Not Much Happening?

"What's happening?"
"What did you do today?"

Even if one is quite busy, he may answer not much simply because life becomes routine--as in same old same old.

Well, this morning while sitting at my kitchen table in the quiet, I thought about the "not much happening" phrase and I looked around and listened more intently than I might normally.
I heard the birds' various twitters. I studied the tree tips as the leaves individually choreographed their own dance. A cloud with an intriguing shape transformed into something else right before my eyes. I took a stool and placed it on the front porch and watched the weather. Sounds like a tiger growling, low and insistent, spread through the heavens, and then a crackle, and then another sound like the dismantling of an old metal machine. A rain drop caught my nose, and then another on my foot. Next, the sound of a bass drum and the sky rolling back from horizon to horizon with a light show.
Not much happening?
God is EVERYWHERE.... gotta be a LOT happening.
Perhaps the question is, how do I fit into all this?
First of all, check out nature; she's always got a show going on.
Next, I could call a friend who recently had shoulder surgery.
I will pray for Carol's husband who has been ill.
A plate of cookies to the neighbor lady might bring her a smile.
I can ask someone, "What did you do today?".. and then really listen beyond the not much answer...

Enjoy what is before you, whether it's lunch with your forever friend or a new friend. Perhaps, it's picking up a child after school and an offer of chocolate milk and a cookie. Perhaps, it's staying late at work so someone else can go home early.
Help others by reflecting the love Christ gave you.
Make it happen with prayer and praise to an Almighty Creator who has given us so much.
And get outside a little each day; it's amazing what fresh air and nature's ever-changing portrait can do for you.

Push PAUSE

Thanks to my parents, I typically pray four times a day: before each meal and before falling asleep at night. “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest….” is my meal time prayer. I have given up the “Now I lay me down to sleep….” evening prayer, unless my grandchildren are in-house, and pray the Lord’s Prayer  along with my heartfelt concerns and expressions of thanks and praise.

Recently, a friend shared an acronymn for hitting all the bases when praying.

A – Acknowledge LORDship

C – Confession (including sins of omission, commission, self-submission)

T – Thanks and praise

S – Supplications – ending with “Thy will be done…”

God cares about us; God cares about creation; God cares about the nations of the world. The Bible verse, Pray without ceasing, used to give me a bit of a guilt complex, in that, how is that possible, Lord?

However, I have come to believe that prayer is not just speaking words of praise, thanks, supplicating, and confessing. It is an attitude. In other words, where are your thoughts?  Am I listening in to the Holy Spirit? If I fill my head with scripture, I’m more apt to have prayerful thoughts. God’s Word is there for a reason. It is a connection to an Almighty God.

I have determined this morning that I can get better at this praying without ceasing if I PAUSE, yes, actually stop to pray more than four times a day. If you’re like me, you have to write this down as a reminder. So, today, after lunch, I’m going to a quiet place after cleaning off the table, and acknowledge God as my Savior, confess my sins large and small, thank Him for the blessings He has bestowed, mention my concerns, and yes, Thy will be done.

It’s a start.

Just maybe I’ll find other times during the day to PAUSE wherever I am…. knowing God wants my company.

I’ve noticed that the closer I feel to my Creator, the more content I am.

PAUSE-ing more often in prayer, just might make my day!

Memories of the Family Farmhouse

The family farmhouse where my dad spent some of his growing-up years, the house he brought his new bride home to, the house that eventually housed six children and their sometimes over-whelmed parents lies crumbled beneath branches and other grove litter waiting for a match.

Once upon a time, a fence surrounded its yard--a yard where a softball game followed every summer, noon meal. A garden with beans and carrots and strawberries lay nearby. Apple trees beckoned those interested in an afternoon apple or an adventurous climb.

When I was very little, my brothers and I spent most of one summer on the screened in porch just off the kitchen. Battling measles and mumps, we lay limp and wished for summer breezes as Mom nursed us back to health while doing the laundry, cooking, and other summer chores.

My memories are primarily of the kitchen where all good smells came from. After that, believe it or not, it is the back steps. It was here that we rushed up the steps after school to hope for a cookie or a cold drink on warm fall days or hot chocolate on a wintry day. It was here that we rushed out the door to the station wagon on our way to church or to a picture show on the school grounds. It was here that Dad came in from his chores and we knew that now we could eat.

After starting college, when I could return home, it was here--climbing these steps--that I knew I was finally home. The steps were chipped, not always clean in spite of my mother's efforts. Worn chore coats and sweatshirts hung from hooks behind the door. When home, I would take one and feel safe as I ventured outside to find my dad or just walk down the lane or from corn crib to tool shed--just to let it all sink in. Home...

I have lived in many houses in my 70 some years. If I could build a house all my own, it would be a replica of this old farm house. Home.

the Butterfly Effect

The BUTTERFLY EFFECT is a metaphor for how a small and insignificant behavior or happening can cause a major change in circumstances. [google ref]

It's hard to believe that a butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico can ultimately cause a hurricane in China. Although it would take a very long time and the conditions would have to be right, some believe it's possible.

Today, I'm not talking about science, history, or the movie that Ashton Kutcher starred in, although these are each worth checking out. I am considering attributes like patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness...

You don't have to travel the world to make a difference. You don't have to stand on a street corner with Bible in hand to declare God's incredible love. Just be you in your own seemingly small and insignificant way--where you live, where you work--and reflect Christ love for others by being patient, kind, good, gentle, and, let's not leave out, faithful.

Just maybe you'll start a reaction that will be sweeping, extensive, pervasive.
Think of the joy!

Who knows what impact you may be making.

Let's be butterflies.

Rockin' the Boat Gently

I recently read, The cemetery is full of people who didn't rock the boat.

Don't rock the boat! implies.... don't make trouble, keep your mouth shut, don't mess with Pandora's Box. There's a certain amount of wisdom here; however, rockin' the boat, at times, gets things done, encourages transformation.

When Jesus began to reveal who He really was, He was rockin' the boat. When He healed on the Sabbath, the Pharisees called it blasphemy. When He ate with sinners and sought out the sick and needy, He caused political turmoil. Jesus allowed the boat to be rocked literally before He calmed the storm--with His disciples and him in the boat--possibly to get their attention. "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

The Fruits of the Spirit include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Although these don't seem like "rock the boat" attributes, perhaps they are as we don't see much of any one of these in our world today.

We were each given unique gifts. Perhaps spreading joy, sharing peace, being patient during difficult times, using self-control when it would be easier to explode, and being faithful is your way of "rockin the boat."

I'm speculating that if I had to choose between two epithets,

She rocked the boat ...or... 

She didn't rock the boat, 

I would choose 

She Rocked the Boat --and let's add-- Gently.

Remembering Mom

I thought my mom would live forever. That's what most of us think until illness sets in and perceptions do a flip. My mother's birthday was yesterday. She would have been 94. Instead, she died several years ago at 85 of a very rare cancer.

Mom had always been the energy bunny in the family, the Martha in the kitchen. When she would come to visit, she would fold the clothes, help prepare a meal, shadow me from floor to floor and fill me in with the latest news of family and the community I came from while giving me a hand at whatever task I was at.

However, when death got it's grip, she quieted. She no longer had much to say. She sat in her favorite chair staring at the TV-- or was it the picture window behind the television where the trees twisted in the breeze and the birds flitted and twittered. She answered questions with a single word or a shrug. Her smile disappeared.

Being the active and chatty person who she was, I imagined that as she grew older and closer to dying that she would share memories of our growing up years, that she would give us words of wisdom that would help us going forward in our own lives, that she would tell each one of her children how much she cared for and loved us. Didn't happen....

She withdrew.
It hurt.
I didn't expect it.

I do not love her any less because of the way she left us.
I catch myself using her mannerisms, her expressions; she's somewhere inside me still.
Life is full of change and mystery.
God and His love is the only constant.
Stay close....

Working From Home Retirement

If it's possible at 70 years of age to be "working from home," I am; I, too, work at home. I'm also a stay-at-home mom and a stay-at-home grandma. I use the stay-at-home phrase loosely; although my children and grandchildren are not underfoot, they are always in my heart, on my mind, in my prayers. Can we call this multi-tasking?

After starting my teaching career, if someone had told me they "work at home," I would have thought you lucky girl, what do you do all day long? However, the world is full of change and mystery, and what we thought could never be, is, ... or at least takes on a new look. The internet, laptops, and smart phones have turned our social and work worlds upside down.

I can not determine where my personal world went haywire. Although I have been retired for nine years, I set the timer when I sit to read or write, so I can get up and attend to something else. I have friends who are looking for things to do, places to go... and I am wondering where things went whack-o for me. I am still working at home, working from home, being a stay-at-home mom and grandma and, even though multi-tasking, wondering how I am going to get it all done.

For example, the deck still needs its last coat of stain--a project I started a year ago. Business papers who have met their expiration dates and need to meet the shredder rest on the couch in the family room. The deep freeze needs defrosting, and, oh, yes, the water softener next to it is greedy for salt crystals. The second story windows haven't been washed since we moved in.... and I'm not saying what year that was. And, please don't mention the garden and its multitude of weeds.

I could go on, but you get the point.
God wants us to rest.
Yesterday, I did. Or, at least I did restful things--we went to church, we went to a movie, we finished the day by going to an ice cream social. I felt very relaxed and satisfied at the end of my Sunday. There was only one problem: I could NOT sleep. My body was not used to this relaxed state....

The only solution I can think of is to retire from working from home, retire from working at home.... and quit all this multi-tasking. The multi-tasking never was a very good idea. Parenthood and grand parenting stay on the list as heart issues and forever things.

In all reality for this to happen, I need to move a few blocks down the street to Apple Valley-- an assistive living home in a lovely setting. They mow the grass, do your laundry, cook your meals. I could play bridge, sit in front of the fireplace and watch a movie with the other residents, and wait for my children to take me out for ice cream. Sometime.... Somewhere....

Until then, I will stay here in my "somewhere" knowing that God has an eternal Somewhere that will be heavenly, restful, peaceful...... and try to more wisely discern my earthly priorities.

Now the LORD is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the LORD is, thee is freedom And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the LORD'S glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the LORD who is the Spirit. 
                                                                                                                             2 Corinthians 3:17-18