Dump Trucks

I did not come out to watch dump trucks! I have one day off this week, the weather is perfect with blue skies, fluffy clouds and a plethora of humming birds flying back and forth to sip sweet nectar. Oh yes, a lovely day....Interjected in this dream like vision are dump trucks about every couple minutes going by full and coming back by empty. Their specifically ordained purpose is reconstructing a road but the intent is lost by my disdain at their intrusion to my otherwise scruptous day.
I discovered sometime ago that life is full of dump trucks and I need to find delight in whatever is dumped in my path. So in an effort to perserve my sanity, which some question regularly, I set out to count the blessings. Each truck does, after all, represent work for the person and sustenance for the family at home. The safety of the new road will prevent sorrow in the future from accidents. There are the eyes with which I see them and the ears that hear them. The day really isn't changed because of them, it is merely an addition to it. Perhaps I'll start waving and make it an hospitable event rather than a hostile, menacing thought. There, the grass is still green and all nastiness has been averted.
God expects us to make choices everyday that prioritize emotions and honor Him as He builds our character. Don't be a slave to your emotions, but rather wave, smile and overcome!

The little Lord Jesus…….

I set up my nativity today. I held the baby Jesus for a long time before putting Him in the manger of straw. I couldn’t help but think the grandchildren will do the same and that I might find him anywhere after one of their visits. More than likely I will find Him in the lego container or the Barbie box because that is where they will be playing with Him. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, for He fits ever so nicely in an airplane made of legos and Barbie can hold Him wrapped in a little blanket as she changes from one outfit to another. Yes, He is the perfect fit and I can just imagine Him smiling as their little hands irreverently take Him from the manger to include him in their play. What’s that? You think I should make them keep Him in the manger? Well, I have a problem with that. I think we have already spent too much time leaving Him in the manger on display and not inviting Him into our lives. Oh how I long for the day that is coming soon, when He will come, not as a babe, but as The King. No longer swaddling clothes, but robes of white. While I am still here, I want to be where He is and do the things He is involved in because life with Him merely on display is chaos and despair. I can’t wait until the grandkids come over. I’ll be watching to see who accepts His invitation first, and I’ll be smiling……

Delightful........

I was just thinking about a time last fall when I was in my Adirondack chair totally engrossed in a book. The man in the red suspenders joined me and was entreating me to ‘look see’ what he found. There in his hand was a bright yellow wooly worm with spectacular long black tufts on his head and hind. How magnificent! We all have our memories of brown wooly worms and many of you right now are thinking of that one child of yours who emptied the applesauce or pickles to get the canning jar and begged for a hammer and nail to put holes in the lid. Then came the rare delight of the cocoon spun on the twig slanted inside the jar and the even rarer emergence of the moth or butterfly. I say rare, because many a day dawned with lifeless brown wooly worms on the bottom of the jar. Anyway, brown woolies are rather common place, but this day would bring a particular delight. While bright yellow woolies may be found all over, I had never seen one and the man in the red suspenders hadn’t either. He calmly yet confidently said with a smile, “God did it just for me today”. He then returned the wooly to the garden to continue its’ quest for the appointed time and spot to complete its’ change while I sat and pondered the idea that God purposely sets out to delight us and how often we miss it. Overcome with schedules and time constraints, buried in bills and burdens, energy wanes and sadness becomes overwhelming. It is a challenge everyday to not become consumed by the daily in the hopeful pursuit of the delightful. The Bible speaks of God’s delight in me and you. I have to wonder, what about me does He find that is delightful. It delights me just to think about it! Perhaps it is my reaction that delights Him:) What will your wooly be today? Are you looking for that delight? People find a weird sense of satisfaction in daily repeating some adage regarding the common nature of life as if ‘another day, another dollar’ makes sense of ones existence. How about choosing to look beyond rather than just get through. Every day He has something just for you - ask Him to let you see it and then share it. Like the man in red suspenders and his delightful bright yellow wooly. I don’t know where it made it’s cocoon, but every butterfly I saw made me smile and wonder if it was he.

Overwhelmed....

Overwhelmed!!!!
Don't you love it when you start a project, the one that will help you get organized and you find yourself in the midst of a royal mess? Recalling such an incident at my house, we had decided to get all the books up on one wall in the living room, there by eliminating several smaller bookshelves that were full and overflowing. Great idea, except for all the superfluous stuff that was shoved into every shelf that had nothing to do with reading. I found darts with no tips, pens that didn't write, pennies all over, what's with that!? How about the pictures from my son's 8th birthday party, never mind he's 26 now, well you can imagine. Everywhere I looked I was reminded of just how disorganized I was and was feeling worse by the minute. I had envisioned how good I was going to feel when everything was orderly, but I was overwhelmed! It was just one area of my room but somehow this project had flowed into every nook of my house. I couldn't see my dining room table, let alone eat at it, overwhelmed!
It is just like God to come at such times and remind me of my spiritual health as I sit in the rubble. He gently helps me understand how easily I allow the enemy to drag out the dusty darts and pierce my heart with visions of what I was. The enemy whispers that I can't change, why bother, and shows me pictures from the past that no longer look like me. Isaiah 59 speaks about the enemy coming in like a flood and we raise up a standard against him. The truth is found in Daniel 11:32 'The people who know their God will be strong and will resist the enemy'.
Junk in the trash and books on the wall, the job was eventually done. The result was satisfying, enlightening and I even found some missing socks, go figure.
John 8:32 'You will know the truth and the truth will set you free'!!!!

