God Is Forgiving, Gracious and Compassionate

You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. — Nehemiah 9:17

God shows His compassion to me every day.

He showed compassion to our country and its founders.

Here's a photo of the Jefferson memorial.

A vivid reminder of God's compassion to our united states.

God is forgiving and gracious.

He is slow to get angry, even when I provoke Him.

And He is abounding in love.

Thank you, God.

The Lord Is Gracious

He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. — Psalm 111:4-5 

Today we had a fun visit with our 96-year-old friend Marie.

We had a chance to see the beautiful sketches she drew during covid, while she was house-bound.

And we reminisced and laughed together.

We talked about many things going on in the word.

And agreed that too much of the daily news is not a good thing.

She has enjoyed watching old movies like The Music Man - one of my personal favorites. 

God has provided for her and for us.

We are blessed by her friendship.

Gracious Words

Words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him. — Ecclesiastes 10:12

Words can hurt.

Words can also uplift and encourage.

Words from the mouth of wise person are gracious.

Help me, Lord, to keep my words gracious and helpful.

The Lord Is Compassionate

 He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. — Psalm 11:4

God has created amazing wonders.

We remember all He has done for us.

And we give Him thanks.

All the ways He overwhelms us with His goodness.

God is gracious and loving.

He is compassionate and just.

Even though we deserve punishment, He shows us mercy.

He is majestic and worthy of praise.

Light Dawns

Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. — Psalm 112:4

God's light dawns on us.

Even though we are living in a world of darkness.

Those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous will see God's light.

The light of Christ shining into our world.

We are thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

God Is Gracious

 The Lord is gracious and righteous our God is full of compassion. — Psalm 116:5

God is gracious.

He is Lord over all.

Our God is righteous.

There is none like Him.

He loves me and cares for me,

Providing more than I could ever imagine.

God is full of compassion.

He forgives me of all my sin. 

The Lord God is gracious.

The Lord Is Gracious

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. — Isaiah 30:18

God has risen up to show me compassion.

He is faithful, even when I ignore Him.

He longs to be gracious to me.

And He shows me his love and grace each day.

He has answered my prayers for my friend Krista's husband.

He was hospitalized for a couple of weeks with internal bleeding.

He had to be on a ventilator for over a week.

Both Krista and her son could not visit him due to the coronavirus.

I was praying for all of them.

He is now home, after losing 30 pounds and going through some very rough times.

God is gracious and has shown His mercy to their family.

God Provides

The Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. — Psalm 111:4-5

God is gracious and compassionate. He provides blessings for those who fear him. 

It is with great sadness that we announce Kirk’s dad's (Gary John's) passing. He died at his home in his bed at the age of 84. Dad was in reasonably good health, so this was unexpected. 

The photo with his niece Mary was taken at our home on Easter 2019. We celebrated with 21 family members and friends — a fitting farewell. 

We rejoice that he is now dancing with our Mom Rita, his mom Lucille, his brother Dale, and niece Lianne. We are planning a viewing at the San Diego mortuary in La Mesa (Erikson Anderson/El Camino Real) while Kirk’s brother and his wife are here on May 26. Service arrangements will follow this summer at First Pres. Church.

Abby has a final tomorrow night and another one Thursday. Her cousins Cam and Carly are also in classes this week. We are praying that they can finish well, even with this added stress.

Kirk and I took time off work today to begin the arrangements and make phone calls. We will both be back at work tomorrow and we will join Abby on Friday for her graduation weekend. We are looking forward to celebrating with family and friends.

Thank you for your prayers for dad and for our family.

Blessings

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. — Numbers 6:24-26

Kirk came home from school yesterday with cards and gifts! One of his colleagues sent me a beautiful prayer quilt, pictured here.

Thanks, Teri! I have felt completely covered in prayer, and now this quilt is gracing our living room, a physical reminder of God's comfort through the prayers of our friends and family members.

We have felt completely at peace thanks to the prayers that have been surrounding us from the beginning of this journey.

As I wrap myself in this colorful quilt, I can feel the physical warmth of each prayer enveloping me in God's love and healing my body and soul.

We are humbled and blessed.