Sitting by the fire on the anniversary of Steve’s death this month,
my daughter Sally and I remembered one of the ways God ministered to us in our
grief was through the story of the lamb, a story that runs throughout Scripture.

I have often told of how God led Sally to paint Aslan, just a month before Steve’s fatal diagnosis, for God was preparing to uphold us when the earth gave way.
As a little girl Sally had always loved Narnia, and the scene where the children first heard about Aslan, “the King of the whole wood,” came to mind:
“Is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not! I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Oooh,” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quiet safe?”
…”Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
Sally asked God to help her paint the paradox – a Lion that was not safe, but was good.
Here is Sally, fourteen years ago, telling that story.
I have told this story so many times, but that night we talked about the “back” story, and I heard things I did not know before — especially about what Sally learned when she was at Covenant Seminary concerning the relationship between faith and art, and how that impacted what happened when she painted Aslan.
Two years before Steve’s death, Sally had come home to heal after going through a severe trauma in Krakow, Poland. Sally expressed her pain at her easel, producing painting after painting of menacing darkness, painting the sorrow that had saturated her very being. As she painted she was lamenting to God, as the psalms model for us. In time, shafts of light began to filter into Sally’s paintings and she began to find strength to express her pain verbally. Not only had she experienced personal pain, but she was now seeing that pain was everywhere in the world.
Living in Krakow had made her acutely aware of the tremendous evil in the world. She visited the death camp of Auschwitz.
She often walked through the old Jewish quarter of Krakow which, though beautiful, felt “haunted,” holding the memory of Jews that had been herded there to await being transported to the death camps.
The poor lived there now, since all the Jews had been exterminated.
Sally had also walked down the street where her grandmother Brestin had lived as a little girl. Steve’s adoptive parents, a Jewish couple, had adopted Sally’s father, a blond blue-eyed Gentile baby. Sally remembered how her Jewish grandmother had told her that her immediate family got out of Krakow and had come to America before Hitler came to power, but all of the rest of her relatives had died in the death camps of World War II.
The age-old question of a good and loving God allowing such suffering plagued Sally. Sally made the decision to go to Covenant Seminary that next year. At Covenant, in addition to Bible courses, she continued her painting, and studied the mysterious relationship between faith and art. That would turn out to be pivotal not only in impacting her as an artist, but in helping her with the hard question of suffering. We see now, how clearly God’s hand was on our child, guiding her through this storm, as only One who made her, knew her, and understood her could. He is the Wonderful Counselor.
I’m eager to tell you what Sally learned at Covenant about the relationship between faith and art. It has caused me to ponder our mysterious God.
Sunday:
1.What stands out to you from the above — and why?
2. How has the Lord been “not safe” but “good” to you?
3. In what areas do you often create? (Think beyond the box!)
Monday-Friday: Faith and Art
(On a personal note, I’m headed to the Texas prisons where my son is going to film me teaching on He Calls You Beautiful. I’ll be there Friday through Tuesday and would love your prayers.)
At Covenant Theological Seminary, Sally was introduced to the works of Madeleine l’Engel, the Newberry Award winner of “A Wrinkle in Time.” Madeleine was a free spirit, who loved Jesus, and often thought outside the box, challenging us all to get out of our ruts. Here’s a short clip of Madeleine to give you a taste of her heart:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCdeMcAnlN0
4. What stands out to you from the clip, and why?
One text that impacted Sally profoundly was Madeleine l’Engle’s: Walking on Water: Poet Luci Shaw was my first editor and had a deep friendship with Madeleine. Luci told me that when she would edit Madeleine’s manuscripts they would often have heated theological discussions, but the Lord helped them come to agreement, and at the end Madeleine would say, “Now we will rise and sing the doxology!” And they would. When Luci wrote Madeleine’s obituary in Christianity Today, she told of one Advent, attending a service with Madeleine in a grand Anglican cathedral, when Madeleine suddenly stood up, and like an archangel, proclaimed: “FEAR NOT!”
Once I kept writing Madeleine to get permission to use stories Luci had told me for my book The Friendships of Women, and I didn’t hear back – until I got a Christmas card. I wouldn’t have even known who it was from, had it not been for the return address of Crosswicks. I opened it and in a flourishing script was simply:
Whatever, Darling!
I smiled. That was permission from Madeleine.
