I See You!

I think we all know the story of the Good Samaritan.

It's found in Luke 10:30-35:

"...Jesus said: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers.  They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave

Remember the Beauty

Here in my "neck of the woods" in Vermont, the foliage is just past prime. 

As I was driving down the road the other day, I was again struck by the beauty of this time of year. 

I have lived here all my life (60+ years) and every year I am still awed by the beauty that surrounds me.

 

But mostly I tend to take it for granted because it's just part of my daily landscape.

 

What is HeartsEase?

A couple of weeks ago someone asked me what "HeartsEase" meant. 

It occurred to me that I had never really explained it to my readers.

 

I love pansies.

They are my favorite flower. 

 

 

Years ago I found out that the common name for the wild pansy was HeartsEase, so called because it was formerly believed to cure the discomforts of love.

HeartsEase means:

 

peace of mind;

calmness of emotion;

tranquility;

the absence of mental stress or anxiety;

quietness, quietude;

a state of peace and quiet.

 

 

When I decided to start writing a blog, the name HeartsEase came to me right away. 

I wanted this blog to be a conduit of peace; to help quiet the anxiety of heart in an anxious world, to be a place for quiet reflection.

On these pages, I write a lot about my day-to-day walk with the Lord and the things He has taught me over the years; the things He has brought me through.  I share with you out of a heart that loves the Lord and a heart that desires to help bring you "ease of heart."

When I was doing research on the HeartsEase, I found this poem that sums it up. 

The author is unknown.

 

"I cannot ease your aching heart

nor take your pain away,

but let me stay and take your hand

and walk with you today."

 

I can't ease your aching heart; only God can do that.

I can't take away your pain, no matter how much I want to; only God can do that.

But I can take your hand and walk with you and that is my desire.

 

To walk with you through the issues, trials and experiences of this one life we have to live.

To walk alongside you as one who cares and understands because of the issues, trials and experiences I have walked through and the many ways I have seen God come through for me over the years.

 

 

It is my hope that as I share my life's experiences with you, you will be able to glean some practical tips and insights to help in your own walk with the Lord.

 

It is my desire to encourage, uplift and build your faith in who God is and how much He loves you!

 

The Lord has been my constant friend and help for almost 40 years now.  He has done much in my heart and life.  He has taught me much.  He has brought me through much.  He has taught me much about who He is, His character, His faithfulness, His love, His grace and mercy.

 

If only one thing I write here helps just one person, then God's purposes in and through my life have been accomplished.

 

 

My prayer is that He would use my words and this blog in any way He would chose to spread His love, encourage you to trust Him more and truly bring you HeartsEase.

Seasons of Life

For Everything There is a Season

Author Unknown

 

"Wanting his sons to learn not to judge too quickly, a man sent each, in turn, on a quest to look at a pear tree far away and report what he saw. The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer and the fourth in fall. Finally, the father gathered the young men together. “What did you see?” he asked.

 

The first son reported seeing an ugly tree, bent and lifeless.

 

 

 

The second disagreed, saying it was budding with fresh new life.

 

 

 

The third son reported finding a tree laden with sweet-smelling, beautiful blossoms,

 

while the fourth insisted it drooped with ripe fruit.

 

 

 

The father said his sons were all correct, for they’d seen the same tree, though at different seasons of its life. “Don’t judge a tree - or a person - based on just one season of life,” he counseled his children. “Who they are can only be known at the end, when all life’s seasons have been lived."

 

"Furthermore,” he added, “don’t give up on your own life if you experience a hard season, such as winter,

 

 

 

or you’ll miss out on the renewal of spring,

 

 

 

the joy of summer,

 

 

 

 and the fulfillment of autumn.”

 

 

How true and wise are those words.

 

But we are not wise when we judge ourselves by the season we are in.

And we are not wise when we judge others by the season we see them in..

 

We may not know the harshness of their winter.

We may not have seen the precious buds of their spring.

We may not have experienced the joy of their summer.

Nor did we glimpse the fruit of their autumn. 

 

God does not expect a tree to bear fruit out of season.

 

No one looks for apples on the tree in May.

Neither does the gardener expect to reap the harvest in January.

 

You may be experiencing winter, but there is the promise of spring.

The heat of summer may cause the leaves to droop, but the harvest is just around the corner.

 

Trust the seasons of your life to the one who spoke them into being.

And let Him be the judge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trust . . Delight . . Commit . . Rest . . Fret Not . .

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:
fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass."

Psalm 37: 1-7

Trust in the Lord
Delight thyself in the Lord
Commit thy way unto the Lord
Rest in the Lord
Fret not.

This Psalm appears to be laid out in degrees....

As we learn to trust in the Lord, He will become our delight.  It will be natural to commit our way to Him which will cause us to rest in Him.  Then we will not fret when it seems that the evil are prospering because we are trusting in God.

It all begins in trust. 
Trust - a firm reliance and confidence in; to depend and rely on.

We are never asked to blindly trust.  We are expected to put our trust in the person and character of a God that can be depended on.

We make the determination that God is who He says He is and we choose to put our trust in Him.

 

We trust -

His love
His mercy
His goodness
His faithfulness
His dependability
His grace
His peace
and so much more.......

Once we have made that decision - to trust in all things at all times - we don't need to visit this decision again.  When we are buffeted about, we go back to the decision we made, based on who He said He was and is - and we take action based on that previous decision.

"Faith is the deliberate confidence in the character of a God whose ways you may not understand at the time." Oswald Chambers

Satan doesn't just send his "minions" to tempt us to sin.  His ultimate goal is to destroy our faith.  He wants to crack the foundation of our trust in a God who loves us.  He whispers lies about who God is and how He will let us down.  He wants us to doubt in God's goodness and His love.  Once we start to doubt, we begin the descent of the slippery slope.  Once we start questioning God's sovereignity and His faithfulness to us, the cracks grow wider and it becomes easier to doubt and the vicious cycle has begun.

Hold fast to the profession of your faith.  Your faith is in the God who is faithful and good and true.

He is worthy to be trusted.

Trust
Delight
Commit
Rest
Fret Not!

Loss

Driving out of the supermarket parking lot, I looked at my watch to see what time it was.  

It wasn't on my wrist! 

My heart fell. 

I immediately prayed, "God, please help me find my watch." 

I had no idea when I had last saw it.

 

I pulled over into the McDonald's parking lot, got out of my car and started going through my bags of groceries to see if it had fallen into one of them. 

Nothing!

 

Thinking I would go back to the supermarket to give them a description of my watch

in case someone found it and turned it in, I got back in the car.

 

A voice said, "Check your purse." 

I did and there it was!! 

Thank you, Lord!

 

What feelings of relief and gratefulness came over me!

 

My watch is not a real expensive one, but I absolutely love it.  It's actual value is much less than the value I put on it.  Just about a month ago, I sent it back to the seller to have the watchband fixed rather than buy a new one; I love it that much. 

 

The way I felt when I discovered the watch missing caused me to start thinking about loss.

 

Loss -

to be unable to find something/someone we treasure;

to be unable to maintain or keep something/someone we love dearly;

to be deprived of something/someone we strongly desire;

to fail to win something/someone we've always dreamt about or 

to suffer the loss of something/someone we don't want to live without 

creates in us such feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

 

To experience a loss of any kind is not something we want to go through.

Most of us do not deal very well with loss.

 

Our hearts have a hard time accepting loss.

Sometimes we don't realize just how much we value something/someone until we experience

the loss of that something/someone.

 

Unfortunately, that seems to be the "nature of the beast."

 

We don't miss something/someone that is always available. 

But take it away, and it becomes our greatest desire.

 

God will often use the loss we experience to draw us closer to Himself.

 

I remember when my husband died, I said to the Lord, "I don't think I can live without him."

The Lord immediately responded, "The only one you can't live without is me."

 

What an eye-opener that was to me and also a great comfort.  It caused me to realize that as long as I had the Lord's presence in my life and heart, I would be okay.

 

When we experience a loss of any kind, we need to come to the place where we can accept the loss and trust Him in and through it.

 

After my husband died, I had my wedding band melted down and made into a necklace and earrings that I designed.  I cherish those pieces of jewelry because of the sentimental value of them.
 

I was wearing them one day when I set out to run errands.  I went to the bank, the post office, the local mall where I tried on some clothes, the supermarket to buy groceries and to a Jazzercise class.  When I arrived back home, I happened to touch my ear and discovered one of my earrings was missing.  I was absolutely devastated.  I had no clue where to even begin looking because I had covered so much ground that day.  I started to think about my time at the mall when I tried on some sweaters.  Grasping at straws, I called that store and explained the situation.  The salesclerk told me she would alert the cleaning crew and they would call me if they found it.

 

There was nothing more I could do, but pray.  And pray I did.  I begged and pleaded with God.  I finally got to the place in prayer when I said to the Lord, "I give it up, Lord.  I release it to you.  You and only you know where it is.  It means a great deal to me, but it is just a thing, so I let it go and ask that you give me your peace."

 

A few minutes after 9:00, my phone rang. 

They found my earring in the dressing room!

 

I sat right down and cried.

I was so humbled by the goodness of God.

He didn't have to do that for me, but He did.

What a merciful, gracious God we serve.

 

But, I have not always "found" all things that I have lost. 

Some things just can't be "found."

I "lost" my husband, but I cannot "find" him.

 

In this loss and other losses of a similar nature, we need to trust God that we can live without and move on.  We have to trust that He knows best.  He knows the end from the beginning and He will meet us right at the place of loss; that place of incredible pain.

He understands and He empathizes.

 

What is your loss?

 

Is it, like me, your spouse?

Is it your health?

Your job?

A treasured possession?

A dream?

A relationship?

A marriage?

Your son or daughter?

 

Whatever your loss, God knows all about it.

If He hasn't "returned" it to you, it's because He knows the bigger picture and you don't.

 

Trust Him.

Believe that He is always good and you are always loved.

Even in the midst of loss.

Especially in the midst of loss.

 

May He be "found" of you today.

Three Things

I am featuring a "guest writer" today, but unfortunately, it will also be a "ghost writer" because I don't know whom to give credit to.

Hope you enjoy this.  It certainly is food for thought.


Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -

Time

Words

Opportunity

 

 

Three things in life that can destroy a person -

Anger

Pride

Unforgiveness

 

 

Three things in life that you should never lose -

Hope

Peace

Honesty

 

 

 

Three things in life that are most valuable -

Love

Family & Friends

Kindness

 

 

 

Three things in life that are never certain -

Fortune

Success

Dreams

 

 

 

Three things in life that make a person -

Commitment

Sincerity

Hard work

 

 

 

Three things in life that are truly constant

Father

Son

Holy Spirit!

 

 

 

May God bless you today. 

May He guide you and protect you as you go along your way. 

God's love is always with you. 

God's promises are true.