Julianne & Art

I love how the Lord has graced Julianne!  She painted this for me today.  What a precious gift from the Lord the Downs Family is to me.  I feel so blessed.

Wednesdays-Changing a Bit, for Awhile

Wednesdays have been a day set aside, devoted to walking through the Word and penning what the Lord taught me on my trek through Israel this summer and what He is still teaching me today!

The Lord is shifting what my days are looking like for this season. I will have the privilege of hanging out with Julianne as she works on school from home for rest of this semester. I will sit side by side on Wednesdays with Julianne, she with Chemistry, me with the Text, but will not have the same quiet or time to devote to blogging as before. I will still journal the pilgrimage Jesus has me on and will retrace the steps I took while in the Promised Land, but definitely won't be as consistent as before.

I am grateful the Lord is present and intimate!

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5

Joyful Wednesday!

Good Morning! Today is the day I sit before the Lord for the whole morning, simply basking in His love and hungering for more of Him! O how I long for the Lord!

I had the pleasure of sitting for a while, meditating on Psalm 84. The Lord uses the process of memorizing His Word for me to soak in the Truth and that's when He causes it to permeate to my heart, all the way to the tips of my toes.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 84:10 (I think)

I have been weekly going back through and walking through the Word, my memory, and with the Spirit my time in Israel, but today, I just couldn't leave Psalm 84.

O the PRESENCE of the LORD God Almighty!

Julianne was in the hospital last week and went through a plethora of tests to determine some health things going on in her body and was so thankful for the real presence of my King and my God! The Lord's love enveloped my whole being. I experienced His continual Presence and Power. I didn't have to journey to Jerusalem to get close to Him. He is in me! The veil was torn! Praise You, Jesus! I have His presence every second of the day!

My long slow paced time with the Lord on Wednesdays has been shortened today because Julianne called and her face is swelling again, so my encouragement to us as we journey together to know the LORD, our Covenant Making and Covenant Keeping God, is to remember and include Him in every moment of the day...He is present, right here, right now. We don't have to enter the Holy of Holies to find Him. He dwells, lives, resides in us as believers!

Retracing My Steps in Israel: A Pilgrimage of the Heart~Part 8

Continuing Day 2-near Gath, a shepherd's cave

I am mesmerized by this picture, by hidden beauty that I see with my heart, beyond the dirt, cave, and weeds. Tears well in my eyes as I remember what was shared in this shepherd's cave on the side of the hill. This cave is near Gath (where Goliath is from), but that has nothing to do with the reason Rich brought us to this place.

Now in the cave, smell of sheep scat, smoke from fires past infiltrated our nostrils. Low ceilings, dirt, and messes from the sheep who had found shelter here surrounded our boots. We stood and soaked in our surroundings, looking at every detail. Sure it was shelter, but not one luxurious thing about it.

Rich began to share that Jesus Christ, our King of Kings and Lord of Lords was most likely born in a cave similar to this. This hole in a hill reeked of humility.

Jesus, my Redeemer, the One who has given me abundance of life,

made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

I have no words..just wanting to sit in it...sometimes words aren't needed. When is the last time I sat in absolute silence with the Lord and didn't rush a moment with Him, fixing my mind with intentionality, for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, even an hour, on Jesus Christ and His humility and the magnitude of the implications this has on me...on the world. Philippians 2 is beckoning me to feast on the Lord, my Bread of Life.

With Jeremiah I say:

When your words came,

I ate them;

they were my joy and my hearts delight,

for I bear your name,

O LORD God Almighty.

Jeremiah 15:16

Retracing My Steps in Israel: A Pilgrimage of the Heart~Part 7

Good Morning! Today I am posting some pictures of places God used to spiritually impact me the most while hiking in the Land! I will take time to explain them in the future. As I walk in the Spirit and sense His direction on what to do with my morning, the Lord has me spending time taking care of Ashlyn, who severely sprained her ankle when she slipped on our wood floor while in green tights. (She was dressed up as Peter Pan). Also, I will go visit Grandpa, who I haven't gotten to see in the last couple of weeks.

I got to enjoy quiet with the Lord early this morning as I meditating on Ezekiel 36 and what the Lord has removed and given us, as recipients of the new covenant!

Masada-2000ft. elevation climb in 45 minutes! God used a dear friend of my to show me Christ and teach me much about who He is during this hike! I call her Mickey the Goat, with great affection.

This is the Jordan River, the same river Jesus was baptized in! How in awe of the Lord I was, as I sat and watched those in our group identify themselves with Jesus Christ. I don't know if there was a dry eye among us. One thing I love about this photo is the boat with Jewish gals in the top of the picture. There were quite a few boats of girls passing by, on a field trip, most of them never paddled a boat before. What a joyful experience- real life happening all around us!

The Wilderness of Zin-the Israelites were in this desert, a place that is not survivable without God. The God of the desert. The God of just enough. This was our first crazy climb-no rails, but we did have ladders.

So much to share-I am about to burst with joy as I think back and take time to remember the Lord and what He taught me in these places and what I still have yet to learn! Show us your glory!