“Some gave all” came to mind as a friend shared about his flight from Florida to New York. They were delayed at takeoff, and once they landed and pulled up to the terminal gate, the flight attendant announced they had carried a fallen soldier home. The plane grew quiet, and there was total silence in the terminal despite the 100 people that gathered by the windows to witness the casket of the fallen soldier being brought home. My friend’s first thought was, “Suddenly what matters most hits you.” Continue reading “SOME GAVE ALL”
INTERCESSION
The past four months I have witnessed the beauty and power of intercession or intercessory prayer. In mid-January, my daughter embarked on joining the military in order to play in the military band. God has gifted her with musical talent that was evident when she was in fourth grade and played in her school’s band for the musical Beauty and the Beast. Her specialty is the saxophone, and she, along with some help from my husband, had to transpose all the music for her to play it on the saxophone.
She graduated college during COVID with a music performance degree because playing music brings her happiness. The military seemed like the way she could best pursue her passion and gift. What a blessing it will be to do what she loves as a career. God’s grace helped me experience great peace as she embarked on this path in life, knowing it is what she needs to do.
Continue reading “INTERCESSION”
COMING TO YOUR HOUSE
I recently experienced a beautiful, sacred event that prompted me to think about the following Scripture passage.
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. Continue reading “COMING TO YOUR HOUSE”
GRACE
I ran across this quote that I feel is a great truth to reflect upon. I believe it applies to both Jesus and our own lives.
First, let’s define grace using two Scriptures.
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. –Romans 3:22-24 (NLT) Continue reading “GRACE”
YOU NEVER KNOW
It has been an honor that three out of four of my books have been nominated for the Henri Award in Christian Literature the last three years. Self-publishing the books has been a grand adventure with God orchestrating the meeting of my publisher from Texas back in 2019 at a talk she was giving in New York State. I remember that March 2020 day when she told me, “I feel the Lord wants me to work with you.” Continue reading “YOU NEVER KNOW”
SACRED ENCOUNTERS
I am in awe of the ways that God reveals His presence and love to us all when we look with the eyes of our hearts, our spiritual eyes. He meets us in the simple, ordinary parts of life, turning them into sacred encounters. For me, Easter is the most beautiful time of year because we celebrate the greatest event in all of history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the central tenet of our faith. We celebrate the victory of the cross and its assurance of eternal life. The different celebrations from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday are so rich and powerful for me personally. Continue reading “SACRED ENCOUNTERS”
HELP ME SEE CLEARLY
There’s a first time for everything, and sometimes we hope it’s the only time, right? It was a small thing, but it provided me food for thought. My traveling buddy and I were meeting up so that we took only one car to a Christian concert a few hours from home. I tried to gather all my belongings in one trip on what was a sunny day as I went to her car. About halfway into the trip I said, “Oh, no. I’m sure I forgot my regular glasses,” as I was donning my sunglasses. Sure enough, I looked through my bag to no avail of finding my regular glasses. Continue reading “HELP ME SEE CLEARLY”
NO ONE WALKS ALONE
Recently witnessing a military basic training graduation ceremony for the first time thanks to my daughter’s new adventure, something struck me as applicable to our own civilian lives. As they recited the Soldier’s Creed, two tenets of it struck me as they also related to some stories my daughter shared:
It warmed my heart to learn of a few special people that God placed in my daughter’s path for her to experience the truth of those tenets. The soldiers in training are given two pairs of boots. One woman opted to keep only one pair of boots for herself and gave the other pair to my daughter since my daughter’s boots were too small for her feet. She had open wounds on her heels because of it and could barely walk. This soldier in training was exhibiting working as a team member, helping someone in need. What a beautiful gesture to help my daughter make it through. Continue reading “NO ONE WALKS ALONE”
A TRIBUTE
As I have often shared, one of the greatest gifts God has graced me with is the people I have come to know and love because of this website of ten years, and even more so through the orchestration of four books to date. The spiritual family that walks with me provides my life with encouragement and inspiration to live faithfully as we walk each other home to eternity.
My heart is still a little heavy since learning of a fourth person who I came to know more because of this ministry is now in heaven with Jesus. It was quite a shock, as I had no idea—we lived almost three hours from each other.
God, in His infinite orchestration, allowed me to be present at a gathering this week where one of her close friends was too. She recognized me and shared that our mutual friend had a totally unexpected issue on Christmas Eve that resulted in her death on December 29th. I ran across this quote that seems doubly appropriate to share.
I interpret this quote as encouragement to make every day Christmas by the way we share even the simple kindnesses and joys to brighten people’s days. We share the love of God in us with each other—and it definitely works both ways. It reminds me of the relationship we had.
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. –Proverbs 10:7 (ESV)
Then I heard a voice from the heavenly realm, saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead—the ones dying in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Holy Spirit, “they will rest from their trouble, for their deeds will live on!” –Revelation 14:13 (TPT)
Isn’t it always difficult when we lose people in our lives, even though we know they are in a better place? Scripture encourages us to keep their memory alive—that it is a blessing to recount the treasured memories that we have. It is comforting to know that the goodness of their lives continues to live on. As my pastor says, “Gratitude is the antidote to grief.” So with a heart of gratitude for knowing my friend, to remember how she blessed me with God’s love, and to share some of her good deeds, I write from my heart.
How I continue to marvel at God’s orchestrations. I remain forever grateful for attending my first weekend retreat back in July 2015 at a lakefront center on Canandaigua Lake, where I experienced peace and joy. It was sacred ground for me and became my home away from home. I had just started writing weekly on my website in September 2014.
The beautiful sky at the Notre Dame Retreat House, Canandaigua Lake, NY
I had the privilege of helping in the kitchen for years at other retreat weekends with a certain group there. This particular lady helped with the registration. We did not interact much in the beginning years, but in 2019 she signed up to receive my weekly website reflections. We bumped into each other a few years later when she shared she was enjoying my first book that was published in 2020. It encouraged me when she said she was growing in her faith because of reading my works—that they were easy to understand and relate to.
Every now and then she would email me to let me know when a certain reflection touched her even more, and she even sent me a beautiful email with the subject line of “Here’s a heart for you.” It had a few pictures of swans that made a heart shape—by then she had read my second book, remembering how God sends me reminders of His love for me with seeing heart-shaped items.
One time she emailed me to say that I wrote a reflection (feel free to read it by clicking the blue hyperlink after finishing here) on her favorite song, “Angels Among Us,” by Alabama. The song will always make me think of her and how she blessed my life—being an angel in my life.
In early 2024 she emailed me to say, “Just finished your latest book (God’s Compassion Illuminated). I got so much out of it. I really enjoy your writing.” After publishing my fourth book in May of 2024, God inspired me to surprise her and mail her a copy of God’s Glory Manifested. She was so kind and sent me a thank-you note that I will always treasure. I never got to ask her if she did this intentionally, but I noticed right away how she put a rainbow on the front of it. To me, it symbolized my third book that had a rainbow on it, and inside the note, she drew a heart, which to me, represented my second book about God’s love. Her message encouraged my spirit.
Only God could orchestrate that we would unexpectedly run into each other on September 20, 2024, at the retreat center for the final time. We embraced each other with a few huge hugs since it had been so long since we had seen each other. I was there for a meeting and then stayed for the free senior luncheon (they were so gracious to let me, “at 23 years old,” stay). We ate together, enjoying each other’s company. How blessed I am that I was prompted to get a picture with her and my latest book. It is the one and only picture we took. I love knowing she is now at home enjoying God’s Glory Manifested at its finest! Only God!
When I shared with a friend, he reminded me to be grateful for the blessing of helping her grow in her faith as she journeyed home to the Lord. That is the positive that I will try to focus on, as I will miss hearing from her and seeing her on this earth.
Three lessons that I learned from my friendship with this lady:
*There is beauty in letting others know how they impact our lives.
*A short email, text, or snail mail note is priceless.
*See the beauty of people’s hearts—the God in them.
Be encouraged this week to…
… make every day Christmas Day.
… be loved by God through others.
… offer even the strangers a smile or friendly greeting.
… walk hand-in-hand with others.
… share God’s love with all.
… keep the memories alive of those who are in eternity.
… enjoy the present moment with others—you never know when it will be the last.
… look for opportunities to help others grow in their faith.
REFLECTION:
Whose memory do you keep alive?
How can you let God love others through you, making it Christmas for someone?
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. –Psalm 116:15 (NIV)
NOTE: I will be taking a few weeks off for special family time. Stop by anytime to read a reflection or two!
HIGH-FIVE
When is the last time you did a high-five to yourself? I hope you are not thinking Christine, have you lost your mind? Rest assured I have not, and I hope you will agree after reading further.
To high-five myself was something I heard in passing at a retreat. There was not really an explanation given other than saying to do it in front of a mirror. So truth be told, I tried it for the first time a few days later. Guess what happened? I ended up smiling at what I saw in the mirror, which surprised me. Continue reading “HIGH-FIVE”