Salty Zebra

All to Jesus, I surrender All to Him, I freely give I will ever love and trust Him In His presence daily live All to Jesus, I surrender Humbly at His feet, I bow Worldly pleasures all forsaken Take me, Jesus, take me now I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Saviour I surrender all I Surrender All Song by Don Moen How many times have you sung this on a Sunday morning? Dozens probably. Maybe hundreds if you've lived long enough and you have a music director that likes to cycle between three closing songs 🤣. Many of us can sing this song while thinking about our to-do list for the week and not even realizing what we're saying. How often do you slow down and really think about these lyrics? Do you mean what you are singing, or are you just offering lip service to the Lord? I've given this a lot of thought lately. What does it mean to surrender all? As always, I start with Webster's 1828 : SURREN'DER , verb transitive [Latin sursum, and rendre, to ren

 I've always trusted God with the safety of my kids when they were away from me, especially far away like on the other side of the state, or the country, or the world. But so much of that trust was conceptual, until last weekend.  Saturday, my youngest son, who is 21, worked a full shift at work and then headed out on a five-hour drive across the state to visit his brother for the first time by himself. He got off a little early with the express intention of getting over the mountain pass before dark, as this was the most intimidating part for him. The day before I had, in my most motherly way possible, gone over with him the signs of highway hypnosis and the ways to avoid it as once you get over the pass there is a three hour stretch of pretty straight highway that can get rather tedious. As much as I would have hoped for a text letting me know he was heading out, I didn't hear anything until his brother called me that evening to let me know that things did not go according to

He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done."  Mat 26:42 I am not a prophet, that's my husband. He'd laugh at that, but it's true. That said, there have been a few times in my life that I knew things with a certainty. This is one of them. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'll be wrong. I'm not basing my faith on this, or saying God told me this, but I have a sense of certainty that this brain tumor is heading down a nasty trajectory. I've "known" it for a while now. I don't know what God's plan is with it, but I have no doubt whatsoever that He has a plan. I think my husband knows this too, though I think he's desperate not to know it.  The thing is, everyone wants me to believe for healing. Everyone is always praying for my complete healing. If I told them what I believe about the direction this is heading, they'd be horribly shocked and disappointed

  For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.                  1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 The world is often a dark and negative place. The sun might be out and the birds might be chirping, but people are watching for others to step out of line, do the wrong thing, step on that one, last, nerve. And it shows! Sit back and watch the face of the people at Costco. How many of them seem to be filled with joy? When they reach the end of the aisle and find someone coming the other direction, how do they react? When the aisle is clogged and they want to get through, what is their body language like? Now be honest, are you just like them? Why is that? Maybe it’s the messages we are fed through the media about how life is supposed to be all about us. How the world is

  And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.   Hebrews 10:24-25 Why do I look forward to going to church on Sunday? Sure, the sermons are interesting and the worship is uplifting, but it’s the people. I want to see Jim and Teri. I want to see Aaron and Katie. I want to see Dona’s smile. I want to see my son interacting with Matthew. I want to see my husband encouraging Cody. I hope to bump into Susan and Mark and see how life is going for them. I wonder what is up with Diane and Chuck. Did that lady whose name I can never remember have her baby? There have been times when I thought I was supposed to go so that I could encourage those people. So that I could be there to give them a good word. Anytime I walked in with that mindset, I was likely to leave having been taught a thing or two. The reality i

  Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.   Matthew 24:42-44 What does it mean to be ready for Jesus’ return? Well, logic would state that you’d be in a place of having your sins forgiven, that there would be no debt against you so that you’d be ready to go with Him to heaven. How do various people see this to be possible? In the Jewish faith, this happens typically on the Day of Atonement when the priests offer sacrifices for the people to make them right with God. So, what are the odds that Jesus would come back on that day? About one in 354 (there are about 354 days in the Jewish calendar year). Not good odds if you ask me. In Catholicism, people go to confessional w

  So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near.   James 5:7-8 In the past, my Mom has had me check an almanac to see when the last and first frost of the year will be so I know when to plant. Guess what? Those are just estimates. Turns out no one but God actually knows when the last frost will be. One year we were actually out in the garden in late April or early May transplanting tomatoes and peppers when it began to snow. Not rain, not hail, actual snow. No, it wasn’t even in the forecast. It was a brief, light snow that quickly vanished and most of our transplants survived just fine, but I can tell you we were more than a little surprised! All God expects us to do is the best we can with what we have/know. Now if He’s given us the information that tomatoe