Inner Rose

How limited we are. Sometimes our short-sightedness causes us to short-circuit or side-step our long-range vision. But our God is limitless and all-seeing. He is an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-hearing and all-hearted God. 7/9/10

As intimately as a man knows a woman As intimately as a child is knit together in his mother’s womb So intimate is our Heavenly Father’s love for us. It is a deep and very personal “knowing” of the individual that reaches even deep into a person’s soul. It is the heart of the Father to know us. It is the heart of the Holy Spirit to make Himself known. It is the heart of Jesus to ever live to make intercession for us before the Father’s throne. So deeply may we trust the Father’s plan, may we trust the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. And, deeply, true, may we “know fully, even as we are fully known” with confidence that all that Jesus says He will do, He Will Rightly Accomplish within our lives. We know the Spirit of Truth. We know the Father’s love for us. We know that, through Jesus, we are fully “known”. And, as we know, it is by His Word of Truth that we are kept by His mighty and righteous right hand. 7/10/10

Sitting down to a planning meeting for a man's Human Rights candidacy in the early 70s. Youthful eyes, blue-jeaned idealism focused on the task of absorbing and understanding that for which he stood. "...to change a government you need to tear out the foundation." Seeing a picture of a block tower made just a few years ago and imagining what would happen if I removed the bottom blocks, I instantly knew there was something wrong with that picture. Starry eyed idealism changed to realism. I, at 16, knew more than someone old enough to apply for office. Now, I am old enough to know that polarization in politics tells but a part and not the whole. Leaning much further now to the right than the to the left, I still try to keep an open mind and look at both sides. One morning years ago, I clearly recall hearing up-to-the-minute, straight-from-the-horses-mouth information from Managua during the Sandinista regime. That evening, front page headlines of the Ann Arbor N...

Years ago, when I'd reached the end of my rope, God reached down. An ordinary man took off his (professional) hat and said, this is trench warfare, let me teach you how to live in the trenches. Through that one man's kindness in teaching and through the grace of God, I survived. Another time, God had led me to study a particular Psalm, through which, I learned that God wasn't angry when the Children of Israel asked for meat. He was angry that they forgot to trust and obey, thank and praise. The next day, when Bob announced he had 30 days pay and no work, we trusted God because of that guidance from the day before. He followed through. Today, it was announced I would have a 10% reduction in hours, pay and benefits. How different I was able to respond because God has shown Himself faithful in so many areas and I have learned to trust Him through so many things! God is enough. I have all I need.

As another lesson of growth that my mother taught me. We needed a new car. My mother (I guess) was training me that it is ok, sometimes, to pray very specific prayers. Mom had $3000 available. She wanted it to be green. She wanted it to have an air conditioner. There were other details that I don't recall right now. Mom and I prayed for the Lord to help us find a car that was no more than $3000... We found, through a friend, a car that, with tax and title came to exactly $3000. Every time Mom drove this car, she prayed for the Lord to protect it. For years she drove that car. One night after work, she pulled it into a gas station and asked if they would check the oil. I was with her. The man blanched and came back to the driver's window. "Lady, I don't know why you can still drive this car. The engine should have fallen out a long while ago." He welded a brace at the top of the engine to hold it in. Even more years passed by. Mom had back surgery a...

It was a cloudless, moonless night along Lake Huron. The wind brushed softly through the pines and waves lapped gently on the shore. Dark velvet sky with stars spread like torches across the heavens. Brilliant they were. So bright, that the waves were lit up by their glow. I was in love. So in love with Bob and so passionately in love with God that the two merged to make a cosmic unity in my heart with the earth, sky, waves, and the spangled universe. ahhh! sigh... We snuggled into the sand, backs against a partially uprooted tree. How perfect! Waves rolled rhythmically like stolid sentinels along an azure sea. So in love! As we had walked up I thought, "God, I am so in love with you and so in love with Bob and the stars are so bright-I have never seen so many stars before. This would be a perfect time to see you, or an angel." Nestled up against the tree, we had just begun to snuggle when an awful awareness came upon us. Mushrooming on and under the surface of t...

Grandma had a set of blue and white doll dishes. When she was 4 or 5 (perhaps around 1883), she had the following dream. There was a grape arbor in her back yard. She had a tea party underneath. Jesus came and sat down in one of her little chairs next to her dollies and had tea with them. Then he put his hand on her head and blessed her and was gone. "do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of God" Luke 18:16