Sometimes Rest Seems Impossible

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest."   (Matthew 11:28)

That's our September verse for the restaurant.

Sometimes with the restaurant rest seems impossible.
But when I go to Jesus, He does give me rest.

Thank you, Lord.

Day Thirteen - Gifts from God:
1.  a bit of coolness in the air
2.  Victor taking care of his mother
3.  a quiet day on the day of a doctor's appointment
4.  a hug from dear Mary Ann
5.  Andrew, Beth, and Baby stopping by and having a bite to eat
6.  Margaret driving with her big brother, Andrew
7.  Little Darlin' smiling at us
8.  Donald bringing an unexpected generous blessing
9.  napping on the sofa
10.  praying the verses on the restaurant kitchen walls out loud when I am beginning to panic (it helps!)

With gratitude,
Sally

What To Pay Attention To

The "Thought for the Day" from "The Upper Room" hits the nail on the head:

"Ultimately, our happiness depends on what we pay attention to."

Philippians 4:4-9 tells us what to pay attention to:
"Whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable --
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--
think about such things."

That's what we are doing here.

And it sure does make me happy.

Day Twelve - Gifts from God:
1.  one of Ben's soccer heroes got a hat trick yesterday - just like Ben
2.  Nancy Pat and friends came to the restaurant again
3.  Margaret got her Learner's Permit and drove home very capably (though excitedly!)
4.  seeing a delicate hummingbird come to the feeder that hangs from Mema's magnificent pecan tree
5.  Retha pulling up behind me and offering me a verse and her prayers and looking pretty in purple
6.  John Victor being patient
7.  Joseph sending Margaret a drawing and a letter in the mail for her birthday
8.  the laughingest going away party I've ever seen
9.  the "We Will Miss You" song
10.  friends having lunch together and talking and visiting and taking their time

With gratitude,
Sally

Good Instead of Bad

Isaiah 61:3

". . . and provide for those who grieve in Zion
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.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

No matter what, God desires to resurrect
and bring new life, abundant life.

As a wise man noted in the restaurant today:
"Just goes to show you how God brings good from the bad."

He does and He is and I am so thankful.

Day Eleven - Gifts from God:
1.  a skyful of soft, cottony clouds
2.  a 3-generation ladies' lunch
3.  holding precious 6-month old Allie while her sweet mother ate lunch
4.  Victor's hamburgers and french fries, especially those french fries
5.  serving Sarah and Speck
6.  two elegant ladies - a daughter treating her mother to a birthday lunch
7.  walking and talking with Vic
8.  a spectacular sunset with a cloud like a tree
9.  several of Victor's fall decorations selling today
10.  teamwork in action - and Ben scored three goals!

With gratitude,
Sally

He Will Do It!

"Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
and He will do it."
                             - Psalm 37:3-5

We are trusting You, Lord.

And You are doing it!

Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You!

Day Ten - Gifts from God:
1.  watching JV play hard on a pleasant Savannah evening
2.  visiting with good friend, Kim, after too long as our boys battled each other on the soccer field
3.  Daddy coming to the game and helping us celebrate Margaret
4.  Margaret's special relationship with her granddad, Joe
5.  the Lord providing, yet again
6.  staying up to finish "Three Weeks With My Brother", such a touching book by Nicholas Sparks
7.  the way our pastor Barry comes out of his office to say hello and really visit
8.  catching up with dear, wise Mary in the church office
9.  Mary's word to me about God leading in the desert with the cloud
10.  the cloud moving for us!

Bursting with gratitude,
Sally

A Pearl

My daughter, Margaret, turned fifteen today.

Margaret's name means "a pearl".

Margaret's name fits her perfectly.

She is beautiful and she is precious.

I have always been especially thankful for Margaret.

Her verse is:
"Blessed be the Lord,
who daily loadeth us with benefits,
even the God of our salvation."
(Psalm 68:19)

Thank you, Lord, for Margaret.

Day Nine - Gifts from God:
1.  the way she raised her little eyebrow right after she was born
2.  her kindness and compassion
3.  the way she looks at you with those big brown eyes
4.  her laugh
5.  the way she chooses to enjoy life
6.  her full-out amazing soccer ability
7.  the way she can belt out a song beautifully from somewhere deep inside her
8.  that she wasn't in her bed when her door fell in and the window broke
9.  that she laughed and took a picture of it
10.  that she brings out the best in us all

I love you Margaret!
Happy Birthday!

