Happy Thursday! 

Bruce made it home safely from Memphis around supper time tonight.  I am giving thanks.  Dale was released from the hospital today and is rehabbing at home.  God is good. 

I am now asking for prayers for Travis and his young lady, Sarah.  They will be traveling to Stillwater tomorrow for the TCU/OSU football game.  So two prayers; first, these two have safe travel and second that TCU wins!  Sarah is the OSU fan. So when she eats with us and we have soup I make her eat from a purple plate, but her soup bowl is orange. 

Prayer:  “Lord, I woke up excited because You are in complete control of my life, In this crazy world we live in. I know You will never leave me or forsake me. Please walk with me today and give your strength to be your ambassador. Amen.”

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Psalm 84: 11

We claim God’s ever present power and presence in our lives. This verse claims God to be constant and dependent. The sun is always shining (even when we cannot see it) giving life. God upholds all things by the word.  I do not think I have ever rushed to the window to see if the sun was shining for I know it is shining even if I cannot see it.  This is the lesson we can learn about God.  We do not have to rush or search for God because God is always present just as the sun comes up in the morning.  God is no-fail! God is reliable.  We can rejoice and be encouraged today because we need not worry that God will ever leave us or forsake us.  The world may change from day to day, but this God we love who loves us so much is never changing. 

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. (I know I will sleep better tonight!)  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Wednesday! 

Prayer:  “Lord, today is going to be a great day because I am starting it with You. Thank you for being interested in everything going on in my life. Help me today to be ready to give and to forgive, because there is no room in my heart for anything else. Help me, Lord, to be on mission for You today. Amen.”

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”

Luke 6: 35

I once attended a Kairos Prison Ministry closing.  There is a time of open microphone where any of the participants can speak a personal word.  It is a time of sharing by those residents about how the weekend has affected their lives. One of the participants stood up and walked to the mic. He looked over to the team and asked one of the team members to join him at the mic.  The team member was a Fort Worth Police Detective.  The team member stood next to the resident. The resident placed his arm around the shoulder of the detective and said, “17 years ago, this man arrested me.  Now I call him my brother.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. was interviewed following the assassination of his son, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The interviewer asked Dr. King about the bitterness and hatred he must be feeling toward the man who had taken the life of his son.  Dr. King, Sr. responded, “I have no room in my heart for bitterness, hatred, and unforgiveness. I am a Christian, and Jesus Christ lives in my heart and fills it. He leaves no room for anything else.”

The call of Christ for each of us is when we are out in the world, others need to see God in us.  We can show the love of God in the world through not carrying bitterness and unresolved hatred in our hearts. If we carry that bitterness and hatred, the light of God’s love and the mission to which Christ has called us will be overshadowed by darkness. 

Dr. King, Sr. learned this amazing lesson of “love your enemies” through daily devotion and spending time alone with God.  Even in life’s most painful events we can show the love of God and testify to the world of the promised abundant life in Jesus Christ.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. 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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer alerts: 

·                 Bruce is returning tomorrow from Memphis. Please pray travel mercy for him.

·                Dale is doing well, is already surpassing the doctor’s expectations and is walking without his walker in the hospital halls.

·                My friend Lisa’s mother is doing better.

·                I am requesting prayers for a close friend of Geni’s as she is mourning the loss of her aunt and her grandmother is very ill. I have been doing some Facebook pastoral care with her.  Thank you. Peace, g

Happy Tuesday! 

All news is good from Memphis. Dale came through his surgery with flying colors and the doc saying “that is the worst knee I have ever seen.”  Keep praying. Thanks.

Prayer: “Thank You, Lord, for another amazing day. With eyes wide open, help me to see this world of wonders You have created. I pray that the gifts You have entrusted to me will be received with wonder because they are stamped with Your touch. Amen.”

“But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.”

Nehemiah 9: 17c

Did you ever wonder how we get the gifts and talents we have?  Each of us has special gifts and talents that have been given to us by God to be used for His glory and in His service.  I am personally aware of my inabilities, and yet I am confident in God’s ability to strengthen those abilities that need work.  I have been going through a writing slump lately in my seminary writing.  I love to write, but I have not been able to think as clearly as I need and do my best work.  Finally I prayed about this and as soon as I asked God to help me my spirit felt lighter and my thinking became clearer.  God is gracious and merciful and abundant in kindness when we are in need.  God did not forsake me, I just had not asked God to partner with me and help me to do my best work.  I am still no great academic writer, but one of the gifts God gave me was the ability to pray.  I think I had forgotten to pray about what was going on and to ask God for help.  Some of my joy has returned and I am reclaiming my writing skills.  I am not perfect, but I am feeling renewed.

