Home Is Where the Heart Is...

I received a phone call just a few days ago letting me know that Takako is going Home.

Her two sisters have come all the way from Japan,

and in just a few short days they will escort Takako onto the plane,

and they will all fly back to Japan together.

Yet,

Takako's journey Home,

is not to Japan -

her Home you see,

is where her heart is.

And this sweet woman's heart belongs

to God.

I wanted more time to put together a little book for her.

The few hours that I had was time enough.

Polished it is not.

Full of love from her sisters in Christ...

it is.

In early February,
in the Bible Study Room,
I wrote...

Please pray for Takako.

This dear woman has just been recently told that her cancer has now spread to her brain.

Many, if not all of you girls have heard Angie speak often of Takako.

I had the joy of meeting her last July when we went to visit Angie's Auntie Jean, I remember that when I was about to take her picture, she quietly asked me, "Is my wig on straight?" I was so astonished and said, "Takako! I didn't even know that you were wearing a wig!"

She smiled the sweetest smile, which was captured in the picture above.

Lovely.

God's banner over this precious woman is 'Love'...

and so as we pray for God's will to be done in Takako's life,

we are praying beyond all that we ourselves could ever ask or think.

Although Takako was not able to physically join us in our weekly Bible Studies,

she has always been a much loved and important part of our group,

through Pure Grace.

There are 47 pages in this little memory book,

may it bless you Takako,

as you make your way Home.

With love,

your sisters

Pure Grace...

Pure Grace truly is The True Beauty of Everyday Life -

He Is Pure Grace,

He Is True Beauty,

He Is Today,

He Is Life,

He Is... Jesus.

Although Today I walk in the Beauty of the Reality of Christ, it was not always this way!

As with every other single person that has ever stepped out of darkness and into His wondrous Light, there are spiritual and natural threads that have woven together my own particular 'before and after' story; the Story that makes up the fabric of my days, and which continues to be woven together and lived out on the (sometimes dusty) roads of life.

I pray that the following video, 'Cardboard Testimonies", will bless you and encourage you today.

How would your 'cardboard testimony' read?

Satisfied...

Delight yourself in the Lord...

and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

I almost titled this post "Be Careful What You Throw Away". It was all because of an interesting comment that I heard this past week. It was in the context of a conversation regarding spring cleaning. A kind of 'out with the old and in with the new' perspective. This woman said, "...I need to take away in order to have more of what I want in my life." It sounded deep enough at the time... the spring cleaning that was being spoken of was a 'spiritual spring cleaning'. But as the conversation continued on, I was still musing on it, and my first thought was "Uh-Oh".

Isn't it just a fact that as soon as we get rid of something, there's another 'something' close behind it to takes it's place? This is true of the physical realm and also true of the spiritual realm. I can see this quite easily in my garden, especially in the spring when I begin to clear out and divide my plants. My intent may be to create space around a certain planting, but within a few weeks, if the plant hasn't taken the space over, then the weeds certainly have! Especially if I have not been tending to the soil! It's the same in our home. Remove one piece of furniture and something inevitably takes it's place. Remove old shirts from the closet, new shirts take their place. It's also true in the spiritual realm, when something gets moved out... something else is bound to be movin' in!

So here's the thing. We may take away a few things in order to have more of what we want in our lives -but is what we want in our lives, the best for our lives?

Let's face it, every one of us have desires... personal, relational, financial, whatever...; yet the Bible tells us that our hearts are deceitful. Yes, we can actually be deceived through our own hearts desires! By its very definition, 'desireable' means 'attractive'... it's a fact, there are just plain, flat out, ALOT of attractive things in the world; eye-candy, that parades before us day and night, 24/7 would definitely apply here! The word 'desire' carries with it the meaning of 'appetite or craving'. Every one of us has our own particular appetite. What trips your trigger, may not trip mine, but the principle is the same... we all have the propensity to being deceived by our own hearts desires and then... following through on them.

In Genesis, Eve was attracted to the fruit that was forbidden to her because it was a 'delight to her eyes' and because it was 'desireable' to her; so, she acted on this deception of the heart, took the fruit, ate it and proceeded to then gave some to her husband and he went right on ahead and ate it too... and all of humanity has been tainted since!

It's interesting to note that Eve already had the wisdom of God. She could have gone to God at any time and asked Him anything, but she was deceived; not only by the serpent, but by her own lust, her own appetite, her own desire, into thinking that she could and should have MORE... and besides, the MORE was attractive to her eyes.

She and Adam, were both willing to do some personal 'spring cleaning', determining for themselves that they would cast 'out' the wisdom of God in order to have more of what they wanted in their lives... and they got it. Hmm-mm......

Not all of our choices in life are going to bear such weighty consequences, but I have learned that there is nothing, not one single thing that we do, that is insignificant in the spiritual realm, which also has its out-workings in the physical realm. To 'delight' ourselves in God is to be 'satisfied' with Him, and in Him. When we are satisfied in Him, then our desires are satiated in Him, and the propensity of our heart is then to only desire what He desires.

It's an awesome thing... when we truly delight and are satisfied in the Lord, in Who He is and in His ways, then His desires for us become our desires... and I ask you, what could be more delightful than that!

"...For I know that plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Cleaning house is always a good thing... let's just be careful what we throw out!