I am constantly fluttering, flitting, chasing, trailing behind.
There are days I feel like a swallow, diving, changing direction, being carried by the wind, fighting hard to become, to settle.
I am chasing the Dove, the peace, whose gliding flight inspires me to chase after, becoming more like Him.
Transformed, I am able to soar on the wings of the Dove, feeling peace, completely awash in the Light, the Peace, the Love.
As a people we allow our joy to be stolen by something we can’t escape, circumstances. Circumstances: temporary, fleeting moments that we allow to effect us much more than they should. Traffic, rude people, late arrivals, waiting, wrong sizes…That is what happened to me yesterday. I allowed circumstances to steal the joy that I should have had.
I was able to sit down and chat with some peeps, long distance, but chat all the same. Getting out all the junk that had annoyed me and bothered me during the day allowed me to see with different eyes. It allowed me to see that I am in the midst of a battle. I have a Savior who wants me to see truth and allow that truth to change me completely, I have an enemy who wants to distract me and continue to hold me in bondage.
Today I choose a different way. It’s another busy day. It’s also our 20th wedding anniversary. We have doctor appointments, our family is going to be flying in all different directions, there won’t be opportunity to make a delicious dinner and there may not even be time for my love and I to spend much time together. It doesn’t matter, I will not allow the stealer of joy to steal my joy today.
This has been one of those days that I don’t need to repeat, not ever! I woke up very early and couldn’t go back to sleep. My feet felt better, but still tight. The blisters on the balls of my feet are the size of half dollars and while the swelling is down and the ache nit as deep, they are still achy. I got out of bed to move very slowly through my routine. Hobbling is not a great time saver. I was expecting the Orkin man at 10 and had to get a lot of things ready for his arrival. I didn’t know if he was spraying or fogging. We picked up the house, emptied the washer, dishwasher, cleaned up each room, and waited. The cat carriers were lined up and waiting to stuff a cat into. In the meantime Trouble climbed on the entertainment center and promptly fell from it. Scared me to death because he fell behind in a five-inch space. He wouldn’t come to me, I couldn’t see him, and he wasn’t making a sound. I was finally able to get him out by having Heather shake a bag like it was treat time. Big lummox.
The Orkin man was over an hour late. We packed up the cats and headed for the vets office. I was told it would be $18.00, turns out that was for each cat. Oh well better than spending five hours listening to them yowl in their carriers.
Berry and I had lunch, got her haircut, returned her clothes, and drove to the high school to pick up Bean.
The dermatologist is happy with the results of Accutane so far, and Bean will be continuing the treatment. I can’t believe the difference in her skin from a month ago.
When we picked up the kitties we found that Roly was indeed an unhappy boy. He had not played well with others and had to be separated from Trouble and Mochi. The Siamese brothers loved being together and were lively sleepy boys. We learned that we will not be able to board them for vacation. Tilt does not like being confined.
We picked up Aloha and came home to see that our new bed had arrived. Matthew and I ordered it last week and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it had been delivered. We had time for a quick dinner, a quick hello good-bye to Matthew and off again. I’m typing this on my phone, sitting in a parking lot, waiting to be a taxi again. The bed will welcome me tonight and I will be happy to fall into it.
By the way, do you think all this rap music and loud bass is damaging our kids brains? I think it’s damaging mine!
P.S. forgive the formatting, bad grammar, and spelling errors. Posting from my phone gives random results.
(Photo credit: davidyuweb)
As the wife of a military member, Memorial Day means much more to me, however, the honoring of our military is a thought at the forefront of my mind every day. We live in military housing where each branch is represented. Our neighbors in the community are Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, and a few National Guard of various branches. I am aware of the families around me who are separated from their loved ones because of deployments and long-term TDYs (Temporary Duty). Each time I see a military police, I know that they are most likely here for a six month stint and that their family is someone where else, living life without them, missing them. For members of the military, every day is a memorial. If they have been any part of the mission to free our world of tyrants, they remember the cost. They remember fallen brothers and sisters. They remember everyday.
This Memorial Day, I want to thank each person who knows that our freedom isn’t free and works, sacrifices, and chooses this life of service.
Very recently someone attacked the title of my blog. Apparently having country in the title and reading my about page offended them enough for unsolicited comments about how the USA is not a nation of peacekeepers, but a nation of warmongers and violence. I didn’t respond, but it spurred a great conversation with my budding feminist, liberal, daughter. Our nation hasn’t been built on peace, that is true. To battle against the tyranny of the British, the French, to gain the freedoms that we have today, it’s been built on the shedding of blood. In order that every man, woman, child; regardless of race or creed, have freedom,it has meant that a huge number of good men had to lay down their lives in death.
We have the greatest picture of that, a prime example. My freedom as a human came through great sacrifice. God, knowing full well that one sacrifice was needed, gave His only Son, Jesus Christ to die a horrible death. Abused, beaten, spit upon; not for a crime, but willingly so that I and all humankind could be free from the penalty of death for our sin.
Freedom costs, freedom is covered in blood shed for the cause.
Thank you to our men and women in harm’s way, fighting to keep us free and give freedom to those who can’t fight for themselves. Thank you Jesus for the example of the cost of freedom and for the grace that you shower upon us.
Talk to 20 different people and you will most likely end up with 20 different stories about how they came to know Christ. Every denomination has a different approach, a different check list. They all have the central element as being Christ but man has added so many must dos, must haves, must not…It can all become confusing to a world watching it all play out before them. I mean good grief, if the body of Christ can’t even agree on how you come to Him, what hope does a lost and hurting world have?
Well, I’ll tell you what hope they have, they have a God who sends out His Spirit to woo, comfort, romance, and reach those hurting hearts. It doesn’t matter if you were laying in the gutter of your life and decided that no one but Jesus could help you, so you cried out to be saved. You could have been a child, understanding for the first time what it meant for Jesus to die on a cross and accepted Him then. I don’t care about the words you prayed or the place where you prayed. If you had an experience that turned your life upside down and inside out with a unique love for Jesus that has changed you forever then don’t let anyone tell you that you didn’t do it right. Only God can tell you that, only God can see your heart and judge your intentions and I truly believe that He does just that and if you are faithful in seeking Him and His word, He will guide you.
To boil down my faith into a set of steps is convenient for me. It may help me to explain it to someone else but it does not, I repeat, it does not decide salvation. I can tell someone the basic scripture, the basic prayer, but what matters is what is in their heart and the intention with which they prayed. Beyond that it’s a bunch of man-made rules.
8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
I’m only going to include this one scripture. I really want anyone reading this to investigate it for themselves, the book of Romans is a great place to start, and if you are investigating, go to the bible, ask questions of believers that you know, ask God to show you His plan and open your eyes to understand. Salvation is personal. It’s a journey. No man alive can tell you if you are or aren’t going to heaven, only God can decide that, ONLY GOD!
