovely adult cottontail with folded paws and active listening.
Until then, I pray for God to help me become the person aware of her own tendency to defile from within. A woman willing to be changed to someone who is quick to hear, slow to speak, and very slow to anger.
I can just hear the humor of my husband churning up at that title! I’m thinking atmospheric, not the other kind that you pass. The wind chimes have been playing for what seems like months on end, both in the backyard and the front yard. I love the wind chimes. A nice warm breeze refreshes me. Perhaps this noticing has to do with the images in Scripture?
In Acts 2: 1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. NRSVUE
The King James version describes the phenomenon as “a mighty rushing wind.” the image of the Spirit of God as wind began in Genesis and is carried right through to the time the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
November of 2025 I wrote the following poem. Looking back, I realize it flowed out of me like prayer. Here is the wonder of it. At an unexpected Zoom meeting I picked up a piece of paper and began taking notes. When I turned it over yesterday I was reading this poem. I was so uncertain that I wrote it that I actually tried to looked it up online.
oh goodness me
Then I checked my document files. Sure enough, 25-11-26, it was right there. So I hope this encourages you and strengthens you in your faith as to what the Spirit can do within you if you simply yield and work with the Trinity.
Mighty rushing wind* blow over us Blow away every useless branch Carry off the finished leaves and twigs Refresh us with your presence Lower the temperature of our grasping Help us stand naked before your power No shame, just honest awareness
Mighty rushing wind You come with power and your promises Promise that we have more potential than we know Promise that we can be made anew Promise that in our weakness can be great power Tempest from God move us over Help us live more like the unity of the Trinity
Mighty rushing wind Help us yield to your shaping Rejoice in your remaking Agree heartily to the changes you bring We want to take deep inhalations from your source Being indwelt by the very breath from on high We stand still and ask that you permeate our being
Mighty rushing wind We cannot control you This day come to us and we will be changed Your power and promise overflow us Presence and transparency pervade you Shine the light of your word upon us And we shall be known for how we became like you
Mighty rushing wind, We bow the knee of our heart to you Touch us and we shall be made clean Surround us and we shall be shielded From darkness, debris of soul Detritus of overgrowth Unkempt garden of laziness
Mighty rushing wind Scour the ruin around our feet Cleanse us from all unrighteousness Set our feet firmly upon your path Put your shoes of the gospel of peace upon our feet And help us walk with your propulsion
Mighty rushing wind We welcome you Come and have your own way In and through us That praise may continuously ascend To the Holy Trinity you belong within As you declare we are in you and you are in us
*Acts 2:2.4a 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8 NIV
More than likely I have shared this song before. It has not grown to mean less to me! There are heavy prayer requests in our neighborhood and among our friends.
One family has a member with heart disease along with leukemia. He was hospitalized with what ER doc called an irritated heart. That is a new term to me. Perhaps doc made it up to not worry the wife who was diagnosed last week with pancreatic cancer. She is a ghastly shade of yellow/green sort of like Fiona from Shrek. She will have another scan this week and a port put in to facilitate chemo. She has been given 2 years to live. That is in just one family.
Another family has a dad with aggressive Parkinsons’s disease. He has been in nursing facility, brought home due to bedsore and poor care. Has been on in-home hospice care. He will go to facility for hospice care on Friday so his wife can get some rest.
My 92 year old friend got home from rehab facility over the past weekend. She is tired and rather frail, but holding her own , so far. Next week she turns 93. So far, refusing most help when we offer it. She has learned how to put on her back brace. She must wear it when she is up and about due to the 3 broken ribs and 3 broken vertebrae. She is using her cane inside the house and has a grabber in four out of five rooms. Therapist wants her to use the walker, but there is not enough clear space in the house for that. Hopefully when therapist comes to her home they will insist and assist in clearing away some of the stuff so she can use that walker in the house. She is not to bend forward or twist her torso.
There is another awaiting appointment with back surgeon for likely surgery appointment. One healing from skin graft after removal of cancer from her scalp. One with rare autoimmune disease whose husband has Parkinson’s. One with so many untreatable diseases and multiple back surgeries she is basically bed fast. Another in her late 80s recovering from colon cancer. One in her 90s recovering from colon cancer. Aging, disease and death just keep marching on. That is not even concerning the many wars around the world.
Twice I have found myself awake in the night and then my brain slips into overdrive ruminating with concern over these and several other situations. How do you stop that? Here are a few of my ideas.
I breathe in deeply to count of 4. Then exhale slowly to count of 8. This helps. This practice is easier if I have been practicing meditative prayer daily. Regardless, it can work. Lifting these concerns in prayer does not always bring me relief and get me back to sleep. Focus upon breathing can.
