Random Acts

 

I loaned a couple of gates to a stranger.

She returned them today and dropped this

poinsettia

off as a thank you.

What she couldn't know is that mom and Big

got me a poinsettia every year 

through a fundraiser at their church.

Somehow I was aware of when the fundraiser

was being held last year so I ordered one

for myself as support for the 

church they loved and,

 to just have one less thing to miss last year.

Well, this year I hadn't thought early enough 

to check if their church was still doing

the event this year, given Covid and all.

I'm thankful for a Father who knows my heart

 and those who act as His

 hands and feet 

here on earth.

Healing

A year ago this month I started a journey.

My right arm got jacked up.

That's a technical term 

and the short answer I gave when anyone asked 

me what happened. 

 Covid helped delay treatment but once I could 

see a hand specialist I started down this fun road.

They asked me what color straps I wanted.

I asked what they had and then responded, 

one of each, of course!

And then I set out to see what I could do left handed.

I managed some things and some things, 

not so much. 

It was a hard 8 weeks.

I couldn't chop, so I couldn't cook.

I couldn't paint.

I couldn't sew.

All in all, I couldn't create.

 It was a difficult time. 

Oh, and did I mention Covid?

At the end of the 8 weeks and multiple more weeks

 of occupational therapy it became

apparent the only remedy would be surgery.

Thing is, when your OT therapist as well as the surgeon

tells you it's a long painful recovery, you have second thoughts.

I had good days and bad days and then I had a 

BAD stretch.

I was in tears many days from the pain and was

thinking I would have to have the surgery

after the holidays, if I could wait that long.

Then I took my pain to my bible study group

and asked for prayer. 

The pain was awful.

They prayed that Tuesday and 

I have been 

pain free since that following Wednesday.

God answers prayers. 

I could still be in pain but the truth remains.

God answers prayers.

I am thankful that I am not in pain.

I can cook, I can sew, I can paint.

I am taking it easy, cause I ain't an idiot.

And

I am thankful to have a cool God story to share.

Bible Studies

I've done a few.

 Allllllll those books are studies I've done.

You'd think I'd have this God thing figured out.

The thing is, some of those studies center 

around the same book in the bible

but each of those studies have brought new insights.

And each year I live I think any given study

touches a different aspect of my journey.

One thing I have learned,

(over and over again)

is that God is not done with me.

God knows I'm so imperfect.

God loves me in my imperfection but

loves me enough not to leave me there.

I am so thankful to God for His patience with me

and all the opportunities He has given me to

come to know Him better.

When God Hits You Right Over The Head

God sightings. 

That is what Lory and I have made our focus

this season.

He pops up in the most unexpected places.

Like my aunts closet.

We walked my grandma, Big and mom's mom,

home at home.

Big hadn't left her side but finally on 

New Years day we convinced her to go

to a movie with me. 

I still remember what movie it was,

Fried Green Tomatoes.

I remember because grandma died

while we were at the movie.

I felt really guilty that I had pulled Big away

just on the day grandma breathed her last.

When we first started down this road with Big 

I felt like I wanted to be with her when she breathed her last.

I know that is statistically not likely, 

but one lives in hope.

I like to spend some time each day 

(that I can)

at mom and Big's place.

I also like to keep busy.

I tasked myself with organizing the black hole

that is my aunts closet.

I came across MANY papers, 

but one caught my eye.

It was written in Big's distinctive print.

I stopped and read it. 

It was a testimonial about the time she was

most thankful for her church.

It was the day I took her to a movie 

and her mother died.

Big tells of how we couldn't get her to leave 

grandma's side and that eventually

she agreed to go to a movie with me.

And grandma died.

But her take away from the day was

that my mother and sister were able to call

their pastor and he was there at grandma's side

waiting to pray with us all
when Big and I returned.

At the exact moment Big needed her church, 

God arranged for it to be there to meet her.

At the exact moment I need to know God has this,

He's got His own timing,

There's a reason for every twist in Big's road home,

He has me clean a closet and meets me right there on the floor.

Supporting Cast

Unwitting participant?

I've spent a few days pondering the 

Inn Keeper.

I wonder what his take on all this was.

He was most likely making money 

hand over fist given the crowds

in the city passing through for the census.

So many people that when this 

sweet little forlorn couple

stop and ask for a room, 

he had nothing to offer them.

Was he looking to make every inch

of his property be revenue generating,

or was he just trying to find some way to help them?

I don't think the bible gives us a clear

take on that and I think this is where

we choose how we want to view him.

Grace or cynicism?

Have you heard the term

"Chreasters"?

(not sure how you spell that)

It's a mash up of Christmas and Easter.

It's not really meant in a positive light.

It refers to people who show up at church on

Christmas and Easter.

At least they know those are two very important days.

Grace or cynicism?

Red Kettle Stories

I have a red kettle story too. 

I think I've told it before.

It goes something like this:

My grandfather made a deal with my oldest brother

that had to do with him not smoking (my brother, that is).

If my brother didn't hold up his end of the bargain then 

he was to make some kind of donation to

the Salvation Army.

LOL, how's that for vague?

I wasn't part of that arrangement (obviously) but what stuck

with me was that my grandpa, whom I loved a lot,

had a heart for the Salvation Army.

One year for Christmas my family gave my mother 

the gift of us ringing that little bell on a number of occasions.

We were so good at our job that I believe 

we went through at least two bells.

We gave her one of them, in pieces, as

representation of our hard work. 

We pass things on to the generations that come after us,

sometimes without even knowing we are doing it.

I am deliberate in wiggling a dollar bill into each kettle I pass.

I'm passing it on.

Who Knew?

