Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying this warmer day of sunshine. This morning I studied and made individual egg dishes and went to my exercise class. We plan to get a walk in this afternoon and go to a Lenten service tonight.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Why do we respond as we do? Is it coming from deep inside of us of how we really feel or do we often act out of hurts in our past that still need healing?  When I wrote the last devotional I sent out to you about the miracle and God’s timing of our birth, I realized for the first time in my life that maybe my birth was not planned by my parents. Really, I have never given that a thought before. My mom already had a one -year-old son and a two- year- old son; it is not likely that she wanted a another baby so soon, making it 3 little ones in 3 years. Now she never told me that, but in the back of my mind, all my life, I have not wanted to be an inconvenience. I don’t like to be upfront or have the attention on me. That is not the best material for a Pastor’s wife as we are often asked to speak and do public things. I remember resisting the suggestion by some at one of our church to stand at the door with Al each Sunday to greet people. I even had dreams of being pushed in the limelight which I objected to. I don’t even like being honored in the restaurant on my birthday with the workers all serenading me. As I write devotions to all of you, God also works on me, and that is as it should be.  I recently wrote that I want my outward life to be congruent with my inner life and that my actions would be consistent with my words. God did plan my birth at just the right time as I was close to my two older brothers growing up; later I finally got a sister and way later came another brother who was loved by all. God had it all planned from the beginning. There are things that have happened in all of our lives that need healing and as the Lord reveals them, we can get prayer and get set free from them. I was in a small intimate prayer group where we all received healing prayers and freed us up in areas of our lives; but there is always more and we need to be open to the Holy Spirit. It is a gift when He reveals and connects the dots for us. It says in Psalm 147:3 (Amplified), “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds (curing their pains and their sorrows).”  We have only to ask the Lord to cleanse our wounds as we confess our part, and then He brings the healing; It is important to keep our eyes on Him and not keep dwelling on what happened or infection will develop. It is exciting and also painful at times as we go through the healing process, but the new freedom is worth it. As the Apostle Paul said in III John 1:2, may we enjoy good health and all go well with us, even as our soul is getting along well.
Challenge for today: Expose your wounds to the Lord and let Him cleanse and heal them. 
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy