Watching For The Morning

The blog will have a new, updated look, thanks to my dear friend, Penny Raine who has agreed to give of her time and talent to make this blog beautiful!

Also, I am in the last stages of editing WFTM #8 and hope to have it printed in a couple of weeks. It has been a long process, but God’s time is perfect! Hope you all are doing well and staying warm!

Love,

Candace

I love what my dear friend, Leah posted on New Year’s Day. “2010…It’s all Yours Jesus!!!” So simple, yet so wonderfully true! It’s all His anyway. I wonder why we even try to imagine we have anything to do with it. The truth is, if we are willing to give it all back to Him, we’ll be utterly blessed! So, I encourage all of you dear readers to commit your year to the Lord! Ask Him to lead your every step and be glorified in you more this year than He ever has before. He is faithful and He will hear you!

Pierce my ear, O Lord my God.
Take me to your door this day.
I will serve no other god.
Lord, I’m here to stay.
For you have paid the price for me.
With your blood you have ransomed me.
I will serve you eternally.
A free [wo]man I’ll never be.

Psalm 40:6-8
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come-it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Hosea 2:16-17,19-23

In that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master’.

I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the LORD.

I have been singing this song all day. And the glory of God has filled my heart so greatly each time, that I feel as though I could burst! So, I thought I shouldn’t keep this joy to myself, but share it here! Would you join me in singing?

 Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set Thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in Thee. 
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth Thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by Thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to Thy glorious throne.

~Charles Wesley

Dear Readers,

Tonight (actually, this very, very early morning), I sit at my computer desk thawing out, as our power has been out for 2 hours and the heat just returned along with the lights and everything else that runs on electricity. I am one that truly dislikes darkness or even dim lights (hence the meaning of my name: “glittering, bright, white, light, glowing”, which I think is really kind of neat ), so though I did lie in bed trying to drift off to sleep, I really couldn’t until I heard the comforting sound of the Old Dominion Power truck leave our street, and in moments, saw light! Praise the Lord! It is also very strange being in a dark, cold house without a man. Even though my dad was unable to physically protect us when he was here at home, it just felt “safer” with him here. Nevertheless, God is so faithful to remind us that He is our Husband, our Father, our Shield, our Tower, our Protector. Our all.

Mother and I had some errands to do this morning which carried on until the afternoon. She actually just went along for the ride. Around 3:00, it began sleeting and soon it turned into a pouring, heavy snow. The flakes were as big as half dollars! I stood in the middle of them with a dripping wet coat at the cemetery where I had placed poinsettias on my dad’s grave, and just thanked God for the beauty and awe of His gorgeous snow! I also began to pray for those traveling, as I headed home. The forecast called for up to 20 inches! Not long after arriving home, we got word that they had closed a couple of nearby highways due to numerous wrecks. Many people never attempted to go home after leaving work, but spent the night in the nearest hotel. My dear friend’s husband spent the night on a train! His job is with our local railroad company.

Christmas at our house has been sad without my dad, as it is a first, and I hear they are the saddest. But God has been so sweet to keep me very busy with wonderful things that I enjoy and give Him glory. To mention one, I had a fun night of crafts and celebration with some of the home-schoolers I baby-sit for last week. I also like to reach out to those in need in the Name of the Lord around this time of year. God has provided ample opportunity and it has been a joy. If the snow stops and the roads are well scraped, Mother and I are supposed to head to Fall Branch tomorrow to see a Victorian musical about the “Legend of the Candy Cane”. So, it has been a joyful time, really, and when I expressed to the Lord one evening that I just really missed my dad that particular night, He reminded me that this year, I had a gift I had not ever had before. It was the gift of knowing my dad was with Him! That he was okay, and had finally made it home! Last year, I didn’t know that he would be with the Lord if he died suddenly, but oh the mercy of our God! What a priceless gift, Father! Thank You so much! I will joy in it every day.