I imagine each person in the arms of Father God, those everlasting arms of care and love. Remembering that there is nothing I can do to change their situation, I let them go to the care of the Trinity. They are so much more concerned than I am, and so much more powerful to make a change in the circumstances.
The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms Deuteronomy 33:7a and b
This morning this song came on and I was reminded that this is the answer every time. Rest. Trust. Know none of us are alone. “I am sure the One who made me is catching every word.”
We can try to encourage the ones we know who are suffering. We can make a meal, deliver a flower, pay a visit. We can pray and send a card. We can lift them and let them know we are lifting them. We must also take care of ourselves. Just as the airline says, “In case of an emergency to put your mask on first,” we need to do our best to take care of ourselves if we hope to be an aide to others in their need. Pray, hope and most of all love one another. Share one another’s burdens. Trust God to do what is best in each situation.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NRSVUE
Give thanks for each life though there is suffering. We are each blessed to be alive though we may be disappointed with our state in life.
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NRSVUE
In the move to make worship easier for all our church uses a printed bulletin each week instead of the Book of Common Prayer and a hymnal. Last week in the Eucharistic prayer I was struck by these sentences.
Your redeeming work continued when through the Virgin Mary, you became incarnate in Jesus Christ, so that through him we might experience the depth and width of your unquenchable love.
No, I do not understand all of that language and do not presume to explain to you what I do believe about it. I do know that the love of God IS unquenchable and vast beyond our comprehension!
Have you tasted that unquenchable love in your life? Can you recall that moment and stay with it as the days of Lent unfold?
And again we prayed:
Send your Holy Spirit we pray, into these gifts of bread and wine and send your Holy Spirit into us, that we may RECOGNIZE each other as members of the same body, Christ’s hands and feet and heart, sent for the healing of the world.
Nothing is too difficult for our God. Help me Father to let you open my eyes to the wonders of your redeeming work. Help me recognize your people as members of the same body you have created for the healing of the world.
Once I heard a sermon by a priest who said, “Control is an illusion.” I argued with him all the way home! Guess what? He was right. None of us knows what a day or even an hour may hold.
I made an appointment with a hand surgeon to look at my right hand. I have pain that is fairly constant. I have tried wearing a brace, using Diclofenac cream, menthol rubs, Tylenol, etc. I have been one who has enjoyed crocheting for over 55 years. I also like to cross stitch and am learning to knit (albeit not very well, yet!) I type this blog and also now type my journal since “Uncle Arthur” (nasty osteoarthritis) has taken up residence in my hands among other places.
I was relieved the doctor could get me in this Monday but then it hit me I might not be able to write the blog entries! So here I am on a Sunday afternoon, rearranging my Sabbath practice to write the blog.
If I get a cortisone injection in the base of my thumb it is unlikely I will be able to type tomorrow as is my habit. Besides, the appointment time will take up most of my morning. This is the man who found the distress in my daughter’s hand was a mysterious bone chip that was not missing from any other bone in her wrist. He surgically removed it and she has full function without all the pain. So I have decided to trust him since he did so well with my first baby.
The larger question is will I trust the Lord regardless of what happens at this appointment or into the future? I love to crochet. I get great satisfaction creating things from yarn and string. I give most of those items away. I have been helping my grandson learn to create this way, too! One grandgirl taught herself to crochet watching YouTube videos. Go figure! I gave lessons for many years and continue to share the craft in a weekly meeting at the Senior Center and monthly with Convent Associates.
Am I willing to give even crochet to the Lord? If I am asked to not do crochet I will obey. It might be a gradual ceasing from the activity, but I will if I must. Only if I must.
Psalm 32: 8-9 The donkey I met in Ireland
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Psalm 32: 8-9 NRSVUE
Hmm trust, t (see a cross) r us t (see a cross). R us trusting, even if it means the cross punctuating our life before and behind us? Another sermon emphasized that Jesus did everything right and he earned a cross. (Of course, for the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and bought us by his blood). Hebrews 12
As things change for you, will you dig in your heels like a mule or follow instructions and accept holy counsel?
I was given a prayer request for strength. This person was in the midst of two part time jobs, raising teenagers, deeply concerned about the unrest in Minnesota and other cities, and having hot flashes. She was right up on the edge of burnout.
I was later reading Amy Carmichael’s Edges of His Grace and Amy quoted this:
Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. Psalm 68:28 Darby
I sent the quote along to her. So many of us are on the edge of burnout. We need the strength of God and renewal in the strength that only God can offer.
Looking into this further, one footnote said: Septuagint and Syriac and most Hebrew manuscripts say Your God has summoned power for you.
Yes, Lord, she and I both need more of that precious power You have summoned for us!