In Walking on Water, Madeleine talked about what she learned from Hawaiian Christians, who would sit before the Lord listening, to “breathe life” into their prayers. The non-Hawaiian Christians prayed so briefly they began to call them haoles, meaning “without breath.”
For Madeleine, meditation, listening to God, and breathing LIFE into her prayers before she wrote was vital. In the same way, we need to breathe life into our prayers before we create: a sermon, a poem, a letter to a friend, a painting, a dance, a home, a table setting, even a meal… We also need to be better listeners in general when we pray.
5. What stands out to you from the above and why?
6. Read Psalm 119:9-16
A. How quickens you from this passage?
B. Summarize the main point in a sentence.
C. How might this teaching help you to breathe breath into your prayers?
I’m not crazy about the pictures in this youtube version of Psalm 5, for pictures of Jesus are challenging. But I love the song. So listen, please:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y_R7DnMc2I
7. Read Psalm 5:1-3
A. How do you know the emotional state of the psalmist? (verses 1-2)
B. How do you sense that the psalmist is listening as well as talking? (verse 3)
C. From this passage, how might you “breathe breath into your prayers?”
8. Action Assignment:
Imagine God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit creating the world. They did it together. The Spirit was hovering over the face of the deep. Look at the pronouns: “Let us make man in our image.” In the same way, when we, who are in His image, create, we must do it together with our Triune God. What are you going to create today? A letter? A meal with meaningful conversation? A lesson plan for Sunday School? How could you do this with God, by breathing life into your prayers? Try it — and report — I am praying for God Sightings as you, be faith, ask God to guide you.
Madeleine is controversial. I learned that when I was criticized for quoting her in The Friendships of Women. I went to Luci about Madeleine’s theology and Luci defended her fiercely as a woman who loved the Lord deeply, but often, as is true with other right-brained artists, she jolted people with her words. Luci said that was good — we need to be jolted out of our ruts. We need to exercise “sanctified imaginations.” We hold to the Word and the truth, but we also have faith in the Spirit who guides us. You may find this next story from Walking on the Water to fit in that category — but we, through the painting of Aslan, have experienced its truth. I have also experienced it as a writer — not to the same degree — but sometimes I am amazed what appears on paper and know that it was not me, but the Spirit of the living God. I think, Did I write that? And I know I wasn’t alone.
Here is the story — something that happened to Madeleine when she writing “The Arm of the Starfish.”
Her protagonist, Adam, woke up one morning after being plunged into a deep sleep, and there, sitting in a chair looking at him was Joshua. Madeleine wrote: “Adam was very surprised to see Joshua. Madeleine was even more surprised to see Joshua. There had been no Joshua in my plot at all.” But now he was there, and Madeleine had to rewrite 150 pages to accommodate him. It turned out he was a Christ-figure, and indeed, the name Joshua means Jesus. Madeleine had not intended to put a Christ-figure in – but there he was. She could have refused him into the story, but she wanted to have faith in the creative process and the God to whom she had breathed her prayers. She knew Joshua was probably going to have to die, which indeed he did. One day Madeleine was reading aloud the story to her mother and her ten-year-old son was sitting on the bed listening. Madeleine read aloud of Joshua’s death and her son became very upset and agitated.
“Change it,” he demanded.
“I can’t. That’s what happened.”
“But you’re the writer. You can change it.”
“I can’t. I didn’t want Joshua to get shot either, but that’s what happened, I couldn’t stop it.”
“But you can. You’re the writer.”
But Madeleine couldn’t nor could she help her young son understand. Though today as an adult she says: “he understands that the artist cannot change the work at whim but can only listen, look, wait, and set down what is revealed.”
Every morning when Sally was painting Aslan, she sat before the Lord, asking for wisdom, asking Him to take over, to breathe life into the painting, and into her, as the artist. She endeavored to “breathe” life into her prayers through listening, meditating on Scripture, and waiting before Him.
Sally did not even know she painted a bound lamb into her work. We are convinced God did that. For two weeks later Steve would be diagnosed with terminal cancer.
9. What stands out to you from the above, and why?
Saturday: Report on your Action Assignment if you have not already!
205 comments
Whoa—I can tell I need to catch up! I tried to read through all but having trouble keeping up so, breath into it, Bing. Smile.
