The last few weeks have been filled with all the things that are required when you move. Long hours of cleaning, painting and packing. At times there are moments of excitement for what lies ahead and at other times exhaustion takes hold and I begin to wonder why we choose to do this again. I call this move our Gideon transition. Each time we have moved we have downsized. It felt nice to de-junk on our last move and I though we had reduced quite a bit. Then this move seems like God is saying, like He did to Gideon, “You still have too much.” And the beauty of that…

I was sitting on my couch the other night looking out the window and reminiscing about the last few years at this house. Three years ago I stood at this window crying. We had just begun to move in and the house was in need of a deep cleaning and updating. It smelt like cats and I had lost count of the number of spiders that I had removed. The streetlight was shining brightly through the window that night just as it was on this night. Then it felt overly bright and invasive, but now it was more like a warm glow that gave a peaceful feeling of a restful…

One day as I was driving around town I came to a stop light where I read the bumper sticker on the car in front of me. It read; I Give Hope. It made me ask myself if that could be said of me. I thought of the many people in my life, who in the last week alone, prayed for me, called me or sent me a text, all of which greatly encouraged me. Then I wondered how many opportunities did I have this week to give someone hope and encouragement, and did I make the most of those moments? As I continued to drive down the street I…

My sister invited me to lunch last week and as I waited for her to arrive I was reminded of how perfect God’s timing is. I had hoped to have the Royal Records books by the first of the year, however due to holiday and design delays it finally arrived at my home on February 8th, my birthday. What a wonderful gift! But the wonder didn’t stop there. When my sister arrived three days later for our lunch date I gave her a copy of the book which instantly brought her to tears. Later I discovered that she had just been asking herself if God was even there and if…

I was on the phone working with a travel vendor on a reservation. The representative that I was speaking with has become my go-to person anytime I need extra assistance. She is always such a joy to work with and her smile can be heard through the phone. As she was assisting me with an issue I kept hearing, “Just ask her,” in my head. I had just received the Royal Records books and had prayed about who to send them too. The just ask her question was, “What do you believe?” When I finally asked her the question I received such a beautiful story of her life. The values…

I was reminded this week about the most important Divine Encounter we will ever experience – meeting the Lord face to face. Early one morning I read a post from a friend that her precious daughter was now with Jesus and out of pain. She had courageously fought cancer and was now at peace. Later that same day I attended a special church service that was given by a gentleman who had just been given 3-5 weeks to live. One of his desires was to share one more message with the congregation. My heart was heavy and I remembered being in similar circumstances years ago. It was a time of…

Recently I visited a old Spanish town in Mexico. The town square was very charming and filled with rustic park benches, trees and vendors selling their wares. Across the street from the square was a beautiful old church that was built in 1545. The tour guide pointed out a tree that was growing at the top of one of the bell towers. That tree began with a small seed that was planted not by human hands, but by a bird that had dropped the seed years before in that exact spot. If the tree had grown in the park across the street like all the other trees it would have…

Last week I went to a special event dinner at a resort. The atmosphere was romantic and had live music, elegant surroundings and wonderful food. Most of the attendees were couples with the exception of one table that had a little girl about 2 years old. The little girl was fascinated with the woman that was singing and would stand near her table and smile. She began to sway back and forth to the rhythm and seemed to be enjoying herself. Then her father stood up, picked up the little girl and began to dance with her. Her eyes were wide with excitement and she laughed and smiled. Often she…

It was 1:30am and I was at a hotel near the airport unable to sleep. My mind was whirling with thoughts and sleep was nowhere to be found. As I sat on the floor in the corner with my cell phone as a nightlight, I could hear the soft rumble of snoring from my husband. Meanwhile the Lord began pouring out words for me to share on this blog. I had been struggling with how to finish the January posts and the Lord blessed me with an early morning Divine Encounter with Him as well as the words to share. It was so exciting to hear Him speak and I…