Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Saturday!  All is well at 811. It was pretty quiet around here today. Our thoughts were with our dear friend Carme, her daughter Shaleena and Dave’s sisters and brother. We are feeling the loss and the whole in our lives way up here in Arlington. I have been in touch with Carme throughout the day. The service for Dave has been set for next Sunday, February 23, 2:00 pm at their church in San Antonio.  Please continue to keep this family in your prayers.  Thank you.

Dear God, I pray your goodness shine in me so others will see how wonderful you are and seek your kindness and security. I want my words and thoughts to be acceptable to you. Please teach me how to honor you and love you more. And Lord, I pray that your Holy Presence will continue to surround Carme and her family as they begin the journey without the presence of her beloved husband, dad and brother. May, they be surrounded by kindness and your tender mercies. May peace and comfort begin to soak into their souls and your healing grace begin. They are a family that has always sought to honor you.  Bless them Lord. I love you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Today and every day we will see people we know and some we don’t that will see God’s power in us. Those we meet will realize that there is something different about us. The difference is not in us, but in the God we serve that lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. What can we say when someone asks us about the hope that we have? What is our answer when someone asks us about that power of God that lives in us? I think the first words that we should offer are about the profound love God has for us.  We need to share with others about God’s kindness and the sweetness of His love. And in that power of loving kindness tell someone about God’s perfect forgiveness and how that forgiveness and love has changed our lives. I must admit I have always been a bit put off by those who share their faith without respect to the one with whom they are sharing. So my friends when we share the goodness and love of God with others let us act as scriptures directs and speak gently and with respect.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

1 Peter 3: 15

Take joy in the journey remembering that faith, hope and prayer never disappoint. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Wear comfortable shoes, continue to pray for Carme and her family and get some sleep.  Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

TGIF Today God is First and Happy Valentine’s Day. All is quiet, thoughtful, sorrowful and joyful tonight here at 811.  Tonight I have joys and sorrows to report.

Great joy!  Oliver Wallace Richards has been born to my eldest niece Stephanie and her husband, Stephan at about 3: 30 this afternoon. We are beyond excited for this dear couple and their beautiful, perfect son.  Other than all parties being pretty tired as her labor was very long, I believe are well.  Bruce and I cannot wait to see this new little family!

And in the sadness of the day; our dear friend and brother David Russell ascended to heaven this evening.  David and Carme have been our dearest and oldest friends for over thirty years.  It is really hard to imagine our lives without his brilliant smile, wonderful sense of humor, caring and faithful heart.  He used to do our taxes for us and we paid him in my homemade cinnamon rolls.  He and Carme spent the night with Casey at MD Anderson Hospital so that Bruce and I could have a night to ourselves on our anniversary. He was godfather to both of our sons.  He called me weekly for a while following Bruce’s stroke.  He was a wonderful husband to Carme and proud father to his two daughters.  Bruce and I tried to imagine that if he has gotten all checked into heaven by now that he has found his Mom and Dad, his precious Catherine and may he is slugging back a Shiner with Casey.  We love you our precious friend and we will miss you. God bless and attend you with His loving, comforting grace Carme, Shaleena and all of your family. 

Dear God, I praise you for your wonderful Word. Create a love for your law and promises in me and help me to know you better through it. Wrap your tender comforting arms around Carme and Shaleena tonight. They need you and count on you my precious Lord. Attend them Holy One.  I know that Dave is safe in your haven of rest, standing tall and strong before you because you have lived in him all of his life. And tonight in her exhaustion shelter Carme in your loving rest. I love you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

There have been difficulties in this day. There are difficulties planned or unplanned. The good news is that even though we may not know what is going to happen in the moments ahead we know that God is there at every moment.  And God out of his great love will lift us out of our difficulties even if we believe we are drowning in sorrows or trouble and bring us out to a place where we can breathe once again.  Go is good and love wins!

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters.”

2 Samuel 21: 17

“He brought me out to a wide-open place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”

2 Samuel 21: 20

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope, faith and prayer do not disappoint. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Wear comfortable shoes and Carme, get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Thursday!  All is well here at 811. 