I wrote a post about these boxes 7 years ago. 

I made one for Mom and one for Big.

Full disclosure, 

I'm not sure which one of them this one belongs to.

They are boxes full of memories. Mostly just one liners meant 

to spark a memory.

When Big first started slipping away we noticed that

she really liked us to talk to her.

But one sided conversations get a little difficult.

We tried reading hymns.

She liked those.

I pulled out scrap books Shanna had made her over the years.

She enjoyed those.

And then I spied the wooden box 

I had made for her so many years ago.

It was meant to bring her a smile from time to time.

I started reading those one liners and every now and then 

she would finish the story.

It warmed my heart like nothing else could have.

Look at God using the things we do 

for purposes we never dreamed of.

Plans....

...we make 'em and God laughs.

In the course of three months 

I will have two new grandbabies.

They had a birth plan in place 

for number one.

They had a c-section all scheduled.

Then Melody, or more accurately, 

God,

had another plan. 

I like to say Melody wanted to choose her own 

birthdate.

We have a plan in place for number two.

Mike and I will go to Indy to take 

care of our grand daughter

while our daughter has her baby.

I know enough to know that all I can do is

hope that our plan works out.

But I also know enough to know that God's plan 

is perfect and to try to rest in that.

I don't know if Mary had a "birth plan"

but I can pretty well bet you a dirty

manger would not have been part of it.

And yet, that dirty manger was perfect. 

Another Advent

Here we go again!

We flirted with skipping this year, but,

we did that once.

Didn't work out so well for me.

We've decided to be rather broad in our theme this year. 

We want to write about seeing God at work.

I think all evidence of that circles right back to the 

christ child in the manger.

Let's go and see where it leads us.

Soon

Joy

I've heard it said, 

"happiness is a temporary condition 

and joy is a choice."

How often do we miss a chance to choose joy?

How easy is it to miss joy

amidst all the crazy that is 

Advent?


I think God gives us experiences and feelings
to help us better understand the
relationship He wants to have with us.
Tangible.
Seeing my baby holding her baby
made my heart explode.

(Mary's Child by Mark Missman)

I love my husband and children beyond measure.

I also think I need to be deliberate in
finding the snips of joy in the mundane.

Sorry, just couldn't make this one B&W


What's bringing you joy?

  

Lent in Advent?

I was talking with a friend today about 

being deliberate about my

Christmas focus this year.

It struck me that I 

actually get more emotionally invested in 

Easter.

Easter is the culmination, proof, if you will,

of what the angels told us on the night Christ was born.

 Christ came to save us.

The baby in the manger is a promise, 

a hope, of things to come.

So, I'm left to ponder that

Christmas is a season of

trust, 

faith, 

hope, 

belief.

Those are a little trickier to nail down than the

sight of the cross.

Immanuel

God with us.

Lory and I write these independently
and every once in a while we hit on a
similar thought.

I like where Lory went with this Tuesday.
I had been mulling over
God With Us
as well, but I went a little different track.

I do want to spend time at the manger.
It seems this year, though, as I approach
the manger my view gets wider.

Big Mary's breath prayer is
Jesus hold my hand.

God sent Jesus to be with us,
at the manger
and well beyond.

Prepare

Advent is a time of preparation. 

Getting ready to celebrate what God has done for us.

But beyond Christmas, can I constantly be preparing 

to see what God has ahead for me?

And how do I prepare to recognize what He is doing?

Santa Claus, Frosty and Baby Jesus Are Coming To Town

Talk about covering all your bases. 

Just sayin.....

Adds another perspective to Lory's thoughts on
those who seek the Christ child.

Wait!

Is there ever a minute longer than the one 

you wait for with a microwave?

Or how about that first cup of coffee?

But imagine the Israelites and 40 years!!!

Or

Waiting for the messiah to come!!

Or

Waiting for the messiah to return.

They tell me it's called perspective. 

Faith

Christmas is Faith.

Sometimes I feel like I have faith like a mustard seed.

And that's good. 

It's not my amazing faith at work but rather

Jesus' amazing work through

that little tiny mustard seed I provide.

Matthew 17:20

You only kill a king if he has a kingdom.

After Jesus' crucifixion some of the big shots who wanted him dead

became concerned about his followers. 

Should they hunt them down and kill them as well?

Acts 5:38-39

Kingdom Come!

Best Laid Plans

So, I started off 39 days ago with the

 intention to be

intentional

during Lent.

My hope was that by committing to writing
5 days a week 

throughout the season it would
help me maintain my

 focus on Christ.

And while I may not have taken pen to paper

or, actually, fingers to keyboard,

the entire time, I have maintained that focus.

I have spent time every day in some 

form pondering.

And for me, that's a win.

So here we are at 

Holy Week.

Jesus rides into town on a donkey.

Everybody is happy.

They are laying down a red carpet of green.

How quickly things changed.

Do change.

Are changing.

AI Scavenger Hunt

And here is the result of my 

Art Institute 

scavenger hunt.

This is Peter denying Christ as he is led away

in the background.

 This is Christ being taunted by the soldiers.

 This almost looks like a coloring book to me,

but look at the way the cloth is billowing in the wind.

And check out the little guy in the foreground.

This one kind of slams you in the gut.

I saw quite a few renditions of Christ on the cross.

Here is one that intrigued and troubled me, 

it's by Marc Chagall.

He painted it to draw a parallel between

 the crucifixion of Christ and 

the Nazi's killing the jews.

He was jewish and therefor saw Christ as a 

profit, or wise teacher.

Somehow this troubles me, 

but at the same time, 

it's causing me to think, 

and that IS the point of my whole exercise 

these 40 days.