Morning Devotions

I haven't made a 'personal' post in a while. I've been a bit preoccupied with life in general. But I was prompted to share this today. Most mornings my devotional time is spent in the Psalms, writing out verses that somehow end up pertaining to an event happening in my life. Once I write them down, a Christian song will usually pop into my head and I jot down the chorus or verse that seems most relevant to the Scripture.

This morning I came to my devotional time heavy with empathy for another mom who found out on Monday that she is facing the rest of her life without her child. While I can't begin to grasp the magnitude of grief that she is feeling in the way her child has chosen to leave this earth, I can fully fall into the dark pit of grief with her over losing that precious life she nourished for so long, and had so many hopes and dreams for.

As I opened my Bible this morning, it fell to Psalm 55. The heading in my ESV Bible says Cast Your Burden On The Lord. I began reading and when I came to verse 16 that's when the Lord spoke to me through His Word and I wrote down these verses.

¹⁶ But I call to God,

    and the Lord will save me.

¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon

    I utter my complaint and moan,

    and he hears my voice.

¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety

    from the battle that I wage,

    for many are arrayed against me.

¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them,

    he who is enthroned from of old, Selah

because they do not change

    and do not fear God.

Bullet points: 

• Call to God 
• He will save me
• Day or night
• He hears me
• He redeems me
• A battle is raging
• God will fight for me

This was my stopping point but no music came to mind. So I bowed my head and began to meditate on His Word. The phrase Call to God  became a refrain. My heart cry was causing rivulets of tears to drip off my chin, and then I knew the lyrics I was looking for. In so many ways, this song touches on something happening in my own life or in the lives of family and friends. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged today that you and I have someONE we can cry out to, who will rescue us, redeem us, fight for us, if we will only CRY OUT TO JESUS!

God's Word instructs us to pray for one another.

Friend, is there something your heart is burdened about today?

I would be honored to pray for you. If you feel it isn't something you can share in the comments, please send me an email.

Scrapbooking Challenge ~ Peace

I set out to make a paper crafted memory album about my daughter Amy but I only have the first page done. As I was searching for inspiration, I joined the Scrapbooking Your Faith group on Facebook, hosted by Courtney Fassler Walsh, who is an amazing crafter, writer and blogger mom. She put out a challenge a couple of weeks ago, maybe more, to scrap a time when your faith was being challenged. I decided to use the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software to create this layout about my daughter Amy, who passed away in May; Our Loss is Heaven's Gain.

Mother's Day, May 13th, 2012

In the top photo, my daughter Amy was still on the BiPap machine at this point. It was fairly early in the afternoon. She was aware of us (me) and I was reassuring her that I would not leave her and that Jesus was waiting on her with open arms, to not be afraid. (I think on some level I was reassuring myself.) I tried not to let her see my tears and not to project any fear. I really didn't want her to be afraid. I wanted her to know how much I loved her and would miss her. How we all would. I wanted to instill confidence in her and to reassure her that she would soon have a new body, a healed body, and be in her new home, living with Jesus and her Mimi. 

In the bottom photo, it was late afternoon. The BiPap machine had been removed and we had gone to comfort measures. She was no longer awake but I know she was aware of my presence. I quietly spoke to her and lay on the bed with her, holding hands (as you can see here), loving on her and cradling her until she passed from my arms to His.

I cling to Phillipians 4:7, which is at the bottom of the layout: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Peace is the key here. It can only come from God. Despite this being the worst day ever, and grief still rearing its ugly head, I am at peace knowing that she is at peace. No more pain, no more suffering, no more tears! I will see her again, and together we will rejoice!

I sincerely hope no one is offended by these photos. It's not my intent to shock or repulse anyone. Amy was alive in both photos. I only want to show that with God all things ARE possible. You CAN face the challenging times, but I believe only with HIM! 

Images are mine. Please don't take them!

No time for tea...

All I have to share today is this pretty little creamer.

She's in the Gloria pattern from Favolina. 

And numbered 49. I have no idea what that means, really. Only 49 were made? Number 49 of however many? Why would they just stamp 49? 

Also, I don't even remotely have anything it will match, but I thought it was too sweet to pass up. And who knows...I just might need a creamer one day! 

Oh, and that blurred sugar dish in the back? I found that too but it's totally unmarked. Loved it though, with its hexagonal shape and slightly off white color, so I added it to my nonsensical collection :)

Now for the exciting news...

I'm focusing my search efforts for the next couple of weeks on looking for preemie clothes because my daughter will most likely give birth to our first granddaughter within the next 2 -4 weeks, making our sweet baby anywhere from 4-6 weeks early. Join me in praying for a safe delivery, would you? I have the added blessing of being my daughter's doula, so I am stoked!

God is good in ALL things!!!

Can you tell I'm excited?! I might have used a few too many exclamation points today :)

Have a great day in the Lord!

I'm linked to:

Tea Cup Tuesday,

&

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Mountain Getaway ~ Rural Thursday

I was desperate. This past weekend marked 4 weeks since my firstborn and oldest daughter, Amy, passed away and I honestly felt like I was going to burst if I didn't get away. My husband agreed to head out, so off we packed our boys to their other sister's home, and up into the mountains we went! 

 Clear skies, cool breeze...and freedom. 

My heart was soaring as I gazed out on God's beauty, and I praised Him for His glorious work of creation!

Our first stop along the parkway was Brown Mountain.

beautiful

majestic

They say there are mysterious lights out there at night.
We're going to take our boys there soon in hopes of seeing them!
(the lights, not the boys...hehe)

Then we took ourselves to Linville Falls.
We hadn't been in years and really couldn't remember what they looked like.

The trail to the falls was really something. So quiet and peaceful.
Tranquility that was desperately needed!

The boulders and roots are fascinating to study. Pictures just don't so them justice. 

At least mine don't ;)

Narrow passageway to get down there...

And this is Linville Falls...uh...not what we expected but lovely all the same!

I loved hearing the water roar around the rocks! 

It really was moving fast!

Sadly, something is killing a certain species of pine tree :(

I just love this!

What is that?!

A tree growing right out of a rock!

Cool, huh?

I want to climb to the top!

We also visited Linville Caverns  and Little Switzerland. 

Not too many photos came out very well in the caverns,

but we had a restful day and that's all that matters! 

I'll post more photos later. My camera ran out of memory so we had to use cell phones. 

I don't have those downloaded yet.

Thanks for visiting!

Images are mine. Please don't take them without asking. Not that anyone would want them. I'm just sayin'. 

I'm linked with Rural Thursday.

Our loss is Heaven's gain!

My precious daughter, Amy, has gone home to be with Jesus. She is free now to walk and run and talk and sing, and I cannot adequately express the joy that is felt in knowing that her heavenly Father heard her first words while she ran into His arms with abandon! My heart, at the same time, hurts so badly, feels such sorrow that on this side of Heaven I will never hold her hand, hear her giggle, or give me a choke hold hug again.

I appreciate prayer for my family. God has placed so many wonderful people in our path this past week and I have every confidence that He will continue to do so. But for the time being, I am going to stop posting and concentrate on my husband and three remaining children.

May God bless each of you!

http://www.greer-mcelveenfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/GreerM1/obit.cgi?user=633066Payne#

Our loss is Heaven's gain!

My precious daughter, Amy, has gone home to be with Jesus. She is free now to walk and run and talk and sing, and I cannot adequately express the joy that is felt in knowing that her heavenly Father heard her first words while she ran into His arms with abandon! My heart, at the same time, hurts so badly, feels such sorrow that on this side of Heaven I will never hold her hand, hear her giggle, or give me a choke hold hug again.

I appreciate prayer for my family. God has placed so many wonderful people in our path this past week and I have every confidence that He will continue to do so. But for the time being, I am going to stop posting and concentrate on my husband and three remaining children.

May God bless each of you!

http://www.greer-mcelveenfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/GreerM1/obit.cgi?user=633066Payne#