Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Good Friends

This morning found a very cool breeze greeting me as I got up and started my day. And with that breeze I found good friends, I have waited all summer long to reconnect with my friends, and as good friends will do, they were waiting on me too. I did not have to do any searching, they were just where I have put them months ago. Sitting quietly waiting on me to remember all the cool days they comforted me. Never whining or complaining, just waiting on me to bring them back into my day. Yes it was my pink fuzzy bedroom shoes, I reached for them and there they were, a bit older and bit more swap sided but ready and eager to please. As I put my feet into them and the warmth engulfed my toes, I could not help but stop for a moment of silence for the pink fuzzy animal that gave up its hide to make my pink fuzzy bedroom shoes and was convinced that there is a special place in heaven for these wonderful creatures.
Oh they have not been without their own drama, the times my daughter has come and slipped them on her feet as if no one noticed, with total disregard to the fact that they don't fit her but each time I have rescued them and kept them in the fold, and the time that Buba ( my dog ) thought he could take one to his bed and hide it to make it a object of his affections, but this plan was quickly foiled and my pink fuzzy bedroom shoe was reunited with its mate and with me.
Yes with fall comes the cool breeze and the chilly mornings and the return of my pink fuzzy bedroom shoes........life ain't so bad.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Tapestry

Carol Kings sings a song titled Tapestry. In this song she speaks of the tapestry of life and how that it is woven into bits of blue ( sad times) and gold ( good times ) you can feel it and see it but you cant hold it. Because holding it would give you control over it and we do not have control over our lives, past a certain point.
As I returned home from a weekend with my sisters, I would not help but think of that song and how well it seem to fit.
Once a year we try and come together as a family, and we all plan to go, but life happens and I find it interesting to see which set of family members end up coming. I myself have had to forfeit a trip. It is almost like the prize in a happy meal, you know there is one and you are excited about it you are just not sure which one you are going to get. I also love to see how the year has changed us. But no matter who is there we all seem to at some point look back at the tapestry we had all come from. The names, the places, the time and the events that took place ( wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold )
For some the changes have been subtle for some painful. And with each trip no matter what I always learn something that I did not know before.
So this morning I reflect on that.
For one of my sisters, I learned that she is not as obtuse as she thinks she is, it is more of a insecurity for her, I have never really seen that in her in the small amount of time that I have spent with her.
For another sister, the pain of her loses were evident in more ways than one. And I think for the later lost we all grieved a bit with her in a private place, for me it was on my way home when I tossed a kiss and a muttered missed ya under my breath.
I learned of a honesty in a niece that I would not help but respect, and a strength that I had not seen in the past. Her gait she had set into motion and the beginning of her tapestry was set.
I learned that Cole will fall asleep eventually, and I think for the first time I really listened to his laugh. It is deep and comes from his heart. I only wish that he would always laugh and never know the pain of life, then if that were to be the case, his tapestry would be a solid color and therefore not a tapestry at all.
As for the men folk, It was nice to see them all share the love of a sport that I myself are learning to enjoy. Neil was right ( but don't tell him I said so ) God just kinda hangs over your shoulder when you fish and in the quite of His creation , HE is only a whisper away. But then again isn't that always the case? God is only a whisper away. Perhaps it is more of I am only a whisper away from God, He is the one that don't have to shout at me.
As for me, I came to realize that my tapestry continues and will until God calls me home, rich in golds and blues and I hope that some where along that way my colors after they are woven will keep my family warm because in my colors of blue and gold there is also the color of love and I was reminded of that in a poem my Mama had given me many years ago, title Legacy Of A Adopted Child"The the last paragraph reads: " The age old question through the years, Heredity or environment which are you the product of neither my darling neither just two different kinds of love


Now thats gold!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

God our Defender

In my quite time today there was a big question. What is God doing when you are in a bind? When the lifeboat springs a leak? When the rip cord snaps? When the last penny is gone before the last bill is paid.....I know what we are doing. Nibbling on nails like corn on the cob. Pacing floors. Taking pills, but what dose God do, that was the question and part of a response from my favorite Arthur Max Lacado.
Which prompt me to think, why do we pace and worry. What is it that will not ease up when things are not so easy. What is it that holds on to the things that we should just let go of if indeed Christ is in our hearts? Is it free will overload? I wonder that because Christ allows us to have a free will or should I say loves us so much that we have free will, have we like everything thing else in our life's Overloaded on it. We over work, we over eat, we over sleep, or dont sleep at all, we over analyzed, over spend over and over. Is that what happens to that precious gift of free will. Jesus says, just love me by your own free will and I will take care of everything else, and we cant even do that.So I think for my sake I am going to work on that "over" issue and try and trust the one who says in Exod. 14;14 I will fight for you.
The rest of the devotion went on to say.
" What does God do?.....
He fights for us. He steps into the ring and points us to the corner and takes over. Remain calm; the Lord will fight for you. His job is to fight. Out job is to trust. Just trust. Not direct ( that's me ) or question....our job is to pray and wait.

Humm, something to think about.