Psalm 21:3 “You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.”

[You crowned David as king, after his long wait of living years as an outlaw. And you crowned Jesus as Savior, after His 30 year wait, then after His 3 years of intense work followed by his immense suffering.

And every day you crown us as children of the King with love and compassion (Ps 104:4), continually pouring out abundant, good and gracious blessings on us.]

Psalm 21:4 “He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, forever and ever.”

You gave David life on earth—you protected him in all the battles he was in; and you gave David eternal life with you.

[In his death, you granted Jesus resurrection; He rose to eternal life and then passes it on to all who believe in Him, David included.

And we, as your children, have eternity before us–length of days forever and ever–and can rejoice now in the certainty of it.]

You have given us rich blessings in Jesus: forgiveness, cleansing us for sin, adopted into the family of God, made a citizen of Heaven and equipped for special service. In addition we have an “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:4,5

Help us, Lord, to live in this reality, knowing that we are passionately accepted, fully approved of and deeply cared for. To live with you is like having a bit of heaven now, like the picture here. We praise you for your rich and high love for us.

Every day, Lord Jesus, we grieve your Spirit, choosing to exalt our ideas and agendas over your Word. You endure this willingly, and thankfully, your suffering this pain inflicted by us does not alter the course of your love, your plans or your grace for us. You are love itself, so you can never not love. In your wisdom you take each failure and use it to chasten, teach and bring surrender.

In this reality of your perfect and powerful character, I can rest, sure that my place in your heart is secure, certain and unshakable. “My soul finds rest in God alone…for my hope comes from Him…” (Ps. 62:1,5).

I am deeply thankful for this. I am both quietly and wildly joyful that you chose me to be your child, to be your partner in your plans, to be a fruitful branch in your vine. Thank you that nothing can separate me from your love and that my place in eternity is secure. Help  me to consciously live in this rock-solid stability all day long.

In the Fall of 2011 Barbara spoke often of how tired she was, how discouraged she was because she was unable to care adequately for her mother. For the past year Barbara had slept six nights a week at her mother’s to help her get to bed and get up in the morning. The one night a week off was not enough for her to recover.

It was obvious to me that the burden of being a care-taker had become too much. I could see that if we didn’t make a change soon Barbara was headed for an emotional break-down. The question was, what should we do?

Her mother had been on the waiting list for a single room at a local nursing home for ten years. It was not easy to find space in an aging society like Germany’s.

I went to see the director of the nursing home, who was a member of our church. He suggested I look at other options, including a new facility that had opened recently. Everyone said it was outrageously expensive, so I’d not considered it. But when I checked into it, the cost was literally only about a dollar a month more than the other one!

So I went, made application, and within a week Barbara’s mother was able to move into a large, spacious single room with a great view of pine trees in the back yard. It was God’s provision.

Barbara felt guilty because she had been unable to help her mother to the end, but I kept reminding her that I was the one who put Omi into the nursing home, not her.

Surprisingly, Omi was happier in there than she had been in her own home. She didn’t realize this, but we saw how after the move she no longer had before her all the things she longed to do but was incapable of: her sewing, cooking, cleaning, yard and garden work. Now she was focused more on the routine of the nursing home. She also now had many more visitors to keep her occupied. Her home had been in an out of the way place, while the nursing home was in the center of town where relatives and friends came to shop and would stop by.

The next big task before us was to clear out Omi’s house and put it up for sale. Being in a foreign country, there were a lot of potential pitfalls for me here, but the Lord brought along the aid needed to steer us through the process.

One great help was a “Russian-German” church. These folks had been born and raised in the Soviet Union, descendants of Mennonite farmers that Katherine the Great (a German princess who became Queen of Russia) invited to move into the Ukraine to develop farms there. After the advent of Communism, these families had been moved by Stalin to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Then in the 80s and 90s many were allowed to leave and resettle in Germany.

They were fine believers who had a heart for those left behind in the poverty of the former Soviet Union and would send supplies back to them. At our invitation they came and took lots of useful items from Omi’s house to send to those in great need. We were thrilled with the help and with the fact that things weren’t thrown away, but were going to be used again.

In the meantime we made plans to move back to the States so Barbara could recover from her debilitated state. That meant closing out our apartment, too, which turned into a bigger job than we’d guessed.

As the deadline of our departure drew nearer, Omi’s unsold house hung on us. However, the Lord reminded us of the need to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, which we did, willfully trusting Him. With only two weeks left before our departure date, the Lord brought along a Russian-German who expressed interest in the house, wanting to buy it for his parents. Although he was ill, he was able to complete the necessary formalities shortly before we left. We were so thankful for God’s provision. He sometimes makes us wait til the last moment so the wonder of His provision is greater!

Picture: Omi’s birthday about the time we left, Nat and his son Simon along with us.

As I continue to memorize and meditate on your rich and powerful Word, Lord, you continue to transform my being.

There is a growing grasp of your great supply of significance and honor, poured out upon me every day. This is part of an ongoing, deep, transformation that flows from basking in the truth, listening to Scripture telling me that

— I am yours (Eph 1:3-10),

–that I am with you, treasured by you,

–delighted in by you (Psalm 18),

–invited to join you in your mighty purposes (Eph. 2:10),

— that you freely and consistently give me worth, belonging and competence (Ephesians 1:18,19).

There is also an ongoing shift away from the fear of man to a fear of God: a desire to please you and a corresponding ability to reject what people think–to be free from their disapproval, their denigration, their disrespect. Your approval is enough to rest in, live in, die in.

Another aspect of this is a better grasp of the joy of being weak, the opportunity to trust you to work where I am without influence, leverage, or power. If I want adventure, trusting you in my weakness is it!

This, combined with the daily reminder that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil, brings me a changed perspective of those who oppose me: a compassionate, forgiving, positive view–even a warmth as I think of them.

Truly, “The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining on ever more brightly until the full light of day.” Prov. 4:18

You, Lord Jesus, are the God of Wisdom, the King of Knowledge, the Lord of Understanding, the Ruler of Insight, able to see into the next million years and know all that will come to pass. In all this You have a plan and will bring it to pass.

I praise you that with your complete and rich knowledge you make all the decisions concerning what will come today: what opportunities you will provide for glory-giving in obedience, what challenges, problems, pains and persecutions you will allow for our good, what successes, achievements and victories you will bring in our lives for your glory.

You are trustable, you are worthy of praise in it all, for you are the God of Glory, of Goodness and of Grace. You are always holy, holy, holy, the Three-in-One, Author of all.

I praise you now for all that will come today and for what you will do in your plan for me. To you be honor and glory in my life at each juncture. Amen.