Welcome to all the new ones here! I am deeply blessed as always to see the freedom by which everyone shares their joys, sorrows and challenges. We serve a God who loves us through and through without reservation.
6. Read Psalm 119:9-16
A. How quickens you from this passage?
The importance of meditating in Scriptures to live a pure life.
B. Summarize the pain point in a sentence.
See answer to A?
C. How might this teaching help you to breathe breath into your prayers?
Incorporating Scriptures to my prayer. This is what I love about the Moms In Prayer group that I belonged to for many years.
Dee, praying for you as you teach at the Texas prison-that you will cry out to Him as you bless others through the sharing of your life and His truth.
Just popping on to say I’m laying low this week because it’s been a rough week. My mom has shingles and I am on my second week of my chemo cycle and have just been miserable for the past few days…very fatigued, I feel like I live in my bed, bone aches, and some nausea. Hopefully next week (my week off) I’ll perk up and re-join life a bit.
Hello , Mary E.
I will be praying for you as you endure your chemo treatment. I’m so sorry you are having to go through this.
Praying that the LORD would give you a deep sense of Peace and comfort as you rest in His nearness . And praying for your momma , too .
Mary e., so glad you popped by. I was wondering how you were doing. You’ve been quiet. Praying for you in the chemo misery and for you mom with her shingles.
Take care Mary…praying for healing.
I am hoping with you Mary, for a better things soon, I am so sorry for you and your mom ;/
I wish I could bring you some soup!
Oh — that is a rough week. Thanks for telling us so we can pray for you and your mom!
Mary, so glad you popped in—you’ve been on my heart a lot this past week & now I know why. Praying for you & your mom. Hugs & love to you too.
DEE, I want to add too that I will be praying for your prison ministry. I am also excited that you are doing videos for “He Calls You Beautiful”. I wish I had them now as I do the study with my women.
I have been praying for the ladies that you will be ministering, both now and though the videos in years to come, and for you for the HS to be preparing the way, I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Mary — Oh — that is a rough week. Thanks for telling us so we can pray for you and your mom!
I was thinking about taking flowers up to Deanna tomorrow afternoon. If you would like me to sign your name to a card just say so in the comments. If you want to send her a note of encouragement you can email me and I will print it out and deliver it.
Theferrells@bex.net
I would like to sign Cyndi! I didn’t know you were that close. I just sent her a card today. Thank you!
Cyndi–love that you are doing this, I will try to email you a note today!
* If anyone has her physical address, could you message me? thanks!
Lizzy, I believe if you go to the FB page, Nanci had shared it in an earlier update on Deanna.
me, too! Please add my name & I will try to send you an email when my brain kicks in today. So thoughtful of you, Cyndi. <3 Thanks.
I sent you an email Cyndi, I love that you are doing this!
I replied to you but it showed up at the bottom of the page….Please add my name to your flower card, Cyndi.
Cyndi, Please add my name to the card for Deanna as well. Tell her we are praying for her. And please update us here on how she is doing. Thanks for doing this.
mission accomplished!
Thank u for doing this cyndi. I was out of town so did not see this until now. Will send her a card.
9. What stands out to you from the above, and why?
I am with her son! You can’t change the paint on the canvas; it’s permanent. But, you just erase the words and viola, he’s gone…
I have a young dancer friend who calls herself a “prophetic” dancer; she basically asks God to breathe the dance into her when the music begins. It is improv and it is wonderfully beautiful. I do not understand her “take” AT ALL. I cannot do this. She dances in front of people this way! It’s crazy! No choreography! She has tried to “teach” this to me, and I have tried to “learn,” but I don’t think what I do is quite that “pretty;” not like her. It feels funny. We are both classically trained ballerinas. I need choreography, she does not. It’s strange and foreign to me to do what she does. I feel “fake” when I try her style.
The other thing I forgot to mention is that once she dances the piece, it’s gone forever, unless it is videoed, and that doesn’t happen all the time. I have never heard her say she would use the prophetic dance again. It seems a waste almost to me.
Laura,
As Cyndi said “we are all wired so uniquely”. Like the person who can dance freely without choreography I am totally amazed by people who can play the piano “by ear” without reading the music. It is a kind of giftedness that has a freedom I envy.
