Don’t you think it’s time? Don’t you think it’s time?
I would swim out to save you In your sea of broken dreams When all your hopes are sinkin’ Let me show you what love means
Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine. Love can build a bridge.
Don’t you think it’s time? Don’t you think it’s time
I would whisper love so loudly
Every heart could understand
That love and only love Can join the tribes of man.
I would give my heart’s desire, so that you might see
…The first step is to realize What it all begins with you and me.
. Chorus: Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine. Love can build a bridge.
Don’t you think it’s time? Don’t you think it’s time?
When we stand together,
It’s our finest hour. We can do anything… …Anything…
Keep believin in the power.
Love & Only Love….
Did you know that Jesus did build that bridge? God left his beautiful and perfect world in Heaven to become a baby, to suffer because of the wrongs/sins we have done, what we do wrong now and the wrongs that we will do in the future! This makes up for Adam & Eve eating the stupid apple because they were tricked by the evil serpent. Jesus died on the cross to become a sacrifice in our place. A simple example of this would be if my father here spoke up and said, “I will take Kathy’s spanking and go without TV for a month in her place. However, that is a much less profound example of His grace and forgiveness than Jesus did for us, His children.
Grace is favor and forgiveness, not because we did good things for Jesus, but because He loves us more than we can understand. Grace has more to do with an attitude or decision. We choose our attitude most of the time, our response to upsetting news or circumstances. Mercy is the action that results from the act of grace. Our Heavenly Father wants us to become more like Him little by little. Love more and more….
Through Jesus’ death on the cross, the veil between God and people was torn from top to bottom Matthew 27: 15. Pure, clean animal sacrifices were no longer required, as they were in the Old Testament and before Jesus died. Jesus changed it all. People did not have to follow 614 laws, an impossible task. Jesus became the bridge of Love between God and us. He took a bullet on our behalf. This means that we have direct access to God. I know it is hard to wrap your head around it (Me too)! I don’t know anything much about how the sun, wind, snow, stars moon…. were created but I see and or feel them, so I know they exist. Here is a question for you; is love a feeling or is it a choice? I think I will tackle that question next time.
End of death, sin, agony and pain. Abundant joy and life everlasting. Savior for the broken, imperfect souls in every one of us.
Triumph over addiction, hate, loneliness, depression and tears.
Everyone who asks has a mansion in His heaven.
Redeeming grace, love and forgiveness He gives His children.
These are the the blessings that my husband, my parents my grandparents are now enjoying, yet my frail human spirit misses them all and thinks of them daily. Part of me longs to be with them, yet I am still here. This means that my job is not yet done. Due to my Cerebral Palsy, I did not expect to be. Several people told my Barry to expect to be a widower at a young age. The irony is that God had other plans and took my husband first. just last year.
I had grieved deeply before. But, my grandparents as well as my parents were all very ill, very elderly or both. In any case, I had time to get used to the idea. I had learned that it is better that they go Home, away from me, that for me to pray for them to stay with me is very selfish on my part. This did not come to me in a flash of great insight, but gradually. I lost them slowly, inch by inch. I was aware of the magnitude of their suffering whether they spoke of it or not. I felt it!
With Barry, it was very different. I felt like he was stolen from me and our daughter. I watched her do CPR on him. I saw him being yanked to the ground as the EMT’s arrived. After 33 years 3 months 1 day and 22 hours, he was just gone in the blink of eye, before my daughter could tell him that we loved him. There was no denial nor bargaining with God. I tried. I was reading the last few pages of the book by Don Piper, 90 Minutes in Heaven. I was told by someone to leave – they needed room to move around. Like so many times before, I was in the way, my chair took up too much space, and it kept me from being where I should have in the bed, holding his hand. Suddenly, it occurred to me that this was the reason that God had me read the book. I was to pray my Barry back to life. I prayed and I prayed. I could not lose him now. In a few months we would be in a position to buy a home of our our own, out of a major city. His tests had actually shown stability and his blood sugar and blood pressure were down. Therefore, death seemed impossible! Up until I left him at the funeral home for the last. time, I held out hope for a miracle! His face looked at peace, not contorted in pain. The constant pain made him have age lines that he may not have had yet, but for the pain, The lines were not present in younger years. The biggest lesson I learned was God/Jesus does hear and respond to our prayers. Barry was finally free of pain and constant self-doubt. He never felt worthy or good enough on this Earth! From the look of peace on his face, I knew that he finally felt good enough, loved enough. That was a miracle! (Matt. 7-8). Also, Romans 8: 28. However, I wanted it done here on Earth with me to witness it, but God wanted it done a different way! Until, I left him, I thought it may be the ultimate Joke. He looked like he was having the best sleep in ages! There was a small part of me that expected him to suddenly awaken and say “Gotcha good that time, didn’t I?
