“Grandma makes the best pancakes” the granddaughter announced.  “I can make good pancakes”, the aunt said.  “Don’t even go there”, the aunt’s sister advised, “I have tried and tried- it’s just the oil she uses.”  “No it’s not!” the granddaughter insisted, “Grandma just has…the magic!”  I just smile and cook.

 

I remember as a child I was just the opposite.  My grandmother was disgusted that all of us would only eat our mother’s food when having a family gathering!  Mom was an amazing cook and grew everything from beans to rhubarb.  She even made her own ketchup!

 

I find it interesting that we are so focused on food and strongly opinionated as to what is best- who makes it best- and the cooking channel is watched as much as sports!  For years I’ve had my own opinions and vowed never to become one of the up and coming “only natural” gurus in our generation.  I love the saying “life is short- eat dessert first”.

 

My journey however took a turn where health issues were glaring and here I am today someone I do not recognize or know at all- someone who made an organic thanksgiving meal leaving out all organic sugar products.  I can’t afford it- the food is more expensive.  But I can’t afford not to because for me it is working.  I decided I wanted my life to be long!

 

Thanksgiving eve my daughter made four beautiful traditional buttermilk pies with everything “normal”.  She gave one away that night.  Most of the family added a small slice to my traditional breakfast (I ate organic oatmeal and yogurt).  After breakfast she gave her brother half a pie and her sister a whole pie to take home.   The rest was consumed by family and friends throughout the day and gone by the next morning!  It reminded me of my favorite Aunt- Aunt Betty.  She and I would sit at the dessert table at my grandmother’s house the Sunday before thanksgiving most every year.  We stayed until we had tasted all of the desserts and there were never less than 15 different ones to try.

 

Everyone really enjoyed my dinner and my niece even made her green bean casserole all natural in honor of the new tradition (inspired and insisted upon by the daughter who baked the pies!)  I was very happy and satisfied without even a taste of those pies- like I said- I don’t know this new me inhabiting my body.  I do know that miracles are still possible though and I thank God for this miracle He has given me- I can still work the “magic” and not lick my fingers!  (My thanksgiving miracle for 2012)  Who knows what the future holds - it matters not!  Contentment for today is a satisfying wonder………

Has personal quiet time become a luxury no one can afford?  If there is one constant cry heard daily across the land it is that life is just too much to handle and we want a break!   From the wife who is caring for her ill husband to the chief of police in the city the cry is the same.  Here are a few examples I see daily in this dilemma:

• Parents:  When the beautiful infant sleeps Mom sleeps or rushes to get caught up on the daily cleaning, cooking, washing her hair and on and on the list goes.  Being alone and quiet feels forever lost. This rings true for the growing number of Dads who stay at home.  The working parents have tripled the challenge!
• Students working, studying and often a parent too:  Juggling from wake up until sleep overtakes them there is a belief that life will never again include personal quiet time to just be.
• Professionals in Police, Fire, and the Medical community who carry responsibility for the lives of others:  There is a murder in our city almost daily.  Disaster situations are more and more prevalent.  The call to save, protect, and rebuild takes every fiber of human ability and often requires sacrifice of personal needs like sleep along with anything “normal” in life.
• Teachers of any age student:  Demands from government and administration are so heavy that the work of dealing with teaching the students and encouraging families to participate is horrifically compromised!  A job that in times past brought such fulfillment is now in the list of impossible jobs- they simply cannot meet all the demands and still reach out to individual students!
• You:  I daresay anyone reading this will say the life I live is on this list.  I didn’t leave you out.  Personally I do not know any person who has the luxury of consistent quiet times that are not challenged by issues of life that pull on them disrupting the quiet time immediately when it appears.

