Stories that Shine on an Awesome God

Archive for the ‘Intro & Knowing God’ Category

Cranberry Knowing

Edna stepped inside the door and offered her ruby-red, Thanksgiving treasure in a Tupperware container. This wasn’t the first time Edna had shown up at the front door of my daughter’s home, her warm smile erasing what were most likely wrinkles of weariness. Back when the twins had finally reached four pounds and their big sister was not yet two years old, she came often, just to lend a hand.

image of cranberries

When she handed me the crimson gem, it’s tangy, crunchy sweetness was already saying hello to my taste buds’ memories — chopped celery and chopped pecans and freshly ground cranberries. All that chopping and grinding and dicing had taken hours of her time, but for me, another Thanksgiving would include Edna’s Cranberry Salad. I couldn’t be happier. Gratitude and appreciation surged as I gave her a hug and found space in an already packed refrigerator.

This year, Thanksgiving is at my house miles away from my daughter’s home. All the kids are coming. Today, as I chopped and diced my way through Edna’s hand-written recipe, my gratitude for her yearly gift escalated. Today at my kitchen counter, I experienced her labor of love. I developed more than a passing appreciation. With each slice of my knife, I now know her experience. I received a hands-on glimpse into Edna’s world.

Image of preparation of Cranberry Salad

Now, thanks to Edna, my own Thanksgiving treasure is tucked away in a Tupperware container. (Okay, so I love alliterations.)

Thanks to Edna, a God-truth is now tucked deep inside:

We know God through experiencing what he experiences. Creativity, innocent pleasures, grief, rejection, intense love, or even something as common as being misunderstood can give us a clearer understanding of God’s heart. They can teach us of him. They can if we’ll let them.

image of cranberries in heart shape

So here’s to getting to know God better through hands-on experience. Here’s to gratitude and appreciation and here’s to experiencing some of

Edna’s Cranberry Salad:

Grind      1 lb cranberries – save juice
Drain      1, #2 can crushed pineapple – save juice
Dice        2 cups celery
Chop       1 cup pecans
Mix together and keep refrigerated

Dissolve               2 large pkgs. Cherry Jello in
3 cups hot water
Then dissolve     2 cups sugar in this.

When cool, NOT set

Add        Juice from crushed pineapples
½ cup lemon juice
Juice from ground cranberries
Enough orange juice to make 3 cups total

Let this mixture just begin to gel, then stir in refrigerated mixture. Pour into molds or other containers.

Chill until firm.

Category:

Intro & Knowing God, Points of Light

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Surrendering to a Stranger

JeriAnne's image of a Rose & Jeremiah 31:3“Oh, my poor sweetie,” my husband uses his thumb and forefinger to rub my earlobe in a teasing, somewhat patronizing fashion. “You didn’t know what you were getting into when you married me, did you?” His blue eyes twinkle as though hidden in their recesses are the extreme adventures he has lived and dreamed, like sparks, keeping his soul alive.

“No, I didn’t know. Not everything. I knew what I observed. I knew what you chose to share. I didn’t know you would spring on every word with your sharp, analytical mind, ignore the abstraction and sometimes the context in an effort to stick to the secure absolute. I didn’t know you are romantically challenged, but I think I knew enough. I mean, after all, we’ve known each other since we were children. I didn’t know all, but I knew enough. And stop rubbing my ear!” I lean my head away.

Why did I surrender to the commitment of loving this man?

Simple. I knew him. At least I knew enough. I knew his family. I knew his history of committed providing. I knew his cultural perspective was similar to mine. I knew he had a deep desire for “Diety,” as he calls God. I knew, that through his mistakes, he tries to be honest with himself. That was major. I knew the things that mattered most. I knew enough to trust him. He was no stranger.

I trust my husband because I know him. Because I trust him, I can love him. Because I love, I can surrender.

So often we, the church, get it wrong about God. So often we filter our concept of Him through our religious mores, our parents, and even isolated Bible texts out of context. So often we ignore the fact that God, the Father God, was IN Christ, who is the Light of the World. Like a stranger, we simply don’t know Him.

We won’t ever know all there is to know, but we can know enough to trust.

No one can trust without knowing. No one can love without trusting. No one can surrender their heart without knowing, trusting, and loving.

It’s true in human romance. It’s true in the Divine romance.

  Share an incident in your journey of surrender, of trusting, of knowing the Father. We will all be blessed when you do!

I encourage you to listen to “The Favor of God” in this link. (Direct link to Life Unlimited & then find The Favor of God a bit more than 1/2 way down the list)

“I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3

 

 

 

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Intro & Knowing God

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God in the Ultimates

There was a time when I longed for an ideal, romantic love. My life story seemed to prove that it didn’t exist. Consequently, I thought that perhaps God didn’t exist. My pinpoint of a beam, searching for the truth about Him, grew dim as it swept the darkness.

Finally, like the young woman in The Heart of Rose-Marie, I cried in desperation:

Image of Husband & Wife Holding hands at altar

“God, I’m tired of spiritual limbo. Your way has to work in every circumstance, for real problems. That’s what I want to test.”

My discourse with the All Mighty began:

“So what is faith?”

“It’s naked trust, and I haven’t had much experience.”

“What kind of experience do you need?”

“Experience with trusting in the ultimates.”

“What are the ultimates?”

“Life, death, health, economic security. An ultimate for me is to find my reason to be, who I am, my place of belonging. Another ultimate is to love and be loved. God, for Your way to mean anything, I want it tested in these ultimates.”

From that day on, I began to search for situations where God’s way was tested and worked. I began to interpret my  life experiences through the lens of Him proving His way in my joys and challenges. I began to recognize the genuine, ideal Love that was working in my heart.

I began to get to know Him.

The better I know, the better I can trust. Even in the ultimates.

So, how has God proven His way to you personally, in your ultimates? Especially in matters of your heart. How have you gotten to know Him?

“In him we live and move and have our being.”  Acts 17:28

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Intro & Knowing God

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Gathering Glimpses

image of Sunlight thru the cloudsI’m a writer, and writers, the publishing world tells me, need “platforms” and platforms may be built by “blogging” and blogging Is just another way to help me “find my voice” and finding my voice basically means that I have a “passion” for particular areas in life that fills my writing in my own unique style.

Well, I have a passion. I have a spark that bursts into flame every time my pin light, the flashlight beam of my mind, shines upon a fresh view of The Lover of My Soul. When I open the Word, it’s the promise of that warm inner rush that lures me.  Each morning I open my eyes to a quickening expectation that puts my feet on the floor:  That a slice of this day’s experience will draw me further in to Him. Nothing thrills me more than to discover a new example, a new angle of God’s love at work. Nothing.

Not far from my bed where I can view it daily, is a picture of Jesus Christ in shades of blue and gray. His body spreads across a rock. His strong arms reach out with hands clasped in petition. In tones of agony, he pleads with his Father, his Abba Daddy. He has a voice. In fact, he is the Word. He has a platform. His agony on that rock is my very life.  He has a passion. His every fiber throbs to reveal, in full, glorious light, the Father.

Christ In Gethsemine

I suppose I could have called this blog an eclectic gathering of glimpses of God. Whatever. I simply want to share, with the point of my pen, what my beam of light catches. I want you to share your glimpses, your light.  I have no idea if it will develop a platform. I only hope that it will intensify my passion, and perhaps yours.

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17

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Intro & Knowing God

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