Friday, September 17, 2010

Happy Friday!

Waiver day at school; no students, but teachers are in training and meetings all day!

Genesis 24:27 “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham…I bring in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s family.”

Show us Your way, O Lord, and let us walk in Your paths.”

If we are walking in obedience then we are walking the path of the Lord. Even if we don’t know the way and the road causes our feet to stumble and fall, it is the way of God.

Tonight I received an email from a woman in the synod office. She told me to email a gentleman and let him know where I was in the candidacy process. I was emailing someone I did not know and who does not know me. This is the man that will schedule the next interview in the candidacy process. This interview will be a one-on-one. I know it may sound silly but I was a bit nervous in writing the email. Here was my first correspondence with this gentleman and even though it was a simple request, I wrote a short, simple email introducing myself, letting him know where I was in the process and requested the interview. I went through several drafts before I settled on just the right words.

It was my prayer that I would send the right message with this simple letter. This gentleman is a part of my future as a candidate for ministry in the Lutheran church and I very much want to say and write the right things to be read and to say. God says to put all fear aside and believe that we will be led to the right people, do the right thing and hopefully say the right things at the right time. He calls us to believe that we will be shown the way if we but ask. God is not One who would lie or go back on His Word. So the next time we are on a bumpy road or uncertain of which path to take, stop and pray, then listen for God’s clear direction. God will answer, stay the course, turn right, left or begin again. He has promised!

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to pray for each other daily. Have a great weekend. 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.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Happy Thursday!

Hebrews 4:10 “For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.”

Isaiah 32:17 “And the work of righteous shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

After a day with 22 six year olds, a little peace and quiet is really nice. A little squirrel helped provide just such a time of quiet. Upon our arrival at home, Bruce and I discovered that we had no electricity. A squirrel zigged when he should have zagged and tripped the relay at our transformer and knocked out our power. As Geni said, squirrel fail!

If you have ever lost the power to your house you know it gets very quiet. The quiet is a different quiet than when the lights are on. The quiet is very still. There is no air moving around you and you become aware of your own breathing. The rooms are dark even in the daylight hours and if it is approaching dusk the rooms are full of shadows and you find yourself seeking light sources through open doors and windows. This experience in the shadows adds to the quiet stillness of the house.

I began to wash dishes and prepare dinner in the dark. This kind of quiet stillness can make you feel very alone. But the truth is that I was not alone. God was there. The peace that He provides gives quietness and assurance forever. I did not find myself hurrying to complete the dishes and dinner preparations before total darkness had taken away the last glimpses of the outside light, but instead I continued to work on the tasks at hand and felt assured that light would return.

God calls us to stay the course. His Word reminds us to be calm, assured, at rest and to remember how much we are loved. To live in peace is not a state of unrest, or fretfulness, but to rest in His love and pray without ceasing staying in God’s calming presence.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to pray for each other daily. 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.

PS The repairmen were there in about an hour and by the time it was time to sit down to dinner the lights were back on and light was restored.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Happy Wednesday!

Exodus 33:14 “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”

This must be the scripture message for the day. This morning at our prayer and share time at school the passage was on this same topic.

Sometimes life gets messy. Stuff happens and we get really frustrated and we just want to throw up our hands and quit. When life gets really tough and there does not seem to be any relief in sight from all of the things that are piling up, God reminds us that He is here. God tells us in His Word that His presence will go with us and He will give us rest. God is not one who would lie and if God tells us He will be with us no matter what, then He will! It does not mean that the circumstances of our lives will be easier, but what it does mean is that we do not go through the messes of life, whether we brought them on ourselves or they were thrust upon us, alone. We need to trust God with our mess.

We usually get into trouble when we try to control too many things and others fall short of our expectations. What is hard for us to accept about ourselves is that we are not God and it is not our job to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Believe it or not, if all does not get accomplished each day, the sun will still rise in the morning. It may be obscured by some clouds (just not lately!), but just like the sun, God is always there.

So my friends, let us rest in the love and peace of God until the life force of God flows through you. Have no fear in our willingness to be quiet and still. When we are quiet and still before God we can listen better and the strength will come. The world sees strength in action. In God’s kingdom, strength lies in quiet and rest.

So in the words of “Cool Runnings,” “Peace be the journey.” Wear comfortable shoes (and maybe carry a pillow), 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.
Happy Tuesday!

What a long day! It began with tutoring at 7:15 a.m., teaching all day and Open House from 6:00 till 7:00, then dinner out. I did not get home until about 9:45. It took lots of hard work to prepare for Open house throughout the day, but well worth it as nearly all of the families in my classroom came to visit. I am just a bit tired at this writing.

Praise God moment: the little boy, Tucker, whom I have asked you to pray for in the recent weeks is back at school. He looks really wonderful and seems to be glad to be back with the kids. Today in the moment of silence I gave thanks to God for His healing grace for this precious child and his family.

