"I needed to learn submission" she stated. "God knew EXACTLY what I needed!" . . . And this lady from a horse and buggy Mennonite\Amish group with her forthright soul spoke volumes to my heart. What an example. Why am I so slow to admit the times when I need or needed to learn submission of my heart and attitudes and actions . . .
She had asked for prayer the last time I had stopped by to buy three fifty lb sacks of potato's . . . prayer about waiting and resting in God's will as she wanted to have time to paint some rooms in her father-in-laws house while they were on an upcoming trip . . . . but it was at a very busy time and her husband had his opinion about the timing as all this was in his crazy schedule of planting and preparing gardens and fields as they sell produce. So the next weeks that crept into months, I prayed when she came to my mind . . . my friend and sister-in-the-Lord out there in this Minnesota untamed, wild land . . . She who always welcomed me in . . . always an open door no matter when I came . . . showed me how to make "raw fries" and was so interested in ancestors as our last names are the same . . .
She is a true sister . . . calling me to live by that HIGHER standard that I can't always reach . . . calling me to listen more closely to my Lord . . . just by living . . . just by plainness of speech, just by openness and brave honesty . . .
I'll have to tell her next time I visit . . . until then I'm telling you . . . and other lady friends whose paths cross mine at times . . .She inspired me . . .
What has inspired you these days?
.
Monday, July 22, 2019
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Sometimes I Need . . .
. . . Someone to invite me into their loving room and sing a song to me . . . So I did that just for you today . . . It is what it is . . . But I needed this song, so I'm giving it away.
And this afternoon when my little daughter was bawling upstairs . . . The problem was I didn't sing to her at nap time . . . I went and sat in her bed with her and we listened to the song, "Sing to Me of Heaven" . . . Because I have a lump in my throat today and can't sing other than the one I sang for you, because God is testing my metal about praising Him in our trials and giving thanks for everything . . . I shouldn't be surprised . . . But you know . . . We humans have this natural tendency to think that w we have a right to have ALL things go well . . .
Sand Pit and Poison Ivy - Part II
So years ago my friend and neighbor had a little girl who if I remember the story correctly was definitely NOT fond of her Sunday shoes . . .in fact I think she was complaining and making a fuss about them . . . Her mom being guided by the Holy Spirit instructed her that she COULD CHOOSE to have joy in them . . . She could CHOOSE to like them . . . Then she would be happy . . .
So I contemplated this short story as I strolled all over my dessert sand pit . . . mulling over my natural thoughts and starting to replace them with God's thoughts . . . For some unknown, unseen reason to me He sees fit to give me a sand pit . . . and lots of poison ivy that I am NOT so very fond of at all . . . In fact I have complained and made a fuss about it, verbally as well as in my heart . . .It's time to change this . . . It's time to CHOOSE joy . . . It's time to rejoice in the day that the Lord made specifically for me . . . in the land He's given us . . .
His promised peace reigns once again in my heart as I do this . . . and I am thankful that I can choose His ways and His will . . . and align my thoughts and actions with His . . .
There is a peace and quiet rest ... in this . . .in this submission . . .in this place of praise and gratitude . . .
So I contemplated this short story as I strolled all over my dessert sand pit . . . mulling over my natural thoughts and starting to replace them with God's thoughts . . . For some unknown, unseen reason to me He sees fit to give me a sand pit . . . and lots of poison ivy that I am NOT so very fond of at all . . . In fact I have complained and made a fuss about it, verbally as well as in my heart . . .It's time to change this . . . It's time to CHOOSE joy . . . It's time to rejoice in the day that the Lord made specifically for me . . . in the land He's given us . . .
His promised peace reigns once again in my heart as I do this . . . and I am thankful that I can choose His ways and His will . . . and align my thoughts and actions with His . . .
There is a peace and quiet rest ... in this . . .in this submission . . .in this place of praise and gratitude . . .
