Always there

Thursday, May 17, 2012

As I look out the window on a very cloudy morning, about sunrise, I see the sun peeking through the clouds, striking beauty of sunrays and orange-red color. Astonishingly beautiful! How is it that God continually amazes me with new ways to paint the sunrise, every day making me stop to wonder at His creativity and majesty? And then I think about how He made the earth, the sun, and our solar system. Aligning them so that the sun is always there. Even on cloudy days, the sun is still burning at the center of our universe. It may or may not pop its head through the thick clouds. And so it is with the Son of God: Christ. He is always there, even on “cloudy,” depressing, hard-pressed days. He promised to never leave me or forsake me. His right hand will hold me fast. “I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10. So I will not fear no matter what life on earth may bring. This life is as close to hell as I will ever experience because I know that I will live forever in the perfection of heaven. May I always choose to see Christ no matter how cloudy life gets.

1.       Capris that still fit

2.       Sweat

3.       White fluffy seeds fluttering through the breeze

4.       Boisterous one looking up at me

5.       Baths that cool us down and refresh

6.       Donating hair to Locks of Love

7.       Top Secret with Leba

8.       Watches so the girls can be home at 5

9.       Walking and talking with girls to the park

10.   Painted turtle

11.   Praying on skype

12.   Having sisters so you CAN fight

13.   Cast clubbing me in bed

14.   Feet digging into my legs under the covers

15.   Wind died down for a while

16.   Grand Day with two grandmas here

17.   Yard sale find of Little House series

18.   Puzzles on the floor

19.   Girl time

20.   The compassionate one baking brownies for cousins

21.   Zumba

22.   Tripod (yoga) with the girls

23.   Back hero (stretch) with the girls

24.   The engineer getting a haircut

25.   Mischievous cousins painting each others’ faces

26.   Six cousins playing for hours on the trampoline

27.   Serving my sister by cleaning

28.   The biggest, longest hug from my sister

29.   Working alongside mom and grandma

30.   Micah having dessert with the adults

31.   Being close enough to go help for the day

32.   Hearing Rebekah and Micah play piano recital pieces

33.   A nap on the drive home

34.   Strawberry rhubarb pie

35.   All the colors in the sky

36.   Planting the garden as a family

37.   Smell of the tiller on the engineer

38.   Pippi Longstocking field trip

39.   Assembling the wheel barrow with the compassionate one

40.   Crystal clear reflection in the pond

41.   That I have a pond outside my home

42.   Lettuce & spinach growing in a pot on the deck

43.   Sticky spot on the floor

44.   Flour dusted onto the kitchen floor

45.   Rainy day to shop with the girls

46.   Goodwill Toddler Thursday

47.   Speaking through the thunder – Be still

48.   Clean basement

49.   Godly, wise saints who share insight

50.   Prayer after a bad dream

51.   Going back to bed after that prayer

52.   Grandma Edna teaching me to send them back to bed

53.   The bad dream that woke me early to do yoga

54.   Itunes to download and listen instantly

55.   Landa’s influence on my life

56.   Plants withstanding the wind

57.   The engineer having breakfast with us

58.   Mail to send

59.   Peace Lilly

60.   Pillows on bed

61.   Things the compassionate one gave thanks for: bed, clothes, pillows, food, ?

62.   Wisdom to lead her toward gratitude

63.   “If you can’t decide what to wear, you have too many clothes,” dad

64.   Saving for the hello kitty camera

65.   The calculating one, thriving with a plan

66.   The calculating one sharing her new ponies

67.   Empathy from my mother-in-law

68.   Rustling of aspens

69.   Cottonwoods spinning cotton, reminding me of Montana

70.   Boisterous one’s scribbles in my book

71.   Ability to rebuke Satan

72.   Jesus drinking the cup of wrath intended for me

73.   The compassionate one in the front seat

74.   Remembering clean underwear

75.   Boisterous one singing “Amazing Grace”

76.   Calculating one requesting “Amazing Grace” while riding on the tube

77.   Goldhead’s penmanship in Grandma’s card

78.   Being able to give Grandma a small birthday gift

79.   Rhubarb Torte

80.   Being able to take girls to the lake

81.   New tube

82.   Suckers on the boat

83.   Seeing the engineer on the boat

84.   All nine of us in the boat

85.   Evening visit with mom and dad

86.   Phase 10 game

87.   Amazing wall cloud

