rain, rain stay a while...

My friend and I went for a bike ride in the rain the other day.We spent a lot of time under the roof waiting in the downpours. The rain would let up and out we went.Didn't we have fun though! Why do we stay indoors when it rains? It's a one of a kind of thing, to play in the rain. I sometimes garden in the rain. It's not fun to dig then, but there are other things to do.
I decide today that I will purposefully go out in the rain this summer. There's so much fun in it! The ordinary takes on wonderful memory.

rain, rain stay awhile...
my glasses don't have wipers, but
weeds need pulling,
earthworms crawl,
trees are growing,
look at them all!

dog needs walking,
tail is mopping,
bike needs riding,
friend, I'm sopping!
laughing, laughing...

clouds are low,
mist is slow,
birds are chirping loud, I know,
capture childhood one more time,
before the life is older.

rain, rain stay awhile,
come again and bring your smile.

May 29, 2007

I've had an awesome day!
I've never really experienced the calm and refreshment of fasting and prayer. Until today. Today has become a holy day. I think I understand better now what it might mean to keep the Sabbath holy. It's a sweet time with God. Just reading His word and talking about things with Him. I feel so peaceful and so confident in Him.
There were others fasting and praying as well. A whole community of them. It felt like a smooth stream of water, the oars slipping in, water dripping off the end, and moving us forward. Today we saw our prayers answered. We are all in God's care. We are all very concerned and worried about the same thing. There is Strength. Almost palatable.
Why don't I do this more often? Do I really think that I can solve the most of life without actually stepping out and taking this kind of time with God? I loved it. I cherish it. He has given me great joy.
The Lord is good. His love is always there for us. His friendship is ultimately the most beloved treasure a person can experiance.
I've had an awesome day!

friends forever!

I'm delighted that you have accepted my invitation!
Welcome Ellen Rev, Summer and mamaluv! Delightful, well chosen names.
I look forward to visiting with you here!

'There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from its flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

shel silverstein

friends forever

Ladies Luncheon

I was helping my sister serve luncheon to a nice group of our mother's friends. The food was happily consumed. We had cleared the dishes from the tables and they were stacked neatly waiting to be washed. Mother was with her friends.
I took to washing the things that didn't fit into the dishwasher and our father and my sister were operating the commercial dishwasher. It was a humming time. (meaning...the same two songs were being hummed at the same time...repeatedly)
(Not by me, by the way.) Everyone was busy at work.
There came a racket in the assembly line.
The two at the dishwasher stopped the machine, opened the side door and found a stuck plate. Sister said, 'Hum'. Father removed the plate. Sister said, 'We should close the door before we begin again'. Father didn't hear and didn't think of it himself. Sister thought, 'Surely he knows what he's doing.' On went the dishwasher.
All I saw was a vast amount of water, spraying joyously at my Father. Time stood still for that moment and sprayed him full force...stopped him in his tracks as it were. Happily, he was wearing a large plastic apron. Sister calmly said, 'We should shut the valve.' and leaned over and shut the water off. Water dripped in the air...
I couldn't help myself and laughed until I cried.
The two of them stood there looking at me. I think they were in shock. I'm sure if I had been the soaked one, or the calm one, I would still be standing there too.
Their 'numb' wore off and slowly they started to laugh. Quite slowly, I mean.
'We've got a puddle here.' said sister, 'I'll get the mop.'
Father mopped for a long time.
Now, when our Mother came into the kitchen after her lovely lunch, I could only hold it in so long, before the whole story spurted out. I couldn't help it. I'm sorry.
She was nonplussed. Is that the right word? That's the right expression anyway.
Too bad I don't have a picture.

