Conversation Hearts

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I’ve loved the colorful candy hearts that would appear in stores each February.

Mom used to buy a “value pak” bag of assorted valentine’s so we could fill out enough cards for everyone. Then on the 14th we would run around the class delivering our surprises and giving candy hearts with all their 'personal' messages.

You’re my Valentine.
Will you be mine?

So cute, especially, how sheepishly we would steal a glance at the object of our deepest affection at five or six years old.

This morning I brought a box of candy hearts to three of my grandkids as they were getting ready for school. Small as it was, the four year old was dancing and twirling in her red dress singing thank you’s and I had the sweetest hug from the six year old. What really surprised me was my nine-year old grandson, a Patriots sports fanatic, who gave me a big bear hug and then found a heart that says, “LOVE YOU” to give me in return!

No matter how old you are, you never grow tired of hearing that. Nor, of receiving a gift—no matter how small—when it conveys such a sweet message. Sugar-coated or not, it says, I care about you. You’re special to me.

Then I started to think. If all our words were stamped on little candies, what would they look like? Get lost!
I don’t care!
Or, What the heck?

Do I even express my love to the people I care about? Our words should go deeper than, “Please pass the salt.” Instead, “our words should be seasoned with salt, to minister grace to the hearers.”

We should make our words count, using them to add and enhance relationships rather than to drain or deplete them. 

Funny thing, after a lifetime of seeing and enjoying them, I never knew that candy hearts had another name. Conversation hearts! So named, I suppose, with the intention of starting or even replacing a conversation. But when “conversation” was used in Scripture, it didn’t merely refer to the words we speak. In the King James translation, it meant your whole way of life.

Ephesians urges us to “put off our former conversation,” and speaks of immoral behavior. In modern translations such as the NIV, it says we should change our former way of life. Philippians adds, “Our conversation is in heaven.” which was later translated, “our citizenship is in heaven.” This puts another spin on the term entirely.

True conversation, therefore, entails what I believe, how I live, and where I belong. Indeed, from a Biblical perspective, my conversation is who I am.

We should ask ourselves, What am I saying with my life?
What is the heart of my conversation?

MY LIFE AS A SPAGHETTI NOODLE

I love spaghetti. When cooked right and flavored with sauce and cheeses, there’s nothing like it in the comfort food department.

It could be because the sweetest childhood memories of mom’s spaghetti and meatballs are fanned to flame. I can visualize every detail of the kitchen table and the smiling faces around it at a time when life seemed so Leave-it-to-Beaver perfect. 

I recall the sheer welcoming delight of coming home from school and smelling Italian food, thanking my lucky stars it wasn’t going to be sauerkraut or Brussels sprouts! I have Italian blood for goodness sake. Just give me pasta and cheese.     

In Italia, I learned to savor the best in the world. In fact, I discovered the prevailing national outlook in regards to culinary preferences when I asked why there were so few ethnic restaurants. “We’re Italian,” they said. “We do pasta and pizza. Who needs anything more?” And of course, they are the experts on spaghetti.

Spaghetti is interesting and fun. You can creatively dress it up or down. It can be your everyday sustenance or sheer gourmet delight. I discovered my favorite recipe living in Roma last year. It is spaghetti alla carbanara. Made with eggs and pancetta, so warm and satisfying, I’m quite sure that’s how it will be served in the celestial city.

But there's another take on this tasty dish to chew on...

A few years ago at the kick-off to a new Bible study, about 75 women were going around the room introducing ourselves by naming an object that somehow embodies who we are. A vehicle, appliance or tool might convey where we are in life or the many roles we perform. 

One woman said she was a blender, because she makes a lot of noise and mixes things up. Life is a whir of activity. Another chose a trusty broom, sweeping through the household, keeping life in order. An alarm clock, megaphone, taxi or punching bag are revealing visual images about how someone perceives themselves or the battles they’re waging!

When it was my turn I simply said, “I’m a spaghetti noodle.” But I wasn’t thinking of comfort food or culinary specialties at the time.

I had lost my husband after a terrible bout with brain cancer. I was afraid. I was broken. Life had changed drastically. I was merely thinking, my life is a mess and I can’t make sense of it.