Bad moments. We’ve all had those moments, you know the ones, when you think no one is looking and you dash from the bathroom to your closet wearing only what you came into the world with. Such a moment occurred one morning and just as I hit the closet door, I heard from the hall, “ah yes, such lovely ‘Rubinesque’ curves. I , of course just shut my door and stood there chuckling as I had just spent an unnecessary amount of time in front of the bathroom mirror counting defects and appalled with my portly silhouette. My thoughts were, “this isn’t right and wow that’s too much and what happened here”, all reflections that invade somehow suggesting less worth and each day finding less that’s acceptable, (although I do like my nails). After spending too much time with such wasteful thoughts and wondering how I can hold my head up another day, I hear again the voice of my beloved calling, ‘I am enthralled by your beauty’. What does he see that I can’t? Could it be that he sees me through the eyes of my Creator? You know, the one who judges not by appearances but by the heart? That must be it, for as sure as I would step into an agency for a modeling job, they would be hard pressed even to give me a pencil for the application because they would see what I saw in the mirror. They don’t love me as He loves me. Now what do we do with this realization? Certainly not run around in our birthday suits trying to find people who love our physical representation! But perhaps it would be a good idea for us to pray for His love as we meet and greet people. Ask Jesus for a glimpse of what He sees when He looks at them and then tell them how lovely they are to Him and you. And for heavens’ sake, no more dashing from the bathroom to closet - bravely saunter, bare and beloved!

sweet dreams........

There is a place between bedtime and bliss, which is full of dreams that are seconds long. You know the place I’m talking about, so much can happen, incredible adventures and only in a moments span. I remember such a night, when lights were out, covers were perfect and delicious drowsiness had overtaken the room. One last flick of my hair over my shoulder as I slumbered on my side and I would be peacefully overtaken to new adventures and pleasant countries. Well that was the plan, but as I flicked my hair there was panic stricken movement and a wrestling with the lamp as from one who had never operated it before. The lights came on and with wild abandon, big daddy was beating the pillows and throwing off covers. Quickly discerning the situation, I had to chuckle, though the real story that followed was worth more of a snorting, loud laugh. It seems big daddy had reached that happy dream place, only to find himself in the Amazon with a giant tarantula falling on his face---my hair. It took awhile to return to quiet and peaceful as we laughed for quite awhile over our unseen monster.
Isn’t is amazing how quickly we can go from peace to panic. Our calm diminishes to calamity often with just a suggestion or hint of pressure. During these times and preferably before them, we need to remember that God’s Word has power for the bringing down of strongholds and the more we know His Word the less likely it is we will succumb to the madness of fright in the night.  We wrestle not against lamps you know.

Loved, Lost, Rescued....... The screen saver on my laptop computer has a wonderful slide show of all the digital photos that I've taken over the years. I am still amazed to have such technology at my fingertips and on my lap. I can relive fond memories, going from tears to laughter over a period of seconds. I find the magnitude of feelings and events represented are staggering. There are pictures of grandchildren born, then crawling, walking, now posing. My sons are in many slides camping with the rangers, then teaching them, suddenly falling in love and walking down the aisle. Beautiful images of pets who no longer share our space or pastures, but bought us such joy and laughter. Oh and all those pounds we’ve lost, found, or redistributed through the years, we have changed and felt the love and loss that living yields. Then there is rescue. We have saved animals that were lost or just no longer wanted. We rescued Winston, the cat, who has since gone to his final home but bought great joy with his antics and we saved Murray, the English bulldog, who has pretty much taken over the house, but is definitely entertaining and makes us laugh. Pictures flashing by quickly representing deep, profound feelings as well and as nonsensical, often silly moments snatched out of time and frozen. I don't want to forget them. Loved, lost, rescued. Our lives are slipping by at a ridiculously fast pace and it behooves us to be amazed at where we came from, remember who saved us and why we've been rescued. I am suddenly struck with the fact that while I so enjoy all these frozen moments flashing by, there are faces that need to be added, who need to be loved and rescued before they are snatched out of time. I don't want to forget them. "This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." I John 4:10. 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost' Luke 19:10. 'Salvation (rescue) is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.' Acts 4:12