15 Bible Verses for Overcoming Fear via Meditation with Scripture

These are unique times. Historic. Landmark. Unprecedented. 

If you've ever had any issues with anxiety, the realities of daily news announcements and updates regarding the growth of the world pandemic are undoubtedly upsetting. At what point did you become concerned? 

Everything became very REAL for me, with the dual notice that Tom Hanks and his wife had contracted the virus -- coupled with seeing the empty toilet paper shelves in each of our stores. The virus suddenly had a 'face' and all expectations that things could remain the same had vaporized. Simultaneously.

We have officially entered the unknown. 

My husband and I are in the higher risk category due to our age bracket and with his heart issues that puts us into the underlying compromised health category as well. We have decided to 'self-seclude' and will be staying very close to home. No dancing. No DoWopWednesday. No yoga. No Harry Connick Jr. concert. No first time ever to go to the Masters Tournament. And for me professionally? No giving the conference keynote in Massachusetts. 

We didn't go to church this morning. Tough decision to make. Necessary. Life is indeed different. Already.

I am dealing with all of these changes to our schedule/routines and the myriad of unknowns by meditating on my favorite scripture verses. I recite them to myself as I go to sleep every night. I started with my one (AND ONLY) memory verse and then added the Lord's prayer. I start each new day by going through those same memory verses. Bookends to my day.

[SPOILER ALERT: In the two months since I started this practice of meditating on scripture passages, I have gone from my original set of two verses, to NOW BEING ABLE TO RECITE 100 VERSES!!!!   I'll have to write more on that process at another point in time, but for now, let me just say YES! ONE HUNDRED VERSES!!]

I've also been spending time in my 'scripture collection' of my photos, where I have added a Bible verse in print to embellish the image. I have spent this weekend going through my favorites and creating some new ones. 

My hope is that by sharing these images with you here, they may offer you support as well. 

When in doubt, start with the classic: 
"Be still and know that I am God." 

All of the photos above I have taken over our summers in Door County, Wisconsin.

The two Saguaro cactus photos that follow are from our Cabo trip last fall. 

The water lilies are from right here where we live in Vero Beach, FL. 

I have written a prayer integrating these favorite scripture verse, into the prayer itself. 

Praise Report: God's Provision and My Half-Birthday Present!

Today is my half-birthday. Grab half a cupcake and a cup-a cuppa cuz I need to talk.
Something beyond the largest superlative has happened. My heart is full. 

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

I am convinced more than ever that God has a sense of humor. Or maybe it was my own personal angel committee sitting up into the wee hours around their angelic northern lights campfire, that decided miracles aren't just for arcane scriptures, and that every now and then prayers REALLY should get immediate attention in a clearly incredible way to keep the faith-filled jubilant and the sinners ducking for cover and looking over their shoulders for pillars of salt. Send a faithful lightning jolt with flair. Get people's attention. Raise a Hallelujah ruckus.

Whether an act-of-God or a committee of angels, I'll let you be the judge. In either case, I am going to tell you the most amazing chapter to date in my pretty-amazing-life-so-far. This may end up sounding something like a cross between a Disney tale and a schmaltizie Halmark movie, but I promise to stick to the facts. Just the facts. No need for exaggeration or embellishment. The naked facts in this particular episode of my story are just too staggering in their own right. No need to conjure. My imagination is not that well developed anyway. I couldn't have made this up with a whole crew of fiction writers. So let's get right to it. Cupcakes anyone?

For seventy two hours I've been writing these coming paragraphs in my head attempting to figure out how to weave the narrative for my faith-filled Saturday readers into the latest "Praise Report" installment. The only approach that I have come up with, is just to plow on.

Setting the stage. In case you've missed some of the recent back-story. I have been calling 2015 the year of austerity. Writing this year's goals with promise and hope, I never in a gazillion years anticipated that our oldest daughter would within weeks of the disco-ball-auld-lang-syne sing along at the Elks club, be hurtled into a divorce and custody battle over our three WonderPeeps. The toll that would take. Literally. In mid-January we gave her roughly 25% of our 2015 ear marked retirement funds intended for our daily living expenses, to launch her 'legal battle.' Those dollars were spent oh-so-quickly. Agony compounded by reality. I asked for your prayers. I asked, even begged for your support. I've asked for your prayers some more. Let's continue with what I know. I have literally been surrounded by your prayers from all corners of the globe. People that didn't even know what to pray for began the praying anyhow. So it began. The beseeching of heaven. Heaven has been back on speed dial for me this year. And I'm convinced heaven listens. Read on and you'll be convinced. 
Ask and you will receive.

7"In my distress I called upon the LORD, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears." 2 Samuel 22:7

ALL through out this spring amazing serendipitous out-of-the-blue speaking invitations were extended and grant dollars received. We cut every extraneous bit of discretionary fluff to be prudent and stay out of debt. We have never been down to our last can of baked beans or sustained ourselves with Ramen noodles, that was the year of 1993, that was the year of my unanticipated divorce and single parent saga. I do know about Ramen noodles first hand, but I digress. In 2015 new dollars came to us from new adventures. And the Clements rejoiced. And the peeps were fed during the winter of '15 and the utility bills were paid, were paid all around, all around and the utility bills were paid all around. And the people sang Amen.

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11

Then as is our tradition, we began our snowbird migration from palms to pines, following last month bunking in with the peeps, working back and forth across the Buckeye state/Detroit, we then continued north. {Most financially viable month in recent recorded history: Amen-corner holler now! AMEN!} We made a pit stop in Chicago at a Catholic elementary for me to sing and dance and I left with a zip-lock baggie FILLED with single dollar bills. Makes me giggle. They had literally passed the hat, when they learned I would be passing by. We continued north on the turnpike waving good-by to the Windy City, noting that we should be pulling into our humble home in less than four hours. I could envision sunsets to come.....and we had just passed that final gas oasis when my cell phone rang. 

It is noteworthy to point out that A.) my phone had a charge B.) it was turned on and C.) I was able to locate it mid-sleep stupor TO ANSWER IT. People that interact with me at all on a regular basis can vouch for those details being in alignment, is the certain cue for the opening curtain, during the overture, which officially marks the fairy tale part of this retelling, can now commence, in earnest.

Not recognizing the voice on the other end of the line while being somewhat asleep I had a hard time fathoming the single question from Bill. Bill who? "Would we be willing to sell our place?" Bill where? Bill what? What place? Huh? Seriously? Our sweet spot? Where we are mere hours from arriving to spend the next 4.75 months? Sell it? What? It's not on the market.

I wipe away the sleep drool and mumble some sort of response, from sleep stammering, "uh, let me talk it over with my hubsbund."

What? sell our place? Our haven-on-Earth? What? Bill WHO? So hubs and moi attempt to have a conversation without having any shred of insight as to who I was even talking to. All I can honestly tell you now, is that I can truly recall saying to my hubsbund, "I think you have to call him back. This has to be a God-thing."

"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22

He hit redial after our lunch break. We said yes. Our haven could conceivably become Bill's daughter's haven. Bill who exactly? Yet to be determined.

So we went about the first week of our Door County Season 2015, cleaning the winter grime from the windows with the thought that this might be our last seasonal de-griming of our little place that we love. It was in the course of that 'interim week of not knowing what was to unfold' that we learned that we are just a few heartbeats short of owning this little place of ours for ten years. {My hubs is a planner. We married with the stipulation that we would live together in the Worthington-garden suburban home extraordinaire for ten years. At which point the colossal home would be sold for two small humble places: one north and one south.} How could it already be ten years in this place? Really? A whole decade? Time flies. 

Back to real time. This week. And so on Monday of this week, Bill's daughter arrived from the south and came to look at our place. She kinda luv'd on it immediately. On Tuesday, she made us an offer to buy it!!! She wants to buy our place. Our place that is not on the market for sale. AND she wants to take occupancy at the end of THIS month!!! In like two weeks. This has to be a God-thing-fur-surZ.

Where would we go? Back to the palm trees? We JUST got here! I haven't even seen the first daisy. The tulips are still blooming! Iris. Daisies aren't even scheduled for a couple weeks.