New Definition of Double Date
Japheth took me out on a date Wednesday evening (This summer due to schedules, we are having mid-weekly church on Tuesday evenings) . . . And the next afternoon as he was scraping cement on the wall of our house and I was joking/asking him about how did he ever get off work to do this . . . He replied, "OFF WORK?" . . . Incredulous that I was counting this relaxing . . . Well, to be honest, I had rested a bit that afternoon and came out to see what he was doing and was just talking with him, having a grand old time enjoying his presence and work on our house . . . He was balancing a heavy hock of mud in one hand and applying it with the other, sweat running down his face . . .
Anyway, in our conversation as he worked, he asked me if i remembered that this afternoon/evening there was an anniversary celebration of a customer/friend . . . And that he'd like just he and I to attend . . . So we did . . . but I felt guilty leaving the children for the second evening in a row!
That evening I decided that this is the second definition of a"Double Date" . . . When we go out TWO evenings in a row!!
Anyway, in our conversation as he worked, he asked me if i remembered that this afternoon/evening there was an anniversary celebration of a customer/friend . . . And that he'd like just he and I to attend . . . So we did . . . but I felt guilty leaving the children for the second evening in a row!
That evening I decided that this is the second definition of a"Double Date" . . . When we go out TWO evenings in a row!!
Baby's Breath
And He cares about my day . . . And yours . . . Hold His hand and walk through His world . . . your world . . . Look at things through His eyes . . . Trust . . . Rest . . . Be joyful!
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Sand Pits and Poison Ivy
Sunday morning I managed to get out the door without little girlies of several ages hanging onto my skirts . . . When Mom goes out for a walk, most often they beg to come along and often I let them. But this morning I snuck away as I sometimes do for some alone time in nature where I might be able to hear myself think.
A few mornings ago on an early morning run turned into a walk the last half, there was a vehicle that acted funny by turning into driveways close by and turning around, careening down the road and then turning into another drive . . . and it worried me . . . I had my phone along and called Japheth. He isn't sure I should be walking by the road like that early in the morning by myself, though I assured him that I would be safer doing what God calls me to do here by the road then out of His will in my house.
So as I contemplated where I would walk this morning and my tennis shoe was rubbing a blister I had on the back of my foot\ankle, I took off my shoes and socks and lifted my skirts a bit so that it wouldn't get so wet in the grass. I took off barefoot down the grass\sod path through our property down and around to our sand pit. The summer morning was warm and the dew felt nice, the grass, sod, and sand textures washed and massaged my feet as I strolled along . . . This wasn't really a place to run, and it was Sunday after all so I communed and walked with the Lord . . .
I have hardly walked through the sand pit much at all . . . It really has been kinda a depressing place . . . When we first bought the property and moved onto it, we envisioned possibly having a garden (as this was really the ONLY flat and SUNNY place on the eight and a half acres that we call our own. We had once thought about turning it into a ball diamond . . . but these dreams never materialized in the seven years that we have been here. For one thing, we'd have to buy LOTS and LOTS of black dirt or rent a dump truck to haul in some dirt from a friends cow pasture . . . and then there's the problem of watering . . . It's so far from any well . . .
. . . Barren dry dessert . . . dead dreams . . . feels like wasted land . . . nothing hardly grows at all . . . sand, sand sand gravel . . . We pile firewood down there and also have a huge burn pile that stays and stays and we never seem to find the time to get the permit and get it taken care off . . . Sometimes our neighbor adds to it (with our permission of course) . . . At times I wonder, why we ever bought this land . . .I like to garden (Well . . . sort of as long as it's not too big and overwhelming) . . . And I feel like I have no bit of earth to grow things on . . . Now that feeling is not fact . . . I do indeed have flowerbeds, but these beds have had the sand dug out and good dirt put in . . . I have tried growing veggies in these, but most of them don't get enough sun . . . and my husband likes his trees . . . and I do too, but I probably like my flowers and gardens more . . .
Along the path, this morning I made an exciting discovery of three plants of Baby's Breath . . . It grows wild up here, the soil must be perfect and I can show you plot after dry plot dotted with large white\grey blobs of shrub\plants of Baby's Breath . . . I've been looking for a good place whenever we drive and planning . . . planning to go out this fall and dig one up out of the ditch and bring home like I did a few years ago . . . But now God has given me some right in my spot on earth, in my barren wasteland . . .
As I walked along the sparse clumps of dessert grass and occasional wild flowers, God spoke to me and awakened my dreams again . . .
Number One. . . . of praise . . . the weapon of praise like Otto Koning talks about . . . verbally praising God for the trials and hard things just like God asks us to "in everything give thanks". So I thanked Him for my "dessert" . . . and for poison ivy, even though I can't see ANYTHING good that could come out of that . . . But as I have been learning in God's special training school for Aimee, that GOOD can come out of EVERYTHING even the deepest, darkest trials if I let Him work in my heart . . .I am learning that in "THIS" I can be thankful that "I CAN DRAW CLOSER TO HIM BECAUSE of this trial!!!"
Number Two. I could possibly turn part of my dessert into a watered garden . . . wagon load by wagon load of goat manure, horse manure, my neighbors discarded straw\hay pile that they tried to burn to get rid of it, all the cardboard I saved over the winter and all the cardboard that A Stitch in Time hauls to the dump EACH week and whatever else God might see fit to provide . . . If I would just buy a few more garden hoses and IF we fix the well in the basement of our old house, I might have a source of water.
Number Three. A camping site
Number Four. A wayside bench\shade area to sit and rest in . . alone or with a friend . . . a place of solitude and leisure to reflect, to just be . . .
If none of these dreams go anywhere . . . number one can make me successful, because after all that is what this life should be all about, walking with God, learning the lessons from the "classes" He puts me in and resides as my personal tutor\teacher and Friend . . . I can praise . . . I can learn good things that help me grow and thrive in my spiritual walk . . . I can become more like Him . . .
Part Two coming soon . . . wherein I tell a true story of a friend of mine . . . and her wise advice to her little girl about black sunday shoes . . . (Yes, it does fit in with the above dessert story.) :)
A few mornings ago on an early morning run turned into a walk the last half, there was a vehicle that acted funny by turning into driveways close by and turning around, careening down the road and then turning into another drive . . . and it worried me . . . I had my phone along and called Japheth. He isn't sure I should be walking by the road like that early in the morning by myself, though I assured him that I would be safer doing what God calls me to do here by the road then out of His will in my house.
So as I contemplated where I would walk this morning and my tennis shoe was rubbing a blister I had on the back of my foot\ankle, I took off my shoes and socks and lifted my skirts a bit so that it wouldn't get so wet in the grass. I took off barefoot down the grass\sod path through our property down and around to our sand pit. The summer morning was warm and the dew felt nice, the grass, sod, and sand textures washed and massaged my feet as I strolled along . . . This wasn't really a place to run, and it was Sunday after all so I communed and walked with the Lord . . .
I have hardly walked through the sand pit much at all . . . It really has been kinda a depressing place . . . When we first bought the property and moved onto it, we envisioned possibly having a garden (as this was really the ONLY flat and SUNNY place on the eight and a half acres that we call our own. We had once thought about turning it into a ball diamond . . . but these dreams never materialized in the seven years that we have been here. For one thing, we'd have to buy LOTS and LOTS of black dirt or rent a dump truck to haul in some dirt from a friends cow pasture . . . and then there's the problem of watering . . . It's so far from any well . . .
. . . Barren dry dessert . . . dead dreams . . . feels like wasted land . . . nothing hardly grows at all . . . sand, sand sand gravel . . . We pile firewood down there and also have a huge burn pile that stays and stays and we never seem to find the time to get the permit and get it taken care off . . . Sometimes our neighbor adds to it (with our permission of course) . . . At times I wonder, why we ever bought this land . . .I like to garden (Well . . . sort of as long as it's not too big and overwhelming) . . . And I feel like I have no bit of earth to grow things on . . . Now that feeling is not fact . . . I do indeed have flowerbeds, but these beds have had the sand dug out and good dirt put in . . . I have tried growing veggies in these, but most of them don't get enough sun . . . and my husband likes his trees . . . and I do too, but I probably like my flowers and gardens more . . .
Along the path, this morning I made an exciting discovery of three plants of Baby's Breath . . . It grows wild up here, the soil must be perfect and I can show you plot after dry plot dotted with large white\grey blobs of shrub\plants of Baby's Breath . . . I've been looking for a good place whenever we drive and planning . . . planning to go out this fall and dig one up out of the ditch and bring home like I did a few years ago . . . But now God has given me some right in my spot on earth, in my barren wasteland . . .