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused Isaiah 30:15 NRSVUE
Lord, you know we are hurried and worried and preoccupied with too many things.We need to be still. Return to you. Rest and trust in you. Help us to not refuse to do these things.
We more inflow and deliberately return to the Giver of Living Water
Send forth your strength O GOD; establish, O GOD, what you have wrought for us. Psalm 68:28 BCP
Above, the Book of Common Prayer quotes this Psalm slightly differently. And below the Names of God Bible says:
Your Elohim has decided you will be strong. Display your strength, O Elohim, as you have for us before. Names of God Bible Psalm 68:28
Your Elohim – Your Elohim, the Supreme One, the Mighty One – and this Mighty one if yours. Ponder that for a moment. Yours. Your God has summoned power for you.Your God send forth strength to you. God has worked things into shape for us. Will establish what God has wrought for us. God has summoned power for us.
I was uncertain how I would get through this past week. I had many pressing matters and needed strength for each of them. This verse helped me turn to the Lord and ask for the strength I needed for each situation. I remembered with longing that Sunday was coming and that I could rest on that afternoon. I was carried in heavenly strength through the week. Left to myself I would have crashed and burned early in the week.
It is an amazing verse and even more amazing gift that is given to us. Sit with this verse. Ponder the meaning in the particulars of your life. How can you apply this verse, this truth to your life? See how Elohim loves you!
Defined as: a person whose personality is characterized by introversion: a typically reserved or quiet person who tends to be introspective and enjoys spending time alone.
So stand me up in front of the congregation, say a prayer over me, applaud .. NOT my cup of tea. Yet to be commissioned as a Stephen Minister I had to do just that. Our three priests and leader of Stephen Ministry and two other Stephen Ministers prayed over me as I knelt. Then there was a reception with cake and congratulations and it was all just difficult for me. The only easy thing was agreeing to serve the Lord through Stephen Ministry.
Pastor Roger is short so you can’t see him here. You can see the soles of my shoes!
Bob and I used to serve on a marriage ministry weekend and our friend Dan always told the people that God chose four introverts to speak to them. The word does say
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God.1 Corinthians 127-29
The only thing I boasted about was thanking the Lord for getting me through it! We do serve an amazing God. This God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above ALL that we can ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20 Verse 21 says to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
A friend gave me a devotional book for Christmas entitled Amazing Grace. It has a devotion for morning and evening. I am grateful she purchased it for me. I would not have been likely to do it as I own many devotional books. This one has been great! When I read the offering for the morning of February 16 I was deeply blessed. The author mentions being able to receive a sincere compliment.
“This is tricky for many of us, as we tread that fine line we’ve walked since little girls, the one between graciousness and fear of appearing vain.
“One of the many wonderful things about life in Christ is that we can cast this worry aside. Once we grasp that every good thing about us is a gift from him, we are free to appreciate being appreciated. Not only that, we also get to call attention to the awesome work he does through our weak places. Consider responding like this: “Thank you! Let me tell you, that was all God. My human side wanted to run for the hills. I can’t believe the courage he gave me to hang in there.”
I almost hollered AMEN! as I read this during breakfast. (I was afraid I would I make Bob choke on his toast!) I just knew I had to post it to you!
So try to remember this quote next time someone compliments you upon your work with God, for God. He alone is most worthy of all glory and praise, thanksgiving and honor! Revelation 7:12
I recently read a book entitled “The Dog That Talked to God.”It features a miniature Schnauzer. I knew one once. My friend Jeanne owned it and it was sweet, though yappy.
The book is Christian fiction. Not only does the dog talk to God, the dog talks occasionally to its master. That might be fun!!
More than halfway through the book the owner decided to sell her house and relocate. This was difficult for both her and the dog. Here is one conversation the two of them had.
Rufus stared at his front paws.
“I guess. Maybe. But I don’t like this change. I liked the way things were. Except for the cold. And the snow. And getting run over by cars. Other than that, I liked it. And there were no horses there at all. None at all.”
This time I bent to him, not to hear him, but to hug him tight to me.
We were both lost and alone and dislocated and we wanted what we had before and would never, ever get back.
“God did say to trust him,” Rufus added, his voice soft, almost a whisper. “I don’t know what that means exactly. But I think he will show us what he wants us to do. Right? He does that sort of thing, right?”
Does that sound familiar to your life experience? This was not just a cutesy book with a warm fuzzy message. This book, written from the perspective of a woman and her dog, written by a man which had me puzzled for a bit, is more like a meatloaf sandwich when you apply it to yourself. The woman is angry with God and has decided not to talk with God anymore. It is an age old human situation and this one is told in an interesting way. I went through that after my mother died suddenly. (We worked it out.)
My book has a copyright of 2012 so you can likely purchase it used through Abe Books or Thrift.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 