WOW!!!

Talk about getting a message loud and clear! Three inbox items brought a great encouragement to me this morning. Two of them I usually skip over in the rush of busy days and running here and there., but God heard my inner talk that wasn’t kind to myself and thus not pleasing to Him.

The first was a post from Crosswalk for Women titled “Stop calling yourself an idiot.”  That definitely spoke to me, since I reserve my harshest words for myself including that very one every time I lose or misplace something or make a stupid (Oh, there’s another one.). I would not say that to the face of another human being and shouldn’t be saying it to myself or to them through the windows of the car or behind their backs to others.  Why?  Back to a recent study in James that reminded us about the power of the tongue to build up or to hurt and destroy.  That challenged me about being very careful about capturing those thought and not letting be spoken and working to not even entertain the thought, even about the driver in the next car weaving in and out of traffic.  Today I was challenged that I too am made in the image of God.  While I need to do some self-talk to challenge growth, I should not be calling myself an idiot or stupid or other names I know I should not call any other person.  It’s a challenge.

The next was from “Your Daily Prayer” from Lisa Terkeurst which is a regular in my feed but rarely read based on the inevitable busyness of the morning. Today, I chanced to open it,  and it spoke loudly and clearly to me in two ways.  The first was a reminder to not give up on dreams because others seem to be jumping in and you begin to feel maybe what you have to offer is not needed.  Follow God’s dream because He can and will use it all.  We should be sending more workers into the field, not just a few good ones.  God does need my “special” offering, and it is His to use.  I need to pray for all the workers in the harvest, including those who are doing what I want to do.  I need to actually work on it.

Then, my regular devotional reading was based on the familiar “We are the body.” passage in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 and was titled “Rejoice with those who Rejoice”. It also referenced Jesus’ parables about lost things and the general rejoicing of friends and neighbors when the lost item is found. Believers find delight in the successes of others. We are to give thanks in all circumstances, even for those who have success or health or wealth that we do not.  We ought to also pray for our own needs and share them with others.

Finally, the verse of the day from KTIS was ”1 John 1:7 - But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.”   Fellowship with one another -   thanksgiving for each other, encouraging one another, praying for one another, and loving one another.

All of these together challenged me in my personal discouragement and reminded me that as a part of the body of Christ, I have responsibilities to others. Nevertheless, I must take heed to myself not only in treating others well, but in recognizing that, as a child of God, I must to remember not to disparage this one that God has created and called.

A Lesson in Green

A Lesson in Green

Twenty or so idealistic young women and a couple of young men gathered for a spring semester of Art for Elementary majors.  We were teachers-to-be, not artists, and the professor’s role was to help us know enough about art and its appreciation to teach ait in our classrooms.  She was an artist and teacher, but I did not realize at the time what a profound affect her creative instruction would have on me. 

 We practiced painting, drawing, sculpting, and even created woodcuts. Identifying great pieces of art and something about the artists who created them helped us appreciate the more famous artists and their work. 

However, the most important lesson for me came in March with the arrival of spring.  Our professor’s advice to her not particularly artistic students was to look – look and really see.  Look at the shape of things, look at lines and curves, look at color.  The professor gave us one long term project for spring – look for green.  That’s a great assignment in Minnesota because we’re always looking for the smallest sign of green in the spring.  Then she added the caveat that we should start looking at how many different shades of green we observed. 

That assignment has affected me for most of the years since, and this spring I have been particularly aware of the shades of green in Georgia. The photos that accompany this post reflect my challenge to see green in its many nuances and shades, tones and hues.  My new habit of walking takes me outside in my apartment complex or to a local park daily. The plantings and landscapes are beautiful, and I celebrate every new flowering tree or shrub.  The flowers come firs,t and the leaves follow, often as the flowers fade.  It has been a wonder to observe the bright yellow-green shades that deepen into a rich green or the bush that makes a reverse change. 

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My set of 50 colored pencils provides eight pencils in its collection ranging from yellow-green to turquoise green. It doesn’t have the reddish green of the leaves I observed tonight nor does it have the deep green of a pine tree or the soft gray green of a fuzzy leaf.  Green cannot be reduced to eight shades. I have tried to count them, but my assignment or mission is not to count but to notice.  My conclusion is that it would be impossible to count them as their number is really not finite.  After all green is simply the mixing of blue and yellow, but it then mixes with red to create other hues and shades that are still different. 

 “Why?” Why so many shades of green?  Scientific answers might tell me how all those shades are created, but not why.  Might not eight have been enough? I see the variety of greens as a gift from my Creator God that  provides joy and delight to my heart and soul and is reminder of His love to provide such variety and creativity for us to enjoy.  As humans we have labeled green a sign of life and growth. Within that color of life, the great variety and purpose of the shades reminds me that God celebrates diversity, not sameness. 

Just as He gave vegetation an infinite variety of shades and hues, He has made every person unique.  Each has a special beauty that no other has. God calls us to see that beauty in one another and to reach out in love as He has done, not only in creation, but primarily in the gift of His Son.

A you walk your path, look and see – see the uniqueness of every landscape by opening your vision to the green of the trees, the blue of the sky, the white of the clouds and celebrate all the beauty, all the color, all the diversity. See it and appreciate it in people, too.

It's North to Alaska, goin' north the rush is on...

     Well, the bags are packed and standing by the door.  There's (maybe) a little room left to bring something home for the family, some little trinket like a key ring or potholder. The house is as clean as it's going to get, because the oomph is all gone. It will be pleasant to enter, but not good enough for a BHG spread.  So now it is time to review the packing list one more time, knowing that no matter how many times I review, I will always leave something behind.
     I've checked for my passport at least a dozen times, and still fear I won't have it. Can you tell I am an unseasoned international traveler? When I went to Canada, it was basically just a quick greeting, and off we went to the real purpose of our trip.  Times have changed.  We'll have fun with it, too, because we'll be going in and out of Canada a few times.
     The beginnings of  this journey actually reach back more than four years. Beth had moved to the Atlanta area, and her girls came to this school district.  Katie, the second grader met a new BFF she could not quite talking about at every possible opportunity.  A couple of miles away, Lily kept talking about the Katie in her class who was just her best friend.
      Of course, good mothers got curious, and decided to both accompany their daughters to "Skate Night".
The girls skated, fell, laughed, fell, and generally giggle most of the night. The moms became great friends, and both of those friendships continue to flourish.  When I arrived on the scene the two moms thought it would be fun to do something with their two moms, so dinner and a play gave the two grandmothers a chance to get acquainted. Sue-Ann and I had pleasant conversations discovering similarities.  We had lunch or dinner a few times, and then she invited me to her Traveler's Club.  One of the potential trips was an Alaskan vacation, and I just set that off to the side as something to think about. That fell through, but Sue-Ann was just reading her emails from Holland America and saw a cruise, calling me when I was in Arizona.
       I decided retirement money should be spent before it's all spent on a nursing home, so the cruise was on. And now the cruise is here, I'm about to turn thermostats up and water temperature down, check windows and doors. run the dishwasher, grab a bite and go to a hotel near the airport, so we can get up at 3 AM without someone from our family having to get up them, too.

So, it is my hope, based on absolutely no real idea of what will happen to record some of the memories here. I'll post on Facebook, but for those who enjoy reading a little more of a story, I'll share the link to whatever short or long thing I've done along the way.
   
So join with me as the journey heads North to Alaska.

A Little "Miracle", A Big Blessing

Retreat To Be Renewed, Refreshed, Redeemed.

Last weekend, I attended a retreat with my daughter's church, though not with her per se as she and her friend were going together.  Ladies from the Wednesday evening dinner and Bible Study invited me to attend, so I decided to go, just to get away and meet some new people.

