We are. We have been for sometime now. Yet, I can’t get my husband to avoid buying things in huge quantities. It’s fine with a 50-lb bag of jasmine rice or a moving-sized box full of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. They have a long shelf life and eventually they’ll be used. And he always does it, he tells me with love, because “you like this.”
Dave, why did you buy a 25-pound bag of dried black beans?
Because you like them, honey. This way you won’t run out.
Honey, all 17 of these avocados are ripe this very second – did you have something in mind when you bought them?
Because you love guacamole. I thought maybe you could make us some?
What is this Beth-Moore-Sunday-School-Class-sized party-platter of cinnamon rolls doing here?
I know you love cinnamon rolls.
Yesterday this:
4.26 pounds of fresh corn tortillas. I do love corn tortillas, yet…We are blessed to live near the Mexican Market with a giant tortilla factory in full view through a large window (take your kids to see them made fresh and have lunch on one of the big southwestern wooden tables with delish food from the Cantina). We LOVE getting them warm from the little conveyor belt we can actually see.
But here is the prob: I HATE wasting anything. I don’t want 4 loaves of assorted breads because there are only 2 of us. We’ll have to throw too much away! Boo. But if I like something, my sweet, thoughtful husband wants to buy it for me and if he happens to be in the bread aisle and sees four different loaves of bread he knows I like – well, then…
You can see the dilemma. It isn’t that Dave is wasteful, because he isn’t. He is just much more generous than I am.
But see the sell by date? In order for me to not agonize over wasting them, I have to eat 4 pounds of them {{FOUR pounds!!!}} within the next 4 days! And there is only one possible menu on the fridge list within which to actually utilize them.
Reminder to husband: we are empty nesters. There are only 2 of us now. I think we can cut back to a 3 pounder…maybe even less? Think about it.
I hadn’t had time to properly clean and prepare the beets from the garden yesterday, so they were “vased” and refrigerated for posterity. Yes, I put them there. I was still surprised. What is your point?
Do I like beets? Not especially, actually, but I had some seeds (you can grow 9 at a time in a 1-foot square) and you can eat the greens in a salad and roast the root with garlic and olive oil – or just juice the whole, crazy pile with some oranges (yum). And there are health merits.
At the very least, opening the fridge this morning made me happy. :)
Things don’t always happen the way we thought they would. David the Psalmist must have felt that, too.
“Why so downcast oh, my soul, put your trust in God!”
“No thanks, depression and fatigue – you can’t come in.”
Took this woodsy picture in Peaceful Valley last week! It was just after a rain, overcast, but bright. From the shadows, there was a path out…
This is me, struggling with some things I don’t understand, putting my trust in God:
All the days planned for me were written in His book before I was even one day old (Psalm 139.16). Just because the days aren’t feeling purposeful enough for me or the time I am in holds lots of unanswered questions, I am not wandering aimlessly. The days I know-that-I-know I am fully/gloriously in the center of His planned will for my life versus the days I am wondering what the heck that will is don’t affect the story He wrote for my life. I am in His sights. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me…
He will never leave me, nor forsake me (Deut. 31.6). I have that horrible tendency to drift into that ridiculous thinking that if I am not smack in the middle of some great move of God somewhere {working my head off} that I have somehow been locked out of the Kingdom, the only univited person to all the good Kingdom parties. In my heart of hearts, I am ever more aware, the quieter it gets, the closer He is (it’s how He draws me near). Behold, the Kingdom of God is at hand. He is with me. With me!
“Therefore, don’t be foolish. Understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph. 5.17). If I don’t have enough things happening, needs to fulfill, ministry to get done, places to be or people to see, if there is a holy dissatisfaction with the status quo, then setting myself to understanding God’s will should keep me pretty occupied – a pretty full assignment, I’d say. Finding out from Him for my life, “What is THIS {particular place &} time for?” seems like a worthy pursuit leaving little room for feeling tentative.
You know, even after amazing, great times of spiritual victories, the prophet Elijah had some extreme fatigue and depression come knocking on his door. He must have felt tentative about any kind of future or anything good ahead for his life because he actually told God he’d had enough and wanted God to take him out.
But the God of the Universe never left Elijah. God is so faithful like that. He didn’t tell Elijah to pull himself up by his bootstraps and to get his hustle on. God fed him and caused him to sleep, fed him again and gave him more rest. God comforted him. Then God spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice and eventually sent him to his next assignment – lots more cool stuff was on the horizon for his life!
While we may be feeling unsettled or unconfirmed, there is probably already a plan in place for some wonderful adventure in faith, an exciting storyline written by God for our lives before time even began. Get ready for your cue, watch for the brightly lighted path out…
It is gone toooooooo fast. There were so many more little pool parties and popsicle treats to enjoy with the grandbebes. Of the 8, the first 5 are all in school now, again (or for the first time).