Mark 9:24 “Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief.”

I have a student who, when faced with a new task or one he believes at a first glance he cannot accomplish frequently says, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this.” He sort of goes into panic mode and shuts down and cannot even get pencil to paper. I have learned that when these times come for him, I tell him do the best he can and then we will work on it together just him and me. Then, after the reminder of the class has completed the assignment, I bring the student to my table and we complete the task and he is better. The point I am trying to make is that he is learning to count on me to help him when the pace gets a bit too fast or beyond his perceived ability to successfully complete the assignment. It is my hope as we continue in our relationship as teacher and student that he will begin to believe in himself more and remember that I am there to help him.

Just as my student cries out when he is in trouble, he is learning that I will help him and guide him through. The cry of the human heart is uttered when we feel the situation is out of our control and we are unsure of our own abilities. Our souls cry out to the Father of all creation because he knows us better than anyone. We know the Father as Helper and Savior and the more we call upon Him we learn to call Him Savior. It is when we do not call on Him that we fall short of absolute trust in Him. When we cry out we cry out in faith and our cries to God in faith release more of God’s Power into our lives. This is the path we are encouraged to walk as we journey with God throughout our lives. As we trustingly cry out to God we begin to conquer our unbelief and draw nearer to God. We believe that God will be there to help us. We sort of spiritually breathe as we call on God in the name of Jesus and pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. We breathe out our cry and breathe in the Holy Spirit. God is with us.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to pray for each other each day. 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, September 13, 2010

Happy Monday!

Song of Solomon 1:3 “Because of the savor of Your good ointments You name is as ointment poured out.”

“Mama’s here. Mama’s here.” Ladies, if you have children, how many times have you said this simple sentence? When your children were hurt with skinned knees, broken bones or broken hearts, those words acted like a soothing balm to help heal the hurt and soothe the soul. It is at those times that we would gladly take on the pain and the hurt ourselves to save our child from further hurt or sadness.

The name Jesus acts in similar fashion. The name of Jesus is the Power that turns evil away and calls goodness to come to our aid. Spirits of evil flee at the name of Jesus. And at the name of Jesus, when we are experiencing our greatest and deepest sorrows, the balm of peace and comfort is there for us. We can call the name of Jesus out loud or we can simply use the silence of our hearts and it will change the tension around us into an atmosphere of peace and love. As the song says, “Above His name there is no other name.” No other name holds power as does the name of Jesus. So let us call on the name of Jesus and when we need help in time of need or just to tell Him how much we love Him. (I’ll bet He likes that one best!)

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.
Blessed Sunday to you all!

Worship at Advent today was really awesome. Travis played the immovable rock to the kids during children’s church time. Pastor Joel said, “Travis is like God…” Travis loved that!

Exodus 32: 11 “But Moses begged the Lord, his God, and said, “Lord don’t let your anger destroy your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with Your great power and strength.” Vs. 14 “So the Lord changed His mind and did not destroy the people as He had said He might.”

Pastor Joel preached on this passage and God changing His mind. If you remember the story, Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God. I don’t know how long Moses had been away from the new nation of Israel, but long enough for them to get themselves into trouble. Here the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had freed them from slavery in Egypt. They had seen phenomenal miracles of fire, cloud and water and perhaps they got bored or began to think that Moses had perished on the mountain, but they lost their focus and had Aaron create an idol of gold that they might worship and have with them. God was not pleased with this behavior and shared His disappointment and anger with Moses and even went so far as to call them “his” (Moses’) people.

And then Moses did something no one had ever done before. Moses petitioned God for another chance. Moses begged God in prayer to forgive this unruly new nation and to not destroy them as He had previously stated. God’s previous pattern was one of destroying the people who were corrupting themselves in disobedience and idolatry. Moses acted in an intercessory place between Israel and God. God listened and changed His mind. After Moses prayed this prayer God told him to go back to his people and dwell with them. God did not destroy Israel out of His love for His people through Moses. God dwelt with Moses and Moses dwelt with Israel. This began a pattern of forgiveness and grace delivered from the hand of God to His people through a chosen one.

The name given to Jesus by God was Emmanuel. Emmanuel means “God with us.” Once again God chose to dwell among His people through His own creation, this time His Son. Jesus continued the pattern of forgiveness and grace having been instructed by His Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus hung on the cross, the One who had dwelt with the people only perished in body, because the immovable object is the power and love of God through the ever present Holy Spirit.

God never abandons us or forsakes us because the Holy Spirit is continually present with us and will go before the Father if we only ask. This does not mean that our life circumstances will be any easier and “stuff” will still happen. What is does mean is that we are never alone for God is with us. (I love it when a plan comes together!)

Take joy in the journey. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to pray for each other daily. 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.