THE SOUND OF SILENCE IS FULL OF GOD

One hour and fifty-five minutes–that’s how long they had me on hold, all the while playing “music” in my ear. Do they not know that music to some is torture to others?

We are also setting up a new TV today and the cable signal is being programed to our set, while silence settles over the house. Listen. I can hear the birds outside the window in constant conversation about something in their world. If companies with high telephone hold-time were smart, they would have the sounds of robins or the incoming waves of the sea as their hold-music. Another brilliant observation to the day’s events: I could have generated peace rather than mounting frustration by turning off the TV and holding the phone away from my ear.

God gives us his peace every day and we, or I, want to “just finish this task” and then I will wait for His voice of love. I am amazed by my ability to run from the grace of God. We are now hearing a cacophony of political messages about how the whole world is standing on the edge of the abyss. That may be true, but I know who keeps me balanced. If more of us would call upon the name of God and his love and grace, his voice could call above the pounding noise and say, “Be not afraid, I am here. Trust me and I will give you peace and rest.” We can succeed in a time of trial if we trust in him. Let us pray:

“Dear Lord and father of love and peace, we praise your holy name. May your kingdom of love come to us this day so we may serve you as do the angels in Heaven. Father, how soon we forget that you are in charge. We live in your world, and all that is there in, is yours. We run around as if all our scurrying were important. May we hear the bird’s song today and smell the ground, wet with melting snow. May the voices of our loved ones be heard above the din of the world. We know that there are those who are struggling for freedom around the world. We pray in the name of your son, Jesus, that freedom and democracy are what they will find. You, oh Father, have found a home in our hearts. Let us pass that love on to others. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.”
Doris
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Copyright 2011 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

EXPECTATIONS - BOTH LARGE AND SMALL

Punxsutawney Phil had promised–we would have an early Spring. What happened? This I question as ice covers my window and runs down the pane. In Philippians 4:4 we read, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Rejoice? - in more ice, when my expectation was for an early Spring? Perhaps it is not the ice that’s a problem but my expectation. It just may be that I have labeled ice “bad” and Spring “good” when they are both part of God’s plan. I know I tend to place an order for certain blessings and then am disappointed when they don’t happen just as I ordered.

I have been praying for God to bless my writing with a publishing contract for one of my books. It hasn’t happened yet. But in the mean time, He has chosen to bless me in ways I would never have seen if I had dwelled only on the allusive publisher. Just to name a few, God has given me another novel that I just finished writing this morning. And . . . just listen to this: I have a macular hole in my left eye and these holes cannot heal. They can only be kept from enlarging with surgery and a very uncomfortable rehabilitation period. One blessing is that the hole has gotten no larger, and another blessing is: the hole that cannot heal has healed a little. The little blind spot in the center of my vision is like a tiny, broad ash leaf with a little tail at the top and another one at the bottom. The “leaf” is still there but the tails have disappeared. That which medicine cannot heal has healed. If I were waiting by the mailbox for the contract and could see nothing else, I would never have seen the healing in my own eye. Praise be to God for healing, for blessings of all kinds, and for the ice peppering my window pane. I know there will be Spring flowers that follow the rain because God has planned it to be so. Let us pray:

“Dear Lord and Father of us all, we lift your holy name in praise. May your kingdom come to this life of mine, that your will may be lived in me. Forgive me when I try to take over and place an order for your blessings. We know we can always go to you in prayer for healing and help, but too often we want to dictate the terms of your grace and love. You can bless us so much more and so much better than anything that comes to our earthly mind. I open my whole life to you and ask that you come in through a wider opening than the limited words of my supplication. You have so much more for us than can possibly fit into the palm of our own outstretched hand. There are no big blessings or small blessings, no large miracles or small miracles, only you Father working in our lives, only you. Fill us to over flowing with your grace and blessings, and a purpose far greater than anything we can ever imagine. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.”
Doris
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Copyright 2011 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

NO POCKETS FOR LOVE

“What will we pray about today?” Today? How easily we can forget the most important essence of life - LOVE.

I have gathered tax information all morning and over the last several days and have neatly typed all of the details into columns on a ledger sheet. UGH! How very easy it is to focus on the immediate, the task at hand, rather than the important things of life. Sometimes, I don’t like to be bothered by detail at all but the job doesn’t go away because I have other things I’d rather do.

Too often, we can spend our lives getting the mundane done, leaving no time for that which is really important. Love is the very building blocks of life! An infant, deprived of love and touch, will die. We cannot get too much love, neither can we give too much love, and . . . we can’t store love. We have no pockets where love could safely be carried, out of the light and love of others.

Let this Valentine’s Day be the moment in time when you decide to accept love and to give love. When we were created, God stepped back and said, “Wow! Now that’s good.” How often do we give that love away? We can only get more love when there is room inside of us for more love to fill us. Let us pray:

“Holy Father, God of all, you created us out of your love, for the purpose of being love in the world. May your kingdom of love and life flow through us each day, so we are aware of walking in you. Heaven is being in the mind of God; may it be so for us here on earth when we recognize you as love. On this Valentine’s Day, our earthly day of love, we pray that you will fill us with your love, which is so much more pure and lovely than anything we may ever know. Forgive us when we are afraid to show your love. Forgive us too, when we have tried to parcel out your love to only a few, since constricting it at the neck inhibits our own breathing. May we not die in selfish love but live in your love, oh God. In the name of Jesus Christ, your son, our redeemer and brother-in-love we pray. Amen”
Doris
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Copyright 2011 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

TREES FULL OF ROBINS

Wow! I don’t know what kind of weather you just went through last week, but I know there is still a level of ice beneath the snow here in Huntington. But, the miracle of God’s world is, our trees in the back yard are full of robins! They are fat and healthy and lively and gloriously free. Behind every storm of life, God has promised a rainbow.

Our granddaughter, Hannah, has a knack for seeing rainbows in the sky almost every time she is in the car with us. Please, surround yourself with family and friends who point out the colorful arch in the sky and not the dark clouds that have just passed. Stay safe, but don’t stay in the focused on the storm.

I pray for you, this day, that you can see the rainbow and not the storm, the blue sky and not the ice, the robins and not the snow. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there. You simply are not giving them the energy to frighten you or weigh you down, by focusing your eyes on the blessings all around you, the miracles of each day. Let us pray:

“Holy Father, truth divine, bless this icy world of mine. May I see all the beauty you have for me this day so that your Heaven may touch the earth and bring your warmth. For this very day, regardless of the negatives of this world, may I see only your joy, your peace, and your love. I can really feel sorry for myself sometimes and think there is only ice and wind in my little three-quarter acre yard. How very self-centered we can be. Forgive me for dwelling on myself and let me see ways to brighten the lives of those around me. May I bring rainbow sightings to everyone I touch, that your promises may color their world. May the robins in my trees, fill the yards of all those around me. In the name of Jesus Christ my Lord, I pray. Amen”
Doris

“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Copyright 2011 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.