But it is your comment about your young friend dancing without choreography “that it seems almost waste” which made me think of something I read a few years ago. The writer observed that God is continually creating. One of those ways is in sunrise and sunset. No two sunrises or sunsets are ever the same. Conditions for them changes continually and as a result each is uniquely beautiful and will never be the same again. If you go deeper with the thought you realize on this sphere of earth sunrise and sunset is happening continually. When you see a really beautiful one it would almost seem a waste it won’t happen again but I find it draws me back in for more and it reveals the generous and lavish nature of God. I would dare say your sweet young friend doesn’t seek to repeat exactly what she did in dance each time but enjoys the new lead and where each new expression of praise takes her. But even in your choreography you don’t do the same piece over and over and over never changing either. It is always being shaped differently to go with different music and has it’s own form of creation taking place. One way is not necessarily better. God is pleased most with the heart we bring to what we do. Feeble attempts are received lovingly by God if He has the first place in our hearts. Like the good Father He is I’m betting God thinks you dance beautifully each time participating in the new moment.
Interesting perspective Bev
I love this! when i was younger i would “praise dance” all the time. I HATE choreography 🙂 my brain can not work as fast as my body and spirit! so funny how we are all wired so uniquely 🙂 thank you for this reminder! I think im going to put on some music and move/priase/worship to it today!
Oh I hope you danced today Cyndi! I would live foenusnall to get together tpndo just that (and more)! Maybe Dee needs to put together a retreat for us! How fun that would be 😬!!
i have wanted to do that for years 🙂 I did dance and it made me feel AWESOME thank you so much for the idea! mixed it in with my yoga stretches and planks and a lunges, it was fabulous!
Cyndi, very thoughtful of you….please sign my name.
7. Read Psalm 5:1-3
How do you know the emotional state of the psalmist? (verses 1-2)
He is distraught, desperate even. sighing, groaning, crying out.
B. How do you sense that the psalmist is listening as well as talking? (verse 3) He says he watches. The Amplified Bible has this for verse 3
“3 In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].”
C. From this passage, how might you “breathe breath into your prayers?”
First of all I can see that when I am a mess I should bring my sighing, groaning and crying out straight to the Lord. I can cry out to him whatever is going on in my heart and then inclining my thoughts toward Christ wait for him to speak to me, through his word, through this blog, he is pretty creative sometimes in how he gets through to me.
There is a Sandra McCracken song with these lyrics:
“To Thee I run now with great expectation
To honor You with trust like a child
My hopes and desires seek a new destination
and all that You ask Your grace will provide”
I love this and have incorporated it into my prayers. I want to hope and desire differently.
1. What stands out to you from the above – and why?
I did not know the story of Steve being adopted by a Jewish couple from Krakow….and how Sally walked those streets in the Jewish quarter as an adult. I can only imagine how ‘haunting’ it would feel, knowing that all those people who had lived there were murdered by the Nazis. And those that were killed were her ancestors. Oh my. I love how Sally “lamented” to the Lord through her art, through painting, before she even had words.
2. How has the Lord been “not safe” but “good” to you?
I can’t think of a “real life” day-to-day experience of this, but only when it comes to my salvation. God is good and holy and He is just, and He must punish sin, and He requires the death of the sinner. That’s “not safe” – He doesn’t look the other way when it comes to sin. But He is good in that He offers us His mercy and grace and forgiveness if we will take it.
3. In what areas do you often create?
I don’t think I’m naturally creative, but I could be when my children were little, with imagining and pretending with them, and I was always making up silly songs…I still do, but now I sing them to my cats! I don’t get creative with cooking, as I have to follow the recipe, and I am not a crafty-type of person, but I did do some tole painting before I was married. I suppose it takes some creativity to problem solve, and I have to do that a lot in my job. I try to be creative in staying in touch with my sons….I sent my son in Florida some Ohio apples and cinnamon candies so he can make my cinnamon baked apples, which he knows how to do. He said Mom, I can buy apples at the grocery store, but I said they’re not OHIO apples!
and OHIO apples are the very best 🙂 baking some today thanks to your inspiration 🙂 I love that you sent them to him. he may not communicate it now but deep down im sure it made him feel loved. I think the 20s are the hardest age! all the lines are so wiggly, one min. they want you to make their dr. appointments and the next they are to busy to bother with you!
I am trying to catch up! Welcome to all the new ladies & God bless you!! Mary E: lifting you up & your dear mom.
