Our God Speaks!

Another beautiful spring day here in Michigan! It was a lovely Sunday! After church we had fellowship dinner and then a short worship team practice. When we got home I was able to sneak in a little power nap. Then Rhiannon suggested going out to the old mill park a ways north of here to take pictures. We were there last weekend with JT, Kori, Emma, and Kori's family for the same reason--to take pictures! It's such a lovely place with the old dark wood 3-story mill and the dam of rushing water. The redbuds are in bloom as well as the flowering almond, other ornamental trees, lilies, and more. The wild hepatica and violets are abundant in the low, grassy areas where the streams nearly converge. We met other friends there who were doing senior pictures today as well. It's quite a place for photographers.

When we got home JT, Kori, and Emma were here. We had thought of doing a family campfire this evening, but ended up going to Sturgis for supper. We had a nice time together. Emma was enjoying walking all over our generous lawn. Granny took her out to the English garden and we toured through the walkways where she promptly plucked the leaves of an iris apart. I had to watch her every move as she is quite determined to pick flowers and is very quick.

I titled this post, "Our God Speaks" because I have surely felt His presence speaking to me in a number of ways in the last several days. As well as the beauties of His creation being a witness to Him (as is stated in the early chapters of Romans), I had some pretty distinct experiences of feeling the special closeness of His voice. Jesus declared in the book of John that His sheep hear His voice. It is not a matter of whether or not He speaks; He does! It's a matter of whether or not we are listening. Sometimes I feel it's hard to hear what the Lord is trying to tell me; other times I read the Bible and the words just seem to jump off the page at me! It's me that moves, not God.

I was rather discouraged on Friday over a number of things and when I took time to read the Bible and pray I distinctly felt the Lord encourage me to re-read the passages in the Old Testament about Elijah after the Mt. Carmel victory. He too was discouraged. But amazingly, the Lord spoke to him in a still, small voice. It's not the fact that God spoke to him that struck me so much as the instructions that the Lord then gave him. He told Elijah to leave the cave he was hiding in and go anoint a couple of new kings and also to anoint Elisha as prophet as well. It dawned on me that when we are discouraged or feel like quitting, it's not time to quit, but to reproduce ourselves. As Christians, we should be especially diligent to lead other people to the love of the Lord and to help disciple others into whatever it is that we do in the church for the kingdom of God. If we are pastors, then we need to generate other leadership. If we are piano players, how about helping someone else to learn to play? If we are teachers, then we should try to disciple others into excellent teaching. After all, we will not always be here on the scene. This particular encouragement was confirmed to me more than once in the last few days. I asked Clint if I could give this word to the church right before his sermon this morning. He agreed and I did, believing the Lord could encourage someone else with it. It went along with a specific encouragement that one of the worship team members spoke during our worship time a few moments earlier. After I sat down and Clint got up to preach he verified that his sermon included some of the very same thoughts and we had not consulted each other on this at all! That was another confirmation to me that I had definitely sensed the Lord's leading.

Last night was the mother/daughter banquet at a nearby church concerning which I had asked you to pray for me a few days ago. I was asked a few months ago to be the speaker for the event. This was really the first time I've ever done a mother/daughter banquet. All the other times it was fill-in preaching for Clint or needlework demonstrations for women's clubs, etc. It went very well, I felt, and I thank all of you who prayed for me on that. Many women expressed their appreciation for what I challenged them with. The church graciously allowed me to set up a table with my book for sale even though the book and my topic last night were not at all related. Several women purchased books and asked me to sign them. I was so thankful to them for the wonderful response and encouragment. Concerning this event I had wrestled with the question of whether to make very diligent notes and stick to them or try to just speak with very little reliance on my notes. I ended up making notes, quite detailed, and then adding to them. But as I was speaking, I found myself not paying much attention to the notes at all. Sometimes I noticed I was adding things I hadn't even thought of before and forgetting others things that I had intended to speak. I believe this was the anointing of the Lord helping me to put across only what was beneficial. I was very excited to feel like the words flowed easily. I trust God was using me to encourage that group of women. He certainly usesd them to encourage me!

As for the gardens, things are maturing quickly. I will need to water tomorrow. It only takes a few days of sunshine to dry out our clay soil. It seemed to me that the creeping phlox that I have tried so hard to propagate in many places across our yard is finally taking hold. I could promise you that in the last few days it spread and got bigger! I don't know if that's possible, but it sure looks bigger than it did a week ago. Maybe there comes a point in its bloom cycle where all the flowers are finally open and that doubles the look of the plant's size. Regardless, I am very much rewarded by the lush look of these plants this year. Enjoying them immensely. Also I am enjoying the two books Rhiannon got me. I can hardly put them down. I try to save reading them for times when I have a few special moments to enjoy a whole entry by one gardener. What fun!

I hope you had a great weekend and felt God's presence as you went about your days with lawn work, church, family, or whatever you did this weekend. Blessings, LORI