We are home and I’m very glad to be. The weekend, fast and furious, was a wonderful event and I’m so glad we could be present for it. However, I do love being home during the summer, gardening time. I immediately picked a gallon of blackberries after I had unpacked and changed into the gardening attire! Today I can get the rest of the yard and garden back into shape.

There is a young man who I met about 4 years back and he comes faithfully to Celebrate Recovery and for the past year, to counseling. He struggles with depression and an addiction and all of it is severe right at this point in time. He doesn’t want to take meds for it, but…. On the plane ride home I had taken a older book to read, Chicken Soup for the Soul, In looking through the index of it I found a few fitting titles I read thinking they would be beneficial for him. I almost cried on the plane just reading them and thinking of him. Well, this week I’m going to share them with him. I know that God uses all things for HIs Glory if we will submit them to Him and let ourselves be vulnerable to whatever is crippling us at the moment. So, I’m praying for a breakthrough for this young man. If you would like to join me, I’d sure appreciate it. His counseling time is 5:00 pm (MDT) on Wednesdays.

God is a miracle-working GOD. I’m praying this might be the right time for one of them.

The wedding was the most spiritual one I’ve ever attended. Gods presence was so very real. We are half-way home waiting now in the airport for the last leg. God is always amazing!

Today is another day where God’s Great Glory has revealed itself. I wish I could tell the full story of God’s Work with this relationship between my granddaughter and her fiancé who will be her husband in just 3.5 more hours. It is such a touching one of God’s Love and Grace at work. It makes today’s wedding another miracle of Christ’s constant love at work! What a joy it is to be grandpa in this!

Today’s devotional message was one I’d like to send to everyone who comes to Celebrate Recovery and to the counseling room. It is a message of God’s Strength to use all of our dark past and darkest moments in life for His Glorious Kingdom Work. While we are in the midst of these dark times, we cannot see the Light of Jesus around us, but the faith others have will sustain us until we can see Christ’s Light shining around and within us. I have lived through my own dark times and now it is my turn to carry the faith for others who need someone to do this for them.

What a privilege it is to be part of God’s Kingdom Work. It all starts when we invite His Son Jesus into our lives. He instantly becomes our Savior and He will stay with us until He is our Lord of all! Oh how I love HIM!

Here we are in OKC. The excitement is everywhere with the wedding tomorrow morning and the rehearsal only 2.5 hours away. It was so nice to see how God has been showing Himself as we listened to my daughter Amber yesterday afternoon. So many details have come together with friends offering to do this and that when she was afraid to ask. Our granddaughter Julia and her fiancé are such a great couple about to become man and wife.

There are many ways we can be of assistance today and just support so this is the goal and my submission to God as I began my day not so long ago. God already reminded me that it is well with my soul, not when I am a good helper, but when I am a good helper who has submitted myself to God’s Holy Spirit within me. I want more than anything to be a vessel of honor today letting Christ shine through me. I love our God and there is nothing like serving Him.

Today we head to Oklahoma City. I’ve never flown with such a large family group before. There will be 8 of us on the same flight. The other 3 coming from here will be about 1.5 hours behind us. We are all staying in a large home our daughter has rented through airbnb.

God never ceases to amaze me. The one appointment I had yesterday is a couple seeking help with their communication. As it turns out, this is a secondary problem with the primary one being the wife’s need for her own help. She was severely abused as a young child. Her husband is aware of this but he was clueless to abuse’s effect on the victim. They will be gone on vacation for a couple of weeks so their assignment is just to practice the skills for communication to understand rather than to “win”. When we return the wife will start coming for her own help.

Over and over I see people who are trying their hardest to hide what they are so ashamed of. I know this so well! God provides opportunity for us to take a risk in stepping into a sharing moment that opens a flood gate. That took place yesterday. It is so humbling and confirming to get to be part of God’s work in one’s life. He so wonderfully placed these people in my own life and now I get to return the favor. He never ceases to use all things if we only “let Him have His way with thee”. (Old hymn– His Way with Thee)

Today we are preparing to be gone for the next four days for our granddaughter’s wedding in Oklahoma City. Just because it is the dead of summer and gardening is at its peak, I have lots on my mind to remember to do this last day. So, when I got up and headed out to start the sprinklers on a portion of the garden I suddenly remembered I needed to check in for our seats on the airline. I quickly called up the app on my phone and completed this. I then had a flood of things I need to do today coming to mind. As I sat down to have my devotional time I was reminded that today is just a day and the same God who organized the universe will oversee any details for this day. I can relax. So, I simply made a list of what’s on my mind and all is good.

