Let’s hold fast to the promise of
redemption and restoration,
grace and growth,
purpose and provision,
a hope and a future.
God’s transforming power and enduring love are at work. Don’t lose heart.❤️
Promise
writer
A New Thing
Understanding what was
The gift of hindsight
The wisdom of experience
At peace with what is
Reconciling expectations
Forgiving what can’t be known
Hopeful for what will be
Buoyed by promise
Walking by faith
Envisioning endless possibilities
A New Thing.
-LAS
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”- Isaiah 43:19 NLT
Look What The Lord Has Done
Let gratitude be the attitude of the day.
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
Psalm 9:1 ESV
Inspiration
The dance is familiar
Though she can’t place the song
The gentle back and forth
The explosion of vision
A steady flow
It is inspiration
The Creator breathing into the created
To reflect His glory and make Himself known
-LAS
Ordinary’s Impact
“I grew up with quilts like these.”
I remembered the quilts folded in closets, spread across beds and laid on floors as pallets. I remembered sleeping soundly tucked under their heavy warmth. To my young eyes they were just fabric scraps stitched together, a colorful hodgepodge, a mosaic of everyday life.
So as I stood with my husband in the Baltimore Museum of Art, I marveled at how what I considered such an ordinary part of my life now hung as art, admired and coveted by museums all over the world. Someone recognized the powerful beauty and impact of the stories of these quilts and the women who made them.
What do you have? An ability? An idea? A story? Your presence? It seems so ordinary and inconsequential to you yet it may have the power to shift the world around you for the good and the glory of God.
Sometimes our reflections are muddied by distraction and discouragement but I’m grateful God always sends reinforcements to remind us for whom and for what we’ve been created. Let this be your reminder. Don’t underestimate or diminish the impact of the “ordinary.”
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” -2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT
Learn more about Gee’s Bend here
Do You Know?
Perfection makes impossible demands
Leaving you parched
Thirsting for drops of validation
Begging to be understood
To be seen
To be heard
But, dear one, do you know how lovingly you were formed?
Every hair numbered
Your life purposed
Your very existence a reflection of God’s glory
You are the apple of His eye
In His image created
Fully Known. Deeply Loved.
—L.A.S
Show Up
Step by step, day by day
Imperfect progress is still progress
Building Bridges
“From a wise mind comes wise speech;
the words of the wise are persuasive.” -Proverbs 16:23
“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” -Proverbs 16:24
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” -Proverbs 18:21
There have been many times over the past few weeks when I’ve thought “Hmm, I should write something about that.” When everyone else seems to be opining, reflecting, musing, and inspiring, there is sometimes undue pressure to add our own voice to the chorus.
Instead, I’ve just been pondering the weight of words. Words are powerful. What we say and write can lift or crush a spirit, promote peace or provoke chaos.
What do I want my words to do? I want my words to build bridges. Bridges to the blessed Trinity on which my faith & hope are built. Bridges of grace, understanding and forgiveness. I want to build bridges culturally and racially; though, honestly, recent times have made me consider dismantling my bridges, taking my pieces and quietly sitting in my own little corner. But Love convicts and compels me differently. So I will build, knowing I’m not perfect and I won’t always get it right but building bridges, I must.
What do you want your words to do?
Tidings of Comfort and Joy
Tis the season, friends. And no doubt it’s…different. I found myself close to ‘Bah Humbug’ until I was struck by the words of an old familiar carol:
🎶God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan’s pow’r When we were gone astray Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy🎶
So today I offer tidings of comfort and joy To the believer and the unbeliever To the cheerful and the grieving To the hopeful and the discouraged To the gathered and the lonely
And I pray we all remember and come to know Immanuel, the One who was, is and always will be with us.
“…She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”- Isaiah 7:14
“…and He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”- Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Barnabas Blessings 