A couple that was very dear to my parents were missionaries in Bolivia for many years were Hendrick and Marge Erickson. They ran an orphanage for over 20 years and one of the girls (Julia) helped Marge there became a lifelong friend, as well as her husband who came to the Lord through Hendrick’s witness to him. Later in life when Marge retired and her husband had died, she saw a picture of Julia in a wheelchair because of being crippled by rheumatoid arthritis. Someone had rented the wheelchair so she could go to a wedding but the rest of the time she spent mostly confined to bed or a chair in their one-room mud hut. Marge prayed and wanted to help her in some way and realized she had a wheelchair in her basement that Julia could use if only she could get it there.
She called another WMPL missionary who she remembered was going back to Boliva to ask if there was a way to get the wheelchair to Julia. He laughed and said that he could use the wheelchair as he had a pacemaker put in and the Dr. said he needed a wheelchair after he got to La Paz while his heart was getting accustomed to the high altitude again. He was able to take it on the plane as his personal property, all the way to Bolivia free! Then when his heart adjusted, Julia received the chair was able to use the chair to sit outside in the sunshine and be more mobile until she passed away. But the wheelchair wasn’t retired but thereafter given to another missionary who already knew of someone else who needed the wheelchair. Rene had been paralyzed as a result of a truck accident and had to have his leg amputated. He received the welcomed wheelchair, and it has made a big difference in his life. One wheelchair that was given for the Lord’s use, was an answer to the prayers of many. Let us hold loosely what the Lord gives us for who knows how it can bless others!

If you’re in a job that is highly competitive and your workday is full of stress, it is especially important to deprogram before you get home. Several of the churches we were in had the parsonage right near the church, so Al had only the walk across the parking lot to leave the stress behind and be ready for family life. Most of you have more time to deprogram and release the pressures of the day before you hit home. Those of you who work mostly from home are especially challenged as it takes more flexibility to switch gears often during the day. Our son has his office in his home, but he can take the dog for a walk after making a presentation on zoom before he gets ready for what is next.

Each of us need ways to deprogram and to release the stresses of the day, so we can be present to our families. Otherwise, the drama of work fills our minds and we need to air out our emotions so God’s peace can blanket us. When both parents work, they may be glad to see each other when they finally get home but their minds can still be filled with meetings at work, proposals to make etc. It’s good to give each other some space to just release the negative emotions of the workplace and quiet down; perhaps even a quick shower helps. Use whatever time you have before engaging with family to give all the emotions and stresses of the day to the Lord and make room for His peace to fill you afresh.

Challenge of the day: Put to memory today Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart since we are members of one body, you were called to peace and be thankful.”
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Hope you had a great weekend.  We got more snow and now it truly looks like winter. I plan to do food prep and go to Ald’s and Exercise class this morning and then walk in the snow this afternoon.

Just the other day, I got an e-mail from friends of our former congregation and they shared how they presented Jesus to their kids and grandkids this past Christmas. They wrote that Christmas was great as they have 3 grown boys with families so lots with the grandkids that all came together to celebrate. But how they did it was fun for all and very meaningful. They all gathered at one of the boy’s homes, and did a version of the nativity, acted out by everyone dressed up like angels, wisemen, shepherds, and of course Mary and Joseph and the baby. One couple came down the long driveway dressed as Mary and Joseph; Mary was riding on a horse, and they all sang praises as they went into the barn. The father read the Christmas story and as they gathered around the manger, he prayed for each one of them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to live inside them and to guide them on their journey. I suspect those grandkids won’t forget the real meaning of Christmas this year and hopefully never!

Maybe we should all ask ourselves the question of how we can share Jesus with our loved ones and all those around us in a way that causes them to ask questions, and desire to know Him without feeling coerced. We may start by asking the Lord to help us be creative, lead us to the right books that we can read to them, model Jesus in our lives, have them help in a project serving others, go to camp or a retreat together etc. Let us not be hesitant to share Jesus and as it says in Rom. 1:16. “I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes…”

How can we live our own journey well? One thing we are told is to travel light. We don’t need to be weighed down with worldly things but seek the Lord first and let Him add to our lives as He sees best. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 633) We also need to live in the present moment and be aware of His grace to us and presence in our lives. It is good to go for walks in nature and commune with the Lord and to live in openness to hear His voice and listen to Him. We also need to remove things from our lives that take our attention and time so we can focus on Him and become more like Him. Changes may come quietly and unnoticed at first, but He is all the while working in us, so we don’t need to get impatient. We must always remember to read His Word and let it work on us and transform us. We can listen to it, sing it, read it, share it, but all the while letting it sink in and let our hearts be changed by it.

We are to be open to God’s grace and how He may be working in our lives, not necessarily like someone else’s life. We are to keep our eyes and ears and hearts and minds open to new things the Lord has for us. Ours is a journey of faith and we are to trust and walk with Him in faith.

Thomas Merton wrote in his notebook shortly before he died,

                                     “Our real journey in life is interior

                                      It is a matter of growth,

                                      deepening,

                                     and of an even greater surrender to the creative action

                                      of love and grace in our hearts.”

Let us journey well and surrender ourselves daily to the Lord as we travel light and seek His will in all things.

Paul says in Gal. 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  Eugene Peterson writes how in Christ we are free to respond to God and grow and take a stand against the tides of our culture. We must be vigilant also that we don’t lose our freedom or let anyone bring us into slavery again. But what do we do with our freedom after we come to know the Lord and He sets us free? After the Israelites were set free from slavery to Pharoah, they had a slave mentality, and it took 40 years in the wilderness for them to learn to depend on God and to live free by faith. In some ways it would have been easier for them to return to Egypt where they had a daily work routine and a slave mentality rather than the new life of freedom as they walked in the wilderness with all its dangers, as well as excitement.

Paul also cautions us not to use our freedom as an opportunity to feed our selfish flesh nature and getting our own way all the time. He said, instead we are to love, and as an expression of love be servants of one another. When we don’t see others through the eyes of God’s love, we look at them as hindrances to getting our own way.  Instead, as we walk in the Spirit, we will go the way of love, that flows out towards others and in the process, we come to know our true self.