I'm not at all like a sandwich with four neat corners, all trimmed and sliced, so very clear-cut. A sandwich has crisp edges, with all the contents arranged in neat layers. Sandwiches are so clean and tidy... Sandwiches make sense! 

Not so with spaghetti. Everything is so intricately intertwined and convoluted, you can’t trace the beginning or end of one single piece of it. That’s me!

I am multi-layered. I am backwards.

I am finished. I am starting over.

I am cooked! But I’m still warm.

I’m a mess!

But hopefully, there’s still something good. Something that will stick and fill and comfort the soul. 

Yes, Lord, I’m a mess but you delight in me! You are the expert, far above every Master chef, 
who can make my life a beautiful mess. 


Oh God, my Creator, you know me through and through, familiar with all my ways. You hem me in on all sides and nothing escapes your notice. Your strong hand upholds and sustains me and it is impossible to go where you cannot reach me. My very number of days was determined by your love before I was born, and you will lead me in the everlasting way forever!  Amen.  
(my pray-back from Psalm 139)

Extravagant Holiday

When the tinsel is packed and all the pine needles are finally vacuumed, what's left? Are we filled with contentment and joy?

Sadly, many of the holiday gifts were returned as soon as the relatives went home. Some didn’t fit, didn't match, or weren’t appreciated. Parking lots around our malls were filled to the brim in the days after Christmas as much as the days before. Stores even opened two hours early to brace for the post-holiday frenzy. It's as though all the effort and planning and giving wasn’t enough.

We are an unsatisfied people living in a world FULL of STUFF. We ask, "What did you GET?" and "Did you get what you wanted?" And the music fades.

It is a studied fact that Americans have more wealth than much of the world, but we are more miserable and discontent than ever. Suicides and pills, addictions and divorce rates have skyrocketed disporportionately higher here than in other parts of the world that barely have the necessities of life!

So let me ask, did you get what you want? Do you have what you need?

If peace and contentment aren't scratched off your list, and you haven't yet been given a full heart of the riches of God's forgiveness, it's NOT TOO LATE! The great thing is, these gifts don't involve a large debit on your credit card, because they have been fully paid and reserved in heaven for you.

God created a one-size fits all package, wrapped with his care, guaranteed to give rest to your soul and satisfy for all ETERNITY! It is the promise of life eternal; a clean slate, a forgiven heart, a renewed mind and a place at his table forever.

You don't even have to find a parking place or stand in line! Just ask Him. Talk to Him. He's always listening, for the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro over the earth, and his ears are open to our cry.

I was just thinking, wouldn't it be great if instead of rushing through all our holidays like crazed consumers, we could roll them all together into one big celebration and make it last longer? What if it could even affect our daily lives? That would be one extravagant holiday!

Like the Magi you could "get wisdom, with all your getting," and pursue the God who has been pursuing you! Then, look ahead and celebrate a prosperous future that will last forever. Finally, commit to the One who sent his ultimate "valentine" and the greatest love letter ever written—the Bible.

This is so much more than a fleeting or forgetable toast to good health. The Word of God holds hundreds of promises to carry us through whatever we may face, and then on to a glorious future in his presence!

So, Merry Christmas! Happy New Year and  the most extravagant Valentine’s!

You are deeply loved by the One who made you.
Psalm 139

Extravagant Gift

We have stowed all the ornaments and heaved our trees out into the snow. Now we are three weeks past watching the ball drop in Times Square, planning New Year resolutions and toasting to a happy future. Almost overnight it seems the stores were cleared and shelves newly stocked with Valentine’s hearts and candies.

Where does it all go? All the hope and hype melts like candle wax. 

You gotta admit, there’s no time quite like those final weeks of the year when everything around us glitters and points to the BIG day. Kids know—it’s the biggest celebration of the year. It is a festival of lights and a highlight like no other holiday. Christmas is magical.

There’s joyous holiday music, colored lights, wrappings, ornaments and trees. Everywhere we look we see twinkling houses, and bustling shopping malls in that enchanting season of expectation. Billions of cards are mailed, cookies decorated, candles lit, and countless packages are wrapped with care.

Somewhere in the midst of all this activity, lies a story that ignites the hearts of those who know it. We should pause and swell with gratitude because two thousand years ago the birth of a small inconspicuous child changed everything.

