Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Hope you have a time to get refreshed. Today is Birthday Day here at Northern Lakes so Al and I will be going to Costco when it opens to get the cake. I hope to get the apt. cleaned and soup made and some packing done too. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
    If we are honest, we all long for deep relationships where we feel unconditionally loved and understood. Yet within each of us there will always be a certain sense of loneliness when we realize that no one else is exactly like us, or will fully understand us for we are one of a kind. I am reading a book called True Companions by Kelly Flanagan who is a clinical Psychologist, and he writes how we were created with loneliness and in many ways, we are to befriend that sense for it is part of our humanity and helps us to desire to connect. In fact, it is unhuman to be unlonely for then we would have no need for companionship with others.
    But it does not matter if we have numerous friends, there is still a lone place in each of us that is unknowable to others. Flanagan writes that even though we share 99.9% of our DNA with others we have 3 million different ways we are unique. No other person sees the world around us exactly like we do and we are in essence alone on the inside. When we befriend that loneliness, we go below the surface and become who we were meant to be. In fact, our capacity for love grows when we go to a quiet place below the surface and become present to ourselves and to the Lord. We can be real with Him and rest in the quiet of His presence. Only He can completely relate to our uniqueness for He created us. When we open ourselves to the Lord, whether others are around us or if we are isolated, we know that He is with us as our constant companion.
  I was reading from Psalm 89 today and verses 15-17 (God’s Word) spoke to me. “Blessed are the people who know how to praise you. They walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. They find joy in your name all day long. They are joyful in your righteousness because you are the glory of their strength.” In those times we are alone, we are not really alone, for they can be the richest times; for the Lord is our constant companion and our joy and strength is in Him who knows us in completeness.
Challenge for today: Spend some alone time with the Lord and share your heart with Him.  
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy