Posted in Blessings of Habit, Good ol' days, Inspiring, Wisdom

An Odd Egg

What a difference in these two eggs! Each appeared during this flip-flop season we call “spring”.

odd eggs
Odd Eggs

Spring is such a time of turmoil in our area—flower and leaf buds popping out everywhere, new birth, chickens beginning the new laying season, tornadoes—I wonder how we survive it.

Spring’s natural beauty forces us to love her. The amazing fragrances and forms of blooming things, the pearlescence of eggshells and the fragility of baby chicks, the mew of kittens, the peeping of hidden frogs, all work on us, draw us to that perennial love affair with spring.

So we roll up our sleeves, kick off our shoes, and pull our hair up into ponytails to catch the sun on our skin. We pull weeds, freshen flags, mow too soon, plant too soon—anything to be outdoors, to come inside smelling like spring. We paint lawn furniture, divide potted plants, and attend herbal festivals, filling our lives with projects to prepare us for spring.

But no-yolk and double-yolk eggs most remind me of spring. My dad had a collection of odd eggshells that appeared on the same day as tornadoes. He always said the tornado scared the hens and caused them to lay odd eggs. I think he believed that. Maybe it is true. He labeled each shell with the date of its corresponding tornado and displayed them on egg cups, for which they were far too large or far too small. He always loved curiously humorous events.

He’s been gone, now, about 12 years. So much has changed. I doubt he ever guessed I’d be telling the whole world about his eggshell collection, one day. I doubt he ever guessed what an impact he had, in the daily humor of life.

But I do not doubt he lived life, squeezed everything he could out of it, love it, with one hand held palm-upward, trusting, waiting for some blessing to fall into it, be it only an odd eggshell.

And he was not disappointed.

Posted in Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Sunday Scriptures – Shadow

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

–Psalm 91: 1-2

Posted in Good ol' days, Inspiring, Sayings, Scripture, Wisdom

Saturday Sayings – REFUGE

  1. Rocks, dens and caves, but I in none of these find place or refuge. –Milton
  2. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats. –Psalm 104
  3. This last old man—their latest refuge was to send to him. –Shakespeare
  4. Light must be supplied, among graceful refuges, by terracing any story in danger of darkness. –Wotton.
  5. Bred to disguise, in public ‘tis you hide. –Pope

On this date, in 1951, the Unites States adopted the Twenty-Second amendment to the Constitution, stipulating that a president may not serve more than two terms.

Posted in Inspiring, Wisdom

Artificial Boundaries

On the bank
On the bank
Who would have thought a big pile of dirt could make something fun and beautiful?
On one side of our pond is just a bank, a man-made boundary that turned the springs on the side of a hill into a body of water. It is not fancy, just dirt. But it makes all the difference. It holds the whole thing together.
It’s big enough to walk on, to leave footprints in the snow. It’s big enough to stow a boat on, to arrange a few dead logs on for seats. It’s big enough to anchor a dock on. And although you cannot see them, there is even room for sustaining infant mayhaw trees, which will provide us with the best juice in the world.
But it’s just a pile of dirt.
Daffodils
Daffodils
On the other end of it are the daffs. A huge, glorious flock of daffodils pops up on this bank every spring. They are always the first open, due to the warmth off the water, I guess. They are already out and waiting for a bit more sun, to show some yellow for us. All they needed was a pile of dirt.
People are not dirt. But I want to be there when needed, nothing fancy, just there for whoever or whatever the need. I want to hold my end of this life in place and be firm and supportive. I want to matter. I want folks to feel like they could anchor something in me.
And I want to support the blooming things.
Posted in Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

An Anatomy of Pain – Conclusion

What then are we to make of suffering?

Keep calm means never lose calm.If we are The Called, in Christ Jesus, everything that happens to us is for some higher purpose, even when life DOES go our way. We can know for sure that the pain of suffering unfair treatment, like all other things, works for good. The Scriptures promise this.

  1. Suffering at the hands of an enemy gives us rare opportunities to extend forgiveness to people in Jesus’ name.
  2. It can draw His precious ones closer to Him, if that’s what we want, not like those who move farther away from Him when they face suffering.
  3. It can quiet us from our boasting, give us peace within our limitations, and explain mourning to us in a way we can understand.
  4. Suffering can make us open our Bibles with new earnestness, and oftener, too.
  5. It can teach us new heights of patience with those who watch us and try to help us.
  6. It can cause us to acknowledge God’s authority over us, and to accept His working in our lives as the highest good.
  7. Finally, suffering can cause us to rest in our trust in God, full of His Holy Spirit, and to see His hand in everything that happens around us.

I pray these blessings on you all. They are the whole reason He came, anyway. Right?

Posted in Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

An Anatomy of Pain – What in the World IS Forgiveness??

More than saying sorryWhat Is Forgiveness? – The Word often depicts forgiveness as one of the most important teachings. But WHAT is it? Well, let’s start with what it is not.

Forgiveness is NOT:

  • Saying, “Oh, it’s okay.” You can only say this if no one did you wrong, if you wouldn’t mind if they did it again. It is not okay with God for someone to do wrong. Don’t say it’s okay. That is not the truth. It is denial.
  • Forgetting. You will remember, even after you forgive. We have brains that make decisions based on remembering. Our memories help us be safe. We do not have delete buttons. You are not God; don’t think you have to forget. That opens the door for excuses.
  • Trusting. You do not have to trust an untrustworthy person, to prove you have forgiven him. The Bible often warns against trusting the untrustworthy. We must earn trust; no one can demand it. That is foolishness.

Now. Forgiveness IS:

  • Saying, “I forgive you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your feelings may be screaming and you may have to pray hard to say these words and to make them true. It’s okay. That is what the throne of grace is for—to get grace to help us in time of need.
  • Refusing to remember the sin against the sinner. It is a contract. Yes, something bad happened, but it is forgiven. The debt is paid. If you wrote off a bad debt as a wedding gift to a young debtor, would you then hope for payment or send a bill? No. It is forgiven.
    Actually, it is a lot like giving it to God. The word “forgive” means to give far. How far is far enough? The hands of God—leave it in His hands. That will do quite nicely.
  • Praying for the one who has hurt you. This is not optional. We are to love our enemies and do good to those who misuse us. It’s okay to do good from a distance, though. A card or phone call may be all you can manage. A secret pen pal note distances you even more, especially if you disguise your writing and mail from another town. Think hard—you can figure a safe way to bless the dangerous ones in your life.

We have to do this, Sisters. We must forgive, or we’re not forgiven, and who doesn’t need forgiving? We have to do this for our children’s sakes, too. When they see our ways with our enemies, when they see how we respond to our hurts, they will believe us more, about God.

And when God steps in and plants the forgiveness in your heart without any help from you, you’ll believe Him more, too.

More tomorrow.

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Home School, Homemaking, Inspiring, Pre-schoolers, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Scream Carrot Gardening and How to Stay Alive

In the summer, we still teach our children. You know we teach them all the time, right?

Really fresh carrots

One summer, we were all out in the garden learning about how hard carrots can be to pull up. It was fun, though, a sort of tug-o-war between children and carrots, with Mom along to man the shovel if the tops broke off.

So many Bible lessons happen in the garden. We constantly show them how well the weeded plants grow, compared to the weedy ones. They know a beet seedling from a pigweed seedling, although they so resemble each other.

And the buckets of rocks!

They have learned to love harvesting their own snacks straight from the garden, like a small, perfectly sun-ripened tomato, rubbed until shiny and popped into the mouth to dribble everywhere while quenching thirst. They know a small packet of seeds can make all those jars of wonderful food in the basement.

The most important lessons the garden teaches, though, is that when Mom says you have to do something, whether you like it or not, you have to do it. This lesson, in a grown child and transferred to other authorities, can protect job security.

In a young child, it can save a life or limb.

Most dangers in life are unexpected. We can teach endlessly and still miss the lesson that will be needed tomorrow. This was the case, one day.

My son, another fearless one, about age twelve, had managed to extract one carrot that housed a curiously beautiful spider in its stems. He brought it to me to see its beauty and I’m sure my eyes widened.

“Drop it!” I ordered.

He looked at me, saw my face matched my tone, and obeyed. Today I still think about it. He was happy with his find, happy in his boldness, and probably happy in anticipation of sharing and of my praise. What a big deal to older brother, to turn loose of this happiness! But he did it.

And that day, the garden yielded up the lessons of the black widow spider. God’s protection, parents’ obligation to protect children, children’s obligation to obey, and the continuing obligation for all to “FEAR NOT!”—all those lessons and more came from our garden that day.

And I am not afraid, but I still shudder. His right hand was two inches from destruction.

But God can fit inside two inches.

Last story in this series here!