Lined with cedar...

Lined with cedar...

After almost 20 years of marriage, we were blessed to be able to design and build our own home on some beautiful ground that we had searched for. The  ground was green pasture year around with a spectacular view of mountains towering to 11,000 + feet into the sky...the clouds and big sky made each view a panorama of awe inspiring beauty...

My father in law gave us a cedar tree to cut down, saw into boards to line the interior of this house, some rooms were lined with maple as well, while others were faced with paneling which our children picked out ...but the bulk was lined with cedar. The outside was covered with irreplaceable old growth redwood...not to be found very many places...but we found it at a lumber yard which was going out of business...so we had cedar as a reminder of my husband's family and redwood as a reminder of mine (I grew up partly in the redwood forests of Northern California).

We used rocks collected over the years of my husbands...some from mines around the state of Nevada, as well as specimens handpicked by him..plus bricks from my grandmother's  home in California. A menagerie of "found" items...fir logs for ceiling beams, used cabinets to be replaced when we could..even used carpet to be replaced later as well...it was a work in progress over the years....after all the work we out into it, we only lived in it  two years with all of our children...but they all remember those years fondly...we put a lot of love into it as well as sweat and labor...it was later used as a "cabin" for a wealthy absentee landowner, a retreat for a church group, guest house, a home for several families as they built their homes, and finally another family who remodeled it to their liking...all enjoying the views, the peace and quiet of the area as well as the pasture for a variety of animals..horses, sheep, cattle, goats...

It wasn't a temple as in the Old Testament, but housed a lot of love for the Creator....

Thank YOU...for the opportunity to make memories ...in the house that You provided from so many places...

 1 Kings 5:10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted,

1 Kings 6:15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.

Proverbs 31:14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.

I know this refers to food, .....but we talked about our house in this manner. So many things came from various locations, that we said our home like is verse....bringing from afar..

Christmas in July....

Christmas in July....

The shopping networks are offering Christmas gifts, decorations, linens, wreaths...etc...for sale in July...movie channels are playing Christmas movies and introducing Christmas Ornaments...and it is only July...Christmas planing is getting earlier and earlier every year it seems...

Watching Christmas movies, several revolving around Christmas tree growing or sales lots being back so many memories of past Christmas trees.
When I was a child, our Christmas trees were manzanita trees with their red bark and coin-like leaves.  My grandmother would hang ribbon candy, bubbling lights on the gnarly limbs. It was until I was 9 years old that I saw an evergreen Christmas tree at my other grandparent's home, a natural small redwood with its open spaced limbs holding its large Christmas bulbs of colored lights...so manzanitas at one grandparents home and evergreens at the other.  That was the norm all of my growing up years.

When we got married, we had our first Nevada tree, a free juniper...we obtained a permit for a free tree from the local Forest service office as well as a map of the areas for cutting. We diligently followed the map to east of Carson City, found the area, surveyed the area for a tree. We had a film camera with us ,but forgot it in the truck, so cut it down, took it back to truck, set it up, then Filmed it falling like we were cutting it down ..we did that with each of us "cutting down the tree"... What fun...
Another year we cut down piñon pine trees east of  Elko with  a group of people from our church...or another when we cut down a small juniper near winnuenucca, the truck boiled over and we fed it melted snow to get back to town. In Oregon, we leased our ground to tree farmers, so we got a farmed tree for the first time, both a noble and a fir...

Finally, we ended up getting trees from a local fund raiser, festival of trees,  decorated fake tree in various themes. We got  a baby themed one, a country one, to name a few...when my husband died, it was hard to even think about Christmas...let alone a tree. I finally got small apartment sized ones from my Boy Scout grandsons...just right...

Fun through the years..so many kinds, so many years...so many trees...

Thank YOU for the wonderful times. ......

Genesis 2:9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Psalm 104:16 The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

The pit....

The pit...

I walked across the yard intending to pick up a pair of forgotten gloves lying in the ground. All of sudden the ground gives way and opens up into pit, with the side quickly caving in, my feet are  slightly settled on a narrow ledge.i call for help, a board or pole or something the lay across the top and hang in to while someone calls for help to get out of the abyss which is slowly eroding underneath my feet and as I feel myself sliding downward...downward toward the blackness below....

I wake with a start...my early morning jolt... I didn't get back to sleep. Why in the world did I dream of this?  Maybe just to write about it. Will be tired  later today...but the jolt was rude awakening for sure ......

Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers for jealousy....Daniel was let down in the pit with the lions for  jealousy as well...The earth opened up in the wilderness and a whole family was devoured for disobedience...

This morning after awakening from my dream, I thought of the psalms about the pit...

Psalm 30:2-5 Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. 

You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. 

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. 

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. 

Psalm 40:2-3 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. 

Psalm 69:15-18 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. 

Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. 

Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes. 

Psalm 103:2-5 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

I away from home this week, working on my husband's business concerns and I feel way in over my head and overwhelmed by the heritage he left, but this is not  my comfort zone to say the least... He knew this stuff backwards and forwards until right before he died...it was his language...a foreign one to me...I knew about it, but not the nitty-gritty on the paperwork, the deadlines, the nuances of the legalities, the dog eat dog world, the scrambling for the market place....he loved it, My family and I benefitted from it...but, I find myself slowly descending into that pit with little to hang on to... On the other hand, We have been so blessed by advisors who have stepped up to help us through  this process of what to do, when, how...