May the renewing God speak to your spirit and help you in gracious, merciful and ways of kindness. 

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all 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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Monday! 

My day began with taking my granddaughterdog to the vet for a procedure.  She did perfectly and all is well. I have ended my day after completing a paper for supervised ministry. I sent it to Bruce who said he would work on it while Dale is in surgery.  Please offer your prayers that this paper does what it needs to do to move me forward in this process.

Another prayer request: Our dear friend Dave Russell was discovered to have nodules on his thyroid.  One of the nodules has required a biopsy. They should know something in about a week.  Please keep them in your prayers.

One more:  My advisor from Brite announced his retirement today.  His wife has accepted a pastorate in Minnesota to begin in January.  They are both wonderful people with great ministries.  Please pray for God’s continued guidance and Brite’s search for a new resident minister and advisor.

Prayer:  “Lord, this is the day You have made, and I’m going to rejoice and be glad in it. I have reason to rejoice, because You have taken me out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Help me today to extend the same forgiveness to others as You have so freely given me, and please guard me from anything that might become a root of bitterness in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen”

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 103: 12

There is a song by Casting Crowns that poses the question “Just how far is the east from the west?” The recipe for bitterness is unforgiveness.  God does not treat us with unforgiveness or bitterness. God forgives and forgets. We have a merciful God who forgives us for the asking and then promptly forgets. 

Do you ever get unwanted emails? I do sometimes.  When I get emails I do not wish to read I simply delete them and they are erased.  That is how God’s forgiveness works. We ask to be forgiven and God forgives and deletes our sin from the record.  If God deletes our sin why would we ever keep a record of those who sin against us? 

The answer to the question from Casting Crowns, “Just how far is the east from the west?”  is “From one scarred hand to the other.”  We are compelled to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us.

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Blessed Sunday to you all! (Apologies for the time difference between the writing and the posting of this blog - it took this email a while to make it to Tennessee and back)

This writing is being done late. Thank you for your prayers as Bruce has safely arrived in Memphis at Dale and Gayle’s house. 

The Dog Park at 811 Austin Street was in full force today as all five dogs with their respective owners came over for chili dogs for dinner.  Tomorrow I will take Geni’s dog to the vet for her spaying appointment.  Geni is asking for prayers for Penny. 

I participated in worship, beyond singing in the choir today and led the time of prayers in both services.  I love to pray and it was a joy to share in this prayer time with both congregations.  Then afterwards I met Bruce for lunch as he was going to leave right after.  As soon as I got out of the car he asked, “Did you know you are still wearing your mic?”  In my haste to meet Bruce for lunch I forgot to take off the lapel mic.  I will return it tomorrow.  We had a good laugh and I felt pretty silly.

Prayer:  “Lord, I want to start this day with You. Before the rush of the day starts, I want to tell You that I love You and want to walk closely with You. Help me to not be overcome by any evil but to overcome evil with good. Help me to be compassionate! Help me to show love even to the unlovely, knowing that it will make You smile. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

“if your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty; give him water to drink; for so you will heap coals of fire on his head and the LORD will reward you.” 

Proverbs 25: 21-22

This scripture has always bothered me.  The first two phrases are so what Jesus says about loving and caring for those even our enemies.  And the last phrase never did seem to make sense until today.  (I know I am a little slow on the uptake sometimes.) 

I read a story once about a couple who had a terrible argument at bedtime.  Harsh and hurtful words were said and the wife of the couple was devastated and deeply hurt. The couple turned away from each other for the night. Being unable to sleep she began to pray and found this scripture and meditated on it for the night.

She got up the next morning and prepared a beautiful breakfast of her husband’s favorite foods and served it to him in bed.  When the husband received the beautifully prepared meal he broke into tears and told her of the problems he had been having at work and the stress he had been feeling.  He apologized for the argument and they began to talk.

When we harbor resentment in our hearts most of the time the only one who feels the hurt is us. Even though we were not the cause of the problem sometimes we are the target of the harsh and hurtful treatment.  Jesus tells us that we are to love our enemies in spite of what they do to us even though sometimes these folks are really hard to love. When someone has hurt us in words or deeds they do not often know how to respond to love and forgiveness. When we forgive those who have hurt us out of love and compassion then we have the love of God within us.

 Jesus’ path is harder, but it is also better because it carries the spiritual promise from God.  To respond to our enemies with love is truly an act of godly love and exhibits the character of God in our lives. 

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. 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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.