Blast From the Past.1

I was thinking about my good friend from school yesterday morning..  We'd recently re-connected through another classmate who put up a facebook page for graduates of our class last year.  Connie and I have been talking, emailing, face-booking, and visiting each other for the last year and it has been so much fun to have her back in my life.

But, I was thinking about our past and what brought us together in the first place, somewhat amazed that this friendship ever even got started.  By my family's standards, her family was rich. Our parents did not know each other.  She lived in the city; I lived in the country.  She was popular, I was not.  We had very few classes together.  I was in orchestra, she was not.  I don't remember how it all got started, but it did.

We had sleep-overs, or I would stay in town instead of taking the bus home and get a ride home with mom after work.  We'd babysit together on her jobs and my jobs.  We'd take the bus uptown and shop together, stopping at the White Drug Cafe, in the basement of the White Drug...for Tab's and french fries with catsup.  (There was no Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi at the time, just Tab or Fresca!)  At that time, the White Drug was located on the Penny's block in Fargo, ND.

As I reminiced, I realized our main connection was that we were both boy-crazy!  Still, so was just about every girl out age.  Then something else sunk in....she was a city girl who loved the country and I was a country girl who loved the city!  Her Dad had a ranch with horses close to our farmstead and she loved horses.  I liked them, too, but I had a motorcycle instead of a horse.  We were from different worls and that appealed to each of us.

We drifted apart the last couple years of high schoool, but I would reccomend looking up your old friends...we picked up right where we left off and if there was any kind of old baggage...it vaporized with the years!  At the time of our 40 year reunion, we hadn't seen each other for 30 years.  I am so glad she is back in my life!

Making a Life in 2011

"You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."  The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton

   THIS NEW YEAR will be different.  No promises.  No plans.  Not even any really firm ideas.  For years, I have been trying to simplify my life and I am getting there.  It's a place that is comfortable.  No huge expectations are looming over my head, unless I put them there...so I am trying to be kinder to myself.  I am trying to complain less and remember how blessed I am.  I know that if I do not like my circumstances, I can pray and also work towards change.

   One of the changes I have been slowly working on is a healthier lifestyle.  I am  not in a hurry.  I prefer progress over perfection in most things.  (I will miss Coke Cake at Cracker Barrel but may be able to share one with a couple friends, down the road. Usually 3-4 bites with coffee suffices, anyway.)  Some things I look forward to are:   keeping up better with grandkids, not hating to have my picture taken, being able to buy clothes that fit just right in ALL the places, distance walking, having more reserve energy in my evenings with Jim, and being able to get off blood pressure medication.

   As I strive for more physical stamina, I also strive for more spiritual awareness and knowledge.  I am more faithful in my walk with Him and desire to obey and serve Him with all my heart, my soul, my mind, and my body.  The Lord gave me a simple poem a few nights ago when I couldn't sleep.  As usual, He didn't finish it for me so I struggled through a sort of finish that still needs work:

CONTENTMENT
A full heart is what I have
Readjusted dreams come true
With memories worth the save
And some to throw away, too

Leave the past where it belongs
The future's bright to behold
No need to dwell on all the wrongs
Therefore, go forth!  Be Bold!

Jim, Rainie, and me

(Rainie belongs to James and Jamie)

Rainie is our newest grandchild

Sound of my Soul

So true funny how it seems


always in time, but never in line for dreams.

Head over heels when toe to toe.

This is the sound of my soul,

this is the sound



I bought a ticket to the world,

but now I've come back again

Why do I find it hard to write the next line?

Oh I want the truth to be said



Huh huh huh hu-uh huh

I know this much is true

Huh huh huh hu-uh huh

I know this much is true



This song came on the radio while I was feasting on the visual delight of Autumn in the Blue Ridge Mountains and surrounding hills.  I thought...THIS is the sound of MY soul.  When I see the creation in this season, I feel so close to God.  My soul sings a song made up for me in this moment...as I enter this holy cathedral of Fall. 
 
We are riding down the highway with trees crowding us on each side.  They stand as a welcoming committee, trying to all shake hands at once, making me feel very rich and very wanted.  It's God's private showing for me!  Within the car, there was a hush, a peace of two people lost in their own thoughts but, united in the thoughts of the beauty around us.  Our silence was our homage, as the wonder of creation cancelled  any need to talk or even think about anything other than gratitude and a desire to be forgiven the days transgressions and be unblemished in His presence.
 
All of a sudden, we are surrounded by big pine trees, green, green, green...where did Fall go?  It was so abrupt, like crossing from the north to the south.  Fall there, summer here...except we were traveling north!  After several miles, stood a beacon in  crinsom burgundy, among the pines.  Ah!  Soon, the pines grew taller with bare trunks, green-tipped like paintbrushes.  Then we began to see colorful ladies peeking through the trunks, begging to play!
 
