I LOVE

I love storms.  I am not naive.  I have seen the weather map.  Many places are having severe storms.  Hail the size of baseballs.  Tornadoes and too much rain.  I realize storms can be devastating and can change lives in an instant.  Those are not the storms I am talking about.  

I am talking about a good, ole summer storm.   One you can feel in your bones.  The air changes slowly.  You know it is time to bring the clothes in off the line.  (You have to be old to understand that activity.) Mothers call their kids home.  (This does not require the use of a phone.  Again, being over 64 helps you understand this concept.  This requires stepping out the back door and yelling, in full mother voice, “Get your butts home and get them home now.”)

Even when I was only knee high to a grasshopper, I loved storms.  It had to rain really hard for this one corner, on our porch, to get wet.  And that is where you would find me during a storm.  I would wrap up in a blanket, curl up in the corner, and listen to the thunder and watch the lightening.  And after the storm!   The world looked different.  The sky would be this amazing shade of blue.  The wet leaves looked a new shade of green.  Everything looked so clean.  The world even smelled different.  I love storms.

I love ice cream. I will eat the kind that comes in a box, but I love homemade ice cream.  One of my uncles made the best ice cream ever.  It helped that there was a cow close at hand (Pun!) to make a contribution to the cause.  Fresh eggs, vanilla, and sugar.  Pour into canister.  Add ice, salt and then crank.  The secret is in the salt and cranking.  There has to be enough salt to melt the ice and cranking was a true art form.  The professional (aka my uncle) knew the exact speed to turn the handle.  Too fast or too slow and the ice cream did not set up right.  Part of the experience is the anticipation.  When will it be done?  Can we eat it right away or do we have to wait?  Who gets to lick the paddle.  I love ice cream.

I love God.  I look around and see the poppies - red and orangish flowers, paper thin, that remind me of the poppies along our driveway when I was growing up.  I feel the gentle breeze and it is like a kiss from heaven and reminds me of a babies breath as they nap on my shoulder.  I feel the warmth of the sun and am reminded how wonderful a fireplace feels on a cold winter’s night.  I hear the ocean and am reminded of standing on a beach, taking deep breaths, and relaxing with each wave.  I have wiggled my toes in mud, grass, creeks, and, not on purpose, those brown clumps in the cow pasture.  (That is what I get for going barefoot.) And to think God gave me all of this.  How could I not love Him?

What do you love?  Storms?  Ice Cream?  Good books?  Traveling?  Quiet days at home?  

Now what really amazes me is that the world God spoke into existence has something special for each of us.  And isn’t that just something?  It means each one of us is so loved by God that he created summer storms for a little girl sitting in a corner of a porch.  He created flowers for the person with a love of roses, geraniums, and poppies.  He created the mountains to be climbed by those with a spirit of adventure.  

Now what really amazes me is that the world God spoke into existence has something special for each of us.  What did God create just for you?

 ORANGE BARRELS

A quick trip to see my sister — a short three and half hour drive.  Over the years, I have made this trip many times.  I know the way.  I know the roads.  I know how — I forgot.  It is construction season in Indiana.  Everyone thinks our state has four seasons.  Nope.  Only two.  Construction and too cold to work.

I made good time from our town to the next.  A quick 14 miles.  I picked up US 24 and there they were: Orange Barrels or the smaller Orange Cones or the even smaller Orange Sticks.  The Orange Barrels are large and easy to spot.  We have also been trained to see the Orange Cones.  They look like orange dunce hats.  I guess you have to be a dunce not to see them.  Then, to test the skill of drivers, small orange poles were placed down the middle of lanes.  Yes, Construction Season is a festival of orange.

Back to my quick three and half hour drive.  My hope of construction being in this one location was quickly dashed.  Construction areas never make sense.  Everyone was traveling along, missing every barrel, cone and post, when the end of construction sign appeared and all lanes were open…..  for about five miles.  Then construction began again.  I swear they do this on purpose.  Exactly when the construction traffic has broken up and everyone is happily obeying the speed limit (I put that in just in case a policeman/highway patrol is reading this.) ….  a new sign appears: Entering Construction Zone.  Once again, orange as far as the eye could see.

I think by now you get the idea and I finally did reach my destination— one hour and 15 minutes later than I should have.  What about coming home?  Believe it or not, one road I had been on, just 24 hours before, was now closed and a gazillion orange barrels had magically appeared on new stretches of roads.  So, if you are considering taking a family vacation to see our wonderful state, stay home, hike around your back yard, and, if you really want to have fun, find a spot along one of the roads and wave at the parade of drivers swearing and trying to avoid those orange things.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.    Romans 5:3-5

Construction Season: For sure we need perseverance (to get through the construction zone) character (a test of how we behave while driving between the barrels), and hope (that the construction zone will end).

BUT isn’t that what our lives are like?  Ole Satan places obstructions throughout our lives.  They are not orange and they are not easy to see and those obstructions cause us to suffer.  It is only by the Glory of God that we have the character and hope to persevere.  Sooooo, be careful this summer when you are traveling in a construction zone and always be on the lookout for Satan’s invisible obstructions.