He demonstrated the extravagant love of an invisible God and made the Almighty reachable by becoming one of us!

Interestingly, all of this happens precisely at the time of year when the world grows darkest! The sun sets earlier, temperatures plummet, and the nights grow longer. Fireplaces are stoked and blue smoke curls from chimneys as we dig in for the long chill of winter, wondering how long this year?

I wonder how often this is so, when light from above bursts on the scene at our darkest hour. When all seems hopeless, dawn breaks and love is born by the God who created it.

He came down and dwelt among us, and “in him came grace and truth. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” (Jn 1:17-18) His birth was a glorious surprise, but many missed it completely.

Dear God, in all the hustle-bustle of our celebrations and gift-giving, perhaps we have overlooked the greatest gift of all. It is life itself in a relationship you made possible through the offering of your own body on the cross! In Jesus we can approach your throne to receive forgiveness. Father, call us back to remembrance and thanks for your extravagant gift.

Portrait of Expectency

It’s been building for weeks. What is God going to do? What is He saying to me? My heart can become fretful and distracted.

Just before Christmas with my thoughts a jumble of shopping lists and gift ideas, I passed the lake nearby and my eye caught a great blue heron standing in the shallow (and not yet frozen) water by the rocks. He struck a perfect silhouette with his long beak stretched forward. He was ready to pounce, yet standing in perfect stillness against the colors of the lake and sky.

It was such a beautiful sight I turned the car around and stopped, then walked out to a better vantage point to admire him. Wow, what a portrait of expectancy! Oh Lord, I want to stand like that.

Poised and upheld in grace.
Watchful, but trusting.
Perched in readiness, but anxious for nothing.

Yes, Lord, a portrait of expectancy and readiness, but a quiet voice of serenity and wisdom seeped through.

I never did get his picture. As I neared with camera in hand, he spread his great wings and flew along the tree line, apparently intent on fishing in solitude. But I decided in that moment, I want to stand like that—unruffled and resting, knowing the all-sufficient grace. It is enough.

“Come and see the works of the Lord,” the Psalmist declared. “Be still and know that I am God…. I will be exalted in the earth... The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (from Psalm 46)

And again, David wrote in the Desert of Judah [which means praise], "Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you;  your right hand upholds me." (Psalm 63:7-8)

Kite

I’ve been thinking a lot about the ebb and flow of God’s moving. The ocean tide goes way out before it floods back in to shore. The night grows very dark before the dawn breaks. And, winter gets extremely long and interminably cold. The frigid ground grows hard as stone and seems hopelessly barren before spring bursts forth.

In my life, I should be able to rest in the down times and trust when life doesn’t make much sense. I should know that God is still working, as all of nature confirms. “This too shall pass.”

Friends of mine told me recently that I was “like a kite without a string,” and we laughed.

“Yeah, Frank used to hold me to the ground.” I smiled with a few tears remembering my good husband who always made me feel safe and secure. “Only God knows where I’m heading now.”

I’ve watched kites in the wind before. When conditions are right, they can rise so high and quickly cover great distances, but then the wind softens, they dip and the string slackens. Sometimes, it looks like they’re flying upside down! Or, they may twist around in circles awhile, turn laterally, and rest on the gentle breezes awaiting another surge.

I feel like I’m in that stage right now. I don’t know the ‘next thing’ for my life, but I’m way waaay out there! Life seems bewildering up here in the clouds, but the options are many.

Yes, I’m very kite-like.

And life very much resembles the wind. We never know where it will take us or how suddenly it will change. It could be anything from a gentle breeze to a tornado with enough gale force to lift our house off its foundation. We live with certain unpredictability.

Now, I look down at the faraway ground and remember what “normal life” used to feel like.

Will I ever have a home again, a “real job” or even a husband? Sigh. Will I soar to greater heights or will I nose-dive straight into the rocks?

I suppose from this altitude anything’s possible, but one thing is clear. Kites don’t control what happens. All they do is yield.

Dear God, hold onto me. Sustain me. Be my string.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” –Jesus
John 3:8

ADVENT!

My friend Scott spoke about Zechariah and Elizabeth Sunday morning. The story is found in the very beginning of Dr. Luke’s gospel and piqued my interest with a whole new perspective. Honestly, there’s no other book in the world like God’s Word! Even after 39 years of serious Bible study, there is always something new, like diving in the ocean. You can never exhaust the wealth and riches of it, and there is always some fantastic new treasure to be discovered.

