A funny thing happened on the way to Thanksgiving

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, but Fall in California is no where near as lovely as Fall in New England, where I am from. I do miss the beautiful leaves turning, en mass, but we do have leaves that turn. I nabbed this photo as we were driving, and the various shades of oranges put me into a thankful mode. God could have made everything all one color, but He's too generous with His gifts to do that. He's painted His glory in the trees, the leaves, the flowers, the mountains, and in our cells. If we stop for a moment to listen, we'll hear "glory, glory!" coming from all of creation. If we stop. If we listen. We'll realize that there's Someone, "with Whom we have to do."

This year for Thanksgiving we invited a whole bunch of people, but for various reasons, in spite of our best efforts, we are just going to be four of us this year. In one way, it is nice, because today is our 32nd wedding anniversary, and there's something very sweet and intimate about having it be just my daughter and son-in-law and us here to celebrate together, and be thankful. I have an ache in my heart because I'm missing my son and daughter-in-law very much today, but there is still so much to be grateful for. So, I'm counting my blessings today. I'm choosing to count my blessings, and not my sorrows, and to savor in the delights of a beautiful, clear, crisp fall day here in San Francisco.

Of course, the weather could quickly turn and we could get socked in with fog, but even if it does, that will be fine with me. For now, it is glorious, and pretty and I just saw a hummingbird flitting around outside the window again. The turkey is out on the Webber Kettle in the backyard, and my daughter is making her spectacular Apple Cranberry Pie with homemade vanilla pastry cream, and I'm wondering if I can possibly manage a tiny piece of it, without totally blowing my eating plan to smithereens. It is that good--I guarantee it--and my mother would be proud of what a proficient baker she's become.

I'm realizing more and more that God, by design, puts us by sovereign grace into the families we need to be in, just so we can have the best opportunity possible to acknowledge His love and Lordship, now while we can. (One day, everyone on the planet from potentates to paupers will acknowledge Y'shua as Lord, but on that day, for some it will be in fear and anger and out of compulsion, not in reverent worship and awe) So I'm thankful as never before for the family I grew up in, for the place of pain and heartache that He scooped me out of in His grace. I would never have known that I was so desperately needy of His grace and mercy, had I been born anywhere else--I'm convinced of it. I have much to be grateful for, and I'm determined to be grateful even if sin has marred some of my joys on this side of eternity. As Paul Tripp has said, we do live in a broken down house of a world because of sin. But there is a Redeemer, who has come to make our hearts new and rescue us. He's actively seeking those who know they need rescue and mercy. I count myself grateful to be needing His rescue even more than I ever did before.

Sweet Sleep of a child

Here's one for the true confessions department. This is a stealth photo. I took it while I was in my local Trader Joe's trying to get a little shopping in. The store was CROWDED with people, who had the same idea at the same time. It wasn't quite a madhouse, mind you, but it did take some fancy driving, as I negotiated my way down the crowded isles (my son would have been impressed!). But I saw something so lovely, so beautiful, that it stopped me in my tracks. In the middle of all that cacophony, I saw this little guy in his stroller, with his eyes closed, sleeping deeply. There was even a little whiffle I could hear, not quite a snore, as he breathed in and out, totally oblivious to the noisy adults all around him.

So I pulled out my i-phone, and as quickly as I could (and as close as I dared to get) I snapped a few shots. This was the best of the lot, which shows you how much of a Chicken Little I am by nature. The body attitude of this little guy reminded me of a Psalm that has become so precious to me in recent days, Psalm 131:

Psalm 131

Childlike Trust in the LORD.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

¹O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
²Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
³O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.

This is just three little verses, but they are packed with meaning. These verses reveal how we can be at rest--even when our worlds are coming apart at the seams. We can rest in Him, lay back on Him, and in realizing how weak we are, rest in His strength alone.