88.   Not down pouring when the engineer picked up Dar’s

89.   “New story, new story” and then dad telling a story

90.   Mom playing doctor

91.   Visit with Holly

92.   Cool night breeze in a hot stuffy room

93.   Listening to grandma and grandpa visit with the goldenheads

94.   Worship at Faith Community

95.   Katrina leading worship

96.   Standing with hand high and heart abandoned

97.   Spirit convicting of sin

98.   Walk and talk with Kayla

99.   A summer ahead to play

100.    Scenic route

101.    Slowing down to go through little towns

102.    Mississippi valley

103.    Two-lane roads

104.    Diverse beauty from state to state

105.    Iowa farmland

106.    Small town Culver’s

107.    90’s music station

108.    Baseball field nestled among cornfields

109.    Elissa’s Benjamin

110.     2 snapping turtles on my run

111.    Enough water pressure to make sprinkler spin

112.    God knowing intricate details of my body

113.    Forgiveness from the engineer

114.    No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)

115.    Camping

116.    Relevant worship experiences for the girls

117.    Mom teaching me about spraying weeds, gardening, landscaping, decorating

118.    Eagerness to see my sister

119.    Bible Camp

120.    Flower seeds sprouting in front of house

121.    Closer connection with Bryce & Kayla

122.    Dad texting

123.    Perseverance to fix drawer, hang towel bar and shade

124.    Looking at the Bible camp website with the compassionate one

125.    The calculating one playing Little Red

126.    The older golden heads loving school

127.    The compassionate one beginning to wear deodorant…growing up

128.    The compassionate one being invited to Carli’s birthday party

129.    Conversations with Carli’s mom-Kelly

130.    The hymnal – teaching the golden heads “Seek Ye First”

131.    Energy to stay up until 2am & wake at 5am

132.    Time to be still

133.    Fingerprints & smudges to clean up after

134.    The calculating one praying for me

135.    The compassionate one voluntarily weeding the garden

136.    “I’m not working as hard as I should be,” while weeding

137.    Pizza on the deck

138.    Barbeque sauce

139.    Twenty-four egg whites whipped to firm peaks

140.    Mock-Angelfood cake with strawberries and whipped cream

141.    Being able to celebrate Lucas’ birthday with him

142.    The celebrate plate….yea, sissies are home for summer!

143.    Help from golden heads packing for camping

144.    Packing lists

145.    The big girls helping the boisterous one take a shower

146.    Choosing to forgo sleep to help mom pack

147.    Good communication with the older golden heads

148.    Plenty of food to pack

149.    Bing cherries on sale

150.    Bean and corn salsa

151.    Golden heads sleeping in so I can spend more time thanking in a list

152.    Golden heads wanting to be with me

153.    Golden heads telling me how to be a better mom and person

154.    Compassionate one’s opinion about the tent

155.    Feeling like I’m outside of myself…acting godly, not like me

156.    All five of us hanging out on the boat

157.    Cousins tubing

158.    Micah driving the boat

159.    Showing up late to dinner because we took kids tubing

160.    Help that the compassionate one gives the family

161.    Family dynamic realized

162.    Opportunity for compassionate one to go to Bible Camp

163.    The calculating one trying on my wedding dress

164.    The calculating one reading to little sister

165.    The calculating one entering the chocolate chip cookie contest

166.    The boisterous one picking up the puppet at the library

167.    Figuring out audiobooks for the golden heads

168.    Finding a Mandie audiobook

169.     The engineer memorizing scripture during his commute

170.    Deck wash

171.    A “think” with the calculating one

172.    Retaining wall bricks leveled

173.    Washing of garden gloves in the rain

174.    The boisterous one’s raincoat

175.    Designing for Verox

176.    Printer in Farmington

177.    7:30 summer mornings

178.    “I love school” plastered on take homes

179.    Rotating tires

180.    Giffey’s coming to visit

181.    Lazy mornings

182.    Finishing the bike path

183.    The engineer and I agreeing on deck stain

184.    Mourning Dove’s cry

185.    Knowing how to fix a bike tire

186.    Evening walk

187.    Calculating one sewing & seam ripping

188.    Solar light dragon fly

Legacy

Monday, May 14, 2012