God, thank you for those small daily happenings that make life so worth living. Help me to celebrate the holiness of the ordinary day.  I give thanks that You never change.  Thank You for the promises of each new day. Thank You that each new day is like a package that we can continuously take the priceless gifts you have to offer and use them to Your glory.  I love you Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Often when I pray I claim the part of the verse from James 1: 17 “Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming from the Father.”  Sometimes the gifts from God are a bit difficult to see or we get so used to seeing them that we forget to give thanks. But after the long days of winter we have recently experienced, today it was easy to give thanks for the gift of sunshine and mild temperatures.  I must confess that I was not very grateful during the cold and ice and slippery roads.  But God gives his stamp of approval on each new day in which God sees his Creation. Each new day is a gift of life and the anticipation of each day . The air we breathe is a witness to God’s unfailing kindness toward each of us and the outpouring of God’s unfailing, unquenchable love. .  So my friends let us greet each new day no matter what the weather with a hallelujah and thoughts of unique opportunities to praise him. Let us praise God in sunshine and snow, rain and balmy breezes for there will never be another day like today.  God is good and love wins!

“I am God—yes, I AM. I haven’t changed.”

Malachi 3: 6

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope, faith and prayer do not disappoint. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Wednesday!  All is well here at 811.  I actually wore sunglasses this afternoon! 

Thank you Carme for teaching us about hope. This one’s for you. Love you my dearest friend.

Dear God, Today I praise you for pouring out your love and giving me and my friends hope. Even in the daily pressures, you are doing wonderful things. Lord, you have blessed me so much and you have inspired me to tell others your story. Guide my words and my heart so that I can honor you and encourage others to know you as well. Tonight I give special thanks for the answered prayer of Carme as the long awaited facility was located and accepted our dear friend David. I pray your Holy Spirit is present in those who will attend Dave and that he will be cared for with tenderness, gentleness, knowledge and skill. Bring peace to Carme’s weary soul as perhaps now she can rest.  Thank you for her faith and firmly placing hope in her heart and not letting hope disappoint. I love you Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Hope is an amazing gift from God. But hope, real hope, must be experienced in the pressures we face each day.  Like it or not, each day, if we examine our heart of hearts, we struggle with the truth of God, who God is and what God has promised. The stresses of the day, when faced in the presence of God allow us to move forward with patience because we remember that God has never let us down.  We place our faith on God’s eternal truth not on the changes that go on in our lives. God’s truth produces the hope that does not disappoint because we have seen the goodness of God.  We have tasted the sweetness of his heart and felt the comforting balm of healing grace when our souls are torn apart.  Our response to these extraordinary gifts is to become a living psalm of praise of the existence of God, the faithfulness of God and that God does all things well. God is good and love wins!

“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 5: 5

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope, faith and prayer do not disappoint.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Tuesday!  All is well here at 811. Bruce is continuing to play handbells and really enjoying some music returning to his life.  He has begun to whistle which is something Bruce never really did before. He whistles “Standing in the Need of Prayer.”  Not a bad choice.  Bruce’s life is such a joy and to watch it unfold anew is a precious gift.  God is good and love wins.

Dear God, Thank you for the unique peace you give to those who trust in you. I will not be afraid knowing that you are always there with the peace that passes all understanding. Thank you for seeing more in me than I see in myself. I trust you to use every situation to develop your godly excellence in me. To you be all the glory. Tonight Lord, I am giving thanks that our dear friend Dave has been accepted into a long term care facility. This has been such a difficult task. You have answered the prayers of our dear friend Carme and those of us who have been praying for this stage in the journey. Give Carme peace as their lives change once again and a new normal begins. I love you Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

“Peace, by the world’s standard, is defined by absence of conflict and achieved by an abundance of strength.” There are those who think they can only go to God when they are feeling strong and have done most of the things right in their lives. There are those who believe that these things will bring peace in their lives.  But you and I know that we do not have to be strong, tough or trouble free to go before God.  We can go before God when we are weak, troubled, sinful or vulnerable. It is in those times that God can bring us to the most blessed peace we will ever know. It is incumbent upon us when we go to God to be truly receptive to the goodness of God and the gift of peace and forgiveness. When we receive God’s gift of gracious peace and forgiveness we are filled with God’s unfaltering peace through the power of the Holy Spirit. So tonight, tomorrow and all the tomorrows to come let us rest in the peaceful strength of God.