One part of the retreat was a Secret Angel activity.  Those who wanted to participate could sign up on a sheet of paper as they checked in and then pick names out of a basket to get the person they would give three little gifts to over the course of the retreat.  You pretty much had to commit to doing the Secret Angel before you left, because we were out in the hills so getting things after arrival was not a good option. I was already psyching myself up a little because I was a tag along.  Beth was really there with her friend, so I was on my own, knowing a few of the ladies from the Wednesday night supper and Bible study I attend there.  I am more naturally an introvert, so jumping into an unknown situation with people I don't know is always a challenge, but where better to practice than among God's people?  So, I decided to suck it up and not worry what someone might think and just go for it.  I went out shopping for little gifts.  I started at Target and found three gift bags with big flowers on sale.  The theme was "Renewed, Refreshed, Redeemed" with a butterfly as the symbol for the weekend, so I bought some butterfly stickers to put on the bags.  From the initial decision, I thought a little candle and candle holder would be a good gift, so I picked up a pretty aquamarine votive cup and matching candle, thinking that the redeemed become a light to the world, so bag three was done right there.

The next thing I saw was a little bin of play-dough.  Something just made me want to get it, certainly not anything logical in my mind, and a bit scary since I was giving whatever I gave to an unknown woman.  My mind started working around the idea that one way to refresh was to just play or color, so the theme of the second bag was set.  I felt it was pretty likely that the play-dough would go in, but gave myself permission to keep it if I chickened out.  Next, the colored pens called to me, so they went in the bag.  Nothing else seemed quite right, so I moved on to Ross to just wander their section of home and office stuff.  I shuffled through aisles of "stuff" thinking of ways to incorporate items into the weekend theme.  Halfheartedly, I put a couple of things in my basket. Then I saw it.  Sitting in the front a a bin of address books, notepads and other paper products was a  journal.  Butterflies flew in a lavender background, and unlike a similar journal in another store this one was a reasonable price. Experience teaches me that writing is renewing, so bag one was complete.  That left me with two done and one that just did not feel complete and nothing more at Ross.

Across the parking lot, the Marshall's beckoned, so once again just perused the store waiting for something to look right.  I put pretty towel with butterflies in the cart but still didn't feel quite satisfied. Then the little artist's box of pencils, pastels, and crayons jumped out and confirmed that the renew bag would be all about being a child again, playing with color.  If I had known sooner it might have included an grown-up coloring book.  I took everything home and began wrap it in tissue and stuff it in the bag.  My insecurities finally forced me to say, oh well, if "she" doesn't like the bag, she can regift or give it away.

On Friday evening after drawing my recipient, I sneaked down the hall with the bag clutched to my chest, hidden by my quilted vest.  The hall was quiet and no sound came from her room, so I dropped off the bag and fled, hoping for the best.  Saturday morning, I went to the meeting room just a little early.  Only one person was sitting at the first table, and it was "my lady" so I decided to sit down, play it cool and get to know her a little.  She was busy recopying her notes from the night before into her new journal.  I got to visit and know her a little bit before the morning session. Later in the afternoon, the second bag was put by her door with a prayer that she would understand the message of the little card from my stamping files.

Sunday morning, at breakfast was the last gift and the big reveal.  When I walked over to her table to give her the bag containing the candles, her eyes sparkled and she said that she loved the play bag.  "I always have to have something in my hands when I watch TV. I will enjoy playing with the play-dough and sharing it with my 20 month old granddaughter.  Coloring is one of my relaxations, and I buy grown-up coloring books regularly.  Thank you; this made me smile."

On Sunday after she opened the final bag, she came again and expressed how much each gift met a specific need in her life.  We found that we shared being stampers who are on hiatus because someone else has our stamps right now.

I do not believe that was coincidence, but God at work in the little miracles He does even through us.  It reminds me to be open and listening, that everything doesn't have to be a big deal. He delights in us and delights to use us to bring joy to each other.

