Heart Matters Blog

Before you make a decision, ask yourself this question: will you regret the results or rejoice in them? Rob Liano If only I would! If only I would stop and give thought to my decisions. Not all decisions, mind you. In many decisions I am quite strategic. But, when it comes to the little decisions, you know, the spontaneous ones like "I'm hungry, and that ooey gooey brownie would help tide me over till supper" decision or "That shirt is as cute as a button, and if I don't get it now, it may not be here the next time I come" decision? Those are the types of decisions that trip me up time-and-again. When I'm hungry or flirting with temptation in my favorite clothing shop, I fare rather poorly. brother, Jacob… 29-30 One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the field, starved. Esau s...

Mary's heart began to thump and her hands to shake a little in her delight and excitement. What was this under her hands which was square and made of iron and which her finger found a hole in? It was the lock of the door which had been closed ten years and she put her hand in her pocket, drew out the key and found it fitted the keyhole. She put the key in and turned it. It took two hands to do it, but it did turn. And then she took a long breath and looked behind her up the long walk to see if anyone was coming. No one was. No one ever did come, it seemed, and she took another long breath, because she could not help it, and she held back the swinging curtain of ivy and pushed back the door which opened slowly — slowly. Then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her...

Death, like ocean waves, surrounded me, and I was almost swallowed by its flooding waters. 2nd Samuel 22:6 I have heard it said that trouble comes in threes. I know it's just an old wife's tale, but oddly enough it happens from time-to-time. It's happened to me. How about you? The first time it happened I was a freshman in college. The troubles started when my parents divorced and sold our home. A couple months later I was involved in a rollover car accident that completely totaled my car. Then three months later, after a constant struggle with neurological issues, I discovered that I had broken my neck in the accident. Surgery, a month-long hospital stay and six months in a metal body/neck brace followed. Fragile and unable to care for myself, I was released into the care of my precious G...

The name Eve denotes the collectivity that is common to the behavior of living things." Her original design, taken out from Adam (earth) in the form of a rib, which is actually the Hebrew word, "side", is this idea that Adam and Eve, "Earth" and "Life" became a face to face symbiotic life force truly "made for each other" in the original sense. Fast forwarding to today we are actually faced with the choice all over again. Earth and Life, do we hear the choice to create as earth and as life. Flesh and breath. There is a Sara Groves song called Generations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK_WmVFAIP8) which starts with the these lyrics. "I can taste the fruit of Eve. I'm aware of sickness, death and disease The results of her choices are vast, Eve was the first but she wasn't the last." The ...

 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." —Genesis 21:6 Meet Sarai. She is ninety years of age. Abram was nearly 100. Well past childbirth. But God had a special surprise up his sleeve, and Sarah would bear a son in one year. I forgot the story… "No longer will be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father to many nations of you, kings will come from you. As for Sarai you wife; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will give you a son. Abraham fell facedown; and laughed and said to himself, will be a son be born to man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a son at the age of ninety." —Genesis 17:15-17 The Hebrew letter "h" is the letter symbolizes breath. The Hebrew people felt that writing or sp...

 (Based on Luke 7:36-50) The butterflies in her stomach wouldn't stop. The son of God, Jesus, would be walking through the door soon. She straightened her skirt dyed blue from indigo flowers and held a little-too-tightly her alabaster jar of perfume as she silently waited in the corner. She was still in awe at her good fortune to end up in the home of Simon the Pharisee, a religious man of God! She didn't want to draw any attention or ire. Every now and again a guest would look her way with disgust or haughtiness, and her eyes would shoot quickly to the floor. Most, thankfully, ignored her. Thoughts swirled around her mind like bats on a midnight rampage. If only she could send them away! "Would Jesus accept her? Would he indeed be a friend to sinners? Were those just rumors? Would sh...

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song." —Pope John Paul II In the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden containing a new tomb in which nobody had yet been laid. Because it was the preparation day and because the garden tomb was conveniently near, they laid Jesus in this tomb. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb, very early in the morning, while it was still dark, and noticed that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus' body had been lain. They said to her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "Because they have t...

 Don't be anxious about anything... —Philippians 4:6 I don't know if you've ever experienced this or not, but I have found that sometimes after I have said yes to serving the Lord in one capacity or another, I begin to second-guess myself. I think of all the other qualified folks out there who could do a much better job than me, and I grow a little weak in the knees. But then, just about the time I have convinced myself that I really ought to bow out of my obligation, God encourages my quivering heart by reminding me of the type of people He used in the past. Take Amos, for instance. When God needed a preacher to talk some sense into His people Israel, He didn't go to the nearest synagogue or seminary to find His candidate; he chose an ordinary man who tended fig trees for a living. W...

He leads me beside quiet waters… he restores my soul. —Psalm 23:2 I am sitting by still waters today, but there is a party on the lake. People having fun; diving in and dive-bombing into the water. Someone is tubing on the lake as well, and jets skis too. It is not exactly quiet, but it does restore my soul. Just when I was going to write that it is calmed down now, there is another whoop from the party boat. It is so peaceful here by the water, despite the party. I took my shoes off and dangled my feet in the lake. I love the sound of water lapping up on the shore. It is so soothing. It reminds me of the Allegheny river when I was young. My Grandpa Simey would take us out on the rowboat. We would pack a lunch and I remember the waves lapping on the shore of the river as we parked our boat...

My Sister Sherri. She was tomboy. I was a girlie girl. We about as opposite as good be. I had romantic heart. I love with my strength. I reached out to her while she was pregnant. She didn't understand my nurturing love her. She saw Josh and Amy have family. Tina got married and settle Edinburgh, UK. Gabi Boysen get married and have a family. Sal' settled Utah. She was Independent. Her love of God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit guided her life. She is walking whole with Jesus. She's chatting with Grandma and Grandpa Simey. She's chatting with Grandma and Grandpa O. Joking around with Mark Johnson. Set your heart things, where is Christ is seated at the right of God. Set you minds, on above not earthly things. For your hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears then you will...

Russia and Ukraine. Covid. Human trafficking. Skyrocketing crime and cost of living. Health challenges. Strained relationships. Elites and their power-grabbing global reset dreams. Loss of loved ones. In our tumultuous world, so many of us are searching for peace. Inner peace. And for peace around us. We want to find peace and wrap it around us like a soft, calming fleece or weighted blanket, but often it feels more like we find a threadbare quilt. Oftentimes I think true peace eludes me when I let my focus too long linger on the wrong things. When I shift from remembering my God is still good, even though evil abounds around me. When I forget God's light inside me and my brothers and sisters is stronger than the enemy's screams and distractions. When I forget the enemy roar...

I'm sitting in an English country garden writing today's blog for Heart Matters Publishing. As the summer days turn to autumn I'm glad the mornings are still warm enough to invite this morning's moment. In fact, I sat here a couple of weeks ago too, surrounded by books and Bibles, a gift tag slotted in as a marker in my latest read, Secrets of The Secret Place, a cup of coffee and shadows speckled on the weathered table. Such sweet memorable moments, and on this morning I found myself not only taking a deep rest-filled breath of fresh air, but also meditating on part of Psalm 62, specifically looking at verses one and five. "Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my Salvation" (62v1)"My soul, wait patiently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him" (62v5)"My expectation ...

 Our besetting sin is to hurry, and the remedy is to turn aside: I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small fieldfor a while, and gone my wayand forgotten it. But that was the pearlof great price, the one field that hadthe treasure in it. I realize nowthat I must give all that I haveto possess it. Life is not hurrying on to a receding future, nor hankering afteran imagined past. It is the turningaside like Moses to the miracleof the lit bush, to a brightnessthat seemed as transitory as your youthonce, but is the eternity that awaits you. R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) was an Anglo-Welsh poet and Anglican priest who lived in Wales and served in small rural parishes with his wife, the artist Mildred "Elsi" Eldridge. Yet Thomas insists that life is found when we, like Moses, turn ...

Have a Blessed Valentine's Day! LuAnn, Julie and Sally

They were longing for a better country… a heavenly one. —Hebrews 11:16 Think for a moment about the word paradise, what comes to your mind? Do thoughts of a tropical retreat with white sandy beaches and swaying palm trees hit the mark? Or does a cabin up in snow-capped mountains with stunning views better fit your notion of the word? My idea of paradise would be a cottage with flower-filled gardens set in the Lake District of England. The mere thought of getting away to places such as these stirs our hearts with longing. There is something almost magical in the plotting and planning of a trip, whether it is to Boston or Barbados, Portland or Paris. Once we've settled on where we are going, the anticipation begins to build as the longed-for day of departure approaches, which to me is half t...

I love old churches and cathedrals. It started years back when we lived in France. The churches there are so ancient and so beautiful. I found it difficult to pass through a town or village without stopping to take a peek around and sit for a spell inside, if time allowed. The hallowed silence within their walls breathed such peace to my soul. Being a foreigner in a new land, it felt the nearest thing to home. Since then, I have made it a habit of visiting old churches wherever I go. We've been to old churches in the French Alps when we visited, and when we were in Scotland and the UK, we visited beautiful cathedrals, even ruins of old churches and abbeys in Robin Hood's Bay. There seems to be a reverence about them. A hallowedness. As much as I love the church in Big Sky with its beautifu...

I was asked to write on new beginnings for this weeks blog post and although I had a few ideas of the directions I could go I ended up wrestling with these two simple words. This left me wondering how I might best express these thoughts and a poem emerged. I hope the questions in this short poem and the overall prose will help you see the art of taking time within new beginning seasons, for what goes around comes around and Gods cycle is one of grace. New Beginning I wonder how I will read the past from this moment? Is it place or time or both? Something never lost but never again to be walked. Mine and yours and ours. I only have the past to look back on this day, this moment, new beginning. And now. And now. And now. But I do get to write it anew, from a new beginning point of view. We w...

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "More Prayer." Those are the words God gave me for 2022. You know, the whole news year's resolution thing and seeking his direction. As usual, God's answer was short and sweet. Days later he led me to a book I had started years ago, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, by Jim Cymbala. I had forgotten what it was even about. Flipping through my highlights up to the bookmark, it didn't take long to figure it out. Prayer. Of course, right? Filled with great scriptural and personal stories of the power and priority of prayer, I ended up unable to put it down, highlighting most of the rest of the book. Here are just a couple nuggets: More people are dipping into drugs than are getting baptized in water. What is going to reverse this tide? Preaching alone will not...

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. - Helen Keller Throughout the years, it has been my habit to keep a Faith Journal. I call it a Faith Journal because what I have written on those pages... when my faith is firm and the eyes my heart are open to see the various blessings that God has touched my life with, have been the greatest source of encouragement to me when my faith is especially thin, and my eyes so clouded with tears that I have a hard time seeing God's presence anywhere. As I flip through that journal, I am reminded that yes! God has walked with me through every twist and turn along life's way. He has whispered my name on the wind and touched my innermost being with beauty. He has embraced me through the hugs of friends and spoken deep int...

New Years. A time of year we observe that God did indeed make each of us one-of-a kind. One friend says, "I never make resolutions," and laughs carefree. Another will pull out her latest New Year's Resolutions typed in serious Arial or Calibri on 90 lb. bright white paper from her nicely-labeled folder. This year I observed some cementing their 2020 intentions on Facebook. Others reflected on the woes of the past year. Still others looked forward to the new year with the same excitement they did when pumpkin spice lattes came out in the fall. I love this diversity. But some of you may be feeling New Year's stress or ambivalence; I hope some of the following thoughts are helpful. When is not important. Self-reflection and goal setting are beneficial, but when can be what makes sense for you...

 Wishing you and yours a precious holiday season filled with love, joy and gift of the Savior's presence into the New Year! Love you, Sally, LuAnn and Julie

Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 While the rest of the world took little or no notice of the bright star that had suddenly appeared in the night sky, it did catch the eye of a few foreign fellows living in a country east of Jerusalem. Observing the spectacular stars return night-after-night sparked earnest curiosity in them.They gathered together in serious study; excitedly probing, researching, and investigating anything they could get their hands on concerning the meaning behind its arrival. When they discovered that it signaled the birth of Israel's king, they packed up gifts to present him and set off in high...

 At least there is hope for a tree…if it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its root may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. —Job 14:7-9 Pine Trees Before straight-line winds tore through our neighborhood one summer, we used to have stately pine trees gracing the fence line of our backyard. Despite the trees determined effort to withstand the storm's fury that fateful day, several of them, looking more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, had to be cut down. Three rather defiant pine trees managed to remain rooted in place, although they were snapped in two in the process. After all the debris was cleared away, those three broken pines stood as the only evidence of t...

To see small things you have to slow down in life and over the last year especially life has greeted me with pace that has had me appreciating the small things on a whole new level. This all came to a sweet understanding just the other day as I sat in my Nanna's home remembering her life and sitting in memory of the days just gone. My darling Nanna passed over to eternity just a couple of weeks ago and as I was going through her handbag I found the tiniest little bible. I mean this thing was crazy small and could sit like quarter in the palm of your hand. It was quite thick, after all it was the entire bible, but here it was a little token of my Nanna's faith that she carried around with her everywhere. It really got me thinking about the small things in life. Of course, this tiny little b...

We love our readers! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! LuAnn, Julie and Sally