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Praise be to God for your lively interest!

 Numbers now show readers within 41 countries. (I see this through my website analytics page).

Please know: YOU ARE BEING PRAYED FOR DAILY. My husband and I, along with a brilliant helping friend, prepare the postings. We pray for your protection and provisions according to your heart’s desires. We also pray for your families–and for

each of us  to read the Bible and to place our full trust in Jesus as Savior of our souls. We need your prayers as well.

We will meet in Heaven! There, we will share our stories with one another!

All praise be to God! Let’s read Psalm 23 – today and often!

Chaplain Joy 

By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA

Yesterday while in conversation with a friend, she asked, “Why did you become a chaplain?”

How does one tell a long story in a few minutes?

Looking back, with more time to think about the answer, my thoughts go to the fact that for some of us it is the hard things of life—or the terribly, terrible hard things of life that most fully lift us higher than our heads and fill us with a “knowing” there is something we “must do” with our lives. At least that happened to me when my close friend was murdered by her 14-year-old son.

After getting the call that made this tragedy a truth in my life, I went screaming and crying, driving my car down off the hill from where we lived to the river below–a quiet place where I could try to pull myself together. I was still crying my heart out when suddenly I saw her. Yes, God let my friend come to me. She looked beautiful beyond her earthly self and the gown she wore shone as if there was white light within the fabric.

She said, “I understand everything.” I was absorbing the sight of her, trying to grasp how she could understand. Then she said, “You have your work cut out for you. Go for it!”

I was, of course, stunned. I had just seen and heard a person speak who had died a horrible death!

Yet, in my heart I knew the truth behind her being sent to me was bigger than the life I was living. I was a young mother with three little sons. I was often in church with them as they played alongside within the pews. I recall a certain chorus we sometimes sang that carried the phrase, “Here am I, ready for thy bidding. Lord, send me.” It was from Isaiah 6: 8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”

Numerous times as I sang, “Here am I! Send me,” there was an inner knowing that there would be more than being a mother and a wife. As wonderful as these roles are . . . I knew there would be more for me to do while here on Earth.

My struggle with grief and the deep depression led me into what was told two weeks ago in an earlier column carrying the story of my friend’s death. Here, I will say that healing did come slowly, and a lot of living took place–even a move to Arizona. I had felt a call to chaplaincy about ten years before and had taken one of the four required units of Clinical Pastoral Care (CPE) at a training hospital in Boise. The “felt call” to that ministry most likely originated because of my struggle to stay alive from age 13 to age 36, which saw the hospital setting become like a second home for me. Yet, I had to step back from the training in chaplaincy; I had poor boundaries. Each day I worked the pain patients spoke of found me unable to let it go; I took it home and suffered over it. The pain became too much. So I went back to freelance writing. I thought that the role of chaplaincy was history for me.

However, after settling into the new home we built in Arizona, I decided with my friend Flo to attend a retreat at The Holy Trinity monastery, in  St. David, Arizona. This was a place of peace and quiet to which I liked to return, periodically. When we arrived at the monastery, a hospitality nun, Sister Susan Baker, greeted us, then directed us to the building in which we would find our rooms. I walked into my room, took a deep breath, then a second look. On the wall was a picture of Jesus, His head crowned with thorns. There was blood dripping onto His face and neck. But what had astounded me was seeing one long red drop of blood on the outside of the glass covering that picture.

I immediately called, “Flo, come here!” as her room was across the hall from mine. She came into my room, saying, “What, Joy?”

I said, “Look at that picture!”

Her eyebrows shot up as she said, “Oh, my God! Let me out of here!” And she ran out to find the hospitality nun. Before long the two of them rushed in.

Before their arrival, I sat on the bed and prayed, “Lord, what are you trying to tell me?”

I heard these words, softly entering my mind, as if they were my own thoughts, yet I knew it was the Lord who was speaking: “I am acquainted with suffering.”

The impact of the message was totally riveting! Yet, it would take the next five days for me to realize that I was truly being called to serve those who lived with pain, along with many who would die.

When Flo and the hospitality nun entered my room Sister Susan looked at the blood on the glass, paused a moment, then swiftly moved to the sink where she began to dampen a cloth.

She was going to wipe the blood off the glass! But I was not ready! I exclaimed, “Please, don’t do that! Not yet.”

But Sister Susan proceeded, then said, “If this happens again tomorrow, we will all be in trouble.”

I was not sure what the nun meant. She suggested that I talk to the Benedictine Prior, Father Louis Hasenfuss, about this in the morning. He was the spiritual director for retreatants. She had arranged an appointment for me to see him at 10:00 a.m. Upon seeing Father Louis, I immediately told him of my experience.

He said, “Many unusual things take place on these grounds.” Then he told me of some instances in other parts of the country where similar things happen, letting me know that signs of blood or tears appearing on the faces of statues in sacred places were not rare. He helped me trust the impact of the event. It must have been a blessing that the blood on the glass did not reappear. It had done its work; I had come to the monastery to hear God, and that had happened.

Father Hasenfuss spent time with me each of the five days of our visit at the monastery. He listened, mostly, and then on the last day, he said, “Joy, what stands out in my mind is that you have done one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education in Idaho, 12 years ago. Have you ever thought about finishing that education in Arizona and becoming a Board-certified chaplain?”

The possibility the priest presented brought a resounding, heartfelt joy, for I was recalling the words heard after seeing the blood on the artwork. The suggestion felt exactly right. I lost no time finding a teaching hospital where my Clinical Pastoral Education could be continued. Thirty-five years have passed since I finished that year of training and gained a Master’s degree from the University of San Francisco. After Board certification was granted, I began serving at our local hospital, eventually becoming the Director of Pastoral Care. During my three years in that post, I taught at least twelve lay-people elements of pastoral care needed to equip them for serving within the hospital as duty chaplains.

Looking back on it all, I see there is nothing God cannot help us through. For sure, healing from this experience was a slow, difficult process. Even though many years have passed it can still bring a huge sense of sorrow and loss. I pray for Phil and the family he may now have. I pray he chooses to let God fully heal him—and lead his life.

As for me, I am who I am today because of all the people God has put in my life–even Janet and her young son Phil. My call is clear: to be there for people who are going through the hardest of all things that humans endure. I was (and still am) learning every “inch” of the way within my continuance of life.

Joy Le Page Smith is a Board-certified clinical chaplain. View her children’s book as a video at healingwithjoy.blogspot.com Also, find many articles addressing life’s difficulties at Healing-with-Joy.com

By Chaplain Joy Le page Smith, MA

Most people are exclaiming concerns as to “the way the world is going.” Change is exceedingly apparent. Yet, a YouTube lifted my spirits today; so, I will share this amazing short video, here, in hopes it does the same for you. I found it to be exceedingly worthwhile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS3V0qc5wpU

Within Jesus’ teachings while He was on earth, He urged His followers to know that in the future there would be an exact right time for Him to return to the earth.

He spoke of consequential signs that will prepare us to realize the time of His return is getting close.  The video above shows events taking place now that are definitely among those signs of which Jesus spoke. These events are unfolding currently throughout the earth. Is His return immanently close? For sure, He wants us to watch and be prayerful. Why? So those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior can be ready for His return to the earth. 

Jesus’ parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins found in Matthew 25: 1-13, serves well in underscoring the message of this above video making it exceedingly clear what Jesus wants of His people when His return takes place:

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Revelation Chapter 1 assures us that no one is going to miss seeing His return, as “every eye shall see him.” He will come in the clouds. He is coming to gather and reward “the church” meaning those who are His–those who seek His guidance daily through prayer and reading the Holy Bible. Those who are in a love relationship with Him for our hearts are His home. The “church” is not about a building or a denomination. Rather, the word “church” rightly describes God’s people –those who seek to serve on earth in ways that generate the life that lights our souls (seen by Jesus as “oil in our lamps.”). The “light” that shines in our lives is the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. We share that night among our families, friends and all who the Lord nudges us to reach out to and help. Being aware, listening and watching enables us to serve where help is needed in the world. Our watching for His return comes naturally when reading the Bible is a frequent practice.

Revelations 1: 5-8, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Upon the Lord’s second coming He expects to see “light in our lamps,” as the fire of our love for the Lord shines brightly in our souls.

Credit for this link shown above goes to John MacArthur and Crossroads.com.

About the author: Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith is a Board certified clinical chaplain. She is reaching readers with her books and websites in up to 32 countries. View her children’s book as a YouTube at healingwithjoy.blogspot.com Also, find many helpful articles addressing life’s difficulties at this site.

By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA

A young woman recently said, “I love God, but He doesn’t always love me.”

Had it been a more appropriate time I would have said something about the error of projecting our own feelings onto God. Doing so robs us of peace which is rightfully ours—and more.

Knowing this young woman, I am aware of her battle to conquer habits and desires that are causing her dismay. Big time! How different might her struggle be if she could feel assured of God’s abiding love?

Most of us are more kind to others in comparison to the way we treat ourselves. Many times we fail to love ourselves and sometimes we become our own worst enemy. Human tendency can be to whine and blame, at points, projecting all kinds of negative stuff toward God. Therefore, we think God surely cannot love us either. After all, look at our mistakes! In finding it difficult to accept ourselves and to forgive ourselves for our mistakes, we judge God according to our own limitations. Still, God truly wants to forgive us any time we ask.

It is vital to know where we stand, being certain of God as a loving Father. A Father whose love does not stop. Period. When others have departed and we suffer self-doubt, God sticks with us maintaining compassion. No wonder at times we neglect to read Holy Writ. Our esteem of self, at points can be so low we don’t feel we can afford to risk hoping to hear from God. That is far from what is wise. By reading the Bible regularly we come to know the characteristics of God. This is a very real path to knowing that He does have expectations of us, but that His love for us is there for us no matter how many times we fall. He is lifting us within the process of life into knowing His wisdom and taking on His love and His wisdom which is synergistic and inseparable from His wisdom.

God intends for us to have peace; our souls crave it. Wisdom coupled with love leads the way to peace. 

Granted, we deserve chastisement at times. A reprimand can be God’s best gift to us at points. Our actions, not unlike a testy child who cries out for it at times. But instead of withholding His love, in the very act of chastising, God claims us as His own. It takes discernment to recognize when chastisement comes.

It is not wise to trust in ourselves or our own strength. Many failures come as a result. Does it sound too lofty a goal, to seek and find the wisdom of God? Only if we wish to shortchange ourselves.

There are many passages of Scripture which indicate God’s wisdom is there for the asking. While doing a topical study on “wisdom,” I found a distinction between 1) natural wisdom which includes identifying and applying natural abilities like, technical, mechanical, plus the arts—and the healing arts, 2) worldly wisdom as in rational philosophies based on certitudes of the world, and 3) wisdom that comes from God.

There is a strong New Testament warning for those who think they are wise: ^“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom . . .[For] the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy,” (James 13,17).

Sadly, most of us live short of our potential either because we do not know God’s will or do not believe His promises are what we can lay claim to and live into. Therefore, we begin to believe we can trust what ”we think” is true. In other words, we devise “our own truth.” This is how we deceive ourselves and end up going down trails that are off the beaten paths of truth. We get real busy with what appears important—based on what seems to fit well with what we want . . . or if it “feels” right.

Yet, this only finds us sifting through hay, wood and stubble neglecting the very great good that God has for us–truth that we find when we spend time reading Scripture, which believers receive as “God’s Word,” intended to enlighten and elucidate our way. This is how we grow closer to God.

Natural wisdom that we see portrayed in nature is amazing—yet, not intended to be worshiped. After all, you can’t worship something that’s not greater than yourself. Nature is here to provide for us and for our enjoyment.

Worldly wisdom, as mentioned above is all about our choosing what “feels right,” or based on the desire to be liked, praised, appreciated—seen as above the ordinary. These are pride based and can lead to a lot of foolishness, in opposition to what comes to us when we devote our lives to “hearing from God.” In that regard, the Scriptures absolutely fascinate those of us who are really “into it.”

