We Need Each Other

 My flower beds are a mess. Once beautiful, but now pitiful. All the rain. The blazing, hot sun. They've been through a lot. I've neglected them (they are like part of the family you know.) I've passed by them for weeks and just looked and said, "My flowers look awful." Well, this morning, I had a new determination. Scissors in hand I went to work. I cut off dead blooms. I cut off dead stems. I pulled weeds. I removed debris from the soil. What an improvement. Just a little time, a little extra attention...

I was talking to my mother this weekend about pain and how people act when they are hurting. I don't know if it is a new revelation for me or what but I have a total new perspective on it. I remember how I acted when I was going through a lot of pain and was hurting deeply. I built a wall around myself for protection. I'm sure others saw it as if I was saying, "Leave me alone." I can promise you, I was not saying that at all. I have known people who were hurting or going through difficult times in their life and I would just stand back and say something to myself like, "I don't want to be pushy or I don't want to bother them." I know from experience though they aren't really saying that either. Yes, we put up a wall. Yes, we act like we don't need anyone. But the truth is we really want and need others. What we need is others who will speak words of life, whether we look like we want it or not. We need each other. 

I might just have to be a little "pushy" from now on. You are worth it!

Father, help me do better,
sammie jean
                

If I take the time to give it the attention it needs, then, whenever the time is right, "new life" will spring forth.

i see it in your eye (a poem)

i see that you are broken
   i see it in your eye
the pain
   is real
it paralyzes 
  your every part
i caught a quick
 glimpse
do i dare
come closer
to really see 
it might grip 
my heart 
 too messy 
for me 
  i might lose
control
 do i dare
  take a chance
i have a choice
to make
  i can look
 the other way
i can pretend i 
  didn't see
i can say it
 doesn't involve 
me
  i can go
on with my life
  no one will ever
 know
that i saw it 
   in your eye

sammie jean
6/29/17

Brokenness...a gift from God

Pride seemed to have been my thought process this morning as I walked. I prayed. "Lord, help me with pride." I know I have it. Show me the places in my life where it is." It seemed almost instantly that the Lord started speaking to my heart about brokenness. I started thinking about all those broken places throughout my life. Disappointments in my childhood, divorce and raising children as a single parent, raising grandchildren, disappointments in my job, plans that never evolved, dreams that didn't come true; fear, guilt, shame, disapproval, rejection. It was at these places that I met Jesus. It was here where He showed me how much He loved me. He gave me His approval. It was right here that I learned to trust Him. This is the place where I discovered who He really was...therefore, I can take no credit. He deserves it all. Started thinking about how that has always been God's plan from the foundation of the world. Jesus came into this world in a state of brokenness and He left this world in the same fashion. It was totally contrary to the worlds view of how a king should set up His kingdom. And it is still contrary even today. The war between flesh and spirit continues. My flesh wants praise, recognition, to look good and feel good. God says the total opposite. I will not despise those with a broken and contrite heart. It is very clear.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. Psalm 51:17  

 These are the ones I look on with favor; those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. Isaiah 66:2

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are. I Corinthians 1:28

So grateful...
sammie jean

New Wine

HOLY SPIRIT IS TEACHING
                                         am i listening...

wine press Italy 2015

...but new wine must be put into new wineskins    Mark 2:22 (NIV)

he's on the prowl

i almost believed him, i almost thought it was true, i almost believed the lie, almost before i knew

i was standing very vulnerable, and had let down my guard, when he came from behind, and hit me really hard

he's good at what he does, i have to give him that, he's constantly prowling, and ready to attack

he's very diligent, never giving up, he hits hard in the places, that really, really hurts

he's not ignorant, stupid, or inept, he has definitely done all his homework

wait a minute...not too much credit, he's sneaky but not great


Jesus said, "It is finished"
he already knows his fate

I spoke the words out loud
"You Have To Flee"

These words of life,
Had been embedded within me

"Put on My armor
So that you will be able to stand"

he heard these words, he knew he had no ground

Rise from your sleep
Wake up from your slumber

he's ready to devour... 'cause he knows his days are numbered

sjo 5/29/17


Be careful-watch out for attacks from Satan,
your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion,
looking for some victim to tear apart. I Peter 5:8 (TLB)