Troubles of Rocky Rubble

As you may know now if you've been with me for awhile, I love gardening. But I have to be honest with you, this particular year has been a year fraught with obstacles. We moved back to Pennsylvania and of course I wanted to put in a garden. So, I had a very good friend bring his Rototiller to my house and proceed to turn over a plot of land that had never been turned over before. It was a relatively small plot but nonetheless it took him several hours to turn it over. As it turns out, the ground is severely rocky. The soil looks exquisite and rich and perfect for garden soil but “ugh“the rocks are beyond belief. Between the rain making the ground constantly soggy and the rocks making it feel like I was digging into concrete, well it’s been a tough year already. It seems that the elements are against me. The relentless rain and now the rocks. Never have I wanted to give up and walk away more but I look at the trays of vegetables that I have purchased and have been given and I just can’t do it! I know it will be rewarding but the obstacles are almost too much to bear.

As is the case in every scenario of my life there’s a lesson or a story to be told. As I hoed the soil this morning and the rock completely bent the tine of my hoe in half I couldn’t help but hear a voice saying “keep going, it will be worth it in the end I promise you”! Well, whether that was God revealing his extreme great sense of humor or whether it was my internal “never say die” voice, it really doesn’t matter. The lesson here is loud and strong. We will have obstacles in our path in this life. We will have roads of rock and rubble and trouble that try to bend us like the tines on my hoe or break us. In this life we will have trouble, guaranteed! But my word of the year and actually word of my life if I were to be honest,  is “perservere”. It says in Romans 5 ““And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance”. 

So, when you’re in the middle of your “rocky rubble” or troubles, just hang in there! Keep pressing in through the rocks and obstacles and stay focused on the end goal. It WILL produce something in you that is good and wonderful. You will become stronger and learn to handle those troubles with a new determined maturity the next time you face them. Your character will be built up and “sured up” and reinforced for the next bump in your road. My tine (my spirit) my be bent but my previous trip down rocky roads has caused my character to persevere on! 

So, rejoice and be glad if you will and actually give thanks for those “troubles of rocky rubble”! Now, I’m off to hammer out the tine of my hoe and pick up the rocks. This story will be continued and my garden will thrive, I’m sure if it! Stay tuned. . . . 

SINGLEHEART

I've had many people ask me about my user/screen name that I have used for over 20 years now. ”Where did it come from?” ”What does it mean?” And the best one, ”are you single and looking for love?” I truly laugh at that last question because my user name seems to spur on all kinds of spam mail and emails from dating sites.  Truthfully though, I have been happily married for almost 47 years now and I may have been ” looking for love” at one time but I've certainly found it over 50 years ago now. When I could be referring to my husband here, although he's the love of my life, I'm referring to my truest love and that is my Jesus. The truest kind of love can only be found in Him. Now my husband loves me in all the ways a husband can love but my husband can't give me everything that my truest love can and did. You see, I deal with battling dark days and depression and although my husband can love me by praying with me and taking care of me in every way he can, there are still dark days and only one person can rescue me from that darkness. When I seek peace in the midst of my storm, I cry out to Him and he brings peace and dispels the darkness. Oh there have been times when I questioned His presence and questioned whether he saw me in my depression. But His love never fails and His care for me is evident when I feel His peace flow over my spirit in a way that I can't understand. It soothes just when I can't handle another blow. His love and peace embrace me when my strength is gone. What He gives holds me up when I cant stand. There was an old hymn that we used to sing in church when I was young. It was called ”Wonderful Peace”. The lyrics said, ”Peace, peace wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, sweep over my spirit and help me I pray, with fathomless billows of love”. What a perfect and exact description of what He does for me. Is it any wonder He is my truest love. So, back to the ”singleheart” thing. Many years ago I remember praying and asking the Lord for a heart after him and what would that look like fully? He took me to the bible to Jeremiah 32:39 where it says, ”I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.” Jeremiah spoke ’exactly’ what a heart after God would look like here! I will give them ONE HEART and One Way. That was my desire. I didn't want to be a double minded, fickle follower of Christ but my desire was to be in one accord with Him. That's what happens when you find your truest love I believe. You begin to think alike, act alike and in every way your hearts are so bound together that the two hearts look like ”One Heart”! Something clicked in me so many years ago. I was even privileged for a while to direct our youth drama team and you've probably guessed, we were called ’ONE HEART”. It is the word that I've chosen to chase after a true love relationship ;with ’singleness of heart’. So ”Singleheart” has been the name I have used. It's deep and rich in meaning for me and reminds me, every time I see it or type it in, of the way I choose to love Him. So, on my deepest and darkest days when my heart beat slows down and I feel sadness and dejection slipping over me like a heavy blanket, I know I can speak the name of my truest love and he will do exactly what that old hymn says. ”Sweep over my spirit and help me I pray with fathomless billows of love”. Fathomless means ’unable to be measured or understood’. I will never understand how He does it but I'll never question it because when I call Him, He always does it because we have ’ singleness of heart’ and an immeasurable love. 