“The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”

Psalm 29: 11

“I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.”

John 14: 27

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope, faith and prayer do not disappoint. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Monday!  I am giving notice that I am tired of being cold!  Other than that all is well here at 811.  I just have to tell you that I have the sweetest husband ever. This morning when I emerged from our room dressed and ready from school my coffee was in my TCU traveling cup, my thermos of coffee was filled and my oatmeal was prepared in my thermal bowl ready for my lunch bag.  He is the miracle man of Austin Street.  He had time with his counselor today. Bruce is at a place in his rehab therapy that he needs to have more conversations to increase the breadth of his language.  So the counselor is going to set up a group or groups for the facilitation of conversations.  We have always sat down at the end of each work day and shared the events of the day with each other and for a while now those conversations have been largely one-sided and now he contributes more to our daily conversations.  It is really great.  Thank you for all of your prayers and please continue because even though he has experienced amazing progressed he still has a quite a ways to go. Thanks mighty and faithful prayer warriors.

Dear God, thank you for training me for the heights through my circumstances. I know that with you I’ll achieve all for which I have been created. But I know the only time you can work in me is when I get out of the way and create the space within me to learn what you have to teach. Thank you for the quiet time today and I was able to hear your voice and receive the answers to the questions I have asked.  Because of the clarity of your answers I am able to move forward. Thank you for your lessons about salt. I love you Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

I have shared a number of times about the book Hind’s Feet on High Places.  It is an allegory.  One of the lessons taught is to watch the mountain goats leap from rock to ledge and ascend the mountain. These mountain animals are not able to ascend the mountain at first attempt. Their muscles and bones are not strong enough. But this is what they were created to do. They don’t gain strength by staying on the lower slopes of the mountain and walking in circles staying on level ground. They gain strength by climbing the mountain.

Our faith can only grow in the midst of our doubts and the unknowns of our circumstances.  We exercise and strengthen our faith muscles by trusting God and letting God be sovereign over all parts of our lives. Our faith muscles are strengthened when we pray and are willing to stop talking and listen for the times when God speaks to us. I think we should prepare ourselves for the climb because I’ll bet the view from the top is spectacular.  God is good and love wins!

“He makes me like a deer that does not stumble; he helps me stand on the steep mountains.”

Psalm 18: 33

Take joy in the journey remembering that faith, hope and prayer do not disappoint. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Wear comfortable shoes and maybe double socks tonight, pray for Carme and Dave and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

Blessed Sunday to you all!  All is well here at 811. 

Dear God, I praise you that one day I will shout with joy over the victory you have produced from my tears. As I face the personal challenges of my own journey through life, I am thankful for your presence that guides and protects me.  Lord, forgive me my sins and get me out of the way so that I may hear your voice giving me hope and courage to walk with you, step by step, one day at a time. Help me to not be concerned with earthly time and self-imposed deadlines believing that You are sovereign over all parts of my life placing my trust in You to lead me to the next step in the journey. I love you Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Each of you are welcome to place in your name in the prayer above. We all have uniquely personal passages through our time here on earth.  Sometimes on the journey the tears are many and the burdens are really heavy. God knows each tear we cry and honors them. My meditation tonight says these tears we cry are transformed into seeds of hope. These seeds produce within us faith and perseverance. The tears we cry are transformed into blessings with the promise of unshakable joy.  Let us not give in to hopelessness. God is the author of every journey in our lives. Our journeys do not go in a straight line and sometimes we have delays in the process of moving forward.  Our loving God leads us to find the provisions to meet our needs sharing the weight of our burdens, giving  us hope and courage to keep moving forward. God is good and love wins.

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.”

Psalm 18: 16

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”

Psalm 16: 11

Take joy in the journey remembering that faith, hope and prayer does not disappoint. Trust in the Lord with your heart, soul, mind and strength. Wear comfortable shoes, extra socks, pray for Carme and Dave and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene