September 3, 2008
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PROTECTED
Gayle Rodgers ~
The little family of geese waddled across the road. One adult led the way and the four small goslings followed along. The second adult protectively brought up the rear. It was a heart-warming sight seeing the little ones encased in their parents hovering care. “There’s a devotional there, Mom,” Dan said to me with a smile.
He was right. Immediately the verse came to my mind from Isaiah 52:12b …
“For the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
What a great reminder of the care of our Heavenly Father! He not only goes before us, He also comes behind us. We are encased in His presence as we walk through the joys and the challenges of our days.
What does today hold for you? What is ahead of you this week? Be reminded that the same God who parted the Red Sea for the Israelites, and came behind them with protection from their enemies, is the same God who surrounds you today.
* His love will encase you.
* His strength will empower you.
* His wisdom will guide you.
* His arms will enfold you.
Wherever your journey takes you this week …
* to the hospital,
* to the office,
* to the playground,
* to the classroom,
* through treatment,
* into situations of joy… or challenge,
He goes before you AND He comes behind you. Embrace His care for you today, rest in the knowledge of it. Moment by moment and situation by situation you can trust God with your life.
Father God,
Thank You that You know everything that concerns me today. I place my trust in You to go before me and to come behind me. Remind me, as I walk, that I am encased in Your presence. Help me to choose to rest there and leave my anxious cares in Your hands. I give You my praise and thanksgiving. In Jesus’ strong name I pray, amen.
Well, I trust you all had a great weekend! We had a busy one … a highlight being that we were able to pick up Elizabeth’s brother, Johnny, and sister, Hannah, and take them with us to the picnic on Monday. They had so much fun with all their friends who were there. I took a tator tot casserole, and brownies. There was so much food, and all of it was delicious! It was a good day, and the weather was perfect. Lots of volleyball, football, and basketball, along with a frisbee toss. Hubby played volleyball most of the day! I thought I’d sit it out this time … didn’t want to take a chance on re-injuring my back, because it is starting to feel better now! I also want to thank all of you who responded to the message, and are praying for Elizabeth! Please do keep her in your prayers … along with her family!
We also went to the apple orchard, and got our first bag of apples for the season … very good. They are Jonagold’s, but this coming weekend, my favorite apple, the Fuji, will be ready! I like a crunchy, semi-sweet apple, and not too tart. Their fresh peaches were in as well, and they are beautiful. They have their mums out now … and the white ones are so pretty. I also signed up for the Scottish-Highlander Festival for the last weekend there, this month. It’s always a fun show to go to, and to sell our soap at … you may remember the photos I posted last year. We always pray for good weather, as it is an outdoor show … we’ve only been rained out once.
We may not be taking our yard sale items to the church tomorrow, for the big sale through Saturday … my husband’s work load got a bit heavier for the rest of the week, so we may be having our own yard sale here in the next month, or so. I can’t get all of our things over there in the car, so he thought it best to wait … although, I may go hang out with the ladies there sometime during the sale. Maybe I could take a few items to unload, if they have any room left! Never did sell that ‘Flo-Bee’ … maybe someone could use it! Lol!! Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday … I’ll be visiting around today to see what is happening in the lives of my dear Xanga friends!
Be blessed!
Hugs ~ Deborah <><
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Comments (19)
Your devotional was heaven sent. My dear husband is going through a really difficult time right now (which means we both are, because when he is troubled, so am I, we are one), and your devotional is *~perfect~* — I shared it with him and now we both look back on it as needed to remind us where our protection is, both before and behind us. Thanks, Deb ! Blessings, Leslie
:sunny:Oh the picnic sounds wonderful, we need to have one real soon. I wish I lived close by so that we could come to the church sale. I will send you another email of the sidebar code it’s real easy just place it in your header at the top under head. I keep Elizabeth in my prayers and all of you as well…have a blessed day dear friend…oh I love fugi apples and need some too….send me one right now….:lol:
HuGs….Linda:heartbeat:
Thank you SO MUCH, Mrs. Smith. It is truly a blessings to be able to see those pictures… it’s been hard to be on the other side of the country when all this is happening to Elizabeth, so next best thing is pictures!
Thank you again.
Hugs,
Audri
That is a great image of God’s protection. I love apples, and my favorite is Honeycrisp apples, they are so sweet and delicious.
Heather
:sunny: Thank you for sharing this lovely post with us!
Wishing you a blessed day!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful message of hope with us. Sounds like you had a fun weekend. I am continully praying for Elizabeth and was so glad to hear her siblings were able to get out and have fun. God Bless, Jill
Hey hun, longtime no see. Glad you had a nice weekend. I have been busy with my brother and his family visiting. I got to see my great nephew for the 1st time. He is 8 months old and ever so adorable. They left today so my heart is feeling a little heavy tonight. However, I do get to see them at Christmas when I go visit the family for the holidays.
Keeping Elizabeth in prayer.
Have missed you and look forward to getting back in touch.
I also have to really hit the books again. August wasn’t very productive because of all the company. Now that Sept is here it is time to get back into routine.
Be blessed sweetie!
{{{{HUGS}}}}
Thank-you for your devotional today. it was for me and the more I thought about the more I realized I needed it. I’ll keep praying for Elizabeth and all those involved. If you come to my site I’ll gladly pass the ‘Kreative blog’ award on to you. You have to come to my site to recieve it.
“Rock Of Ages”, Artist:Rita Baloche (Maranatha Praise, Inc.)……..We sung this at Church this past weekend and I haven’t heard it in about 3 years since my Old Church. Sure have missed it. So when I looked it up on Playlist.com……this is what I found!………Tell Lew, this is one of my favorites. Lots of truth in these words! :yes: Continue prayers for Mr. Ian and of course the both of you! Have a Wonderful evening! ((((Hugs))))…….In Christ’s Love…..Monic
:heartbeat:
:heartbeat: Hi Deborah. Your song is so beautiful and restful ! Thanks for remined of how good God is for us. That is true ! Thanks for have been prays for us. Have a wonderful day ! Love in Christ. Tip
Sounds like a great picnic! Will continue praying for Elizabeth. Sorry this is short. I hurt my arm, and I am trying not to type much! I miss you, though! :sunny:
Thanks for sharing the devotion. Sounds like a nice weekend and the Scottish Highlander Festeval sounds like it’d be a fun place to have a booth at.
Deborah,
What a delight to find your invite on Facebook. I accepted immediately with pleasure!
Your weekend sounds lovely (and delicious!) I’d love to go pick apples sometime this fall. You can not beat fresh fruit!
Have a delightful time at your church sale. I hope you unload your treasures and discover some more!
Blessings,
Gina
I love fresh apples, but with braces, I find it difficult to eat them sometimes.
Sounds like you had a good weekend!
What apple orchard is that? I need to make an orchard visit soon. That is one of my favorite things about fall.
Sounds like a wonderful weekend. Wish I could be up there for some fresh apples and peaches.
Praise God that He goes behind and before us!
Have a wonderful day! ~ Chris
:sunny:Good Morning Sweet Friend! Hope your week continues to go well! Praying for all of you and Miss Elizabeth!…….Hope you have a good turn out at the Festival this year, too!…….My favorite apple is “Red Delicious.”Have a Wonderful Day! ((((Hugs))))……..In Christ’s Love…..Monic
:heartbeat::love::heartbeat::wave:
:sunny:If the LORD was not going with me…I would not want to go!!!!!