Category: Sister Judy (Page 185 of 279)

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Last night we went to Grant’s soccer game and it was fun to watch as they were all around 4 years old.  Now as you can imagine, the game was not played to perfection as they are young and just learning the rules. They had a very tall big coach with a very patient heart. The kids fell down a lot but got up and continued, and enjoyed the time. They didn’t expect perfection from themselves, nor did their coach or most of the parents. (Only one dad on steroids hollered at his son and expected him to do well on his first time of.playing.)  Why do we think we should live a perfect Christian life and not make mistakes?  Of course we will!  I am reading Richard Rohr’s book, “Falling Upward”, and he said, “We grow spiritually much more by doing it wrong than by doing it right.”  That’s because we can’t hide our imperfection and know we need His grace. It causes us to be more forgiving of others too. When we fall or fail, we need not fall apart.  The Pharisees had a hard time to grasp that as they were all about doing it right, especially before the eyes of man. Let us be like Grant falling down and getting up and enjoying the game, without pointing blaming others!  “It is when I am weak that I am strong.” II Cor 12:10

Devotions from Judy’s heart

For some time my laptop computer has not been very bright when it was running on battery, and our TDS man said he had fixed that when he came out last week. But when I was showing Kurt some pictures last night, it was still so much darker than it should be. It took Kurt only a couple minutes to fix the problem as he pressed two keys and it lightened it all up. Wow! It made so much difference and I don’t know how long it would have taken me to figure it out, if ever!  Isn’t that the way it is with the Lord?  Things in our lives can seem dark and complicated and we really can’t figure out what to do. We get frustrated and even get use to living in dimness. But as we call out to Him, His answers can come in so many different ways… often through just the right person who connects with us at just the right time. Or could be something we read. I remember a gal saying she had been plagued with headaches and lack of energy etc. and thought she may have brain cancer.   While waiting for a plane, she picked up a magazine and happened to read all the symptoms of Lyme’s. She went to her Dr. and sure enough, after suffering for months, she got the medication and felt great again. God is so awesome, and we just need to bring everything to Him and wait for His answers in whatever form they come.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Have you ever noticed how the Lord just seems to “show up” at the most unexpected times?  I read today from Luke 24 how Jesus walked with the 2 men on the road to Emmaus and it wasn’t until He broke bread with them that they recognized who He truly was. . And when He appeared to His disciples after the resurrection they were startled and a bit frightened until He spoke a word of peace. I think it is amazing all the ways that Jesus appears to us or speaks to our hearts… sometimes it is in the voice of a stranger, or in the beauty of a sunset, the sound of the loon, the smell of fresh baked bread, a phrase of scripture that just stands out etc   Some time ago I was asking the Lord to just let me know He was there during a difficult time…All of a sudden a mama duck swam by carefully watching over her ducklings. It was as if the Lord was saying to me He was very aware of me and watching over me.  Just recently a retreatant shared how the Lord spoke a message to his heart as he  observed a fish trying to swim upstream against the currant.   As Sarah Young says in Jesus Calling, “there is no limit to the variety of ways I can communicate with you. Your part is to be attentive to My messages, in whatever form they come. When you set out to find Me in a day, you discover the world is vibrantly alive with My Presence.” May we not miss Him as He reveals Himself throughout our day!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Al took me for a boat ride around the lake the other night and when we passed the resort there wasn’t any sign of activity there. In the summer there are people in the water or on the raft, boating, walking on the beach, etc but fall has come and there was no activity at all. I thought of the seasons and how important it is to be in the right season of the Lord.  Maybe what He has been doing in our church in the past is now being taken into a new season and that means change. Or maybe what worked in another place is not what He has for us at all. We need discernment to be moving with the Spirit in what He has for each of us right now. As it says in Daniel 2, To Him belong wisdom and might..  ”He changes times and seasons”.   He gives wisdom and knowledge and reveals deep and hidden things. We need to be continually seeking Him and be in His time and season.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Some time ago Ann gave me a lovely ¾ sleeved jacket that I picked out when we shopped together. But when I got it home, I was disappointed for it didn’t match the intended outfit.  I kept the jacket in the back of my closet and when I shopped last Saturday, I bought a lovely fall skirt with Birthday money. And this time when I got home, it matched the jacket perfectly. I thought of how sometimes we receive teaching that is good but doesn’t quite fit in to where we are at presently. So we put it “on the back burner” so to speak. It is good but we are not able to apply it yet. Then in the future, all of a sudden it makes perfect sense to us and fits right where we are at.  It may be a  scripture that comes alive, a teaching that seems  to reinforce what He has been telling us along etc  We are glad we didn’t throw it out and may even wonder why we didn’t “get it” sooner. But the Lord has His timing and brings us to those “Aha moments” and we know He has spoken to our hearts..Let us be like the little boy Samuel who said to the Lord, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears.” ( I Sam 3:10)

