I was walking one morning on the beach at sunrise, taking in the glory of the vastness of the Ocean (my favorite metaphor for God) and the littleness of me.
All of a sudden, I stopped dead in my tracks…Wait! I had just walked this way a few minutes ago.
Read MoreFrom my very first year of blogging and just about every year since (sometimes several times in a year) … I’ve been blogging my journeys to my “happy place”…the Jersey Shore.
This blogpost is a trip into yesteryear — one of my early Jersey shore blogs, Aug 2016.
And actually today, we are again on our way to that favorite place on earth for me. It’s not just the ocean that calls me. It’s my roots — the precious loved ones (family and friends) and memories of my growing up years. So off we go for another adventure…
Read MoreI’m taking a virtual vacation at my favorite of all places: the East Coast ocean beach. Why the East Coast? Because it is there that I can also enjoy another favorite — sunrise over the ocean. So why not join me there in my next few posts … specifically the Jersey shore, because I’m a Jersey girl.
When my mom moved to the beach in New Jersey many years ago, I was able to spend many early morning hours on the beach.
I am basically an intuitive, rather than sensory, person (a la Myers-Briggs). But I've found over the years that my senses come alive at the beach.
Read MoreWe just returned from my lovely place…my refreshing place … my longed for place …. my happy place — the beach/ the Jersey Shore/ Long Beach Island and Belmar, NJ.
And we went this year for the epitome of reasons — to celebrate John’s and my 50th wedding anniversary and to have a family reunion of sorts with our kids, grandkids, my siblings and families (aunts, uncles, and cousins to our kids), my 95 y.o. godmother-aunt and my cousin.
And it was much anticipated and planned for over the course of the previous year.
But for me, it began with struggle and stress and hidden tears …. until the Lord met me very early one morning, thankfully at the beginning of the week.
Read MoreEven though it is summertime, taking a look ahead toward winter can virtually cool us off and calm our souls. And it also causes us to remember a loved one in those later stages of life and treasure the beauty in a life well lived. May we do the same.
So I am looking ahead and also remembering …
Beaches are beautiful, no matter the season...and that even includes winter-time. There's a calm...an aloneness (not many brave the cold and wind)...a beautiful bleakness!
The winter beach is a silvery wonderland at times
Read MoreWhen my mom moved to the beach in New Jersey many years ago, I was able to spend many early morning hours on the beach.
I am basically an intuitive, rather than sensory, person (a la Myers-Briggs). But I've found over the years that my senses come alive at the beach.
Read MoreSince my mom moved to the beach in New Jersey many years ago, I've been able to spend the early morning hours on the beach.
Now I am basically an intuitive, rather than sensory person (a la Myers-Briggs). But I've found over the years that my senses come alive at the beach.
Read More♥We are fa-mi-ly...my mother, brothers, sisters, and me! ♥
They have left our beloved New Jersey (home of the famous Jersey shore and my favorite sunrises over the ocean) and have gone over to the “dark side” a.k.a. Florida!
So A Branch in the Vine will be taking a break for a while.
But before I do, I would like to share a post from 2012, after one of our special times together at Nancy's home in Belmar, New Jersey. So may I introduce you to these precious folks who have beckoned me back to New Jersey again and again . . . and now to Florida.
Read MoreBefore I return to my life in Ohio, I would like to share another aha from my mornings at sunrise at the Jersey Shore.
In my previous post, I wrote of the new realization that came to me as I viewed sunrises this trip ... that although our God is unchanging, God's mercies change day by day, just as the unique sunrise changes moment by moment. So too for us, each of our todays is unique with different circumstances, different joys, different sorrows, and different stresses. God who is our All meets us in each with exactly what we need as we trust Him day by day.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
Lamentations 3:24 NLT
Well, here is my final thought. God intends that His mercies spread to shape the atmosphere around us. In other words, His mercies are meant to be shared. You may ask where I got that from the sunrises. Well, let me tell you what I noticed.
♥We are fa-mi-ly...my mother, brothers, sisters, and me! ♥
OK, I did change the lyrics a bit...but that's who we Renners are, since our daddy went home to God more than 25 years ago.
