The New Kid on the Block

Introducing Thomas Jefferson Farrell, affectionately known as "Jeffy".  He was added to our family on Wednesday, July 16, 2008.  Jeffy was born March 22, 2008, and is the most darling thing we've ever known in canine breeds.

However, he does have a few idiosyncracies we'd love for him to lose, like peeing on the carpet from time to time... throughout the day.  Usually just AFTER he's brought in from outside, when we least expect it.  Time for Wee-Wee Pads I suspect.  We were told he was house trained.

Then there's his incorrigible habit of chewing the carpet.  If it weren't for the fact he is only finishing what the cats started a couple years ago, he would be only a memory by now, banished forever for having the unmitigated gaul to harm a hair of my husband's house.  He sure is lucky the cats got there first, and were the beloved animal family, therefore set a precedent where that little bit of carpet was concerned.

Or maybe it's just because Jeffy's just so gosh darned CUTE.

And then..... there's the way he digs the sofa.  I don't mean he DIGS the sofa, man.  I mean he actually digs up the sofa.  He found a treat beneath one of the cushions once, so now he believes all he has to do is dig hard enough between them and he'll find one again.  Gladly may he have his way with that sofa.  Never liked it, never will, didn't pick it out in the first place, never wanted it, want it to go away forever.  And soon it shall, heheheheee....

But I digress.  Back to the puppy, or Jeffy, as John has dubbed him.  His endearing qualities more than make up for his wayward puppy peeing, carpet chewing, sofa digging, and even his terrifying the cats, who don't realize he's more afraid of them when they get their dander up than they should be of him.  He lived with bigger dogs and cats almost since he was born.  He thought they'd like him too.  Poor cats, every time he comes over to introduce himself, they think he's going to take a chunk out of them.  If only they could talk to each other.  Ah, well, I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually.  In the meantime the problem is keeping them from eating each other's food.  Time for the baby gate.

Jeffy has the smartest face.  He's always thinking, and the foster nanny thought "the professor" would be a good name for him.  His fur is just right, not too short, not too long, as is his tail, which he wags quite vigorously when he wants to play, which is often.  He NEVER barks.  He yipped at the cats once to ask them to play and it scared the living daylights out of them, so he's never done it since.  He growled once when someone was coming to the door, but we told him to be quiet and he was.  He sleeps peacefully with our son, either on his bed or in Jeffy's own bed, all night, not even rising when we do but waiting until he's invited.  He does his dirty business outdoors, not indoors, thankfully.  He knows where the back door is, and I actually saw him sitting there expectantly yesterday.  (I wonder if that was before or after he peed by my husband's favorite chair.....)  He is the perfect size for cat lovers, about the same size as ours if not a little smaller.  He rides in the car nicely, we were told.  (Although John says on the way home he cried the whole way.)

Enough.  Words can't do him justice.  Enjoy the pics.

If there were a song for this one it would have to "How Much is that Doggy in the Window", as I don't know of any psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs that refer to the wagging tail of a dog.

Simply yours,

Patty

Just want to share this.  Our church partners with World Vision to help bring water to villages in Africa.  Our choir sang an African song for visitors from one of the villages last year.  We sent a team there this month to learn more, and they were greeted by this spontaneous performance of a congregation singing the same African song our choir had sung for their fellow church members when they were here.

http://web.mac.com/gchandl/LGPC-GO-Team/Podcast/Entries/2008/7/6_Woodland_Baptist_Church_-_Bonse_Aba.html

I hope that comes through.  To visit our church's blog go to http://web.mac.com/gchandl/LGPC-GO-Team/Blog/Archive.html

Enjoy.

Simply yours,

Patty

Well.  

I see it has been almost two months since I last posted, which was not my intention at all.  I apologize for my absence here.  Recently our family has suffered several blows, which have taken all my energy to combat.  But by the grace of God, I was prepared, and all I had to do was "trust and obey".

I sat in the school counselor's office and felt the blood drain from my face.  It was as if someone had put a vacuum to my mouth and sucked out all the air.  Words raced through my mind, whirling like a storm in Central Pennsylvania.... Scriptures I'd learned as a child, long ago, flitted through my mind.  I thought of how God had proved Himself "o'er and o'er" throughout the recent months, and how strong my faith had grown.  Was it all to crumble so quickly and so soon?  How could He do this to me??!

The words the counselor had just spoken echoed in my head, as if trying to gain admittance to a locked gate.  Over and over I rallied, and the terror at the pit of my stomach would retreat, only to come again as my human mind returned humanly to its human workings: "MY child?? MY child???  Never!!!  This CANNOT be!!"  But it was.  And I was sitting in this office receiving one of the most horrific pieces of news a parent can hear about a child.  A deep depression had caused this one to do something  dark and fearsome, something which I had no experience with, except having heard about other people's kids doing it, seemingly because they have no Savior.  This child had a Savior, knew the Savior, had chosen to follow the Savior.  This made NO sense to me, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.  This sword pierced my mother soul.

As I've told previously, I had been on a journey with Beth Moore, Bible Study teacher extraordinaire, along with women at my church, through video.  We had just completed "Stepping Up: A Journey Through the Psalms of Ascent" together about two weeks prior to this fell news.  As I've recounted, I found my faith growing by leaps and bounds throughout the six weeks I walked that way.  The Lord showed Himself to me in such uncertain terms there was no mistaking His being or His choosing of me a daughter in His kingdom.  Nor His promises.

In the last video with Beth, she talked about how we'd had such a blessed time together on the journey.  She told us that though we would leave there, we'd take memories with us, but not just memories.  She said we'd take the blessings of what we'd learned on the journey home with us.  And she told us we'd need them, oh yes.  Because as soon as we left that place we were entering the mission field, where the enemy was devoted to our fall.  She told us to be steadfast, to stand firmly beside one another, and she told us something else.  

When the Israelites were preparing to fight a battle they were sure to lose, as they were outnumbered vastly, the Holy Spirit spoke to one of the crowd and instructed Jehoshaphat thus:

"Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's.  Tomorrow go down against them.  Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the alley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel.  You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem."  (2 Chron. 20:15-17)  

Well, Jehoshaphat was awed, of course, and he and everyone bowed down to the Lord, then they stood up and praised Him "with a very loud voice." (v. 19)  And the next day, when the battle was to be waged, Jehosphaphat instructed them thus:

"Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God,  and you will be established.  Put your trust in His prophets and succeed."  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, "Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

And when they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed." (2 Chron. 20: 20b-22)

With the verses still whirling in my head, I grasped onto one Word that had come to me the night before I was to have two teeth pulled for orthodontics, the very next day after the last study session.  I had mentioned to my pastor how I had never been put under with general anaesthetic before, and even before I could voice my fear the only words out of her mouth were: "No fear".  She kept repeating that, saying of course she would pray for me.  But it was all I needed then.

And it was all I needed now.  Sitting in that chair which was the only thing holding me up until then, I wrapped my bowline or towline, whichever the seaman's right word is, around that fence post so tight nothing on earth or under it could have separated me from the words: "No fear".  I remembered then, what Beth had said.  I began to listen to the counselor's words explaining that my child had only done this once, and was very worried about being embarrassed, and wanted to get help for this problem.  I listened as she listed resources, and spoke of the wonderful, amazing person I've been gifted to live with and to help raise.  

And then I spoke of God.  I told the counselor I needed a minute, because there was no way I could walk this road without my God.  I told the counselor I don't know how anyone can walk this road without God, because I've tried it, and without Him I would not be sitting in that room right now, but would have turned and run as far away as I could get from this problem.  Because there is no help for it without God.  She nodded kindly.  I don't know if she agreed, and I don't care, because that battle is God's too.

My child came and I allowed my pain to show.  We melted in each other's arms, and there was healing.  We are still on this difficult road, but we are not walking it alone.  We have professionals to help, yes, but really the only Helper we need was always there, we just needed to remember and trust.  And we are walking toward in the light of His presence.

I went home that day and my child went to a friend's house.  My soul longed for music to soothe.... and the first thing I grabbed up from my pile of CD's was our practice CD for the Sanctuary Choir's benefit concert for Senegal.  We had raised over $30,000 a few weeks before singing these songs, and I loved them.  So I put the CD in and began washing dishes.  I thought of Beth's words in the video.  She had said when the enemy attacks we're going to want to run and hide, or we're going to want to fight back in our human way.  But it's God's way that will win, not ours.  She told us not to run to the back of the army, but to put ourselves out front and center, not with weapons of battle, but with songs of praise.

That afternoon I put this into practice.  I would have done ANYTHING to ensure a victory in this battle.  As the CD played I sang along with every song.  It lifted my spirits, this is true.  But it wasn't that I am telling you this for.  It was that after some time it suddenly hit me that every song in that concert had been a song of PRAISE!  And it was praise I needed just now.  As I sang the next song, "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name", with an almost primitive tune and rhythm, I realized the satan was falling like a lightening bolt from his position over my child.  I know this sounds rather fanciful to some and scarily charismatic to others, but it is just exactly what I thought while I sang the words.

All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name,

Let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown Him Lord of all,

And crown Him Lord of all!

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, 

and drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,

And calms the troubled breast;

'Tis manna to the hungry soul,

And to the weary rest.

All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name,

Let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown Him Lord of all,

And crown Him Lord of all!

Dear Name! the Rock on which I build,

My shield and hiding place,

My never failing treas'ry, filled

With boundless stores of grace.

Jesus, my Savior, shepherd, friend,

My prophet, priest, and king,

My Lord, my life, my way, my end,

Accept the praise I bring.

All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name,

Let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown Him Lord of all,

And crown Him Lord of all!

Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see thee as thou art,

I'll praise thee as I ought.

Till then I would thy love proclaim

With every fleeting breath;

And may the music of they name 

Refresh my soul in death.

All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name,

Let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown Him Lord of all,

And crown Him Lord of all!

And crown Him Lord of all!!

(Edward Perronet, John Newton)

That night was choir practice.  A twinge of a desire to stay home and nurse my wounds tugged at my mind.  But I knew that was the wrong choice.  I knew that a soldier of the cross was called to go to the forefront of this battle and fight by singing praises.  And so I went.  And the piece we rehearsed first seemed to tell me I'd made the right choice.

My Jesus I love Thee, I know Thou art mine.

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.

My gracious Redeemer, My Savior art Thou.

If ever I love Thee,

My Jesus,

'Tis now.

(William R. Featherstone)

Go in peace.  Serve the Lord with singing.

Thanks be to God!

Simply yours,

Patty

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.  Isaiah 51:11.

Another simple song began running around in my head this morning. I could only remember the last few lines until I looked it up.  Took me awhile, as my old NASB concordance is scanty, and I couldn't find the right wording in any transla-tion.... until I simply typed in the words as I remembered them in the song on Google.  Then voila! up it came in all its glory. 

 (I love Google!  When I get to heaven the first thing I think I'll do, after hugging my dad and saying hello to all the precious saints I've known who've gone on before, is thank God for Google, because it has been the pathway for me to so many, many blessings, not the least His Word in umpteen translations.)

"... and come with singing unto Zion..."  I began this journey home with you a few weeks ago.  I had intended to write a piece each week, to recap what I'd learned in the study by Beth Moore,  "Psalms of Ascent".  I had hoped so very much for others to post their insights here as well. But alas, it seems not to be.  Apparently others are not as computer trained as I've become.  What a loss!  But my visions aren't always shared by others.  (Am I whining here?  I'm afraid so... On to better things!)  

Also, I have found this study so very rich that I scarcely have time to reflect over the week before a new astounding truth hits me in the head.  Don't laugh, it's no joke. God is seriously remodeling me here. However, I am learning too much not to continue sharing these insights with anyone who happens to come here, so here's some more from our study of Psalms 120-134.  I will simply have to share them as I remember them in front of this computer, and not worry so much about presenting a well-honed piece of literature.  (Picture a winking happy face here, with a curl right in the middle of her forehead, kind of like this:  6;D).

