15 July 2020 - Plague Journal Day 125

Micah 6:8
Exodus 20:12
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is my (late) Mom's birthday - she would have turned 86 today - and I miss her very much, every day.
One thing she did well, even though she didn't think she did, was to write. She wrote devotions for our annual church Lenten Devotions books for many years. The one that was always my favorite was one that she didn't think was worth submitting, but she felt she needed to turn in something, so there it was.
I'm sharing it here today for a couple reasons. First, because it really is my favorite of her devotions, and secondly because it seems incredibly appropriate in these days of fear and loathing.

Read and ponder:

A Lump of Coal

Read: Genesis 45:3-8, 50:18-20

Remember when you were a kid, and at Christmas time you hung up your stocking for Santa to fill?

If you'd been good, he'd give you candy and oranges.  If you'd been bad, you'd get coal.

Picture this –
A snowman facing the fireplace – his back to you.
He reaches into his stocking and finds coal.
He turns; he has eyes and shouts joyfully – “I can see!”

Sometimes we get coal.

Sometimes it's a blessing.


Prayer:  Dear God, let us see.  Amen

Shirley Van Becelaere

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

06 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 86

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

If you know me, this probably comes as no surprise: I like coffee.
I like the way coffee tastes; I like the way coffee smells; I like the way coffee feels in my mouth.
I like coffee.

For several years, it was my practice to give up coffee for Lent. The big surprise, especially the first year, was to discover just how much of my time was spent making, drinking, pouring, cleaning up, or just walking to the pot to get: coffee. The reason for making a sacrifice at Lent is not just to give something up that I ought to avoid anyway. Rather it is to make real to me the Sacrifice made by my Lord on the Cross; to identify with Him through an act of self-denial, however small it might be.

I have found that this exercise has carried over for far longer than any season - long though Lent seems when I'm deprived of my coffee - right through the months and the years. In the second or  third year of this Lenten discipline, I changed to giving up the caffeine rather than the coffee. This meant that I still had the taste and so forth (at least as much as that decaffeinated stuff has to offer), so it might seem that it couldn't have been as meaningful to me. In fact, this was when it  really hit home.

Whenever I poured a cup of decaf (yuck) that Lent, I prayed over it: "Remember, Christ died for us when we were yet sinners. That is God's proof of His love for us." It's surprising how often that line comes to mind as I fill my cup.

I like coffee. I like the taste and smell and all of that, but I also like the fact that because of my Lenten ritual of years ago, coffee reminds me that Christ died for me.

So I pray: Father, thank you for Your Love which was demonstrated in Your Son's Life, Death, and Resurrection. May I make each everyday occurrence an opportunity to remember and thank You for it.  I ask this In Jesus' name.
Amen.

Remember, any act can be an occasion for prayer and thanksgiving; and pray for those who haven't accepted Christ's Sacrifice for themselves.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.