The engineer and I have both been blessed with such a godly legacy! We could sit for hours listening to stories of our grandparents and great-grandparents. And all that listening results in the realization that not only are we blessed, but we really want to emulate that. To leave such a lasting impression of perseverance of doing good (Romans 2:7) that our great-grandchildren will hear the stories of us and also be encouraged to a better person. Our faith is deeply rooted in our family tree, as was Timothy’s (2 Timothy 1:5-7.) Paul encouraged Timothy to not stop there with just a saving faith, but to fan that small flicker into flames. Take saving faith and make it bigger. I love Casting Crowns song, “To know You is to want to know You more.” This is what Paul encouraged Timothy to do: to strive to know more of God, about God, who He is. This is where the rubber meets the road. Paul reminds Timothy (and  us) that, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.” We are not to be content with just worshipping God on Sunday mornings, maybe opening our Bibles once during the week, listening to Christian music occasionally and knowing that we’ll make it into heaven. That would be timidity. Too lazy and selfish to really dig into the word, to get to know our Savior. No, we need to use the power available to us by the work of Christ on the cross, we need to love, really love others. God will give us the self-discipline to consistently seek to know Him more if we would ask. (John 14:14) God, may I never tire of seeking your word, of seeking you every morning to learn more about You and put it into action. May I persevere in doing good just as my grandparents and great-grandparents did. So that someday my great-grandchildren will say as I do, “I really want to be like her when I grow up!”

1.       Written word to and from people

2.       Joy of accomplishment

3.       Alka-Seltzer

4.       Grandma’s famous smiley faces

5.       Sticky notes

6.       Garden hose word-picture of grandma giving

7.       Potato heads

8.       Last minute hugs at the bus stop

9.       Night sounds: crickets, frogs

10.   Cool breeze

11.   Lynda Randall’s, “God on the Mountain”

12.   Little footprints on the wet floor

13.   Play necklaces adorning the patio furniture

14.   New rising sun peering through on a cloudy day

More to faith

Friday, May 4, 2012

Pistis, the greek for faith: firm persuasion, conviction, belief in truth, reality or faithfulness. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear faith is Hebrews 11:1’s definition, “Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.” This faith is based on fact; Christ’s resurrection from the dead. This is faith that I stand on; faith that saves me from death. However, digging deeper, I never understood faith to mean firm persuasion about what God wants you to do. Romans 14:22 says, “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” In application I might paraphrase, “Where and how God leads you, have firm faith and conviction, that He led you there. You will be happy to not condemn yourself when you stand firm in this faith.” Raymond Edman once said, “Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” After all, Romans 8:1 tells us, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” I struggle with consistently second-guessing myself in actions and words. Before this revelation, I did not realize that this second-guessing is sin. Because, if I am walking in the Spirit on a daily basis, (Romans 8:4-5) I must believe that my words and deeds are what God leads me to say and do. To doubt His leading is sin: “But he who doubts is condemned if he waivers in convictions because his wavering is not from faith: and whatever is not from faith is SIN,” Romans 14:23. I am not referring to times when I know I am not walking according to the Spirit but rather the flesh. When walking according to the flesh, mouth and actions will yield sinful flesh. Of this, I must repent to both God and those I have offended. However, if I am daily offering my body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and hourly, minute by minute walking in the Spirit, replaying and constantly analyzing the past is a trap from the devil. They are simply opportunities for me to doubt my convictions and leading from the Lord. When I find myself being lured into the trap, I need to set my mind on true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy things (Philippians 4:8). I need to stop, and say “Jesus,” to choose to quote scripture. This is my putting on the full armor of God so I can take my stand against the devil’s schemes. The mind is a battlefield, but with God’s armor, we are more than victorious! (Romans 8:37)

