Remaining......

John 15

The Vine and the Branches

 ¹ “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 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.   ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
   ⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.


Recently, while reading and pondering this verse, I was convicted of a few things that needed to be "God-altered" in my heart.  Here are a few of those observations:
V:1 "I am the true vine and my Father is the Gardner."  Heavenly Father, oh so many times I have dared to think that was the gardener of my life.  I have attempted to weed and water as I saw fit rather than allowing You to be the Gardener and do Your work in and through me.


V:2-9   "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful".  As I read through this verse, I was reminded of my Grandmothers beautiful rose garden.  See, my Grandma's last name was Rose and she loved the flower and more importantly, she knew how to grow them.  She had over 40 roses brushes in her back yard which were all contained within two large circles that my Grandpa had dug out of the lawn over 30 years prior.  Some of the roses she had were transplanted from her garden at their prior home and were well over 40 years old. 


As I went to her home during the Spring and Summer, I learned a lot about pruning, growing and caring for roses.  Every once in a while, one of her beloved rose bushes would get what she called and which I came to know as a "runner"; a long. stray stem that would grow from somewhere near the bottom of the "stump" (base of the bush).  My Grandma explained it this way: "These runners have a mind of their own and need to be cut off so the rest of the bush will survive.  If we leave it there, it will take all of the nutrients from the rest of the bush and I will have a dead rose bush."


Each fall, after all of the roses had budded and bloomed, my Grandma would do something that would have all her neighbors buzzing.  She would take a large pair of cutters and from rose to rose she would snip and cut each branch on each bush until nothing remained until the stump.  Everyone would caution her......"Oh!  Mrs. Rose, don't do that!  That rose will never grow back!"  She would continue to prune each one until all were gray/brown stumps in the ground.  We would cover them all in mulch until once again uncovering them in the Spring when we saw glimpses of the branches poking through the mulch.  Sure enough, each Summer, her garden would be filled with beautiful flowers and the entire neighborhood would be filled with the intoxicating fragrance of Mrs. Rose's roses. 


Due to the pruning in the Fall each year, there was an overwhelming amount of flowers on each rose bush.  One time, I counted over 300 flowers on one bush.....each one about the size of a salad plate.  The pruning that so many were concerned would kill the bush is what made it so abundantly breathtaking and fragrant.


V:16  "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other."  


His command(ment) to love one another is just that...a command(ment).  Not a suggestion or a thought or even a comment that He desires to share.  The dictionary uses these words to describe a commandment: an authoritative direction or instruction to do something. So, loving others isn't an option for the Christian after God's own heart.  It is a divine commandment born of love and pruned, cared for and watered by the Lord out of His love for us all.  Who am I to not love someone when He has instructed me otherwise.  My heart was convicted anew as He showed me those in my life that I can love as He loves them.  Sometimes harder done than said, but I am working on it. :)


So thankful today for the new things He is showing me from His Word.  It is as I take His Word and apply it to my heart and life that I am changed.  I know this, but for a season, I have been in a place where my heart was questioning if what I was "doing" was making a difference.  It is not what I "do" but what He does through me that makes any real difference in the world and in the lives of those He places in my path each day.  My part in all of this is to "remain Him as He remains in me: to continue to be in the same place or to endure or to persist (according to the dictionary).  Ahhhh....and what a place it is to remain in Him.....but oh so much better that He would desire to remain in me as well!  Wow!  


Memorization Verse #12 (halfway there!) 
Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart

Jesus' Cross

Since moving our family to our little coastal town about 12 years ago, I have had a yearly sighting of a man carrying a cross along the highway.  He appears between May and July each year, and he walks along the highway between the small coastal town in which I reside and the slightly larger town where I work.  No, I am not seeing things, or seeing people that aren't there.  Others have seen him as well, so I KNOW that I am not crazy.  Trust me....the first few years of seeing him along the roadway on my way to work, I did question my sanity.  


Picture this: a HUGE wooden cross.  The man is rugged looking and sort of has a bit of a "hippy-vibe" about him.  He has no pack, no luggage and I have not seen him ever get into a vehicle.  Come to think of it, how would he haul that cross......perhaps a large trailer or a flatbed, maybe?  Seriously, the cross is at least 16 feet long and is probably 8 feet across and is made of what appears to be a 6"x6" post material.  When I spotted him yesterday, he was resting in a shady spot near the highway, and he had a white cardboard sign, but I couldn't make out the words that were written on it.  Today when I saw him, he was stopped along the roadway and a man a woman had stopped and were offering him a bottle of water and a subway sandwich.  


The thing that strikes me the most about this man is this:  he "carries" this huge cross on his shoulder; much the same way as artists depict Jesus carrying His cross to Calvary.  The striking difference between this man's cross and Jesus' is that unlike Jesus' cross, this man's cross has a little wheel attached at the bottom where it "drags" along the ground.


Here is what the Word says about "taking up" His cross.


^{Mark 8:34-38} 
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”


The Word goes on to tell us of the horrible and agonizing death the our Savior suffered for all of us.  While I do understand what this man with the cross is trying to "say" by his public display of "taking up their cross" and following Jesus.  I know the point he is trying to make.  However, I am not so sure that I would have understood his intentions back in the days before Jesus called me out of darkness.  I would have shrugged him off as a "weirdo" or a "freak" of some sort.  


For me, to "take up" my cross and follow him, is to surrender my life to Him completely.....daily, repeatedly.  It is a private "taking up" of the cross.  Much like Jesus' example as He carried His cross to Calvary's hill where He took on all of the sin of the world for all people for all time.  It was a private "taking up" of the cross for Jesus.....a willingness to follow the Father's will for His life even unto death.   In Jesus' quest to follow the Father, the ones who made it a public spectacle for all to see, were the very same ones yelling "Crucify Him, crucify Him."  He didn't make a large amount of noise, He wasn't drawing attention to Himself, or otherwise saying "Look at me, look at me! I'm headed to the cross to take on the world's sins!"  Rather, He was simply following His Father's lead and doing only what His Father asked of Him...nothing more, nothing less. 


Now, I am not the one to judge this man's motives, nor his intentions, nor his reasoning. That is up to the Father alone for He is the only One to judge any of us for anything.  I desire to live my life and to take up my cross such as Jesus did.  Every step of the way....following the Father, doing what He asks me to do for that moment in my life....nothing more and nothing less.  To quietly and simply live out the life He has given me.  To listen more than I speak and to hear before I share.  And to one day, quietly hear Him say to me: "Well done, good and faithful servant."  All glory be to God for His great love and sacrifice for us. 

Father's Day...Redefined

As the reality of my dad's passing continues to sink in (even after two years it seems like just yesterday) I was in church on Sunday and was really missing my dad (especially with everyone wishing all of the dads a happy Fathers Day).  As I was sitting in church, the Lord gentle reminded me that He is my Father and my dad's father too (since God has no grandchildren).  I cannot tell you the comfort that my heart felt as the Lord wrapped His arms around me and gave me the best Daddy hug I have ever received.  Too know that my dad is with my Father really sank in and warmed my heart so very much.

It was a difficult Sunday for me, as Dale and I were scheduled to usher and that particular ministry is one that I am not fully cut out for.  The sermon was good and once again the Lord welled up within me a few dreams that I had sort of assumed were no longer on the radar for me.  He reminded me within my very soul that it is all still there...just in His time and not mine.  As Dale reminded me, maybe He is asking me to be happy with were I am and in doing what it is that He is asking of me at this time in my life.  Waiting and serving with joy right where He has me, right at this moment.....nothing more, nothing less.  The rest is all in His time, in His hands and in His plan for me.

My prayers have been that I would be a women who runs after God's own heart....every moment, in the good, times, the bad times, the tough times, the rough times, the easy times, the beautiful times, the ugly times, the times of great happiness and times of great sorrow.  He is wanting my devotion to really come from a heart of worship....and I am learning that during this time of quietly waiting on Him and His timing.  Ugh!  So tough!  Knowing He will bring to fruition all that He has placed in my heart...all in His ultimate and perfect time.  Was going to close and say that I cannot wait to see what He is up to....but, really, honestly, I can wait....until He is ready to unveil these things in the ways that He desires.  So exciting to be sitting on pins and needles, so to speak, in anticipation about what He is planning!  Whoot!

Redefining Fathers Day for me means looking at each day of my life as my Father's day and preparing my heart for the little moments He allows me to participate in!

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Memory Verse #12

Wow!  Halfway to my goal of memorizing 24 new Scripture verses this year!  Whoot!

1 Cointhians 9: 24-25
 ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Simpler Times

Today, I am writing in hot pink in honor of my daughter, Alyssa.  She is an amazing young lady full of talent and so many gifts.  She has had some struggles and is learning from these times of doubt and rebellion.  