The Lord has really emphasised a theme to me this Christmas season. It is “The Silent Years”.  The silent years were known as the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, and the period that the people of Israel spent waiting, watching, praying for their Savior. The promise had been given. They knew He was coming. They didn’t know exactly how or when, just that He had to come. They hoped it was in their lifetime, but some died and never saw the Promise. But, finally… when the fullness of time had come, God broke the silence. How did He break it? The most beautiful, yet humble thing. A baby’s cry! First, came John the Baptist, full of the Holy Spirit before he was even delivered! He came to prepare the way for the Savior. Then, in a lowly little town, with no good expectations, a man betrothed to a maiden pregnant with GOD, and a young maiden literally full of the LIFE of our Savior, and perhaps a donkey settled into a stable because no one had any room for them. And once there…HE CAME. The Promise fulfilled! The Hope for the world! The silence finally broken! With the sound of a just-born baby, Who was perfectly God and perfectly man. Wow! How can our human minds grasp that miracle?! How can we ever thank Him enough for coming, and breaking the silent years and providing hope, life, and salvation for all who come to Him with repentant heart?

Have you, dear friend, experienced a season of silence? Does it seem dry, quiet, and still in your world, and as if the God who loves you has sealed His lips? I would encourage you to remember that His very best gifts come with waiting…gifts so precious that having them instantly would almost seem to take away from their worth. He has promised to fulfill His plan “when the fullness of time has come”, and as you wait on Him faithfully and expectantly, please remember that He does have a “fullness of time” for you. It may not be how you planned it, or in your time frame. In fact, you may think that its all just so far away that the very dream feels dead within you at times. But take heart, dear one. Hold tightly to the One who is forever faithful and eternally perfect-loving.  He will break the silence in the most perfect way and time. Maybe it will be through the meeting of your husband, or a heartbeat on an ultrasound for those married sisters, or maybe a phone call with the news you’ve been waiting to hear, or maybe a faint “yes” when you ask your daddy if he loves Jesus (as it was with me). But, be confident in this: He who began a good work in you is able to complete it!

I pray you are blessed during this season of celebration, dear sisters! Enjoy your family! Serve them with a cheerful heart. Reach out to the broken and hurting.  Share the Good News with the lost.  Sit at Jesus’ feet and allow Him to pour His oil of gladness upon you when you are discouraged. Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Make Him your true Groom. If He’s not today, ask Him to change your heart and become your All. You’ll never regret it. When you have a moment to sit back and sip hot tea or cocoa, do reflect upon ALL the blessings God has poured out upon you all year long, even if He has seemed “silent”. Ask Him to show you how you can make the most of your “silent years”. Don’t waste one moment. There’s a priceless lesson in the silent years. It is the season that great patience and trust in the Lord is worked in us and we are polished as a mighty arrow in our Father’s hand.

May you never despise the silent years in your life, as one day, if not today, you will cherish them as gold.

I’ll leave you with some lyrics to a most beautiful song (”Winter Snow” by Audrey Assad)  I heard this year….

You could’ve come like a mighty storm

With all the strength of a hurricane

You could’ve come like a forest fire

With the power of Heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow

Quiet, soft, and slow…

Falling from the sky in the night to the earth below

You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave

Or an ocean to ravish our hearts

You could’ve come through like a roaring flood

To wipe away the things we’ve scarred

But You came like a winter snow

You were quiet. You were soft and slow.

Falling from the sky in the night to the earth below.

No, Your voice wasn’t in a bush burning

Your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind

It was still. It was small. It was hidden…

You came like a winter snow.

Oh, my precious Savior! How I praise you this morning for WHO You are and ALL You’ve done, and even for the beautiful, soft way that You chose to come to earth to save me! So gentle and meek. A pure, white lamb Whose blood would be poured out as the final sacrifice to take away the sins of the world! Oh, may we never forget what You’ve done or how You came to us! May we be daily overwhelmed by ALL that You are! I love you, Jesus! May I love you with my life! I celebrate YOU today and every day. YOU ARE FOREVER WORTHY! Hallelujah!

Dear friends,

Just an FYI that all the extra copies I had of issue #7 are now spoken for. I’m so sorry if you missed this issue, but it will hopefully be available to read here on the blog soon. Also, the new issue should be going out after the first of the year. If you have not subscribed or would like to receive a sample issue, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your postal address and you will be added to the mailing list. Your contact information will not be made public.

Hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!

All because of Jesus,

Candace

Dear friends,

In only a few days, those of us in America will be celebrating Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a perfect time to reopen the “1,000 Gifts” page. Please know you don’t have to post 1,000 things you’re thankful to God for. But, do you have 1 or 10? Won’t you celebrate the goodness of our God by posting some of your “gifts” here?