And more than that, God has been here with us...merciful, satisfying, loving us through the process...

Thank YOU...

Sent from my iPad

The valley where the city dwells....

The valley where the city dwells...

I flew to Helena, Montana yesterday through rain storms, cloud cover, thunder, wind...a little bumpy, but made it through ...as I view the valley this morning, it is rainy, windy....but the clouds put on a spectacular show last night with the light from above streaming down at various intensities through dark and light  clouds...the lights of the city below brilliantly shining, make their way in the darkness...

Then the following verse popped up for the "verse of the day"... How fitting for scenes seen...God's great power....

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
Jeremiah 32:17 NIV

As I was preparing for this trip, I watched the weather patterns for the coming days and dreaded the flights...then God in his planning put worship songs about fear into the minds of the leaders just for me...( I thought)...

So now I can see the beauty of yet another place through rainswept days, lights in the night, the big sky-of which Montanans' boast..., miles of grasslands, open range...

God has indeed made beauty for all to enjoy on this earth...created heavens for us to enjoy ...thank YOU...

Isaiah 40:26, 28-31 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Birdbath...

Birdbath ....

I have a natural stone birdbath outside my kitchen window. It gets fed by the sprinkler system, by rain and snow.   Many different kinds of bird congregate there from time to time, each taking their turn in the water....sometimes quail or doves...other times sparrows or finches...starlings...each by their own kind...I never see a mixture...which is kind of interesting...

This morning as I was washing my dishes, there was a family or flock of eight common finches either in the water or around the edge...drinking, bathing, fluffing or just sitting...some would test their toes in the water, while others would go full fledge into it...dunking and fluffing over and over again...finally sunning themselves in the sun...

(As you can see, I am easily entertained...)

This first flock was followed by starling and later by doves, each taking their turn...each with their won ritual...it reminded me of my father talking about Saturday night baths...in the kitchen, in a wash tub...first one boy, then the next until all had taken their dreaded turn...
Or even when my children were small, the "most"  nightly ritual of scrubbing them off, playing in the water...one or two at a time...splashing, giggling, and even sometimes complaining until the water had cooled and it was time to towel off and get ready for bedtime stories ...and finally, bed...

My birdbath usually has water year around..so this sight is seen fairly often throughout year...God is using me to water His small creatures...I appreciate being In the chain of helps...knowing that He who knows about the sparrows, knows about me...

Thank YOU....

Matthew 10:29, 31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

The irony of it....

The irony of it...

Going to bed last night with a heavy heart from the sniper shooting of police officers who were standing guard...they were guarding a peaceful demonstration  against themselves...making sure that the demonstration went smoothly even though they were themselves the target ....and then it turned deadly and they were the sniper target ....picking them off one by one...what wickedness...what bravery shown on the part of the various policemen in attendance ...

I had to reread again for the innumerable times, Psalm 37, my default psalm in times of adversity...the contrast between the righteous and the wicked and their "reward"...

God knows me so well, and immediately in the first verse He says, "do not fret because of evil men".... My first reaction...then I try to refocus and pray for the victims...which takes my eyes off the evilness...but I still admittedly come back to,"fret"...then whys....why are people so evil and want to harm others?

He tells us to
-not fret
-trust in the Lord
-take delight in the Lord
-commit my way to Him
-be still before Him
-wait patiently for Him
-refrain from anger
-do not fret again, as it leads only to evil...and that is what we are not to fret about
-turn from evil
-hope/wait for the Lord

Because He is their salvation, their stonghold, their deliverer...
The list against the wicked, the evil doers is long and just...in this psalm and others...they don't stand a chance against a holy God...

Thank YOU for reminding me not to fret, but to hand my fretting over to You...You alone are my stronghold....my comfort in times of trouble...cover your people with peace...that is beyond comprehension. ...

Psalm 37:1-25 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.
The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
But the wicked will perish: Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously; those the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be destroyed.
The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
Psalm 37:26-40 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.
Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.
For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.
Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.
The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip.
The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, intent on putting them to death; but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wicked or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
Hope in the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.
I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree, but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found.
Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace.
But all sinners will be destroyed; there will be no future for the wicked. The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

Stand firm....

Stand firm..

I was reading in Philippians this morning. The phrase "stand firm" popped out and I wondered how many times that was used..24 times in the whole Bible...mostly in the New Testament...

Jesus said in Luke 21:19 "Stand firm, and you will win life."....when speaking of the end times...
Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Matthew 24:13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Mark 13:13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Paul, James, and Peter all spoke of standing firm...against the wiles of the world, the devil...standing firm in life...for the beliefs we hold...for the stance we take...against the flesh which wars within us...

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

2 Corinthians 1:21, 24 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
He anointed us, Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.

Philippians 4:1, 4, 8-9 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist  him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I confess before all, that I do not stand firm in all that I know...I fall, I fail, I succumb to temptations...knowing that, will I fall or fail when earth shattering decisions face me..?  Will I be moved?...shaken...I want to stand firm in the little things so that I can stand firm in the big things...

Thank YOU that you stand with me, not turning away when I desperately need your help...help me stand firm in all that I know is right....in You and in Your   Strength...