Hunter walking in to 3rd grade…Tara posted this, she has homeschooled him until now. Big change!
Gavin is a 5th grader, which makes him a full-fledged “middle-schooler” with a locker! My little man is growing up on me! Guinivere and Hunter are in third grade this year and Gemma goes all day now, a first grader. Averi is an official school girl, she is in Kindergarten and I sure miss having pre-school with her!
Hearing my daughters plan and talk about all the school supplies lists and routines and buying new clothes and uniforms and having to get kids to bed because it’s a school night now got me thinking of all the music that has been written about school over the years. There must be thousands of songs, but I thought I’d pick my favorites for a BACK-TO-SCHOOL TOP TEN playlist (not in order of my love for them, just as they came to me)~
To Sir with Love, Lulu // This song is from a movie with the same name (starring Sidney Poitier in 1967) and I have loved it since I saw it as a child. It’s pouffy hair and frosted lipstick, dark eyeliner and blue-eyeshadow. It is all the strong feelings a young girl has, poured out in song. LOVE!
My Eyes Adored You, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons // If you could have known the 1974 me, the one who was in love with love, for whom each and every song had profound meaning…well, yea. Then you’d know that the junior-high me was in love with this song and daydreaming about some boy who would someday say, “I loved you way back when….” Haha. Such a pretty and sweet song, though, really.
Coat of Many Colors, Dottie Parton // You have to listen to this one to see how many words that woman can get into a song. And it actually charted, in part, I think, because everyone can relate to being made fun of in school over something or another. Kids at school can be cruel. My mom made me a dress from old kitchen curtains once. I still haven’t written a song about it, though.
I Wish, Stevie Wonder // Part of my Hammond High School, fish-out-of-water, Iowa girl in Louisiana story soundtrack, is characterized by the Songs in the Key of Life 2-album set by Stevie Wonder. Still one of my favorites, this song was fun. to. sing! I was going to school with the boy in the song, I am certain of it!
Harper Valley PTA, Jeanne C. Riley // As story songs go, this has got to be one of the best! I was in 3rd grade and couldn’t get enough of hearing it. That was one sexy mama!
Spiders and Snakes, Jim Stafford // Um, yes – the boys I knew during junior high were at about this level.
Check Yes or No, George Strait // Do you like me? Check yes, or no….Aw, sweet. A little country tune about 3rd grade love that lasts!
Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color for Your Eyes, Kristen Andreassen // I just happened across this one a few years ago and like to sing it to my grandbebes. The video takes place in a 2nd grade school room. It is a happy tune and so appropriate for going back to school!
Teacher’s Pet (Doris Day) // So, in light of all the weird student-teacher relationships that hit the news these days, a bit of the innocence of this song is gone, long gone! And while the original movie (Teacher’s Pet, 1958) with Doris Day and Clark Gable was sweet, the Waiting for Guffman movie (1996) audition scene with Parker Posie hilariously takes this song down the slippery slope of ickiness. But it sure is memorable. I have included Doris, whose uprightness and purity in the singing are unquestionable!
ABC, The Jackson 5 // The very first song on my iTunes song list, I can actually remember where I was sitting in my 4th grade class on bring-a-record day at Wallace Elementary School in Des Moines the first time I heard this glory. The sun was shining through the windows, a whole new world was opening up to me – this Michael Jackson had dawned – oh my goodness, it was historic – LOVE!!!
8 Songs that didn’t quite make my cut:Back to School Again, from Grease 2 because I really liked Grease, the first movie, better; Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd because even as a teenager when it was charting, I felt a pang of weirdness at the blatant rebelliousness of it. I was trying to conquer rebellion, conquer it!; Getting Better, The Beatles, and again, a little rebellious and also that psychedelic sound that I think you had to be high to really appreciate, and I wasn’t; See You in September by The Happenings is a very classic song, but it didn’t make the list because it’s a little too easy listening for even me, :) ; Graduation Day, The Beach Boys because it is about graduating from school, not going back to school; Class of ’57 by The Statler Brothers which I have actually always loved because it is the year my mom graduated, but it is more about graduation, too; Schoolboy Crush, Cliff Richard and the Drifters because even though I love Cliff Richard, doo-wop isn’t my thing; Teach Me Tonight by Etta James or lots of other artists who have recorded it because I have pictures of my grandbebes in this post! Too sultry! School of Rock by Jack Black is an awesome song, but had to get cut because I was keeping my list at 10! I love watching the movie with my grands, though because he is cute and hilarious and kids get him – I guess because he is a big kid. The giggling is contagious!