My action assignment will be today on my day off. I’m asking the Lord to breathe His breath into my cleaning up the house, that my husband will feel blessed by it. Also that He will breathe His breath into the time I will spend with my neighbor friend today. I’ve asked her over for tea & will have a cozy fire going. Praying that she will be open to doing a simple Bible study with me, once a week. If not, I will be a good listener & lover for the Lord & pray for her before she leaves. 🙂
Dee, praying that The Holy Spirit has gone before you, & will go with u & behind u as u minister to those hurting ladies in Texas!
Jenny, love your nurturing, caring spirit. Tea & a cozy fire…(tra-la-la) “these are a few of my favorite things”!! Your neighbor will be blessed!
6. Read Psalm 119:9-16
A. How quickens you from this passage?
My heart’s desire is for purity in my thoughts and ways V.9; to seek Him and not wander from his truths V.10; to know and be familiar with the whole of God’s Word so that I be wise to not sin V.11; to be taught from his Word V.12; to praise and declare his Word V.13; and to delight in his Word V.14; to focus my mind on his Word V.15; and to delight in memorizing and remembering his Word V.16.
My whole life can be changed by the power of God’s Word!
B. Summarize the main point in a sentence.
If we immerse ourselves in God’s Word we will live rightly and find delight for our lives because of it.
C. How might this teaching help you to breathe breath into your prayers?
By meditating on God’s Word and praying the Scriptures will bring life to my prayers. The Word of God is living because it is God breathed and it embodies Christ in every part of it. The Holy Spirit illumines it for us.
As we have considered letting God breathe life into our lives and our prayers the song “This is the air I breathe” has been going over and over in my mind and I find my self singing it so decided I should share it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SFYAH-Z3_po
7. Read Psalm 5:1-3
A. How do you know the emotional state of the psalmist? (verses 1-2)
He uses the word groaning to describe his pleas and praying.
He is calling out to God not quietly.
B. How do you sense that the psalmist is listening as well as talking? (verse 3)
He comes to God with a sacrifice and watches (waits) for God.
C. From this passage, how might you “breathe breath into your prayers?”
First by humbly acknowledging Who I am praying to and then to wait and listen seeking to be led by the Holy Spirit.
9. What stands out to you from the above, and why?
The theme of believing that God is present combined with the pictures. I know in my head God is near, but I don’t really live and walk in that truth moment by moment. I am praying for him to help my unbelief this morning. I want to walk in closer communion with him. Mostly I hope to love people better. I thought about Tim Keller asking ‘how would my life be different if I really believed this”.
Yesterday my action assignment involved getting together for lunch with a dear friend and prayer partner of many years. She suffers from chronic pain and our times together are limited. But she has a deep heart for God and walks closely with Him in prayer. She listens and hears his voice well in her spirit. We were able to have several hours together in a quiet unhindered setting and just share what has been happening in our lives and the lives of ours children and grandchildren. In our time of prayer together there was no checklist but we let the Holy Spirit lead as we brought requests to Him. Our prayers were conversational and unhurried waiting on God. As I prayed for a grandchild who is being very difficult my sweet friend took up my prayer and articulated the need before God beautifully asking God to work in a specific way. God breathed breath into her prayer and I was deeply blessed and encouraged.
I’m wondering if anyone else sees the woman with her hand raised in worship on the upper right corner of the aslan picture?!?!?! am i crazy????
I see it! Out of his right eye?
Actually it’s his left eye…right side of painting if looking at it (whoops).
Yay!!!
5. we need to be better listeners. we need to be quiet….deep down quiet…..to hear HIM, he let HIM teach us the art of creation. HE breathed, spoke and created the more of HIM that lives inside of us the more we will become like our DADDY and create. I know I struggle with believing that being “artistic” is not a prerequisite for creating. Im SO NOT artistic! Im very practical and organized and literally can not draw a stick figure! BUT I do love to “create” an environment, a meal, a conversation, a safe place, and words on a page (well screen) that make people feel loved and valued but also challenge them to love God, themselves and others well. and if i can make them laugh in the process …..even better!
my action this week was to put up the Christmas tree with all the lights in order to create a cheerful, peaceful environment in our home, to make healthy meals, to take a walk and talk to HIM about what HE wants me to do with my time.