After 400 silent years between Malachi and Matthew, all the years of waiting and praying for a child, the DIVINE STORY breaks back on stage. The curtain rises and we, the reading audience, come to the opening scene: the day Zechariah was chosen by lot to offer incense in the temple. Steeped in Jewish tradition and the laws of Moses, Scott pointed out that he was 1 out of about 18,000 priests on call. It probably felt like winning the lottery to have this opportunity to serve.

Let me insert a thought about that--a striking contrast to the AWESOME PRIVILEGE we have today! We are urged (at the end of Hebrews 4) to approach the throne of grace with confidence, since Christ’s death on the cross caused the temple veil to be rent in two from top to bottom. He opened the way for us to approach God freely at any time and call him Abba Father! Back in ‘the day’ however, you had to be selected to enter into the presence of God, in the holy of holies. They even had to tie a cord around his ankle in case he fell dead due to a misstep and had to be dragged out!

But getting back to the main stage of our story, the precise timing and hand of God in the details was evident when the old man stood before the altar and now his day got even better when an angel appeared and said, “Your prayers have been heard.” Wow! Who among us wouldn’t LOVE to have that happen? “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth…”

It’s a great story, isn’t it? Don’t you love it when someone finally has a breakthrough and a dream is fulfilled? We often skim over the details of a familiar tale, but “well along in years,” they had probably carried an unfulfilled desire for a child for decades. For all we know, this couple was in their seventies or eighties, and had every reason to give up hope. Insert another cultural tidbit: Elizabeth’s barrenness was actually just cause for divorce in those days, but they stuck with it. They chose to stay the course, and both were called blameless in the sight of God.

God knows the desires of our hearts. We can’t change our circumstances, but it’s up to us what we do with them. We can shake our fist, blame the heavens and powers that be, or we can rest in the hands of a loving God and trust that He knows. That’s it! It’s not really very complicated. The God of the heavens understands and he has a plan for all this. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It doesn't really matter if I understand it all. His perfect will is well worth waiting for, and when He moves, it's going to blow your mind!

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Cor 13:12)

I hope that whatever you're going through today, you'll stay the course knowing, God understands. Say in your heart, Lord, give me the strength to endure the waits, and the wisdom to trust in your promises. Amen.

My Generous Friend

I have a really good friend named Jeshua, who lives above me in my humble apartment building here in Rome. I knew he was a business owner, but I was surprised when neighbors told me he owns a sprawling coastal villa on the Mediterranean.

“Why don’t you live there?” I asked him one day. “That’s got to be a lot better than this old building.”

“Oh, it’s a long story,” he said with a sigh. Though he was obviously heartsick, he told me about it, bit by bit.

As it turns out, Jeshua had a friend who lost his job and his home when the economy turned. He’d known him since childhood and loved him like a brother. The man had five kids and it looked like they would end up on the streets. At the same time, my friend’s business needed him in the city, so he decided, "Why not let them stay at the villa and enjoy it in my absence? Besides, they really needed help,” he said apologetically.

Understanding that this family was desperately scraping to get by, Jeshua felt generous and decided to charge no rent “until they could get on their feet.” He kept paying all the utilities, arranged to have the bills sent to his office, and told them they could use the game room and the pool in the backyard too. "Those kids were jumping for joy at their good fortune. They never had it so good," he chuckled.

Weeks rolled into months and the father still had no work, so my friend never asked them for a dime. The tenants lived in a sprawling estate completely at his expense, responsible only to clean and put out the garbage. “I just assumed they would take care of the place,” he said.

Instead, they got lazy and the kids got out of control. They trashed the game room and broke equipment. Floors and bathrooms got filthy, furniture was scratched up, everything in disarray, and the trash piled up outside in heaps, not taken to the gate for pick up as he requested.

The unemployed father started drinking heavily and the mother became chronically depressed. The kids acted out, decorations were broken, upholstery ruined and Persian rugs were stained with spills. "But that's not the worst part," he said, preparing me.

"One night the teenagers got into the liquor cabinet and had a pool party. The parents weren’t even aware of it since they were
watching movies in the theater room in a detached stupor."