IMMERSED

Today, while sipping my morning coffee, I watched a Dove as she fed at my bird feeder on my deck rail. My feeder is a sort of makeshift feeder if you will, one that isn't so pretty but it does the job. It consists of a birdhouse that I purchased at the flea market and on either side, two plastic food containers for holding the bird seed. Yeah, like I said, not pretty but utilitarian completely. As I watched the dove feasting on the seed I noticed that she must have been hungry because it seemed that she couldn't get it fast enough. Then I laughed out loud because she stepped over the edge of the container and sat down right in the middle of the seed and just ate around herself. I think one reason I laughed so hard is my complete relating to her situation. There have been days, I thought to myself, that I was lonely or depressed or just bored and I have spent the day surrounding myself with food to alleviate the problem. I felt like I was eating around myself being fully immersed in the middle of my stuff! This dove was a vivid reminder of just how "immersed" we can get in our issues. It's as though nothing else matters or we don't even notice how consumed we  can get while trying to alleviate our pain by eating around ourselves. It's a funny and ridiculous picture but I'm sure it happens to others as well. Honestly! Tell me I'm not alone in this! At any rate, if you can relate at all just ask yourself this question. . ."what is it that I feel that I've fully immersed myself in and I am mindlessly medicating myself with?" You may be so immersed in your work that you are sleeping all the time and you feel that life is passing you by. You may be suffering grief so badly over a loss of someone that you are self medicating with drugs or alcohol. Or maybe you are so caught up in the mundane things of life like house cleaning, wiping little noses and picking up endless toys or laundry that you feel like you are immersed and drowning in your own weariness. Whatever that looks like just know that the issue isn't in what you are immersed in but the problem or issue comes from our response to that immersion. We can sit in the middle of our stuff and mundanely eat around our pain or we can be like that dove who, just now I might add, stood up and stepped out of where she was and flew off to the rest of her day. We can respond by changing our responses. We can change our obsessive working hours of overtime to get more of the almighty dollar and spend more time with our families instead of sleeping the time away from fatigue. We can grieve for those lost loved ones but reach out to others for companionship and help in the midst of our grief instead of closing the door and sitting alone in our stuff. We can get some housework done, maybe not all of it and then allow those toys to lay there on the floor while we take time for ourselves and our children by getting outside or going to the park. That stuff will always be there to do but our children won't. So what are you immersing yourself in and what is your response to that immersion? The best answer I can give you is one that either you've heard. many many times or one that you don't desire to hear at all. The truth of it, for me at least, has been to fully immerse my self in my relationship with God through worship, fellowship with him in prayer and by the reading of His word. This was the crucial key to my responses to problems and issues when they arose. I no longer want to "eat around myself" medicating my pain with food but what I have immersed myself in and fed upon has been the thing that has equipped me to step out of the seed bin and go on with my day in a victorious and purposeful manner. It has been the answer! You know that little term " you are what you eat?", well, it's true. When you immerse and eat upon the word of God and feast in His presence and worship Him and send up your prayers to Him He will fill you and guide you through your pain, problems and issues. The more deeply we are immersed in a relationship with God the more you love Him and the more you'll look to Him for help. It says in II Timothy 3:16-17" All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be throughly equipped for every good work". So, your immersion question is answered! Immerse yourself in Christ, his word and a relationship with Him and He will be the only medication or remedy to your issues or pain. Praying for you today my friends that you will be free from "eating around yourself" and equipped with His bread of life for newness of life! 

The Blue Speckled Bowl

Who of us can really pinpoint the moment in our lives when a friendship gives birth? Thinking back, I cannot put my finger on the exact day or hour when I ”just knew” we’d be friends but I can tell you this, it started with the gift of a blue speckled bowl. 

That may sound very strange to some but my friendship with this beautiful lady grew wings of sorts when she gifted me with a blue bowl to do my baking in. That was some 30 odd years ago and to this day I can truthfully say that that worn blue speckled bowl is my very favorite. It has seen many a cake, loaf of bread, batch of cookies, picnic salad and much more fill its walls and every time I pull it from the cupboard I can see the face of the friendship that it formed. 

We were created in our Fathers image and we were meant to have relationships and friendships with others. That's just how God designed it. From David and Jonathan to Elijah and Elisha to Paul and Timothy and Ruth and Naomi, friendships demonstrate and model Gods great love for us.

