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AVBS Day 3 In the shadows <3

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Yesterday we talked about dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High. 

Dwelling. 

We, Russ and I, we dwell in our home.

It’s the place where our stuff is stored. It’s where we come home to at the end of the day or running errands or traveling. We eat, sleep, talk, read, dress, think, do business…live out every day here in the walls of this home we have made. 

We keep remnants of the legacy of each of our family lines and we have scattered amongst the rooms reminders of our years with a young family.

We have added treasures and we have eliminated things that would harm those we love.

Even in the short time we have lived in our new dwelling, we have accumulated times when family and friends have gathered around tables of celebration and we have held precious friends and family in our arms as they wept salty tears of grief. 

We come home here because it is where we dwell and we strive to make it a haven for anyone who needs a place to feel loved, cared for and encouraged.

How foolish we would be to go to a strange place or rent a room at the nearby hotel at the end of the day when we have this place we call home to return to.

My Holman’s Christian Standard Bible says…The one who lives in the protection of the Most High DWELLS in the shadow of the Almighty. 

When we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ and receive the gift of His salvation through His blood on the Cross, we have found our permanent home in the protective walls of the love of the Most High God. 

We move about within the days and hours of living, going to work and school. Doing chores and serving others, but our home is in Him and we live under His protection. 

We DWELL in His shadow.

Shadows are interesting, aren’t they?

They are places of darkness in the presence of a greater light. 

On cloudy days or in the black of night we do not see shadows.

Shadows can appear frightening to a child at night when familiar objects make odd shapes in the faint glow of a light down the hall. 

Shadows can be shade that provide a cool place of rest on a hot day. 

Shadows are not substance, but they are evidence of something solid that exists. 

All of these and so many more can be used by my finite mind about dwelling in the Shadow of the Almighty. 

That I dwell in His shadow means even when, to my human eyes, I am in the darkest of places, it is only His shadow that I need to focus on.

The shadow of His hand gives me rest and peace and protection. It is not His substance, but evidence of His existence. 

I will not, can not see, God with my human eyes in the form of His deity and glory. 

But the shadows cast across the landscape of my life are evidence of the substance and faithfulness of His hand at work over, in and around me. 

Verses 14-16 give this promise to us who have chosen to make God our dwelling place, our home…the haven we seek and the one we invite others into.

Because he has his heart set on me…because she returns to Me day after day as her home…

I WILL deliver him

I WILL protect her

Because he knows who I am by name and by character:

I WILL answer when she calls and I will be with him in trouble.

I WILL rescue

I WILL give honor

I WILL satisfy those who dwell in MY shadow by giving meaning and purpose to their existence and I WILL show them My salvation <3

Today’s activity: Go outside and then enter in to your place of lodging through the front door. Sit in one of your favorite spots within the place you call home. Look around and take in the view. Feel the comfort of the chair or couch that is your go to. Ponder what it is that makes this physical building into the place you call your dwelling and think about what it means to “dwell” there. 

Then think about God’s protection and and what His “shadow” represents for you. Think about dwelling in that place. Perhaps find and read the lyrics to the old hymn “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” by Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane <3

Almighty God, Most High, El Elyon, Elohim, Adonai, Yahweh….these are names that do not fall easily from my vocabulary when I cry out to You but they are names that remind me who You are. Your glory and presence are far beyond what I can comprehend, imagine, see, understand but under the Shadow of just your Hand, I can begin to know You. Where You are is my home and it is where I choose to live. My heart is set on You and I receive the promises with a humble and joy-filled heart. Blessed be the name of our God, who calls us by His name. May Your name be forever praised. Amen <3

Our snack today is a recipe courtesy of my Grandma Lochner.

I wish you all could have known her. She was nothing short of amazing.

If anyone exemplified to me “Taste and see that the Lord is good” it would be her because she seemed to embrace all the experiences and opportunities presented to her until the very end. 

She cut asparagus, picked cherries from the tree in her yard…on a ladder…in her seventies. She was a whiz with artistic and creative endeavors in all sorts of ways. 

She wore pants in a time most housewives sported dresses. According to my dad, when The Great Depression left people hungry and out of work, she took in boarders and raised chickens in their yard to make sure they had food. He always said he would eat chicken, but not his first choice as he had witnessed their demise too many times. 

She loved good food and she loved to laugh. She had a temper and was loud and you knew what she was thinking. But she put love into every thing she ever did and I miss her terribly even though she has been gone so many more years than she was alive in my lifetime. 

While I could only hope to be as resourceful and resilient as she, I do note that I seem to have inherited her penmanship…

So today, I give you this favorite recipe. 

You have to love a dish that is called “Duff” right?

Some things you need to know –

Lochners always sifted dry ingredients. It is imperative that you make a huge mess doing this. It’s the only way we know how to cook.

She left out pertinent information like pan size, steps galore and her abbreviations are hilarious so I fixed it to be readable. 

She called apricots “cots”…I have no idea if this is a thing out in the Yakima Valley of Washington state or Lochner thing. But it cracks me up.

Enjoy…it is delicious and for the love of all things good…do not use margarine…use butter <3

Lazy Day Duff (my Peach pie)

1/2 C butter

3 tsp baking powder

1 C flour

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 C sugar

2/3 cup milk

2 Cups fruit (peaches but see note below)

Melt butter, sift together all dry ingredients. Add milk until blended. Put sweetened fruit in a 9×9 pan and spoon batter over this. Dot with butter. Do not stir. 

Bake 375 degrees for 35 minutes

*Fruit can be cots, peaches or cherries

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