I think of all the times my heart has been stirred up, and I realize as I read this Psalm that I must never forget that the Sovereign God of the universe is working all out for the good of His people, and for the glory of His Name, no matter how messy life is. He redeems us--and that work needs to go deep within our hearts, so we produce the kind of rest that Y'shua demonstrated as He walked on the earth, experiencing what we do, yet without sin. He was always at rest with the Father, even when his life was full of activity.

This Psalm has become my friend. When my heart is a mess, I'm going to this Psalm and taking the medicine. Do I need to jettison my pride? Do I need to give something too big for me to the One who can really handle it best? I do, and then I can rest, just like this little fellow, in the midst of the cacophony around me.

Keeping a promise

I swam today, and I'm dog tired. Perhaps it is because when I said to my beloved "I can't believe that we'll be married 32 years on Thanksgiving," he dead-panned with, "Imagine how much time that is in dog-years!" I looked at him for a moment and then totally broke up with laughter. My brain was too fried to figure it out, but one thought did cross my mind. That's one great piece of advice that my Mama gave me years ago, "Marry a man who makes you laugh!" I did, and he does and I'm constantly amused by my hubby's humor.

We can laugh together, and we can cry together. I'm grateful that we've grown so much that we rarely make each other cry, but we do cry over things that need crying and praying over, and I'm grateful that we can do it together. There's something powerful about praying together over those kind of things, and handing it over to Someone who knows the best way to deal with it. Our wedding verse was Proverbs 3:5-6 and it still is something we need to think about daily. Am I trusting in the Lord with all my heart? Am I leaning on His wisdom or my own understanding? Am I acknowledging Him in all my ways?
That's a lot to say grace over, but freeing as we work hard to apply it, and grow in His wisdom together. Even now--especially now in this season of life.

So, I'm keeping my promise by posting this blog. I'm making it short because I'm so tired, that I'm about to fall asleep on the keyboard! Our anniversary falls right on Thanksgiving this year. We got married on Thanksgiving weekend so many years ago, largely because of my beloved's work and school schedule. We had just a little weekend honeymoon, and then it was back to the grind. But instead of diminishing Thanksgiving by adding an anniversary to it, it has expanded our desire to thank the One who brought us together, and has kept us together all these years. We are still laughing. And when we cry, we hand each other the tissues, and wipe away each other's tears. I'm more grateful for that than I can tell you!

"Marry a man who makes you laugh," Mama said. I would add, "Marry a man with a heart--a heart for God, a heart for His Word, a heart for the hurting, and a heart of good humor." It's been my blessing to have had all those gifts in my beloved. Throw the confetti, folks! There is much to celebrate and I'm grateful to be married to my best friend.

No thanks--I'd rather have boysenberry!

I have to admit, that "traffic jam" is my least favorite kind of jam in all the world. This photo was taken from the passenger seat of our van just a few weeks ago, on a very sunny day, when my husband was driving me to Office Depot to get a new ribbon for our printer. We were totally out of black ink, and I desperately needed to print something. So, my hero came to the rescue, and drove us to the store, when he truly just wanted to get home and be done with driving for the day.

There are some who feel that "no good deed goes unpunished," a rather gruesome and cynical way of looking at life, in my estimation. However, when we ran into a traffic jam that looked like it was going to be endless, I began to fret. My husband can be incredibly patient--but it had been a very long day, and the last thing either of us wanted was to be stuck on the road waiting for the vehicle owners to remember that the gas pedal is the one on the right. I sighed and shot up a silent prayer, hoping for the best.

We crawled up the road slowly, a few inches at a time. And then we saw the flashing lights, the flipped over car, the fire truck, two police cars, some people standing on the road, and a paramedic vehicle. It was ugly, to say the least. Life in a fallen world. Shot up another prayer, and once we got past the wreck, people began to drive as if they knew how once again.
"Why, why? Tell me that it's human nature..." It's human nature to stare at car wrecks, train wrecks, and ring your hands in despair. Despair can become an ugly giant. "I would have despaired, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be strong let your heart take courage, yes, wait on the Lord."