Zephaniah 3:17  

Up Close and Personal

Up Close and PersonalThe pleasant weekend found me up close and personal in two very different ways.  The first was getting up close and personal with a concrete sidewalk; the second with some people in need.

It was Friday after a busy week with four days of subbing and a day of Bible Study.  Tired and ready to just hit the couch, I decided instead to stop at the store to pick up a few things for the weekend so a later trip would be unnecessary.  Of course, we all know that one should not walk into a grocery store hungry or tired.  Somehow that sale item will fix one or the other of those maladies.  With several bags and boxes of soda (pop), I trudged out to the car and immediately decided my hair must be cut – NOW.  Fortunately, Great Clips was on the way home. 

Unfortunately, Great Clips had customers lines up in most of the chairs, and more on the online waiting list.  My book was in my bag and a Good Housekeeping was on the coffee table, so I said I would wait the 45 minutes for the cut.  I was ready; it had to happen.  Only two stylists were left by this time on a Friday, and apparently everyone who came in was just as determined as I to get a haircut.  With the entire Good Housekeeping skimmed and a couple of chapters read, I at last was called.  As the guy was cutting, I commented on how they must be a little stressed with just two of them and so many people deciding this was hair day.  He replied, “Yeah, kind of.  It’s been like this all day.  I haven’t eaten or had anything to drink all day and my head is pounding.  I’m trying hard to give good haircuts and do it fast.”

I asked, “If you could have something to drink, what would you have?” After some demurring, he finally indicated a Mountain Dew would be his choice, and I told him that when he was finished with the haircut I’d run over to the Publix store and grab him a Dew.  He  dutifully declined, but I insisted and he admitted it would be nice.  His reply to a question about a candy bar was no, the Dew would be great.  The haircut complete, I paid him and said I’d be right back.  As the time passed, he must have started to think that was a lie.  He didn't,  and still doesn't, know the adventure that happened on the way to the Mountain Dew.

I fairly skipped out of the store to run my errand of mercy.  I was excited to be able to do a small thing for someone, thinking I was doing it in Jesus name.   I even decided I would get him a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup since that is God’s answer to missing protein and a quick chocolate pick up.  As these thoughts were formulating, suddenly – SPLAT.  I was face down on the sidewalk; pain shooting though my lips and nose; glasses, scratched and bent, and I wasn't sure if my teeth were all there.  I had missed seeing the handicapped cut out and managed to land on the up slope of it.  One hand was tucked into the purse handle and the other in my pocket holding the cash for the purchase, and neither hand responded to the fall, so it was totally face first. 

I carefully moved everything, collected my glasses and wounded pride and eased myself up.  The lip and nose were pretty bloody so I searched my purse for a tissue, but the only thing paper in it was a store receipt.  Receipts are not absorbent.  I covered it with my hand and shuffled on to Publix where I started to clean myself off with the cart wipes, and then headed for the bathroom to assess the damage.  It wasn't pretty, but I was determined, so I held some paper towel over my nose, picked up the Dew and the Reese’s and headed back to Great Clips.  I really didn't want the young man to notice my face so I just breezed in the door, said, hey, here’s your stuff and ran out. 

I forgot to say that it was done in Jesus name, but it still was.

The second up close and personal experience was very different.  I almost missed it because I was really self conscious about my huge upper lip and almost no visible bottom lip and well as the huge scab under my nose. 

A couple of weeks ago, one of the ladies in my small group had talked about A Day of Hope which is a Ministry Fair on the grounds of the local courthouse designed to draw in people who have need of help in any aspect of life.  Several area churches are involved in the organizing, and a number of organizations, agencies, and ministries come to share resources with those who attend.  There are free manicures and haircuts, bags of groceries, breads of all kinds, treats, games for kids, adult and youth entertainment, and a coat give away. Volunteers from the churches help in some of these areas and as prayer volunteers. 