Add to all of the above the distractions of technology and I wonder if we have forgotten who we are and have become whatever it seems life dictates us to be any moment.  I found a reminder of who I am today while meditating this thought.  It also clarified why we have so much trouble being who we are:

1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it - we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to. 2 But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him - and in seeing him, become like him.  3 John 1-2  Message Bible                                                                                                     

There is no time in God.  Now there is something to hold onto- a timeless journey meant to be fully experienced- always time for everything He holds………………

 

The hidden tree.  All over the world you can find one.  Unique and special in its own personal beauty and yet hidden from view unless you make a special effort to find it.  If you happen to discover it you will be drawn to stand a moment to enjoy the pleasure its beauty brings.  I have one such tree in my front yard.  In these photos you can see the beauty of this tree- yet it is hidden from view except coming up the side porch entrance or looking out our front window.  Right now all the trees around it are still  green and people driving by can’t see it through them.
 

The enjoyment of walking around the yard shooting these photos (yes they are all the same tree- just featuring different angles and splashes of color) caused me to think about being hidden.  How many times have we been in a crowd and felt no one noticed we were there?  How often it takes years for employers to recognize the “jewel” in their midst as their focus is on production rather than those in the process that truly make it possible?  How many families have that one child who just doesn’t get the same attention as all the others and yet they have very special qualities?  I have been married many years and it never ceases to amaze me that I can learn something new about my husband still to this day- or come to appreciate something he does I have always taken for granted.

 

Today I am defining something hidden simply as something we are not looking for.  Many times I find myself so overwhelmed or so busy I don’t even look around.  Yet taking a moment today to explore my own front yard I found a reason to smile and appreciate “my world”.

 

 

“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  Matthew 7:8

A promise to act upon no matter what the circumstances…….......................

Imagine.  Imagination.  A way to escape.  A way to hope.  The way to change.  How many times do we look at a child and wonder just what exactly are they thinking?  Their little minds are constantly looking, touching, exploring, and testing. We applaud each discovery.  When we are no longer a child it is easy to quit imagining.  Quit trying to learn.  Quit exploring and testing possibilities for our life.  This is the moment we no longer live, but give in to the lie that the day comes when there is nothing new and wonderful for us to find.  Limitations rather than possibilities frame our life decisions.              

So many circumstances can bring us to a moment like this.  Recently I found myself leaning toward that lie.  I experienced loss causing grief, physical issues limiting life, hurt from unexpected rejection, and shock and disillusionment when a battle won over illness in a family member that had given us two years of restoration and victory came crashing back.  I hesitate to be this revealing in my writing as often readers respond with sympathy or empathy rather than understanding my point.  You see I don’t consider my experiences to be so unique.  Most everyone I know has a similar list though the details are widely varied.  Whatever it is that challenges us to the brink of losing hope is not the issue- it is what we do when we find ourselves there. 

It is the children in my life that have shown me the way out.  Imagine possibilities.  Look around me and discover new things in life- new options!  Touch those around me and let them touch me.  Test the options and embrace those that work.  Receive the applause others give when I advance into the world I imagined. Rejoice in the fact that I am a child- God’s child.  I shall sing today the 3^rd verse of “This is My Father’s World”…. 

This is my Father's world.

O let me ne'er forget

that though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world:

why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!

God reigns; let the earth be glad!

 

 

It’s Sunday morning and I just don’t write on Sundays.  Yet here I am at the computer compelled to tell you the thoughts flowing through my heart early on this day.  I am a “church goer” person not because it is a commandment and I fear disobedience will keep me out of heaven- but because there is no where else I want to be on Sunday.  I long to be with friends who share my love for God and believe that Jesus made a sacrifice of himself because He loves me (and every other human he created).  I can’t wait to read Dr. David Jeremiah’s new book “God loves me; He always has and He always will”.  Everything and everyone has disappointed me at some juncture of life except this one truth and so at least for this day of the week I will stop and declare this is who I am and have been since I was eight years old.  That is decades of years I have never been disappointed, but rather amazed at the love of God that remains constant even in my worst moments.  He is the perfect Father who hasn’t missed even a second of my life.  There to shout the victories.  There to comfort my sadness.  There to cast out any fear.  There to heal my hurts.  There to joy in touching others lives.  There to laugh with me at the antics of my grandchildren.  There to direct me in times of confusion.  It is Sunday.  I will share this morning with those who also have a grateful heart and want to give thanks and praise to the God who desires that all man come unto Him and receive eternal life....(above picture taken two weeks ago with my pastor Don Blevins on his birthday)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                          