I will meditate on John 1:3 Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
Love how you use your gifts to make your home a place of cheer and peace!
6. It is always a joy to hang out with Jesus.
7. I think it’s really important to ask questions of Jesus when we don’t understand and to wait expectantly for the answer. In a way that keeps our Hearts open to what he is saying rather than what we want him to say.
Oh I needed to hear that today!
“Look at the pronouns: “Let us make man in our image.” In the same way, when we, who are in His image, create, we must do it together with our Triune God. What are you going to create today? A letter? A meal with meaningful conversation? A lesson plan for Sunday School? How could you do this with God, by breathing life into your prayers? Try it — and report — I am praying for God Sightings as you, be faith, ask God to guide you.”
Thank you, dear Dee!
God bless and guide you in the same way at the Texas Prison. I’ll be praying! ❤️️🙏🏻 Deus te abençoe!
Sweet Polly — so fun to see you here!
9. We can’t go to HIM with our agenda. We have to be open to HIS agenda. What looks and feels right is often not what HE wants. Too often, I’m afraid, I tell HIM how things should be and wait for HIM to make them so. As I get older I’m trying very hard to listen BEFORE I decide what path to take.
3) Hands down, I love to create with words most. I love words. Give me a couple of hours & I can fill them up with my love of words, whether journaling, writing an essay, writing silly poems or stories for the grandkids, emailing, you name it. I am a little too obsessive with words & have to discipline myself in order to get stuff done & carry on with day-to-day life! Nothing is too wordy or too lengthy for me, b/c I love words. Same goes with books. And I have no idea what I would do w/o The Word!
In the past few years, now that I have more time to do this, I’ve also discovered a surprising ‘crafty’ thing that I love to do…I’m not generally a crafty-kind of person. I started ripping out pages in magazines/catalogs, any ads or pictures that jumped out @ me. I keep them in a file & pull one to make a card for birthdays, special occasions. I can go a little overboard in Michael’s, staring @ the vast assortment of beautiful, glittering, patterned paper & cardstock. I also get beaded trim, stickers, just anything that shouts “yes!” to that creative spirit inside me. And what fun it is to look at the finished product! Waaay more fun than staring like a zombie at the endless aisles of cards, & finally deciding on one that ‘will do’. I don’t know who has more fun in the end, me or the recipient…but I’m pretty sure it’s me.
Wendy j!!! I love words, too and to play with them. I used to sit down and come up with silly poems as well and that has gone on the wayside because of my busy schedule. Part of it too is English is not my first language so I get insecure at times if I am saying it right or using the right words!! Bur I tell myself-who cares? I am having fun. LOL So, your enthusiasm here has rubbed on me. Yes, the fun is more for me-I rad and totally get it!
Bing, made me feel very happy that you love words too! (btw, how did you get the nickname Bing??) Today I’m trying something new (maybe I’m being creative w/o even knowing it??)–and not as the assignment either–but, made meatballs from no particular recipe. I think that’s a big no-no with company, fingers crossed. I can see them baking in the oven & they look just fine, but you never know. If they bomb, well, at least one in the party will be happy–Angus–more for him!
Wendy j You and I are so kindred- I do the same thing with recipes! I tweak here and tweak there here a tweak and there a tweak everywhere a tweak, tweak! Lol we need to compare notes. Bing is a common nickname for oldest girls in the Philippines. U have to add the real name so we know who is being referred to as “Bing Ernema”.
Bing, I wanted to reply to your ‘kindred comment’ but no “reply” to click on there, so will do it here. You are sweet. “tweak tweak here…everywhere tweak tweak”–your creativity showing through! xo
Wendy good for you! I Love that u are so creative with words & make your own cards. I’ve always thought hand made things are so much more meaningful!!
Well, I had my neighbor friend over yesterday & she has agreed to do a Luke/Acts Bible study with me at a slow pace, every thurs afternoon. She might be a challenge to keep on track, but I’m praying that the Lord will draw her & minister to her hurting soul. Thank You Lord for breathing Your breath into this…for Your glory!
That is so kind of you , Jenny , every one needs encouragement
PS Jenny is my favorite name , I named my daughter, Jennifer, so I could call her Jenny . Unfortunately she likes to go by Jen !