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8 

On Wednesday morning we met a realtor to see a place for us to lay our heads, just behind the Green Gables off of 42, kinda edge-of-Ephraim-ish. While this theoretical 'mother-in-law' suite was quasi-suitable as long as we didn't expect to do any entertaining, it did come with the noticeable shortcoming that the three room space has no kitchen. Not even a college dorm sized microwave. How hungry can you get in four months time? By Wednesday afternoon we got a call to see another property with contiguous rental availability and driving out to the north edge of the world we were met with a perfect little cabin on Water's End Rd, with the only noticeable drawback that it is so remote, there is no internet service possible. Ever. Never. Nada. Zilch. Given the choice of no kitchen or no internet, guess which way I was leaning? To be sure, we had options. Options are good. Options are our friend. 

And finally at 6:30 on Wednesday we all convened: Bill's daughter and mom, and brother and sister-in-law and nephew and we signed on an internet-downloadable standard WI real estate contract and our little haven was sold. No realtors involved. FSBO. SOLD! 

Wow. Bettcha didn't see that coming. God did.

For another two weeks we will live in Timber Ridge on Timber Ridge Circle... so funny when the village elders named our parking lot. That happened during our ten year ownership. Funny story that one. There are 36 condos here. A block from the marina sundown, just behind Al Johnson's goats-on-the-roof eaterie and butik, handy dandy to the library and just a few steps to weekly Zumba: sweet spot. Of those 36 condos, two units have been on the market FOR OVER TWO YEARS! For over two years realtors have brought prospective buyers to look at units owned by two sets of our friends. Friends we dine with. Friends we share a wall with. Right beside us!

Bill's daughter has had dual knee replacement and prefers a single floor unit like ours, so she doesn't have to climb stairs to lay her head on a pillow. Our place is easy to LUV: now. Gone are the original pink fluorescent bath tiles. Gone is the boxed in kitchen. We gutted the place, actually we had it gutted. Opened it up. That was construction project number one. The following year we had the same contractor build a four season room on a foundation that had been our unit's slab-patio. Wowza! Ten years of me planting hostas and dividing them every spring. Ten years of harvesting the ferns up by the trash/overflow parking area and transplanting them with tender loving care. Ten years of building a lawn.Ten years of adoration. 

Times up. I guess you'd say that she made us an offer we couldn't refuse. 

The moral to the story. Yes. What is the moral to the story? When you ask for heaven's help, you'd better prepare yourself for the unimaginable. How many people do you know that have sold their place, that was not on the market? I'm sure it happens. It is NOT like we were handed the last known unicorn wearing a rainbow harness. We just never in our wildest saw this possibility on the horizon. In this market. Out of the clear blue. We suddenly have access to ten years of equity and our down payment dollars. Or we will have. The i's are not dotted. The t's not crossed. We have to close on the deal. I thought about keeping the cat-in-the-bag until everything was inked, but why become superstitious at this point? The point is God has provided. 

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31

Don't get me wrong. This is wildly BITTERSWEET. Like every juncture leaving something you love for the unknown is bittersweet. There will be tears. It is a transition. That four season room is where I made the quilts for my latest picture book. Crocodile tears. Hubs and I have each other. We have other plans on the drawing table to conjure. Dreams do come true with divine timing. I know in my heart that Saint pulled some strings to make this happen. At this exact juncture. The juncture of need meets prayer. For my half-birthday present. How was your cyber cupcake?

God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good. 

Now you know why this quotation means so much to me on the occasion of this season's first sunset.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being." Ephesians 3:16

P.S. That takes the pressure off of our side of the equation. Sarah on the other hand, is very much in every way, still up against it. Her back is to the wall. Her efforts with building her own business with Younique cosmetics continue. As in every new business, she has much to learn. Currently. She is in gen-u-ine, desperate need of cyber-hostess folks willing to host a party, so she can share her enthusiasm for the products she demonstrates so well. Those in her immediate circle have risen to the call. Now she needs new blood. She needs you!  

This just also happens to be the week that I was introduced to the amazing life-survivor, writer and humanitarian, Glennon at Momastry. LUV that little before and after glamatization she shared from her blog. Such a heart warming, behind-the-scenes look at the real self and the portrayed self. I suggested that Sarah follow in these footsteps for a before and after insight, of how Younique has transformed her. 

