Thursday, March 15, 2012

Singing and Dancing in the Rain


Just Singing, and Dancing in the Rain
Ok, this picture isn’t actually rain, its my daughter being goofy, but with the weather being Spring like this picture reminded me of the rain.

The other day everyone was in and out of the house in their short sleeves enjoying the unusually early warmth of the sun. Frisbees, bikes, dirty shoes... these were the order of the day. Then, within minutes, a cold front moved in, with it bringing all the kids into the house. Soon, the rain started to fall. Little droplets flicking up off the pavement of the driveway and watering the now budding trees. Then the torrential downpour begins! Creating small rivers and larges puddles, I hear it pelt at the window pane and look up to see the downpour....  Only to see that Someone had left the van door open!  I scramble to grab an umbrella, as my six year old notes, “I’ve never seen Mom use an umbrella!” Running out the door I quickly grab the hatch and to pull the door down. Thankfully, it was the back hatch, and thus being opened UP it had kept most of the water out of the van. Thinking on that, my thoughts didn’t move quickly enough to think that if it kept it out of the van, it had possibly accumulated on the top side of the door. As I pulled downward keeping dry from the still pelting rain, I ended up with a front side washed in rain water!  As I laugh about my lack of anticipation and preparedness, I think of life’s rain. We try to prepare and plan. We try to “stay dry” by using our umbrellas. But sometimes we still get soaked by life. Though we can’t control what rains will come, we have a choice over our reaction to the rain. We can find ourselves bitter and frustrated, or we can find ourselves just singing and dancing in the rain.

Friday, March 9, 2012

The Taste of a Snowflake



O Taste and See that
The Lord Is Good:
Blessed is the man that 
trusts in Him
~Ps 34:8~


We Haven’t had much snow this year, but when the flakes fall my kids run around outside and try to catch them on their tongues. The quick coldness and then the wet of it as it melts, makes the senses alive. 
When we get a taste of God, its like that. It brings us to life. It opens our eyes. It causes our senses to be alive. We find His goodness in the midst of trial. We find His love, in the midst of loneliness. We find His grace in the midst of our failures. We find His faithfulness in the midst of our confusions. We see Him in everything, and everywhere. And we are at peace in Him.
O taste and see that the Lord IS good and may He bless us as we learn to trust in Him. 

Saturday, February 25, 2012

A Grass Life


My kids ask me, “How old are you?”  I used to say, “I’m always 26!” but then I realized that I had my last child at 27. I had to change my “forever age” to 27, because I can’t imagine life without the last of my four kids! 
I laugh as I think about how we all have those moments in life. We want to be older than we are when we are young. Then we get older and we want to be younger! :D

The fashions we wear, the hairstyles we create, even the accessories we as woman force upon ourselves, is in essence to keep us looking, acting, and feeling younger.

For those of you who know me well, the above paragraph doesn’t apply much to myself, as the only fashion I can seem to feel comfortable in is a pair of jeans! :D  However I find my “inner child” coming out all the time in the most peculiar of way, and wonder how many hours of therapy my children will have to endure for my behaviour! When I find myself making “pig” faces at the table with my kids, or pretending my eggnog is throw-up, I end up looking up at four little faces with wide eyes and have to burst out laughing!  I often have to apologize that I will never totally “grow up”. 

How many of us have photo albums in our homes and love to look back at the pictures of when we were young, our children were babies, or just “the good ‘ole days”?  I love pictures. I love history and I love tracing my ancestry.  But when it comes down to it, what pictures do we have/keep of our past family? Pretty much one “graduation” type picture, and one wedding picture. When I look at these, it reminds me how short life is! They had joys and sorrows. They had friendships, jobs, houses, children, stories...yet for all their being, they are now only a memory, or maybe just a name on the family tree.

Life is but a fleeting moment. 
No matter what our age, or stage in life, we really never know when our time here on earth will be done.

What will your life be remembered for??
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord shall endure forever (Isa 40:7)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love


                                                                 Love is patient

Love is kind
Love is NOT jealous
Love is NOT boastful
Love is NOT proud
Love is NOT rude
Love does NOT keep record of being wronged
Love does NOT rejoice in injustice
Love rejoices in the truth
Love never gives up
Love never loses faith
Love always hopes
Love endures through every circumstance.

If I could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels...
If I had the gift of prophecy and understood all God’s
secret plans, and possessed all knowledge, 
If I had faith that could move mountains
BUT didn’t love others
I would be nothing.
{taken from 1 Cor 13}


There was a day I cried my eyes out to my husband, in anger and full of sorrow. "I am tired of being accused when I am not at fault. I am tired of being thrown to the side when I have given all I know to give. I am tired of being there when I am needed, to be discarded when they feel they don't need me. They think because I love them I will let them hurt me. They think because I love them they can just run back to me and act like every things ok, and I'm just supposed to be ok with that. Well I won't always be there!!!!"  
I recall that day and the situation, and God spoke to me and said, "That is how I feel so many times. When they need Me, they pray to and ask Me to help, and when things are ok, they forget me. When something goes wrong, they like to blame Me, but they don't mention Me when things are well. They think that I will always be there like every things ok, and I'm just supposed to be ok with that. Well one day it will be too late."  If I, as a human, could feel such hurt and sorrow, what does the Lord feel for His very creation? The ones He loved SO much that He sent His only Son to die for us?  Yet, He offers His love and forgiveness, grace and mercy...if we choose it. But it is our choice.  It is also our choice to choose to forgive as He forgives. To choose to show grace and mercy as He does.   May we grow to be more like Him. May we choose to Love as He Loves. May we love each other as He has loved us.

"This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you." ~Jesus (Jhn 15:12)

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Oven Warmth

                                 
Winter times are the best for baking! The aroma that fills the house, the heat from the warm stove, and just being able to take the simple pleasure of biting into a nice warm...let's say, brownie! Maybe make up a hot cup of coffee, or tea. The modern day convenience of our stoves is something we often overlook, and most often take for granted. The ability we have to make up something warm on a cold day to feed our family, or just for something good to enjoy, is something we do everyday and never think twice about it. We often forget how blessed we are.