The Well

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
And You are mine

[6x]
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

Oh, Jesus, you're my God!

I will call upon Your name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
…

This is a sweet little book to introduce someone to meditative prayer. I liked it. I read it outside in my outdoor office (deck) in the evenings this week, and I practiced meditative prayer as I read it. It was lovely.

Circle me, Lord,
keep protection near
and danger afar.

Circle me, Lord,
keep light near
and darkness afar.

Circle me, Lord,
keep peace within;
keep evil out.

In the name of the Father, 
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Oh Lord, I pray that you would . . .
Surround me with the light of Jesus Christ;
Cover me with the blood of Jesus Christ; and
Seal me with the cross of Jesus Christ.
This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Psalm 52:1 - The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
This is the verses that stuck out to me this morning in my Psalm meditation. It has been so fun to meditate through the Psalms this summer! The psalms were my constant companion ever summer for years as I pored over them in the decade of my 20s. I really believe that this is what gave me an accurate concept of God. I am meditating through them now and think about specific instances where God met me in the pages of the Psalms. 
Today, I will be aware of the steadfast love of God throughout the day. It is a free Saturday which is so rare these days for us. It will also be cool so I hope that we can go for a little hike/walk when George wakes up. 
Yesterday, Mindy came over to get homeschool things. I thought that we had a box of books. I know we do, but George does not think we do. I did sell many of the books, but I thought there was still a box that I could not sell anywhere. But maybe not. Through her coming, I went through the…

23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.    He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
I am lying down (or is it lay) in those green pastures. Clearing many things off my plate this  August, and I am so grateful to have extra time that I usually do not have. I have been able to concentrate more on my health, and that has been so good. (My health is good, but half the pounds I lost in 2013 crept back on from the back injury at the Santa Barbara residency, two broken toes, sitting and doing Renovare reading and writing and lectures, falling while fishing in December, stress eating from too busy a schedule, and France.)

What a great week.

M & C were visiting from Pittsburgh so they came for brunch on Sunday. That was fun.

I taught my class on Monday, and the problem student was gone AGAIN! The class is so much easier to teach without her interruptions. I had also taught one on Sunday night with Squishy balls that had a younger crowd so I could really challenge them.

I had a long talk with my boss, and she was very supportive. So I am going to wait and see if this student returns or not. She did not come on Wednesday either. I just have zero tolerance for bullies. 

I ran over to meet with P who is part of a pregnancy resource center that wants to know how to better serve the OSU campus. That was a fun two hour conversation. She is a delightful person. 

Then, a woman who is going overseas came and told me her story since we last met up about three years ago. Wow! So much has happened. It was a very long story and took 5 1/2 hours to tell. I was exhausted afterward (yes, I an introvert, but you would not…

This is the August book for my Book Babes Book Club that I have more recently been able to rejoin because we do not have our ministry training on Thursday nights anymore. I learned a lot about the California Gold Rush, and that was really interesting. I also think that she is a very good writer, but I wasn't overly wild about the story. I seemed like characters were in and out so quickly that one never got attached to them like I think the author would have liked me to. It was just an OK story. Not bad but not great. 

I live a very happy life. The last week has been so lovely. I guess I can go back to a great Anniversary on the 21st. We hiked Basket Slough National Wildlife Refuge, went for lunch in McMinnville (It was supposed to be a French feast, but the person who said they had an opening and recorded our reservation must have been new because we got there only to find that they are closed for lunch on Saturdays). Then we saw Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, any excuse to see Colin Firth in a movie is a good one. 

The week was good with a visit from one of our Kingdom Community grads who has been in Central Asia for two years. There was such soul-touching stuff. We love him so much. 

Monday I did a freewrite and talked about this class I teach. The same student did some over-the-top things that made me realize that this is not a class I want to continue to teach. I will no longer be disrespected by someone. I am done. So I wrote a good letter, but I have not heard back. I would like to be a long-term …