What's your & ?

5/26/12 Saturday’s question for mulling is just that----“What’s your & ?” How do others really see you? How do you wish others saw you?

Example: Dotsy: Retired educator/librarian & __________________.

What nouns would be used to fill in the blank? Would my ampersand “eventually” include anything spiritual? 

What about an adjective? Diligent Dotsy & _________Dotsy.
Would any aspects of the fruit of the spirit come to mind to those who know me best?

I can already imagine ampersands my family would include----and that’s not music to my ears. I would like words like gentle and caring to immediately come to mind but fear those words would be “down the list.”

Consider your own ampersand. The first words that come to mind about a person usually identify them by position (mother) or profession. Yet, it’s the words that follow the ampersand that reveal character. Our essence as perceived by others follows the ampersand. It’s what we’re presenting to the world. The light of our soul. That’s why one’s ampersand is important and worthy of consideration.

What’s your & ?

Church Signs

5/25/12 Pithy with a Punch Church Sign

Bismarck, AR (5/24/12)---my camera was out of reach

Didn’t matter----words were lodged in my mind! Lodge them in yours!

NO GOD

NO PEACE

KNOW GOD

KNOW PEACE

LOST...........

5/23/12 Lost glasses---can’t  see tp blog.or read or dribe--feel -totallyat a  loss.

Meditations from the Psalter

5/21/12 Bonhoeffer calls Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible but the Hebrew title also means hymns. Either term, prayer or hymn, has a purpose in worship. Embedded within some of the psalms is another word which can aid one in meditation. Selah.  

“Selah” [celah], when used in a psalm invites the reader to pause and to reflect. A synonym for meditation."Selah Psalms" teaches that “Selah” means we should pause to carefully examine, measure, and value what has been said. (http://www.harvestime.org/Psalms/Selah.pdf) Sounds like our “Meditation Monday” practice to me.

Whether it’s a passage from the Psalms or another book in the Bible, it is good practice to measure the truth encountered. Read. Pause. Measure your thoughts with the whole truth of Scripture---for all truth from God has been given for our meditation, our reflection, and our application. So….one wants to get it right.

Bonhoeffer quotes Luther on the advantage of a “Selah” interlude in the psalms, “…for they demand  a quiet and restful soul, which can grasp and hold to that which the Holy Spirit there presents and offers” (Psalms the Prayer book of the Bible, p. 23) Practice meditating today under that guidance.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.

 I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.

 He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.  Selah

God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. (Psalm 57:1-3)

Today my meditation, from the psalter, turned to prayers for many on my "list" who are suffering from the calamaties caused by cancer---young and old alike.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: Touch the Senses

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5/20/12 From a “scent from the past” that carried me down memory lane, to the present joy of time in Texas with family of “chlorinated” boys, sweaty boys, stinky fish and doting parents…. it’s been a great week.

Gardenias "sugar the air" all around just like Mama Davenport did.

Community pool time

Field Day Prep



Varying degrees of  field day "cool"



Daddy time

All Liles' boys are #1 in my book.

Carrying on Pop-Pop's catcher position, at least for one  game.



The next one was even larger---or so the story goes!



Pop-Pop helper







Swimming lessons---prep for "Big Water"



Father & Son Teamwork



WEEKEND QUESTIONS

5/19/12 Librarians’ rule of thumb for alphabetic index filing is “nothing comes before something”. Ex. Jake’s Radio would precede Jake’s Radio Repair. Empty spaces are important. They have a purpose.

In today’s western culture, our society tends toward busy-ness---as if we need to fill all the spaces in our llives. A full schedule is what’s important. Is one’s own importance truly measured by a busy schedule?

Certainly in the Christian realm, one needs to carefully choose how he/she fills his/her schedule. To the “outside” world, stillness and quietness in the Lord’s Presence might look like nothing or a waste of “something” called time. Yet, that “so called” nothing space should precede all our scheduled “somethings”.  They have purpose---keeping all the rest of life in order.

In Mary and Martha’s story in Luke 10: 38-42, Martha, who is busy with lots of “somethings”, sees her sister, Mary, sitting at the Lord’s feet. Martha views  this inactivity as a space that should be filled with helping her. A nothing/space with no importance.  In response, Jesus says, “ Mary has chosen that which is needful.” Time with Him might appear as an empty space but it’s an important preface for all of life’s “somethings” that will follow.

Questions:

• What is needful in life?
•  Is there something I can clear from my schedule to allow me more time to sit in His Presence?
• Does it matter what others think if I choose to pull back and fill more of my empty spaces with Him?

TEXAS BOUND

5/17/12  Ah-h-h the joys of retirement---Texas in May with 5 little boys----oops one is now double digits. He might not appreciate the “little” label…..but then, his daddy is still my “little” boy, if you know what I mean!

FOCUS on Meditation

5/14/12 RX for Meditation from classroom sign in Olson Elementary, Allen, TX, that spoke to me of meditation. F.O.C.U.S

Face the Speaker---Seek His face

Open your eyes---To the truth of His Word

Close your mouth---Don’t do all the talking

Use your manners---Submit to Him

Sit still and silent---Stillness and silence---key in waiting on the Lord

“My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. (Malachi 2:5-6)

Ah-h-h to live such a worthwhile life as to reflect this truth.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: GARDEN TOUR

5/13/12 Garden Tour: A Garden of surprises and majesty. 7374 Abercrombie Lane. A “Master Gardener” lives here---that was not a surprise. Squirrel baffles that actually work. Tidy bird feeders. Stone walkways without mud traces. Different color blooms on the same plant. Roses with a glorious scent. 

DISCLAIMER : This is NOT my garden.:

At my house, “Squirrel Baffles” do not work; Oak Leaf hydrangeas do not survive; voles eat the roots of the hostas; chipmunks dig in the impatiens; Racoons haul off the bird feeders; and birds poop all over the patio furniture. Yet, even in my yard, “Creation's revealing Your majesty.” (“Indescribable,” Laura Story) Come on over anytime.

 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land; (Song of Songs 2:11-12)

A "cuppa" for the birds

 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:21)

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas --on my "Garden Bucket List"

A quiet nook---perfect for a cuppa and a good book

"Dolly Parton"---hybrid tea rose---so sweet

"Lady in Red"---a laced cap hydrangea

 Indeed, He hath made everything beautiful in his time:…..(Ecclesiastes 3:11) and we are all welcome to enjoy it! No surprise there!

Searchin’ & Seekin’….

5/12/12 ….answers to questions? On my “saturating Saturday”, several questions came to mind. Am I seeking “light”? Better yet, am I truly seeking the One who is the Light? Do I bend toward Him in such a way that others know that I’m seeking light---just like the tree in Ben’s park bends to seek the light? Am I “inclined” toward Him today? Does His light shine forth in my life?

 

Do others  Christians search for answers as they, too, seek the light?