Be Still PAGE 63

The front of the card from my Aunt Audrey!

In this rushed and busy time of year many of us fall into a frenzy of busyness.  In the well-meaning pursuit of spreading joy we exhaust ourselves to the point that we do not personally enjoy the blessings around us.  We can become so overwhelmed we overlook the gifts of family, friendship, and the spirit of goodness that is meant to beckon our hearts into that divine place of gratefulness and appreciation during this blessed time of year.  I am one such person.  With all the activities of the season keeping me busy I did not truly find the time to remember the reason for the season.  Of course I had good intentions and with a heart full of hope I truly tried but the material realm in which we live is so material-driven that my spirit simply held on for the ride. 

Two days after Christmas I found myself home from the holidays with the lull of the after-party soothing my mind.  In this blessed silence the Lord chose to speak to me in the most profound way because He knew that in the stillness I would hear Him and, frankly, He had something to say! I write these things down and share them because it’s my heart’s hope that you see how God speaks to us and to also show you that when He speaks with such kindness, using a particular emphasis, we should be amazed.  It’s easy to overlook God’s voice or simply call certain things coincidence- but I’ve learned that God works within irony and that truly nothing is coincidental or ironic. Here is the blessing I want to share:

December 27th, waking before my family I took our dog, Jimbo, for a morning walk.  The day was starting off quietly for many reasons; one being that the Texas wind wasn’t blowing, though it usually is.  With my cup of coffee I walked behind Jimbo as he explored.  We came up to the creek that had recently been full of rushing rain water and yet this morning the water was oddly still.  Immediately I thought of the scripture that says The Lord "leads me beside still waters”.  I felt this remembrance ushered some holiness into my day and with reverence acknowledged that I was walking beside still waters.  My heart was grateful that God was near. I truly appreciated His momentary presence, thanked Him and moved along. 

Back at home I began going through the mail, particularly the Christmas Cards that I had received while we were gone for the holidays and I opened the most beautiful card from my sweet Aunt Audrey.  It simply read “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)   Interestingly, it displayed a stunning picture of a snow-ladened creek sitting among the woods with its water as still as the day I was experiencing! It was a poignant reminder to me, yet again, of God’s presence. I truly felt awed by the parallel message and I told myself I’d keep that card forever, in honor of my aunt, and then opened my daily devotional entitled Jesus Calling to do my daily reading.  The date, of course, was December 27^th so I begin reading that page.  The second sentence of that devotional says, “Take time to be still in My Presence so that I can strengthen you.”

HERE is where we all need to pause in stillness for a moment.  God spoke and He spoke and He spoke using the word Still or Stillness!  It is undeniable that my day was starting off full of irony-but, like I already stated; nothing in this world is truly ironic and God works within irony!  I knew that God was speaking and I  knew that, spiritually, I needed to be still and pray over this amazing experience!  So in awed stillness I went to the Lord in prayer and quoted the 23^rd Psalm knowing that within this passage and prayer I'd find more of what God was trying to tell me:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside still waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

For you are with me;

Your rod and your staff,

They comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me

All the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

FOREVER.”

Psalm 23

This scripture means many things to many people.  It is a well-known scripture that has comforted humanity for centuries.  After I prayed and acknowledged God’s gift of mercy through this profound scripture and through three encounters with the simple directive to be still, I went and opened my Bible to Psalm 23 and several applicable truths God wanted me to meditate on leaped off the page.  Here they are: 

·      He restores my soul- due to my sinfulness I needed a reminder of this in a profound way.

·      I will fear no evil – I needed to be reminded fear is NOT from God

·      I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever – I needed to be reminded that I am forever HIS-no matter what!  God knew I needed this powerful reminder of what my future holds.

On this December 27th God targeted my spiritual being in a profound way.  God called out to me three times to tell me that He was near! As I walked by the creek He reminded me that He is present in my life.  Through the Christmas card He reminded me to be still and acknowledge that He is God- (He is large and in charge).  Then, through my daily devotional, He talked to me and flat told me to be still so that He can strengthen me.  He knew I was in a weakened state and needed a reminder that through faith I will be sustained and that He will strengthen me so that I can get through any struggle and any pain, shame, disappointment or sorrow that comes my way.  In the wake of a new year I just wanted to inspire you with the best New Year's Resolution EVER:  that you can "OVERCOME" as well! 

Wishing you the Happiest of New Years!  May you remember to seek God’s voice within the ironic and may you see Christ’s work in the coincidental.  May the Lord’s merciful love fill your heart and home, today and always! 

RvH

Song Recommendation:

Still

By:  Hillsong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3wwWFsSlNQ

Reality Shift Page 62

“For you did not receive a spirit
that makes you a slave again to fear,
 but you received the Spirit of sonship.

And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit
that we are God’s children.

Now if we are children then we are heirs—

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…”

Romans 8: 15-17

Below is a long introduction to a revelation that God recently provided for me.  The astounding “reality shift” I am about to share with you was revealed over time through different sources –and this in itself is a God-thing for that is exactly how God works, teaches and reaches us.  This account begins richly within the storyline of my family nucleus…and comes full circle to the fact that we have a heavenly family that provides the same devotion and love that we share with our earthly family.  The scriptural statement that we are "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” is purposed and significant.  It has been specifically used so that we can “relate” to our invisible God.  The concise wording of "heir" serves to validate our family lineage and remind us of our rights as Children of God.  I hope that this writing gives you a small understanding of the true feelings we can establish toward God, the Father and Jesus, His Son! I honestly hope that you deeply perceive this revelation as profoundly as I:

To begin, I’ll say that sometimes tragedy brings to light things that we don’t expect.  In the midst of pain we find we face emotions and knowledge we didn’t know we had.  We can quickly and profoundly bump into truths that were tucked out of sight-deep within. The August-2016 flood that hit south Louisiana was a catastrophic event that was literally a “once every 1000 years” flood.  That’s astounding in the light of our lifetime.  As God would have it, eight of my family members where affected by this epic flood… and even more profound was the fact that I happened to be in Louisiana helping my eldest daughter begin her college career at LSU when the rain began.  The rain started on Thursday and literally 2 days later my hometown was under water.  (If you wonder about the flood of Noah and how that happened…I can tell you that water rises faster than you could ever imagine). 

Early in the day that Saturday, my dad was pacing.  He began to say out loud what none of us could fathom;  “That water is coming in this house.”  I kept following him around, or perhaps just pacing myself, thinking and actually saying out loud…. “No, it’s not.” Their home has never flooded and is not even in a floodplain but, upon my father’s instructions, my family moved into action elevating all the furniture.  That shocked me and I began shaking with an inner fear that can only be explained by facing something you actually can’t believe is happening. Yes, we were just elevating furniture but my fear was also rising and this disturbed me.  Gratefully, I have not been in this position many times in my lifetime but I can tell you, now, that it’s a weird state-of-mind to process.  Unfortunately, some tragedies happen suddenly!  This one slowly rose into reality as we all watched. 

The water indeed came into my parents homestead and affected 7 other family members.  After the water seeped off we became overwhelmed with physical exhaustion from the vast amount of manual labor that sat before us day after day.  Mental exhaustion was also a constant feeling during those days; as we were all caught in the midst of a flood of different sorts than the actual water that rose to consume the homes of our loved ones.  With extreme fatigue as our companion and pain sitting on the surface of our hearts and minds my emotions became tempestuous. My thoughts whirled, not knowing what to tackle first.  During our clean up efforts I found myself standing literally face-to-face with my brother, John, as we bumped heads, or strategies, on how to proceed with helping each of our family members whose homes, along with all their belongings, were sitting water-logged in dissipated river water.  It was a tense few moments as we both flashed our strong personalities… but that unspoken loyalty that binds our entire family together quickly rose to correct the emotions that were consuming us as forgiveness graciously resolved the problem and we continued to persevere in our work.  I only meant to seek help for my sister but stirred frustration in my brother.  He, on the other hand, was being torn in two mentally and emotionally with the burden of stepping into the role of foreman for several different family homes that needed immediate help, including his.  On top of that, his son’s recently purchased home was beyond help at that time, being that it was still filled to the ceiling with water and was literally unreachable, except by boat. Stop right now and just imagine your home and all you own completely consumed with water! Talk about tumultuous.

 There are many different stories and different levels of needs that go with each of our 8 families mentioned but, in this writing, I want to show you a truth that my Father, God taught me through that one encounter with my brother and through the process of sincere prayer during the weeks that followed.  I truly hope that this chronicle becomes a perfect example for you of how God takes things that were meant to harm and works them out for our good!  I’m in total AWE of this profound truth that, to the world, seems so unlikely BUT…. I am here to tell you that good can be found in all things IF we peer deep enough into spiritual realm as we live here, earth-bound.  

After that headstrong encounter with my brother during cleanup, God immediately began to compassionately tug at my heart revealing the need to pray for mercy, for him and for myself as well.  I accepted that God was going to do some sort of work in my heart and I really wanted to get to the truth of it; so, I begin to look for the life-lesson, consciously and especially spiritually.   One day, for some in-depth reason, God seemed to believe I needed a reminder of who my brother was to me and in a quiet way profoundly poured a revelation into my heart that yielded an overflow of deep, brotherly love that was unexplainable, unexpected and deeply moving.  Through the filter of precious childhood memories God exponentially heightened my understanding of love using sweet, fleeting memories that I hold of my brother, John.  I knew in that moment that I was being divinely gifted with a rare reminder of what true love is, but more specifically, what it feels like! I truly can’t tell you all the emotions that ran through me in those few notable moments but one emotion that I remember distinctly was gratefulness! I experienced this mind-bending feeling of gratefulness for my brother.  My emotions overwhelmed me and tears fell.   

In that moment, I had no idea why I was inundated with these profound feelings and laughed as I cried-attributing this to the flood and all the deep-seated emotions that were pulled to the surface because of my family struggles.  So, with gratefulness as the catalyst and God stirring my heart, I texted my brother and sister-in-law telling them how much I loved them and, in turn, they texted back and in typical family fashion kindly reciprocated my feelings. I moved along with my day sending up a quick prayer “OK, Lord.  Thank you for reminding me to be grateful for my brother.  I am so appreciative of my family.”  I really felt I had just received a cherished blessing and tucked those intangible emotions into the place where I store all things dear…..BUT, God was NOT done!!!

The very next day, God took this lesson on brotherly love one step further and brought me to a video in which the speaker was teaching that our heavenly Father is also called Abba Father and that in the original context this translates to Daddy. (Don't overlook the irony of this timing-for this is how God teaches us).  I had heard of this translation before and immediately my mind shifted to my earthly father and how I love him and how he loves me!  But, truthfully, it has always been a hard switch to mentally envision God, the Father, as “Daddy”!  Even with this to ponder- I chose to skim over it and quickly honed in on the logical next step of surmising that if God is “Daddy” then….. Jesus is my brother.  Here is where my mind shifted!!!  “Jesus is my brother”!  I had never connected this spiritual reality before.  I had only understood Jesus as my savior, part of the Trinity and God’s son….but NOT MY BROTHER!  Yeah, I know that this is Christianity 101 but bear with me and I literally piece together this transition of truth:

Just the day before I had been weeping, no less, over the gratefulness and love I have for my earthly brother.  Through this spiritual lesson a spiritual link became obvious and I made a HUGE leap in understanding of how I could and should love Jesus.  I literally experienced and “got” the connection. I now had real emotions, or familial love, to associate with Jesus.  I had always focused my spiritual relationship on God, the Father using reverence as my mechanism to worship and pray so THIS hit me like a ton of bricks.  I now had a true emotional link to real feelings on how to love my brother, Jesus.  To make the connection I logically concluded that if I can and do love my earthly brother with such genuine depth of emotions then surely I could and should have this same kind of deep emotional connection with Jesus.  Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  53 years on earth…. church attendance all my life….and I never grasped this till NOW.  Evidently, God believed it was time to genuinely move my heart for Jesus and He opened that floodgate wide.  He used the flood that consumed my family, the experiential love between "family members" and those real emotions to change the way I could spiritually pursue my relationship with Jesus, my brother.

 I still haven’t totally grasped this new connection I have with Jesus, BUT I know the authenticity of these loving feelings VERY well.  Reality shifts don’t happen often and this was one for me!!!  The profound gift in this entire experience is not just being able to “SAY” I am a Christian and believe IN Jesus…. but through the life-time of deep brotherly love I've shared with my earthly brother I now have a deeper understanding of how to love my heavenly brother as well. 

What an amazing God we serve.  He IS God, the creator; God, our provider; God our Father AND Abba, Daddy!!! He is JESUS the son-who is our BROTHER and co-heir to all the Lord has promised those who love Him. Jesus, our brother, became our Savior because of His profound familial love for us and His willingness to lay down his life for each of us out of sheer loyalty!!!  I knew all this scripturally…but I didn’t actually connect to it emotionally or spiritually, till now and I have my brother, John, to thank for that.  Talk about a brother in Christ!!!

Come hail or literal high water I belong in the loyal family of Christ.   With this emotional connection still fresh in my heart and mind I can only say it was an amazing epiphany.  I’m confident that my Heavenly Daddy wanted to remind me to feel gratefulness and appreciation not only of my earthly brother but my heavenly one as well.  Now, through REAL life-experience and a new spiritual understanding I can truly pray….

“Jesus, I’m so grateful you’re my brother.

Thank you for laying your life down for me and for loving me…

as only a deeply loyal brother would!

Even when my strong personality rises against you,

even when my fear causes me to falter….

and even when I forget who you are to me…you gently remind me.”

For that I am eternally grateful!

John Abrams:
I could use the same humble words over you:  
During the flood, you laid your life down for our family
and worked tirelessly for others because of loyalty and sheer love.
Even when my strong personality rose against you...
even when my fear caused me to falter...
and even when I forgot who you have always been to me...
you gently reminded me....through your actions.
With a grateful, humbled heart I am moved to say "Thank you"! 
Becky

Epiphany-defined by Bing:

“Sudden realization of something; an appearance of God”

Revelation-defined by Bing:
   ”…revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or supernatural entity.”

Scriptural References:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good
of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
 For those God foreknew he also predestined
 to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Romans 8: 28-29

“Though you have not seen him you love him;
and even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him
 and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the goal of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.”

1 Peter 1: 8-9

Song Recommendation:

Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)

By:  Hillsong United

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9nniUfyB0o

Song Recommendation:

No Other Name-Where my Feet May Fell

By:  Hillsong United

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDAt7ZWeamA 

The Trinity Page 61

One morning as I was listening music, the words from a particular song hit a cord with me.

“Praise the Father,

Praise the Son,

and the Spirit, in one. “

I was captivated by the clarity I found as the song presented those words in staccato.  I instantly saw God- the Father in heaven, Jesus -the son, who walked the earth and the Spirit of God that resides in my heart and mind- and whom speaks truth to me using a spiritually elevated, inner voice that I choose to be attuned to.  What I am going on about is known in the Christian arena as The Trinity.

I’ve often wondered if unbelievers find it odd that Christians believe in something called The Trinity.  Do they understand it, from the outside looking in, or do they hear of the phrase “The Trinity” and think that we Christians have a very strange belief system.  With great clarity I wanted to expound on the “how and why” of our beliefs because, to me, it makes all the sense in the world. 

Through scientific research, it has been established that the amazing space we live in, called The Known Universe, can only be explained through Intelligent Design.  No matter how desperately others wanted to dispute this…there seems to be a consensus in the field of science that has concluded that the universe is a conglomerate of mathematical equations that are set to a precise point and that a simple movement to the left or right would change our world and our lives as we know it.  This, my friend, is our Creator God in action!

Science has concluded that Space, Time and Matter all came into existence at once.  Think about that for a minute then join me in saying  “Wow!”  Taking science at it’s word and expounding into religion we can say that God instantly created Space, Time and Matter and then somewhere within that created man.  I LOVE this scientific and religious explanation beautifully tied together in a lovely Christmas bow.  It sure beats some of the alternatives.

 God then set about forming a way to relate to man through divinely inspired directives and Words that became the writings of the Old Testament.  Our creator, God loved the human race, and particularly the Israelites, and formed a family relationship with us graciously placing Himself in position as our “Father”.  Make sense so far?

Ancient writings say that God, the Father created man in his own image and Adam was The Original Man.   Eve, his wife, was created from Adam’s side. They both sinned by not following God’s directions and so God had to set into motion a way for sin to be forgiven.  (The is very much like the Father/Child relationship we humans are very familiar with.)  I don’t completely understand all the gory details but can only explain what writings confirm:  animal sacrifice was established so that human sin could be transferred to the animal and the blood of the sacrifice would become the price paid and ultimately provide the forgiveness for that sin. (The word SACRIFICE is aptly used here). 