I personally believe that in these days and times we are seeing a ”friendship famine” of sorts so everytime I look at my blue speckled bowl brimming with the next delight to come from my kitchen I'm reminded of the fullness of blessing of friendships that I have in my own life. But sadly, not all can say that. Society has found itself replacing flesh-and-blood relationships with digital friendships and long meaningful conversations with text messages. If you don't feel like I'm totally correct here then please, next time you’re dining out at a restaurant look around. How many people are engaged in what looks to be meaningful conversation and how many are on their cell phones not making eye contact with their dinner partners? What these kinds of so-called ”relationships” do is quite the opposite in reality. They isolate! 

I want to plead with you to live your days out from here on valuing the gift of friendships and true relationships. We were made to reflect our wondrous Creator and ”wired” to have fullness of relationships. To quote pastor and theologian, Jonathan Edwards. . . . ”The well being and happiness of society is friendships. Tis the highest happiness of all moral agents”. We have strayed from the path of this happiness that is supposed to be experienced vertically with God and horizontally with one another. 

In Hebrews we are called to ”exhort one another everday” and to ”encourage one another”. (Heb 3:13) 

The sheer truth of the matter on friendships is that they ”half our sorrows”. We need friends and companions to sit down with us on our dark days and remind us of Jesus’ heart for sinners and sufferers. One of the most amazing things we can give or receive during those times is the gift of companionship. Friends and companions can cut those sorrows in half by simply being there and encouraging us with the right words.

Friendship and solid relationships also point us to the cross because on the cross is where we see displayed the greatest act of love and friendship that was ever known. Jesus said, ”Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”. (John 15:13)

Let's get the order of things back in order! We must treasure God above friendship, thank God for friendship and enjoy and display God through friendship. 

So, as today in preparation for my families Easter dinner I look once more at my blue speckled bowl and think what ingredients it will hold this time as I use it. My friends’ face once more comes to my mind as do the words; kindness, compassion, sacrifice, selflessness, time, caring, trust, and love. All amazing ingredients to a great deal of happiness and joy. I'm thankful for the gift of my friend and for every time I'm reminded of that gift because of a blue speckked bowl. 

Red Bird In A Snow Storm

     I have a friend that I met while I was living in Tennessee. She’s a wonderful lady and one of those people that is a delight to know and be around. In browsing through photos of her on her Facebook page I noticed something though. She was always smiling but she was always in the background. I immediately thought to myself, “why does she always choose to stand behind all the others? “. My mind wondered if she was self-conscious about her personal appearance or if she was an introvert and painfully shy or was she trying to hide the few extra pounds that she thought she was carrying? Whatever the reason, it was sad in a way to see that she thought she had to hide away or blend in to the background. 

     Then I flashed back to my high school years. I was painfully shy and very much the introvert. I didn’t want to stand out in any way, shape or form. I remember thinking that I was somewhat like a  “chameleon girl”, happy to not be seen if at all possible. Invisible at all costs. It was a sad existence indeed. Instead of wrestling with and conquering my fear of talking to people and my severe shyness, I would blend in. That’s what I noticed my friend doing in her pictures. For whatever reason, she didn’t want to have attention drawn to herself at all. 

     I’m thankful beyond belief that I can now say after all these years that I no longer am a slave to that fear. I talk freely to others and have no problem whatsoever approaching strangers to meet and greet them. I am no longer a “chameleon girl”! 

     I feel like God has called me to help people grow spiritually so that they can have the abundant life that Jesus died for them to have. And that simply means that I can’t be a chameleon blending into the background so that no one sees or hears me. 

     I believe that we are all called to tell our stories. Our stories are our lives that reflect the fact that we are children of God. All of our experiences are opportunities to tell of how we have grown through the hard parts. That fact alone should make us stand out in this world. It says in I John 4 that we can live without fear because of what God has done for us. God promises that he will take care of us no matter what our circumstances are or what’s going on in the world around us.

     My belief is that our lives should always reflect our faith in the promise that we are cared for. When we live like that it sets us apart from the world so the  very fact that you can live unafraid and trusting is a witness and testimony to the world of Him. We cannot live a Chamaeleon type of existence, blending in and living in fear, if we are to declare the glories of God in our lives. It’s most difficult to be a walking, talking, living, breathing testimony of his goodness in us if we aren’t seen. 

     “How do we do that””?” you ask.  “Will it be uncomfortable?” you ask. Yes, perhaps a bit but sometimes God places us in situations that are “uncomfortable” so that we can stand out, stand out sort of like a red bird in a snow storm! It’s a matter of letting your light shine. If your behavior is loving, calm, happy, grateful or encouraging you will stand out! You will be that light in a dark place.

     If we are a part of the body of Christ we need to be acting on his behalf at all times. He needs us to go out and shine and stand out in the darkness of this world.

