Ruminations from the Temple

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King. God, in her palaces, Has made Himself known as a stronghold. For, lo, the kings assembled themselves, They passed by together. They saw it, then they were amazed; They were terrified, they fled in alarm. Panic seized them there, Anguish, as of a woman in childbirth. With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen In the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish her forever. Selah. We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God, In the midst of Your temple. As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth ; Your right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments. Walk about Zion and go around her; Count her ...

I'm so grateful that the LORD is with us during the hard times and the good, during difficult trials and times of complete joy.  I'm so thankful for the peace that passes all human understanding. I'm grateful for our good weather in Leavenworth, and for good fellowship and friendship (and great burgers, too!). I'm thankful for good wine and sweet friendship.  I'm thankful for restful sleep and things to challenge my intellect.  I'm thankful for the last generation and the next.  And I'm thankful for the stunningly beautiful fall colors on the trees. I'm grateful that my husband and the boys get to go hunting/camping - what a great vacation for them.  They really enjoy it!  I am very grateful that my husband has a good job with good benefits and that he can take a long, much-needed vacation because he has worked for his employer for decades.  I am so very grateful for the provision of HaShem! I'm grateful for my children. I'm so grateful...

Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company . ~Booker T. Washington If you spend yourself amongst those who by nature are not receptive to genuineness, you will not only waste the good you have received, but may lose yourself altogether in their influence. ~Charles Foltz Losing yourself.  An interesting concept.  To give in to the loudest voice or the selfish opinions of others when you think it may be wrong, leads to losing your ability to respect yourself.  Likewise, consenting to the rude behavior of others through silence demonstrates a serious lack of character (at least in my view).  If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. ~Malcolm X Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it. ~Hardy D. Jackson To be true to yourself means to act in accordance with who you are and what you believe. And to be true to yourself means to be hone...

What if...after I heard of your great faith in the LORD Yeshua and for your love and commitment to the congregation of believers, that I never stopped giving thanks for you? What if...I prayed daily, or whenever I remembered throughout the day, that our LORD give you abundant wisdom and knowledge of Himself, even allowing you to understand Him more than you could even imagine? What if...I prayed that you know what is the hope of His purposes for you and all those around you? What if I did that instead of judging, condemning and confronting?  What if I built you up, encouraging you with friendship and love, instead of tearing you down or laying in wait to ambush?  How would that be viewed by the Almighty?  Would it make our relationship stronger?  Would it make our community stronger...better? "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my pra...

Yeah, it's pink.  Pink is not my color, really. Both my boys have the latest, most up-to-date offering of Nano, but Morgan and I chose to get the iTouch.  We both enjoy the iTouch, but it is a little large to stash in your pocket.  Besides, the silly cats knocked mine onto the floor quite some time ago, and it features a lovely (not really) series of cracks on the touch screen.  So, when Alex and I were cruising our local Pawn Exchange, he spotted Pinkie and insisted that I needed to give it a home.  "It fits better in your pocket, Mom, and if something happens to it, you're not out much.  Come on, it's classic - it's the Generation One!"  Sure. So, I gave the orphaned "classic" Nano a new family.  It was lovingly named, by the former owner, Optimus Prime.  Isn't that a transformer?  Somehow, that name didn't really fit (y'think?) , so I changed it's name to the more appropriate "Pinkie-Pod". Life was fine with Pinkie-...

I'm thankful to find the top of my desk after such chaos in my craftroom! The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.   ~Oscar Wilde I'm grateful for good music that speaks to my soul...especially when it fits my mood so well. I'm grateful for my hobbies that give me a outlet for creativity. I'm grateful for the ability to talk to our LORD whenever I choose.  Baruch HaShem! I will be forever thankful for memories; may they stay vivid and real in my mind so I can visit them often.  They are friends that I never want to lose. I'm grateful for my camera and the fact that I know how to use it quickly to get those shots that require precise timing. I'm grateful to have the memorial stuff all sorted through and mostly put away.  Also, that the LORD has given me the energy to get all the laundry caught up. I'm grateful that Alex has been successful in his special hunt this year and tagged a muley doe.  Way to go, Alex!...

Dear Mom, Well, it's tomorrow.  At least, that's what it feels like.  From the moment I was shocked into numbness with a phone call on September 29th to yesterday, it has seemed like one long, continuous day.  A hard day.  The hardest day.  But, somehow due to the mercy of G-d, today feels like tomorrow. I miss you so much.  I am so afraid of losing the memory of your voice, what your laugh sounded like, how you said hello on the telephone.  I know full well that this feeling will not ever leave me.  I just have to accept it. The memorial went well, Mom.  I like to think that you would have liked every little detail.  The hall looked 'elegant' someone told me and I think you would have agreed.  We had white cloths on the tables with white and clear bud vases holding the most beautiful long-stemmed red roses we could buy.  So many red roses...I know you would have liked that.  We mixed in some really bright bouquets ...

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. ~G.K. Chesterton Since my life is consumed completely with the memorial for my Mother (tomorrow), most of my grateful thoughts for this week have been centered around the event.  I am very grateful that my readers are hangin' in there with me despite my being a one-note-nelly during this time.  I have observed that when a close family member dies, the survivors get sucked into a vortex.  So true, so true. I'm thankful that Kevin got here safely, even with the late plane. She was thrilled to see two Jedi waiting for her at the airport (and so were the curious group of Asian travelers passing by...). I'm thankful that everything is coming together as well as can be expected. I'm so very thankful that the sun is out!  Praise the LORD for His mercies. I'm grateful that I am getting good sleep at night. It's the small things, y'know. I...

An update for my regular readers: I'm still here. We, my loyal Padawan and my dear friend from Louisiana are here with me slogging through the final preparations for my Mother's memorial service.  I am thankful that the LORD prepared me with the skills to put together these types of functions far before I needed to do it while still in the shocked numbness of knowing my beloved Mom is gone. part of the memory table mock-up I won't bore you with all the details of the planning, however.  More important is the overwhelming realization that you cannot encapsulate a life into an hour-ish service...at least you can't do it to my satisfaction.  How in the world can I express all that my Mom was, the essence of her, into a short service bookended with a welcome and refreshments? Everyone keeps telling me that my Mom would be well-pleased with what we are putting together.  I also know that it is going to be beyond difficult for my Dad to see, hear and receive all o...

I'm so very grateful for the care of others.  That sounds so small, but it is really huge.  There are so many friends that have expressed their condolences and sympathy that I couldn't even begin to name them all.  Even so, I love each of them for their support - it has helped me so much just knowing others are grieving my loss with me. I'm grateful for the peace of knowing that my beloved Mom is now in the presence of the LORD she loved so much. I'm grateful for the time I spent with my Mom.  I know that not everyone has the opportunity to have such a woman in their life, and I am so very thankful and appreciative.  And that just makes me ache even more for those that haven't. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Yeshua HaMashiach. I'm grateful for so much...so many people that have extended their love and support to me and my family in this last week. I'm grateful for time; it is day 9 s...

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Every Friday, as I publish the Grateful Friday post, I start the next week's post adding to it each day of the week until Friday.  I had started this one last Friday, long before I heard the devastating news of my beloved Mother's passing early Wednesday morning.  I have been hurting with disbelief and grief since. Through it all, I have been so very grateful for the many, many friends; Star Wars friends, letterboxing friends, my congregation and my close friends.  Without them, I would have dissolved into despair without question.  My Mom was such a huge part of my life...a huge part of me.  I look forward to the day we will be together again - I miss her so much .  Even so, I am so thankful and grateful, beyond words, for...