Friday

Remember

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor the men and women in military service who sacrificed their lives to give us, in American, our continued freedom.

Freedom is not free! It never has been. Far too many have died and too much blood has been spilled for us to ever take our freedom for granted.

Sadly, many people are nonchalant about observing Memorial Day since the date was changed in 1971 to create a three-day weekend. They look at it only as a day to be off work and have fun.

I pray, “God, please don’t let us ever forget the sacrifices others have made for us.

"Help us to take a stand and not be apathetic about the stupid and dangerous policies others would like to change that will destroy our freedom.

"Above all, let us not forget that our America was founded on Your principles and truth, and we must not let them take that away from us.”

This video has compelling pictures and a powerful song, “I’m Proud To Be an American”. Please watch.
(You need to first turn off My Playlist at the bottom of the page.)



I share another video on Personal Connection With Jesus (click on the name) that shows the powerful emotion of war, “Psalm 23 Memorial Day Tribute”.

Have a good weekend.

Love and Prayers,
Carolyn

Saturday

Keep Looking Up!

My husband, Don, is fascinated with clouds and always has been. When he was a little boy he loved to lie in the grass staring at the clouds in the sky. Today, he carries a camera with him so that he will be ready to take a picture of any cloud that catches his imagination.

All of his photos are beautiful, but I am especially drawn to the ones that show the light of the sun breaking through the clouds. It reminds me of the light of Jesus, the SON of God.

“He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind.” Psalm 104:3

I believe we can see the beauty of Jesus reflected in the clouds just as the light of the sun hitting the cloud is reflected back to us.

The beautiful colors of the sunset give us an array of wondrous sights, especially when we see it setting behind the clouds.

I don’t pretend to understand the process of reflection/absorption or particles in the air that changes the color of the clouds at sunset. I just enjoy God’s beauty!

I’ve selected some of Don’s cloud photos for a video along with Brooklyn Tab Choir’s beautiful song, “Total Praise”.

Please go to My Playlist at the bottom of the page to turn off the music, then sit back and enjoy the video.



Let us also remember that the Bible tells us:

“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
I Thess. 4:17

Keep looking up!

Love and Prayers,
Carolyn

Tuesday

Fear That Paralyzes Faith

“Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

This is the question that Jesus asked of the disciples. Their boat was filling with water as the strong winds tossed their boat about and they cried out to Jesus, “Do you not care that we are perishing?”

Fear is a painful emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.

I am recovering from back surgery and two weeks post-op I had a new symptom which puzzled me and later made me afraid. My left knee suddenly began to give out on me and I was unable to lift my leg because of weakness.

Later when I was feeling better and going to church or shopping I was still having problems walking in a straight line, even falling once when I stepped off a curb. I clung to my husband when we were out, because I was afraid that I would fall again if I walked alone.

The doctor seemed to think that it was normal and would get better if I walked, so I began walking on my treadmill every night. I kept praying for complete healing and strength and so many dear friends were also praying for me.

I was still afraid. What if I would always have trouble walking and lifting my leg to get into the car? What if I fell again, getting hurt and making matters even worse?

As I was praying a couple of weeks ago, asking God again to restore my health, I realized that fear was paralyzing my faith. As long as I was afraid I could not believe.

The Holy Spirit gently prompted me to begin praying for deliverance from fear. I did and I began to feel my faith restored. Soon I was feeling so much better and walking without fear. Jesus is my healer and I am gaining strength every day.

Jesus is my healer, but I believe that if I had continued to live in fear I would not have received my healing.

Despair is much like fear. Despair means to be hopeless; to give up all hope or expectation. Despair is probably the most dangerous, most difficult emotion to deal with that haunts hurting Christian parents who are praying for their wayward kids.

What happens when we pray for a son or daughter and God doesn’t act? What do we do when there is no miracle?

If we surrender to our feelings of disappointment with God, we begin to doubt everything but our worries and our hopelessness. Before long, we fall victim to despair. We will be praying only out of desperation and fear, not faith.

Jesus is asking us the same question today, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
(2 Timothy 1:7)

Let us be like David who said, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4)

Love and Prayers,
Carolyn

Saturday

Next To My Heart


“I looked at this tiny, perfect creature and it was as though a light switch had been turned on. A great rush of love, mother love, flooded out of me.”
Madeleine L’Engle

Thinking about Mother's Day, I want to share a story that I recently read in "Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul 2". I think all of us moms can relate in one way or another. Even though being pregnant was so very long ago for me, the memories of those years are still with me.

God bless each one of you and may all the love you give to others come back to you on this special day.

Next To My Heart
By Bonnie Compton Hanson

The day I had to stop dead in my tracks in the aisle of a busy supermarket was one of the worst in my whole life.

There I was, pregnant as could be, forty pounds overweight, a whole month past my due date, with wretched ‘morning sickness’ that lasted twenty-four hours every single day. And now I had cramps in both feet so excruciating I couldn’t move.

This wasn’t the way I had expected motherhood to be. My own mother, who had six children, glowed when she was expecting. And her mother, my grandmother, not only joyfully welcomed sixteen little ones into the world, but also ran a busy store the entire time.

Looking forward to holding a little one in your arms, they had said, and feeling the miracle of life inside you, should make any woman ecstatically happy. And healthy!

I was miserable and so large I had long since forgotten what either my feet or my legs looked like. There was only one outfit I could even get on, a sort of muumuu tent. I had to give up work, give up church ministries, and almost give up hope.

Why was God allowing this to happen to me? He knew I loved him, my husband and this unborn child. My friends had started snickering: “You were due when?” Even my doctor grumped at me as if it were all my own fault.

And now during one of the hottest Augusts on record, my ankles swelled so badly in our sweltering apartment, I had to keep them in buckets of ice. Going anywhere was torture. But we were out of milk. Just a quick dash to the store, I thought-- surely I could do that.

So here I was, frozen in my tracks, stopping carts in both directions.

My face beet-red, I stared at the rows of cracker boxes in front of me, pretending not to notice the angry shoppers whose way I was blocking. And then I heard a little girl’s voice: “Mommy, why does that lady look so funny?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop sudden tears, ‘Oh, God, please! That’s the last straw! Can’t anyone say anything nice about me for a change? I’m so tired of being a medical freak. Won’t I ever be normal and comfortable and well again? Won’t I ever get to hold this baby in my arms?’

Then that mother said something I will never forget; “Honey,” she murmured, “it’s because God has given that woman a tiny baby to carry next to her heart.”

When I opened my eyes, mother and daughter were gone. Eventually, so were the cramps. But those words have lasted a lifetime.

They were so true, and such a blessing to me during those final miserable days before I could hold my beautiful firstborn in my arms. During my next two pregnancies as well. A blessing I remembered as my three children grew up and married. A blessing I have been privileged to share with my own pregnant daughters-in-law and many other young women I have known over the years.

For even after our children are born, we mothers still carry those precious little ones next to our hearts. And we will continue our whole lives long.

Love and Prayers,
Carolyn