Shadows start to lengthen and the sun spotlights a stand of trees in encore...one last time before the dusk.  The moon appears as a cloud, but gives itself away with it's nearly perfect shape...the sky and trees consprie to trickery one last time before sunset.  What a fun day of driving to Virginia!

Have iron....Will serve

 I love volunteering, and, like many of you, my church is the main recipient of my service.  I never know what my task will be, but I always enjoy helping out, as long as it's in the background.  This week is our church's Mission Conference, themed this year as "LOL love out loud - Let the whole world hear".  We plan to bless 4 families in the mission field and learn about them and the difference they are making for Christ in the world.  Since I am volunteering for the Missions pastor, this could be a busy and exciting week.

   So what did I end up doing today, you may be wondering...I ironed flags.  A need was identified...to locate the remainer of the flags in an upper storage area we affectionately call, 'The Heavens II'.  Of course, the next need was ironing out some of the wrinkles...the ones that would come out, anyway.  I ran home for my iron and iroing board.  Last year I had notified ladies from The Amazing Gray's to help iron and we were done before some even had a chance to set up.  Too late to try for help now, but I knew I could do it alone, anyway.

   My mind wandered as I ironed flags in the morning.  I had concerns about wrinkles I couldn't get out, spots on some flags, how some were stored and what better way we could do that this year, how the padding on my ironing board was bunching up on one end and I should get a new pad...blah blah blah.  I started wondering how I was bringing glory to God by ironing these flags...well, wrinkled flags could be distracting to the message...no, that's a reach.  What am I doing today to bring glory to God?

   After lunch, I started paying attention to the countries the flags represented.  As I thought about different aspects I may have known, read, or heard about...I started parying as I ironed.  For instance, I remembered reading about POLAND's horrific history of German occupation and how their people's lives changed for that time.  I thought of my foreign students from JAPAN who are grown up and away now.  I thought of VENEZUELA's bad government and BRAZIL's coffee.

   Thinking about their countires and the people in them, putting faces and feelings on them, I also prayed for missionaries to seek them out so that they will know freedom in Christ, which is a freedom that cannot be taken away by a government or corrupt drug lords.  I thought about how poor these countries are compared to us, but how rich, once they know the Lord.  Sometimes we know the Lord, but are not as free because of our wealth which can be used by Satan to distract us, even to the point of misery.

   I realize that it's my praying that can give glory to God today.  At the begining, I was looking at it as kind of a boring, nothing day...but prayer made all the difference.  And I don't need an iron to serve, although that was a bonus today.  My true service to others and God is prayer.  I'm not rich and there are many things I would like to do that I cannot.  Others can.  But I can always pray!

Dangers in New Territories

Belle was a bad girl last week.  Unprovoked, she rushed her little friend Velvet, a black miniature poodle, and bit her on the nose! (drew blood) Velvet's daddy was understandably upset and made comments about it not even being safe to walk his dog in her own neighborhood.  I apologized profusely, offering to pay any veterinary bills and vowed to abandon our neighborhood walks, taking Belle elsewhere.  In other words...This town is not big enough for the both of us and our dogs!

So, we are on to discovering new territories!  This week we have explored the grounds surrounding the Galleria Mall in Centerville and Eagle Springs.  Today, we visited an old friend's neighborhood, Magnolia Court.

Chris gave us good directions after we chatted and I left my car in front of her house.  On to adventure!  She said to go to the end of the block take a right and come down to Sweet Bay, walking by her home and following it all the way around, making it a 1.25 mile walk.  However, when I got to Sweet Bay, a left turn was more alluring; the road looked wider and shadier.  I thought I'd just go around the circle in a different direction and take the shade first.

After half a block, I hit another street, Royal Oak...Chris hadn't mentioned it but it must go around and hook up with Sweet Bay again, so off we went.  Now, in the beginning, we walk slow because we have to stop and sniff every yard.  I think after awhile this must get old because then we are on the lookout for squirrels and other critters that Belle's radar can locate, so we are walking a little more briskly.  Toward the end, she slows down, looking for water, usually provided by sprinkler sytems or ditches that may store some previous rainfall.

Royal Oak turns into River View Trail...very beautiful, but I start to get worried and take side streets that end up in cul-de-sacs.  I wonder, should I turn around?  Nah...it will hook up again! It's quite a long road and I know I am going in the wrong direction to get back but every beautiful yard has tall fences.  I tried for directions from several yard workers who did not understand english.  Eventually we reach Sandefur Road where there is road work happening.  I ask the workers where HiWay 96 is.  They said a few miles away and directed me to take a left on the next road and keep going.  Inside I am screaming..."Can you give me a ride?"

