The Thief!

Spring in Georgia

I took advantage of this gloriously sunny morning to take some pics of spring in Georgia!!!

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What I Really Miss!

Can you look at this picture and tell what I really miss living in the south? I'll give you a hint...it's not the fog or rolling hills, but it IS really green! Yep, it's the grass! ;O) If you are scratching your head because you are convinced there is grass in the south, let me explain.

I really miss soft, green grass that you can lie in and roll around in and feels soft on bare feet and stays green all year long! Tim thinks I am crazy because to him grass is grass, but to this northern born and bred girl...there is a HUGE difference.

I guess it's on my mind and I am a little melancholy today because I cut the grass this morning. What I cut was mostly brown and full of weeds, but down here we call it grass. People even pay extra for this kind of grass ~ Bermuda they call it ~ which makes no sense to me when, for 1/3 of the year, it looks like straw with its golden brown color.

I grew up laying in the grass and looking up at the clouds. The grass was so soft and thick it felt cushiony underneath. It didn't make you itch and, did I already mention ;O), it stays green all year long!

When we went to Indiana last summer I couldn't wait to lay in the grass. I talked about it incessantly and I did actually get out of the car in the driveway where we were staying and head straight to the grass. I laid in it. I rolled around in it. My kids looked at me strangely. It was glorious!

This is the kind of grass I laid in...



Up close it looked like this...



I do love living in the south and I am thankful to have grass at all down here, but I sure fight feeling melancholy for some of the soft, green stuff every now and then. *Bigh sigh*

Won't be long and our Bermuda will turn green and the fertilizer will kick in and kill the weeds. Until then I must content myself with the brown stuff peppered with green weeds and just use my mind's eye to remember what the real stuff looks like! ;O)

Make the Most of It!

Ephes. 5:16-17 (MsgB)
Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.

I absolutely hate when it takes me hearing something that is heart-wrenching to remind me to not live unthinkingly. Today was no exception.

Today I read that my friend, Fran, has stage 4 cancer in various places throughout her body. Fran had breast cancer and had been clean for 4 1/2 years. She found a swollen lymph node recently and her back started hurting terribly. They found out this week that the cancer, which was not present in her body in December, has come back with a vengeance.

I have never actually met Fran. We know each other from a homeschool message board and I have always been drawn to the sweetness of her spirit and her trust in the Lord. These are the same traits that were evident even in Fran's announcement that her cancer had returned!

And now I am reminded how fragile life truly is and how every day really is a gift so often taken for granted. How many days do I waste griping and complaining because things haven't gone the way I wanted or because my kids are driving me crazy? How many? Too many!!! As my friend Michele said, news like Fran's is a kick in the seat of the pants that instantly brings perspective.

I don't know what the Lord has in store for Fran, but the road isn't going to be easy. She has 2 little girls and one is a recently adopted daughter with some physical handicaps. She is already very tired and in a lot of pain and it makes me sad to know the long road she has ahead of her. I am sure the Lord has lots of things He's going to teach me as I see how Fran walks this road with dignity, grace and a trust that Papa knows what He is doing. (Here's her blog if you would like to follow her journey with me ~ http://fkonick.blogspot.com/2010/03/youve-got-be-kidding-me.html)

I pray every time the Lord brings Fran to my mind will be an opportunity to pray for her ~ and for me! I want to make the most of EVERY day the Lord has given me. I want to live with purpose and I want to live in such a way that when I come to the end of my life I have no regrets! I want to laugh more and complain less. I want to trust Him more and allow my mind to imagine less. I want to live in such a way that others see my life and become thirsty for what I've got.

Most of all, though, I want the Lord to heal sweet Fran's body here on earth...please!

Breath-Taking!

Benji had a double-header yesterday up in the beginnings of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They were calling for a 40% chance of rain and I was so undecided about whether I should drag everyone up there or not. In an effort to find something for us all to do since Tim and Rachel had just left for a week and I was feeling a little melancholy, we decided to go.

The 40% chance of rain ending up meaning it would rain 40% of the time and be cold and windy the rest of the time. Brrrrr! It was a rather long afternoon, but we got 2 resounding wins out of it, got to see the mountains, stopped at Jaemor (our favourite farmer's market) and had fun!!

We left shortly before the end of the second game when it began to rain again and we could not take it anymore. As we began to drive, we entered a stretch where it was bright and sunny and it was pouring rain. I told the kids to be on the lookout for rainbows and not a minute later I looked over my left shoulder. This is not the actual picture, but it looks just like the sight we were greeted with...



It was the most brilliant rainbow I have EVER seen! It was so amazing that cars were pulling off on the side of the road to look at it. Once again I kicked myself for forgetting my camera and had to satisfy myself with stolen glances as I drove. The kids and I talked about God's promise to us in the form of a rainbow and how nothing could explain a sight like that except God!!

At one point I looked in my rearview mirrow and the end of the rainbow was blazing away behind me. It was breath-taking...so much so that I felt myself getting choked up as I beheld the glory of the Lord!!! It was the kind of sight that made you want to prostrate yourself on the ground!!!

Ezekiel 1:28 (MsgB)
The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that's what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God!
When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground.

Within 5 minutes the rainbow was out of sight and I fought the urge to turn around just so I could witness its brilliance again! The effects have lingered, though, and this morning I am still amazed at His handiwork and His ability to shine so gloriously through that which He has made!!

Thank You, Lord, for allowing us the privilege of witnessing Your glory in such a powerful way yesterday! What a breath-taking reminder of Your power and Your promise. May I be ever mindful of this truth whether I see the actual evidence of it or am just reminded of it through the brilliant image forever imprinted in my mind's eye! All praise and honour is Yours!!

Loose Lips!

I admit to having a lot of issues and areas of my life in which the Lord is far from done with me yet! I can honestly say that gossip is not one of these areas, though, and is one that really does make me crazy when it happens. I think one reason why it bugs me so much is that it can have such a far-reaching effect.

Proverbs 20:19 (MsgB)
Gossips can't keep secrets,
so never confide in blabbermouths.

Pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? I have learned the hard way that there are very few people who can truly keep a confidence. I don't think there is always maliciousness attached to the blabbering, but there is certainly no fore-thought given to the implications of sharing what has been entrusted to us.

I wonder if those who are prone to share things that are not theirs to share ever considered that there are people associated with their idle words. There are families, lives and reputations attached to their stories. There are wounds and heartaches that have been shared in confidence that are now laid bare for uncaring eyes to see. Many a chaotic situation can be traced to a loose-lipped fool!

Eccles. 5:6 (MsgB)
Don't let your mouth make a total sinner of you.
When called to account, you won't get by with
"Sorry, I didn't mean it."

Ephes. 4:29 (NASB-U)
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

It seems that this is a pretty serious issue to the Lord based on these scriptures and many more that refer to our mouths and what we let come out of them! We have a great responsibility to treat as sacred what is shared with us in confidence. We also would be wise to test and see before we rush headlong into sharing something precious with someone we are not sure can be trusted.

Matthew 7:6 (NASB-U)
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Lord, I desire to be a safe place for people to share their hearts and I pray I will always be found able to keep a confidence. Please help me keep a guard about my mouth and a heart that is always sensitive to the lives that represent what has been shared with me. And, Lord, would you allow me to have wisdom as well in knowing who may be a trustworthy friend with whom I can share my heart, confident that my pearls will not be trampled under foot.

Mind Your Own Business!

As I was giving our grass the first cutting of the season, I began to chuckle to myself. I had already worked out for almost an hour and worked up quite a sweat and here I was again, sweating and huffing, as I power cut the yard. I imagined the lovely vision that I embodied and I remembered a quote from a neighbour child to my mother when we were growing up. My mom had been cutting the grass one day and was interrupted by this child who said in a rather haughty voice, "My mother says real ladies don't cut grass." LOL!!!

It was rather obvious that my grass-cutting mother had been a recent topic of conversation in their home and I must say my mother trained me well, for I can often be found out there cutting my own lawn...and loving it!! I started contemplating what real ladies do and I was reminded that real ladies, unlike our nosey neighbour, actually mind their own business. Don't believe me? Read this...

1 Thes. 4:10-12 (NASB-U)
But we urge you, brethren (sisters ;O) ), to excel still more, [11] and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, [12] so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

I have often told my kids as we were working at home, either outside cutting grass and gardening or in the kitchen cooking and canning, that this is why the Lord told us to be busy at home and mind our own business. If we are doing what He says, then we will not have time to involve ourselves in foolish conversations, gossip and other such idle forms of communicating.

Prov. 31 puts it like this...

Proverbs 31:27 (MsgB)
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.

So here's to all us grass-cutting, dirt-digging, family-loving women...we're real ladies because we love Jesus and we're about His business as we seek to mind our own!

Trust...

I have some things on my heart today that are causing me to become quite anxious! This is not a state I usually find myself in and I don't like it! I have been calling out to the Lord a lot this morning and a number of times I have heard, "Don't let your heart be troubled." I looked this verse up in The Message and I love what it says...

John 14:1 (MsgB)
"Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me.

I do trust Him because He has always proven Himself trustworthy. I am finding myself singing this a lot today...

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

My heart's desire is that I would be able to sing blessed be the Name of the Lord no matter what may come my way! In the meantime...Breathe in, breathe out! Breathe in, breathe out!

Birthday Present to Myself!

I love quilts and I love antiques stores so for my birthday my friend and I went antiquing! This was my acquisition and I love it...





It has all the same colours as the quilt I made for our bed and it matches beautifully. Not bad for a $60 find! It is in perfect condition and it makes me happy! :O)

A New Thing...

Well, I guess it's time to post something new, although I hate to see that pretty flag scroll down! ;O)

Psalm 143:8 (MsgB)
If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,
I'll go to sleep each night trusting in you.
Point out the road I must travel;
I'm all ears, all eyes before you.

Psalm 5:3 (NASB-U)
In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Lament. 3:21-26 (NASB-U)
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
[22] The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
[23] They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
[24] "The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
[25] The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
[26] It is good that he waits silently

I am so thankful for so many verses, these in particular, which talk about the mercy of the Lord and the hope that is found in Him with each new day! I have been prayerful lately about some things and I am so thankful for the hope I have in Him to be faithful and answer in His time and in His way.

My heart does yearn to hear from Him and to sense His wisdom and direction. I do have a heart full of hope that He is sovereign and His plans for us are to prosper us and not to harm us and to give us a future and a hope.

*Big contented sigh* Resting in Him today with great expectation and hope! \O/