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