     So, today, step out of the shadows. In your next group photo, get in the front row. It won’t be all about you, like the enemy may try to tell you but it will be all about Him and who He is in you. Be a red bird not a chameleon! 

Lives Well Lived

     The span of our lifetimes,when all is said and done, is in actuality very brief. From the moment we begin to speak our first words until the day we draw our final breath our debut on the center stage of life is spotlighted and our audience is great. The question of the hour,  however, might be, “did we perform well?”

     Everything we do, every word we speak, every motion, every genuflection, all of it is purposeful and matters. There are others watching us that are very quick to pick up on our mis-speaks or errors in the script. It may sound petty and unfair on our parts to be watched so closely and judged so quickly for our errors but it happens. It’s in reality the mistakes that shape us and mold us into what we should be. But “oh” how great the joy in our hearts when we get it right and receive a standing ovation. 

     I believe it is the desire of each person who’s life graces this stage, to live life well!

Will we make mistakes? Most assuredly. Will we fall on our faces? Very likely. Will we receive affirmation for jobs well done? Hopefully. But, when things don’t go exactly as we planned our question again must be, ”did I perform well?” ”Did I live my life well?”

      You see, I believe we have a great audience, many others who are watching us, but in reality there is only one audience member who really matters. It says in Colossians 3:23 ”Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”. When it comes down to applause we really only need to hear the applause of one and hear ”well done” spoken over us. 

      Just very recently we lost one of our beloved ex-presidents, President George H W Bush. Yes, he was just a man but I'm one who believes strongly in giving credit where credit is due. Among his lifes credits are these. . . President Bush lived a life devoted to his country and his family. He served in the Navy and fought in the Pacific during World War II. He was a member of Congress, ambassador to the UN, Vice President and eventually became President of the Unitef States. He, I'm sure, had many many mis-steps in his life but all in all I think he had a ”life lived well”. When his spotlight grew dim and faded I think it could have been said of him ”well done George, well done”. 

     In this life there are always plenty of criticisms and judgements about our actions but we must never ever forget or overlook jobs well done or lives well lived. God is the principle audience member that really matters but I think we should always be accountable for our judgements towards others. Do we tear others down, heckling and jeering at them or do we encourage and strive to highlight their good choices? 

      Any time there is a life well lived we need to notice! We should give honor where honor is due. If the only audience member that matters is applauding then why not emulate Him. How about climbing out of our comfort zones and stand and applaud people like former President Bush. When my spotlight grows dim and fades I pray that I have given an amazing performance but most of all I pray that I have been a ”life well lived”.  

”Open The Doors; Open The Windows”

          The floods have come, the winds have tried to prevail, the heat has been intense as was the bitterness of the winters. Every season has brought its best adversity but the walls of my house are still standing. Oh, there have been beautiful days of bliss and peace in between but the days of trials and hardships still come! They seem relentless at times. The windows shutter and shake under the pressure of the winds of adversity but they hold fast. The doors are pounded by the elements but they still bear up. The roof well protects me even when the blizzards of hard days “blanket” me with layers of trouble. This house was built securely. This house was painstakingly fashioned to bear the weight of the forces that would knock at its doors. The windows have been set tightly to shield me from the ravages of time. The foundation is sure and sturdy. It bears the load of stress and pounding on a daily basis. This house is strong! This house is secure!

     But, what if I opened the door of my house when the rains were pounding in? What if the winds were sharp and strong and cutting and I opened my windows? The security of my serene and quiet scene on the interior would change drastically. My floors would get drenched and the winds would wreak havoc on my well placed furnishings and rearrange my perfectly contented interior. What would that mean for the structure of my house? NOTHING! The roomscape inside may take a temporary beating. But my house is still strong! I can always wipe up the floors and set my furnishings back in order as long as my house is strong! 

     “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”. I opened my door when you were standing outside in the pouring rain. Kindness knew no boundaries. Mercy and compassion overwhelmed any storm. 

     “Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm”. You were filled with fear and trembled at the unknown. I opened my windows and spoke encouragement and calm to your storm. I felt fearless to expose myself to the elements and gusts of distress and mistrust but I did so willingly. My fears were calmed by His voice of truth and trust. My house is secure! My house is strong! 

     My doors are placed so they allow entrance and exit and will always open to those who need shelter. My windows which are made to open and close, will remain so the air will be able to enter and breezes can flow through to freshen my dwelling. I will be able to look out and see the needs of others and speak words of help and hope. My house is built on a firm foundation. That foundation is my “assurance” and “insurance” where I dwell. My house is not a fortress to hide inside of but it is a welcoming place where I am protected and others are shown the love of the foundation that this house is built on. 

     Are your doors open? Are your windows open? “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1) Our houses, our beings were never meant to be fortresses to hide inside. Lord, make us dwellings of peace, hope, encouragement and help. In whom shall we fear?