These last two weeks I've been learning that my presence in this Bible study is not purely a coincidence.  There are too many occurrences throughout each we

ek that coincide with what I'm hearing at the meetings, both from Beth Moore on tape and in the book, and from the other women I'm sharing this journey with.  I continue utterly amazed.

    Session One with Beth by video emphasized the song nature of the Psalms, and discussed how vastly deep God's Word sinks into our hearts when accompanied by music.  Almost all Scripture I still remember from my Baptist childhood remains with me because it is accompanied by a melody I can't forget.  The funny thing is, I don't even remember trying to memorize these Words, because I wasn't trying to memorize words, I simply sang along until I knew it by heart, like any other song.  Only these Words have never left me, because they're attached to a song, and "song is the fluent language of the soul", as Beth tells us.

And how much more we are moved by the Word when it's carried by song to not just our minds, but deep into our souls.  It reminds me of someone plodding through the snow, trying so hard to get somewhere fast!  But as soon as she sets herself up on skis, WHOOSH! off she flies, with almost no effort, it seems.  So God's Word to our hearts on the wings of a song. What a precious way for God to connect with me, a singer, and to show me how precious I am to Him!

Here is another insight that I can't pass up: in Session Two, Beth told us about sour dough. We connect these Psalms with three historic Jewish Feasts.  The focus here was on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which takes place at the end of the Passover Feast and lasts seven days.  It was simply amazing to me, again, the timing of this discussion.  Beth talked about sourdough, and leaven being a lump of dough kept over from a previous baking of bread.  

Wondrously, the week before my daughter had been given some starter dough for Amish Friendship Bread, which in the way of busy teens, she had left for me to care for. You have to knead it every day ("Day 1: squeeze the bag, Day 2: squeeze the bag" etc...).  I had just finished baking two loaves and divvying up the sharing portions before I came to the meeting that night.  (I had meant to bring some starters to share, but of course forgot).  Right here was exactly what I had been doing all week as the illustration for the lesson!  How amazing is that?  Only a minutely personal God who has numbered each of our hairs and formed each cell of us when we were conceived in our mothers' wombs could orchestrate such a "coincidence"!

Coincidence?  Here's another:  at the close of that evening, I had word that a precious sister in Christ and fellow musician in the church had been taken to the hospital with a serious aneurysm behind her eye.  I stayed connected with the prayer chain over this one, praying throughout the night and through the following days, and through her surgery hours.  By the following week I had learned all had gone well with her surgery, and she was so well recovered she was able to go home the same weekend.  Praise be to God!  

"He keeps the Feasts."  But the funny thing was, I actually had on hand a token of friendship to send Nancy, all because my teenager was too busy to take care of her Amish Friendship dough.  Now isn't that something?  

As Beth says in the lesson, sour dough can actually be - well... sour.  Sour dough, as mentioned before, can be a lump "kept over from previous sin".  It got hidden somehow in the new dough... when we weren't looking... when we thought we'd forgiven... when we thought we'd really made the decision to start over new... this lump of sour  sinning was kept over to hold over our husband's head when he did something we didn't like yet again... to remind us we can never do anything without failing... to keep us back from committing to something that could break our hearts all over again...  Sour lumps.  Kept over.

God calls us to throw out the old leaven, to stop keeping over lumps of sour dough and hiding it in the new recipe.  He wants us to stop carrying forward the old, painful debts of our past, and start with a brand new slate.  It's a new day.  It's a new beginning for us.  Only we humans are still using the old dough, still burying the sourness in what we hope to make something new out of.  How can we, trapped in our humanness, possibly throw out the old leaven and start new in this new day??  I could see no way, trapped in my own set of human mistakes.