"Horribly, a beautiful thirteen year old girl was raped in the garden area while loud music played. And that's not all... Another young girl fell into the deep end of the pool, and couldn’t swim. By the time someone realized what had happened out there in the dark, it was too late."


"Two kids pulled the girl out of the water but she was already turning blue by the time one of them called 911 in a panic." Jeshua's voice cracked and his eyes filled with tears. "She could not be revived," he said sadly. 

"When paramedics and police arrived they began inquiries about who owned the home. Then, through some quirky old legalities, I was implicated. Though I wasn’t even home when all this occurred, I was found legally responsible."

"They rushed to arrest me and take me into custody facing rape and murder charges of minors on my property, not to mention thousands of dollars in damages and legal bills."

When he read the reports and saw photos of the property, Jeshua couldn’t believe how they had taken advantage of his kindness and let things get so far out of control. “What really hurt,” he said, “was the betrayal of my own friend.”

Once again, Jeshua had to pay for everything. Not only did he have to settle the charges and cover all the damages and legal feels out of his own pocket, but he had to serve time in custody while that whole family went scot free!

 "It isn’t fair!" I said. The extraordinary generosity of my friend was completely abused. He bent over backwards in their hour of need, but then he was blamed when things went wrong. I was outraged. Once the lawyers and insurance companies latched onto the fact that the homeowner was wealthy, they went after him with a vengeance for the drowned victim and the raped girl whose parents finally settled for huge sums.

“It cost millions,” he whispered, “but you know what hurt most?" I shrugged, unable to imagine how I would deal with my conflicted emotions in prison under such circumstances. "My dear old friend never visited me in prison, never lifted a finger to clean up the house, and, never even thanked me.” Then I almost dropped my teeth when he said, "And they’re still living in my house to this day!"

“Are you kidding me? How much longer are you going to put up with it? If it were me I’d march right over there and kick them all out on their ungrateful butts! I probably would have done it a long time ago!...How can you tolerate it any longer?" 

“Ah well, I’ve had enough to worry about. Besides, where would they go? And what about those kids?" His eyes looked off to the horizon as though remembering childhood while I stared at him in amazement.

"Do you still care?"

"Don't worry," he smiled, "my plan is to finish up my business here in the city and then go back and put my house in order.” He took a sip of wine and said slowly, “Someday, my friend.” His eyes got a little misty as he added, “but I’m really not looking forward to it.”

*******

My good friend in this modern parable is Jesus. The jobless homeless thankless friends he loves so much are you and me, common everyday self-centered sinners who take, take, take, and then blame God whenever we get into trouble. We accuse and rant, “Why did GOD let this happen?”

When will we recognize that it is our laziness, our ingratitude, our drunken stupor, our lust, greed, violence, mindlessness and stupidity that creates so much pain in the world? We are blind to the One whose generosity and giving heart covers all our costs and suffered the damages. He paid the price for us, and has sworn to return from his heavenly city to put his house in order. Someday he will make everything right. 

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise... He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… 

...in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness…

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation…”

2 Peter 3:8-15

America in Crisis

Since there have been attempted burglaries in my Rome aparment building lately, I left a few lights on and the TV turned on to MSNBC Italian news Sunday morning. When I got back late that night, I walked in and was surprised to hear live broadcasters on the scene covering Hurricane Irene from the States, in English!

Three times in three weeks I've seen news about America in crisis. Yet, watching the maps and hearing these headlines in my mother tongue so far from home, I was also strangely removed, as though watching a movie about end times. I stood stunned watching the footage and hearing such terrible headlines as these: 

• Irene threatens 65 million people along the US east coast - THE LARGEST NUMBER OF AMERICANS EVER AFFECTED BY A SINGLE STORM.
• 22 states affected by Hurricane Irene, more than any other single storm EVER
• President Obama declared a state of emergency for 11 states and Puerto Rico
• 12” of rain dumped in New Jersey, serious flooding in many areas
• Vermont sees worst flooding in 100 years
• 40 lives lost as stories of rescue and clean up crews continue, half from electrocution
• 4 million without power, many downed trees, power lines and $40 billion destruction to property

Wow, all this on the heels of the first earthquake that rocked the whole East Coast just days ago, and the economic crisis before that. At first, it seemed many international headlines focused on Obama's golf game on Martha's Vineyard, but I'm sure for many of us, this was the first time we realized that a 'little' 5.8 on the rector scale can shake half the nation because it sits on one geological plate.

