peace

Mary’s January Newsletter (Hope-Filled Living)

January 10, 2021 by Mary

Greetings Sweet Friend!

It is with love, light and hope that I greet you in this New Year! Congratulations to all for enduring 2020! Let’s move forward with great joy and anticipation for the year to come! I move forward into 2021 with a heart filled with hope and gratitude for the supernatural favor of God and HIS enduring promises. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures. 1 Chronicles 16:34

We have passed the threshold of a year that will go down in history for many reasons and we must now hold onto the hope that the very God who created the universe will bring us out of this darkness; a hope that He will lay these things to rest while carrying a torch to help us make our way into the light of His presence. I give thanks upon every remembrance of Him, for His love endures forever!

With that, the whisper of January is upon us. It is a time of stillness and wonder as I sit by the fireplace in my cozy 1883 bedroom. I enjoy quiet evenings curled up with a velvet comforter with the soft glow of the street lamps coming in through the old wavy glass. Many nights, I marvel and give quiet thanks for the beauty of tiny little snowflakes swirling and the sense of wonder that overtakes me as I watch them floating around the peaks of my house. There is something rich about being content and feeling safe during a time when the world is being shaken up. I find myself giving thanks continually for the comfort of my old house and the feeling of “home” within her walls. As I look out the window, I see in the midst of small bursts of flurries, other historic homes with frosty windows lit up and I know that my neighbors probably feel the same way. We all have so much to be thankful for.

I have started painting again and I am resisting the urge to critique my work; instead, I am giving myself permission to study, learn and practice a new skill that brings me joy. Keeping our thoughts at bay and our minds still while pursuing something we love can bring us great comfort and joy. I often think that as we create, it is a form of prayer. We express words that we cannot say through our creative pursuits. Psalm 46:10 says, “be still and know that I am God.” If you are struggling through the current situation in our world and at a loss for words to pray, perhaps it’s time to practice some form of creative pursuit and let your prayers come through it. I have taken great comfort during this pandemic in the pursuits of painting, sewing and writing. In case you missed it in the last newsletter, I wrote another workbook during 2020. It is filled with prayers for those days when you cannot find your own words. You can read them over and over again or recite them as a starting point. My offering to the world during a time of fear, grief and sorrow.

I have just started the soul stirring journey and heart preparation of writing another workbook in 2021 and possibly two. What creative pursuits will you begin this year? How can you take the love that comes from your heart and share it with the world to bring others joy, a sense of belonging or hope? We are all in this together and I look forward to walking alongside of you this year to see the bright and beautiful things you put out into the world. If we have learned anything during the past year, I’m sure you will agree with me that now more than ever, we carry with us a profound sense of gratitude for our loved ones and the people with whom we share our lives. We probably also share a deep gratitude and thankfulness for front line workers and every single person who has served us in some way during the pandemic. As I pull up to curbside each week for groceries and people bring my food out after shopping for me, I try to always be extra kind and thank them for their service and I give God thanks for them and say a prayer for that individual as I drive away. What a sacrifice and special gift that I could never have imagined, that someone would shop for me–hand pick my items from the shelf and bring them out to my car or deliver them to my house! Praise God.

As we move forward into 2021, may we be united in our hope for a better tomorrow. May that ignite our hearts to find gratitude and joy each day and to give thanks for everything bright and beautiful. May peace and joy be yours, sweet friend and may we all pursue things that bring peace, hope and joy in this New Year! Let’s choose to fill the world around us with hope! Let’s choose words of kindness! Let’s choose to serve others with our gifts, our hearts and our hands! Let’s choose to pray for our families, our neighbors and the world. Let’s choose those things that are true, honest, just, pure and lovely ( Philippians 4:8).

Love,

Mary

Doing Things Differently

April 15, 2018 by Mary

When you know that it is time for a change, how do you handle it? Do you jump right in or do you take time to mull it over and see how it settles with you? Do you pray and listen for God’s voice to answer you before you take a leap? Doing things differently than you have done them in the past is sometimes intimidating. We grow comfortable in the patterns of our daily lives and the way things are, even if they are not serving us or God anymore. Even if they are not serving God anymore…we hold on because we have settled into being lukewarm, but God says,

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

Perfect peace is found when we abandon the fear that keeps us holding onto things that are no longer working. Fear says, “I will hold you close and not let you go because if I let you go...” but perfect trust says, “I will let go and let God. I trust that He will supply my needs and care for me in this area of my life.” Peace is derived from trust. If we have no trust, we have no peace.

But what about those hard places? How do we trust in the hard places? When we feel afraid, we simply open our hands and pour out all of the fear. Palms to God. “I am yours. I empty myself to you, Lord.” Perfect peace says, “For my yoke is easy and the burden is light.” Matthew 11:30

Are you holding onto something that keeps you in a lukewarm place? I’ve been there, in the lukewarm. We either have to give up or give in and surrender. When we hold things so closely to us, it’s as if we think we can control things and yet, letting loose is so liberating. The God of mercy, hope and grace invites you to open your palms. He is all-knowing, all-powerful and has a hope and a future for you.

When we sense that it is time to do things differently, perhaps it is an opportunity for something new to be born–something beautiful that God put inside of you that He wants to bring to life. When we trust and lean will take us to new levels. Perhaps it is time to put to rest the things that have kept you lukewarm because a lukewarm spirit has no life or nourishment.

He died on the cross, nail scarred hands that we might trust. He bore our brokenness so that we might not carry it with us or hold it so tightly…because being afraid to do things differently and allowing our spirit to become lukewarm says that He is not in us. Christ did things differently. His life was different. His ministry was different. He was passionate and jumped right in. He was not lukewarm. Perfect peace is found when we abandon the fear that keeps us holding onto things that are no longer working.