But praise be to God for His unspeakable grace!!  As Beth says, "He keeps the Feasts". What did God do with His sour dough of Israel? He put Jesus Christ a tiny Babe in the midst of the soured dough of the world.  He buried Him in the sin of humanity, like the unleavened bread he was crushed and bruised for the sake of sinful men and women and children.  "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and with His stripes we are healed."  I know.  I've been striped.  But He most certainly healed those stripes.  He took our stripes and made them His own.  He fell into the ground and died, to be raised again, the first fruits of the ones who've gone to rest, falling into the ground to be resurrected on the Last Day, my sweet father among them, and one day myself as well.  He became the sweet lump of leaven, replacing our sourness.

As Beth explained, the three great Feasts of Israel represent for Christians three most important, vital truths of God: the Passover - Christ's death, the Feast of Unleavened Bread - His burial, the Feast of First Fruits - His resurrection.  In Beth's words, "He keeps the Feasts".  Wow. Somehow I don't have words for that astounding connection. Think about it in your own words and images for a while... What an amazing God!!

How could we possibly keep from returning, singing, to our personal Zion, where God has showed Himself to us?  For everlasting joy will surely be upon our heads, running down over our shoulders, dripping onto our sore, tired feet, bringing us gladness and joy and driving mourning away forever!  With such a loving Father God as King, who can keep silent?

"Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads!"

Amen!!

And this is only the between lessons lesson of week two.  I'm now in week three, with so much more to share with you!  Come back again next week and see what else the Lord has been singing into my soul.  I hope you do.  And I'd love to see you here, and listen to your song too.  Please share it with me, won't you?

Simply yours,

Patty

Home

I want to share with you an exciting study I'm currently doing with my women's group at church.  It's called "Psalms of Ascent", and was written by Beth Moore.  She also leads the study weekly by video.  We meet in the children's gathering room in our church to view it and share our journey.  One thing Beth points out is that the Psalms contain expression for every emotion humans can experience.  This is what drew me to the study with such eagerness.

This first week we learned that this is a journey home.  When I first heard Beth's words on the video, I wanted to weep for joy.  I've just returned from a trip home to Southern California, having stopped in Mariposa to visit my sister and mom and brother-in-law.  That was truly a joyful reunion and a kind of homecoming, as we attended Easter Sunday service at their Baptist church.  I sang the old songs loud enough for Dad to hear all the way in heaven!  What a solidly faith-inspiring sermon it was too.  Later, my sister, my daughter, and I sang a trio, thrown together at the last minute but done well enough just the same to inspire many strong "Amen!"s from the worship leaders and others.  What a joy to offer such service with my family members! I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. (Ps. 122:1)

Then we drove on to visit my mother-in-law in Duarte, where she resides now in a Presbyterian nursing home.  It is a very nice home, and her care is excellent.  It was a wonderful visit, as she is much recovered from her spinal surgery of a year ago, at last. Yet still she is wheelchair bound, and does not go out doors much.  It was so beautiful there with the sun and everything blooming for all it's worth, but she could enjoy it only through a window, as the air was too chilly for her.  It was very good to see her doing so well.  She seems resigned to her situation, and content. In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me. (Ps. 120:1)

It was while sojourning there that I realized I was at home, as I haven't been since I left in 1986.  Then, I was full of the thrill of adventure, tired of the smog and the crowds and happy to find a new "home" north in Oregon.  Then, I was the prodigal, eschewing my Baptist heritage and all that goes with it, seeking my own brand of religion that would leave room for the outcasts and the less desirable (to some Christians) - but also looking for ways to have fun and more enjoyment of the good things in God's creation.  Was I simply rationalizing away guilt?  I don't know.  Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. (Ps. 120: 2)

I told myself always, "It's not that I don't want God.  I just don't want a lot of God's people."  This was ok to me, as I guess I thought I was better at being a Christian than they were, I'm sorry to admit.  Also, I wanted to protect myself from the kind of hurts I'd received at the hands of Christian sisters and brothers.  Never again, I told myself.  So I wandered from denomination to denomination, looking for a home, and sometimes attended no church at all. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in... (Ps. 121: 7, 8a)

