Return to Wonder!

"Through Jesus, therefore,
let us continually offer to God
a sacrifice of praise."
(Hebrews 13:15a)

This verse started my devotion today.
And it is the subtitle of this blog:
"Entertaining Angels Everyday. . .
continually offering up a sacrifice of praise."

The praise is a sacrifice because
in the offering up
I turn my focus
away from self
to God.

I focus on what is good and right and honorable and true and lovely
in the midst of a broken, ugly, messy life and world.

I make a choice to think on the good, the gifts,
rather than the bad or the lack.

Instead of wandering in discouragement and discontent,
I decide to wonder in God.

This is, perhaps,
what Jesus means when He says that
we must become
like little children
in order to enter the kingdom of God:
we must return to wonder!

Dear God, thank You for these wonders of Your love:
49. the "chunk" of the ice maker working again
50. "Bodypump"
51. teacher appreciation gifts given
52. sweating
53. keeping going 'til the end
54. black-eyed peas and rice, collard greens and cornbread for supper
55. John Victor in Peach County safely almost home
56. tithing
57. reopening our savings account
58. bank ladies who love me anyway
59. packing up the Christmas decorations
60. Andrew picking up Joseph for "Open Mic Night"
61. paying the bills
62. reading the witness of a daily saint
63. little, lovely angel note from an old friend
64. finding the new address of a friend who has moved away

With gratitude,
Sally

Speak of All His Wonders

"Oh give thanks to the Lord,
call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him,
sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders."
(I Chronicles 16:8-9)

Speak of all His wonders.
What a wonderful command!
I prayed in my journal this morning
to listen,
to trust,
and to obey right away.
And, what do you know,
as I speak of all His wonders,
as I write wonders here
and list the wonders of His love,
as I proclaim God's praise,
I feel His pleasure!

Ever since last summer during my quiet days
at Green Bough House of Prayer
when I heard God calling me,
beckoning me,
to proclaim His praise,
and then when God confirmed this call,
this wonderful command,
during the delightful days
of the first session of the Academy of Spiritual Formation,
and continued calling,
kept confirming,
during the driven, desperate, delivering days of session two,
I have known this was God.

Could it be that this is what I was made for?
Could it be that this is where we all can find our reason for being,
our completion, wholeness, satisfaction?

When we proclaim God's praise, we experience God's pleasure.
When we speak of all His wonders, we are wonderfully satisfied.

If you hear God calling you today,
do not hesitate,
do not hold back,
go ahead and answer His call,
do what God is telling you to do.
You might find, as I am finding,
the Wonder of His Love.

Good God, thank You for these wonders of Your love:
33. waking out of a bad dream
34. funny parts of dreams (like hair on a bald man)
35. "creation reveals the "wondrous" beauty of God"
36. driving time
37. browsing in a bookstore
38. not buying a book
39. a picture being worth a thousand words (thanks, Suzanne)
40. making our own pizzas
41. waking up to a kitchen cleaned by a thoughtful son
42. well-behaved dogs
43. Sarah's interview invitation
44. lunch with Sarah - meeting halfway
45. helping Victor with his booth
46. email from Kathy about upcoming Academy session
47. little reminders of lessons learned
48. fresh pineapple

With gratitude,
Sally

Perpetual Wonder

From "My Utmost for His Highest" for January 2:
"Continually revise your attitude towards God
and see if it is a going out of everything,
trusting in God entirely.
It is this attitude that keeps you in
perpetual wonder-
you do not know what God is going to do next.
Each morning you wake
it is to be a "going out,"
building confidence in God. . .
God does not tell you what He is going to do;
He reveals to you Who He is."

How about that!
I declare 2013 to be my "Year of Wonder"
and the very next day
"perpetual wonder"
shows up in my devotions!
Oh, the wonders of His love!

Thank you, God, for these wonders of Your love:
17. early morning quiet time
18. Little Darlin in my lap
19. the dictionary
20. a concordance in my Bible
21. the internet being down
22. notecards from original watercolors
23. a text from John Victor saying they got there
24. the sound of rain outside
25. writing a thank you note
26. beginning a beautiful new journal
27. robin's egg blue
28. my new blue coat
29. shopping with my dear daughters
30. the swish and swing of skirts
31. my encouraging little cubbyhole
32. the mystery of sons

With gratitude,
Sally

2013: A Year of Wonder

"Behold,
I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?"
(Isaiah 43:19a)

In this new year, 2013,
may we be aware of the "something new" God is doing
and wonder at God's lovingkindness
for each of us!

