 By Peggie Potter Jeremiah 29:11 for I know the plans I have for you. To prosper you & not destroy you. To give you a hope & a future. From the time of my childhood through my early walk with Jesus I was an awkward, nerdy , & insecure soul. I struggled with depression & self-consciousness. I often embarrassed my family & myself trying desperately to be noticed & acknowledged. I was the favorite bullying victim on the school playground. Jesus changed all that. When He came into my life in Feb 1978 , I was a young mother of a 7 month-old son, Rob. Slowly He began to remove all the fear & insecurity & need for attention. He took my love of natural science & gave me my now nearly 29 year career as an aviation weather observer. He blessed me with three wonderful sons, 2 precious daughters -in-law, & 4 beautiful grandchildren. I know my worth as a child of God because He has not only saved & cared for me, but has given me His heart. My value lies in Him. Insecurity was a very difficult thing to overcome, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And yes Norma, my latter is certainly better than my past ! Praise Jesus ! Blessings, Peggie Potter  By Joyce Pelletier
Psalm 131:3 Put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore! The definitions of hope are…
The needs of our lives are uncountable. The wants of our lives goes beyond that. The hope of our lives is debatable. Trust is an on-going quest for growth. Every moment of my life I ‘need’ breath, food, water, clothes, housing, a job to sustain me. The ‘wants’ I have are those wishful thinking things that ‘I’ think ‘I’ need. Which is often not always so. The most important ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ we long for is love. I’ve been learning it’s okay to pray for wants, but what is far better is to pray for what I need to get through this life with the Lord at my side. Some wants connect with God’s plan. Such as wanting a deeper relationship with God. He’s ready for action on that. Sometimes the wants and needs get disjointed. An example of this is when I sit down to write a blog, I never really know what I’ll share. I’m willing to venture the thought that anyone who blogs feels the same way. Something it happens when I sit down to write. I will often find a verse that has meaning to what I’m thinking about at that moment. I had a friend encourage me to keep a journal. He said, “Even though there may be days when you can’t think of a thing to write about. Start with ‘I don’t have anything to write about today. There is nothing going on right now.’ Then the writing comes next. You’ll be surprised how much you come up with. Writing happens with purpose most days. There are many days when you have only to say, ‘that’s all I have today, Lord.” I’ve learned that there are many days of quiet, non-writing thoughts that don’t have to go on paper. Those thoughts just take up space in my thoughts and often I find them consoling and I can find purpose in that too. Truth be told, God knows my heart. When I sit down to write, I know He’s going to give me something to talk about. If not, then it’s okay to be quiet, as well. I see lessons at every corner of every day He gives me. So, in that I have hope. When I pray for someone’s need, and I know the prayer is in line with God. All I need is to trust in His provision. I recently attended a concert by The Aphasia Choir at South Burlington High School. I know the leader who has put this together. She is gifted and that gives me hope that whatever this group does it will be their best. The members of this choir are victims of stroke and other issues that have limited their lives. But they will be singing for the joy of overcoming their disabilities and so they offer a message of “HOPE” through song.” Isn’t that all that we need? She says that a stroke can take away the ability to speak, which comes from one side of the brain, singing comes from the other side of the brain. That means this therapy allows people to sing to their hearts’ content. I can tell you that I have never enjoyed a concert more than this one. In God we trust, for He gives us Hope. He answers our prayers in accordance with His holy and precious will. He has the power of making a man out of dirt, therefore He can do anything. Why shouldn’t I trust Him. After all I am a child of God. I can ask Jesus for what He thinks I need most. So, I ask myself, “What am I asking for? Is it riches when all I need is peace?” When we pray for hope and peace, that means we desire to trust God. Somehow when I pray, I’m learning to consider what His plan might turn out to be, then I will have hope that I can trust in His plan. May you know the beauty of his “HOPE” for your life. Please pray with me, ‘Jesus, inspire my heart with trust. I know there is no end on the road of hard things. But hope is only elusive if we ignore it. Anticipation of Hope is Joy knowing that a am aware of something much deeper and profound than "ME>" This is what makes it all worthwhile. Keep me grounded on the road to peace. Bless my soul with your Word so that my whole being will be filled with hope. Therefore, I can love you through all of life’s hard things. Help me to consider consciously all the needs and wants that I have and accept full well that you have all that I need, and that is what I truly want. Thank you Jesus, In your Holy Name, AMEN!’  by Rebecca Vickery Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8 People have often taken extended breaks from their normal routines to spend extra time with the Lord. Sabbaticals (from the Hebrew Shabat, or Sabbath), retreats, conferences, etc., we are an easily distracted people and the busyness of our lives often requires a call to inaction, so to speak. “Be still and know that I am God….” It can be challenging to be still. It can feel impossible to cease from our daily responsibilities because we absolutely MUST keep working. Sometimes, the sabbatical can be forced. Obvious mental health issues might prompt employers to make their overworked staff take a break. In my case, I had an unintentional forced sabbatical in the form of a grueling medical treatment. When I entered into my treatment, it became glaringly obvious that I was going to be in no shape to do any of the tasks that I have been entrusted with over the last 20 years of my married life. Hardly any of the fun things I had previously enjoyed would be possible either. There would be no cooking. No cleaning. No chauffeuring, instead needing my own chauffer. No laundry. No business. No exercise. No events. No Bible Studies. No karaoke. No open mic nights. Usually no guests. No visitors. No phone calls. No answering of emails. No parent teacher conferences. Everything that I had previously used to determine my value or worth was gone. Who was I without all that I did? How could I be valuable to those around me without all that I could do for them? How could I be valuable to God without all that I could do for Him? But early on I had a choice to make. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. I desperately needed Him to be near to me. So, I needed to be intentional with the one thing I could do. I could draw near to God. It was a simple, yet complicated thing. My forced sabbatical had become a spiritual retreat. I would seek the Lord in all of the spaces that my mind could comprehend. When I had nothing but my mind, I would seek Him. The more I went to Him, the more I knew I could go to Him. I would find comfort and refuge in His company. My body would be raging. My mind would be tired. But I could go to Him and trust Him to be there when I called. I never had to wonder if he would answer my calls. There was no voice mail, just a direct line. I never had to worry about if he was going to be in a bad mood when I called upon Him. “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 I knew from scripture that I could confidently approach Him because of my faith in Jesus. His righteousness meant that I could enter into His presence and know that He would answer me. Experience would time and again prove this to be the case. I cannot imagine having had to endure all of the alone time if I had not known that I had a constant companion. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. The treasure trove I had in my heart of scriptures, the Word of God would come back to me and reassure my heart so that even when I could not read His Word, it was never far from me. I had opportunities over the 10 months to submit my plans to Him. I could give him my worries. He would again and again prove faithful. He would redirect my path. He would reroute my thinking. What was the most challenging time in my life would turn out to be a tremendous blessing. What the enemy may have meant for evil, God meant for good. I have had more alone time over the last year than at any other period in my life. And yet, I have learned how not alone I truly was. Whatever I was facing, I would face it with the Lord, and He would be with me. I have known his closeness in a way that I had not ever gotten to experience before. Dear brothers and sisters, are you lonely? Are you weary? Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and I promise you because HE promises you, God WILL come near to you. Be still and know that He IS. To the praise and honor of His Name. Amen. |
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