And I am blessed beyond measure to be a part of it all...the oldest of 7 and the "Boss of the Mob" according to my mom :)
Most families are a mess today! We're a mess too (aren't we all?!), but with one big difference. A rarity, in fact! We love and support one another...and we actually want to be together! What an undeserved gift...and I certainly know it!
Read MoreBefore we get too far removed from all those vacation voices, the beachy bliss, the freedom of fun in the summer months, I'd like to tell you about the visual the Lord gave me to show my heart and soul what true surrender does for me and yes, even for Him!
Read MoreAfter a summer riddled with surgeries, sickness, scans, and being stuck at home for "recoveries," we are "getting outa Dodge" and heading east ... to my beloved beach. So I am revisiting my blog posts written over the past 7 years that speak of sand and surf and sunrises at my favorite place. The beach early in the morning is a special place where I meet God in the Glory of His Creation and in the Peace of His Presence.
May you be vicariously refreshed as you "visit" with me there...
Read MoreBefore we get too far removed from all those vacation voices, the beachy bliss, the freedom of fun in the summer months, I'd like to tell you about the visual the Lord gave me to show my heart and soul what true surrender does for me and yes, even for Him!
Read MoreSince my mom moved to the beach in New Jersey many years ago, I've been able to spend the early morning hours on the beach.
Now I am basically an intuitive, rather than sensory person (a la Myers-Briggs). But I've found over the years that my senses come alive at the beach.
Read MoreBeaches are beautiful, no matter the season...and that even includes winter-time. There's a calm...an aloneness (not many brave the cold and wind)...a beautiful bleakness!
The winter beach is a silvery wonderland at times
Read More♥We are fa-mi-ly...my mother, brothers, sisters, and me! ♥
OK, I did change the lyrics a bit...but that's who we Renners are, since our daddy went home to God more than 25 years ago.
And I am blessed beyond measure to be a part of it all...the oldest of 7 and the "Boss of the Mob" according to my mom :)
Most families are a mess today! We're a mess too (aren't we all?!), but with one big difference. A rarity, in fact! We love and support one another...and we actually want to be together! What an undeserved gift...and I certainly know it!
Read More
NJ map
Taking a break...I'm on the way to the beach...in New Jersey. Yes, I'm a Jersey Girl and revisiting my roots with extended family "down the shore."
beach LBI
I'm resting in my Vine...
practicing what I preach...
dunkin donuts coffee cup
trusting Him to restore my soul as I abide in HIM...
and refresh my body as I walk on the beach, drinking my Dunkin' Donuts coffee,
talkin' to HIM and meditating on His Word...
so I can hear His voice and keep on followin' HIM!
Thank you, Lord, for family and the Jersey shore!
Beach scene
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Life as a BranchPerhaps one of the most profound things I am learning about abiding is that it never takes you out of the moment you are in! …Abiding is not primarily about cloister and quiet. The invitation to abide is the invitation to draw spiritual sustenance directly from its Supernatural Source amid the dailiness of life! [even on vacation!] …If we abide, fruit happens! We do our part, but there is a life that flows up through the roots and branches that is beyond our ability to understand or produce! Abiding is and always will be a moment by moment thing. [even on vacation!]
Discipleship Journal via Kathy Godwin (thank you, Kathy!)
I'll see you in a couple of weeks...blessings!
NJ postcard
While I'm gone, I invite you to click on topics of interest on theCloud (a.k.a. "Tags," archives) to the right in green :)
PS Photos from our family reunion:
August 4, 2012
mom, sibs, & me Aug 2012
the Renners & friends 2012
Janet Renner Loyd has been a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ most of her life. Her formal education includes a degree in education from the University of Arizona and also a degree in Bible & Theology from Moody Bible Institute. For more than thirty years, she has been involved in teaching and leading women’s Bible studies, retreats, and meetings…most notably Precept upon Precept and various studies that she has personally developed. Professionally, Jan recently retired from teaching language and writing to GED and adult ESOL students.
About her life, Jan says, “The most important thing about me is my relationship with my Father God through my Lord Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to Him for His love, mercy, and grace to me and my family and friends...and the world.”
Jan has been happily married to John Loyd for more than forty years. They have two adult, married children and five lively young grandsons.