If we Christians truly seek to know truth, we find it between the pages of Genesis through Revelations. We know it as “the truth of God.” And, when we live “by the book” we are on solid ground, avoiding sinking sands. We find the guidance of rules that reflect the righteousness of God, rules that have holding power, keeping us in safe stead. With that, we find the peace that only our Lord can give. And, we come to the ability to love with God’s objective love, rather than a subjective love based only on what feels right in the moment, or what others in the world think, believe and would prefer that we follow.

Generation after generation have settled for various poor substitutes for what is God’s best. That is, except for a few—those who live by the Book are not too hard to spot. “You will know them by their fruits,” (Matthew 7:16).

About the author: Joy Le page Smith, MA is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain. Visit Healing-with-Joy.com for Joy’s blog along with many helpful articles addressing life’s difficulties. Her books and blogs are read in up to 32 countries. Her second site is at Healingwithjoy.blogspot.com

By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA

Everybody knows you can’t pick a handful of huckleberries in less than a second. Right? Wrong ….

My husband, Gary, and I spent a lazy week in McCall, Idaho, one summer. There in that beautiful, restful setting I spent the one hint of ambition I had “huckleberrying” (a verb long known to natives). The berries are sparse and tiny. Heaven alone knows the ups and downs of bending and picking. But I kept thinking of each one of these little suckers as a tiny burst of flavor—and how they would make tomorrow’s pancakes a memorable taste treat.

By the time we had picked for two hours my back was talking and mosquito bites itching, I begged to quit. Gary’s reply trailed in from higher on the hill, “I’ll be finished with this patch in a minute.”

I had visions of plunging into the lake; his visions were of a pie. Now, a pie takes at least four cups of berries, not to mention considerable work and firing up the wood-burning oven in our rustic lakeside cabin. This was my vacation, after all.

Picking berries can get old, causing the mind to wander. In the quiet beauty of the woods it wasn’t long before I was thinking of God’s great extravaganza. Among these towering pines pockets of water are cradled by mountains. Wildflowers in violet, yellow and blue speak volumes while whispers of breeze caress us, the berry-pickers.

God spared no effort with His creations, right down to the little huckleberry waiting to be plucked—tiny, easy to overlook. Yet, each holds a savory burst of yum.

There seems to be a parallel here. With close to 7.8 billion human beings on the earth it seems incredible that the individual has importance. But like the little huckleberry, each has flavor. Some are bitter; some are sweet; some are sour and some are salty.

Salty! Wasn’t that what Jesus called his followers? As we talk and talk with God our hearts become sweet. Yet He pegs us as salt . . . a common substance, invaluable for preserving and purifying—while also serving as a seasoning.

How sweet it would have been had God said, “You’re my little huckleberries.” But he didn’t. He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt. It almost takes a grimace to say the word. And—whoa! He says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men,” (Matthew 5:13-16).

Sometimes we don’t act like salt, but more like the huckleberry—an exotic little temptress or tempter, easily crushed, staining and tainting, capable of drawing a lot of attention to ourselves.

On the other hand, how challenging it is to be “salt. A preserving, refining, flavorful agent in our own corner of the world.

Meanwhile, back at McCall. Finished with berry picking and headed for “home’s” front door, I heard Gary yell, “Hey, you!”

I turn in time to see a little guy not more than two feet tall making away with a fist full of huckleberries. He had reached deep into Gary’s bucket. Berries tumbled through his little fingers, falling all around his feet.

“Do you know it took hours to pick those?” Gary squalled. The child looks up with innocence as he hurriedly pokes more berries into his mouth. Laughter did follow our shock, but inwardly we begrudged this little guy every berry he took!

A handful of huckleberries in less than a second! Yes, it is possible. But only if you are a sneaky little snitch lying in wait for a weary-eyed, plodding plucker . . . with visions of huckleberries, albeit, now a cup shy of a full pie.

About the author: Joy Le Page Smith is a Board certified clinical chaplain. Her articles and blogs are read in 32 countries. Joy’s four books are available on her home page at Healing-with-Joy.com where readers can view her children’s book titled, The Little Mountain Goat Who Was Afraid of High Places. For another opportunity to read this author’s writings go to Healingwithjoy.blogspot.com