September 1, 2023

Dear Ones,

Happy Labor Day weekend! It looks to be a hot one too and we plan to go to the cabin tomorrow and will dip in the lake when we get too hot. This morning I am cleaning the apt and then going to the Audiologist again and praying more can be done for my hearing. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  Haven’t we all had times when we sensed God’s love and presence in tangible ways and knew He is right there in the midst of our conversations and even in spontaneous fun times?  Recently we had a birthday party with the friends who we walk the trail with. We were celebrating David’s birthday and mine, and yet perhaps we were really celebrating Vickie. You have read of Vickie often in my devotions as she is the OB/GYN Doctor. who has had Alzheimer’s for the past 8 years and is declining. But yet her spirit is still awake and I sense God’s love flowing through her, even though she is not verbal now.  She came with an open heart and gave tight hugs and beautiful smiles. She can’t entirely hide what is going on inside as the expressions on her face often says it all. We had birthday cupcakes with trick candles and moose track frozen yogurt and balloons and gifts. Perhaps Vickie enjoyed it most of all as she quickly started eating her chocolate cake and candy and noticing things about her.  

 Her husband e-mailed later that he could feel love in the air at the party!  He also said about Vickie, “Her love impacts the people around her more as she is decreasing a little each day. As I observed this, I thought when John the Baptist said, ‘We must decrease, and He must increase.’ It may shed some light on what love is all about. It seems the intangibles in life are more important than the tangibles.”

   Like Vickie, there are people around us in our lives that may not be able to speak, or work, or carry on a conversation, but they still have something to give. It may be only a smile or a hug, along with their presence that was created in the image of God. They can be carriers of God’s love in special ways and God uses them to bless us all. But are we open vessels to receive God’s love coming through them? They have something to say, even without words. Can we hear His voice through them?  The Lord sings over them, just as He sings over us. It says in Zeph 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you, in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Let us open our hearts to God coming to us in so many varied ways and not discount any gift He sends no matter how it is wrapped.

Challenge for today: Ask God to open your eyes to discover the special ways He is reaching out in His love to you through others.