Yes. She knows the image on the left is less-than-drab. Kinda mug-shot worthy. {That was the whole idea.} The unvarnished and the pretend. If you follow her on FB or Instagram, she is really pretending so very hard that there will be a silver-lining emerge in the aftermath of the destruction and vaporization of her marriage. She is attempting to fake-it-till-she-makes-it. She is working diligently at learning all that must be learned. At warp speed. I'm so incredibly proud of her. She needs the support of the village. Literally. 

I know that you might consider it easier to send a check. She also wants to keep her dignity. That old saw about giving a man a fish versus teaching them how to fish. If you would work with her on hosting a cyber-party, she will learn the art-of-fishing, with the potential for genuine growth ahead. That's the learning curve at hand. If you are willing to help support her and the WonderPeeps, please just let me know and I will connect the dots. Now that school is out for many of you -- this could be the perfect time. Gather ye berries as they bloom. 

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  Romans 8:18

So many things to focus on and rejoice over. This was the week when my parents celebrated their SIXTY-FIRST wedding anniversary. Quite an example to set for the rest of us. A reason for rejoicing. You may now eat the other half of your cupcake. So much to celebrate this week! 

I just went to see that I have had 10 sales at TeachersPayTeachers so far in the month of June. From ten brand new people. People that I don't know. Oh, happy day! For me, that's good. There must still be a few people in school, because these two standards were nine of the ten purchases. Thank you Thank you! Thank you! 

By far the 'winner-at-income-generation' on a week-by-week basis is our distributorship of the WobbleSeat.com effort! I made a new Twitter banner for my Wobble Seat Twitter account. 

The interest is real! The orders are real! The enthusiasm is real! Our gratitude is the most real of all! Your telling others about our efforts at Younique or Wobbles or TpT or all-of-the-above are indeed amazing. 

We serve an awesome God. One capable of dreaming up a solution that wasn't even on the radar screen. Can't wait to see how the next chapter unfolds. 

Signs from Heaven: Faith in the Face of the Unthinkable

Sister Bay, {Door County} WI

Make no mistake. I know that we, the two of us, live an idyllic life. We have been blessed beyond reason to create a fairy tale existence, together. For the glorious summer season we are poised on a peninsular thumb that juts between bodies of water. We can see the evening sunset nightly over Green Bay. {The morning sunrise is just a couple mile trek over to Lake Michigan.} There are sailboats that careen about in front of our nightly splendor. It is quite the show. People arrive early with picnic baskets, visiting and appreciating and then clap as the sun makes a final kerplop below the horizon. I like to snap photos of this nightly interaction between water, clouds, sun and vessels. Who wouldn't? 

I don't know much about photography, nothing technical, but when you have a locale such as this, that is not absolutely required. In the midst of such breath-taking splendor even a point and click mentality yields amazing results. With digital freedom, take as many as you want! Something might just work. That's how I go about things. Show up. Snap. Snap. Snappity-snap. Straighten the horizon line. Crop artistically and then share. 

Yesterday was Tuesday. In my little world that means: moderate a Twitter-chat. Yet these are the last couple days of our northern haven before we jettison off to the other reality of our snowbird existence with palm trees in Florida. What to do? What to do? What to do?

My favorite sunset pictures involve clouds in the sky. That's where the amazing color comes from. Last night there wasn't a cloud to be seen. That was visible from our kitchen window a block away. I've taken several thousand cloudless, sunsets. They each resemble the other. Interchangeable. Indistinguishable. Unless there's a sailboat in proximity, you can just swap out one for the next. To be memorable, I've always thought that clouds were necessary. So I had talked myself out of walking the block to our marina perch. Instead I would focus my energy on my cyber-tweet friends. Or so I thought.

As I have been known to do, I argue with myself over a decision already made. "But this is your LAST opportunity to see the sun kerplop from home. Tweeting can wait. Hurry up now, before you miss the whole thing." (Whose voice was that?) So I went. Genuinely skipping down and around our corner. 

With my trusty little Cannon in hand, I was adjusting the settings as I was covering those last several steps. Always multi-taking. Not a sailboat in sight. Big orange orb. Been here. Done that. No expectations. Snapped a photo. Looked quickly at the snap and thought, "Oh no! Oh dear. What have I done? That is so DARK, I've hit the wrong setting." Fiddled around some more, choosing the 'right' camera setting and could then see with a quick review, that the photos I was then taking 'looked like' the sunset I was observing. What I could 'see' with my naked eye was then being captured. So I snapped a couple dozen and zipped back home for my newest installment of #TeacherFriends. 