Who was going to take care of me? I certainly did not want my/our daughter to carry that burden. The truth is I need a lot of help with ADL’s, otherwise, called essential activities of daily living. These include: bathing, dressing, transferring in/out of bed etc. Another lesson I learned is just how much our daughter is like her dad. Just at the time that my income went down a great deal and my rent was going up well past my total income, my daughter found a place which she could afford, just as her dad had planned, away from the city. While the care-giving situation has not always been smooth (it takes 6 people to take the place of my Barry). Naturally, that doesn’t even count the spousal things that go into it! BUT, my point is that God provides! (Matthew 6). Again, (Romans 8:28). Sometimes, it is just enough, but He is taking care of me!
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV®) Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The NLT puts it this way.
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[d] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
By the time I was three, I was in school. More than 55 years ago, this was a novel approach because severely disabled children were often kept at home or institutionalized. I am so grateful that I spent four years at California Avenue School; everyone from the bus drivers to the class helpers treated us like we were family. Each had a special calling and gift to be God’s hands and feet. Sometimes, he or she was our hands and feet because many of us could not use ours in a functional way. What a loving way to serve others! As I look back, I realize that the staff worked tirelessly to give us life experiences that we may not ever have otherwise.
I was about four years old when I got to experience something I never thought I would – I was able to plant a tree from a seed. I was so thrilled to start a new life from a seed. I don’t know that I quite understood about prayer at age three or four, but I can tell you that I sure hoped for it. I hoped that it would sprout, after it sprouted, I hoped that it would grow taller and stronger than any other tree in my class! I watered and talked to it regularly, And I HOPED! * Note: (My hope worked.)
Before long, it was time to take it home. I gleefully noticed that it was taller than all the others. Only a small child could come up with this premise. Since my daddy was tall and strong and the tree was the tallest, therefore, it must also be strong. Dad went out to the back yard and dug a massive hole for my tiny tree. “Why is Daddy digging such a huge, deep hole?” Mom explained that it would grow into not just a tall tree, but it would grow a broad trunk to support it. The twigs that were there would transform into many limbs. Ten years later, nobody could not see the treetop. Everyone was amazed at how much it had grown in so short a time! Its strength was tested in mighty ways by the heavy rains and winds that came in the winters of 79-80 and 82-83. Both winters saw Mom digging a trench in hopes that we wouldn’t flood. Mom had gathered some of our things in case of evacuation. She was terribly anxious that my eucalyptus tree would fail to withstand the assault it was taking from the raging storms. You see, eucalyptus trees were/are notorious for falling because of their shallow root systems. However, mine bent, but itsfoundation of trunk and roots had to be stronger than numerous others because it continued to stand upright and prosper. It didn’t care that it had reputation for going down in storms. It just looked forward and grew. This example means I and everyone else has to leave their past mistakes behind and make forward progress. This is often very difficult, (for me too_ because we have the little devil on our shoulder) whispering to us about some terrible time that we failed or that caused us to doubt ourselves and God. The important things to remember is that God will meet us wherever we are – even if are in the depths of despair, addiction, illness etc. That means that God can and does prune off the dead parts of us that aren’t growing and shape us into a more loving and caring person – like a good parent does in the world.
Like my tree that cannot look back and recall when it was a seedling or first planted in the soil, we are supposed to continue growing and moving ahead as individuals and as a church. The following scripture illustrates the point that we grow through Christ. He waters us, gives us the sun and the rain along with fertilizer if we let him inside our hearts.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15: 1-4.
Ask him and he right there waiting for you; open the door! Don’t be afraid to go forward and don’t be reluctant to grow in Christ. Keep in mind that he doesn’t always keep disasters away, but with Jesus’ walking with you; he gives you the grace to deal with them. We have confidence that either on Earth or in Heaven, He will repay us! Remember, our fullest reward will be eternal life with Him and our loved ones in the realms of Heaven.
I am beginning a new journey in my life, and I am really feeling the butterflies. I felt them when I started school with able-bodied kids, when I was about to become a big sister, graduate high school, when I became Barry’s wife, became Kristie’s mom, started college at nearly 47 years old… In other words whenever I was about to undertake some big step in my life, the butterflies in my stomach visit me until I built up some faith and confidence. May I be God’s good servant and be a blessing as I start my internship training this Thursday and Friday! Thank you Barry. Kristie, Glen and TJ for your love and support. Keep good thoughts for me this week, and say a prayer for me if you are so inclined!
