Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Saturday!

Luke 11:1 “And it came to pass, that as He was praying in a certain place…one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray.”

Today Geni was watching a cooking show on the Food Network. She came to me and said, “Mom, you need to come and watch this woman make this recipe.” Geni paused the show until I could get there to watch the recipe being made. We had the recipe for dinner tonight.

When I don’t know how to do something I usually locate and read instructions, but I am not the visual learner my husband is. I am more of a tactile learner and an aural learner. I need to listen to someone explain and take notes or I need to watch someone do something and then go home and try it myself to have full understanding of what I need to do.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Jesus taught His disciples to pray the way He prayed to His Father. When Jesus prayed to the Father He would go apart from the crowd to pray. It was at those times Jesus needed to spend time with the Father in conversation. The disciples knew the prayer practices of Jesus and longed to have the same relationship with the Father as He did, so they asked to be taught. Jesus did not write this prayer down (even though someone did!).

Jesus stopped what He was doing and simply said, “When You pray, begin with Our Father…” Jesus showed His disciples how to pray and taught them the importance of prayer. He taught them in prayer to address God as Father, to pray reverently, to praise, to give thanks, to ask forgiveness and to acknowledge God’s lordship, power and authority of all of heaven and earth. He taught them how important it was to get apart and talk to and listen to God. Jesus received His daily directions from God through daily prayer.

We are Jesus’ disciples. We are followers of Christ. These same lessons of prayer and prayer practices are the same for us as they were for those original disciples of long ago. Let us ask God in prayer to teach us to pray. Let us each set apart a time for study of the Word and conversation with God through the One who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all and Happy Father’s Day Eve! Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Happy Friday and Happy birthday Casey!

As I do on each of my children’s birthdays I remember the day of their birth and each detail. My favorite memory of the day Casey was born is when I was awakened by this screaming baby being wheeled down the hall and it was Casey. He was crying so hard he had made himself hoarse and was keeping the other babies awake. The nurses took that screaming baby out of the isolet and placed him in my arms. He was immediately quiet. The nurses looked at us in disbelief and simply said, “He already knows you.” And that was the relationship Casey and I had for 24 years. We were joined at the hip. Yes, we fought at times as mothers and sons do and there was discipline involved when necessary, but our closeness never changed.

God gave me a wonderful gift when He allowed me to spend the last year of Casey’s life in such an intimate way. I will forever miss Casey, but I will always be grateful that I was granted the gift of getting to know about the life of Christ in him. I was witness to an amazing bravery, courage and unshakable faith. I thought I had a strong faith until I watched Casey face the disease without complaint and an ever present smile on his face.

So today I got up and cooked. Casey loved to cook. I remade a recipe that failed once before into a success. Maybe Casey was watching nearby and telling me this will work this time. It was a delicious pancake soufflé filled with strawberries, blackberries and vanilla infused oil.

Tonight we are going to Central Market. There is a band playing there tonight on the patio. We will remember Casey’s birthday with food including a red velvet cake (his favorite) and music. Those were his two favorite things and with his family all present the evening would be perfect for him. Casey’s faith, music and family encompassed his life.

Do you suppose when Casey reached heaven that Jesus welcomed him with the words “I already know you”? Did Jesus cradle my child in His arms and tell him how much He loved him and welcomed him home? The scriptures say that there are no tears in heaven so I feel pretty sure that God did not calm a screaming baby. I like to think He greeted a precious young man with an unshakable faith, a winning smile, a twinkle in his eye and song in his heart.

Someday, when I meet the Father face to face, I pray that He will say to me, “I already know you. Welcome home.”

Take joy in the journey. Get some rest! Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

An addendum to this story: We made it to the Central Market but couldn’t find a table to sit at to eat and enjoy the music, so we came back to Arlington and enjoyed a fine meal at the Texas Land and Cattle Company. Our favorite waitress served us and even cut Casey’s cake for us, so we shared his cake with Jenny and several other servers there. That may become our new tradition on Casey’s birthday, to share his cake.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Happy Thursday!

