Reflection

This season, the season of lights, is a beautiful time for reflection. A time for enjoying life. A time for enjoying people. A time for enjoying....
The music, the focus, is on triumph, fun, giving, laughing, playing, family, friends, just enjoying...
It is the brightest time of the year...it sparkles. The heavens glitter, the earth glitters, people glitter, everything around us...glitters!
And it is all a reflection of the greatest light ... the love of GOD.

And that's all I have for now....

Sharoni
... giving voice to those with none...

An Autobiography of a Love Affair Between Me and GOD

It's been a long time since the last entry....but who cares, really? This is for me. I don't believe anyone else reads this except my sweetie. But it is out there, just in case..........................

Recently, Max and I were talking about blogging and how much fun it is. He even became inspired and started his own. It will be around for our children when we pass on. That's one thing. As a child who has been missing her parent for 29 years now, I know how much I would cherish any writings my father left me, if he had left me any. But, alas, he did not. So, I have to rely on the old memory banks. Luckily, pictures are worth a thousand words! But, I want my children to have more than just their memories.....I want them to have a piece of my heart. I have a special leather journal with significant quotes, thoughts, and excerpts of writings that are so eloquent that I would not even dare to alter, even with my thoughts regarding them. They stand on their own merit, and the kids can enjoy things that have meant something to me. And yes, the grandbabies as well.

But, yes, there is always a but somewhere out there waiting for insertion........ obviously the most important thing to me during my entire life ~ oh how I love saying that! ~ is my relationship with my GOD.....all of Him. And that's where this idea for an autobiography came into being. I have led a very interesting life. And the key word is lived. So, I will begin this autobiography....it will not be written here, but excerpts from time to time will appear.

This morning I simply say:
"Bless the LORD oh my soul! Bless His Holy Name!"
Psalm 103 is one of the dearest scriptures to me. It has carried me over the past several years; it blesses me to bless the LORD......it lifts me up.....it improves my outlook.....it gives me strength....because I honor Him Who is the source of my strength.
As I work daily with people whose strength wanes, I appreciate what little I have left. And I enjoy understanding that I also have the option to rebuild more strength.
Oh BLESS the LORD....oh my soul!!

In His Love.....

Sharoni
...giving voice to those with none....

The Face of GOD

I just finished a devotional post from a pastor who has been a pastor to us for many, many years now.....virtual, but as real (more so) than many we have often served under. He speaks truth without apology, and his life has been an unwavering and self-sacrificing example of his faith for as long as I've known about him, since about oh....age 14, 15? F0und out about him when his book, "The Cross and the Switchblade" was released. It rocked my world, for sure! So, the words of my "virtual pastor" follow:

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after” (Psalm 27:4). King David knew there had to be more to knowing God; he sensed there was something of the Lord he hadn’t obtained, and he would not rest until he found it. He said, in short, “There is a beauty, a glory, an excitement about the Lord I haven’t yet seen in my life. I want to know what it’s like to have uninterrupted communion with my God. I want my life to be a living prayer. Only that will see me through the rest of my days.”

The face of God is his likeness, his reflection. In answering the cry of David’s heart to have intimacy with him, God said, “Seek ye my face.” David’s response was, “Lord, when you said, ‘Seek my face,’ my heart leapt in response.” “My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek’” (Psalm 27:8).
“Learn of me. Search my Word and pray for understanding through the Spirit, so you can be like me. I want your life to reflect my beauty to the world.”

This was not merely a call to prayer; David had already been praying seven times a day. In fact, David’s prayers are what created this passion in him to know the Lord. No, this call from God was to hunger for a lifestyle that totally reflects who Jesus is.

Today, when God says, “Seek my face,” his words have greater implications than at any other time in history. With all that is going on in the world around us, how should we respond? When David was surrounded by a host of idolaters, God said, “Seek my face.” And we do it for one purpose: that we may be like him! That we become his express image, so that those who seek the true Christ will see him in us."


This is my earnest plea.....LORD....let people see and hear and feel Jesus in me!

Amen....so be it!

Sharoni
. . . giving voice to those with none . . .

Delight ...the commissioning

Just below is the "commissioning" prayer we said over one another at the close of this weekend's conference with Beth Moore as we dug into Psalm 37. I just had to post it here....for posterity if for no other reason. But my prayer is always that some pilgrim will just wander thru this blog on the way to something else, or nothing else, and that there will be a little blessing waiting here for her/him. I have so much more to say in regard to the Bible study, but words escape me at the moment. My heart is so full and I am not finished processing quite yet. When I am.....it'll appear here!



