Second Chances

Best Words of the Day

2008-02-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

"Self-pity is a death from which there is no resurrection."

- Vicki Griffin

Found in Nature

2008-02-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

I thought this was a great statement to share from my devotions.

"Men, in their pride, delight in magnificent and costly edifices and glory in the works of their own hands; but God placed Adam in a garden.....In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for all time - that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works. If men would give less attention to the artificial, and would cultivate greater simplicity, they would come far nearer to answering the purpose of God in their creation. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find substantial and elevating pleasure in the sources of enjoyment that God has placed within the reach of all." (From the book Patriarchs and Prophets page 45, by Ellen White)

Response is Near

Outside a bird calls,
Low and clear.
An answering response is near.

I hear nature converse as friends.
Their code I cannot break.
Perhaps the message still is there
For those who listen and who wait.

Where man to learn from nature
Each one would call to God in turn,
Then listening he'd hear the answer
For what his soul did yearn.

By Valerie Crosier

Sketches of Life

2008-02-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I am a forest,
With secrets held within.

Sometimes I am an ocean wave,
Tossed and turned with sin.

Sometimes I am a desert plain,
Vacant, lost and dry.

Sometimes I am a meadow glen,
Open to the sky.

Sometimes I feel that God is near,
And I am filled with awe.

At other times I see Him not,
And my heart burns hot and raw.

Waves of turmoil wash me,
And I am hung out in the sun.

Then, gradually my forest seed is opened
And a meadow lily begun.

By Valerie Crosier

The Deaf Heart

2008-02-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

To some the world is silence
In the din of noisy streets.
The whistle blows
But no one runs
For family to meet.

Lost in familiar places,
Void to familiar faces,
The words they think
They should not hear
Have all become so very clear.

Frogs may sing their symphony
And doves their lonely song,
But the richest tune
Yet to be sung
Is locked and barred, unsold.

How can the walls be broken?
How can the silent speak?
Oh he awaits the Master's touch
To let his spirit leap.

By Valerie Crosier

Hidden Blossoms

2008-02-10T20:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes daffodils peek through the ground
In fall before the ice,
Though frost has warned the little bulbs
Of bitter days and nights.

The heartbeat of the flower
Longs to open up its breast,
It wishes so to free the colors
Encrusted in its chest.

A tiny bit of sunshine,
A quiet autumn shower,
And up it shoots out spires
To set its flaming fires.

Before the buds will bloom,
Before their banners wave,
Frost will come again you know
Pausing blossoms momentarily
Until it's safe for them to grow.

by Valerie Crosier

Reflection on a Caterpillar

2008-02-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

Slowly creeping, crawling, growing

The caterpillar fights to live

Then comes the time to halt all work

And rest becomes the test.

Wrapped up in silence and hanging all

Upon a single strand

It gains the weapons to fly free,

The wings to rise and land.

Outward lookers on may say,

"'Tis such an ugly thing!"

Yet when the shackles are cast off,

It soars while they lack wings.

Out of discipline grows freedom,

Out of sorrow depth of love;

It is the habit of His plan

To cause the opposite to stand.

by Valerie Crosier

His Mercy in Our Madness

2007-11-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

2007-11-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

Recently the words of Job 12:22 became glaringly apparent to me, "He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death," and Job 11:18, "And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt take thy rest in safety."

Let me explain. Last Sabbath I planned to go for a simple hike up in the mountains with two of my new friends, Season and Vanessa. We ideally wanted to follow a valley stream into a meadow and put out blankets there to soak up the Word together and just rest! The week had been somewhat harrowing at times....you know how it can be.

We drove out to the mountains, clamoured through some underbrush and walked a path neatly following a beautiful picturesque stream. "Ahhh," I thought, "Just what the Doctor ordered!" There was only one problem, no peaceful meadow was appearing. In fact from what we could tell unless there was one at the top of one of the mountains that shouldered the stream than it appeared there was no meadow at all. This prompted me to look for some solution. I told Season and Vanessa to continue looking down the path for our promised meadow and I would catch up with them later, meanwhile I would climb the hill next to us and see if wonderland was up there.

The hike was more difficult than I thought. Shale covered the mountainside and climbing up it was almost like trudging through slippery snow. Ouch! Sharp slippery snow! The thorny bushes held loosely to the soil when I grabbed them for support. "Humm," I thought, "I've climbed far enough to see that there is no easy way down and there is definitely no meadow up here, only another peak ahead in the distance." Gingerly down I plowed, like you would on skis almost, and came to the creek bed again.

After calling for Season and Vanessa I at last found them ahead of me, not down in a grassy meadow, or on the path, but up at the top of a ridge not too far from where I had come from. "Wow! What now!" I thought. They told me it had not been easy to get up there and they were too scared to come down. Would I please come up to them and so we could all travel back to safety together?

Thoughts of them getting lost from me on top of the mountain trying to get down weren't too pleasant. I remembered hearing stories about people getting lost in wilderness like this.
In front of me loomed a cliff that slanted inward somewhat, and it appeared to have roots and some large and small rocks jutting out from it that I could use to get to the top. I thought, "this doesn't look like a piece of cake but it does look possible." The alternative thought of leaving them there prompted me on and so I started the climb, again! It was unknown to me that this was not the way they had climbed up.

About 15 feet into the climb I could tell that my strongholds really were weak holds. Even the large rocks sometimes pulled out from the cliff wall after I used them to hoist myself to the next best spot and the roots I hoped to hang from...well....most of them were dead and pulled out too. Now 25 feet from the bottom I told them I couldn't climb the rest of the way and would have to go back, then I looked down and realized there was no back! With no rope and many of my chosen strongholds now missing, the only option was up.

Gingerly I climbed, slowly, painfully up, my arms and legs were shaking with fatigue. I flattened myself against the cliff to rest but not for long. (Jeff, I am ever so grateful for the climbing I have done with you and Ashley and your blessed wisdom, it rang in my ears). Fear can be a powerful motivation. I told Season and Vanessa to stop talking to me and pray. About 50 feet up the only thing left to hang on to was a handle shaped root to my far left. I prayed and reached out for it. Most small roots like this had proven to be dead and had easily pulled out from the cliff. Praise God it held! Again I prayed and by the grace of God pulled myself to sit on top of it, my hands under my feet. It was unnerving to say the least. Above me was a small bush. I thought I may be able to throw my backpack onto it and hopefully it would catch in the branches. If it did, I could maybe use the backpack to pull the bush toward me and grab a branch. This worked and I was able to pull myself onto the tiny bush. I tried this again with the second bush ahead of me, and again it worked. By grasping the second bush I slid my legs at last to the top of the cliff.

What became translucently clear to me was the fact that God does reach down to give supernatural strength, and just enough, to see us to the top when all we see is a thumb-width root lying between us and a broken neck. I am speaking in a parabolic sense now. We have all been to this hanging point at some point or another. Out of emotional and physical strength with circumstances impossible for man to succeed in by himself. Jesus words are just as true today as when He first spoke them as a man on earth, "Without me ye can do nothing..." but, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." "A bruised reed will he not break, and a smoking flax will He not quench."

He brought me to light in the shadow of death and because my hope was in Him I found safety (Job 12:22, Job 11:18).

Living Wisdom

2007-10-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

2007-10-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

I received these words of wisdom recently and thought they were too good not to share with the populace....enjoy!

"The best thing for being sad...is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting."

Merlyn, The Once and Future King, T.H. White

Thoughts on Daniel Chapter 6

2007-10-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Daniel 6:3 "...Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him." He did have an excellent spirit within him in two respects, both linked. He had the Holy Spirit within his heart and an excellent attitude!

Daniel 6:5 "Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him regarding the law of his God." Daniel life was so faithful and pure that the only way fault could be found in him is if a fault could be created with what he was already doing. The law of God merged with his character so much that his enemies saw it as one and the same thing. You think of Daniel, you automatically think of his God's law. I see that the same plots are laid for the people of God now. Persecution has never ceased, it has only relocated from place to place. The law of God is always the pitch that lights the martyr's fire or thrown them to the lions.

Daniel 6:7 Satan's counterfeit pit for the people of God is a den of lions. He knows that he himself will die in the pit of fire. I guess he was thinking, "Well, I can't try fire because that didn't work with the three Hebrews. But hey, surely he won't get away from those lions!" Isn't it prophetic, Scripture says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1 Peter 5:8) He was surely wanting to devour Daniel!

Daniel 6:10 Daniel met the persecutors at his widow with prayer. He told his needs to God and let God fight for him. "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32)

Daniel 6:17 A stone was rolled over the den. Daniel was shut in with God in the darkness. Just as Lazarus, Joseph, Jesus, Jonah, Paul, and Noah were. In the quiet place of darkness God is right by our side.

This den was sealed with the signet of the earthly power, but it had no power of death over Daniel. This is prophetic of the end of this world's history. The death decree on God's people will have no power over them at the end. They will be shut in with God in safe keeping. Then the places of danger will become places of refuge as distruction occurs all around them but does not touch them. They will go "through the valley of the shadow of death" and fear no evil. (Psalm 23:4)

Daniel 6:22 As a death decree is again passed on God's people before His return they will stand before God without the act of mediation going on for them. (Their characters are already set for eternity.) However, they will still receive the protection from His angels. Psalm (91:7,8)

Daniel 6:23 "...and no manner of hurt was found in him because he believed in his God." The affliction God allows us to go through will not harm us, it will purify us.

Daniel 6:27 "He delivereth and rescueth, and worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." God will protect His chosen people from the natural and human elements that are bent on man's destruction at the end of this world's history.

Daniel 6:26 Here is a summary of the king's benadiction at the rescue of Daniel which will be repeated at the rescue of all God's saints from this earth. "He is the living God, and stedfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end." So the stone came that was cut out without hands and broke the statue to pieces and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:44, 45)

This Sabbath at the Beach

2007-09-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

Righteousness in the Pathway of Death

2007-09-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

This morning as I read my Sabbath school lesson the words jumped out at me, "The Shepherd in the psalm (referring to Psalm 23) was guiding His sheep in paths of righteousness, but these very paths also seemed to wind their way into the valley of the shadow of death."

The entire Scripture seems to be wrapped up in this theme, righteousness by death/surrender of self to Jesus protection. In light of the psalm I can see that it is in this dark ravine where the enemies are constantly lurking, that God wants to defy death. He is our human shield against sin that leads to death. He provides cool refreshment there, straight from the Fountain of Life. He gives Bread to eat that the enemy cannot stomach. He gives protection by "encamping around about those that fear him." (Psalm 34:7)

And this is the irony of it, the only fear that brings goodness is the fear of God, this fear actually means to respect. And it is this fear/respect for God that brings freedom from all other physical and emotional fears. In this context we can understand that the Scripture does not contradict itself when it says, "There is no fear in love; for perfect Love casteth out all fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18) The fear we should have for God is just the opposite of the fear that scares people into trying to obey Him. By this definition, the fear of God acually is love!

I ask God, "Please, lead me there, even if I have to walk right by those who used to harm me. Lead me to the green pastures in the valley of the shadow of death so I can experience death to self and life at the hand of my Shepherd."

Faith - why life is miserable without it

2007-09-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

One of my memory/meditation verses this morning was, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6. I think to myself, that's different! Usually we go to see something to study it in order to see if we want to have faith in it or not. This text says, if you come to God, you ALREADY need to have faith in Him in order to please Him. It doesn't appear that it is acceptable to come to Him in order to figure out, "Ok, am I going to trust this guy or not. Is He really who He says He is?"

