Roots

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

The 1st Presbyterian Church of Texarkana, AR, is where the ROOTS of my faith were planted. My grandparents were members there, my mother grew up there. There I was first taken to the nursery. I attended Vacation Bible School there in the summers when we would visit my grandparents. I sang in the choir when I was in college. One of the bells in the bell tower is dedicated to my grandparents. I took one of my children there to be baptized by my uncle. I worked there as a Director of Christian Education. My sister and her family are still members there. My parents’ funerals were held there. My ROOTS are deep in the foundations of the church and I make it a point to go back occasionally and water them.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Job 19:25-27

²⁵  For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
²⁶  and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
²⁷  whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

Far

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

In the FAR and misty distance you can just barely see a tanker or container ship coming down the sound. It came from FARTHER away, and will go even FARTHER.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 22:1-2

¹   My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
²   O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.

Cup

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

My morning CUP of chai!  I try to remember these words at every meal – not just at the occasion of Holy Communion.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from 1 Corinthians 10:16

¹⁶The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

Help

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

Wonderful doggie who is a great HELPER!

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 27:13-14

¹³  I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
¹⁴   Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

Light

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

Dawn coming behind the hills, as seen from the train into Portland. There’s always an uplifting of my heart at the return of the LIGHT.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 91:1-2

¹ You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
² will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”

Rejoice

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

That’s me! I REJOICE!

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 119:73-74

⁷³  Your hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
⁷⁴  Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
because I have hoped in your word.

Blessed

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

For those who are still suffering with the “everlasting winter” and for those for whom the “long, hot summer” is a dread, I empathize with you. I am so BLESSED to be here in wonderful Tacoma, Washington.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 84:5-7

⁵   Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
⁶   As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷   They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

Restore

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

My computer and Home Server. I’ve had to do a bare-metal RESTORE on the computer before. It worked like the Bible verses below:  the computer was RESTORED and there was no memory of any of its former troubles.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Jeremiah 31:33-34

³³  …this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Alone

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

ALONE (with Big Al) on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, but not lonely.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 22:3-5

³   …you, Lord, are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴   In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵   To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

Home

This photo is part of the Lenten Photo-A-Day Challenge.

This is the house my mother grew up in and my grandparents lived in all my childhood. Although they moved from there after a fire in 1964, it’s the first place I think of when someone says HOME.

The lectionary passage that spoke especially to me today was from Psalm 27:4

⁴   One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.