Holy Ground

I have a girlfriend
who is going in for a stem cell transplant.
Her own stem cells
that have been harvested.

She left last week for Seattle.
I will be leaving tomorrow
to be with her during all of this
so her husband can be home with the kids.
We'll be gone til Nov. 1st. approximately.

This is 'new ground' for her and I both.
Going through things you've never been
through before.
Fear of the unknown.

Her fear is much greater, of course.
Yet she laughs, she jokes...
she sets me at ease with her
easy manner...

Cause she knows God will work thru this...

So this 'new ground'
can be 'holy ground'
for her.

The Stuff That Will Matter Forever

Our old Pastor used to say
Read every day til you get something from God.
I try to do that every day.
But you know how sometimes you read something
and it sticks with you for much longer.
You think about it every day
cause it touched your soul.

Psalms 1 says...

"...he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so:
but are like the chaff
which the wind driveth away."

I read that and said to myself...
Yep, that's true.
Yet, in my heart I'm thinking
Why then do I sometimes feel like chaff...
Empty, dry, blown away
by every dreadful life circumstance?

I know how I need to be...
alive, flourishing, fresh,
productive.

A song by Keith Green says,
"My eyes are dry,
My faith is old,
My heart is hard,
My prayers are cold,
And  I know how I ought to be,
Alive to You and dead to me.

I'm too much alive to me,
and dead to Him.
I need to turn it around.

Quit thinking about me all the time...
and my 'stuff'!

Think about Him and His stuff.
And the only way I can do that is to
be in His Word.
His Word is all about His stuff!

The Glorious Stuff!

Not the stuff that Satan puts in our way
to trip up our flesh...

But the Stuff that will matter forever!

Must be why in verse 2 it says,
the Blessed man's delight
is in the law of the Lord...
and he meditates in it day and night.

When I'm in His Word meditating on His Stuff...
I don't have time to worry about mine.

I love how God's Word has all the answers
for my seeking heart!

Zoned in Life

You know what I love about VBS?
Well, besides all the sweet little sticky faces?
I love that when you are in the midst of it
You are totally submerged in it.

Before it starts, it's very stressful
making sure you have everything,
making sure what you do have is right,
making sure you have enough people
to do what needs to be done,
decorations, snacks,
housecleaning, (cause you won't be
doing it for another week), etc.

But once it starts...
You're in the zone!
You've given up on your life
and your work.
Every thought and action
is for VBS.
You put your life on hold for a week.
Everybody is working together...
common goal...
...of one accord.
It's about making VBS work,
about getting children saved!
My opinions, my feelings, my whatever...
don't matter.
It's about getting kids saved...
or at the very least...telling them about the Saviour.

And during this time...
there is no stress.
Because I've ceased from worrying about my STUFF
and am zoned in on doing God's stuff.
And there's no burden with His stuff.

Our old Pastor used to say,
"Quit working for yourself,
and start working for God.
While you're working on His stuff,
He'll be taking care of yours."

I want to be like that all the time.
I want to live my life like that.
Where everything I do,
every thought I have,
is Jesus...
I want to cease from worrying about my life
and zone in on His life and His cause.
He says, "My yoke is easy,
and my burden is light."
Yep...I have found that to be so.

So...why do I linger in this life?

Elkanah 2

As I'm crying,
cause Aaron is leaving
after having been here
for only a week,
my husband spouts,

"Am I not better to thee
than ten sons?"
(I Sam. 1:8)

Just like Elkanah...
...clueless.

Safe?

I hate to be repetitive...

But what's with the car seats today?
They weigh about 50 lbs.
not including the baby.
I have serious bruises on my arms
from carrying the stupid thing!

And could there possibly be anymore
snaps, buckles and ties?
First you have to loosen up the shoulder straps
so you don't break her little arms while putting her in.
Then you buckle the straps, and there's a secondary buckle
to buckle the first straps to the second straps.
Of course, you must do this while baby is wiggling,
kicking and usually screaming.
Not done yet...
then you have to harness her into the back seat,
so she can't wiggle, kick or scream.
Think of a straightjacket...
AND if that's not bad enough,
you have to turn her around backwards
so you can't see if she's still alive or not.

By the time I have her ready to go,
I'm mad cause I don't understand
why someone would make this so difficult...
she's mad cause I'm hanging over her
trying desperately not to cuss in front of her...
(I don't cuss btw, but if I did...now would be the time!)
we're both sweating...
and don't want to go anywhere anymore.

I actually gave up on the idea
of going to get a diet coke at the mini mart.
(I didn't actually give up on the idea,
I  had Sunny do it.)
I talked real sad, and explained
that I was burdened down with a 50lb. car seat
that I was afraid I couldn't possibly hook up
safely the second time...therefore putting little Elly's life in danger!

How could she say 'no'?

Hymn Sunday

There are so many wonderful old hymns
that we either never sing...
or we don't pay attention to the words.

So every Sunday I'm gonna post a beautiful old hymn
with words that speak to my soul...

"O Thou, In Whose Presence"

O Thou, in Whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call,
My comfort by day and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.

Where dost Thou, dear Shepherd, resort with Thy sheep,
To feed them in pastures of love?
Say, why in the valley of death should I weep,
Or alone in this wilderness rove?

O why should I wander, an alien from Thee,
Or cry in the desert for bread?
Thy foes will rejoice when my sorrows they see,
And smile at the tears I have shed.

He looks! and ten thousands of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for His word;
He speaks! and eternity, filled with His voice,
Re-echoes the praise of the Lord.

Dear Shepherd! I hear, and will follow Thy call;
I know the sweet sound of Thy voice;
Restore and defend me, for Thou art my all,
And in Thee I will ever rejoice.

Creepy Toys

Many things have changed since I had babies.
Namely...
TOYS
They light up...
they move on their own,
wiggle, shake, vibrate on their own,
and the creepiest of all...
they talk on their own
from the middle of the living room
with no one anywhere in the vicinity!
 You're sittin there watching TV...
and all of a sudden
a toy in the middle of the room
lights up and says,
"We're here!"
OK...tell me that's not creepy?!
If that was to happen at my house
in the middle of the night,
it would get blown to smithereens!
(where is smithereens, I wonder)

And the toys are totally different now.
Blocks?

Nope. It's little pretend cell phones.

Tinkertoys?
(No one in my house even knew what these were)

Nope.  Little computers.

So, I'm gonna buy these old toys
and put them in the toy box at Gramas.
So at least when I mention Tinkertoys...
they won't look at me with a blank stare
Like I've lost my marbles.
(They probably don't know what those are either!)