By Lilly Lewin
Sunflowers are my favorite flowers! I love tulips too, but there is something about the yellow brightness of a sunflower that always makes me smile. I lived in Northern California for four years, and there the freshness of the sunflowers amazed me. They were freshly cut at the farmer’s market and so unlike the kind I’d experienced in Ohio where they’d been picked, packed, and trucked cross country. I now paint them and have them scattered throughout my house. This week, I need the newness of a farmer’s market, northern California sunflower. The continued abuse of children and families on our southern border, the lack of compassion from our government ready to deport more people, the threats of war with Iran…all are despicable and make me depressed.
I need to be reminded that God is in control and Jesus invites me daily to trust that His love can heal and conquer the hatred and division around us. I want to be like the Sunflower and face Jesus and reflect his light! I don’t want to live in fear, or despair or bitterness because I cannot fix things. What about you? Are you in need of the Sunflower today? This reminded me of a prayer station I created a few years ago inspired by my friend Martha Vetter. God spoke to her through the many sunflowers, both living and dried up and dying, that she saw along the Way as she walked on pilgrimage on the Camino di Santiago.
Maybe you need to be a renewed by the Sunflower and the Son today.
Find a photo of a sunflower or go out and buy some to brighten your day.
Find some sunflower oil, or use some olive oil and allow Jesus to anoint you with His LOVE!
Create your own sunflowers in paint, crayons or even clay!
Give some some flowers to someone you know needs cheering up!
Here’s the Prayer Station:
Consider the Sunflower
Anoint yourself with Oil
God is choosing you! Creating you daily, just like the flowers . Consider the Sunflower!
REMEMBER: God, through Samuel, anointed David when he was only a shepherd boy. David had not even been invited to the gathering, he was out taking care of the sheep.
Yet God knew David, and God had already called David for God’s own. God had big plans for David and God has big plans for YOU!
“God spoke to me using the image of sunflowers. He told me “Stand tall like the sunflower. Be beautiful, bold and bright like the sunflower. Remember that the face of the sunflower always looks towards the sun. The oil from the seeds of the sunflower is a symbol to you of my anointing. And even when the seeds begin to die, remember that the birds of the air are nourished by these seeds.
It is THEN, during the dying process, that the seeds are able to provide life, not death.”
Martha Vetter while on on pilgrimage Cammino di Santiago di Compostela
Anoint yourself with sunflower oil
Picture Jesus touching you with his great love.
Allow God to hold you.
Allow God to heal the broken places of the week, the month, or even those places of loss and hurt of the last year.
Picture God anointing you for love, ministry & God’s service.
Allow God to call you again! Allow God anoint you for new things, new ministry, new places, new people. Allow the beauty of the sunflower to bring you joy, healing and hope!
Consider the Sunflower and bask in the Son and the Sun today, even if it’s just in a photograph!
this is an older post that i needed again this week!
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
By Sue Duby —
“So what are you doing now?”… hmmm…letting it unfold. “So what’s the plan?” Hmmm…waiting on Him and paying attention. “So what does it feel like? Look like?” Hmm. . . that’s one to ponder further!
2 months ago, my husband and I crossed the line into the big “R” season… retirement. After 30 years in full time missions, we find ourselves poised, ready, wondering and adjusting our life lenses. A bit clueless how to walk forward, yet grabbing hold of hope that “R” stands for repurposing, revisioning, re-energizing and redirecting.
We grieved concluding a long season of wonder with Mercy Ships and Hope Force International. Sailing into Africa for the first time with the overwhelming sights, smells and sounds, only to leave our hearts behind with it’s people. Working as family with multiple nations and denominations and knowing Jesus would smile. Discovering pastoral hearts in caring for staff and crew. Standing speechless surveying a tornado ravaged neighborhood and realizing “just listening” to survivors powerfully speaks love. Still, God’s trail of indicators pointed to one truth…”It’s time to close the chapter”.
As in any big life moment. . . high school graduation, first job, a wedding, first child… one’s imagination scripts multiple scenarios. Most never unfold and the new reality brings just that… the NEW! And new requires reading life differently.
In our fresh journey, we’ve already discovered some foundational precepts to guide us along the way. In a great sense, this life change has almost forced us to read life differently, and though a sometimes-bumpy process, we wouldn’t trade the “old” for the richness unfolding. So far, these are some non-negotiables that are becoming signpost reminders along the way:
Be honest. I’m daily trying to put words to my feelings in this adventure. Without that exercise, I find I squirm through my days with confused irritation. For me, entering this new season is like
– Putting on a brand new outfit with fresh style, itchy fabric and a funny fit
– Sneaking out of school in the middle of the day to camp at a favorite coffee shop… sipping away with a vague fog of guilt
– Hiking on a twisting path, noticing beauty along the way, but struggling to see around the corner
Remember. Chuck and I now have a weekly coffee date to reflect. Flipping through years of “Duby Dateline” newsletters, we’re smiling and sighing together at the incredible adventures we’ve shared. Lessons, passions and principles to grab, record and set the next course. Fresh understanding of how God made us, what He’s packed inside and what “lights our fires”.
Pay attention. It’s almost as if God leaves tiny clues, whispers bits of vision, deposits words in my mind and people in my path… if I am paying attention each day. Knowing I’m often distracted, He is faithful and gentle to repeat the nudges!
After moaning to Chuck one morning about my empty calendar, I realized the previous week had filled with multiple phone calls, coffee dates and emails with younger and older friends. I turned to him and said, “Hmm, I think it might have something to do with women”. He just smiled.
Be bold. God nudges, but I still must grab hold of courage and take steps. With a brain bent on equation solving and puzzles, I’ve strangely felt words ready to bubble forth. My calendar now boasts a Tuesday date with my laptop, “just to write”. No agenda, no goal, no serious editing. Just write. I love crafts and flowers. Discovering a free online lesson in water color roses , I ran to buy supplies, tucked a table in the corner and voila…a mini art studio! I’m not sure what will “stick” for the long haul, but it feels delightful (and let’s be honest…. scary too) to try the new.
Allow life to be different. Don’t hold too tightly to the old form. Dare to dream. Dare to try. Listen to the whispers. Trust He will show you what He sees and in that, His steps will unfold.
By Rodney Marsh —
Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today….. I tell you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing? (Jesus) …. Don’t worry about anything but pray about everything. (St Paul)
I work at a school and it is exam time! A season of increased anxiety. Worry time, usually. Exams and tests are designed to allow teachers to collect evidence of achievement and make “on-balance judgements” of a student’s level of achievement – “below, at or above the standard”. But they cause stress.
Exams make students vulnerable because they submit themselves to others’ judgements to decide whether we are “below, at or above the standard”. Wow! No wonder students feel anxious. Fear, stress and worry are natural responses to being judged as ‘adequate ‘or ‘inadequate’ or ‘more than adequate’. The result: pride and joy if students reach or exceed their own, or others’ expectations; or distress, feelings of inferiority when students fall short of their own or others’ expectations.
First, Jesus’ advice is don’t worry about the future. Worry is wasted emotion. Worry cannot change a future outcome. Jesus’ advice, “Don’t worry about tomorrow”. Corrie ten Boom elaborates what Jesus said, “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength – carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” So, I tell my students, in exam week, don’t waste your energy on worry. Your mental energy is needed for other tasks.
Second, trust in your own value. Then you won’t worry. Jesus told his listeners “Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear” or housing, work, health, a job, the future, the flu, Trump….. or exams. Why not? These things very real and relevant concerns. Jesus answer: You are loved, cared for, valued INDEPENDENT of the value judgements of success/failure, wealth/poverty, approval/disapproval, ability/disability fears/dreams etc. You are loved, valued, accepted, no matter what. Ultimately, Jesus was referring to trusting God’s love, but we all need the physical and emotional support and acceptance that comes from loving friends and family. When we have that we don’t need to worry.
Third, love and prayer are the best antidotes to anxiety, says St Paul. Not prayers like “HELP! I haven’t prepared at all for this judgement. Rescue me. NOW!” God answers such prayers by allowing the natural consequences of our action/inaction to ensue. However, when we understand prayer as entering into the presence of God and allowing ourselves to experience the self-acceptance that love brings, then worries fade. Our worries (fear of future failure, shame or catastrophe) will always fade when we accept we are OK as we are, where we are.
Both Paul and Jesus use a word for “worry” that describes distraction, fragmentation and disintegration. When we worry too much, we, literally, “fall apart”. Love and prayer are the ways we can protect the centre and be put back together in a season of worry. Only individuals can pray (for prayer is internal and a matter of the heart) but the context of love and practical concern for a friend or family member under pressure, can support the worrier to not fall apart in a ‘season of worry’. Perhaps it is no accident that the word for ‘worry’ that both Jesus and Paul used can also be used mean ‘to scatter, distribute’. With this meaning the word for ‘worry’ is also used to describe showing concern, compassion and care for others. So, to turn our worries into concern for others going through a similar trail (it’s called ‘loving your neighbour’), is the partner of prayer in helping the worry factor fade in our own and others’ lives.
What are some ways you are reading life differently this season without worry? An anti-morbid rumination practise you may want to try:
Sit still. Relax your body. Take three gentle, deep breaths and say, with each breath. “My heart is open. My life is filled with tenderness.” You do not have to believe. Just say it.
By Barbie Perks —
I am starting to settle in more from my last post, “Reading Life Differently In the Unknown.” Settling in has been a bit like when we were first married – in a new town, not really knowing anyone. For me, I have been waving my husband goodbye early in the morning, knowing I won’t see him again until early evening as his new office is 30 minutes’ drive out of town, depending on the traffic. And then the day looms ahead, and the question of how to fill it.
Back home I used to wish for free time, with no calls or commitments. I was kept busy with some office work, some church work, some volunteer work, some bible study and cell group preparation, a little handwork, some exercise and of course friends, pets, housework and gardening.
This past month I have focussed on getting around Iringa, and discovering where the shops are (they are all over!) and what they sell (each one specialises in a couple of items!) This has been my form of exercise – walking, looking around and taking everything in. The people are really friendly but the language barrier prevents any meaningful conversation happening.
Because I have no calls on my time, I can focus on doing things I would not normally be doing, like doing the washing and ironing on the same day☺; like thinking long and hard on what to cook for supper because that involves getting ingredients, making do with fewer utensils and a different kind of stove. Suddenly care and concern for my husband’s wellbeing has come to the top of the list again and he is revelling in it!
I’ve begun thinking about my relationship with the Lord, and how after so many years of walking with Him, serving Him in many different areas, both in church and out of church, maybe I have begun to take Him for granted. I haven’t focussed attention on Him as I used to do in those early years when I first came to salvation. Bible study slowly became more about preparation for leading others, than for personal insight and gain – although God was gracious and I had many special moments of insight and growth in the process.
In Revelation 2:2-3, Jesus tells the church in Ephesus that He knows all about their deeds, their hard work, and their perseverance, their good theology, their hardships and that they have not grown weary. It’s a great commendation and affirmation to know that Jesus sees all we do for Him and seems to appreciate it.
Yet all is not well, because in verse 4 Jesus drops a bombshell – He has something that He holds against them. He holds something against them!! That comes as a bit of a shock, and I read on to see that He says they have forsaken their first love. They are continuing to do the things they know to do, in faith and in obedience, but it no longer happens out of love. It has become a duty, part of what they do because they are believers. Somewhere along the way, the concentrated devotion has been diluted by the many areas of service they have become involved in. When I personalise this scripture I begin to realise how far I have drifted from that first love!
How do you repair a relationship when you discover someone holds something against you? There are times when you can go for a long time without knowing exactly what is wrong, you just know there is something wrong. And then you find out what it is. After the initial pain of discovery, you acknowledge your part in the problem, ask forgiveness, and begin to live with the awareness that this is a new journey, and hope that maybe it will be a much better, much deeper one than before. If the Holy Spirit gives me ears to hear, then I must listen!!
So I am feeling delighted and excited that I have this opportunity to come back to that personal devotion to Christ, to learn new things about Him and from Him, to look at life with fresh eyes and with a heart that is newly grateful for His grace and love. What are some ways you a reading life differently this summer that has brought you back to a deeper devotion and love to Jesus? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
by Christine Sine
Examining God’s doodles with an imaginative mind is a joyful spiritual practice in itself. I watch the river flow around a boulder and think “there are no obstacles in God’s world, just opportunities to choose a new path”. I see it overflow its banks and deposit its life-giving nutrients on the soil and I applaud that God loves to renew and refresh us with with physical and spiritual food. We run into problems only when we confine the river with lees and dams because we don’t want it to change directions. “How often, I wonder do I confine the river of God and try to build impenetrable barriers to its flow because I don’t want God to change my course?” (The Gift of Wonder 74)
This week I have had fun doodling. Some of you may remember that this is one of the practices I talk about in The Gift of Wonder . I was introduced to it by my good friend Kim Balke and I find it to be an inspirational way to look at life and the challenges I am facing from a different perspective. It is also a great stimulus to creativity and a way to open my heart and my soul to the movement the spirit of God.
Doodles begin with chaos
Doodle taking shape
I grabbed one of my gel pens and my art journal, closed my eyes, did a few deep breaths to relax myself and doodled with my left for about 15 seconds. When I opened my eyes I was a little frustrated with the image. My gel pen was obviously drying out a bit and the pattern was interrupted by blank spaces.
But as I stared at it God began to speak. “Like this image, your life is chaotic and messy at times, and even the lines of messiness aren’t clear. You fill in the lines and then add shape and color to bring out its beauty, just as I do in your life, and a little like I did when I created the earth and all that is in it“.
So I started to add color. My first line of dots looked like a question mark. Life’s uncertainties are always before us but sometimes we are more aware of them than of others. So many of my friends are facing uncertain situations at the moment, illness, job loss, life transitions and I want to be able to fix them, but they are not mine to fix.
Question: Are there places in your life that seem chaotic reigns and messiness reigns where God might be beginning a new creation in you?
What do we do with loose ends?
“But I don’t like loose ends” I reminded God, they speak of unfinished business, unfulfilled dreams, uncompleted tasks that nag at my brain and make me feel inadequate.
“Loose ends are a part of who we all are” God reminded me. “It’s only when you pull on them at the wrong time that they unravel.” Wow now that could keep my contemplative mind busy for the next week on it’s own.
Question: Are there things in your life that are unravelling because you have pulled on them at the wrong time or in the wrong way?
Out of chaos beauty can emerge
Out of chaos beauty can emerge
Now as I look at my completed doodle I am amazed at the beauty that has emerged. There is still a lot of blank space and my fingers itch to fill it in, but God prompts me to wait and sit in silence for a while. I think about my own life, admire the beauty that God has created out of the chaos and messiness, consider the blank spaces I still itch to see filled in and sit patiently(I hope) waiting for the Spirit to guide me into completeness. There is beauty in incompleteness. I am not finished with you yet. Be patient, allow the unfinished shapes to beckon you on to new adventures, new creativity, new revelation
Question: Where are the spaces in your life that you itched to see filled in but sense God is saying wait?
NOTE: The prayer above is part of the series Prayer Cards for the Day, available through the Godspace store.
By Catherine Lawton —
Look at Me!
“Look at me, Cathy.”
Downcast, ashamed,
I shrank from seeing
my father’s disappointment,
his sadness, maybe anger.
I was little; he was big.
I was guilty; he was right.
I was fearful’ he was waiting.
I was stubborn; he persisted.
“Look at me, Cathy.”
The Father waits.
I avert my eyes,
not wanting to see
disappointment in His.
But He’s persuasive;
I’m learning to turn,
to trust those eyes
of Love …
Today is Father’s Day in the U.S and I thought I would repost this litany and this prayer from a few years ago that I thought some of you would enjoy revisiting too.
God our eternal father,
Who made our earth and all it contains,
Today we thank you for the gift of fathers
And for the men who have fathered us as mentors and guides.
For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives. (1 Cor 8:6 The Voice)
Generous and providing God,
We thank you for the good gifts you provide through fathers,
Guide them to be good role models and loving to all their children.
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[a] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. (James 1:17 NLT)
Blessing and just God,
We thank you for fathers who teach justice and uphold your truth,
Strengthen them to handle difficult situations in a loving way.
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. (Eph 1: 3 NLT)
Protecting and kind God,
We thank you for those who father alone,
Support and guide them, help them to be a father like you.
Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy. (Ps 68:5)
Comforting and merciful God,
We thank you for good memories of fathers we have lost,
Continue to nurture and surround us with their love.
God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. (2 Cor 1:3-4,)
Inclusive and embracing God,
We thank you for welcoming us as a father into your eternal family,
May we cherish all your children as if they were our own.
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 Jn 3:1)
Eternal, and home keeping God,
We thank you for preparing an eternal home,
Where all peoples will find a place of belonging and abundance.
There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? (Jn 14:2)
God our Father,
We thank you for your Father’s heart,
Bless through it all fathers, mothers, children and creatures of the earth,
Strengthen us all with your fathering love,
Enable us to become the loving, caring persons we are meant to be.
Amen.
This is the last of my series on God as Father. You may like to check out the full series:
Meditation Monday: The Father heart of God
Let’s Get Creative for Father’s Day
And for those who want to balance this with maternal images of God check out my posts from the week before Mother’s day:
Meditation Monday – Connecting to the Mother heart of God
Biblical Maternal Images of God by Shiao Chong
Maternal Images of God – a video and a prayer
Let’s Get Creative – Honouring Our Mothers
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