Sips

Posted on by Gary Fultz

The first hitch of daylight came with this mornings first coffee. 4 hours of sleep but I’m awake from some extra curricular caregiving. “Ah Lord God…good morning” I whispered and took a sip. “So, Jesus…how much sleep did you get before riding on that unbroken colt into Jerusalem ?”

Morning broke as I read. Deeper thoughts stirred my mind. Sips of story mixed with coffee and new thoughts. I’m here in the moment. I’m in Jerusalem, I’m a child waving palm branches, I’m a vapor in the scheme of things yet loved and carved into his hands.

I answer another call for help from our daughters bedroom. We talk through her pain. There’s so much love…she is waving palm branches, praising yet desperate for Jesus touch. Her world of extreme pain and over-the-top love overlapping in rare moments that cross the border into that miraculous zone most never experience. “We love because He first loved us”.

The sun is breaking through the clouds. I sip and weep. So good. Wish I could share more sips….ah, someday.

Gary

36 thoughts on “Sips”

  1. Gary, I’m in tears reading this. Your words resonate in my soul. Give Tania a huge hug (and Cheryl too) for me. I woke up at 4 am. By 4:15 I was sipping my first cup of coffee as Jay sent me a pic of the full moon.
    Palm Sunday. They were waving the palms celebrating him—within days yelling “Crucify Him.” The pain for us. The pain we all share. The Garden we will all be reunited in. This week and the weekend move me. I’m forever changed because of Jesus. God bless you, Gary. The Fultz family is a blessing to me. Love and prayers to all of you. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and life.

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    1. We are fellow palm branch wavers Karla. Fellow sippers of life and coffee. Brothers and sisters forever. Unbroken circle. wish you were closer…group hug from here. I’m also reflecting on how many bloggers are on my prayer list. Quite a few in alphabetical order starting with K and ending with J

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      1. My Favorite Guy lives with Parkinson’s and a blood disorder, while I deal with fibromyalgia (2 dozen years) and worsening diverticulitis, but God’s got this and we’re at peace with it. #aginggratefully

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  4. So deeply moving, Gary. ☀️☕️ Your words stir the soul. Even in weariness, your heart reflects Christ’s love so beautifully. We are held, carved into His hands, indeed. 🙏🌿 Hosanna in every moment.

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  6. Gary, Your children have a father and a mother who love them sacrificially and I assume unconditionally. ❤️‍🩹 Yet our Heavenly Father’s love is even stronger. 🙏Heavenly Father, cover the Fultz family with your healing mercy and grace and peace! A Sunday nap, for all, could also help. 💕

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  8. The power of God’s presence. When He makes us aware He is with us. In the hour of our heartbreak over the pain of a close loved one. He knows our heartache. He knows their pain. He cares deeply. From the depths of God’s own heart. Bless the Lord O, our soul!

    Bless you, Gary. May the good Lord ease her pain and your heartache in this passing moment.

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    1. you and I will have a lot of stories to tell someday GW. For now we live in trust of His promises and experience peace and joy where it’s not expected. Yes, we feel the depths of his heart…it beats in us.

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  10. Thanks Gary. There is such a great love there with y’all. Sometime there is a good amount of healing and answering and feeling better and sometimes the infusion of love in the mix might crowd the other things out which means the ministry might not result in those other things but makes one feel good anyway. Not sure if I’m deciphering it correctly. Not sure I can express this in words…. I remember a teaching a long ways back that the Lord speaks to us in our spirit and we pretty much kinda get it but have to translate it into our spoken language to receive it in more of a cognitive way. Y’all being there with your daughter may not bring pain relief every time but it does bring heart pain relief and all the other relief that real love brings. I imagine it’s the same with the Lord and us in that He comforts us sufficiently at those times when we really need it without necessarily giving us the answer we seek or the practical things we believe we need. Somehow it always works out because His pure Love is a constant. It is like breathing which we usually take for granted. I am thankful the Lord doesn’t require our constant acknowledgement of Him and His manifold blessings all the time for Him to love us anyway and that He understands our limitations and humanity but is there anyway and supplies anyway but I’m sure He is most thankful when we do show our appreciation and praise Him. I appreciate your great strength Gary, and determination, and 100% steadfastness. And y’all still have a joyful heart. All of this PROVES there is a Great Benevolent Creator who is also a Personal Loving Father and Friend doing for each of His children what y’all are doing for yours because we would not and could not do such things otherwise. It comes from Him. I am also greatly thankful that because of my Lord I can be of good help to mine. I have learned long ago that it is the steady hand that helps the most. It is being there for them and them knowing you care and are there in the spirit if not personally just as the Lord is with us. Y’all demonstrate this daily and I know it cannot be easy but must be greatly fulfilling. It is the demonstration of 100% pure love and faithful dedication. Your daughter appreciates it immensely. And it is like breathing.

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    1. Thanks RJ. We do live in a seeming paradox of life stuff and trusting God’s presence and promises. We have friends who have let their feelings wreck their faith. The fountain of youth, freedom from pain and endless eternal life isn’t here…but we seem to get sips in knowing his love as well as the other fruits as we grow in knowing and following our savior. And, sips from God’s cup are beyond any amount of words we can write or utter.

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  11. God bless your beautiful daughter! Keeping all of you in my prayers this Holy week. Love is the blessing that keeps giving back over and over again…the circle of love in your family goes round and round…a perfect circle with God in the center.

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  14. I can’t relate to sipping coffee but certainly can to sipping life with the Lord. He is near to the broken hearted. You and your family are often in my prayers. Thank you for sharing your heart in such a beautiful way. May the Lord’s peace and comfort be your family’s covering.

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    1. Thanks Donna. Yep, sipping life with the Lord through life in all circumstances…it’s the best thing. When I go camping, tea is good around the campfire. I think I drink deeply of the Lord in the wilderness…church is just a sip in comparison

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  15. I am always amazed at the unique threads of passion each of us is created for. Yes, the wilderness is where I feel at home and connect with God and his creation of nature. Like your son, we need time and space and visual reminders as well as being on an adventure. Even some clothes in a stuff sac and sleeping in a tent in a storm are better than the finest pillows in the best hotels.

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  17. Your strong faith in the midst of difficult experiences and your gift for written expression create the most meaningful prose, Gary. Through “sips of story mixed with coffee and new thoughts” you’ve offered a perfect, heart-touching example. Also, we are indeed “a vapor in the scheme of things yet loved and carved into his hands.” Glorious truth! Thank you, Gary, for artfully putting it into words.

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    1. Thankyou Nancy. Very encouraging. when thoughts…sometimes disjointed thoughts connect and stir other(s) thoughts. However it happens between believers, God’s truths stand out in our forest of thoughts as unmoveable landmarks, unchanging through all the weathering of time and pressure.

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