I pray that you and your families are all doing well. It seems I never have a great deal of time to post my long, personal entries much. But, mother and I are doing well and God continues to be faithful in the seconds, minutes, hours, and days.

I had originally planned to send the next issue of WFTM out this month, but God seemed to have other plans. I can only send as donations allow, and this time, I’ve just not had it prepared in time either. It looks like the new one may go out in January, Lord willing, but we’ll have to wait and see. Life is so adventurous when the LORD directs all our steps! The theme of WFTM #8 will be mothering (even in our single years). You won’t want to miss it! I know you’ll be very blessed. Please continue to pray for God’s hand to guide the preparation, editing, printing, and shipping of this issue. Certainly, it is nothing without His anointing.

I will leave you tonight with a Scripture that has been dear to my heart as of late;

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth,The love of your betrothals, your following after Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown.

Jeremiah 2:1

Abundant blessings to all of you dear readers as you delight yourself in the Lover of your soul!

All because of Jesus,

Candace

“Devotion is that state of the will in which the mind is swallowed up in God.”

~Charles Finney

This quote really pierced my heart today.  Is your mind swallowed up in God? It so easy to become swallowed up in all sorts of things in this world.

But, Lord, today, I want the chains of my daily distractions to fall off of me, that I can truly be consumed by You, my Master.

Dear friends, would join me in praying the same?

Dear friends,

I have several extra copies of issue #7, the last issue of WFTM that went out in June for anyone who would like an extra copy.  I will not be able to print the new issue until I send out the ones I have. I have limited space. 

Please leave a comment on this thread with your contact info if you would like extra copy(s). Your contact info will be kept private.

The suggested donation for each requested issue is $2 to cover shipping and handling. Of course, if you are not able to afford it, WFTM goes out to all who desire a copy as long as God provides the funds.

So, please, come and get them while they’re available! Once gone, that’s it.  I’m not able to stock up on extra copies.  Also, the sooner this box of magazines leave my house, the sooner the new issue can come to you!

Blessings to you all!

Dwelling in the awesome presence of my Groom,

Candace

I close my eyes
Everything disappears with Your smile
I raise my hands
On a cliff I stand
Arms open wide
You’re the Father, I’m the child
You whisper to me
“Step off the edge–
Leave it all behind
Leave it all behind
Cut loose, cut loose this life…
Let go, let go…
Way too long
I’ve settled for these lies
When so much more
has been waiting on the other side.
I think it’s time
we crossed this river so wide
Leave these shores, step off the edge
Leave it all behind.
Cut loose, cut loose and fly
Let go and fly
Fly! You can fly!
Leave the ground, leave the ground!
GO AND FLY!
This is what you  were meant to do…fly.
It’s just me and You
It’s just me and You, Papa
It’s just me and You in this place,
It’s just me and You
Your face
I can’t hear any other voices
but Yours, but Yours…
It’s just me and You, God.
I’ll never leave again.
I’m becoming the dream,
the dream of God…

I was listening to this beautiful worship song called, “Fly” by Jonathan David Helser yesterday and the words really captured my heart. It had been awhile since I had heard it, but the meaning became brand new. Suddenly, it dawned on me that if I am the same as I was yesterday, something is wrong-not with God, but me! If I am not growing in Him daily, if I am not looking more like my Savior today than I did yesterday, if I am not more full of His life and love and truth, if my perspective isn’t more eternal then I MUST go to into my prayer closet and repent. I must ask Him to remove all the layers of things that hinder my growth, things like apathy, weariness, complacency, and busyness, just to name a few. Yes, we all have moments that we struggle and even fall, but we must never stay there. We must quickly grab onto the spiritual lifelines HE has given us- His Word, His Holy Spirit, His presence that shows up when we humble ourselves before Him. I don’t want to be the same today as I was yesterday. I don’t want to look at things the same tomorrow as I havetoday. Each day, I want to think, act, look, talk more like Jesus and focus my renewed mind on the things I cannot see- the eternal. When this process takes place, GREAT JOY wells up inside us, because it is what we were created to do! To be the clay in His hands, to be totally abandoned, to seek Him with ALL our hearts, to live in His presence and long to be more like Jesus, to “fly”! Can you hear your Father asking you to leave all the earthly hinderances behind and dive into the ocean of Him? To seek after Him, to know Him in His fullness and to be molded and sculpted to look like Him? Full of His love, grace, truth. That is what He created you for, dear sister! He does have beautiful, individual plans for each life. He has amazing dreams for your precious life. Dreams that will bring Him the most glory and are for your best.
Won’t you join me today, in jumping off the “cliff” of your own limits, ideas, and dreams, and FLYING into His? You don’t have to keep striving and pushing yourself and going on your own strength to try and accomplish your small earthly dreams. He has dreamed bigger, greater, eternal dreams for you. Won’t you let Him have complete control today? Won’t you throw away the opinions of men and the enemy of your soul that have caused you to doubt God’s faithfulness? Won’t you let today be the day that you choose to trust Him greater than before, and even more tomorrow? It’s the only way you will ever be truly satisified and truly free…walking in utter surrender to Jesus. Fly!

