A High Rank

 Humbly, by grace, and all because of the blood of Jesus,

I can proclaim…

I am a daughter of high rank,

Because my Father is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings…

So how can someone of my rank

Fear…for lack of provision 

Fear…for lack of protection 

Fear…an assignment, a report, a circumstance?

How can someone of my rank

Fear tomorrow…or become anxious?

I am from the rank of royalty

My Father is above all other names, principalities, rulers,

He has unlimited supplies

Heavenly manna…

Is there anything my Father cannot do…?

Can someone of my rank be afraid of failing

When heaven is on my side?

Can someone of my rank

Moan, complain, stress

When I have a Father who has good plans and purposes for me and turns everything into good?

How can someone of my rank

Stoop to small thinking

Stoop to offensive 

Stoop to looking for something better

When I already have the best?

How can someone of my rank

Speak harshly, unkindly

When I have been given everything and have so much to give?

The questions could go on and on

But the reality remains…

I am a daughter of a King, a princess

I have been given everything in my union with Christ Jesus

I can only represent my Father well

I can only be as He is, kind, patient, gentle, generous…

I am rich because He is rich

I am safe, because He keeps me safe

I am loved because I am His…

I am a daughter of high rank…

“Walk in a way that is suitable to your high ranks…” Ephesians 4:1

The Sunrise of His Love

 Oh the sunrise of Your love Lord,

Ends our dark night

Breaks through the clouded dawn

Fills us with songs of joy

Overwhelms us with gladness

Replacing our years of trouble with decades of delight...

Allowing us to see, experience, and proclaim, Your miracles, Your glorious wonders,

Giving us the sweet beauty of Jesus...

Oh the magnificent gift of the sunrise of Your Love...

You pour it out continuously over us,

But when we find it

And enter into it

And receive...

Oh...

Our story begins to change...

Love praying and believing with all my beautiful sisters! 💕

This Daffodil Reminds Me of My Dad

 How could a daffodil remind you of your Dad, you ask? 

This daffodil reminds me of my dad because today, April 4th, was my dad’s birthday. And for his birthday my mother always made him a hickory nut cake decorated with yellow daffodils in the center. 

Some years it was easy to find the daffodils, other years the search for a daffodil if it was a late spring was a challenge. But without fail, she always found them .. somewhere. 

My mother had no idea that decades later, this simple touch of creativity and thoughtfulness would cause a spark in her daughter’s memory, of the arrival of daffodils, and her daddy’s birthday!

What are the memories that I am leaving for my children and grandchildren that they will be telling their children and grandchildren about... sparking a memory...

I have no idea...

But everything we do in life has the potential to inspire and build up, or stain and tear down...

Today, this daffodil  is sparking my memory to remember my dad and thank the Lord for the wonderful dad he was. I thank the Lord for his hard work to provide for his family, his love for God, his love for us kids, and his love for my mother as he would hug her and then say to us, “Isn’t she just beautiful!”

I wonder if my dad had hickory nut cake today for his birthday celebration in heaven...and if he did... I am sure daffodils were in the center!

Life Union With Jesus

What is it like to step into life union with Jesus??

It is peace
It is joy
It is forever
It is friendship, fellowship
It is Help
It is acceptance
It is forgiveness
It is fresh new
It is rest
It is satisfying
It is as Jesus is so am I...

Oh the joy, oh the privilege of living my life intimately joined to Jesus!!!

Privileged

I have the privilege of calling upon
And asking for Help
From God Most High...

I have the privilege of trusting and believing my Maker
The One who loves me completely
The One who planned my life before the foundations of the earth
The One who has purposes of good for my life
The One who fulfills these promises...

I have the privilege of trusting this One
Whose love for me never fades, diminishes, changes, or disappoints
Who fights for me, frustrating the enemy’s plans
Who keeps me safe...

Because I belong to this One
Is why my heart can be steadfast today...

Because I belong to this One
Is why I can sing and praise Him
Despite what is going on around me...

Yes
Because His love for me is as wide as the heavens
And His faithfulness reaches the skies
Is why I can look up and smile!!!

What a privilege it is trusting in You, Jesus!!!

Just Hold My Hand

It's a date that is etched in my mind, April 26th...
Every year on this date...the memories come flooding back...
It's been 53 years now,
But the years have not erased the vivid memories
Of the accident that occurred when 30% of my body was burned.

My thoughts each year are mostly of gratitude...
Year after year I am amazed of the grace of God that was upon me...
I am alive...
All my skin grafts are under my cloths,
How my body healed so fast...
And on and on...

But today I am remembering and thanking God
 For the nurse in the ER who held my hand...
As they scraped off the dead black skin from my body,
She told me to hold her hand...
Her hand bore the scars of a nasty burn she had received in her life...
She told me this as I held on tight and tried not to scream too loud.

And somehow the comfort and grace that she had received from God through her accident
Was transferred to me as I held her hand, through my similar trail.

Thinking back to that night I see how 2 Corinthians 1:4, was manifested.
"He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in a painful trail. We can bring them into the same comfort that God has pored out on us"

Yes, holding that nurse's burned, scarred hand somehow eased the pain and fear of the moment!

Isn't it beautiful to see how God can turn our circumstances into good, by comforting us and allowing us to comfort one another.

And sometimes that comfort is just holding a hand...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This is my dad holding his 25th grandchild!

I am thinking about my Dad today on his19th birthday in heaven.
Wondering what a heavenly birthday is like. I am sure it is a celebration beyond what my mind could ever imagine!

When I remember you, Daddy, I remember your hard work, your diligence in caring and providing for your family, your devotion to God, your words of wisdom and advise...

But what always comes to the forefront of my mind when I remember you, are your tender words to me...

I remember you pulling me aside at unexpected times and whispering in my ear that I was special.

I remember you coming out to visit when I came from the hospital with #6, and then #7, and you washing the kitchen floor for me.

I remember you telling me after one of those visits, when I was so exhausted, and tired from the everyday of childrearing, you said, "you are so beautiful, Dorothy!" I remembering thinking what kind of glasses do you have on???

I doubted the words I heard, but I remembered them, and that is what I treasure most as I remember you today, Daddy, your tender words!!!

Yes, there were other words I heard growing up as a child that I remember too, that were harsh...
But thankfully, by God's grace and by the gift of forgiveness they can barely be remembered now.

So Happy Birthday Daddy, I look forward to giving you a big hug when I see you again!!!