That's the best counsel I can give, when your carefully laid plans get disrupted, by the worst kind of jam, a traffic jam. Pray, and wait. Be thankful that you can still move. Pray for the rescue crew, and for those needing rescue. Slow down, while you are at it. Be careful out there, please! The rainy season is just starting, so don't be in a rush. People who love you deeply will miss you greatly, if you act foolishly behind the wheel.

In the deep, once again

I had a chance to swim last Thursday and then on Saturday morning and again today, which was delightful. I think I'm back into a rhythm once again--at least I hope so. I'm so thankful that the ears have cleared up, and that I'm back at it because once you stop, it isn't so easy to get started (that old, "a body at rest remains at rest, a body in motion remains in motion" sort of thing from your high school physics class that you never paid attention to but now seems to make more sense than it ever did because YOU are the body!). Last week was such a busy, stressful week, and it was a gift to be able to swim and let it all go, and leave it all behind in the pool.

It is hard to pray while you swim. I lose count of what lap I'm on and to tell you the truth, because I do have a goal (to swim 50 miles by the end of December) I am trying to keep a fairly accurate count. I used to try to pray and count by doing some silly word associations: I'm thankful for You, the One God who is King of all. I'm thankful for the two tablets of the Law and how they tell us of your righteous standards. I'm thankful for the fact that you have revealed yourself as a perfect Echad, a unity of Three Persons in one glorious God...well, you get the picture. Unfortunately, I'm not always clever to figure out what I can say next in keeping with the Bible theme (especially when you get to lap 29+ you can paint yourself into a corner with your metaphors!) What usually happens is, if I don't remember what number I'm on, I do an extra lap, just in case.

The forecast said that it was likely to rain on Saturday and Sunday which dismayed us a bit because it is hard to move house in the rain, and that's what our daughter and son-in-love were going to be doing, moving house. The wonderful thing that happened was, that it did rain, but not until everything was moved. A small army of dear people helped, and I continue to be thankful for the community that God has gifted us with. It is wonderful to see the "one-anothers" of Scripture being lived out in practical ways through people who really want to follow the Messiah not just in words, but in deeds of love.

We were able to do our walk Saturday, but Sunday we woke up at 5 AM to the sound of a very hard rain hitting the windows and the skylight. It rained quite a bit--where did that glorious heat wave go when the Giants had their celebratory parade in the city, anyway? It felt like winter had arrived, and to be honest, I am not ready for it...not at all.

We had an unexpected gift--we wanted to walk and after we read the paper in the mid-afternoon, it seemed that there was actually some blue sky out there--enough for us to get our exercise shoes on and head down to the water before the weather changed its mind again. We did our entire walk, and looked out at the water, which kept changing, watching the play of the clouds. Then right before our eyes, the weather was turning again. The clouds were growing thick and dark, and my hubby said, "We'd better get going or we are going to get wet!" So, of course, I had to stop and snap this photo. It looked as if God was painting the sky again, using a scumbling brush to get the puffy, fluffy effect of those beautiful clouds.

Even with hooded sweatshirts on to keep our heads covered, the idea of getting wet wasn't appealing to my sweetheart, so he urged me to put away the phone and concentrate on walking. So I managed to snap this, and I really like it.

We can pray while we walk, and we do. We talk while we walk and the fact that we were able to have this unexpected time because the weather cleared and gave us a window was so very wonderful. Now that we've changed the clocks, it may not be so easy to do our evening walks--it is dark down there, and unfortunately, isn't very well lit. We'll have to figure out a clever work-around.

