Sisters

John 11:5 (NIV) Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

I dearly love Martha and her sister Mary! I have nothing against Lazarus, their brother, but I just can relate to the sisters so much. I even have a nickname for them........the M and M's of the Bible. God gave me a devotion on the sisters using the verses in Luke 10: 38-42. I have alot of fun with them but also have a tender heart for them. Whenever they are mentioned in scripture it is easy to feel the love Jesus had for them too. There is so much to talk about in this 11th chapter of John. It begins with the death of Lazarus, the sisters sending for Jesus, Jesus comforts the sisters, then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

I wanted to share this verse today because Jesus has pressed it down on my heart for this week. Tomorrow would have been my sister Kathy's 59th birthday (March 31). Jesus has been so good to remind me that just as He loved these M and M's in the Bible, He so much loves me and loves my sister in Heaven. I draw much comfort from knowing He is loving her right now. She won't have a birthday tomorrow because she is where we will never grow old. I would like to think she is spending part of tomorrow with Martha and Mary. Kathy was so much like Mary and I am so much like Martha............we both would joke about that. I would not at all be surprise when she crossed heaven shores on September 9, 2008 Martha and Mary might have been there to greet her. That makes me smile because I know Kathy would have been grinning ear to ear to come face to face with those sisters! No doubt she would have told them her sister down here was another Martha...busy busy! I use to tease Kathy and let her know that wasn't it just like Jesus to say "He loved Martha and her sister" instead of saying "He loved Mary and her sister." Jesus would have known us "Martha" already knew he loved the "Marys" of this world because they were being still listening to Him! (Luke 10: 38-42) We needed to hear our name mentioned! He is such a Lord of details! Praise you Lord!

Tomorrow will be a difficult day for our family. We still miss Kathy so much. Our grief is for ourselves not for her. We know she is in a much better place and no more pain for her. We know from our faith in Jesus and His word that she would not want to come back once she crossed over into Heaven and experieced it. Through God' grace He has brought me to a place that I can say with a humbled heart I would not ask her to come back to this earthly life either now that she has experiecne Heaven. We hurt when our love ones leave this earthly life because we love. The love is greater than the hurt. Thank you Lord for allowing me to have my sister for over 58 years.

Precious Lord you know the inside of my heart, you know it is tender as I focus on what would have been Kathy's birthday tomorrow. Lord I lift up Rick, Christy, her Rick, Kurt, Nathan, Mother and the rest of our family to you as we go through tomorrow. Lord be with those reading this that are dealing with grief, minister to their hurting heart too. Thank you Lord that just as you loved Martha, her sister and brother, you love us and our families. Thank you Lord for the precious memories we all have of our loves one that are with you today. Help us Lord as we go through this earthly journey to keep building memories that will become so precious with the passing of the years. You are a God of compassion, help us to always show your compassion heart to others that need your touch. I love you Lord and praise you for fogrgiving me and allowing me to serve you. Amen.

Do you need a reminder today that Jesus loves you too? He sure does and always will. Are you missing love ones that are with Jesus now? I sure am . I think I might write Kathy a note tomorrow and read it to Jesus and ask Him to read it to her. There is no doubt in my heart, mind, and soul He will hear what I say! Thank you Lord! Also I think I will reach out tomorrow to someone that needs it and it be my gift in Kathy's memory.

Thank you for allowing me to share my tender heart with you today. Draw comfort from knowing as a child of God's one day in God's prefect timing we will be together with our love ones in Heaven.

Loving others to Jesus with you and loving you through Him, In His grip, Ginger

Bible Verse of the Week...Cheerful Heart

Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

We would all agree the importance of taking medicine the Dr has said we need to take and would encourage others that have health issues to be sure and take their medicine like the Dr said. But do we stop to really think about how importance a cheerful heart is for our well being? I believe with all my heart that we would not have some of the medicial problems we have if we focused more on keeping the heart cheerful. Looking at this verse we read the results of not having a cheerful heart............a crushed spirit. A crushed spirit is pretty powerful since we are told it will dry up the bones! It is healthful for us to be cheerful. A cheerful heart is one that is focused on the Lord, rejoicing in Him, serving Him with gladness and humbled before Him. A crushed spirit will contribute to the sickliness of the body. A crushed spirit is one that has not surrendered their life completelye over to the Lord. They do not give the Lord their burdens and concerns but instead turn them into worries. The worries and burdens keep the heart from being cheerful and crushes the spirit. What the heart is determines the kind of person we are.

My grand-daughters and I love to watch old movies together. My grandson will watch certain one but he is not into it like the 3 grand-daughters are. One of the movies I watch with the girls is Pollyanna. In the movie Pollyanna played by Hayley Mills , she is telling her aunt that things had been rough for her and her Dad, they had no money and times were very hard on them . Pollyanna went on to tell her aunt that during those rough times they played the "glad game" they would come up with things they could be glad for and that would cheer them up. After Pollyanna's dad died she was put in a orphan until she went to live with her aunt. She became the "Glad Girl" to those that she came in contact with because she always played the glad game her Dad had taught her when things were not good for her. This is just a movie but I see a wonderful principle here to live by..........positive thinking. Positive thinking is not based on everything being right but on us seeing good in the mist of all the wrong . We do this through our realtionship with the Lord. We don't live in a perfect world and there are no prefect people walking this earthly journey so there is no way everything is going to be the way we think it should be all the time. Difficult and painful seasons are apart of this earthly life just as the good seasons are. The cheerful heart comes from trustng the Lord in all the seasons.

Precious Lord and only Savior help us to remember we are the caregiver of our own heart. We have a choice through you how we treat this heart of ours. Keep in front of us that we can help ourselves be more healthy by giving it all up to you. Lord the best medicine we will ever take is a daily dose of you so help us to fill our heart up daily with you through being in your word, talking to you, and serving you. Lord your word tells us that out of the overflow of our heart the mouth speaks so help us remember that what is inside the heart will come out our mouth. We want to be the type of servants that speaks cheerful words over others not speak bitter words that wil crush their spirits. Lord we can do all things through you so give us faith to let you be the medicine that keeps our heart cheerful. I am so glad that we have you Lord. I love you and praise your name...Amen.