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We need to live our lives one day at a time and enjoy each moment. That can mean taking breaks out of our busy schedules and drinking in the present. I thought of that yesterday when Al was with the Sisters at Shalom. They were giving the Spiritual Direction class but at 11 a.m. they took a break as there was a Home Coming parade for St. Scholastica going right past the monastery. Four Sisters rode on one of the floats with their dress garb dating back 100 years. Al loves parades and there was a lot of laugher as he had the Sisters and participants scooping up candy too.  One of our former parishioners was a cheerleader in the parade and Al rushed out in the midst of the parade to give her a big hug! Everyone said that watching a parade with Al was quite an experience!  They could have skipped it all, but I rather think the Lord was smiling on them.  As I read from Paul Keller today, “It is this moment of your life that is most important and you are urged to live it to the fullest, trusting God, and believing that God will bless you with joy, providing  you with healing peace. Don’t reach beyond yourself. Live each moment to its fullest, one moment at a time, and you shall be led forth in peace.

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Devotions from Judy’s heart
Last night I wrote 73 e-mails and then noticed that none of them were going out. At first I thought maybe I could the fix the problem and tried a few things but nothing worked. Al called TDS and tried several things by phone and then said they would have to send out a technician today. He was here quite a while and found out there was a technical glitch in Madison, that needed to be fixed. Now I could have tried all night and I never could have fixed the problem. Sometimes there are things in our lives that need fixing and we need to ask for help from those that have been on the journey longer. This local technician had been working for 13 years for TDS but still couldn’t fix it. So he also had to call for help from above him and waited while it was being fixed in Madison. I remember times in my life when I needed healing of some things from the past and asked for prayer from the Body.  I had already tried on my own to “fix” them but I was still broken in that area. But as they prayed for me, healing came and I was able to move on. Just like today, my computer is up and running and I can move on and send messages again. Let us avail ourselves to Body ministry when we need it and not be “The Lone Ranger”!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Today we had Matt over for dinner and he has just received this huge gift from his dad…a big CAT with a 15 foot blade that he plans to use to make trails in the woods.  Now this CAT was in Canada and had to be delivered to them in MN and was received with much joy. It made me think of God’s great gift to us when he sent His son, all the way from glory to earth and to clear the way for our salvation. But we need to receive this gift, just as Matt did when it was delivered.  He was thrilled and began at once to look it over and to get it started.  It is just the beginning for it will be used to clear out the old logs and also trees that are blocking the path that he is to go on.  We also need to receive the gift of God’s grace for salvation, and it is just the beginning of His work in our lives. He wants to clean out the things that hinder our walk with Him and gives us a new path on which to walk. Now this is only one of the wonderful gifts He gives us and other gifts are smaller but often surprise us. Every day we are gifted by the Lord and may we give thanks and receive with open arms what He has for us..

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Today I went on a road that I haven’t been on for a long time. I was surprised how the forest had filled out with wild flowers and bushes and grasses that seemed to hide the fallen trees and decaying logs.

Often when we go through a loss, whether it is through sickness or death of a loved one, a job loss, or loss of friendships etc. we may feel like we are walking in barrenness and darkness. It may be hard to see the light of hope. But as we lean into the Lord, we receive faith that we will be led out of the darkness into the light again. In time we will be able to see the hidden work the Lord has been doing in our lives. We may actually see beauty in it and what a miracle that is!  He turns our mourning into dancing! ( Ps 30:11) and beauty for ashes.( Is. 61:3) The forest is no longer dark but alive with sunshine and aroma of flowers and fullness. We may have thought it was not possible but now we can see He was working in our dark times to fill us out. Let us trust Him in our dark times and know that the day is coming when the sun will shine again and we will dance!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday, I was reminded that we should never give up hope. I was watching the Viking game and in the last minutes when the Jaguars got a touchdown pass, it looked like the game would be over. But it wasn’t. Walsh, the Viking rookie , made a long 55 yard kick and tied the game. Great jubilation!  He scored again with another good kick in the overtime and won the game. Spiritually often times it looks like the enemy is getting the best of us. It seems like we are losing ground and he is winning. David had so many of those times in his life. But even though he had some very narrow escapes he says in Ps. 30, “ I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.”  It is not over until the end, and in the end we have the ultimate victory in Him. Often we tend to depend on the big star player, but sometimes it is the little rookie that comes through for us. It is a good reminder that it is truly His power that defeats the enemy. Even when we may be in a tight situation like David, let us remember his words in Ps. 42, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”