Spiritual

We all start with a blank canvas. A canvas to dream, to create, to design, to draft, to envision, and to develop. A clean slate. A fresh start. A beginning. But it doesn’t take us long to mark that canvas up. To put lines, arrows, patterns, and circles.  To leave dots, smears, specks, and marks. To make choices, decisions, impressions, and traces. To impact, influence, determine, and affect. One by one, the marks play into who you are, they determine who you are becoming, and they leave lasting transformations.

We all make marks with each thing we say, action we take, or thing we do. How we make our marks is the important part. Are we so set and confident in our own ways that we sketch in pen and take the control in our own hands? Do we sketch in pen or in pencil? Do we sketch, create and make marks with pencil so that we can develop our canvas with open hands? By doing this, we let the Lord come into our pencil sketches. We let Him come in with permanence and pen. We let him come in with beauty and color. He is creating a masterpiece. You see, the canvas of our life is His creation. It is His artwork. And as we make choices and steps forward and make our pencil sketches, the Lord is over us and in control making a beautiful piece of art.

We do have the choice to draw in pen ourselves. But all we end up doing with that is making permanent marks that may not be the best patterns for our life. When we do this, we hold God at a distance, and we take away from the best work that God intends for us. When we think we know …

The bucket list adventures keep on coming from Isreal!

Today we hiked to the top waterfall in Ein Gedi, the oasis where David hid in caves from King Saul who was chasing him to kill him because David had become more popular with the people. This is referenced in the Bible in 1 Samuel 24:1-22.

Ein Gedi is located at the edge of the Dead Sea. It is the only natural fresh water oasis near this desolate below-sea-level area surrounding the Dead Sea, also inspiring the poetry of Song of Solomon, Song 1:14.

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Today’s bucket list adventure was hiking Masada, Hebrew for “fortress,” and one of Israel’s most popular tourist attractions.

It is possible that Masada is the place David took refuge from Saul and where he wrote some of his Psalms.

Herod the Great built himself two large palaces here between 37 and 31 BCE. According to Josephus, Herod had two great fears: one, to be deposed by the Jewish people, and two, the fear of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. This fortress, Masala, was one of his escape places.

You can walk the 911 foot trail to the top, and we are so glad we did. It took 52 minute to climb and the top has incredible views of the Dead Sea. We drank 8 bottles of water!

Signing off for now from Israel,

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I was gifted the devotional book, Truth Unchanging: Hearing God Daily in the Midst of Motherhood by Becky Thompson by my sister, Bethany, for my birthday.

Although I’m only a few days into reading it, I wanted to give a recommendation for what I think about it already! First of all, I love the tone of Becky’s writing. I have also read her book, Hope Unfolding: Grace-Filled Truth for the Momma’s Heart and, in each book, it is as if you are sitting across from a friend in a coffee shop. Although bold in Truth, she is gentle and understanding of what motherhood entails. She says…

“As moms know, even when there isn’t noise around us, there is usually noise within us. The constant to-do lists that spin in our minds, the worry and wonder if we are doing a good job, and the need to stay two steps ahead of our families when we feel two steps behind keep our minds routinely restless. So when quiet time with God isn’t so quiet, and alone time is nearly nonexistent, how does a modern-day momma tune in the voice of the Lord?

With Truth Unchanging, you don’t have to wait until you’re alone to talk with Jesus. Designed to be read in five minutes or less, each powerful, hope-filled devotion will…

-REFOCUS your heart on the Word of God

-REFRESH your mind with God’s Truth for your life

-REVIVE your spirit as you realize God is speaking to you personally

Truth Unchanging is not just a devotional. It’s an opportunity to begin daily conversations with Jesus, the One who has everything we need for the days ahead, the One who wants to speak to you right now. Tune in to His voice today.”

In each devotional, Becky asks great questions …

Stepping out to step in…..I am a person of wholehearted devotion, committed and firmly rooted in the faith. I desire to be gentle and pure in my thoughts and my actions. I want to be securely grounded in grace. Some call this yearning the practice of contemplative prayer, some call it hearing from God but both require slowing down and listening to God.

I read a quote recently that challenged my thinking…”no amount of natural or acquired knowledge will bring one to taste the spiritual experience of God, for this is a pure gift of grace. So I urge you: go after experience rather than knowledge. On the account of pride, knowledge may often deceive you, but this gentle, loving affection will not deceive you. Knowledge tends to breed conceit, but love builds. Knowledge is full of labor, but love, full of rest.”

To have my spirit rest in freedom from anxiety and self-doubt would be a JOY. To have God confidence in my relationships is something I have experienced and it makes me feel alive, so I desire to live in that certainty. To be able to discern where God is calling me to serve and then rest in serving an audience of one instead of worrying about living up to the expectations of man, would bring freedom to my soul.

I naturally have a lot of courage, tenacity and determination. For most of my life, I have used these God given character qualities to develop my relationship with God seeking to know Him through studying His word and gaining knowledge and wisdom.  This style of growing in my faith has served me well. I am passionate about learning and driven by research, Hebrew and Greek word study, listening to commentaries and podcasts to increase my knowledge about Him.…