Prophecy was then put into motion telling of another way to be cleansed of sin.  Jesus, God in human form, entered the story of mankind.  Prophecy from the Old Testament foretold of Jesus life, death and resurrection (I think God did this because He likes to give humanity something to look forward to). 

God wanted our sins to be atoned for once and for all:

“For God so loved the world that

he gave his only son

that whoever believes in him

Should not perish

But have eternal life.”

John 3:16

God wanted us to have direct access to Him:

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

The sacrifice of Jesus would become The Way for man to be redeemed of sin.  Jesus’ sacrifice of death on the cross became the fulfillment of prophecy, took the place of animal sacrifice, and became the way for mankind to be forever forgiven of sin.  For a clear and concise summation of Christianity we could say that Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection was God’s ultimate gift to all of us. Jesus’ birth was a holy, ancient, wondrous fulfillment of ancient writings.  Or, in more simple words, Jesus, the man, became our way back to God, The Father.

“Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him….”

Hebrews 5: 8-9

After studying about mankind through the Word of God I don’t find it strange at all that we all need a pathway back to our Creator.  Do you find it odd that something larger than our understanding may be at work in this vast universe and in the very simplest form can be described as a Pathway toward Redemption for Man? 

Jesus taught:

“I am the way the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

Jesus also taught that when he left earth there would still be a way to communicate with him-but that form of communication would be spiritual in nature.  This is “why and how” the Holy Spirit (God in Spirit form) comes into play in the physical and spiritual world of Christianity.  The scripture in Hebrews 11:6 teaches “we must believe that He exists.”  This is the initial and crucial step.  You must first believe that God, indeed, exists and then your belief system grows from there. 

Look as far as you can through a telescope and ask yourself “How”.  My answer is an intelligent God who loves design.  Now, look deep into the pages of ancient writings and ask yourself  “Why?  Again the answer is God-our heavenly Father; Jesus- the Son or God- in human form; and God, the Holy Spirit-God in spiritual form.  

God the Father!

God the Son!

God the Holy Spirit!

This is The Trinity! 

And makes complete sense! 

Wanna talk about something that is common-place but may not make as much sense?!  We live on a planet called Earth.  It spins in a universe so large we can't measure it and we can’t actually see its vastness SO we overlook its shock-value on a daily basis.  On this Earth we have excavated ancient documents that have been deemed undisputable and are official historical writings that confirm Jesus existed- but we live so far gone from those days and have been so distracted with modern times that we forget our ancient past.  We'd rather live on a planet that is hurling through space and forget there is a God than peer into godly matters that truly matter! Folks, we were designed to worship God…but because of time, sin and distance, we have forgotten our calling and the point of our creation. 

Scripture references the above dilemma:

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain
because you are slow to learn.
 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you the elementary truths
of God’s word all over again.”
Hebrews 5:11-12

God established spiritual and material beacons to lead us back to Him as well.  Here are a few:

·      *A Universe so amazing that science has concluded that it was formed by Intelligent Design; This points us to a Creator.

·      *A skyline that includes the working order of the sun, the moon and the stars that is awe-inspiring!  This certainly points us to something “otherworldly”.

·      *Sin that elicits regret! This points us to intrinsic morality

·      *A longing that elicits a need for something more than this earth could ever provide; this points us to something beyond the material world.

·      *A need for love that never finds fulfillment; this points us to love beyond human ability.

I could go on and on about the deep things of God but when it is all said and done your belief system is up to you.  If you look at this world from simply an economic and political point of view you can see that something is askew.  Go take a peek at the Prophecy of Revelations (particularly Chapter 18) and then you may see the correlation.  After that, I am certain that you will see that the ancient pages of the Holy Bible speaks truth, provides clarification as to what is happening at this time on Mother Earth and points once again to the Father of the Creation of Space, Time and Matter…. and, for that matter, man.  The astronomical truth is…. YOU have to believe this.  I personally believe that the moment you start to seek truth you will find it.   

"And, without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." 

Hebrews 11:6

“Ask and it will be given to you;

Seek and you will find.

Knock and the door will be opened unto you.”

