Up the Sunbeam

"Now the crowd that was with him  when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word." John 12:17 NIV1984 Two Sundays ago , I wrote of what was then an unfolding story , just three days old, that had thousands of people riveted to a "secret" group on facebook as we prayed for the life of Stephen Shaffer. What you didn't know then was that between Saturday night when I wrote that post and Sunday morning when I hit PUBLISH, Stephen had taken a turn for the worse. It was with trembling fingers that I posted what I had written the night before, trusting that God was going to continue to hold Stephen together, even when it looked like he was falling apart. Oh how we prayed, and many of you joined in and prayed too! Hour by hour during that next week, we watched and prayed! Last Sunday , I struggled to capture, in the craziest mix of metaphors you've ever seen, the incredible ups and downs we had witnessed as God wor...

-- I'm not sure who originated the idea (anybody know and want to tell me the story?), but many of us who blog have adopted the practice of asking God for a word and a picture to go with it as a theme of focus for the new year.  This is my second time joining in--last year my word was ABIDE and I focused on abiding in my Father's love, looking to Him in eager expectation while I learned to settle down and rest in adoring relationship with Him. Abiding will be a lifelong focus, so I am not dropping last year's theme for a new one, but this is a year of newness for me and that being the case, 2012 needs it's own word.  The word I believe God has been repeatedly bringing to my heart the last couple of weeks as I prayed about my One Word is:   CHALLENGE. At 48, I am not at an age that is typically characterized by new beginnings or launching points, however, 48 or not, I am beginning something new.  I am picking up the reins of a dream I let go of when I ...