We learned this week that God wants us home, with Him, and that He is willing to do anything it takes to get us there. That sometimes means a whole lot of grief and pain for us until we realize we're heading the wrong way and turn around, toward home. When I realized I was at home again at last, in the dry, dry dust of Southern California, the light all around me as light should be, the temperature spring soft, as spring temperature should be, the mountains in the north, where mountains should be - when I realized that it was home, I could relax.  I was never so content and happy inside in all these 22 years.  Our feet are standing within your gates, oh Jerusalem! (Ps. 122: 2)

We are on a journey, we are pilgrims, as Beth told us.  We are like the pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem, to their home city: a religious law for them, one they apparently rejoiced to fulfill.  We are pilgrims, sojourners in a land we don't belong, striving to find home again.  But home is not on this earth.  For us, home is found only in God.  I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help?  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. (Ps. 121: 1,2)

 I have done a lot of things to keep myself sojourning in a place where people don't want peace, but war, don't want to rest in the knowledge of God's love for them, don't want to hear where they are perilously close to driving off the road, or stalled, or have a flat tire. The people I thought I'd minister to don't want to know.  In fact, they want me to lose my faith so much that they will do just about anything to bring it about.  When I talk of the peace of God, they talk of struggles with God's people, struggles with God's word, struggles with believing in anything worth believing.  I've found that often their unbelief is stronger than my belief, to my shame.  Sometimes these people actually reside in my own family, too.  Too long has my soul had its dwelling with those who hate peace.  I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.  (Ps. 120: 6,7)

This week I learned I've been feeding my mind mainly negative, faith-defeating thoughts. Telling myself I was seeking information, I took in all kinds of dirt and low thinking, low talking ideas.  Telling myself I could filter out what wasn't wanted, I've exposed myself to the sharpest kind of anti-Christian, anti-faith, personalities, on a consistent basis.  I said to myself, "I will learn these people in order to minister to them better, I will learn a new kind of religion, one that can include these skeptics."  In turn, I was reworked into someone more like them.  While mouthing words like "more like the Master I would want to be", in actuality I was working to be more like the world.  I sought the approval of men before the approval of God, all the while telling myself I was doing ministry in the world.  Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! (Ps. 120: 5)

We are on a journey, a journey that leads us from the places we've settled in this world that we don't belong, to the place God has prepared for us where we do belong, with Him.  If we are not to wander off the right road, we must keep our 

eyes on the goal.  We must listen only to the voices that give the right directions.  We must follow the Leader, and not His impostors who would lead us into the wilderness and rob and abandon us.  God is calling me to follow Him home.  He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. (Ps. 121: 3)

I learned this week that the pilgrims to Jerusalem for the yearly feasts sang these Songs of Ascent, Psalms 120-134, in specific places along the way.  I've put my foot on the first step in the Temple, pulled the other one up next to it, put my foot in the next step.  I'm coming home, Lord, home where You want me, home where I belong, where You made me fit to dwell.  I'm leaving the places I've sojourned that keep me warring inside myself, and never allow Your peace to stay for very long.  

I've wandered far away from God,

Now I'm coming home.

The paths of sin too long I've trod,

Lord I'm coming home.

I've wasted many precious years,

Now I'm coming home;

I now repent with bitter tears,

Lord, I'm coming home.

I've tired of sin and straying, Lord,

Now I'm coming home;

I'll trust Thy love, believe Thy word,

Lord, I'm coming home.

My soul is sick, my heart is sore,

Now I'm coming home;

My strength renew, my hope restore,

Lord, I'm coming home.

Coming home,

Coming home,

Nevermore to roam.

Open wide Thine arms of love,

Lord, I'm coming home.

(Wm. J. Kirkpatrick)

What about you? Are you sojourning in a land far away from the home you were created for? Can you hear God's voice calling you home today? Why don't you come with me through the Psalms of Ascent? We can share our insights as we go along the road together, the road toward our heavenly home.  

Simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other.  C'mon, let's go!

Simply yours,

Patty