Heading Home

Last year, I read a post and the last sentence made me think, “And the empty pot awaits, ready for a fresh batch.”

It reminded me of the story of Stone Soup. If you’ve never heard of it, here’s a synopsis of this version of the story:

Many years ago in Eastern Europe, people hoarded their food in a time of famine. One day, a soldier wandered into a village and asked to stay for the night. The people told him to move on as there was no food.

“Oh, I have everything I need,” he said. “In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you.”

Pulling out all he needed from his wagon, he filled his cauldron with water and built a fire for it. Then, he took a velvet bag and drew out an ordinary stone and dropped it into the water.

The rumor of food spread and the villagers came to the square to find out.

As the soldier sniffed the broth, he said, “Ahh, I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage – now that’s hard to beat.”

Soon a villager brought him a cabbage he’d been hiding and added it to the pot. Then, the soldier said, “You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king.”

The village butcher brought out some salt beef and added it. Over and over, the soldier raved how good the soup is with added potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on.

Villager after villager brought out the necessary ingredients until there was indeed a delicious meal for all.

With all the added ingredients, the soup turned out to be delicious.

If your year was anything like mine, the cauldron of 2011 contained a variety of ingredients, some positive, some negative, and flavored with a dash of hope and a soupcon of joy or maybe even en grande quantité.

Now, the kettle for 2012 is empty and sits waiting to be filled, ready for all the ingredients of a new year.

What ingredients will fill your New Year? What will fill your heart?

I pray the Lord will fill your New Year with hope, peace, comfort, joy, and an abundance of blessings.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13 NKJV)

“And taking him aside from the crowd [privately]...”(Mark 7:33a Amp)
Have you ever had a deep, dark struggle in your life? Most of us have. I have. And it sent me to my knees to seek the Lord. During that time of struggle, I wrote this...

Oh, from these bars of confinement shutting me in, I cry out to God. From this darkness surrounding me, all seems lost. Yet, I know all things are sifted through the loving fingers of my precious Lord. Wishing to commune with me, He allows this thing to touch my life.

Though others see not my streaming tears, the Lord sees my aching heart and gently wipes away those tears. “Nearly all God’s jewels are crystallized tears,” someone once said.

Too many voices clamor for my attention. Wearied from the noise of the world, my ears impatiently wait for the comforting sound of His voice. The Lord “takes me aside from the crowd privately” into absolute aloneness with Him, that I may listen only to Him. His words of love and comfort speak thunderously in this solitude.

When darkness and loneliness loom endlessly, they yet result in the richest and most rewarding of all spiritual experiences, for it is then that I see my darkness is but the overshadowing of the wings of the Lord, and I await the radiance of His glorious light to fall from heaven that I might behold my precious Savior.

The Lord’s purpose in taking me aside is never immediately discerned. However, getting my attention and bringing me into a deeper relationship with Him is always His will in my blackest hours.

The Holy Spirit comes as the dew of dawn to silently dispense His peace and comfort. In waves of coolness, He breathes upon me like a refreshing wind.

This parched mortal vessel yearns to be filled with those Living Waters provided only by the Lord. His peace pours forth as an endless river, rushing over me to cleanse all that would obstruct my view of Him. As I go to the Well, I drink in His Life and I am revitalized.

Then, I sing of His wonders and tell of His glories, and my walls of confinement fade into nothingness. The way opens before me. I see His brilliant, glistening footsteps on the path before me as if sprinkled with the glitter of heavenly dust, and only the light of praise brings them into focus.

Not all my questions are answered nor all my longings appeased, but His gracious mercy provides the path of recovery to soundness, to wholeness, to a larger place, to Himself.

It is for this that I praise Him...for “taking me aside.”

~~Lord, may rivers of blessings be poured out to other parched souls because of my desert. I pray that freedom may come to them out of my confinement, that light for blind eyes may come out of my darkness, and that comfort for the hurting may come out of my loneliness. Amen.~~



Today, I'm hooking up with...

Canvas Child's Imperfect Prose on Thursdays...


Reflections of His Grace...


Coming soon...

In a single moment, a little boy’s world turned upside down; his life’s journey interrupted, taking a drastic detour.

Many years ago, an accident on a slippery, wet road ended the lives of a young couple while their young son was only shaken and bruised. A frightened Max went to live with an aunt who had never married and knew little of taking care of children, let alone a seven year-old boy.

Aunt Sylvia lived on several acres surrounded by woods with a creek meandering through it. Max quickly learned to love it and thought it magical. Room to run, yell, chase animals, climb trees, and catch frogs from the stream. A great place to bring the friends he would soon make.

Aunt Sylvy, as Max called her, loved making up stories to pique Max’s imagination. Her best stories came from the Bible as she taught Max about God and His love.

Over the years, Max learned to love Aunt Sylvy as if she were his own mother. The two of them always made the best of each circumstance and prayed over each one.

Max’s tour through his teen years collided with the normal bumps in the road. But because of Max’s hard work and good study habits, and Aunt Sylvy’s encouragement, he received many honors throughout his high school years.

One day, a decision halted his journey: which college to attend. He could not imagine leaving Aunt Sylvy and the cabin in the woods, so he chose a college close to home.

After graduation came another dilemma: which job offer to take. Max chose the job on the other side of the country due to Aunt Sylvy’s insistence. So, when the day came for him to leave, she sent him off with her best wishes, a hug, a sack of sandwiches, a bag full of money, and a prayer.

As the years passed, Max tried to return to the cabin in the woods as often as he could.

One day, Max received a phone call from Aunt Sylvy’s neighbor telling him Aunt Sylvy was dying and called for him constantly. He told the neighbor he would be there as soon as possible.

As some business deals with deadlines needed his attention, Max decided to write a quick letter to Aunt Sylvy, just in case he didn’t make it home in time. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her and appreciated all she had done for him.

He reminisced how, on the day he arrived at the train station to live with Aunt Sylvy, she was detained from meeting him and sent her hired hand to pick him up. As darkness set in, the two of them made the journey to Max’s new home.

On the way through the forest, Max asked all kinds of questions of the hired hand, like are there any kids to play with; what is his aunt like; and will she be waiting up for him to arrive?

After all the questions were appeased, the two of them finally drove out of the forest. At a distance in the clearing sat a glowing log cabin as light streamed out of every window. And there, on the front porch under the light, was Aunt Sylvia waiting for him with open arms.

He wrote how she hugged him, gave him a warm dinner, put him to bed, prayed with him, and told him everything would be all right. He recalled how she sat up with him that night and every night thereafter until he was no longer afraid to fall asleep by himself and his tears had eased.

In an effort to comfort her as she had comforted him, he wrote that, though she may be in the dark for a while, a light will glow in the clearing. At her journey’s end, she will be welcomed with open arms by the Lord to her new home.

~The journey Home differs for each child of God. Accidents, interruptions, detours, bumps, halts, dilemmas, and questions may impede our way. The world may crowd around us as a forest and darken our outlook. But we can be assured of this: the Lord is always waiting to receive us with open arms and will bring us out into His Light.

Wherever our journey takes us, it is up to us to make the best of it. And, at the end of our journey, we will be welcomed to our new Home with the Lord.

~~From my heart to yours, “I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while,” (Rom. 15:24b NKJV) and help you as well on your journey Home!



This post is part of the ChristianWriters.com blog chain on the topic of journey. Please check out the other participants in the sidebar on the right.

In the chilly dampness of the early morning hours, the woman gropes her way through the dark city streets of Jerusalem. Carrying only a small oil lamp to light her way, Mary Magdalene is joined by Joanna, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James. Leaving the city, they wend their way to the dew-moistened garden where Jesus had been buried.

Dressed in their mourning apparel and blurry-eyed from their tears of grief, they enter the garden of the tomb, carrying the spices to anoint Jesus’ body.

The first glints of sunlight peek over the horizon as they approach the tomb. The ground shakes violently as an angel appears and rolls back the large stone covering the tomb’s entrance. The angel says, “Do not be afraid; Jesus is not here. He is risen! Go and tell the others.”

Terrified, Mary Magdalene rushes to get Peter and John and returns with them to the tomb. With their hearts pounding in fear and lungs struggling for air, the men enter the tomb and frantically survey the surroundings until their eyes rest on the stone slab, where only the death cloths lay.

Seeing that the body of Jesus is not there, the disciples rush back to tell the others.

While the other women wait outside the tomb, Mary Magdalene stoops down to look inside. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she turns to leave and encounters a man, who asks, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

Assuming him to be the gardener, “‘Sir,’ she asks, ‘if you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him.’” (John 20:15 NLT)

“Mary,” He whispers compassionately.

Recognizing a familiar voice, she gasps, “Rabboni!” and falls at His feet in worship.

I have been a Mary Magdalene. . .a follower of the Lord yet not being able to find Him. I wandered around for relentless hours, with stinging tears spilling down my cheeks, weeping in pain, sorrow, and loss. I searched the tomb of the world and found it emptied of dreams, hopes, and purposes.

My restoration came when I realized my Saviour had stood beside me all along, compassionately whispering my name. When I heard His loving voice, I fell at His feet in worship.

Have you ever been a Mary Magdalene? Do you weep over loss of dreams, hopes, or purposes? Pain, sorrow, or circumstance? Do you stand at the tomb, wearing the grave clothes of mourning, wondering where Jesus is?