The K-kids, first day of school
There you have it. GET SPOTIFY to hear them all!!!
There are SO many songs. Which school-themed songs did I miss? Which ones belonged on my list? Is everyone back to school at your house?
But today there were peppers: Hungarian Wax and Sweet Bananas and Salsa-Jalepenos and my wondrous, most glorious Poblanos (there will be chile rellenos in the next couple of days, oh, yes, there will be!). There were 4 types of tomatoes and some zucchini and squash. Oh and the tomatillas are going to be amazing, I can tell from the very first one, ever! Got a big bunch of chamomile and 2 nice, fluffy bunches of kale. I got Brussels Sprouts greens and some cukes, plenty of dill (called a weed for good reason) and good heavens – what will we do with all of this basil? There’s some Rosemary and a few beets, and many-many-many more peppers to come tomorrow! Not everything is pictured here because ~ it just wouldn’t fit!
Three 4 things about today in the garden:
1. Today was nearly perfect, seriously. The temperature, the blue sky, everything. Being in the garden today is a reward, not work. Such grace!
2. I am reminded that between the time you drop the seed into soil and the time your arms can barely contain the harvest, many things happen and much time goes by. But it will happen. If you plant the seed and actively wait, watching, making sure it gets moisture and sun and time {you can’t hurry love} – oh yes, time is so necessary, well, then – you will reap a harvest. You will eat of the fruit of your labor of love. The time you gave, the blood, sweat and tears you spilled into the ground – will reward you, by the grace of God.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap…And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Galatians 6.7-9 nkjv
Seed-time and harvest are two distinct and specific times. Don’t give up in the middle!
3. You MUST apply yourself to using this beautiful, natural, organic bounty to its’ fullest glory. Do not let this be what happens:
qsprn.com
No – let nothing of the sort happen!
4. Making more salsa tomorrow. Yum! :)
There is a garden
Something like the shadow of a butterfly
And lies beyond the gates of dark and light
And, darling, it belongs to me
When you go there
There will be such laughter in the dimpled sky
The songs you sing will drive away the night
The magic garden has a way of making you feel free
Worship isn’t a fast song, getting the blood pumping or the excitement built,
Worship isn’t a slow song of somber reverence
It isn’t necessarily even a song
But it can be a song
And since I like to sing, since music is my medium for deep-heart things,
my worship often comes out in a melody, usually with words
It isn’t about the song being loud or being soft
to make it worship (true worship, the kind the Father is listening for…)
“Worship is when your heart touches your Father” (Tommy Bates)
Have you ever started singing to the Lord and the love poured out of you so strongly you suddenly became aware that He was right there, in Person, giving you His complete and undivided attention? The Presence. There is nothing like it. He inhabits our praises…
So. The question in Amos 5 gets me every time: when was the last time you sang to Me?
image taken in Peaceful Valley, August 2013
So, you’ll know it when you hear it, because you’ll know when you have touched His heart.
Oh, my word. Every time I NEED help from the sanctuary, I get surprised all over again, amazed and shocked that the God of the Universe, the Creator of everything – yes, THAT God- our Father, the Blessed Redeemer, the Savior of mankind, the Alpha and Omega {the Beginning and the End}, the Holy Spirit of God Himself, He is also the One who is the Helper {MY help}, helping me, helping me!
He helps us. He is our Helper! I keep forgetting this and God keeps reminding me. I keep doubting it and He keeps proving it is true, time and again.
Circumstances can look bleak, the path obscured, answers seem hopelessly hidden. We shake our heads, barely breathing out to Him…We pray, God, help me…and then He does.
Reading Frank Viola, God’s Favorite Place on Earth, in his account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead:
“…as high as God is going to elevate you is as deep as He digs to lay the foundation.
Sometimes the brightest light comes from the darkest places. And what doesn’t destroy you ends up defining you in some significant way…
Interestingly, Lazarus is the shortened form of a name that means ‘God helps.'”
I’d say being raised from the DEAD qualifies as being helped! :)
The dictionary says to help isto give assistance or support; to make more pleasant or bearable (improve, relieve, rescue, save). It says to help is to be of use to (benefit); to further the advancement of (promote) or even to serve with food or drink as in a meal {Reminds me of “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”}.
He is a very present HELP in time of need.
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121
So here is this old song for this new Sunday: Made Me Glad by Hillsong, based on Psalm 46 and every word true!
I will bless the Lord forever
And I will trust Him at all times
He has delivered me from all fear
And he has set my feet upon a rock
And I will not be moved
And I’ll say of the Lord….
You are my shield
My strength
My portion
Deliverer
My shelter
Strong tower
My very present help in time of need
Whom have I in Heaven but you?
There’s none I desire beside you
You have made me glad
And I’ll say of the Lord….
You are my shield
My strength
My portion
Deliverer
My shelter
Strong tower
My very present help in time of need
Friends and family, let me declare/speak/pray this blessing over you:: May the everlasting One hear you today and send help from His sanctuary. May the most Helpful One come to your rescue, bringing provision and relief and providing the support you need right now and be so very, very present. I pray this for you – for the Help you need. Amen!
Even though, now that Netflix has updated {{hearing my deepest heart’s desire}}, and each of us is now allowed to create our very own “instant queue,” I am quite certain that, just as it has always been ~
I shall spend more time searching and adding things to my queue than actually watching any of it.
It is sort of like ordering anything I want from a Pottery Barn Catalog. I may not need it or love it after I get it, but when I ordered it, it sure seemed important!
PS-I have never actually ever ordered “anything I want” from the Pottery Barn Catalog. THAT is a dream that was never realized.
It is by grace we are saved…but oh the ways we try to make make grace even better! {{insert *wry-and-weary-half-smile}}
I grew up in church where “talking back” to the pastor as he preached was not only welcomed, if there weren’t enough people doing it, the pastor might chide:
“Can I get an ‘amen’?” or
“It’s getting awfully quiet in here. Somebody say ‘Amen or Oh, me.'”
“Amen” is supposed to be sort of a wonderful, “Yes! So be it, Lord!” Oh, if only that were the only way we church-peeps used it. *sigh…
Even as a really young girl, I noticed that an awful lot of the people saying “Amen!” were sort of the least joyful, meanie-face-type of Christians.
Doesn’t this awesome photo just remind you of the fire and brimstone preacher in “Cold Comfort Farm” screaming out “There’ll be no butter in hell, I tell ya!!”??? If it doesn’t, you must watch the movie. Then it will.
If the preaching was against gossiping or people not going to church, there’d be this “amen section” of people you didn’t want to cross. The preacher would wind up, powerfully make his proclamation and then the sourest faces in the front three rows of pews would raise their determined noses into the air and shout “Amen! Amen!!!” with pretty much the same fervor as two guys chest-bumping in victory and grunting loudly at a football game where their team just scored a touchdown.
Even at 5 or 6 years old, I could tell, that with at least some of those people, they felt they were past reproach and in an exclusive club, telling-it-like-it-is, above whatever the sin of the day was. {{Did I mention I began my judgementalism early?}} Anyway – some people seemed less about ‘amening’ the truth of the Word of God or even being an encouragement to the pastor that he was right-on than in making sure other people in here better hear this ‘cuz they need it!!! The problem with this method of “helpful discipleship” is that no one in the sanctuary is quite sure who the recipient/or group of recipients was to be, so the enemy-of-our-souls sorta uses it to crush everybody there with accusation. Poo.
When I got old enough to want to amen something, I knew down deep that I jumped pretty harshly on sermon points that, in reality, exposed my own weaknesses – but not at myself {because there was this view-blocking log in my eye} – more at other people who had them too {people with those little specs Jesus talked about}. Maybe amening loudly would make everyone else think I was way above it. If I nodded my head and looked all pious – everyone else would know I had conquered and was above them spiritually speaking. {{Right.}}
These days, most churches don’t have a real old fashioned out-loud-amen section. But a quick scan of Facebook the past few weeks and I have seen actual posts, not limited to, but including these:
News Flash: The earth revolves around the sun. This might upset people who think the world still revolves around them.
I’m not judging you, God is.
I’m currently correcting some crap problems in my life. If you don’t hear from me, you’re probably one of them.
It’s a Facebook status, not a diary. Learn the difference.
Oh, it’s snowing outside. I better update my Facebook status for all my friends who don’t have windows.
If you don’t like the life I am leading then quit reading my posts.
If you are a Republican {or Democrat, or Christian, or not a Christian, or any number of possible labels} we aren’t friends. I will be unfriending you.
The mean-spirited Amen-section is alive and well. On internet profiles everywhere (and I am sure, sometimes even on this blog, true confessions). And oh, don’t you just KNOW each of those comments is directed at somebody specific? But since we don’t know who, 127 people will run for cover.
We have seen the enemy – it is us {church-peeps}.
Thank-You, Lord, that we are growing in grace and learning to say Amen! So be it! to You, to Your Word, to Your ways. Thank-you for churches that let us participate with shouts of hallelujah and applause becuase we are so grateful we cannot contain it. May we keep learning and keep growing in grace. AMEN! And the Amen-corner said “~~~~”
Can I get a witness?
NOTE TO READERS: I actually grew up in the 60s and 70s and not in sepia-tone. We actually had colored photos and didn’t dress like pilgrims or Civil War-era people. Just FYI.
