
If you are an aspiring (or already successful) author, artist, musician, public speaker, salesperson, candidate for public office—anyone who has something to or sell—I want to help you take the stage and get noticed beyond your wildest imagination. (Michael Hyatt)
YouTube/magnuswu "Where I Belong" Building 429
Do you ever feel homesick for heaven? What do you imagine heaven will be like?
Related post:
Writing about Heaven (Storywriting Studio)
Happy Birthday, Jill! As I thought of my granddaughter's fifth birthday today, I remembered the first time I ever saw her face, and I wanted to share that moment.
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” The lyrics to this song, made popular in the early seventies by Roberta Flack, came to mind as an ultrasound zoomed in on the image of my granddaughter’s angelic face just five days prior to her birth.
The promise. As I observed Jill Elizabeth in her mother’s womb, I recalled the scripture where the psalmist expressed his belief that his Heavenly Father knew him even before he was born. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place…your eyes saw my unformed body” (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV).
The journey. Even though my son, Adam, and his wife, Jenni, struggled with many fears during their journey to parenthood, God had a plan for their family. Psalm 139:16 says God ordered all our days and wrote them down in His “book before one of them came to be.”
Could it be that God appointed the very moment that my children would hold their precious daughter, Jill, and her older brother, Zach, in their arms for the first time?
The birth. The day we welcomed my granddaughter, Jill, into our world, I remembered that first image of her face as it appeared on the ultrasound screen. I tip-toed up to the table that held my new granddaughter, and I observed the nurse examine every inch of her body—from her curly, brown hair to the tip of her tiny, delicate toes. A bright heat lamp beamed down on her body, and Jill shivered and squealed, as she adjusted to her new environment.
All eyes focused on Jill’s every move. But my camera zoomed in on her face to capture the moment. The grey image on a computer screen had burst into life in full color, desperately crying out for breath, needing the waiting mother and father who had anticipated her arrival. Our promised one had arrived, and we welcomed her with open arms.
Photos/KarenJordan
Does my story remind you of a special moment in your life?
Have you ever felt like you just needed to be silent? Maybe you're overwhelmed by your circumstances or emotions. Or perhaps you're exhausted, and you need some rest.I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say
(Pete Kipley and Bart Millard, "Word of God Speak" MercyMe)
What is the sign of a friend? That he tells you secret sorrows?
No, that he tells you secret joys. Many will confide to you their secret sorrows,
but the last mark of intimacy is to confide secret joys. (Oswald Chambers)


If I could go back in time, I wish I could say that I would not worry so much. Yet I am well aware that this tendency toward worry keeps me "on my knees" and totally dependent upon God.