Family and friends refer to our house as “Grand Central Station” as the activity level of people coming and going is very high.  My mom refused to live with us because it was too busy here!  That being said it is interesting that yesterday at home alone I experienced claustrophobia having no way to go anywhere. Then loneliness set in so I took my husband to his evening shift so I could go out for the evening.  However I found myself unable to connect with anyone, not in a shopping mood, and all movies let out too late to be in time to pick my husband up.  I drove home deeply missing my Mom.  Her final years were spent at an assisted living home about fifteen minutes from here.  I took her to appointments, out to lunch, to movies, or just driving for the fun of it.  She would always say, “I’m sorry I am so much trouble” and I would always say, “Are you kidding?  You are my excuse to leave my everyday life and go have some fun!”  It was true then and now I realize how much of a gap in my life it has left.  In addition my husband’s sister went to heaven this year.  About once a month she and I shared a very long phone conversation.  Who better to talk to than the only sister of the man I married who was truly the only one who understood him better than me!  We shared that good ol’ girl talk about everything in our family life that makes you hang up feeling so refreshed and reminded about everything really important in life.

 

Don’t misunderstand- I am not complaining about these losses- I am sharing the gratefulness I will forever carry in my heart that I had these relationships in my life.   I am a person blessed with wonderful family-grandchildren-friends that truly care about me.  If ever I lose any of them I will miss them too.  We are unique individuals- each with something special to give to another and often we aren’t even aware of it.  When my twins were born it was both the most exciting and challenging time.  With my husband a full time student and already a two year old in our family I would not have described the first few months my “finest hour” of being there for others.  When the twins turned four months old we made the decision to leave finishing seminary for a bit later in life and made our plans to move back to Kentucky.  Imagine my amazement at the outpouring of love from our neighbors and friends who again and again said how much they would miss us - how we had been such an inspiration in their lives! You just never know.  After yesterday I realized I needed to make the time to go to that scrapbooking class one of my piano Mom’s invited me too. I hear Barbara singing, “People- people who need people- are the luckiest people in the world………”   

After a summer of enduring day after day of one hundred degrees as the average temperature our fall rains this week not only are refreshing to me but welcome!  Temperatures seventy and below are the bonus!  If it had been a cool summer I would be complaining!  This creation called human is incredibly difficult to please.  Very few of us remain constant and content- the majority of us find it normal to be on a roller coaster ride based on our feelings any particular hour which are most often affected by circumstances beyond our control- like the weather!  I love the scene where Spock the Vulcan is asked by a machine, “How do you feel?”   Even the fictional machine programmed for humanity knows a human always has a feeling going on!

 

If your feelings are anything like mine they are usually a pile up- each vying for “top billing” of the moment.  Right this very minute I can identify these feelings within me:   refreshment (weather); concern (personal issues);   happiness (new baby born to friend); irritation (unfair situation for a friend); compassion (several circumstances I deeply care about); anger (everything takes “more” money); conflicted (shoulder surgery or not); lazy (don’t want to do all the projects I am looking at); gratefulness (for great friends and family); honored (called favorite SIL on fb); excited (got a 98 point word on scrabble); embarrassed (using the men’s room instead of the women’s) and on and on it goes!

 

Perhaps you see this blog as just plain silly and a lady just going on about nothing.  The truth is life is in the moment and if we can truly comprehend how normal our feelings are then we have taken the first step to improving the quality of those moments. Think of the Bingo ball that is popped up and called- whatever feeling pops up just look at your card. If it is staring you in the face then deal with it and cover it up.  Other times it is so insignificant it doesn’t even show up on the card and we can let it go!  Let’s not sit at the card table long.   The sweetest life is the one about us- not the one about me.  Me is never satisfied but us- we can laugh together and lighten the loads for each other and in our relationships feel genuinely content with our lives…….