A warm welcome to you! Thank you for stopping by. As you read through my pages, I believe you will find that I am just like you—a woman who loves the Lord and cherishes His grace. And, like you, I sometimes grow weary from the journey. I have experienced many difficult places in my life—a brother’s suicide, my mom’s young death, cancer, a prodigal child, extensive unemployment. There have been times when I thought I couldn’t go on. But, God…don’t you love that? But God carried me through and opened my eyes to see Him in my midst. He opened my ears to hear His sweet whispers of love.
Take hope in the knowledge that you are cherished by the One who made you—you are sheltered in the shadow of His wing, close to His heart. It is my prayer that as we get to know one another you, too, will see beyond the veil and will learn to say, “Even so, I walk in the Presence of the Lord”
With joy,
Nan
Finding God’s Presence ~ When God Breaks Through the Canopy of Shadows Surrounding Me
The aged apple tree stretched toward the heavens with its thin, finger-like branches. It grew on the forest’s edge surrounded by pine, oak and hemlocks.
It grew in spite of its conditions, quite obviously a happenstance, a surprise to its forest shadows.
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I watched this tree throughout the seasons — its burst of fresh green in the spring, blossoms like delicate voile against the rough and aged bark. Summer delivered apples red embellishing the forest’s edge with ornamental color and fed the deer grazing below.
And now, as autumn has its last hoorah before winter’s chill, my eye saw something new …
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A Prayer When You Need a Green Pasture and Still Waters
Lord, I love You and I praise Your holy Name, for You are good. Always. Even when life is hard, You are good and merciful and kind.
Many of Your children are suffering relentless assaults from the enemy and we are tired. We need rest. The wonderful thing is knowing that YOU know this — You are El Roi — the God who sees and knows all about it. You are not aloof and far off. You, Lord, are right here
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Finding God’s Presence ~ Where is God When Days Are Long and Nights Are Longer Still
The days had been long. The nights even longer. Deep in my spirit I heard His delicate whisper calling me to come, to be still and remember that He is God.
My heart longed for peace.
My body, weary from a fibromyalgia flare, yearned for strength and energy.
I sat beneath the soft lamplight in the stillness of morning, my Bible in hand. Flipping through its worn pages I found myself drawn to the Psalms. Oh my goodness! What comfort we find in these words of David — his authentic faith wrought with fiery trials, yet proclaiming the faithful promises of God.
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A Prayer When Your Need is Great
Lord, I love You. You are the great God — the One True God — and I belong to You. Yes! Because of Jesus, I belong to You and You belong to me.
How can it be? Such amazing love.
Thank You, Lord for Your love that carries me across troubled waters, that picks me up when I stumble. Thank You for Your grace that sustains and wraps me in the knowledge that You are near.
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Finding God’s Presence ~ What Have I Done to Deserve Love Like This?
I wander in my foggy thoughts, weary steps follow weary steps. I press on, but the mountain is steep. The trail is brutal at times.
Life has been very difficult for a few years now — I know many that have experienced the same. But in the midst of our struggles, God has remained. His faithfulness has been a bulwark against the work of the enemy. His grace has sustained and His mercy has held us as hurting, frightened children in the arms of our Father.
What have we done to deserve love like this?
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A Prayer When You’re Just Plain Tired
Lord, I am so tired I can barely think. It’s hard to do the things I need and want to do. But You are my strength! You are my God who has shown me Your might and power. I know of Your mercy and grace. And I rely on Your faithfulness to sustain me.
These things I know, and yet I am so tired.
My soul thirsts for You and my flesh longs for You in my weariness. You have taught me to seek Your Presence —
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Finding God’s Presence ~ Experiencing Transforming Glory From the Sweat Of My Brow
I struggled through the fallen limbs and briars cluttering the mountain trail. Droplets trickled down my face from the sweat of my brow, the arduous journey almost over. The ridgetop was in view — just a little farther and the struggle would be worth it.
The height would offer a glorious view of my beloved Blue Ridge Mountains.
Taking hold of a crevice in a nearby boulder, I hoisted myself onto the rock, using it as a stepping stone to climb along the rock ledge. A few feet over I found a comfortable place to sit. The stone felt warmed by the sun. I hugged my knees and looked out over the vast beauty of the mountain range.
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A Prayer When It’s Hard to Love Like God
Lord, You are mighty. You are good. You are love — pure love, everlasting love, love that never fails. Help me walk in — live-out — Your love.
At all times.
Especially in the ugly places and especially when no one is looking.
That’s when it really counts, isn’t it? That’s when it bears fruit, because that kind of love is of You and certainly not of ourselves.
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Finding God’s Presence ~ When God Sends a Message in the Wind
I stood beneath the pine grove at the crest of the hill. Autumn leaves shimmied on the wings of the wind. Floating. Twirling. Submitting to the authority of the breeze.
Storm clouds pressed eastward leaving an October indigo sky in its wake.
I closed my eyes.
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