Have a great summer!

DISTRACTIONS

Now I am sure not a single one of you ever gets distracted.  I can picture you reading your devotional…focused…devouring every word.  I imagine you preparing for the Sunday School lesson.  You do not hear outside sounds because you are pondering the questions.  Your prayers are from your heart and not a single person on your prayer list is forgotten.

Well, ain’t you just special!  Well, really you are.  I envy you.  While you are reading and preparing and praying, I am … distracted.  I can be sooooo determined to do my devotional and I remember the mail will be coming shortly and if I don’t get the card addressed and get it into the mail box —- And I love to pray, but about half way through, I picture the meat for supper still in the freezer or that I need to pay a bill or the iPad beeps or —-

DISTRACTED! How do people do it?  And the worst is when I fall asleep.  I really want to say my bedtime prayers, but my eyes close, all on their own, and my breathing gets slower and I go to sleep.  What about morning prayers?  They have to wait until after a trip to the bathroom and by then I am awake and my body starts whispering “coffee…coffee…coffee.”

DISTRACTED — distracted except for one time.  I love preparing lessons for Sunday School.  I can read, underline, and make notes and never hear the drier beep.  I can google and search without stopping to look at Facebook or to reply to even one message.  I am focused! I am devouring every word! I find articles on the book we are studying and do a background check on the main characters.  I ponder what information will help us to better understand the lesson.  And I do not get sleepy.

Why can I spend hours preparing lessons and not make it through the day’s one page devotional?  Why are my eyes wide open when I study, but I need toothpicks to keep them open when I pray?

Well, when I pray, I am relaxed.  Talking to God seems to do that.  Somehow, I can begin a prayer angry or questioning or giving thanks or telling God my plan and, knowing he is listening, my body reacts.  My shoulders are lighter.  My breathing is calm.  And I go to sleep.

Often, and this is just me, a devotional cannot hold my attention.  Maybe it is too short.  Maybe it is too much like the one I read yesterday.  Maybe my mind sees a card laying on my desk and I remember I did not get it mailed and I might as well mail the card.

BUT studying to teach a lesson.  Finding a fun fact.  Finding the real reason Elimelek took his wife and sons to Moab.  (I often use Jewish websites when studying Old Testament books.).  This is what I love.  The research.  Coming up with questions the class will not expect.  Digging to find a way to make them see the story…the people…the impact on our lives today.  And that is why I do not hear the iPad ding nor the drier buzz nor Bill say my name.  It is what I love to do.

What do you love to do?  Do devotionals touch your soul?  Can you fall to your knees and offer endless prayers to God?  Can you send a song into the world?  Do you have a heart for children or can hear the concerns and fears of others and hold them in your confidence?  Do you enjoy giving the message at church?  What do you love to do and not be distracted?  My friend, the answer to that question is your calling.

 

I AM NOT THE SAME

We think it is the big things in life that changes us.  Really it is the small things.  A short conversation can touch your heart.

 

Video continues below.

 

INCOMPLETE

Watching TV makes me realize my life is ..  is so incomplete.  First, I am using the wrong pillows and the right pillows are on sale for a limited time.  I do believe that limited time ended over six months ago, but that is a small detail.  Besides, now I can also buy — on sale — sheets and towels.  (Sigh.)  My life would be complete if only I had those pillows, towels, and sheets.

But wait!  I no longer have to go grocery shopping.  All I have to do is make a list, check it twice, and send it on its way.  Those groceries will magically appear at my door.  Just like that!  (Big sigh)  My life would be complete if only we had a store close enough to deliver my groceries.

Plus, I never realized how many people are concerned about my health and sleeping habits.  A former governor of Arkansas and his wife know just how I can get more sleep:  Take a pill they happen to indorse.  Speaking of pills.  I no longer have to spend money on fruits and vegetables, because now they come ground up and put in convenient capsules.  My life would be complete if I would only take those pills.

Much to Bill’s dismay, I have occasionally gotten mud on my shoes before I entered the car.  That is a problem of the past, because now I can get an easy-to-clean floor liner.  Plus those times that we drip anything on the stove top are no longer a problem.  All I need is the model number, a quick call to the stove liner people, and a credit card.  Problem solved.  My life would be complete with liners to protect the car floor and the stove top.

(Deep sigh.).  Yes, there are so many things that would make my life complete.  All I need is ….  I think I discovered a flaw in this blog.  I do believe I am listening to the wrong source.  Pillow man.  Groceries that deliver themselves.  An ex-governor.  People in ads selling pills, floor liners, and stove top liners.  Not one of those people knows me.  Not one of them cares about me.  Not a single one.  So how do I make my life complete?

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:19

(Light bulb moment)  Oh, I get it.  There is one who does care.  One who knows what I need.  One who will meet all my needs.  Thank you, God, for providing what I really need to make my life complete.