Justice, Christian and Israel

I taught a fourth grade class today and had three students named Justice, Christian and Israel and I thought to pray for the justice of Christians in Israel. Living in our country is a challenge because we just can't imagine not having the freedoms and the abundance that we have here. We are very blessed, but along with that comes a responsibility to pray for others less fortunate. We are thankful for all we have and pray there will be justice through out the world for all.

Right now is the happiest time in the world

By the time your kids grow up and think about moving out, you realize that family times have been the most cherished times in all your life. I remember directing a play called, "I Remember Mama." Near the end of the play after the family had suffered various trials, Mama stated...."Right now with all of us together and before anything happens to any of us is the happiest time in the world." So often we are looking to the past or the future for happiness when it is actually right in front of us at this very moment. We may have little money and little prospects for success, but if we have Jesus we can be happy anywhere. It is truly the happiest time in the world. We are complete in Him alone. Each day I pray for peaceful times with Jesus and some meaningful family time. I am always amazed that His answers come in still small ways and don't have anything to do with anyone's opinion, but His. Others may not always understand us but He does. He will never leave us.

The day the overhead projector went over

I was substituting in a classroom full of kindergartners. There were two sets of twins in there and it was really enjoyable. I was able to sing with them and play my violin. At recess time, I had arranged with another teacher to watch the group while I went to use the restroom. On my way back outside, I decided I would be helpful and set up the overhead projector for the student teacher who would need it when we came in. All of a sudden as I rolled it to the middle of the room, it tipped over and fell off the cart onto the floor. I was horrified and tried not to panic. I picked it up and set it on the cart, sure my teaching career had come to an end. I knew I would have to confess to the student teacher and to the office as humbly as I could. I went out and told the other teacher and she was concerned but really kept her cool, which encouraged me a lot. She went into the room, worked with it and actually came out and said it was not broken! I was amazed. I knew the glass had broken, but the rest of it was in tact. The rest of the day went by and I was sending up many prayers of thanks to God for something that could have been so much worse than it was. I wrote a note to the regular teacher and told them in the office. God is good even in our crazy mistakes!

Try, try again

When I was seven years old, I was about to receive my first communion in the front of the church with a lot of other children my age. I was all dressed up and in line, waiting my turn. All of a sudden, I panicked and bolted for the back door! I did not want to go up there in front of everyone. I went looking around the church grounds for my parents and guess what happened? My dad took my hand and marched me back up to the line and make me stay and wait my turn. I have never forgotten that experience because it reminds me of what my Heavenly Father does when I want to run away from my calling. He makes me return and assures me He will be with me if I have been called. My husband is a choir director and that involves me being on stage when I want to and when I don't want to. I may feel weak or tired or cranky but I have been called. Most of the time I enjoy it and I love to sing praises to God. I often try to run away but He keeps taking me back. When I stay on stage, trust Him, close my eyes and sing praises, I feel like I'm in Heaven. God knows that with all the crazy confusing things and hurts in our world, we need to keep coming to Him with hearts full of praise, regardless of how we feel on a given day. This is our strength and source of joy. It is found in Him along.

The reason I live is to worship you

When I look into Your holiness
When I gaze into Your loveliness
When all things that surround become shadows in the light of You

When I found the joy of reaching Your heart
When my will becomes enthralled in Your love
When all things that surround become shadows in the light of You

I worship You
I worship You
The reason I live is to worship You
(Repeat)

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of His Holiness"


Many of my petty concerns are of no importance when I look at His Holiness. I may feel very burdened about something and want to fix it, but unless I am worshiping and doing it for His glory, it doesn't always turn out the way I think it should. We all want to be heard, but mainly I want Him to be heard because His words are perfection and truth. My words are often mixed with my wants and desires so that I can have control. I believe that the reason I live is to worship Him. That includes prayer and reading His words and seeking His will above my own. I praise Him that there is fullness of joy in Him.

I so often fail at this very concept of doing all for the glory of God, but I have found that if I just wait on Him, I will receive His answers and His guidance. I can't fix anything on my own. I can only pray and encourage others to seek Him for themselves. Serving others is often painful and time consuming, yet is the will of the Father for His children. We find joy in serving our Lord.

