The Journey - Brokenhearted?

Reach out to the Brokenhearted. 

I dedicated my new book, Where Eagles Soar, to the brokenhearted. There are so many. And we need one another.

My heart and mind have been with those who suffer. It's quite possible Lily's memoir has something to do with that. I think of all the years she spent in the Alaskan wilderness and all the people who crossed her path who didn't help, but could have. However, not everyone turned their backs. There was - a neighbor who swooped in and saved her, soldiers who came alongside to offer kindness, their skills, and strong backs, even a man who was just driving by in a truck who rescued her from certain death, and a new friend in a new world who gave her a chance at a new start.

Would we have been one of these? So many in our communities suffer. Do we know them? The one's who need a ride to the grocery story or to church, the child who lives with physical or verbal abuse, the elderly who are locked away from the world who need to know they are still valuable, and the ones who are hungry or depressed. Is there something we can do to help? Are we willing to love the way Jesus asked us to love?  His love is faithful. His love is unconditional. It endures forever.

We can't do what God asks if we look away. 

How do we find the strength and courage to make a difference? I've been inspired by great books like The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boon, Or Tim Hansel's You Gotta Keep On Dancing,  and Same Kind of different Just Like Me written by Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent. Lily Sanders memoir, Where Eagles Soar is one that makes me look. Read your Bible. It is our guidebook to truth and inspiration. 

So, where do we begin? How do we help? Meeting needs - pay a power bill, fill a gas tank, provide food for empty bellies, give a smile and a kind word or loving arms that hold and a shoulder to catch someone else's tears. It might mean a call to a counselor or for county assistance. And sometimes we call in law enforcement. 

We do what is needed. 

Sitting back and waiting for something to get better rarely ends in positive results.

We cannot be afraid to see with open eyes, to see the truth.

The Lord came willingly to this earth to teach us His Father's truth and then to die on our behalf. He offered us new life. He is a lifeline, but he asks us to throw that line to others. Are you offering a life line to the people around you?

Toss it, then pull that dear one to safety. You'll have a friend for life. And a cheerful heart to carry you through life's storms. 

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie

Quiet Moments With God - The Cross

Today is 9/11. 

Images of the enemy's attack are etched into my mind. My heart aches for those who lost loved ones on that terrible day. I'm familiar with sorrow, but I can't truly comprehend the heartache of losing a father or mother, son or daughter, sister or brother, husband or wife . . . when the Twin Towers came down.

Like the rest of America I watched the footage, again and again. I wept and ranted and I prayed. How does one go on? How can you take another breath, another step? And how do you douse the flames of rage?

Righteous anger is not sin. But hanging onto our fury hurts - it doesn't help. However, there is one who takes up our cause.

Isiah 61: 1-3 says this, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come, and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes.   

The brokenhearted are set free . . . 

to trust again, to love again and to live again,

 for the Lord God comforts those whose hearts have been broken. 

The enemy was destroyed at the cross of Christ. 

And even in the midst of rubble the cross rises up. 

God offers beauty for ashes. He is The One who makes us - stronger, wiser and more determined to stand against evil. Reach out and take His hand. He will lift you up.

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie