Epiphany

Epiphany comes from the Greek word meaning manifestation or striking appearance. We use it to define a moment when one sees or understands something in a new or very clear way. Remember The Wise Men? .... or Simeon and Anna in the temple when they recognized that Jesus was God's salvation for the world? Each had an epiphany!

When was your last epiphany? If you're like me, you may not remember it, or it came slowly to you so that you did not recognize it as an ah-ha moment.





Something to think about:
1) You can't "see" unless you're paying attention.
2) Have you been "ready" to encounter what is really going around about you?
3) Have you been expecting it?

If you want a new understanding of who God is calling you to be....
1) Read scripture.
2) Pray...
3) And, then be ready...

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:19

He's always ready for you.

Fun With Mother Goose

Remember Mother Goose from your childhood years?

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow...

God thought:
Mary had a little lamb,
He came to save the world...

Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are!

God thought:
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
Staggering miracle from a far.


Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there, the cupboard was bare
And so the poor dog had none.

God thought:
Love is serving each other
even when your cupboard is bare....

Have you ever felt like you have no more to give?

"So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I would say that we are indispensable. And no man is useless while he has a friend." --Robert Lewis Stevenson

Count your friends as blessings.

Footprints

Our planet is being made significant by the footprints of God  Think of the mountains, the mighty rivers, the flourishing crops, the birds of the air, and the great beyond which remains a mystery to us. Think of the last little miracle in your own life...

 Gen. 1:1.... In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.

After my father's death, some of us commented that his footprints were all over the farm--tool shed, barn, corncrib, up and down the corn and bean rows. Even though the rain and winds come, the seasons change, Dad's footprints will be there in one form or another.

Just as my dad's footprints are all over the farm, God's footprints are all over this Earth we call home. Seasons and generations pass; the world changes, but He is here, He was there. It belongs to him; we belong to him from the beginning and throughout eternity.

In our insecure and weak moments, remember that He is right beside you. If you reach out to him, He will hold your hand and walk with you.

For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13

Most of you have read the following poem. It's worth repeating.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

- by Mary Stevenson

 

Prayer: Creator God, of all that is good and pure, I want to be close to you today. I know you are beside me, hand in hand if I so desire. I also know that you will carry me when the walking on this Earth becomes too hard. Amen.

Like A Cloud

I really Don't Know Clouds At All became popular with Joni Mitchell's 1969 album, Clouds. My mind has been on only a few phrases of the song because the clouds (in case you haven't checked) have been awesome.

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air

And feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way.

 

 

It's kind of a light, feathery sounding song, and although I choose to see clouds differently than Joni, I have concluded that neither of us really don't know clouds at all.

 

But this is how I choose to look at it today: God constantly amazes me with nature. His creating is on-going, he colors outside the lines. And since we are a part of this great creation, don't expect the same-old, same-old in your life. Just as clouds shift and change and the sun gleams through in colorful and striking ways, expect great things in your life. And, then give your creator the glory. He wants to hear from us.

                   

 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
 Psalms 19:1



I Lived In a Bubble Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, I lived in a bubble. I faced whatever life handed me with confidence--due to a strong family support system and a bit of naivety. I thought my version of the world was everyone else's. Later in life, I discovered that friends and loved ones who I thought were as "secure" as I was had elephants in the living room, on the back steps, and out on their lawns--because shame is not shared. It's there; it exists; but, it is not shared.

As the years passed, I began to seek and understand the bigger pictures of relationship issues, abuse, financial stress, illness, and growing-older dilemmas. Friends and acquaintances, who hid things during their younger years, shared their stories. Was it because desperation set in? Were the repercussions of shame-based behaviors too much to handle alone? Was it because there was no where else to hide and no reason to do so anymore?

It has been said that everyone we meet in life, every experience we have, shape us into the person we become. This includes parents, siblings, spouse, friends, children, and those others we meet for short periods of our lives--some who we have connected with deeply and who leave forever imprints.

Maybe, what I didn't "get" before, I have a chance to get now. I mentioned to my fellow classmate, Lois, (reconnecting at a class reunion) that I felt a need to "make-new" --although I wasn't sure what I even meant. She replied, "I see your "make-new" as making better relationships from the incomplete scraps of the old ones. Maybe, polishing off the rust".

I like the phrases--incomplete scraps and polishing off the rust... Something incomplete can be completed, made new.

 Is not wisdom found among the aged?  Does not long life bring understanding? Job 12;12

Thank goodness, we have a Creator who understands all this and wants us to be connected. It's all a part of His great plan. It's all a part of being human.



In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. Romans 12:5

The Word became flesh for the purpose of connecting....

                

Why I Need a Laundry Room on the Main Floor

There are sixteen steps down to my laundry room, and, of course, sixteen steps back up when I decide to return to civilization-- the kitchen where everything else happens. Right?

When we looked at houses almost two years ago, this was discussed. However, we ended up in a house that had almost everything else we wanted, so we bought and the rest is history. Sort of....

Segue.
When we moved into town, I started swimming 1-3 times a week.
After swimming, the swim suit and towel are placed in a used, plastic grocery bag. I drive home, enter the house, and  throw the entire bag down the sixteen steps to the tiled floor below.
Why?
It is easier than walking the sixteen steps, and although we have a laundry chute, who would think of adding a soaking wet suit to the dirty, dry laundry.  The plastic bag protects both my suit and the steps from getting wet.

Back to the title: Why I Need a Laundry Room on the Main Floor.
Recently, I bought groceries on my way home from swimming--just a few items: bacon, bananas, a dozen eggs, lettuce, a can of beans. Grabbing my swimming suit and towel bag and my grocery bag, I entered the house and do what I usually do: throw the swim bag down the steps. As it hit the tile floor steps below, I realized I had not thrown the swim bag down, but rather the grocery bag.
Yep, need a laundry room on the main floor.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

.... time to weep, and a time to laugh.... Ecclesiastes 3..