Professor Horner's Bible reading plan

This is a picture of my beautiful daughter, in her kitchen, with a tray full of beautiful bread that she made for her small group dinner. My girl is an amazing baker--my mother, who loved baking would be kvelling to know that her granddaughter is following in her footsteps. There is a notable difference however. Mama wasn't much of a cook, but she surely could bake. Challah, coffee cakes of various sorts, yeasty cinnamon rolls, cakes with streusel on top...well, you get the picture. My daughter is not just a good home cook--she's got the makings of an excellent chef, because she does things with a great sense of artistry and beauty. She takes simple ingredients, and turns them into an amazing feast in short order, and serves it all up with that great big beautiful smile of hers that lights up her whole face. She loves being a blessing to others, whether it is bringing food for the body or food for the soul. Quite honestly, she makes me want to be more like Y'shua !Isn't that a blessing and a half! :-)

Who doesn't love the smell of fresh baking bread? Who wouldn't love the chance to dig into a warm, crusty loaf with some lovely butter to spread on it? All right. Enough of this. I'm making myself hungry, even as I'm typing. There are four or five different sorts of breads on this tray (and they well all delicious--trust me on this one!). There was only one problem with this. The wonderful bread that you bake and eat, however delicious won't last in you. You'll get hungry again. The bread we enjoy from our ovens or local bakery is bread that won't satisfy forever.

Pursuing the real bread, the living bread that will last and keep you satisfied is something that our 21st century largely disdains. "Go for all the gusto you can, because that's all there is."
There's an answer to that: "The fool says in his heart that there is no God." "Seek the living bread which came down out of heaven."

God shows Himself in two ways, Psalm 19 declares. The heavens are constantly declaring His glory through the created world. If we respond with a heart that wants to know the One who made it, He will always, always, give us more light. He's faithful to do that because He wants us to live in His presence. In fact, "not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

At the Reclamation Project conference this weekend I heard the most wonderful teaching on The Biblical perspective on Culture by Dr. Grant Horner. (That wasn't the only thing, but this post will be oppressively long if I let my self go off on a tangent about it!) The man is brilliant, but speaks as if he doesn't realize it--and that if he does, he's going to be careful to give all the glory and honor for any ability to God. A wise posture for all of us to emulate! This brother is a formerly drugged out, tripped out, messed up fella who was scooped into the embrace of the Messiah in such a way that he was totally surprised. God chose him, and wham, everything changed! He started to read his Bible voraciously and came up with a reading plan, which he shared in an aside as he was making a point. www.scribd.com/doc/12349985/Professor-Grant-Horners-Bible-Reading-System I wrote it down as a note, because he challenged us to Google it and try it for 30 days to see what would happen to our hearts through the living Bread. Well, I've taken the challenge, and I want to invite you to do the same.

Read what he says in his blog post about the system with an open mind. I think that this could rock our lives in a wonderful way, in a way we need at the core of who we are! I have longed to know God's Word in a way that is deep and systematic, and life changing (and I'm talking about my life, dear ones!). I have been praying for a way to understand, to be able to soak it in so I can share truth with confidence and clarity and I feel as if I've had a "Eureka!" moment as I was reading about this system. I actually was crying--"yes, yes!" as I was reading.

I believe that this is going to be a huge help to swimming out deeper into the amazing love of God shown in our Messiah. One of my friends from our church ladies Bible study told me that she was intrigued when Dr. Horner talked about it and she googled it, downloaded it and was tremendously excited as she had just started. This sister is one of those wise women who knows the Lord and loves His Word. She eats it like bread, and she was excited that this would help her grow deeper.

So, I've put the links in for you. You don't have to go hunting around for it. Just begin. Let's see together what God will do for us as we begin to feast on His Word. A significant quote from Dr. Horner's plan: "The key is to get into a habit for a month. Then you'll see you've probably been starving yourself....After just a few days the reading gets much easier; in a month it will be a habit, and in six months, you'll wonder how you ever survived before on such a slim diet of the WORD. And then--you'll tell others to start the system!!"

So I've started. Today is day two. If you choose to do this, let me know so I can root for you too.
And you and I read, read, read His Words of life, may we learn to be utterly satisfied and joyful in Him in a way we never dreamed of before. Because in His presence is fullness of joy, and all Scripture is God-breathed and as He breathes His life into us, we have shalom (we also have conviction over sin, but that's another post! you don't get to shalom without dealing with that).

And, yes, I do plan to go swimming this morning, but first things first!

http://www.the-reclamation-project.com/