February 26, 2012

Again it has been a while since I have written.  I felt you would want to know we are safe at home.  when I awoke this morning, I felt like this just isn't a good day for us to get on the road, and they have called off our services.  It is the first time this winter that we have had a real winter storm.  I am thankful for a safe home and that Jack is here with me.  I am thinking of some who aren't used to this weather.  A family at Starkweather is living in a camper or travel trailer with two little propane tanks.  I know there are people that would help them.  Pastor has just said about a woman and two little children in Cando.

I share this devotion with you this morning:

Chicken Shelter


I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Selah --Psalm 61:4

My co-worker at Joni and Friends, Billy Burnett, was raised as one of eleven children
in a poor sharecropper's cabin on the corner of the Jimmy Lynch farm in east Texas.
When Billy's father scraped together enough money from cutting cotton, he moved
his family to Texarkana.

When Billy was a little boy, he'd watch his mother - Mama Teal - throw grain to
the chickens in the backyard. He would sit on his haunches and observe how the chicks
would flock around the mother hen. Whenever dark clouds of a storm gathered and
wind would blow, the hen would lift her wing a certain way and her chicks would
come running. Her arched wing was their signal that danger was near. She was indicating
they should scurry and find safety by her side.

Oh, that you and I were like one of those chicks. Oh, that we would run without
hesitation or question to find refuge in the shelter of God's wing. Even Jesus,
when He looked out over the Holy City, said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would
 I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
her wings, and ye would not!" Matthew 23:37 (KJV).

Don't be one of the "would not's" today. When the dark clouds of trouble start brewing
on the horizon, run - don't walk - to find protection near the breast of God. When
the Lord gives you the signal, "Come quickly," take it as an indication from the
 Holy Spirit to find refuge under the shelter of God's wing. There you will be safe
from any stormy trial.

Under your wings I am safely abiding, though the night deepens and tempests are
wild. Still I can trust you; I know you will keep me. You have redeemed me and I
 am your child.

February 18,2012

It has been a while since I have blogged.  This was a busy week.  We went to family service for Marvin Martinson, it was a full house, they have a lot of relatives.  Wednesday a Friendship Banquet sponsored by our church at the Durum house, good food and good time.  Friday, was the annual Volley Ball Tourney at school.  I left early and spent some time visiting at Cando.  Students had been telling me I should come and see them play so I went to their game  It was with Vally Hoople, Drayton.  Dean Braathen's daughters played, he is a sister to the teacher at Reynolds that Mariah had some years back.  The girls looked like other family members.  It was parents night.  DJ had three girls sing the national anthem, and they did a really good job.  Here are some thoughts from Joni for us to ponder today.  Mom/Grandma

Insults


That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults... For when
I am weak, then I am strong.  --II Corinthians 12:10

I was at the airport, waiting to board our flight. The gate agent had transferred
me onto a narrow chair so I could be wheeled down the aisle of the plane. My two
 friends had already gone ahead to place their carry-on luggage under their seats.
While I was waiting, I mentioned my seat number to the gate agent - he just grunted.
When it was okay for me to board, I told him my seat number again. He still refused
to take me on board. When I explained that I knew my seat assignment, he said he
 wanted to double-check with my friends. I knew why he didn't believe me. People
 see my paralyzed body and assume that my brain must be paralyzed, too. I felt insulted.

I also felt indignant. But later on, I thought of Philippians 2:5-7, "Your attitude
should be the same as that of Christ Jesus... Who, being in very nature God, did
 not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing..."
Other translations say "made himself of no reputation." As I thought about the many
insults Jesus endured, I realized that I, too, could delight in insults. The reproach
I experienced was only minor compared to what Jesus suffered, but it gave me a wonderful
sense of identification with him. I was able to delight in the insult because I
had a far deeper security, a greater confidence, and a sense of eternal worth -
all for the sake of Christ.

First Peter 2:23-24 says, "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate;
when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges
justly." If someone misreads or misrepresents you today, don't retaliate. Rest your
confidence in Christ. Who knows? You may find yourself taking pleasure in the reproach.

Oh God, I humble myself before you... I consider myself as 'nothing'... I make myself
of no reputation. Help me not to retaliate when others hurt me.