Okay, I am on Addison, a long road with no shade and no sprinklers.  Belle is getting tired and trying to lie down.  My legs feel like huge, heavy tree trunks.  After athe equivalent of 2 Fargo, North Dakota blocks, an SUV leaves a house and I flag it down.  They give me directions and I ask the time...11:11...I say, oh my gosh, I started out about 9:30 for a 1 hour walk!  Inside I am screaming, "Can you give me a ride?"  They don't offer.

At the next stop sign, I am stumped...was it a left or a right?  I ask a van lady who has stopped.  She thinks I should take a right and I am on something like Sawtooth Road.  A man on this road is watering his black garbage bags by the curb.  I ask him about my destination....he is slurring his words....I keep walking.  At the next stop sign I see SWEET BAY!  Thank You Jesus!  I take a right and wonder if I am going to be going the 1.25 miles Chris had mentioned, but it is just 3 blocks and there is our car.  The last 3 blocks are tough for Belle but she revs up when she sees the car, as do I!  I start it up and the time is 11:45.  What a good walk we had!

Around the end of River View Trail, I was pondering my predicament, wondering why I left my cell phone in my purse when I did have pockets...sheer stupidity.  Then I wondered why I didn't turn around before I hit Sandefur, which had crossed my mind quite a bit...sheer hopefulness.  I thought about my initial decision to defy the good directional advice from Chris and I realized I had taken the 'wide way' instead of the 'narrow path'.  I had taken the way that looked more pleasureable and comfortably shady, rather than the sunny, presumably more boring way.

I realized this is just like me, to pick pleasure before work and find that it was more work in the end.  There is danger in exploring new territory when one does not listen to the wise counsel of people who have been there.  Will I learn my lesson?  I'm sure my Lord is always asking this to Himself...will she ever learn her lessons?  I rest in His grace and mercy as I try to navigate my life.  Poor Belle just gets pulled along, having no say in the matter!

Meeting God in the Valleys

I find myself in another valley, and I saw it coming.  I thought ignoring it was a good idea.  I thought I was trusting God by ignoring situations that always do have consequences.  I was too busy seeking pleasure.  I am not talking about 'forbidden' pleasures, but just the little pleasures we get used to in our daily lives - that can take us over while we lose our focus on Christ.

I do get super serious about prayer when I am in a valley.  I also pray during the good times but must admit there is no comparison.  The Psalms remind me how David prayed in good times and bad with equal fervor.  Nothing less is worthy of my King!

It's great, the time I have with God in the mornings and little moments all during the day.  It's great how God brings people together to minister to one another.  He gave me a day like that today, as He met me in my valley with reinforcements this morning, this afternoon, and I am sure we will meet again this evening.

Friends, I cherish your encouragements and intercessory prayers and I know you are His instruments of peace here on earth, for me.  Thank you and thanks be to God!

The Gifts We Don't Want

     I am behind on my devotional reading, as I usually am when I've been on vacation, especially a month long one.  It's always a delight to settle back into a routine that brings peace and comfort.  
     So, in settling in with my Daily Guideposts 2010, a devotion from May 26 (Okay, I was already behind when I left on vacation!) really made me think and I felt an urge to share it that stayed with me as I performed other tasks this afternoon.  Finally, I said Okay!  I will share it now!

     " No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven."  JOHN 3:27 (RSV)

     The writer askes this question:  Did you ever think about the many gifts you've been given that you didn't really want and would have refused if you could?   Some were glorious, crucial, and necessary.  Some were dark...leaving dark threads behind...like illness, injury, betrayal, financial worries, wild children, trying times with a spouse, problems at work.
     What if these were all sweet, quiet gifts that we just don't see from the right angle?  What if all these things made me a harder worker and gave me a gentler, humbler soul?  What if everything I thought was a pain was actually a present?

     Dear Lord, would You help me see the grace of the gift a little more?  Because here I am, sighing at prayer time again.   BRIAN DOYLE, paraphrased

     We are taught to praise Him in the good times and in the bad times.  To me, since God works everything together for our good, this means that there is also good in the bad times.  Even if I can't see it, it doesn't mean it isn't there.  I can't see God and He is there.  I believe in Him and and I believe what He says.  So, when a dark gift presents itself, the first thing for me to do is pray, confess, and thank Him and ask for deliverance.  I also ask Him what I can learn from the experience.  Then, I focus on listening.  I search the scriptures.  I seek godly counsel.
     This also seems like being grateful for unanswered prayer, when I think of the many prayers I have offered up over the years.  Had they all been answered...oh, my goodness, the misery I would have lived through by now!