1.       Teachable moments

2.       Tylenol

3.       Sprinklers

4.       Water balloons

5.       Doctors & walk-in clinics

6.       Two-hour sit of the boisterous one

7.       Finger smudges on the wall

8.       Being still

9.       Kind pediatrician

10.   Warm and inviting medical clinic

11.   Kind affirmations from father-in-law & mother-in-law

12.   Wind to blow away tree worms

13.   Table Saw

14.   Excitement about homework

15.   Sweet strawberries at $1.19/#

16.   Eager hands to pack groceries

17.   Perseverance of the calculating one

18.   Three golden heads speaking all at once, excited to see daddy

19.   Judy Moody…

20.   The compassionate one up in the middle of the night with sister’s bad dream

21.   The compassionate one praying when I’m clean out of compassion

22.   Teaching the golden heads

23.   Teachable spirits

24.   Zumba

25.   Golden heads helping dad build

26.   Saving for a Hello Kitty camera

27.   Safety through the storm

28.   Documentaries

29.   Working alongside the compassionate one

30.   Daddy treating the golden heads to a movie

31.   Ruined appetites from popcorn & milk duds

32.   Wonder of finding the lost thought gone

33.   Diamonds to pass down to a golden head

34.   Fragrance of washed hair

35.   Playing teacher with the golden heads

36.   Thank you notes 

37.   Invitation to God’s kingdom

38.   Gift of righteousness given after saving faith

39.   Being the object of God’s love

40.   Being a chosen child of God

41.   Pillow talk with Derrick

42.   A dream shared

43.   A struggle shared

44.   Edification from the engineer

45.   Leadership of the engineer

46.   Quicken

47.   Budget meetings

48.   Opportunity to tithe

49.   Condensation on window panes

50.   Worms wriggling across path

51.   The engineer memorizing Colossians

52.   The boisterous one falling asleep without sucking

53.   Pink casts

54.   Gifts that brighten the face when you have a broken arm

55.   Two blonde toddler heads in the stroller

56.   Friends at the park

57.   Walk with a friend

58.   “”Shoot, shoot, shoot,” says the boisterous one

59.   Coffee with a friend in the sunroom

60.   Grandma in heaven, perfection

61.   Time to rebuild connections with family

62.   Leaving a Lois Legacy

63.   Peace during mourning

64.   Legacy of grandma

65.   Cousins playing in the rain

66.   Basement room at visitation for cousins to play in

67.   Priceless memories of staying with mom & dad while waiting to buy a home

68.   Mom sharing health issue with me

69.   All ten siblings and mom and dad around the table for pizza at home

70.   Coffee with Derrick on the deck

71.   Inspiring cousins raising Shaedyn with downs

72.   Micah’s smile

73.   Heart-bearing talk with Traci

74.   Thirty-minute drive to Beaver Creek

75.   Memories shared of grandma

76.   Cousins playing a “game”

77.   Daniel servant-leading the cousins

78.   Derrick quietly supporting my grief

79.   Ten grandkids singing “Jesus Loves Me”

80.   Aliya sleeping through the funeral

81.   Grace of God and family to pull Grandpa through

82.   Grandma’s faith example leading grandpa to faith

83.   No outbursts with Jess

84.   Dar making it through “Consider the Lilies”

85.   Grace sufficient in weakness

86.   All grandkids and great-grands at the funeral

87.   Cousins to play with

88.   Hospitality shared

89.   Serving mom and dad a steak dinner

90.   First campfire smoke of the year

91.   Toasted outside of marshmallow

92.   Spongy, soft, sweet angel food

93.   Servant mother-in-law

94.   Knowing Pipestone is home

95.   Serving mom a meal

96.   Lucas’ gift of hospitality

97.   Beautiful hymnal chords and harmonizing

98.   Desire to be a better person