Changed plans....

Changed plans...

 I have written before about plans...how life has a way of changing plans...we don't want to be too set in our ways, it seems...

This past week has been that way...nothing earth shattering...some drama, some sorrow, some funny...some life changing...

I think part of it has been life lessons from the study we are doing..."breaking busy-how to find peace and purpose in a world of crazy" by Alli Worthington. Added to that was youth giving program on contentment...watching for 

Life through contentment instead of complaint...

My daily appointment book is just filled with cross outs, changes, some on an hourly basis...on going phone calls starting before I even got out of bed on some days...one morning I ran out of the house , got in car and realized I still had hot  curlers in my hair...then was on the car phone the whole  way to the next appointment which had changed as well...

It was not all bad things, don't get me wrong, just changes...

One time I did find myself railing at my late husband, " why aren't you here, taking care of these things, you would have known what to do?" ...but, my heavenly Husband quieted my heart immediately..."I can do all things in quietness, power and strength, none of these changes are a surprise, but you must trust ME with who I send to help, and how I take care of them."  Oohhin...piercing to the my heart, my unrest, my "plans", my lack of peace...

I needed to be running to Him for answers and not just running in the hamsters' wheel of my own thoughts...

Thank YOU....You Have plans that offer hope, not distress...contentment not complaint...rest not confusion....Help me rest in those ....knowing that You know what is best for each moment whether I do or not...

Jeremiah 29:11-14a For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” ......

 Proverbs 19:21, 23 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. 

Estate sales...

Estate sales....

I have perused three estate sales in the last two weekends..(I actually had a list of what I was looking for)...so not just random stuff...I don't need any more of that...

It felt like I was walking into the past, my grandparents', my parents' and some of my own. One had pictures all around of places we had travelled, trinkets from marketplaces we had walked through...memories ... I wondered what they had talked about when walking those streets in far away places, meandering through the stalls of merchandise or viewed the scenes we had.

Were their stories shared with family members and friends? Did they have a good time? Did they meet some of the people? Did they have adventures besides the ordinary? Did they complete their bucket list?

Another sale was held in a huge shop. It was filled with mounds of fabric, huge bins of  yarn and a tables covered with craft supplies...a daughter spoke of her father who in his later years made over 2500 hand knitted hats to go to various charities who supply clothing to all ages of people...while his wife quilted for the same...from the the amount left, they needed to live another 25 years...

Another sale was filled with medical supplies...a walker, crutches, a variety of left over items used for medical help...I could only surmise that their later years were spent using all these helps...

Each place had a history laid out for purchasers to ponder, choose and buy or not...I wondered what mine will look like... Will the books be something someone can use? The crafts...the furniture? Will they look at my pictures and say, "oh, I remember that place!"?.. Or why in the world did I get this?  Why did she have so many clothes? Why did she save this or that? Oh, here is still something of dad's, grandma's, grandpa's...heirlooms? Or junk? Or these dishes look just like my grandparents/parents...

Stuff...we can't take it with us...to our next destination...it finds it way into another's home either by sales or family care...10% of the people have 90% of the world's goods...

God, you have blessed us with abundance...stuff...but, more than that, Yourself...these trinkets that we hold dear here on earth have little value in the grand scheme of life...our greatest Value is knowing You, offering You to others, depositing our treasures in heaven...Thank YOU...

Ecclesiastes 3:6b....a time to keep and a time to throw away, 

The whole book of Ecclesiastes....

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Plans....

Plans....

Four years ago today, I had just arrived in the town where we were going to bury my husband, have his graveside service and his first memorial ...

The devotional for that day was, "listen to Me continually" and the song that God kept running through my mind was an old one, " Jesus , Jesus , Jesus, there is something About that name" by bill and Gloria Gaither, " Master, Savior, like a fragrance after the rain..."  I still hear it in my mind....as He draws me to Himself...That Name above all names....

