Spiritually Healthy

It was a goal of mine this month to get this post out no later than the first week of April.  For those of you who have been faithful in keeping up with my little corner on the web, I appreciate you! So. It's April! Can you believe it? We are already into the FOURTH month of 2023! Lord, where has this time gone?  As I was preparing for this months hymn, I didn't even think that there would be a correlation to Easter. *cue duh Sarah moment*  This particular hymn was written by Elvina M. Hall on the fly-leaf of the New Lute of Zion, in the choir loft of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Baltimore, in the spring of 1865.  I hear the Savior say,  "Thy strength indeed is small,  Child of weakness, watch and pray,  Find in Me thine all in all." Refrain: Jesus paid it all, All t Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.  Lord, now indeed I find, Thy pow'r and Thine alone, can change the leper's spots, And melt the heart of sto...

I don't know why it has taken me almost the entire month of Mach to actually sit down and write this out, but it has and I am finally getting around to doing it! I apologize to those of you who have been waiting. Okay, so. The song for this month, Be Thou My Vision, is not only a well-known hymn, but it just so happens to be a favorite of mine.  I have noticed though, that the lyrics differ. The church I attend uses the Trinity Hymnal, and within that hymnal, are these lyrics: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Not be all else to me, save that thou art - thou my best thought, by day or by night Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word; I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord; thou my great Father, I thy true son; thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. Be Thou my battle shield, sword for the fight; Be thou mine dignity, thou my delight, thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tow'r; Raise thou me  heav'n-ward , O pow'r of my ...

Happy February, everyone! I hope each of you are well and striving to honor the Lord with your thoughts, words, and deeds.  If you read my post last month, I shared that I was trying to commit a hymn to memory. If you didn't happen to read that, click  here!   Since it's a new month, that means a new song to learn! *shrieks with excitement* The beautiful hymn I am attempting to learn is called, O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, and it is written by George Matheson. If you want to learn more about him, click  here. O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee. I give thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. O Light that follows all my way, I yield my flick'ring torch to thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be. O Joy that seeks me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, th...

One of my goals for 2023 is to learn more hymns. Committing them to memory and savoring their rich, comforting words has been something I have been wanting to do for a while now.  While hymns don't replace Scripture, they do remind us of them.  This hymn was written by John Fawcett (1740-1817) in about 1772, "to commemorate the determination of its author to remain with his attached people at Wainsgate. The farewell sermon was preached, the wagons were loaded, when love and tears prevailed, and Dr. Fawcett sacrificed the attraction of a London pulpit tot the affection of his poor but devoted flock." And with that, this is what he wrote, Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Before our Father ’ s throne we pour our ardent prayers; Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, Our comforts and our cares. We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear; And often for each other flows t he sympathizing tea...

 Happy 2023!  The other day, I came across this list of helpful tips for journaling written by none other than Elisabeth Elliot. After reading through it once, I thought it would be helpful to implement some of them into my own Bible reading routine.  When reading the Word, write down... 1. Lessons learned from your reading of Scripture. (If you put these in your journals instead of marking up your Bible, you will find new things each time you read your Bible instead of reading it through the grid of old notes...worth a try, no?) 2. Ways in which you intend to apply those lessons in your own life. (Reading your journal later will reveal answers to prayer you would otherwise have overlooked.) 3. Dialogues with the Lord. What you say to Him, what He seems to be saying to you about some problem or issue or need. 4. Questions from your spiritual reading other than the Bible. 5. Prayers from words of hymns which you want to make your own.  6. Reasons for thanksgiving. (Ca...

I try to keep track of the good, hard, and major hard events throughout the year. Writing down the blessings, as well as the hardships, is such a great way to remember the faithfulness of God. It can also be hard to commit yourself to doing something when you don't think people are going to see it. This blog is super  small and doesn't reach a ton of people. However, it's not about the views or numbers...unless it's your sole intent to grow your space. It's not my sole intent to get the most views. I just want to share my journey with whoever happens to read what I write.  So, buckle up and let us go back in time! Also, these highlights are in no particular order for each month. I wrote them down as I remembered them.  January :  After lots and lots of prayer, I stepped away from a job I had for 9 years and walked into the complete unknown...unknown at least to me.   I took a couple casual swing dance lessons. These lessons where at a friends house and they were...