From the first moment Robin mentioned it, there was a little nudge in my heart, but I needed to know more.  The news was not comforting to my somewhat introverted self.   I looked at my calendar for conflicts.  None.  Maybe Beth and Bill wanted to do something. Nope they had a full just-the-two-of them-day-planned.  The nudge got stronger and so I said I would come.  Then came the fall, and I thought maybe that would be a good excuse,  but that didn't work out either.  So, I showed up for the orientation.  Two groups would do the prayer ministry, the group that would go out and approach people, ask if they had a need, and if they would like prayer.  Gulp.  The other group would stay in the tent and pray for those who came in for specific prayer. OK, I can do that.

“So, who wants to go out and be prayer ambassadors?  I only recognized one person, a young guy from the small group, but he had missed a few times and really didn’t know him well.  He made eye-contact and pointed and I nodded.  Turns out, he was feeling just like me,  nervous about the task, but seeking to get outside of his own comfort zone..  We had such a fruitful time, praying with some people, sharing with some people and talking and getting acquainted ourselves.  We got back in the tent later and both had the chance to pray with people there. 

It was such a blessed day, and apparently my poor banged up face did not deter anyone. 

Once again, there is reason to be grateful – a fall that could have been so much worse, a new friend, helping and connecting with people in need, encouraging them to accept the resources because we loved them and being reminded that the heart is more important than the outward appearance.  Growing and stretching is good, too. It’s all part of the Joy in the Journey.

Deep Thoughts

It's been a long time since I have written here.  It's not that I haven't thought about stories or thoughts to share.  Truly, it is not that I have been so busy,  Many days have been busy, but I am also aware that we do what we decide to do, and on any given day, we can usually change our priorities, but we either choose not to alter our plans or to interrupt the flow of the immediate "this is what I want to do".

Today, my thoughts demand I share them.  At first, I considered sharing just with Beth or maybe with my SIC friends (Sisters in Christ) but I wanted a more permanent record of my thoughts and to share them with those who might consider taking a moment to read them.

This whole blog site started as I reflected on my literal journey to the South and from time to time to ponder the spiritual events that came in preparation for, during, and as an aftermath of that journey.  Let me share my "profound" morning on this day of joy in the ongoing journey.

As I lay in the coolness of early fall, desiring time just to enjoy the feel of lying on my bed on a sleep-in day, I decided to have a prayer time.  Those moments became a pondering period, thinking about the Bible Study I am currently doing in Genesis beginning with creation and moving through the Fall and the entrance of sin into God's perfect creation.  I began to wonder why. Why would God allow sin to come into Paradise?  Why would there even be a Satan?  Why would God create a scenario where humanity even had a choice?  As I lay, gently asking these questions, some thoughts flitted across my mind, not necessarily entirely new thoughts, but jumbled echoes of Sunday sermons, Bible class and small group discussion, Women's Bible Studies, and conversations of the past.

As I thought about the Creation and Fall stories that have been my topic of study in the past five weeks, I considered that perhaps as God determined to make a heaven and an earth and to populate that earth with creatures made in His own image, with whom God would share a loving and intimate relationship, God understood that true love always demands an element of sacrifice of oneself for the benefit of the beloved. He wanted a being outside of Himself whom He could love and who would love Him in return.  God didn't need that; God wanted that.  Yet love coerced is not love, but duty.  Love that requires nothing given or returned is doting or paternalistic, and really isn't love at all.

God had to be aware that for the kind of relationship He wanted, God had to be the first one to love. That meant from the beginning, before humanity was created, before male and female, God knew and planned for His sacrifice.  As the Bible puts it: Before the foundation of the earth, the lamb was slain. (Revelation 13:8) We could not really know and love God if he just MADE us love, adore, worship or obey.  God's plan showed the depth of His love for the ones He created, even knowing that their choices would be totally counter to the Divine desire.  Truly, this allowance of choice was the first of God's sacrifices for us, that we would be people free to choose or reject Love and Relationship with God.