As I walked along the sparse clumps of dessert grass and occasional wild flowers, God spoke to me and awakened my dreams again . . .
Number One. . . . of praise . . . the weapon of praise like Otto Koning talks about . . . verbally praising God for the trials and hard things just like God asks us to "in everything give thanks". So I thanked Him for my "dessert" . . . and for poison ivy, even though I can't see ANYTHING good that could come out of that . . . But as I have been learning in God's special training school for Aimee, that GOOD can come out of EVERYTHING even the deepest, darkest trials if I let Him work in my heart . . .I am learning that in "THIS" I can be thankful that "I CAN DRAW CLOSER TO HIM BECAUSE of this trial!!!"
Number Two. I could possibly turn part of my dessert into a watered garden . . . wagon load by wagon load of goat manure, horse manure, my neighbors discarded straw\hay pile that they tried to burn to get rid of it, all the cardboard I saved over the winter and all the cardboard that A Stitch in Time hauls to the dump EACH week and whatever else God might see fit to provide . . . If I would just buy a few more garden hoses and IF we fix the well in the basement of our old house, I might have a source of water.
Number Three. A camping site
Number Four. A wayside bench\shade area to sit and rest in . . alone or with a friend . . . a place of solitude and leisure to reflect, to just be . . .
If none of these dreams go anywhere . . . number one can make me successful, because after all that is what this life should be all about, walking with God, learning the lessons from the "classes" He puts me in and resides as my personal tutor\teacher and Friend . . . I can praise . . . I can learn good things that help me grow and thrive in my spiritual walk . . . I can become more like Him . . .
Part Two coming soon . . . wherein I tell a true story of a friend of mine . . . and her wise advice to her little girl about black sunday shoes . . . (Yes, it does fit in with the above dessert story.) :)
Tuesday, July 09, 2019
Spring in My Heart
I know it's summer . . .
But as I was straightening up my pantry this afternoon, I spotted sprouting potatoes that needed to be used. I brought them to the sink and started cutting sprouts away, washing and slicing them into smaller pieces in order to cook faster. One potato in particular had this sprout deep in it's interior . . . I had to butcher the potato in order to try and get it out.
God brought to my mind that I should be like this potato . . . growing, sprouting, preparing for the future. It wouldn't stop at anything . . . It just HAD to come bursting forth with new life!
It made me think of the verse that talks about out of our bellies will flow rivers of living waters . . . the gushing of new life and growth and inspiration that can ONLY come from God himself.
What is in my heart?
Is it Spring? Can anything stop it? The other potatoes around it weren't that desperate to grow yet . . . but like the thankful leper who came back to give thanks . . . Could I be like this potato? Intense deep joy and vibrant life that it gushes and pours fourth not letting any trial or problem get the best of it?
Wanna join me? Wanna keep that SPRING in your heart?
I do.
I want that . . .
I want to live with LIFE coming forth!
I want to give NEW life and growth . . . It's what He created me to do . . .
But as I was straightening up my pantry this afternoon, I spotted sprouting potatoes that needed to be used. I brought them to the sink and started cutting sprouts away, washing and slicing them into smaller pieces in order to cook faster. One potato in particular had this sprout deep in it's interior . . . I had to butcher the potato in order to try and get it out.
God brought to my mind that I should be like this potato . . . growing, sprouting, preparing for the future. It wouldn't stop at anything . . . It just HAD to come bursting forth with new life!
It made me think of the verse that talks about out of our bellies will flow rivers of living waters . . . the gushing of new life and growth and inspiration that can ONLY come from God himself.
What is in my heart?
Is it Spring? Can anything stop it? The other potatoes around it weren't that desperate to grow yet . . . but like the thankful leper who came back to give thanks . . . Could I be like this potato? Intense deep joy and vibrant life that it gushes and pours fourth not letting any trial or problem get the best of it?
Wanna join me? Wanna keep that SPRING in your heart?
I do.
I want that . . .
I want to live with LIFE coming forth!
I want to give NEW life and growth . . . It's what He created me to do . . .
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