Day Seventeen

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi


Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace!

That where there is hatred, I may bring love.

That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness.

That where there is discord, I may bring harmony.

That where there is error, I may bring truth.

That where there is doubt, I may bring faith.

That where there is despair, I may bring hope.

That where there are shadows, I may bring light.

That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted.

To understand, than to be understood.

To love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

—Saint Francis of Assisi—

Day Fourteen

 Today we went to an apple orchard, They had  everything apple of course! Apple fritters ...oh was it yummy!   Apple Cider donuts, these were heavenly! Yes we bought apples too!   My favorite was the Apple cider slushy!!  Absolute fun  was had shooting apples out of an apple cannon!

on the way to the orchard

Day Eleven

 I found this beatiful poem, I wanted to share. This is for you James!

j goss poetry

                                          Visit J Goss poetry to see more amazing poems!

Day Four

Mums and Pumpkins  are on the porch now.  I love this time of year. I am very contemplative this time of year. This time of year seems to bring trials. I do not know why. Its all in Gods Hands. He allows this to happen to build us up and to strengthen us.  So with this knowledge, I just need to trust Him.

• Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 2 Samuel 7:28 
• Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6 
• Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

31 Days of healing Day 2 "A careful examining of my heart"

This process is going to take a careful examining  of my heart. I wrote an earlier bog post that I reread a few days ago that really made me think about how I got where I am emotionally.You can read it here Beauty For Ashes.  My own words stung me.  I knew it was time to take a closer look at my heart and confess any sin that I found. One thing that jumped out at me was when we are hurt by our circumstances or people we need to choose how we respond in our hearts. When we hang on to the hurt and try to justify our anger or other feelings and allow them to remain unchecked then our thinking may become clouded and we will not see truth.  We will want to keep carrying our hurts like a prized possession instead of dealing with them. 

"Sometimes, the pain we have worked so hard to avoid is the one thing that leads us to where God calls us to go. Sometimes, feeling our need is the greatest work of faith we can surrender to". ~Bonnie Gray, Faith Barista

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"
(Luke 9:23-25 ESV)

31 Days of Healing Day 1 "Intro"

I have endured many trials, tribulations and sufferings this last year. I will be writing for 31 days about my healing process. The road that is now required of me will require my dying to self and putting absolute trust in God and His absolute truth. I hope that you will join me each day as I travail along this path before me. I am excited about what God will be teaching me as I yield myself to Him. 


And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 
(Luke 9:23-25 ESV)

The Heart

Desperately wicked: The heart is not only deceitful, but also wicked - and desperately so. Many have been led to rebellion, disobedience, and great sorrow by following their heart, without challenging their heart and judging it by the measure of God's truth. "Follow your heart" is poor advice when the heart is desperately wicked. (Guzik)

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
“I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Below is commentary from David  Guzik on this pasage:

a. The heart is deceitful above all things: To this point the Prophet Jeremiah has given some reason to be cautious about the inclinations and direction of the heart. He noted how the evil heart of the people of Judah had led them astray.

·      Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart (Jeremiah 11:8)
·      They prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart (Jeremiah 14:14)
·      Each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me (Jeremiah 16:12)

b. The heart is deceitful above all things: Our hearts often deceive us, presenting heart-fulfillment as the key to happiness. What we desire is often not what we need. The advice "be true to your heart" fails when the heart is deceitful above all things.

i. "In the OT usage the heart signifies the total inner being and includes reason. From the heart come action and will." (Feinberg)

ii. "The pravity and perversity of the man's heart, full of harlotry and creature confidence, deceiving and being deceived, is here plainly and plentifully described; and oh that it were duly and deeply considered." (Trapp)

c. And desperately wicked: The heart is not only deceitful, but also wicked - and desperately so. Many have been led to rebellion, disobedience, and great sorrow by following their heart, without challenging their heart and judging it by the measure of God's truth. "Follow your heart" is poor advice when the heart is desperately wicked.

i. The sense of the Hebrew for desperately wicked seems to have sickness more than depravity in mind. "Unregenerate human nature is in a desperate condition without divine grace, described by the term gravely ill in verse 9 (rsv desperately corrupt, neb desperately sick)." (Harrison)

d. Who can know it? The heart's deceit and wickedness are advanced enough that even the individual may not know or understand their own heart, and outsiders have even more difficulty in discerning the heart of others.

e. I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind: Though knowing the heart of one's self or others is difficult and sometimes impossible, God searches, tests, and knows the heart and mind. It is wise to trust what God says about us more than what we think or feel about ourselves.

i. I test the mind: "A second word is here set in parallel to heart, literally, 'kidneys', hidden depths. These, Yahweh assays or 'tests'…the two terms 'heart' and 'kidneys' cover the range of hidden elements in man's character and personality. Nothing is hidden from Yahweh." (Thomspon)

ii. "The Lord is called by his apostles, Acts 1:24, kardiognwsthv, the Knower of the heart. To him alone can this epithet be applied; and it is from him alone that we can derive that instruction by which we can in any measure know ourselves." (Clarke)