When the earthquake hit near DC, my friend Walter was teaching a Bible study up in MCI Concord prison in Massachusetts. He wrote: 

"So there I was preaching down underground in the Prison Chapel today. There were probably 60 inmates listening to my every word... teaching on the coming of Christ. If you remember... at the exact time Jesus gave up His life an earthquake shook Jerusalem and God tore the temple curtain in two from top to bottom...

All of a sudden the prison walls and floor started shaking and all the inmates started clapping. It was awesome!"

Having lived in the Ring of Fire in New Guinea for 16 years, we were accustomed to regular shakes and quakes--more than a dozen per year from 6.0 to the 8's on the rektor scale! Water would slosh out of our water tank, tins would rattle off the shelves in our pantry, and trees would fall into the river and float away. Tribal people would wonder if the gods were angry.

We were so far interior there were no streets or big buildings to crumble. Difficult to judge intensity from our vantage point, though I once watched the ground at the airstrip rolling toward me like a big sheet.  

On the East Coast USA, people aren't familiar with the sound that resembles a crew of Thunderbirds rushing overhead at sonic speeds, and that's a much riskier place to be. Whole cities of concrete and bridges and overpasses and even tunnels could quickly crumble and bury people alive. I read about people flashing back to 9-11 last week and wondering if terrorists were involved as they rushed out of tall buildings.

Listen, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis and hurricanes are more frequent, more powerful, and hitting more places around the globe than ever before. 100-year records are being broken in many categories according to the data. This isn't made up hype by any stretch.

Scientists on global watch and response teams have been studying these things for decades already. They've been meeting since at least the 90's when they called the 80's a decade of alarming natural disasters.

The majority don't make the headlines, but every single day there are recorded natural disasters of one kind of another. Cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, flooding, freak waves, hurricanes, landslides, meteor strikes, mystery booms/skyquakes, pandemics, record-breaking disasters, solar flares, space weather, tropical storms, tsunamis, volcanoes, unusual animal behavior, weather extremes and wildfires are observed... You can read the observations of world class scientists (their speeches at summits are on public record) or read daily records such as http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/ 

It's increasing on a global scale. Now scientists are expecting a massive solar flare that could knock out our cellphones and technology. There's nothing we can do to prevent these global or universal eruptions. When it happens (and scientists are saying it's not a matterof 'if' but 'when' in their writtn report), we need to be prepared. 

How, you ask?

Please think about this if you've never thoughtfully done it before. How could someone predict all this with such accuracy 2000 years ago?

"'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. ... There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man, coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ..'

'Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth... Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.'

'Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with disspation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.' Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple ... and all the people came... to hear him..."
Luke 21:10-38 New International Version of the Bible

All these things come as warnings from a gracious God who wants us to receive forgiveness. Jesus said plainly it all points to his coming and soon we will see Him restore all things and recreate the heavens and the earth. This is what I pray for. We need help!

Perhaps this is hard to think about if you are wealthy and content with life, but imagine the prayers of the millions of victims of human trafficking, 27 million slaves, 10 million children, 40 million displaced worldwide, countless abused, oppressed, hungry and imprisoned...

Like the men in Walter's Bible study, they will stand up and clap for joy at the expectation of being freed.

We should all look forward to a time when righteousness will reign and there will be peace at last.

Arise my love!

                                                                                

“Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them…”

Jeremiah 1:17

Dear friends old and new, near and far,

I’m sorry I let my blog lie in dormancy so long. Where did the last year and a half go?

I finished my book and moved a couple times. The first move was in Boston, and now I'm living in Rome and working with refugees. I just took a short trip to Switzerland and am planning to go to Wales next month. In all these things I've been stirred to journal more and now that I’m back in the writing groove, I’ve decided to revive the faithwalker site.

I invite you to enjoy the ride with me as I write about my travels and God-encounters, current events and issues that move me, and of course, messages from God’s Creation and spiritual reflections based on a Biblical faith.

I'd love it if you'd share comments so I could meet and include your voices from around the globe.

Sincerely,

Faithwalker