Ulyses and Elizabeth

I have been biking for about two years now and I really love it. While on my bike, I pray and share my thoughts with the Lord. I tell him I don't want my relationship with Him to be all about me, but about how I can please Him. I know that usually means reaching out in love to others. I was on my way home and saw a young couple taking bottles out of recycle bins. I knew they could earn a small amount of money doing this. My eyes perked up and I knew I was about to experience a God moment. I went up to them, asked them their names and asked if they would like some bread and food items. Their names were Ulyses and Elizabeth and they had been living in the area with family for seven months. They did not have much money. I told them I would go home and get some food. It always delights me to be able to do this. I put some flowers in the bag along with a Bible. I drove the car back to where they were and handed them the package. I tried to explain where my church was, but they were not from the area so they didn't understand. I asked if they had a computer where they could look it up. They said they did not. I said my farewell and drove away thankful that the Lord allowed me to serve Him.

The Cross in the Universe

We watched a film today in Sunday school that showed how huge the sun and planets are and also showed different galaxies in the Universe. God put every one of those things in place for us to wonder at. The distance between them is enormous. I just can't believe the magnificence of what I saw. Our God is so huge and we allow such tiny minute things to annoy us. We could be focusing on how great He is. In one of the galaxies which is so very far away, the shape of a cross is seen. It makes one think that for all His amazing greatness, Jesus humbled himself and died on a cross because of His huge love for us. It makes me feel very small and takes me off my high horse of pride to realize how very much I need Him each and every day.

Promoted from Leader to Servant

I'm always happiest when I feel like God has promoted me from being a leader to being a servant. My husband is a pastor in a church and I as a pastor's wife want to be a servant of Jesus my King. This is sometimes hard for me. I want to give my input as to how I think things should be. When I am humbly expressing my love and adoration for Him, I am happy. I love my church and the people in it. I don't always know what to say or even if I should say anything, but I want to serve them and put their needs above my own. This is also a risk as there could be some rejection in return. I must remember Jesus will never leave me or forsake me and He will always give me the ability to do what He has called me to do.

The life of a visionary

I admit I am a visionary. I'm always thinking of a new way to do things, to observe things and to look at situations. I want to be able to think outside the box. I am always thinking of ways I can make money so I can take more trips all over the world. I love to hear of others' travels and experiences. When I think that I actually have been to many places in the world, I know that anything is possible. If one door closes, a window usually opens soon after that. One of my greatest desires is to visit Italy someday. I have been to France, Germany and Austria, but I want to see the artwork in Italy and see what the people are like. I am half Italian and I want to learn more about the culture. I will probably bribe one of my family members to go with me. I am very excited about the prospect of going to Venice and riding in a gondola. I'm sure I'll think Venice is the most romantic city in the world until I see for myself how dirty the canal really is. It will still be worth it.

The reason I write

I write because I know God has given me a purpose on this earth. I write because there is so much beauty to be found if you are willing to look for it. With all the trial and pain, the joy of having a personal relationship with the living God is greater than anything. When I think I'm so strong and find out I'm really not, I need His reassurance and love. When I am concerned about loved ones, I need His peace. When I need wisdom, I read His word. He is everything to me. I'll never sing a solo or publish a book but I will boast that the God of the Universe is living inside of me and hears my prayers and works in miraculous ways. I want my voice to be heard so that I can speak His thoughts and comfort others the way He has comforted me. I love the beauty in God's creation and I want to describe it. I am thankful and never want to pass up an opportunity to give praise to God for who He is and all He does.

Juicing raw food

About twenty years ago, I had some health issues and began juicing raw foods. Now I have two juicers and juice and eat raw foods regularly. I believe that eating large amounts of certain colorful food promote healing, and I have seen many positive results in my own life. The fiber contained in raw foods also helps prevent many diseases. My health is certainly not perfect, but it is better than before and I have more energy than I used too. I'm very thankful because in the last week alone, three friends have given me garden produce....fresh blackberries from Oregon, fresh grapes and garden tomatoes. So delicious!

the backwards banana

The other day I taught preschool. I adore those children because they are so sweet and innocent. I love adults too but sometimes you have to be a rocket scientist to figure them out and then you find out you were wrong all along. When little ones look at me with those adorable eyes and faces, I just want to take them all home...well maybe for an hour. I love to teach them songs and play my violin for them. I love to see them smile.
It was snack time and I was placing a banana on each child's plate. One little boy looked at me very seriously and said, "My mom says I can only eat a banana if it is green." I said, "The banana is ripe if it is yellow." He said, "No, first it is yellow and then it turns green." I knew that I could not convince him otherwise, so I didn't try to. Sometimes we try to explain to someone that Christ has paid the penalty of our sins on the cross and they can't understand. They think they have to be good enough to earn their salvation. In those cases, only Jesus can convince them otherwise.

God's ways are not our ways.

