Notes From A Broken Heart

God knows the uneasiness and concern, the fluctuations, flagging and dragging, that ease effortlessly into my spirit.    "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar." (Psalm 139: 1-3, ESV) Yes, I'd been fretting, even murmuring but eventually turning my attention elsewhere.  Gideon and I connected!    I remembered the Saturday afternoon and a vision I'd seen years ago.   (What else could it have been?)  Since Saturday's been my traditional "chore day" for two decades, I'd decided I'd earned a mid-afternoon nap.  I lay in bed, eyes closed and breathing rhythmically.   I can't see the front steps from my bedroom since a cupola hides them.  Yet, I saw two young guys sitting on the front steps.  They appeared really relaxed as they rested elbows on their knees.  They seemed

Young Gideon lived in Israel and considered himself the least of his father's sons.  However, after an encounter with the angel of God, Gideon agreed to lead soldiers into battle against the conquering Midianites.   However, Gideon's feet got cold soon after he'd agreed.  He recalled the strength of the oppressors and wanted a guarantee of success.  While I cannot imagine having a conversation with an angel in the first place, like Gideon I'd attempt to strike a bargain. Gideon answered, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speaks to me." ( Judges 6:17).  The angel of the Lord told Gideon what to do next, and Gideon followed the instructions to the letter,  He ended up destroying the altar of Baal, which enraged the Midianites, Amalekites, and other "ites" of the east. In today's vernacular, they were about to get it on!  Fearfully, Gideon reported, "Behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the thre