Matthew 7:7

“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized
 by John in the Jordan.  As Jesus was coming up out of the water,
he saw heaven being torn open and
the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
  And a voice came from heaven:
 “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 1: 9-11

Song Recommendations:|

All of Creation

BY:  MercyMe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkdniYsUrM8 

Bring the Rain Page 60

I was in Louisiana moving my freshman into her dorm at LSU when the flooding hit so I've been looking at it from ground zero...but to look at this picture of my home town, Denham Springs, brings back the tears.  The loss and the overwhelming amount of work to be done makes you want to sit down and weep-and we did.  All of the homes that filled with water that day literally represent families, lifestyles and the essence of daily life.  These homesteads are now filled with watermarks where the water once stood, a smell that says filth was here, and visible destruction that indicates our helplessness sometimes.  

 My heart fell to my feet as I watched my parents entire life-everything that represents them; their hard earned work which established their 56 year-old homestead, become surrounded with water. Their home, my childhood home, was evacuated but I snuck back in to keep watch.  I sat a few items down on a windowsill and went to peek out the front door to see where the water level was.  As I turned back around to get those items I literally stepped in the water just as it began to seep in.  I gasped and begin to cry.  

Their home isn't JUST a home that flooded… it is A WAY OF LIFE and represents every single nuance that created my siblings and I that became swallowed in that flood.  I looked around the house in disbelief at the mess that we created in order to salvage their belongings; all the furniture was elevated, the piano, the grandfather clock, the dining table where we have celebrated every holiday, every birthday, every big event in our large family-elevated.  Loving my parents as I do and knowing my mother as I do -because I'm a perfectionist, just like her, I became astounded at the destruction-zone their home had become and the water had not even done any damage yet. I was preliminarily stumped as to what to do.  There seems to be a moment in time when you find there is simply nothing you can do. As we watched the water continue to rise I can’t tell you how many times I stopped in my tracks and desperately searched my mind and prayed to heaven for a way to keep the water out of their house.  If I could have found a way I would have.  I honestly would have done anything! There simply was no way!  This is the point that shows us who we are.

The water has crept off leaving brown markings on trees and walls indicating where it once stood.  Through this I have learned that I have parents who are rock solid and steadfast in their stance of faith and who are the hardest workers I've ever known. Actually this is simply a confirmation because I knew this already.  I watched as my 81 year-old daddy began working to protect his home and to this day he literally hasn’t stopped.  My family never misses church so I joined my 82 year-old mother as she led a family Bible study on that 1^st Sunday morning; all of us gathering around to listen to her wisdom through the Word of God.  We wore work clothes instead of church clothes and wore faces that said “I’m tired and devastated but I’m ready to work all day again today for this family”.... and day after day we did- from sun up till sun down! 

With a proud but grieving heart I've learned that I have brothers that will do anything for our family, sisters- in-law who love unconditionally, nephews and nieces who will put others before themselves, and sisters who stand by their parents even when their homes have been flooded as well.  I've learned that life can quickly become devastating but we can salvage it.  This is what South Louisiana is doing right now.  This is what my parents and siblings and entire extended family are doing right now.  The smallest kindness helps. A stranger gave me a cold bottle of water and I was blessed beyond measure in that moment.  Please do one small thing for Louisiana and you have done one small kindness for my family.  Like Jesus said:   "What you do for the least of my brothers you have done for me".

End Note: 

My family & their homes may be water-logged but they are safe.  The Lord that brings the rains still reigns in our hearts and with my parents setting the lead, we kept that 1st Sabbath holy and honored him in the midst of it all.  This is who my family is and I am overwhelmed that God has blessed each of us with this kind of family legacy and this kind of faith that my heart wants to burst and my tears rain down. 

This writing is in honor of my entire family

and scripture below
 is in honor of my brother, John!

You are my hero!

Always have been-but you’ve always known that!

RvH

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name;

You are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

And when you pass through the rivers,

They will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

You will not be burned;

The flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord, your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Isaiah 43: 1-3

My family members who were affected by the flood:

Parents –home flooded.

Brother, Jimmy-home flooded

Brother, John-home flooded

Sister, Gloria-home flooded

Sister, Rachel-home flooded

Nephew, Ben-home flooded
Niece, Linzee-home flooded

Niece, Jennifer-Salon flooded

Song Recommendation:

Jesus, Bring the Rain

By: MercyMe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU

Song Recommendation: 
O The Blood
By: Gateway Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxeVrMC1qVY

 Pray for my family and ALL of Louisiana!