With gratitude,
Sally

The Way

From "The Upper Room" prayer workshop for Sept/Oct:

"In Christ, God shows us that even when it seems that evil has triumphed,
God has a way to bring renewed life."

Help us, Lord, not to give up, but to remember:
You have a way.
You are the Way,
the Truth,
the Life.

Day Eight - Gifts from God:
1.  umbrellas for the rain and the sun
2.  the breathing room of a Saturday
3.  Victor cleaning up the kitchen so I could sit a little longer on the porch
4.  staying up late to finish a good book
5.  remembering early inspiration
6.  my sister's voice on the answering machine
7.  catching up with a friend
8.  learning about art and alzheimer's
9.  the possibility of a solution
10.  new ideas

With gratitude,
Sally

Sitting with the Lord

My last post, "Lessons", was written on Thursday, but I didn't have computer access then
and we got home after midnight, so I posted it today.

I hope that still counts for consecutive days.

Now, here is today's post:

Yesterday I had a lot of time to think and to pray.
Time to think and to pray is a tremendous gift to me.
Sitting in that porch swing
out in front of the building that houses the education department
I felt like I was sitting in that swing with the Lord.
And He was quietly speaking those wonderful words:
"Be still and know.  Know that I am God, and I am here, and I love you."

You can sit with Him too.  And our dear Lord will tell you too.
I love you.
Perhaps you'll be able to find some time to think and to pray and to know.
Real soon.

Day Seven - Gifts from God:
1. a bright yellow sunflower on the utility pole
2.  our state capitol's stunning gold dome
3.  my faithful denim jacket
4.  a lady's ruby slipper shoes shining in the midst of conservative black
5.  the immense relief of a job well done
6.  Victor realizing he really wouldn't have changed a thing
7.  laughter to lighten an afternoon on the eighteenth floor
8.  supper with beautiful Sarah and lovable Ross at our favorite, "The Last Resort"
9.  climbing the stairs to Sarah's apartment and realizing how hard Ben and Margaret and Victor had worked to move her in
10.  crazy kitty

With gratitude,
Sally

Lessons

Lessons from Wednesday Night Bible Study (I Samuel 1):
* listen to hear a word from the Lord
* prayer is powerful
* give the gifts back to God
* sometimes our following God can be misunderstood
* release our concerns into God's care and trust Him

Day Six - Gifts from God:
1.  porch swings outside the Department of Education
2.  an encouraging scripture on peace texted by Joyce to Victor
3.  the kind parking attendant who allowed us to bring him back the $5.00 cash
4.  an ATM in the same building as Victor's interview
5.  a cafeteria in that same building with a salad bar and a Chik-fil-a
6.  Andrew's "good luck" text
7.  Sarah's "thinking of you" call
8.  a cleaned-out Suburban thanks to Margaret and Ben
9.  Willis picking up Ben from school
10.  Mrs. Wolfe calling to warn us about the weather

With gratitude,
Sally

Beware!

"The whole human race was created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

(from today's devotion in My Utmost for His Highest)

That means us.  

We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Isn't that wonderful?

That's why He works all things together for good - the terrific and the terrible -

it's for His glory.

When God is glorified, we are drawn to Him.

When God is glorified, we see Him for Who He Is.

God is Love.

When God is glorified, we know He is Love,  we know He loves us.

Then we enjoy Him now, in this moment, and forever.

So this is our purpose, the reason we were created:

to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The devotion ends with a warning:

"Beware lest you forget God's purpose for your life."

I needed to hear this warning today.

Because sometimes, often, I forget.

Day Five - Gifts from God:

1.  Jane leaving a message that the church she visited Sunday opened the service with the theme song from "Cheers"

2.  Being a part of a church family where everyone does know my name and I do belong

3.  So many friends staying after Bible study to hear Victor practice his presentation

4.  avocados and roma tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette dressing

5.  celebrating dear Kay's birthday with a table full of friends and family

6.  neighbors and friends who celebrate life together

7.  our encouraging, joyful pastor

8.  suddenly Benjamin is taller than I am

9.  Victor's race car cookies and ribbon

10.  Sarah helping Victor with his powerpoint presentation

With gratitude,

Sally

New Every Morning

Lord, Your mercies are new every morning.

