Upside Down

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The little girl sometimes liked being upside down, but only for a little while. She swung so high on the rope tree swing that her daddy made. Her feet would go way above her head for a moment. Feeling upside down even though she wasn’t, almost touching the oak leaves with her bare feet. But the relief of being feet planted on the solid earth, right side up, was grounding and safe.

She learned to do a head stand up against the basement wall, her head firmly set in a soft pillow. The blood rushed furiously into her pounding ears. The room looked bizarre and unsettling. She could only take a few seconds of this, and then would plummet back into right side up reality.

One day, she got up and everything was upside down in the world. Everything. The grownups talked about a virus. She didn’t really understand. She tried and tried, but she couldn’t get things right side up. People looked and sounded weird, upside down. She felt unsettled all the time, as she tried to make sense of this new world.

But then, suddenly, the thing that had caused the upside-downness, the bad virus, went away. The world tipped back the right way. She was more than happy. She was peaceful, grounded, safe, normal. She smiled, and the whole world saw that smile.

Love, Lisa

*For all the children who need normal to return.*

The Miracle of Life

You have something to say.

You have great worth.

You are precious in the eyes of the One who created you.

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful…..

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand.” -Psalm 139: 13-14, 17-18

God in Heaven has known you since the beginning, and He will know you at the end. He loves you so much, and yes, He cares about everything you say and do.

Be encouraged. Love, Lisa

Feeding the Soul

In these days of confusion, discouragement, anger, disagreement, God stands in sharp contrast. He is none of these things. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Bright Morning Star, the Way, the Truth, the Light. He draws all people to Himself.

Feeding your soul on the things and words of Christ is essential in these days. I spent fifteen minutes reading His scriptures this morning, and it felt like jumping in a refreshing cool clear Caribbean sea. No waves, no turbulence, just peace.

Feed your soul on Him. He is all you need. Enjoy this beautiful worship song from Second Chapter of Acts, circa 1985 “Night Light”. Love, Lisa

Unfreezing the Rabbit

Lately, my coping methods have been a combination of the following:

-“I’m fine…” Said in a slightly manic, overstated Ross Geller way

-Smile and wave, smile and wave……in my best Queen Elizabeth II manner

-Frozen rabbit that has been spotted in the yard…..holding very still and barely breathing until the danger has passed.

None of these are good, or healthy, or helpful. The only, only, only thing that helps unfreeze the frozen rabbit is the Lord Jesus Christ. Wrenching my eyes off the chaos of this current world and gazing upon the wonder of Who He Is.

God has been placing Psalm 46 in my mind lately. Some key verses:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and mountains quake with their surging…..

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – excerpts, Psalm 46

Christians quote the Be Still and know that I am God verse all the time, but for years, I did not know the context that this verse is placed in the Bible. It’s not quite as peaceful and serene as I had thought. In this psalm, total chaos, destruction and disasters are coming upon the earth. In the midst of all this, God is our refuge, our strength, our help. As we see all of these things, we are to quiet ourselves, look to him, and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that He Is God. And every knee will bow to Him.

All creation, all created beings of the Living God, find rest, peace, an unfreezing of the panic, when they realize that God is in charge of their every breath, their yesterdays, todays and tomorrows.

Pray for me to keep remembering this, and not to look to useless coping mechanisms in these days. Pray that I keep my eyes firmly fixed on Christ. And as always, please know that I would love to pray for you. Let me know in the comments if I can. Love, Lisa

To The King

I have been quiet, I know. To be very honest, I have been mourning. Mourning the loss of freedom of speech, thought, debate, reason. Mourning the loss of what was and what I thought things would be. This all sounds quite dour and morose, I know. But it is a real thing, and I think many of us are feeling it.

God always reaches closely when we need comforting if we are paying attention. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” -Matthew 5:4 He is gently reminding me this morning that this world is not my home. That there is a place prepared for me, and He is coming soon to take me home with Him. A much better and more beautiful place. A place with beautiful God freedom, sane thoughts, reason, harmony, peace, healing, resurrection. Praise God!

As I did 31 years ago when I accepted Christ into my heart, I am again pledging my undying allegiance to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He is in control, He will make all that is wrong right, He will restore.

My job now is to keep hope, keep looking up, try to let others know that God is faithful and that Jesus loves them so much that He died for them. That He wants a relationship with them.

Thank you, Lord, for the comfort this morning. You alone are King. Love, Lisa