But, as I lay there that morning, I was thinking of plans. I hadn't slept very well the night before, going through the day ahead, leaving my husband's body in the ground...seeing family on a hard day, even though it was to be a celebration of life...my father was there, our children were there, friends and associates from years past were to be there....just not my husband...he would have loved the celebration  with all the people gathered...

I look back now, and it was a beautiful day, sunny, friendly, hard..."my" plans 

were shattered, but God's light shone through the darkness...His purpose prevailed...and we are still learning What that might be these years later...we don't have a pat answer nor do we know it all...only God holds that answer...

But, we are striving to follow His plans and live in Him...

Thank YOU that your light is always near...Your guidance is there for the asking...help me to fall into that moment by moment...

Job 17:11-12 My days have passed, my plans are shattered.

Yet the desires of my heart turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near. 

Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. 

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. 

Old recipes....

Old recipes....

I went to a potluck luncheon recently. The theme was family or nationality recipes. We definitely showed our European backgrounds, Danish, German, Norwegian, Scottish, Irish, with the dishes dishes that were presented ....

Sauerkraut, potatoes, cabbage, kale, ham, onions... Those cooler weather plants found in Europe.   Other dishes were represented old recipes that we had growing up...lots of jello as well as purchased veggie trays for those who don't really like cooking anymore or simple pickups to which we have become accustomed......the conversations around the food was "where are our ancestors from", "favorite dishes we had growing up", "not cooking like we used to", "not enjoying cooking like we used to" and "cooking for one is not fun"...   

I totally enjoy cooking for my family when I get a chance. I miss the family gathered around the table talking, gathering news from the day, enjoying each person's stories, their smiles, their words, the ambiance of family...when I am dining alone standing at the sink or counter...it just isn't the same...how quickly that time flew when I look back...I realize I didn't cherish it enough...as it fades into the past...

I have my mother in law's recipes, as well as my mother's...of course they are high calorie, full of fat...but made with much love and care... Most made from "scratch" not the multitude of boxes we find in our cupboards now...filled with memories of kitchen fun...

One of my first gifts from my husband was a recipe book on one pot dinners...he loved stews, soups ...and I used that book a lot as I added fresh raw foods from my background...

Fellowship around the family table is part of life for many, breaking bread with visitors...it has been going on for eons of time...thank YOU for the gift of old recipes and family You have given me...

Genesis 19:3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 

Genesis 26:30-31 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully. 

Genesis 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.” 

Psalm 23:5a You prepare a table before me....

Matthew 26:17-19 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 

He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 

So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 

Acts 16:34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. 

Illusions.....

Illusions...

Yesterday I had the privilege to tour the local TV station. The group met some of the local news persons, but the tour was conducted by one of the local weatherman....we all felt like we know him personally as we see him on TV everyday...of course we know him and he must know us as he speaks to us each day...

The TV studios which look big on screen are just backdrops  with cameras pointed at them one after another with a "green" screen at the end...the computers can project pictures on the screen so that it looks like you are in the picture...if you are wearing the matching green, like I happened to be, the picture looks like it goes right through you...or if you have  a piece of matching cloth, you can cover up your body and look headless of whatever...illusions...

The newspersons don't have their lines memorized, they are on a projected screen right in front of them so that it looks like they are talking directly to the audience,,,everything is planned out to the second with a script for each person...and hopefully no glitches...and lots of computers fill every room for different purposes.

The weatherman gets his information from sources all over the world and out of the world with satellite images and predictions...he reads all the computer information, putting together the most up-to-date readings and then gives his weather forecast...all the while knowing that weather can change unpredictably as he speaks...even with the most  modern equipment....we really don't control the weather....

It reminded me of when Jesus was speaking about the red sky in the morning....

Matthew 16:1-3 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 

He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ 

You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 

We think we know the answers, but really only God knows and controls ....we are under the illusion that we know it all...and don't....we see only a small portion of God's creation, but feel we have the answers...just like the TV station studios, we see something big, but it is small, giving the illusion of bigness... 

The sureness we have is that God is real, He loves us and desires that we know Him..

