Inside

I have so enjoyed my early morning walks lately. The air is cool and refreshing before the heat of the day. The neighborhood where I walk is so unique and a favorite of many.
Many bungalows have been updated with new stucco, striking doors and lush landscape. As I walk by, I wonder about who lives in each one. Some have dogs that loudly announce my invading their space. Some have a lazy cat. One house has 10 + cats at various and ages and stages of development.
Some have clues as to their owners- the type of car or the state of the yard. Some seem vacant but you can see light inside! Others look like Curb appeal has just come to redecorate them.
Today I wondered aloud about the occupants of each house and the condition of the interior of each space. Then I hit me that God knows both the people in each one, including their heart condition, neither of which I have a clue about. He says 'Man looks on outward appearance but God looks on the heart. '
Now that is a point to ponder the next time I work so hard on my outward appearance or actions.

Cracked

Last year I lost my wedding ring. Actually it has had a rough 35 years. It was on it's third diamond, since I had lost the other two. This time I lost the whole ring! I am not sure how, but it MAY have gotten flushed down the toilet.
At any rate, Jon bought me a new ring. I selected a unique ring with two lovely opals. It was so different and I really liked the look.
Well, as life goes , one of the opals cracked. UGH! But the good news is that, at the time of purchase, we took out a protection plan so they will be sending me a check to use for a new ring. In some ways I am disappointed for I really loved the ring I had. But it was no good to me cracked and they could not repair it ,so there was no other option.
Our culture ignores cracked people, the mentally ill, the homeless, the drug addicts and more I could name. They are seen as worthless throw aways. We drive quickly past them or see them on the street and look the other way.
But God sees people differently. For one thing, he knows and loves us personally, including our hurts and hang ups. He is never surprised by the messes of our lives. He invites us to come to him, bruised and broken. In fact, he shines best out of our cracked lives.
Broken so describes my life ,with my OCD and anxiety and social ineptness. I am overjoyed that he does not throw me away but finds me useful, peculiarities and all.
I don't have to fix myself before I come to him.
He just says 'Come, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.'
I have taken him up on that invitation.
Have you?

Odd

We have an iron gate the opens into our courtyard. It is custom made with large grape leaves painted a nutmeg brown. Buddy and I go out it at least 5 times a day. Funny how you take something for granted and don't really look at it.
Well ,yesterday, Jon commented that some of the leaves are showing rust. I had not noticed and neither had Buddy, for that matter. This morning Jon proceeded to sand and repaint the whole gate, taking special care with the rust spots. It really looks nice.
I began to wonder why some of the leaves showed rust spots but most did not. What was the determining factor? They were all in the same place and obviously had the some amount of rain and sun.
Then my overactive mind went to Christians. They too can show various signs of wear, some more than others. Why? They all have the same Holy Spirit, whose job it is to make them more and more like Christ. They all have the Word to transform their thinking. But they, also all have a free will and can cooperate or not as they choose. The ones who allow sanding and refinishing by trials and don't whine but rest in the Father's love come forth like gold. The others, who wiggle and gripe, begin to show rust spots and will eventually require deeper sanding and repainting. They only make it hard on themselves.
So the next walk I take I am going to ask God to reveal which kind of believer I am, the pliable one he can form easily to His our image or the griper who required extensive work.

This too will pass, I hope

So, What have I been up to, you ask?
Life!
In the last little while we have:
Had to deal with the lights not working in the upstairs bath with company coming
Lost in death a beloved 'granddog'
Attended a pet funeral, a human funeral and a picnic all on the same day
Taken our daughter to the ER sure she was dying ( it probably is colitis)
Seen a dear friend of many years move away to make a fresh start after years of a very painful marriage
Dealt with the brake light that came on while I was driving and the manual said to pull over and stop ASAP, though my son in law/ mechanic said it's OK, go home
Discovered that the crash in the dining room was our lovely stain glass crashing to the floor since the screws came lose ( no damage!)
Listened to the dishwasher and the dryer making ominous noises
Jon had a shower in the dark when the electricity went out
My sister by love and her husband both have new cancer diagnoses
Our dog sustained some kind of knee( who knew dogs had knees) or hip injury to the tune of $74.00
I could go on but I won't.
In the book I am reading it says Believers have a bulls eye on their backs. The enemy of their soul uses them for target practice. Praise God he can't touch us without God's OK ( see Job)
Another thought is that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.
Stuff happens.
But its sure knocks the wind out of your sails.
And the motivation to write.