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
Isaiah 40:31 (AMP)

While on the subject of flying, I’d like to share my pictures of the amazing transformation that took place in the Monarch caterpillar I raised for a month, and finally released last week. This has been a most delightful experience. What profound spiritual symbolism this beautiful process of God’s creation has! Truly, the Gospel is everywhere in creation! It amazes me over and over again.
Hermie was such a cute little guy as a caterpillar (and yes, he was certainly a male as I had guessed, as he had the two black scent spots on his hind wings once he emerged from the chrysalis!) but he was breathtakingly gorgeous as a butterfly! Oh how God wants that for each of us…to transform us into something much more beautiful spiritually than we were yesterday!

This is Hermie the day after I found him on a milkweed leaf. You can see that he has already shed his skin and it is lying beside him. He soon ate it for nourishment (as well as the hole out of the leaf above him). Monarch caterpillars outgrow and shed their skin 5 times!

Hermie had been with me for almost a week here. His stripes, colors and antennas are more distinct. He is eating more each day and growing so fast!

At this point, it had been 11 days since I apopted Hermie. Look how much he's grown and how much he's eating!

Hermie at day 12.

Hermie at day 14. This was his last day as "an ordinary caterpillar". He spent the entire next day on the bottom of the jar lid, spinning silk and preparing to become a chrysalis.

Hermie in his "J" position! Monarch caterpillars hang upside down and form a "J" before they shed their outer skin and become a chrysalis. On the evening of his 15th day with me, Mother and I watched him slowly suspend his little body upside down from the jar lid and bend it into a perfect "J". He had worked all day to make a substantial silk pad to hang from and had not eaten at all. My mothering nature wanted to intervene and I tried to gently open the lid to send a fresh leaf, but the strings of silk kept the lid attached. So I left him alone and encouraged him to "be what God created him to be"... and he listened!

I went to bed on day 15 and Hermie was a very still, silent "J". When I awoke the next morning, he had transformed into a chrysalis! Beautiful, bright green with 1 antenna still visible! The chrysalis is kind of like his inward body. It forms after he shed his beautiful stripes, and yet there is another "inward" body forming already inside the chrysalis! It amazes me because its a perfect picture of how God peels away the layers of our flesh so that our inward, spiritual person can emerge...different and more beautiful each time!

The chrysalis changed from bright green to a deeper, jade green the next day. It developed beautiful, shiny golden dots. For the next 8 days, there was no change and no movement. It was hard to believe there was a miraculous transformation going on inside the chrysalis.

The day before Hermie emerged as a butterfly, the chrysalis began to turn black, then translusent, as if God allowed us a "window" to peek inside and see the beauty He had been forming! You can clearly see his new, hand-painted wings!

Hermie's first picture as a butterfly! It was as if God said, "Ta-da!" I had been out and when I came inside, I ran to the jar to find him perching on the branch inside fluttering his wings! God stole my breath!

I removed the lid from his jar and snapped a picture of him inside. His wings had already dried!

Knowing we were going to have rainy weather for at least another day, I transferred Hermie to a basket with a mesh top so he could flap his wings better. He also ate from the flowers on my butterfly bush. Isn't he gorgeous?!