 John 3:16-17, 21 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. 

Thank YOU....for Your truth ....You are not an illusion....

Polio....

Polio.....

The other evening, my family was discussing  childhood vaccinations. Babies still receive them  which helps not only themselves but those around them...

I remember as a child, going to a small rural school. We were bussed about 20 miles away to a larger school where we stood in long slow moving lines awaiting our shots.  I hated shots so much and still do not like them even after years of practice...I was only 6 or 7 years old and my parents weren't with me, other children were crying and screaming as we passed through the nurses who were administering those dreaded shots..on our way back to our seats in the busses...that was the method then of getting shots against the dreaded disease of polio...

During that time, as well, I was scheduled for a tonsillectomy...they were continually inflamed and I visited the doctor countless times as well as home visits for tonsillitis...so the plan was to have them removed...

We arrived at the hospital only to be turned away due to the capacity filling of the rooms with polio patients...I remember being overjoyed and scared at the same time...the tonsillectomy was rescheduled in another hospital.

Polio was a worldwide problem and we all knew someone who was affected by this horrible disease...we saw pictures of people in "iron lungs" or saw them in the hospital...machines that would breath for the patients, wheel chairs to help people become mobile after losing their limbs to the ravages of the disease...and now these people have brittle bones which break easily from the after affects...

It was no laughing matter....

Wikipedia, "Polio (also called poliomyelitis) is a contagious, historically devastating disease that was virtually eliminated from the Western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th century. Although polio has been around since ancient times, its most extensive outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s until the polio vaccine was introduced in 1955.

At the height of the polio epidemic in 1952, nearly 60,000 cases with more than 3,000 deaths were reported in the United States alone. However, with widespread vaccination, wild-type polio, or polio occurring through natural infection, was eliminated from the United States by 1979 and the Western hemisphere by 1991."

We have had many diseases over the eons of time, the plague, yellow fever, AIDS, Ebola,  leprosy...to name a few...some are lifestyle choices, while others are mysteries...some have said they are God's judgements, but mostly they are part of our dying planet and the natural consequences of death in our bodies...God allows them to get our attention to focus on Him (my opinion)...He can heal as He chooses...He makes those choices...he has provided the science of medicine and research to find cures for some and not others...

We are in His hands...thank YOU that we can find comfort in You through the afflictions that we face...

Job 36:15 But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;he speaks to them in their affliction.

Lamentations 3:33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. 

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

Caught ......released....

Caught...and released...

Israel released from Egypt ...

Gomer sold as a slave...

Prisoners, hostages set free...

Woman caught in adultery...

Woman cleaning Jesus' feet with tears, oil and her hair...

Cancer free...

Each of these statements/ stories/ events have a sense of freedom from the release after being "caught" in whatever situation they were a part....

Israel released from the bondage of slavery in Egypt ....

Gomer purchased out of prostitution by her husband, Hosea ...

Prisoners / hostages set free from varying situations...

The woman caught in adultery, set free by Jesus...

The words "cancer free" after a long battle...this could be the disease is gone or the body has been released from this earthly realm....

Each has a story...caught and released...even the fishing streams where "catch and release " is the norm...

Four years ago today,  my husband entered into a comma where he drew his final earthly breaths and was released from this world, from this diseased body to enter into the heavenly realm...he had been caught by cancer and was released into a perfect body, not on earth, but in heaven...

Our family was caught by disease as well only to be released into grief and a new path in our lives...to say that it was a hard journey is an understatement...the bumps have been many, but we have, by God's grace,

survived...

Israel was taken into a new land, flowing with "milk and honey" after their desert journey ...

Gomer was reunited with a loving husband...

The woman caught in adultery was set free and not stoned after facing her judges and the One who could truly set her free...

There is hope in the "release"... Freedom of sorts in each one...different..but release ...Grace...a future...in God's hands...

Thank YOU...only You can release us from our bondages to whatever direction you have for us... 

John 8:3-11 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. 

They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 

“No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” 

Hosea 3:1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”