"My Dear Sister. . . God has not overlooked you. . . . He has not ignored you. . . He hears every petition, And intimately knows The heart beneath it. Give Him full access To all your longings. . . Pray every single day To become a person who delights in Him. When it(that delight) seems to disappear, Remember to check your JAW. . . Are you jealous? Are you angry? Are you worried? Roll it all on Jesus . . . He's strong enough to carry it . . . Big enough to handle it. Trust God with all your heart! Now leave this place - And go into the world - And do some GOOD!"

Sharoni
. . . giving voice to those with none . . .

music and waves

In the midst of watching "The Soloist" I am reminded of the similarities between the music of instruments made by human hands, and the music in ocean waves made by the hands of GOD. Each has the immense power and capability of soothing the soul. Each has the capacity to heal. Each provides us something that we, as mortal beings simply cannot live without.....rhythm. This rhythm moves within us in unique ways - the beat of a heart, the movement of our respirations, the motility of our gut, the firing of neurons enabling thought or feeling or memory processing or the regulation of our autonomic nervous systems allowing us the boom boom boom of our hearts, lungs, kidneys, and etc. Both are in a water based environment, for even music is fluid in its action. Its waves of sound float on the air in much the same way as droplets of water float as air born spray in the form of rain or snow or hail.
All this glory wrapped up in scenes of the most base of human conditions . . . homelessness. Nothing is more raw than the observation of human behavior in the midst of survival mode. It wraps around my heart like a tight fitting glove, and is something that pulls at my heart strings in much the same way as a celloist moves his bow across the strings. I miss working in benevolence ministry. It looks as if it may be time to engage again. It is time to release the music in me to provide some relief, albeit temporary, to the pain of living.

Sharoni
. . . giving voice to those with none . . .

By the Sea

Yoga by the ocean . . . standing in the midst of the waves as they wash over you under the moonlight . . . breathing . . . deeply breathing . . . clearing the mind of all that is not here or now . . . basking in the light of a hot sun . . . feeling the sand melt beneath your feet and move as you move . . .
These are some of the greatest joys in life to me. Days spent in relaxation and rest . . . focusing on what is truly important in life . . . and letting go of what is not.
GOD reminds me that "clearing the mechanism" (my new favorite relaxation saying I adopted from the movie For Love of the Game) gives me that clarity of vision and thought that allows me to receive what He desires to share with me every day. I do not need to miss another day of heavenly download.
Today, it is enough to relive that moonlit sky, feel the waves wash over me and breathe.

sharoni
. . . giving voice to those with none . . .

4:8 my thoughts....

There are times when we have days of great downpour not only from weather (I simply love summer thunderstorms!), but spiritually as well. Today has been one of those days....just greatness all around. And I'm loving that there was absolutely no need to leave the house for a single solitary thing. Thank You, Jesus, for left over pizza. And by the way....this new Pizza Hut to the edge pizza rocks big time!

The Bible study I have been in this summer is a lovely one dealing with our thoughts - presented in a very creative way by Jennifer Rothschild - "Me, Myself and Lies." Today I learned how to choose to "4:8 my thoughts." Very nifty!

" . . . whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise . . . think on and take account of these things . . . fix your mind on them."
Philippians 4:8

I've known for many, many years that our words have power and we should take care what we say. I've also known that our words come from our thoughts . . . our hearts. I have totally loved drilling down this summer to the control panel of my thought life (aka the "thought closet") and dealing with the real nitty gritty of this part of my life. I love accountability!
I'll close this blog with a lovely tale that Jennifer included in the study when we looked at the woman "with the issue," what she thought about it, and what she did about it. Very, very cool!

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a desperately unhappy woman who talked to herself.
She might have said any number of things. She might have told herself to cheer up, to walk on the sunny side of the street, to whistle while she worked, or to simply accept her lot in life. She might even have told herself that her problems were illusions; she was really healthy and whole.
But those aren't the sort of things she said when she spoke to her soul. What she did say led her to an act of faith more daring than anything she could have imagined. When this woman talked to herself, it initiated an encounter that brought immediate healing to her body and soul. It was all because of what she had in her thought closet during one of the most important conversations of her life. She told herself the truth, and that led her staight to Jesus. May you be that woman."

May you be that woman.

As the sun reappears in a beautiful, fluffy cloud filled sky after a cleansing rain . . .


Sharoni
. . . giving voice to those with none . . .