Haha Sue, that is funny cause my name is Jennifer; I mainly go by Jenny, but all my close family call me Jen! All 3 are ok with me 🙂
Action assignment….I don’t think of myself as creative but I have my own little business selling vintage items. I sell furniture and home decor type items. Vintage items are rarely in ready to sell condition so I do a lot of repair and repurposing and I always looked at that part of my job as a burden. A couple of years ago I started to pray and ask for God’s help when I would work on a piece . He is so much more creative than I am ! Where I was frustrated before this has really helped me as I ask for His inspiration on a project piece. I’m continually amazed how He helps in the day to day of our lives as we become more aware of Him . He is so Good to us and loves when we ask for His help .
Sue — that certainly sounds creative to me! What a great testimony.
Thank you Dee ! I’m praying for you. Looking forward to hearing of all the ways that you saw Him Be Mighty .
Sue-I love people who can do vintage items. So sweet for you to share that creativity! Bing
Thank you Ernema ! It is a fun job and my husband loves to help me when I set up at a show !
I’m headed into prison all day and really need prayer. Bad dreams last night. Spiritual warfare. Very hot here. Enemy does not want these women to know how deeply they are loved.
Praying & will continue to do so all weekend Dee. Hoping it cools off in more ways than one there. “Enemy does not want these women to know how deeply they are loved.” There & everywhere.
I’m praying that you will stay super naturally cool and that the women will be able to pay attention even though the heat is miserable and that the equipment will work correctly. Maybe it’s time to break out the frozen water bottle 😉
Dear Dee, we will be lifting you up all weekend! May the Holy Spirit descend upon those dear women & flood you all with the power & nearness of His Presence. May you be anointed with His words & Peace…& may all the tech details fall into place. You are covered with the blood of Jesus & greater is He Who is in you that he who is in this world. Amen!!!
9. What stands out to you from the above, and why?
When Madeline said she can’t change the plot to include the death of Joshua. And the bound lamb in Sally’s painting.
There is a Sovereign God who superintends the affairs of man, is good therefore we can trust that what He does that pleases Himself is for our good Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” And that the Lord establishes our steps in the midst of our plans Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Dee, praying that God would establish your steps as you minister to these women. And I pray that God will cool off the weather for you all and even if it stays hot and in the midst of sweltering heat, His work will be mighty and the Spirit will fully equip you as well as your son as he videotapes. Lord. your name be honored and glorified!
Mary E. How are you doing after your rough week….& how is your mom? We miss hearing from you but know that you are with us in spirit. Lord please strengthen, comfort & encourage your precious daughter & her mom!
Hi, Jenny and any of you new bloggers! Did you know that we have a private Facebook page for sharing prayer requests and more personal stuff? Lizzy just posted on it that there is good news from Mary E! Her tumor markers are way down from her latest tests and, though she is still achy, she thinks it is not from the cancer progressing. If you would like to be part of the FB group, please post your email address here and I will add you.
Thank you ! Mine is srrowley @aol.com
Oh , Dee ! The enemy cannot stand against Christ’s Victory
praying for each of those dear girls who’ve lost their way . For redemption and restoration. Trusting Jesus to pursue them just as He has pursued each one of us . Praying for you as you put on His armor and let His great Love pour out. I see in His Word “ pour “ and overflow so many times . Praying that the Spirit is so tangible
thank you , Father
Report on your Action Assignment if you have not already!
I am preparing a brief Bible Study on the Samaritan woman for a Day of Prayer group for this coming Monday. I am taking a completely different approach than was suggested in the guide that comes with the Day of Prayer packet. I am incorporating some material from earlier lessons from Dee and Tim Keller, given a few years ago on this blog. I have ideas but it just hasn’t “come together” yet. I am trying to be open to the Lord’s breath on this and would appreciate your prayers. I love the Maranatha song on Psalm 5.
Hi Diane
will be praying that the Spirit lead you as you trust in Him . I love that story where Jesus reveals Himself to her , I know that He wants us each to have that Aha ! Moment
Action assignment: asking God for a creative way to begin our Sunday school material on Leviticus. I printed a picture of the tabernacle and found a parallel illustration of the steps of worship when we come to the Lord. Imagining the process of the goriness of preparing the burnt offering and seeing Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. I thought we will create the tabernacle on a table and go through Leviticus and add on to our table as we move from one chapter to another! Lord, breath life into this creative way of understanding Leviticus and the fulfillment of it in Christ.