Came back to TWEET town. Mission accomplished. Had my cake and ate it too.

Fast forward to this morning. Download photo from memory card. BEHOLD! 

Yes. Indeed it is dark. Yet in the midst of all that darkness there is an amazing light that shines. What shape does that light take in your life? Standing on the pier last night this vivid and emerging shape was indiscernible to my naked eye. I only became aware of this vision upon downloading the photos to my computer. 

Faith. What gets you through the unthinkable. The unimaginable. The unforeseen. 

Our son-in-law, Scott is a captain in the Ohio Air Guard. He has had many missions to Afghanistan, Iraq, Qatar and the like. He counts on his peers. We count on his peers to watch out for each other and for him. We expect that tight knit group to do their best to keep each other safe. Scott has a friend named Nathan who's been part of that team for years. Here is Scott's friend Nathan two years back on the happy occasion of his wedding. 

Imagine the fact that Scott's friend Nathan had flown with him numerous times. They had also deployed dozens of times in and out of war zones together. Successfully. Safely. Returning home to the open arms of their loving wives. 

Then Nathan, home state-side, was driving down the road with his sweet young bride to celebrate their second anniversary. Full of excitement and life and plans and joy and enthusiasm and goals and camping gear and a destination. They had a flat tire. In the midst of changing the tire, Nathan was struck by a vehicle and his life ended. Abruptly. Just a heartbeat ago. Just prior to his 30th birthday. Just like that. There are no words. No words adequate. 

Nathan's funeral and burial were yesterday in central Ohio. Following all of the solemnity of the occasion there was a celebration of his L*I*F*E. [The blond in the middle of all of the uniforms pictured below, with her head bowed, is our daughter.] 

"Every one of us is so lucky to have known Nathan, although it wasn't for enough time. It would never have been enough time," uncle Jeff Richeson said today. "But think of all the poor souls who never got to meet Nathan. That's tragic." Read more: http://ohne.ws/W8Jlwq or click picture from the Newark Advocate

Those of you that 'follow' me know that we have now had a total of three flat tires in the last 11 months in the course of our cross country jaunts. Three, actual, literal flat tires. That fact was not lost on me when my daughter called in tears to share the news. That number far exceeds the total number of flat tires I have experienced in the entire rest of my grand-motherly life. Having your tire go flat in the midst of whizzing by downtown Chicago is memorable. "There but for the grace of God go I." 

A flat tire ended this young hero's life. Unimaginable.

I took the sunset photo last night. Unbeknownst to me as to the power of the image. 

What does your faith say in the midst of the unthinkable? What is your compass at that point? What do you see in the midst of the darkest times?

In talking to my daughter this morning, literally while in the midst of downloading the photos, she was telling me all of the details of yesterday's service and the aftermath gathering which was the celebration of Nathan's life. About the folding of the flag. About the return to their homestead acreage. About the writing of final notes and tying them on to balloons. About the release of the balloons in the midst of.............. wait for it................. a RAINBOW!!! 

A sign from heaven. A rainbow. Nathan's rainbow. A promise.  

She was telling me of this unbelievable rainbow, with balloons lifting off through it and how all of these grown men in their service uniforms had glistening eyes anew, when at that very same moment, I finally SAW my photo from last night download. Kerplop.

As if a personal rainbow was not a sufficient 'sign from heaven' and a final thumb's up from Nathan in particular, I was gifted to capture this our final sunset of the season at the very same time. On the evening of Nathan's official departure from and celebration of his Earthly life, my camera took this picture. 

You do the math. 

The heartbreak of the unfairness of this planet is real. The unthinkable happens. The unimaginable transpires. Through it all, not necessarily observable by the naked eye. There is a light that shines. Here's the proof. 

P.S. Editor's note from the future: I was awakened in the middle of the night with an idea to honor Capt. Nathan. 

We are building up a group of teachers on Twitter to support one another. 

I will send each person my song, "Red, White and Blue" that requests it 

and gives me their email address. 

I will email the digital files to you via Dropbox. 

The details are on my Twitter account. 

@Kweezlequeen 

Here's the link to the Google Doc.