Wisdom

" Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
She raises her voice in the markets;
She cries at the head of the noisy intersections
[ in the chief gathering places ];
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks."
proverbs 1:20,21
When I drive down certain streets, like McPhillips or Nairne Avenue,
my existence is filled with fumes, roarings of engines, squealings of brakes,...
I can hardly stand it.
Summer mornings, the first thing I hear from my window is the sound of rushing traffic on # 9 Hwy. It's a terrible morning greeting for me. I'd much rather hear the woods, or the water...
I'm a country girl at heart. Traffic noises tire and irritate me.
There's the hum of the city, which I first noticed sitting at my daughter and son-in-law's 29th floor view window. That was different. It was the song of the city. The song of living.
When I read these verses, I see the Wisdom of God standing at my street corners,
hair flying, clothes whipped about by the wind of racket.
The Wisdom of God calling for my attention.
Listen to Me!
You can drive, drink your coffee, put your make up on, talk on your cell phone and near miss the car in front of you.
But can you hear Me?
Raise your head.
Do you see Me standing at your street corners?
It's another dimension, isn't it?
The noise of this world, trying to blare out the voice of God.
It takes the effort of quiet with Him...
" If you seek [Wisdom] as for silver
and search for skillful and godly Wisdom as
for hidden treasures,..." proverbs 2:4
We tune into what is most important to us.
We take joy and delight in these things.
" Lean on, trust in, and be confident
in the Lord with all your heart and mind
and do not rely on your own insight
or understanding." proverbs 3:5
I write these words as encouragement for my niece, for it is her 20th birthday today.
'I still see you, running down the lane, hair flying behind, little dog
keeping up at your side. It's been imprinted in my memory.
Today,I pray for you at this threshold of 20 years. This beautiful place.
Your life is before you, your potential is magnificent.
The Lord bless you.
Always.'

Everybody pray now!

We all have worries, serious worries about our children, relationships, day to day living, our health, the future... Life is hard.
Use the worry, I say, (which is connected to the intuition), to pray. If the worry indicator is high, up the prayers. If its lower, up the praise.
Bringing our worry before the Almighty God, is the only way I know to down it. Worry, pray, wait, trust. Short, simple, words. Difficult, short,simple,words.
Impossible. No.
Everything is possible with God. He takes the unbearable and makes it bearable. He takes the worry and fashions something beautiful out of it. He takes our prayer and sends a helping Hand.

Everybody pray now...
Everybody pray now!
Come on, sing with me!

" Don't worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need,
and thank Him for all He has done.
If you do this, you will experiance God's peace,
which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds
as you live in Christ Jesus."

philippians 4: 6,7

(p.s. tell your mother, too)

Now what's my job?

I feel energized today! It's been a long time since I have written here. Attention, my girls! I would like to invite some of my friends to participate on here. What do I do? How do I invite them? How do I change this into an invite only blog so that they can feel comfortable to come here. How's this for an idea? My friends and my family. It would be fun! Just writing my own thoughts is a little like talking to myself. End of this topic.
I'm reading this fabulous book called Three Cups of Tea - One man's mission to promote peace... one school at a time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Sister lent me the book. Won't say much about it except... the place he is building schools is Afghanistan. He's one man making a big, good difference. There have been many 'men' making a difference, and many times to the world's detriment. This guy is up there with Mother Theresa...( How can that be? you say ) Makes me wonder what I could do... One quote here, describing the man...' And like her daughter, she had come to the conclusion that the large, gentle man living two blocks away was cut from unusual cloth. "One snowy night we were barbecuing, and I asked Greg to go out and turn the salmon,..I looked out the patio door a moment later and saw Greg, standing barefoot in the snow, scooping up the fish with a shovel, and flipping it, like that was the most normal thing in the world. And I guess, to him, it was. That's when I realized he's not just one of us. He's his own species." You read the book and you understand what is meant here. He has a passion to improve the lives of the people in dangerous, mountainous Afghanistan and he crosses dangerous tribal, political war torn borders to build his schools, provide fresh water or build bridges...inspiring.
Now what's my job?
I'm a Christian. How am I going to make a difference in my world?