Just as Mary Magdalene met Christ in an unexpected way, so your Easter experience comes to you in your hour of despair. Jesus will be there beside you to comfort you, compassionately whispering your name and asking, “Why do you weep? Whom do you seek?”

Jesus always brings you hope of resurrection as on that first Easter morn. He comes to lift you up, to wipe away your tears, to release you from your pain, to remove your grave clothes of fear and depression.

Jesus says to you, “Do not wear the grave-clothes stained with the tears of grief. Come into My garden of beauty and I will give you the robe of Easter’s resurrection gladness. Take My Hand and let Me lead you along the path to life everlasting. I gave My life that you might live eternally with Me.”

He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NKJV)

Do you believe this? Then, weep no more! Fall at His feet and worship Him!

May you know the power of Christ’s Resurrection Life in a deeper way this Easter season.

This is an inspirational video of celebration. I hope you’ll watch it.





Today’s post is part of the Christian Writers Blog Chain on the topic of redemption/resurrection. Check out and enjoy the other contributors’ posts in the left sidebar.

“What does love look like?

“It has the hands to help others.

“It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

“It has eyes to see misery and want.

“It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

“That is what love looks like.”
~St. Augustine

Love is a verb...

Love gives...the best of time, energy, and possessions
Love walks...alongside, to uphold another
Love acts...to encourage the discouraged
Love offers a hand...up

Love offers a shoulder...for another to cry on
Love believes...the best of another
Love blesses...no matter what
Love honors...one’s spouse

Love supports...when another’s strength is lacking
Love cheers...when laughter is needed
Love praises...rather than tears down
Love comforts...a hurting soul

Love carries...when another’s steps falter
Love commits...to a lasting relationship
Love remains silent...when necessary
Love communicates...with kindness

Love cares...enough to do something
Love shows...grace and mercy

Love in action...“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” ~~Amy Carmichael

“For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:11 NKJV)

What does love look like to you?

(This post is part of Christianwriters.com blog chain on the topic of love. See the other entries listed in the left sidebar.)

Today, it is my privilege and sweet honor to be a part of the blog tour for my friend, Connie Arnold. She is the author of the book of poetry entitled Abundant Comfort and Grace. Connie brings comfort to hurting souls through her words.

Connie has also authored two other works of poetry, Abiding in Hope and Love and Beautiful Moments of Joy and Peace. I hope you’ll check out her give-away at the end.

Now, h-e-e-e-r-e’s Connie…

Thank you, Lynn for your gracious agreement to be a part of my blog book tour. Your blog has brought me so much inspiration and many blessings for several years, and I hope to add my bit to that today!

Do you have children? Whether you do or not, perhaps you can remember being a small child. When you were hurt, sad, upset, feeling lonely or unloved, your mother would gather you up in her arms and soothe you. There was such a comforting, secure feeling in being wrapped in arms of love that made everything better for you in your small world.

As adults, we face greater hurts, sadness, upsets, loneliness, and feelings of depression and being unloved. We can still find comfort in all those times and at all others in our life. God is ready to wrap you in a love that can soothe away the pain and fears, filling you with a peaceful, comforting, secure feeling, and making everything better in your world.

This is a poem from my new book, Abundant Comfort and Grace (accompanied by a photo of one of my children and her children) that I hope will remind you of the childlike contentment we can still find!

Childlike Contentment
A child’s contentment is quite clear
When held in a mother’s embrace,
Knowing that she is always near
With love shining on her face.
Comfort is felt when a child is held
As troubles and fears are quickly dispelled.

Like a child we find contentment too
In the arms of the One who loves us best,
In everything we are going through
We can discover comfort and rest.
Held in a loving and strong embrace,
Childlike contentment is found through God’s grace.

The schedule for the tour is posted at Inspirational Poetry of Joy and Peace and I hope you will follow along. Be sure to leave comments. There will be two drawings at the end of the tour from comments made at the different blogs, one for a free copy of my first book, Beautiful Moments of Joy and Peace, and one for a $10 Amazon gift certificate. The more blogs you comment on, the more entries you receive!

There will be an additional drawing for a $25 Amazon gift certificate from those purchasing Abundant Comfort and Grace. You’ll be entered by purchasing a signed copy from my website using PayPal or check, or online and contact me with confirmation of your online purchase. May you be abundantly blessed, comforted and filled with God’s grace!

photo courtesy of imelda @flickr.com
God sometimes requires me to do something that appears to have obstacles and seems beyond my power to accomplish. Or it is downright scary! The situation lurks before me as a rushing river, barring me from the new territory of promise on the other side.

One of the scariest things the Lord has wanted me to do is write. As many who know me, even a little, know that writing was not my idea. Six months after I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2000, the Lord whispered to my heart to write for Him.

“Ummm…’scuse me, Lord. Write? Me? But I don’t know anything about writing.”