It is ok to do this with humans but not with God. In the dentist's office I always feel a little more affirmation that I'm in the right place with the right person to spread my jaws when I see the multitude of plaques and committees endorsing the drill holder. However, there are no plaques pedistaling the authority of God in the audience chamber of Prayer. Instead there is a quite space between us and His unseen throne where the only room we have to doubt is in ourselves.

It is easy to mask this doubt and fear in ourselves by putting up a tissue paper shield. The defense is in our projection, "I will judge Him instead of Him judging me..... Is God really real?" Our own self-fear and shame is the cornerstone of this question, "Is He real?" If we can convince ourselves that He is not, we can ignore our own position of helplessness and need. If He is real but He is wrong in His judgments we are self-justified as well. If He is simply interested in other things than us, than why would He take the time to bother with judging us anyway? We will eventually die and that will just be the end, right? These futile musings are the spiritual venom that leads to confusion and constant blocking of the ache inside that says things just aren't right and maybe never will be.

The Scripture instructs us to come to Him, not as though we have all the answers or that we are perfect, but with the trust that He does have the answers and that He is perfect enough to be our covering Protector. In the presence of the dentist I lean my chair back and open wide my mouth upon his request in the simple trust that, what I came to have fixed and have no ability to fix on my own, he can and will. And so I have found it to be the same with God.

He has never kicked me out of the throne room of prayer for saying, "If You are who You say You are then why.....what...." but, the reason for my coming is only responded to when I am silent in trust and sit aside with a wide open mind to see His works answer my burning questions.

My devotional thought this morning reminded me of a poem that I wrote six years ago when I was going through a rough time in my life and questions to God were flying off my tongue as fast as rapid fire machine gun. Here it is, here is the answer to all my questions.

The Quiet Heart

In answer to my fiery questions,

You gave me a snowflake.

For my wild confusion,

You offered to plant for me

A tiny violet.

My boisterous plans

Led You to walk me in the desert

Were I observed

A cactus flowering.

So I stopped peppering you

With my hopes and desires;

I accepted in their sted

A snowflake, violet and flowering cactus plant.

When all gifts were exchanged

I realized You gave me one gift more,

A quiet heart.

by Valerie Crosier

Monday's Blessings

2007-09-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today I discovered a wonderful outdoor outlet store with a friend of mine. They literally had EVERYTHING! including thermal outer wear and trail shoes for your dog, rather amusing I thought. There was none on display for cats....

In the afternoon I interviewed with Loma Linda Medical Center ER and got the job. Yipee! No wait time, this was a sort of silent prayer request of mine to God since I was going to have to respond to other facilities but knew this was my first pick. Isn't God good?! The nursing training there will start after my sister's wedding (this was a second answer to prayer). Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself here. His blessing seems to be on everything, I pray to not get spiritually lazy but stronger. Surely more difficult times lie ahead but God wants us to seek Him with as much spiritual hunger in our time of ease as in difficulty.

Sunday Adventures

2007-09-24T19:56:00.001-07:00

This last Sunday was great fun! Melody made this slide show of our adventures at the three beaches we visited, they were: Corona del Mar, Newport, and Laguna. We started off the trip visiting her ill uncle who is confined to a hospital bed within his own house. That was really the highlight of my day. MaryAnn, Melody and I sang songs to him with three part harmony and prayed with him.....such a special man!

From here our day progessed to visiting the afore mentioned beaches, shooting some pictures while sight seeing and visiting some of the little seaside shops. The girl's day out was a great success as you can see from the pictures, wish you could have been there!

Scripture Blessings!

2007-09-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

Mountain Retreat Rainbow

2007-09-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Valerie joins the world of bloggers!

2007-09-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys!

I am trying some new things out here in California, including blogging! So join me on the adventure and I will try to update you on my world ever so often. :o)