There is a song in our Christmas musical that goes like this...."God's ways are not our ways. His plans are not our plans. If we would just be patient, someday we'll understand, God's ways are not our ways."
Sometimes we are so sure we know how we want God to work in a certain situation. We pray and pray and hope. Yet, it doesn't turn out the way we had planned. Many times it turns out opposite of the way we wanted it to.
At those times, we must surrender and let things go. We know from past experience that He know best and He often sees beyond the here and now...beyond the moment we are in. The tears may fall....The questions come, but He is with us. He goes through the storms with us until we come out on the other side. We love Him because He first loved us and called us to be His children.
To me it is so comforting that no matter how much I struggle, I can never loose the love of my Heavenly Father.

Kevin's Birthday surprise

My husband Kevin had a birthday yesterday and we both went to work for the day. When I returned home, I noticed someone had mowed the lawn. I asked my oldest son if he had done it and he said he had not. He said that during the day, some young man whom he did not know came by and mowed our lawn. I was amazed that he did not know it was Kevin's Birthday and he just mowed the lawn as a gift. During the summer, we have helped some lower income folks by giving them meals and it has been a joy for us. We are thankful tho whoever it was that mowed our lawn.

Jesus Wept

When Jesus discovered that Lazarus had died, He was deeply moved in His spirit and troubled and then He wept. Later, He did bring Lazarus back to life again, yet He still carried grief.
Even though we know Christ is our Savior and we are going to heaven someday, we still are moved to tears at times. In my case, I usually feel a burden for someone else to experience the joy of knowing Jesus and so I cry. It takes up a lot of energy and can be very draining emotionally, but this is my gift to Jesus. If I can pray for the soul of another, even one I don't know yet, I can be used by Him.
I have raised four children and I know what it is like to carry their burdens. They have been struggling and hurting at various times in their lives and I am there to help carry the load and it often involves encouragement and sympathy. My prayer is that if you are reading this and you need a Savior to love you and carry your heavy load, you will ask Jesus to come into your heart and make you a brand new person. Jesus brings a love relationship into your life and not just a religious experience. He is there when others let you down. He will never leave you.

Children are fragile

I am an extremely sensitive person. Things that would not bother anyone else seem to bother me. The reverse is also true. I see value in everyone and look at a person until I think I might know what their gift is. When I teach, my sensitivity distracts me and I just want to be loving with the children and have a little trouble rigidly sticking to the rules. I was in a kinder class on Friday and a little boy was sobbing, only silently. My heart just broke for him and I wanted to make all the tears go away. I patted his back and kept telling him he was doing a great job with his work and that everything would be OK. I wanted to assure him it wasn't as bad as all that, but he didn't seem to want comfort. I silently prayed for him and knew it was beyond me. I couldn't teach unless I was sure that God is with me helping me to minister to each child. He knows them by name. H e knows how they each struggle. Thier angels behold His Face.

Brigadoon

One of my favorite things in the entire world is to watch a Broadway production. I did just that last Friday night. I went with two friends to the Oakland Hills to watch Brigadoon, a musical about Scotland. There we were sitting outdoors under the stars in an absolutely beautiful setting watching a musical with lovely music and Scottish dancing! There was even a token bagpiper! Such a night! So warm and the sunset was amazing! Woodminster Amphitheater is definitely a place I will visit again. I used to perform in a Broadway musical every summer. I would look forward to summer all during the school year then rejoice that I could spend two months outdoors under the stars rehearsing and performing. It was such a blessed time. I have the heart of a camper but my husband does not and since I don't want to go alone, I chose to be in a musical and pretend I was out camping. Someday I will go camping, but for now, my nights at the theater will have to suffice. If I had my way, I think I would like to drive across the country and camp along the way.

Church

I attended church today and enjoyed the music very much. The songs were a blessing and my husband was playing saxophone. He had a beautiful tone. I attended my Sunday School class and stood up and shared with the class about my evangelistic efforts with the children in my neighborhood. I had an ice cream party for children, invited them to a play we performed called Prince of Egypt. A ten year-old child attended the play and was very moved by the Bible story he saw portrayed on stage.

After church, I visited a street fair and enjoyed it very much. My favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon is enjoy a concert or outdoor event. I came home, stretched out for a nap and listened to the squirrels making noises. in our walnut tree.

First post

Hi everyone. My name is Patsy and I am a writer. I also love to sing, play the viola and teach young children. I usually write short stories, poems and devotionals. I want to start sharing some of my writing on this blog. I hope to share some of my teaching experiences. I have taught some amazing and adorable chidren in public and private schools. It has been very rewarding.