Silence…just the confirming impression to write. Talk about getting out of the boat and walking on the water! In obedience, yet not having the faintest clue what I was doing, I started writing a book on the topic that He led me to research.

My desk chair became my discomfort zone. Sometimes, my torture chamber. Physically and mentally.

Being an introvert and shy, I was hesitant to venture out. It is scary out there. Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh my! Submitting those first dozen or so articles and devotionals for magazines and websites was excruciating…as I waited…and rejections came to my inbox.

And then there’s the road to book publication. It is fraught with all sorts of intimidating gremlins and rejections. I worked on my book for ten years and it will soon see the light of day and have that fresh aroma of real pages!

I don’t think about the scary parts any more. I just continue stepping out into unfamiliar territory. I won’t fall. The Lord is there. And even if I do fall, He’s there to pick me up, brush me off, and send me on my way again.

Writing is now my passion, my purpose, and my permanent project. My discomfort zone has mellowed, except for an occasional uncomfortable lump of rejection in my chair. I’ll continue to write until the Lord tells me to stop.

We all have our easy chairs, our deep, comfy recliners of complacency that keep us in our comfort zone. No matter what name we assign these situations, whether rejection, doing something we’ve never done before, or obeying God in some new area of life, if we do not get up out of our comfy recliners and step out in faith, these things bar us from receiving all that God has for us.

He does not part the waters of any barrier until we take that first step forward, as the priests did at the river Jordan, “As soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap.” (Josh. 3:15-16a NIV)

When we hesitate, the view of God’s promise on the other side drifts off in the distance. Sitting on the river bank in our easy chair, we cling to our old ways. Only when we dare to get up and step out into that rushing river does God make His power and resources available on our behalf.

When a rushing-river circumstance enters your life by whatever means, what do you do? Do you stick with what is safe, remaining on the river bank, pushing back in that comfy recliner? Or do you step out in faith, plunging your foot into the water?

Whether in writing or any other area of life, if you never take a chance to forge ahead in faith, the writer of Hebrews says that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb 11:6 NIV) And isn’t that your heart’s desire…to please God?

The Lord wants to do something new in and through you. Are you too comfortable to let Him?

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.”
(Is. 41:10 NLT)



(This post is part of a blog chain of writers from Christianwriters.com as we write on The Discomfort Zone. If you’d like to check out the other participants, the list is on the right at the top of the sidebar.)

“God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.”
(Matt. 5:4 NLT)

I went to a funeral the other day. A very precious friend’s husband died.

As I sat there listening to the trembling voices, soaked in tears, and the preacher’s words of tribute, I cried along with the family and friends.

Separation from a loved one brings grief, but the Lord brings His comfort. The Lord said, “He has sent Me to comfort the brokenhearted.” (Is. 61:1 TLB)

When a loved on is no longer with us, the afterglow of his or her presence lingers on in our hearts and in all the hearts of his/her loved ones on earth long after that one has left our sight. The beauty of such a person never dies, for he or she leaves behind so much of themselves. Our hearts are always illuminated by the memories of their smile, their laughter, their kind words, the touch of their hand, and, if they are a Christian, their love for God.

When we lose a loved one who loved the Lord, we may also look at it this way: Of the roses that climb the garden wall, some will blossom on the other side, being hidden from our view, but the vine keeps them all joined together.

And so it is with the wall of death. It merely hides the other side; it does not divide. Our loved ones who have gone on to be with Jesus may be hidden from our view, but they have just blossomed on the other side. And, if we, who remain here, are also in Christ, then we are all united together, because the Vine keeps us together.

Mourning encompasses more than the heartache of losing a loved one. We mourn when a loved one goes astray in his/her marriage and divorce results, distressing the children. Or when s/he makes wrong decisions and ends up in jail or addicted to some substance.

We mourn for our own mistakes and regrets, for fallen heroes, for abused children, for children kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking, or for those caught in a natural or some other disaster.

There is “a time to weep,” as Ecclesiastes 3:4 NKJV tells us. But what did our opening verse say? “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” In all our mourning, the Lord blesses us with His comfort.

David knew the Lord’s comfort and we are blessed with David’s thoughts and writings in the book of Psalms. David wrote, “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (Ps. 119:50 NIV), “May Your unfailing love be my comfort” (Ps. 119:76 NIV), and “Let Your compassion come to me that I may live” (Ps. 119:77 NIV).

In His care for us, God sent Jesus “to comfort all who mourn” (Is. 61:2b NIV), “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Is. 61:3 NIV).

David wrote, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Ps. 147:3 NKJV)

Trust in those words.

It is God’s promise to you.

Those that mourn shall be comforted…with the Lord’s presence.

If mourning is a part of your life right now, I pray the Lord blesses you with His presence and His comfort.