Then, with those thoughts floating about my mind, I got up to begin the mundane things of a Saturday,  I fixed my baked oatmeal breakfast and sat down to catch up on my Friday devotional and complete the Saturday one as well.  That's what Saturdays are: catching up on the loose ends of the week.  The passage for Friday was Matthew 27:45-54.  The devotional's title was When You Feel Forsaken and the Bible's heading was The Death of Jesus.  My first thought was the one that said, "Yeah, once in a while I feel a little forsaken as days go by and I don't see my family or hear from my friends."  I began to read the passage and tears just flowed as my thoughts from the morning poured in next to the words of the Scripture.

This is such a dark passage because it so powerfully portrays Jesus physical, mental and spiritual pain.  For a moment as He hung in the throes of death, He felt alone in all the Universe, because in that moment He felt separated from the Father, from the Spirit, and even from Himself. For an eternal moment He knew personally the darkness of sin, and then He knew it was finished. Meanwhile the power of that moment saw the veil at the temple torn from top to bottom, tombs opened, saints walking the earth, and one centurion with Jesus' wrenching cry assaulting his ears, Jesus torn body
piercing his eyes, and the stench of blood filling his nostrils said, "Truly, this was the Son of God."

We don't love God, so God will love us.  We don't have to prove our love.  We choose to love Him because He first loved us. 

An Ordinary Day - Blessed

The alarm sounded at 5:55.  That early hour allows me to be up and started should I get a sub call at 6:30 and have to report at 7:30.  Since the schools where I sub are all at least 15 minutes away, I run the risk of cutting it pretty close anyway.  So by 6:30, the morning basics are done, the bed is made and I am fully awake.  That’s a real bummer when the phone doesn't ring.  Today my morning ritual was interrupted at 6:20 by a call from my daughter who is the morning sub caller at Gwin Oaks Elementary, which I like to call my school.  “Ah, a job,” I thought.

She hemmed around a little and then gave me a proposal.  There weren't any teacher jobs, but a special education parapro had called in sick and they wanted her to do that after she finished her morning computer classes.  (That’s because she is great with the kids and loves it.)  The problem was that yesterday she had volunteered to come into four kindergarten classrooms to help each teacher with assessment for an hour.  Obviously, doing both was not an option, so she wondered if maybe I would do her volunteer job so she could do the paid one.  So, you can guess how I spent my day.

It was actually quite delightful.  I read Lon Po Po (a Chinese Red Riding Hood tale) with one class, watched a signed version of Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks in another class, and assessed sight words with another class.  I was in "my" old Kindergarten classroom where I just connected with the kids. Getting those sweet hugs and stories just warms my heart.  It was spring picture day at school, so many children were dressed up.  One of “my” little Kindergarteners, who is just a peanut – I mean he is so little, he looks like he’s three - was wearing black dress pants, a soft aqua blue dress shirt with coordinating tie, and a black vest.  He was SO adorable!

Following that I rode with Beth, or perhaps it is more accurate to say she drove with me, to take the girls up to meet their dad for a weekend visit.  (Beth enjoys driving the new car and I enjoy being a passenger for a change.)  Supper at Chick-Fil-A satisfied everyone.  We made the trip safely in spite of a chill rain.  The return trip seemed amazingly short because Beth and I just chatted about anything and everything, solving at least a few of the world’s problems.  I’m not sure the rest of the world would like our solutions – we didn't even like some of them.

While some of our topics of conversation might have offered the opportunity for profundity, the day itself was not profound.  It was an ordinary day. Beth and I each were able to serve people in a way that really helped them. I spent time with my daughter and granddaughters and enjoyed their daily lives.  Tonight I opened a letter from an old friend from Northfield days who now lives in Montana, just connecting.  She has a son and grandchildren in the Atlanta area so the possibility of a lunch with her some time is very real. 

In my mind these are blessings from the Lord and I treasure them.  In that way they are indeed profound.