Today I braved the outside world, put on make-up and ran some errands in the Arlington public. After an outing of a couple of hours I was ready to come home. I took a couple of Tylenol and rested with some ice on my face. By tonight I began to feel a lot more like me. I even felt comfortable enough to do some grocery shopping with Bruce and Travis.

Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Do you remember that old Gaither song There’s Just something About that Name? The song was about the name Jesus. When I first began to direct church choirs in my early 20’s this was one of the first songs I led the little country church choir to sing. I remember when the kids were small and they would have those times of crying seemingly endlessly and there was nothing I could do to bring them comfort, I would speak the name of Jesus. And finally there is this wonderful woman I met on the Kairos weekend this past spring who could speak the name Jesus and I would feel like I had just been given the most wonderful warm hug I had ever felt. Mary could say the name Jesus I felt like I had been wrapped in the ermine fur I wrote about a few nights ago. I listened to Mary say, “In Jesus name…” throughout the weekend and when she would speak the name of Jesus it would almost take my breath away for I knew Jesus was present. She would speak the name of Jesus with authority, assurance and abiding love.

My favorite song says, “There is strength in the name of the Lord. There is power in the name of the Lord. And there is hope in the name of the Lord. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” “And when there is nothing left to do, but just depend on you and the power of Your Name.” There is no other name that carries the power like the name of Jesus. When we call the name of Jesus we have the ear and heart of God at our disposal without any hesitation. Because we know His name we are raised to the highest of heights. We are allowed to sit at the highest place of all, the feet of the Father and pray, praise, plead, give thanks or just chat. He loves us enough to allow us to call Him Father and He calls us His children.

The name Jesus, let us use it, call it tenderly in authority, power and in love. In Jesus name…Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Happy Wednesday!

The swelling is down some and I look a bit like I am wearing a centipede on my face, but I think all is going well in the healing process. I have rested today and, through the internet, scheduled my summer school trainings around the surgeries and my summer class at TCU. It has been a productive day!

Proverbs 1:33 “But whoever calls to Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”

I am so grateful that someone came up with drive-time devotions. During the school year those CD’s gave me an opportunity to learn to spend the first portion of each day talking and listening to God through the Word and a meditation. That time became precious because I went to God before the thoughts of the day’s activities and the pressures of the world begin to enter my thoughts. This early morning time allowed for time with the Father before other things would crowd Him from my thoughts.

Today I learned about rest. Rest is to cease from all struggle. Rest for me meant to surrender the word cancer over to God and realize that He has all of this in His hand and in His plan. I am resting in His healing grace. But I am also learning to rest in God’s friendship and companionship. I think God is leading me in this not just to count on Him during times of duress and adversity, but to dwell with Him consciously all of the time. I am learning to rest in God’s tender love and guiding hand throughout each day as I would spend the day with my best friend.

Friends can be quiet with each other and friends can be in conversation. Just like friends in conversation each takes their turn talking and listening. The most important aspect is to always be aware of each other’s presence. I am learning to recognize and rest in God’s presence in these days of relative quiet.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all and get some rest! Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Happy Tuesday!

The first surgery is over. The good news is that the Doc removed all of the cancer in the one spot in one excision. The great news is that the one spot is now cancer free, praise God, and other than feeling like my nose is stuffed with cotton and my lip looks as if it went a couple of rounds in fat lip city, I am okay. The stitches are a bit like the scars on Frankenstein, but they did not send me home with neck bolts, although with the bruising a bit of the green skin color may appear!

I am taking antibiotics, Tylenol and a pain pill. The doc made an incision around the crease on the left side of my nose and pulled some skin and tissue over to do the repair work at the surgical site. This has to be one of the miracle surgeries and I am grateful. I will go back on the 24th to have the stitches removed and have the MOHS procedure performed on the spot on my nose.