Alarm clock

Who invented alarm clocks anyway? As a routine we have very little use for them. But during the summer, when Jon has to be up at 5:00 AM, we are forced to use one. As it is, I find that I wake often to see the time and check on the clock, lest if fail to off. That does not make for good sleeping to say the least. And why does the best sleep seem to come at 4:30AM?
When that nasty alarm does go off, we have purposely put it across the room so we can't hit the snooze button. It would not be good to sleep on, unaware of the time slipping by.
We both find that this schedule is wearing. Being up so early does mean we get lots done in the cool of the morning, he at work and me at home, but we get tired easier too.
And we have come to hate that alarm going off. That attitude toward a clock is really silly, since it is not the clock's fault we have to get up so early. It is just doing the job we gave it to do. It is delivering the wake up call , vital if one plans on keeping one's job.
God sent the prophets to deliver wake up calls too and they were not any better received. Some were bad mouthed, some stoned, some fed to lions and some killed. Yet they had a very important message to deliver from God. They called the people to wake up and take a look at their lives. They were violating the vows they made to God. They needed to make things right with Him before time ran out.
Paul called for the same thing.
Test yourselves . Are you in the faith or not? Are you walking faithful or not? Wake up and deal with your lives. Stop sleeping. It's time to deal with your lives.
That is an alarm that I had better not sleep through or ignore.

I can't hear you

We got Buddy 9 years ago this July. It was several days after the 4th of July. He showed up at the school and no on claimed him. Wednesday they were to call the pound to retrieve him and Jon's soft heart could not send him to his death. So he came home with him that night and the rest is history.
One thing we figured out the next year on the 4th is that he is terrified of the fireworks. Probably that was how he ended up homeless. He may have run in fear and lost his way. I am still shocked that no one put an ad in the paper for him. He is really a great dog except for a few tiny flaws.
Due to his fear of fireworks, we have to drug him each year ,so he can survive. In our neighborhood they begin to shoot them off about 1-2 weeks before the 4th and a week or two after . So it is a long haul for poor Buddy.
This year we suspected that his hearing might be slipping some but we were still on alert for the fireworks to begin. We have only a few before the fourth. On the fourth, we have lots of explosions, kind of like a war zone. But the good thing was that Buddy did not hear any of them!! Now, I know, that that is sad , but what a relief for him to not be traumatized night after night.
So how is your hearing? Is it slipping?
Have you heard from the Lord lately?
Or have you gone spiritually deaf.
Jesus said that his sheep know and hear his voice.
Do you need a spiritual hearing aid?
The Holy Spirit would be glad to open your ears to hear God speak.
Be like Samuel:
Speak Lord, your child is listening.

Crooked walk

I have a neighbor that I have walked with a few times recently. She usually walks further than I want to go so I have not really been out with her that much.
The other day I joined her and her friend, telling them right off I only had so much time to walk. We walked a street or so and then she said loudly,
" Oh, I forgot that I don't like to walk on your right since you tend to run over me in the process."
Did I say she is very direct???
Well, I know that my face turned red as I moved the extreme outside so that no one was on my right side.
The rest of the walk was uneventful as we chatted about this and that. Then I had to leave and head home to shower for an appointment.
Do I really walk crooked? My dear friend who I have walked with weekly for 9 years has never mentioned it. Of course she is gentle and maybe did not want to hurt my feelings.
Now I feel paranoid. Do I dare walk with my neighbor again? What else will she criticize me for?
Then I recalled that sin in crooked walking. It is also missing the mark, as in a target.
So on my walk with the Lord tomorrow morning early ,I am going to ask Him to point out where I am walking' crooked'.
I will check back with you later on what He reveals, well, maybe!

Another miracle

We have or had a unique bush in the front by the garage door. We called it our' poodle bush 'since it was three rounded shapes one on top of the other. I have to admit that I would often forget to water it since it was so far away from the rest of the front yard greenery. It took to leaning more and more and finally, before winter, Jon pulled it uo and tossed it out. I felt sad but not for too long.
Just about two weeks ago I noticed that suckers are coming up in that spot, sort of like the Eucalyptus tree I mentioned recently. Jon is sceptical about it becoming anything but we will see.
I thought about it and the tree, which is now growing like wildfire. They obviously had great roots that reached down to unseen water or they would have never been able to regrow.
Both David and Jeremiah described such a tree.
The man who delights in God's word is like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields it's fruit in it's season and it's leaf does not wither and in whatever it does it prospers.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the lord, and whose trust is the Lord . He will be like a tree planted by the water that extends it roots by a stream It will not fear when the heat comes but it's leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in drought or cease to yield fruit.
With the heat of summer coming, I will watch these two miracles and my own life too. Will I be green in the tough times, having my roots in the water of the word?