As I was watching her walk the aisle a few days ago during her high school graduation, I was reminded of many moments in this journey that is her life.  We have had a rough leg of the journey these past few years, and it is just recently that things are starting to look a bit brighter.  Through the years, we have had moments of sharing a laugh, sharing a joke, a smile, a cry, exchanging a glare, a frustrated sigh or a word.  We have had moments of not seeing eye to eye and other times where we say nothing and know what the other is thinking.  There have been times when we laugh so hard we cry, laughed again and then cried some more because it is just THAT funny!  There are so many things I appreciate about Alyssa Raquel that I would not have enough room here to share it with you and it would bore you anyway.  

I just wanted to take a moment and express how special she is to me and how my life would not have been as blessed without her in it.  I would not change one day, one moment, one event.....I would do it ALL over again to see the smile that I saw on her face during graduation.  ALYSSA did that....on her own and in record time!  I am so proud of you, Sis!  Love you more than you know and as I always say, "When you have a child of your own....then you'll know exactly how much I love you!".........so proud of you for all that you are and all that He has in store for you in your bright future!  ;)  Always remember Jeremiah 29:11  for He knows the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you a hope and a future!  Looking forward to watching you move into all He has for you in your future!  Love ya, Mom

New Season

As Alyssa is preparing for her graduation day and has just celebrated her 18th birthday, and as Zach is in college and out on his own, I cannot help but wonder what is around the bend in my life.  As I am looking ahead, I have also spent some time looking back and praying to God for my future as I thank Him for my past.

The Lord has blessed me soooo much in my life and I am so grateful for all that He has given me and done for and through me.  When Zach was young, I was able to be a stay-at-home mom and I was blessed with that experience.  One month before Alyssa was born, Dale lost his job.  Our lives changed drastically as we learned to adjust in many ways.  It was necessary for me to take a job and while some may think that was a tragedy in our lives, actually it was a blessing.  Dale and I were able to work out our schedules so that Zach and Alyssa had minimal time at the childcare provider.  The Lord blessed us with some amazing women who were all truly gifted in the art of childcare.

While we made mistakes with our children (who doesn't?) we did many things right.  I know this because of the adults they have become.  Other people are always telling me that my children are amazing people.  As their mom, I KNOW this to be true, but when others say this, it brings a joy to my heart that makes me so very grateful to Him for being such a great example of what a parent should be. He has blessed me indeed.  Thank You, Father, for placing Zach and Alyssa in our care.

Now, as I look ahead at my life without the responsibility of having to "raise up a child the way that he should go", I get to watch as they get older and they "do not depart from it" (the teachings of the Lord that He has allowed me to share with them through the years).  I know that both Zach and Alyssa are the way they are today....not because of me, not because of Dale, but because Dale and I took the time to listen to the Lord and obey His ways in raising our children.  No part of their life is a surprise to Him (I know this to be true because no partt of my life is a surprise to Him either....or your life for that matter).  Not that we listened to Him ALL of the time..again we are not perfect (again, who is?).....but He is a perfect God and when we listen to Him, follow Him and follow His ways, we are blessed. I am extremely proud of my children, happy to be called their Mom, and blessed beyond measure at the people they have become.  While there are things in their lives that I may or may not agree with, I love them for who they are....Zachery Aaron Quale and Alyssa Raquel Quale.

While there is a bit of sadness at not being "needed" on the same level as I have been in their past, I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me in the years ahead.  Knowing that He works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, I know that He has my future in His hands. Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse I claimed over my family, back when it was just Dale and I.  Little did I know at the time what the truth of this verse would mean to me all of these years later as I have claimed this verse over and over again and have clung to the truth of it.  Looking forward to my future with anticipation, with hope and with a renewed gratitude for the love He has bestowed on me time and time again in my life.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for  you," declared the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future."


The Words I Would Say 
By: Sidewalk Prophets
Three in the morning, and I'm still awake 
So I picked up a pen and a page 
And I started writing just what I'd say 
If we were face to face 
I'd tell you just what you mean to me 
Tell you these simple truths 

Chorus 
Be strong in the Lord 
And never give up hope 
You're gonna do great things 
I already know God's got His hand on You 
So don't live life in fear 
Forgive and forget 
But don't forget why you're here 
Take your time and pray 
These are the words I would say 

Last time we spoke you said you were hurting 
And I felt your pain in my heart 
I want to tell you that I keep on praying 
Love will find you where you are 
I know 'cause I've already been there 
So please hear these simple truths 

Chorus 

Say from one simple life to another 
I will say come find peace in the Father 
Be strong in the Lord 
And never give up hope 

You're gonna do great things I already know 
God's got His hand on You 
So don't live life in fear 
Forgive and forget 
But don't forget why you're here 
Take your time and pray 
And thank God for each day 
His love will find a way 
These are the words I would say

Memory Verse #11

 2 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV) Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.