Saturday ramblings....

It's kind of weird writing to no one, really. I get an occasional comment, from close friends, but my most faithful comment givers are the guys selling porn on the internet. I guess they didn't really get the post about trading in your sin and guilt for peace and joy. They probably had a great big laugh and think that I get mad when they continually comment. Well, I don't. I'm just delighted they like to read about birds in my bird bath, sunlight traveling around the rooms in our house, my favorite aprons, and the pain in my heart caused by the terminal illness of our precious son-in-law. I hope they read about the hope that is there too, hope put there by the promise of life eternal if you belong to the family of God. I just ask one thing of this bunch....that they write their comments in English. If I could give them the great news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their language, I would.

I have a favorite person whose quotes set me on fire when I was much younger. Her name is Sister Mary Corita. Today I ran across a little journal where I had written many of them down. I will close with a few choice ones:

"To believe in God is to die and not be embarrassed."
"To believe in God is to get high on love enough to look down at your loneliness and forget it forever!"
"To believe in God is more than I need to make believing more than making believe."

Oh! I love this one from God:
"God is dead."--Nietzsche
"Nietzsche is dead." --God

ever grateful for eternal life in Christ Jesus

bird bathing

What is it about a bird taking a good, vigorous, extra splashy bath in our fountain that perks me up no matter what circumstance I am in? All that wiggling and vibrating serve as a very effective little sprinkler system, watering flowers and plants all around. I have a friend who's fountain inspired mine, and birds line up there for a bath like cars in a car wash line! That is my goal, to have them line up for their turn. So far, Robins and Brown Thrashers top the list of daily bathers. Sparrows love it and take the longest to finish their business. I am waiting for a chickadee to find the perfect little rock in it to perch upon and stop my heart (not permanently of course.)
God does exactly what He says He does in providing for even the birds, knowing what they need without them asking. Could I trust with such abandon as a little bird?

A sad phone call put me into a 'what-if' state of mind this morning. Watching the birds has been comforting to me---watching them stay in the moment, enjoying what is put before them without anxiety over tomorrow. Living like that would bring a "beautiful simplicity to my life; a time for everything, and everything in its time." Is what I am worrying about part of today's portion for me? If it isn't, would I release it into God's care and go on about today's duties?
Thank you, little birds. Your were God's visual today in the "Learning More About Trust" crash course He has assigned me.
ever grateful for that

Would you consider taking what is mine?

I am dedicating this post to you, my mysterious Japanese, Chinese, or some other "eese" reader that sends me comments that lead to your porn site. At first, I was so thrilled that someone outside my little world was reading about my views on life and sharing the same grateful responses to God's care--thrilled until I clicked on your comment.
That is when I discovered your trick, a subtle plan to somehow lure me into your world view.
It amazes me and encourages me that you continue to read about my joy, my pain, my faith, my woodpile and my little fountain. Perky breasts seem to be your cup of tea,(I admit I wish mine were more so) and yet you read about the thrill a first hyacinth brings me and how I am trusting God with everything and everyone I hold dear. Trust is an alluring topic, don't you agree?

Oh dear searching one. First, let me assure you that I have discovered by God's good grace, that indeed, without surrendering to His compelling love in my life, I, like you, am capable of anything that would eventually break my heart and the hearts of my family, foster lust and pride in my mind, and lead me to loneliness and despair. But, hear this! There is a choice that is offered us. It is as much for me as for you. It is for every empty, broken, rich, poor, healthy, sick, and living soul on the planet.
It is Jesus. The same Jesus that sees your life and mine, sees we can never be with Him in paradise because of our sin, sees that without His rescue we will perish, forever.
Oh reader, would you consider taking what is mine? It is a commodity that never runs out, there is always enough to share.You would be taking hope, taking peace of mind and heart, taking joy and clean fun, even taking pain (which you will have, by the way) and being able to walk in it with the comfort of Jesus by your side.
The world you are living in seems to have the answer to your constant pursuit of happiness and satisfaction. It is a lie....there is no true satisfaction outside of knowing God. All else is temporary, needing to be constantly refilled for one more moment of counterfeit happiness.
I am praying for you dear reader; praying for you, not because I am looking down on you and seeing myself as better. I am praying for you because Jesus has shown me we are all alike. I just have met Him first. He has paid for what I have done, and in my heart that is full of self-interest, will do again. I want you to have what I have... a confidence in a Savior that has saved me from myself, a love that never fails, a peace the world cannot give, and a life that never ends.
"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish-come to destruction, be lost-but have eternal and ever lasting life.
For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge-to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on-the world;but that the world (you and me) might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. John 3:16,17 (amplified version)
For that I am forever grateful! May we be safe together....

Small Joys

My husband's favorite quote is "never give up" by Winston Churchill. It is a mighty good thing because he never quit digging 'til the gigantic hole was dug for our fountain. You'll have to read the previous blog to get the full significance of this task.
I am so happy to have the sound and sight of it whenever I go out, or look out the window. I find it has the exact same effect on me as a fire in the winter...it cheers, it comforts and it affords great company. I have had the thrill of watching the birds find it to drink and to bathe.
When life has deep disappointments, or when life is satisfying you with great good fortune, never underestimate the joy there is to be found in the capacity to enjoy small pleasures.

God has lavishly strewn our lives with myriads of small delights that reflect His love for us. Sometimes it takes a will to look for them. I see now more than ever in my life, it is Him in every joy, it is Him in every sadness, it is Him in all things that help us discover true joy. This week, amidst sad days, He provided the joy of this little fountain. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "when it is dark enough, you can see all the stars." Look for stars when your nights are dark. I am finding many small joys when I am looking for the Giver, not the gift.
ever grateful for that!

where there is a will, there IS a way

I am in the season of learning "not my will but yours, Lord." However in the matter of installing and enjoying a fountain in my garden, I am in the throws of finding a way to make this happen for it is a perfect illustration of "where there is a will, there is a way."
I truly think it delights God for me to have a little fountain, so 2 rounds of Advil later, I am only one half of the way down the hole I must dig to place the liner under it. One of my dear friends, a garden and fountain diva, assures me this seemingly family size thing looking more like a hot tub with every few inches I dig, is exactly the right size for the bang I want for my buck. It hasn't helped much to find a family of gnarly roots and an old fence post still stuck in the concrete footing in the middle of my hole!
Moving the fountain location will mess up the design I have envisioned for a year, so I'm counting on that great big ol' man of mine to dynamite the post out if necessary. I'm not going that far, just because he probably won't let me, but it is going to come out! I've got the will, I'll find a way.

Spring is here. Is it there where you are? I cannot imagine a spring moment much richer than feasting my eyes on the new fresh green that wraps itself around the yellows, purples and pinks in my garden, while listening to the splash and gurgle of water running over the sides of my new fountain urn. I fully expect the birds to bathe and drink there while tending to their important bird business (making homes and children, you know). I am very close to the completion of that dream--I'll just lie down for a while with icy hot on my back, then dig a while more then look up the number of "jaws of life" if the big guns need to be called in. I read somewhere that Archimedes said "with a long enough lever and a solid enough place to stand you could move the world." I hope he learned that from moving a fence post in concrete.
My next little blog will feature a photo of my new fountain, Lord willing.
ever grateful for that

"A picture is worth a thousand words", but not in this case!

Dear blog fans, (fans might be an exaggerated term)
I love to write, I love to put into words things that swirl around in my head and heart, but I have been frustrated with the fact that when I write about things that have no picture to enhance the text, the blog lines up with some totally unrelated picture...for example, lets say I have spilled my guts over some tragic experience that totally changed my world view and beside it is a picture of our 5 year old grand daughter standing on her head smiling upside down in the swimming pool! Or even more confusing, a blog about the unexpected joy of discovering purple hyacinths emerging in my garden, aligned directly across from a snapshot of the biggest fish I ever caught!

I don't like things out of order, but like many other things in my life, I don't seem to have any control. Someone who is familiar with how settings, layouts, and all the other options work could enlighten me, of course, but for now, you will have to ignore the picture to left of the blog, knowing it has no bearing on the subject. Or, you could just make up an amazing reason how it might somehow illustrate the point--that might work when I'm writing and not making much sense to anyone but myself.

So, Lord willing, I'll be writing more and more. I find life's circumstances a daily teacher of enormous truths just emerging, like my hyacinths, to ponder and to make my own. Why do you have to be 63 to begin to understand what God has been saying to you for 40 years?

I'll close with this enormous question that holds great truth:
"Do you judge God in light of your circumstances? Or do you judge your circumstances in the light of God's character?"

ever grateful for the question, and ever grateful to God who is revealing His true character to me

new friends and family

I have been away from home a month. Actually, I didn't realize I could write on my little blog from anywhere but home, that shows you how technically savy I am. As I write I am tucked into my (actually Joseph's) little bed that has been a comfy haven for me at night. Because I have made several long-term visits here, I have made new and wonderful friends whom I treasure because of their servant's hearts and their tender care of Clare, Barry, Sam and Joseph.

I have seen wonderful meals brought to the back door, rides galore for the children to fun places and play dates, cards, letters, gifts, visits, prayers and every imaginable kindness.
God's people are unique in all the world. The New England branch of His family have astonished me with never-failing love and service. I thought the Southern bunch had a corner on the casserole bringin' and the lending of a hand when you needed it, but I've got to say, this bunch of folks puts us Southerners to shame.
There is really no good time to leave this precious family, but I am so grateful to God that He has placed this little family in the center of a circle of true and trustworthy brothers and sisters who will be here when I cannot be and do for them things that I could never do. I go home seeing Isaiah 41:10 lived out for my daughter, my son-in-law, and my darling grandsons.

"Fear not, for I am with you. I will strengthen you, I will hold you with my righteous right hand, I will help you."

There really isn't any way to thank these precious souls, we just will have to pass it on.
ever grateful for that, e.