Dear Ones,
  Happy weekend to you!! Nice to see the sun shining! Today we will be celebrating birthdays here and Al and I are soon going to Costco to get the cake. I baked S.F Choc chip cookies this morning and will make chix soup later and set up for the party. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
    How patient are we? That is a question I ask of myself. As I read Juliet Canha’s book, Life lessons in Transformation and Rest, I was made aware of how short I fall short in having a patient heart.
  None of us were born with patience for we cried whenever a need wasn’t met until we were fed and tended. As adults our impatience is evident as we want instant everything; our computers don’t work fast enough, we want to be waited on the moment we arrive at a restaurant, and we get impatient if we have to wait in the checkout line etc.
   Patience is a fruit of maturity and hopefully we learn patience in life, even if it is learned the hard way by suffering consequences. Maybe we have all bought something impulsively online without checking further and reading the reviews etc. to find out it is not something of worth. Or could it be that we sometimes run ahead of God and take matters into our own hands? There are so many examples in scripture of those who missed out because of their impatience in waiting for God’s timing. Saul found that out as he lost the kingdom. On the other hand, in contrast, think of David who was anointed king by Samuel and yet it took many years before he could take the throne. He was patient and didn’t try to make it happen in his timing.
   We can live in peace when we trust God and wait for Him to direct our lives. Canha shares some suggestions and tells us first to quiet our own spirit so we can hear God’s whispers as He directs us. It is also important to ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light into our hearts that we might ask forgiveness of anything that would stand in the way of us hearing Him. Then going a step farther, we invite Him to take control of our schedules and agendas and empty us of self. Then we can wait for Him to lead as we patiently stay in neutral and watch for His leading.
  Let us not take off in our own power but wait as the disciples did to be clothed with power from on high. In our patience for the Holy Spirit’s direction for us, we will come to experience that our dependency is truly on Him.
  Challenge for today: Begin the day by asking the Holy Spirit to direct you in all things and give up your own schedule.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy