Fond Greetings, My Friend ... It's Been a While ;)

Has it really been since February since I've updated? ;) Wow! I guess life has been busy these days! Things have been going well ... For an update, I hardly know where to begin? ;)

Maybe just a few of the highlights of the past few months ...

Beautiful snowfall in February and March ... what a treat!

More walks at the nature preserve

Such good times of prayer and fellowship in the Lord with friends

Continue to be so grateful for my church home

Heard such an impactful message from Pastor Francis Chan when he came and shared with our staff ... Two things that especially stood out to me from his sharing were:

1) When he shared about some believers who had been in danger for their lives, but who, when back to a place of safety, went and told their pastor they wished they were back in that place of suffering ... because of the incredible sense of closeness they experienced with Jesus. Pastor Chan talked about how he believes there is a special sweetness experienced for those who suffer in Christ.

2) When he shared about how the Lord provided for something he longed for (but couldn't justify spending the $$ on) in a special way ... He was so excited and basically said, "Is there ANYTHING in my life that the Lord doesn't care about?" Praise the Lord! What an encouraging reminder that we can trust Him ...that He is so good and knows what is best for us ... and, of course, those moments when He blesses us with something fun and "extra special" are fun and such a tangible reminder of His love for us, too. :) I feel like snow is one of those things for me ... It really felt so special that it snowed so much this year, and I was so happy! :))

And... judging from all the snowmen popping up around here when we had the incredible snowfall back in February, I would say I wasn't the only one! :-)

How He Spoke to My Heart

It's amazing how the Lord works ... So, last Thursday and Friday I was out of the office with maybe really bad sinues mixed with a mild cold? Anyhow, I struggled at different times with discouragement over that time and over the weekend ... I think the Enemy knows we're often most vulnerable when we're physically under the weather and/or tired... and I guess I was both. ;-) [or should that be ;-(]

But just to show you how amazing and patient and merciful God is ... I had been experiencing a desperate lack of spending time in His Word, alone with Him ... So either Friday or Saturday night (I think Sat.?) I was reading .... some more .... in a Christian fiction book ..... yes, instead of reading in the Word, which I was really desperately needing!

But in the book, one of the main characters "discovered" a really encouraging passage of Scripture ... and the Lord used that to speak to me and encourage me so much ... I even ended up writing part of it on my bathroom mirror .... Quite a while back, I had adopted a friend's idea of writing Scriptures on the bathroom mirror with those dry-erase markers ... :) Anyhow, before I head home for some much-needed time with Jesus [(smile, blush ... yes, please hold me accountable ... I need it! :))] .... here is the amazing passage He led me to this weekend ...

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come ..." --Song of Songs 2:11,12a

It really feels like something the Lord is speaking to my heart ... I get such a picture of His love and His care over me in these wonderful words... :) Reminds me a little of Zephaniah 3:17, where it talks about Him singing over us. Isn't that amazing?!