Here, this year, my prayer is to proclaim God's praise
by naming, counting, listing,
the "wonders of His love" that abound everyday
and to thank God for each one.

With God's gracious help,
"I will give thanks to the Lord
with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonders.
I will be glad and exult in You;
I will sing praise to Your name,
O Most High."
(Psalm 9:1-2)

And so, Happy New Year!
May 2013 indeed be a year of wonder!

Thank you, God, for these wonders of your love:
1. sweet Margaret and "give me a hug"
2. Vic buying the beautiful Lennox redbird
3. bare, gray crape myrtle branches filled with flitting redbirds
4. an auction adventure with Vic
5. the concession lady serving the best black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread
6. taking care of Milly and Copeland
7. Victor watching one of my favorite movies with me on New Year's Eve
8. driving into the wonder of a winter sunset for over an hour on Sunday evening
9. a full, glowing moon coming up huge over Lyons
10. early morning coffee on the porch in the cold on New Year's Day
11. my amazing new Christmas coffee maker given by my amazing Sarah
12. leaving two nativities out to enjoy until Epiphany
13. candlelight, candlelight, candlelight
14. time to talk while we drive
15. holding hands
16. this place to record and remember

With gratitude,
Sally

My Year of Every Day Encouragement

2012 is indeed, for me, a year to rejoice.
Yes, devastation came quickly.
And I cursed it.

But God was with us and held us so close.
God loved us in days of desperation
and brought us, broken, to days of delight.


God gave me "Hope of Relief in God's Mercy":
"This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The Lord's lovingkindnesses
indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
'The Lord is my portion,'
says my soul,
'Therefore I have hope in Him.'"
(Lamentations 3:21-24)

Today, dear friend, I encourage you to REJOICE every day!
Let us REJOICE in God's great love!
Let us recall to mind (and record)
the Lord's lovingkindnesses and compassions!

Here are some of mine:
*a boxful of peaches from Victor
*and a basket of blueberries
*cool, clear morning air in June in Georgia
*a "technicolor day" (as Mama would say)
*Emilio the kitten, a gift offered and accepted
*walking and praying as the sun comes up
*dreaming of the little house
*Andrew and Beth meeting Joseph and me for a Retro lunch
*realizing how far I'd driven the Burb
*God calling me to a new thing

With gratitude,
Sally

Welcome Back!

The new year dawned hopeful.
Thoughts and thanks were recorded here.
Then someone highjacked our email.
Suddenly the wrong message was being sent out in our name all over the place.
We panicked and apologized.  Embarrassed.
We hope now we've made the necessary correction.

I think about God.
Does He ever feel hijacked because the wrong message is being sent out in His Name?
Does my message, as a Christian, ever embarrass Him?
Do my actions sometimes cause Him to have to apologize for me?
Might the goings on in my house sometimes betray the cross by my door?
Do I break the heart of the One who bore the shame of the cross for me
when I send out the wrong message in His Name and cause others to block Him from their hearts?

I confess my failures, Lord.
Please forgive me.
Help me to make the necessary corrections,
even if they take time and are complicated and
even if I have to ask someone to help me
and I feel foolish and inadequate.

"Be gracious to me, O God
according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of
Your compassion blot out
My transgressions."
(Psalm 51:1)

Thank You, Lord, for "The Joy Dare:  One Thousand Gifts in 2012":
January 19:
*a grace in the kitchen:  our fruit stand full of apples and bananas and oranges and grapefruit
*a grace in the weather:  a beautiful blue January sky on a cold clear day
*a grace that might never have been:  our "AC" children ("after chemotherapy"):
John Victor, Margaret, and Benjamin

With gratitude,
Sally

Always

"Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice!"
                           (Philippians 4:4)

No matter what the days of 2012 hold for us,
whether delight or devastation,
we can rejoice.
Always.

We can rejoice each day
because God is good
and God loves us
and His mercies are new every morning
and because
God is with us!
Every day.
Always.

Thank You, Lord, for:
1801.  a brand new year
1802.  realizing I have recorded this many gifts from the Lord
1803.  a children's sermon question that gave me a way to say what I needed to say
1804.  fear subsiding
1805.  Ann's encouragement for resolutions
1806.  worshiping with Christa and Nicole early on the first morning of the new year
1807.  remembering In the Image of the Maker
1808.  Blessings and Laura Story's smile that kept coming as she sang
1809.  walking into the new year with Little Darlin'
1810.  a new Upper Room and the stillness of the sanctuary

Rejoicing,
Sally