SMOKE SIGNALS

There are many areas that have advanced over the years.  Communication is one of them.            

The caveman, when face-to-face with a person, could communicate with grunts, facial expressions, and hand gestures. 

But what about when a farmer wanted to know how much rain they got on the other side of the valley?  I wonder who thought, “I will send a smoke signal.”  Not a bad idea unless it was raining or windy.

When the sun was shining, you could get out a piece of a mirror, aim it just right, and, voilà, a message in the sky would appear.  The trouble is, along with your mother, the whole community would see that you burnt supper — again.  Still, not a bad idea unless it was cloudy and no sun.  No sun … no message.

Communication improved with the invention of the telegraph, Pony Express, the postal service, and the telephone.  Today, we have text, email, FaceTime, and ever-expanding ways to communicate.

My favorite form of communication is bubbles.  Bubbles are stupendous.  If I sit on my patio and blow bubbles, my neighbor Linda appears.  Honest!  It is amazing!  I will sit down.  Get comfortable.  Take the wand out of the bubble stuff.  And blow.  The bubbles slowly rise higher and higher.  They will go past Linda’s window.  Or over their house to their front porch.  Then, having seen the bubbles, Linda comes over.  That is when those face-to-face actions take place.  Words.  Hand gestures.  Face movements.  And sometimes, just friendly silence.

This got me thinking.  How does God get my attention? I have never had a voice come out of a burning bush.  Believe me when I say, “No donkey has given me a message.”  No burning bush.  No donkey.  Then how?

God speaks through His Word.  His Word directs, comforts, and teaches.

God speaks when we pray.  There is no loud voice saying, “Thou shalt ……” BUT there is a stirring of our Holy Spirit and, if we sit in friendly silence, our Spirit will direct us toward right and away from wrong.  The Holy Spirit can open our mind to possibilities and can help us take a deep breath to calm our soul.

God speaks through others.  Pastors give sermons which convict us, stir our soul, and humble us before God.  People will pray for us.  Support groups can help us move out of the past and into our future.

Sudden words or a kind act, from a stranger, can open our eyes and we will see God sending us a message through them.  Maybe – maybe you will find God speaking through, oh, a blog.

God does speak to you today.  BUT you have to do the listening part.

Now back to those bubbles.  They are my way of allowing life to slow down.  There is something about watching a bubble grow, fly away, and then just … disappear.  Those bubbles are also an invitation to join me on the patio.  Follow the bubbles and be a part of the conversation.

Now go buy some bubbles.  Blow them and see what happens.  A neighbor might follow them.  A conversation might begin.  A child might chase and break them.  A mother might thank you for calming her child.  You might see the beauty of the colors swirling in the bubble, as it floats toward the sun.  Or you might feel some of life’s stress floating away.  Give it a try and leave a message about your bubble experience.

 THE COUGH

I coughed.  No big deal.  The weather had been crazy and the cough was the result of weather.  Now, don’t get ahead of the story.  I went to the doctor, took meds, and got a chest X-ray.  I do not have pneumonia.  That was great to hear.  BUT

I am still coughing.  This is not a polite, little cough that you can hide behind a 3-ply Kleenex.  It is loud.  And sometimes lasts for an eternity.  I do not know when I will cough.  At night it is worse and I am way short on sleep.  BUT sleep is not my biggest problem.

UNLESS I AM GOING TO THE DOCTOR, I AM STAYING HOME.  I missed my Memoir Writing group.  I told them I was trying to cough my head off and if that happened during the meeting, it would be traumatic.   Imagine sitting there and a head flying across the table.  Of course, it could make for an interesting writing topic:  How Did You Feel When Mary Lost Her Head?

I attend a book club. There are only five of us, but that means we each get to discuss our thoughts.  Except, I read the book, I had comments I wanted to make and questions I wanted ask.  I stayed home.  I missed my book club.  They discussed without me.  

I teach Sunday School and we are finishing the last of the Book of Romans.  Someone else taught the class.  I stayed home.  I didn’t want them to run out of the room when I did my first coughing session.  I miss Sunday School.  They are one of my support systems.  I know they included me in their prayers.

AND I MISSED WORSHIP SERVICE!  I missed torturing those around me as I sang. (Let’s just say I cannot carry a tune even if I had a bucket.)  I missed bowing my head and holding Bill’s hand as prayers were said.  I missed hearing a message.  I missed talking with friends.  I stayed home.  If I had started coughing, think how that would have sounded on the video.  The minister would not stand a chance against my cough.  

I am writing this on Sunday morning, sitting on the porch, and wondering about this next week.  What do I have scheduled?  Will I be able to attend meetings and activities? 

 

UNLESS I AM GOING TO THE DOCTOR I STAY HOME —-

Yes, I have a point.  My question:  What keeps us from doing what we are supposed to do?  How would you answer these questions?

I do not go to church because __________.

I do not volunteer at the Thrift Store because __________.

I do not reach out to my neighbors because __________.

I do not read the Bible because __________.

I do not pray because ________.

The list could go on.  

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭

My point is what holds you back and what are you missing?  What keeps you from being “fishers of men?”

PS. I am on a second round of meds and my cough is under control.  I am going out.  I will go to church.  My head is still attached.

 THE GATE

This is the current picture on my iPad.  I like this picture because the gate is open.  There is no barrier to stop me from going down the path.

 I look at this picture and wonder what could be down the path.  I have always wondered what was down the road.  And the next road.  And around the corner.  Over there.  Down yonder.  It is that curiosity that made me open the atlas and say, “Why don’t we go to Montana?”  And we did.  Then there was, “Let’s go to Alabama.”  And we did.  Bill would say, “Let’s go to Tucson.”  And we did.  We have been blessed to travel many paths.

I like this picture because the gate is open.  There is no barrier to stop me from going down the path.  

I look at this picture and think about the roads of learning that I have taken.  I took an online class on websites and set up websites.  I learned how to put pictures together to make a video.  I tried to get a book of devotions published, but quickly learned so did thousands of other people.  What could I do with my desire to write?  A blog.  I learned to blog.  I learned how to put a stuffed frog on Instagram.  I have learned to google and learn more about what I teach in Sunday School.  

I like this picture because the gate is open.  There is no barrier to stop me from going down the path.  

I look at this picture and remember touching a snake so kindergarten kids would not know I am afraid of snakes and have given messages at churches and chapels, even though I get nervous every time.  I have gone against the school board and I have stood up in court to defend children.  I have gone to hospitals when our daughter or grandchildren had surgery and faced the fear that something might go wrong.  

I like this picture because the gate is open.  There is no barrier to stop me from going down the path.  

I look at this picture and realize there is something that could have been a barrier to travel, learning, and other opportunities.  Yes, the gate is open.  There is no barrier to the path.  Well, nothing to stop me except myself.  But I am not stopping myself.  I am going through the gates life presents as practice.  Practice for when I see the twelve gates of the new Holy City.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭10-12, 21, 25‬-‭27‬ 

Yup, I will keep practicing going through gates so I am ready for the gates of heaven.  A pearl big enough to make a gate.  Now that I want to see.  Plus those streets.  And …..

‬‬

 61 years ago …. Or was it just yesterday?  

It was Friday afternoon and the time was going slow and then, somehow, it was TIME.  Change of clothes..check.  Shoes..check.  (I made sure on that one twice, because back then I never wore shoes.  More than once I had headed out the door and had to go back to put my shoes on.)  Ring..check.  Then it hit me.  I was getting married.  MARRIED!  Me!  I took a deep breath and we headed to the church.

It was a very, very small wedding.  We did not want a larger wedding.  Just us and our immediate family.  We attended a rural church and, even though it was such a small number, the church ladies had cleaned till the wood shined.  

Dad and I waited until we heard the piano play the “song.”  Somewhere between the first note and the second, using the step-wait-step went right out the window.  We walked toward my future.  

Who gives this woman?  Do you take.  Do you promise?  Love, honor, cherish?    You may kiss.  And just like that I went from a Miss to a Mrs.  

That was yesterday … Or was it 61 years ago?

Time can be deceptive.  A breath can be long, as memories of a sick child come to mind.  A smile can hold for hours, as trips are discussed and roads taken turn into cowboys moving cattle, churches with stained glass windows, and the powerful Bison.  A tear can travel down the cheek, as the joy of holding a new baby enlarges a circle called family.

What has our life held?   Oh my.  There is not enough space to list that.  Let’s just say, our life has held blessings and trials.   

 What will it hold?   I do not know and I do not want to know.  BUT I know that whatever comes, we will get through the trials and cherish the blessings.

Yesterday … Or was it 61 years ago … I said, “I take YOU.”  I would say it again today.

Happy Anniversary Bill.  I love you