Day Four - Gifts from God:
1.  family members of friends that two of our children were named for both came to the restaurant today
2.  a computer expert friend from church generously helping Victor with his presentation
3.  folks asking about Daddy
4.  the dogwood leaves just beginning to turn
5.  Margaret's first voice lesson
6.  our home phone works now - thanks to a new battery - so simple!
7.  a little bit of rain
8.  reading inspiring words on the computer
9.  a woman encouraging others and choosing joy even as she is painfully dying
10.  colorful sneakers

With gratitude,
Sally

To Live Again

Yesterday I asked the Lord to revive me.  Please.

"Revive" means:
1.  to come or bring back to life or consciousness; resuscitate
2.  to come or bring back to a healthy, vigorous, or flourishing condition after a decline
3.  to come or bring back into use or attention
4.  to become or make valid, effective, or operative again
5.  to come or bring to mind again
6.  to produce or exhibit again after an interval

and it comes from:
re-, again + vivere, to live

Don't you just love those meanings?

The great thing is this:  I asked Him to revive me and He already is!

Jesus said (in Matthew 21:22) "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Thank you, Lord.

Day Three - Gifts from God:
1.  the coffee grinder Mema gave me
2.  freshly ground coffee first thing in the morning
3.  a good, long hug from my husband
4.  JV's calmness
5.  recalling benefits while we walk
6.  money for groceries
7.  remembering to ask the Lord
8.  pretty butterflies all around
9.  sunlight on breeze-blown green leaves
10.  Monday morning

With gratitude,
Sally

You Will Revive Me

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
You will revive me."
                                   (Psalm 138:7)

Lord, I'm counting on it.

Day Two - Gifts from God:
1.  a computer
2.  good leftovers to share
3.  listening on the radio to our church service
4.  David doing Moments with the Children
5.  an empty laundry basket
6.  the feel of my Bible
7.  reading of someone else meditating on The Upper Room every morning
8.  God holding on to me when I am slipping
9.  cool air
10.  rereading a book that inspired me as a girl

Please revive me, dear Lord.

With gratitude,
Sallly

100 Consecutive Days

These one hundred days of thanksgiving will lead right up to Christmas,
the true day of giving.

I smile because I now know that giving thanks is a gift itself.

When I give thanks to God I receive the greatest gift of all -
the gift of abundant life in the present moment.

Of course, y'all know by now that we have to start over at Day One because of my Margaret.

She insists that these one hundred days must be consecutive.

I suppose I really don't want to miss another day of the gifts from God.

And, anyway, she just came downstairs and saw me writing here
and hugged me and said she was proud of me.  So, here we go again. . .

Day One - Gifts from God:
1.  pretty, dear, funny Margaret who believes in me
2.  a cool morning walk with the girls ( remember, Little Darlin' and Sweetie Pie)
3.  talking with the Lord and not minding if people think I'm talking to myself (or the girls)
4.  a phone call from the state board of education yesterday after we prayed
5.  "totally benign"!!!
6.  Victor sharing his Christmas verse with Robyn and praying with her on the phone
7.  the Upper Room on the day of Kailey's surgery focusing on "someone facing a sudden medical need"
8.  God's promise repeated:  "Do not be afraid, for I am with you."
9.  a slow Saturday morning with nothing on the schedule
10.  the butterflies and bumblebees are back

Thank you, God, that truly You are with us in the most intimate and ordinary and remarkable ways.

With gratitude,
Sally

Very Dear

I Thessalonians 2:8

"Having so fond an affection for you,
we were well-pleased to impart to you
not only the gospel
but also our lives,
because you had become very dear to us."

As I write here,
I hope to impart to you
the gospel - God's good news -
and my life - graced by God -
because you have become very dear to me
and God has given me so fond an affection for you.

God loves you dearly.
Remember that.
Realize that.

Gifts from God:
21.  September
22.  sauteed mushrooms and sweet onions
23.  giving bits of bacon to my girls (Little Darlin' and Sweetie Pie)
24.  a sweet boy, now a fine young man
25.  Victor's retirement check; so many years of meaningful work
26.  grace filled work for us (God's idea)
27.  angels and flowers for every table
28.  a daughter treating her mother to lunch and encouraging us so
29.  the release of Emily's book, Grace for the Good Girl
30.  finding a sweet note from JV on my secretary this morning

With gratitude,
Sally