As I was going through my time with God I again surrendered myself to The Holy Spirit. It was then that I realized just how much He had already done making today so doable. Wednesday’s are a full counseling day. Last week when I was alerting the evening ones that I’d need to take this evening off for prep, there was no problem. In fact the last group finished last week leaving the 7-8:00 pm block free. The two before this couldn’t make their appointments tonight anyway. During the day yesterday, the other appointments needed to cancel today so I only have one appointment early afternoon and I’m then done. I just had to thank God for His kind thoroughness!

Living for Jesus has its moments. But, I’m finding that my greatest hindrance is me. When I am fully surrendered and remembering to stay this way, I am free–free of the bondage I put in my own way, not realizing until later, to stop–Let God take the lead. Today I want to keep this in front of me all day long.

As I began my devotional time this morning the devotion was titled, “It’s in the Attachment”. As I was reading it I thought it is a perfect follow-up to our pastor’s sermon last Sunday. The attachment is us being attached to the vine–Jesus. We are the branches. There is a line in the writing which I want to include today. It is: “You don’t have to work it up or strive to perform good works on God’s behalf. Instead, you trust the Lord to bring to you the people He wants you to minister to and to poor His power and wisdom through you into their lives.” The closing line of the writing is: “Jesus, help me to be so attached to You that when people look at me they see only You.”

God is reaching out to you and me to complete His Kingdom work that He created us to do. For years I tried to do this on my own strength only to fall short time and again. My biggest failure was not understanding how to let go of the old beliefs that I NEED to do this so that I could surrender and let The Holy Spirit be my strength. Surrendering to The Holy Spirit has become a daily commitment for me.

May our light so shine in this day that the people we are with do see Jesus–only JESUS!

There are days when one just needs to get up and take care of things on your mind so the mind can relax. That was this morning as 4:00 am came about. I was asked to write a blessing for my granddaughter who is getting married this Saturday in Oklahoma City. Kathy and I will be flying back there this Thursday. Yesterday I wrote the blessing but I wanted to add a picture to it and I just couldn’t find one of this particular grandchild. As I got up I asked Jesus to help me find where one might be. Well, He did just that. The blessing is now complete with pictures added to it. God is so thorough if I finally let Him.

This current focus of believing was given a new element yesterday in our pastor’s sermon. He was talking about God’s Love as Paul described LOVE in I Corinthians 13. The point that hit me is emulating God’s Love because His Holy Spirit lives in me already. It is not something I do, but instead, it is what God’s Holy Spirit does through me as I surrender to Him. It completely takes away “our assignment idea” and replaces it with “our surrender”. I don’t know why I have to be so old in order to learn these fundamental truths. I’m sure glad our God is so patient with us!

Today is my youngest daughter’s birthday. She is our adopted one and the one God gave to Kathy and me very intentionally. She has broadened my perspective on living in ways I needed so I could see the world through lenses which only different genes would allow. I’ve thanked God for this many times! Four additional grandkids is also a huge part of this blessing!

Today I am continuing to focus on believing. There is something extra special about believing God’s Holy Spirit lives within me (you and me). Talking to the Holy Spirit has a big element of mystery in it for me. I know it is this strength for which we can do anything God asks of us. I also know from first hand experience how well one can screw things up when we think–“oh I can do this without any problem”. I feel compelled to stay focused on The Holy Spirit within me so I can better learn to lean on Him and find His Strength as I face any and all of life’s challenges and temptations as well as all of God’s nudges.

I told my sponsor last night that I’m working to believe all that I know is true so I put it into action each and every day. His response was that he is going to be doing the same. God is never done growing his children.

This morning my devotional title was OBSTACLES. Just from the title I knew it was going to give me a message I needed to read and apply. The meaning of the writing was all about whatever is in our life that wants to block our walk with God, hinder our beliefs/trust/faith. I instantly thought about my own obstacles which have hugely centered around my own beliefs and my struggle that wants to always rear its ugly head–porn. The devotional gave some added insights in that it challenges the reader to thank God for the obstacle/s. The author wants us to ask God to show you what He wants us to learn from it/them and how we can better understand God’s Wisdom because of the battle it creates in us? This helps us understand why God allowed it in our life.

I am well aware of reasons God allowed my past to be what it was and how He uses it today. I give Him thanks for this quite often. I don’t always (in fact I rarely if ever) give thanks to Him for the addictive struggle. Yet, I know the struggle keeps me humbly before Him and keenly focused on finding the Strength within me through The Holy Spirit.

I swear, no matter how long I live, I will never live a moment of any day when I do not need God’s Mercy and Grace through Jesus Christ and the gift of His Holy Spirit. How fortunate we are to have such a marvelous God to serve!