So much has changed in the seven years since I wrote that: my hopes and dreams have had to morph into other hopes that don’t include Barry. The love of my life went Home in 2019, and I miss him beyond words! We have so many funny memories together though, thank God! This one was a tragedy to me at the time it happened. Oh, I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole because I was so mortified. I was sixteen, and he was twenty-one. He was a worldly U.S. Marine; I was a sheltered, painfully shy almost Junior in high school. Sweet sixteen and never been kissed – that was me! That day it showed! I had no idea what was going to happen, but my mother did. I was pushing my wheelchair to my room. I was ambushed, Barry on one side and his friend on the other. They planted a big fat kiss on each cheek. Immediately, my face felt warm with humiliation as they (all three) broke out in peels of laughter. Mother could hardly stand up from laughing so hard. It was obvious that she had been in on the evil plan from its inception. It was also clear that I had had the reaction she expected. That made me angry! I didn’t want to have this reaction. I wanted to be stone faced, to have no visible sign that it bothered me. Indeed, that would have spoiled her fun. However, my face was turning redder than a very ripe strawberry and was as hot as fire! Decades later, it was one of Barry’s favorite stories to tell about me!
It is hard to believe that over 40 years have gone by since that day, I have gone from Barry’s friend to his widow and from a sheltered young teen to a Grammy. It is equally hard to fathom that something that so angry 40 + years ago can bring a grin to me. Perhaps, it is the way you called me cute at the end every single time you told it that makes me smile. One thing I am absolutely sure of – I still love more today than yesterday but not as much as tomorrow!
1 Corinthians 13:7 {Love and hope{ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Is Love a feeling or a choice? Merriam-Webster defines it this way:
strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. as in maternal love for a child.
attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers.
affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests. love for his old schoolmates.
Like many people, I enjoy music and when I read the given definitions, certain songs come to my mind. “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride, is a special song to me because it conveys that wonderful, mystical bond between a mother and daughter, in part what I feel for my own daughter.
“In my daughter’s eyes I am a hero I am strong and wise and I know no fear But the truth is plain to see She was sent to rescue me I see who I wanna be In my daughter’s eyes……”
It is unbreakable because Jesus blesses it and ass His SUPER DUPER GLUE to it. That is what being a mom and now a grandmom is like for me. The moment I knew they were coming, my heart grew and hasn’t stopped. That is a feeling, but a decision came with that feeling – to be the best mom /grandmom humanly possible with His help and guidance.
Lusty Crush vs. Romantic Love
Lust means a passionate enthusiasm. A common phrase used is lust for life. I think lusty love often starts off with a crush, the kind of thing that robs you of logic, common sense or reasonable thought. My heart skipped a beat and my brain turned into mashed potatoes by the simple thought of him. If my eyes caught his, I grew weak. I don’t think I will insult the reader’s intelligence by posting the words to a song about sexual desire. There are so many songs about that these days, they are like grains of sand on a California beach, impossible to count! Furthermore, it needs no explanation because people understand it. However, it can often lead to trouble and difficulties that make people go down longer, harder paths than they expected. The second part of that definition has to do with affection and tenderness and is a little more difficult to put into words. At first, it may begin like the song, Love is a Many Splendored Thing:
“Once on a high and windy hill In the morning mist two lovers kissed And the world stood still Then your fingers touched my silent heart And taught it how to sing Yes, true love’s a many-splendored thing….”
Yes, love between two single people can be a splendid thing, But, lasting love is much richer and more layered than the above words. It begins with all those feelings of attraction, romance, long looks – my day is not complete unless I see you type of feeling. The person. becomes a part of you, more important than legs or arms over time. Barry was and is that person for me. The words from Jim Croche’s, Time in a Bottle come to mind. Young love and mature love combine to become unbreakable because Jesus blesses it:
The love we experience here pales to the love Jesus has for us and the love that we will have in Heaven. It will be pure, not sullied by fear, anger, unworthiness or any other dirty thing. Jesus ripped the veil of separation that kept us away from God. He was/is the perfect mediator between God and man, the bridge between us. God so loved the world[ His kids] that he sent His SON to die on the cross for our sins so that We ALL have the chance to have life forever in heaven with Him. We only need to believe this and accept the forgiveness that he freely extends to us. And on the third day, he rose up, and left His burial place and went to Heaven, just as the Bible says. Yes, we are still imperfect humans as long as we are here on earth, BUT when we are saved, we love Him enough to keep learning about Him so we pray and repent – turn around our thinking and our actions. So, He takes our sins away as far as the east is from the west, erasing them!
Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper
I just learned something about this symbol we do to remember His sacrifice on the cross. The Eucharist (from the Greek eucharistia for “thanksgiving”) is the central act of Christian worship and is practiced by most Christian churches in some form. Along with baptism it is one of the two sacraments most clearly found in the New Testament (Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; and Luke 22:17–20) and in the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 11:23–25).
Perhaps Jesus deserves more credit for our Thanksgiving dinner, maybe not though. After all, the pilgrims and Indians served more than bread and wine. At any rate, He surely deserves our thanks and praise for loving us first so we can Him and other people. That is the best part of ourselves. the ability to love and be loved. (1st Cor. 13). Now, let us go back to my original question: is love a feeling or a decision? Often, the attraction or feeling has to be involved before the decision can be made, in my opinion. What do you think?
Here is a special song that I love – Because He Lives
God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive; He lived and died to buy my pardon, An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone, Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!
How sweet to hold a newborn baby, And feel the pride and joy he brings; But greater still the calm assurance: This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!
And then one day, I’ll cross the river, I’ll fight life’s final war with pain; And then, as death gives way to victory, I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!
Lent really hit me this year, pardon the pun. Yes, I had heard much of story before, but this year I took it into my heart in a deeply profound way.
The suffering he must have endured at the last supper in the Upper Room. Since I have been doing a Bible Study based on The Chosen, I realize that Jesus knew exactly what horrors lay ahead of Him! How hard it must have been to look upon the face of Judas knowing He was the one to betray Him. But, in the movie, I watched his face when he first met Judas. On one hand, he was so joyful to know and disciple him personally. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could have 1 on 1 talks with Him, the Source himself? Our understanding would be so clear!
37 years ago we started our journey together as a newly married couple. We had so many dreams, we were wearing hearts on sleeves. Oh, how I loved you that day; it seemed impossible that I could love you even more in the days to come, but love and being loved back grows more love! What an important life lesson. I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. That is a song lyric, but I had forgotten until I heard it years later. We said it so often to each other. Oh, I still say it, but I miss you rushing to say it first, as if that meant that you loved me more. Oh, how I miss so many things, but they were/are memories that I treasure in my heart, to be pulled out of their box at any moment. Take precious care of CK, our angel baby. He too. what a blessing, he also made my heart grow. Eliana, she is a dose of Miracle Grow, that one. That one is so special! What a sweet, precious gift! November 9, 1985, my favorite, yet bittersweet day, for without that day, there would be no July 9, 1987 or July 31, 2021, Kristie and Eliana.
31 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
The imagery of an eagle soaring with its powerful wings evokes a vivid picture that like that beautiful Eagle, since we believe in Jesus and He dwells in us, we have the strength, bold courage, and peace of this majestic bird. It is called faith!
· Why does Isaiah use the imagery of a flying Eagle? From day one, eagles have enormous, powerful wings. However, unlike other birds, who flap their wings in stay in the air, eagles spread out their wings and hold them still for the purpose of soaring – gliding through the air with ease.
· To fly an eagle waits for big gusts of winds called wind thermals. Sometimes, an eagle will perch and wait for days to catch a wind thermal that can carry it. I wonder if the waiting period frustrates the eagle as much as it does people. However, we too often forget to lean on and trust our Lord.
· Storms provide outstanding wind thermals; therefore, an eagle will intentionally search for a storm, rather than avoid it. It knows that by experiencing the temporary adversity, it will be lead to clear, peaceful skies above. In other words, it will be much better in the long run.
· If an eagle flaps its wings too much during flight, it may die from using too much of its energy.
Father, I am so tired of trying to weather the storms of life by myself. I need Your power and strength to face each one. Give me the strength to soar like an eagle as You soar alongside me. Please teach me to turn to You first. Help me learn to patiently withstand the hard times and honor You in the midst of them as I walk, or in some cases, roll by faith. Allow Jesus to be my pilot, my Eagle!
It has been 21 years since I wrote this poem. I recall exactly where I was at the time. I was in my bedroom in Vista, CA. Barry and Kristie were at work and school (8th grade). Suddenly, there was a silent image on the TV screen of a plane striking the first of the Twin Towers; just a few seconds before, Little House on the Prairie had been rolling its opening credits. It was one continuous, silent loop as if seeing the plane crash into the building 20 times would clarify everything, I sat there and watched – dumbfounded and confused. I had only felt that way twice before when I was gutted to my core, the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. After what seemed to be an hour, but was really only a minute or two, I turned to The Today Show. However, the usually too perky Katie Couric was not at all perky as she explained the grim news. She seemed just as confused as me. She was referring to it as a horrible, catastrophic accident until the second plane slammed into the remaining tower about an hour later. This began a hellish time for our country, but there was some good to come from it too. As a country, we were unified against a common enemy, for an all too short moment in history.
True, we had no idea who that enemy was at the time, that the so-called “War on Terror” had/has begun. I don’t think it will end until Jesus’ returns and takes his rightful place as King of the Heavens and the Earth. Pray for our country and the world – that a new wave of love and compassion will sweep over us. Sprinkle salt all over us so we may be examples of Your salt and light.
This is a poem I wrote in Sept. 2001.
Heroes All
They took so many lives, fractured countless others,
They made us all weep.
In our collective sorrow,
we came together and found
our pride & faith deep.
As we face the very difficult days ahead,
Let them remain in our hearts for keeps.
I pray for the rescue workers, the victims and the armed forces
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)
K-popawheely 