When I went back for the stitching and repair work the Doc commented that he had never heard such laughter from his waiting room before. What he didn’t know was that the waiting room was full of teachers. You know most of us wait until summer to go to the doc and today was the day. There were teachers there from throughout the area in different fields of teaching including a TCU professor who was retired and who had taught Shakespeare. I had taken an activity bag with me to pass the time but never opened it because the conversation and stories were far more entertaining than anything I brought to do!

The instructions to me are to take it easy for a few days, not to lift anything heavy and not to talk a lot. I guess that is why I was meant to do this during the summer because First Grade teachers talk all day, every day! Of course Gaylene talks all day, everyday! HA! HA! I am so glad we have a good collection of movies.

John 16:13 “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth…He will show you things to come.”

I have been asked to be quiet. Bruce called Mom and Dad to give them the results of the day. I have spent the day answering text messages and writing emails and have done minimal talking. The doc’s orders are that talking can cause the stitches to bleed and the repair work to be compromised. So this quiet time will be a time for me to listen, read, learn and heal. God has given me this quiet time to rest and to come closer to Him through His Word and through prayer. I believe that God has a plan for each part of our lives and I am sure He will reveal to me the lessons I am to learn in this time of quiet. I am not called to silence, just to be quiet. I frequently tell my students that they often times do their best work when they are quiet. I am praying for God to bless this time of quiet, less pain, quick healing, and the obedience to follow God’s plan for me in the days to come.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Happy Monday!

This morning as I listened to my drive time devotion the opening phrase said, “Let me wrap you in the ermine wrap of my love and protection.” I really loved the thought of being wrapped in the soft and extraordinary love of God. The image conjured of being wrapped in ermine made me feel surrounded in God’s warm and loving care. Then…tonight as I opened my devotion book, the title was, FACE TODAY with ME.

Psalm 25: 5 “Lead me in Your truth and teach me for You are the God of my salvation; on You do I wait all day.”

I have been somewhat nervous today with the first of the skin cancer surgeries in the morning. God seems to be reassuring me through His Word and His people that He will be with me through the procedures and throughout the day and the healing process. My devotion shared this meditation, ”Endeavor to put from you every thought of trouble. Take each day with no backward look, face the day’s problem with Me and seek My Help and guidance as to what you can do.”

The circumstances of this situation are not going to change by tomorrow, but because of God and His Word and His people I can confidently go to the hospital in the morning and know that no matter what, God will be there during the procedure, with the doctor and during the wait throughout the day.

Thank you all for your prayers and I will report in tomorrow night’s entry. Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all so very much and I am praying for you too, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Blessed Sunday to you all!

Psalm 121:1 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help.”

This morning God placed a friend in my path. Seriously, as I had just walked into the sanctuary a wonderful woman named Nancy Kuper was getting out the morning bulletins. We stopped to chat. She asked about my pending surgeries and shared with me that she too had experienced this same surgery. Her BCC (basal cell carcinoma) was also on her face. She said the surgery was painless and I could hardly see a scar. She made me feel much better about the procedure. Up until Nancy, I had never met anyone who had experienced this type of surgery.

Isn’t it awesome that God does not let us go through difficulties alone? I have been praying about these procedures and remembering the things the Dr.’s office tells me. The sentence I keep remembering is that I will leave the office cancer free. But it was such a blessing that God put this dear woman in my path in the sanctuary of our church to share her experience with me.

This was truly a God inspired moment. We were in a place of trust and holiness. Nancy helped me today and I know that when all is said and done that I will be very willing and glad to help someone else. I hope God will see fit to put others in my path so that I may be able to help someone else going through the same issues. In a past writing I shared with you that we learn about God through prayer, the Word and through His children. We are called to be there for one another. We are called to be little Christs for each other. I am thankful that God’s timing is perfect and that God placed Nancy in the sanctuary this morning just when I needed a glimpse of the Jesus.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.