FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY

My first "morsel" of thought this morning came in the form of a memory.

Making "Snow Cream" with the kids. Scooping off just the pristine tops of the flakes...

and stirring them in our "melty" ice cream, because I rarely had cream or whole milk on hand.

SNOW DAYS! For both kids and teachers those 2 words are music to their ears.

Why? 

Maybe it's God's way of slowing us all down. 

Snow from Heaven. (Isaiah 55:10)

A way of hemming us in with his "silent" beauty....

away from busyness. (Ecclesiastes 3:11a & Psalm 46:10)

A time for family.

A time to look out the kitchen window.

A shelter of sorts.

A time to focus on Him and His hand in all of creation!(Genesis 8:22)

Yummy "food for thought Friday" as I sprinkle just a tad of snow on top of my Amaretto Cherry Cordial ice cream.

INTERCESSORY INTROSPECTION

Nine years ago today----tho it's not Thursday, it is a throwback.
A throwback to the first time I ever heard the word biopsy as it related to me.

But God....now as then, used today's My Utmost for This Highest "Intercessory Introspection," to minister to me.
According to Chambers, the psalmist implies in Psalm 139, many of God's attributes. "God of the early mornings, God of the late at nights, God of the mountain peaks and God of the seas."

Omniscient. Omnipotent. Omnipresent.
"But God goes even beyond that---with further horizons, deeper darkness, higher peaks and greater depths." My last nine years have been a testament to that. Through all the ups and downs, and unexpected bumps in the road, God has been there,

As Chambers states, "Thou who art the God of all of these, be my God." was and still is the prayer of my heart.

Now, as I look back I see the Lord's answer to my request. His omniscience hemmed me in---behind and before, He laid His hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5) Before my diagnosis, throughout my cancer journey and even nine years, later,  His full knowledge of all of me, guides and protects me.

Still His Son is intercessor on behalf of all believers. A deep personal truth worth introspection.

MORE SHEDDING

These days all anyone seems to want to shed is weight. But some things bear more weight on our lives than body pounds.

In Anne Morrow Lindberg's Gift from the Sea , a book I regularly read at the beginning of each new year, the author talks of "shedding." I'm sure I've read the term multiple times, but this year it jumped off the page and right into my psyche!

Gems for shedding from pages 30-35: (Lindberg words in quotes, Paraphrase, mine)
At the beach (or in "retreat' one learns the art of shedding; how much one can get along without.
"...how little one can get along with---not how much." Clothes first---not much needed. What a relief!! (Relief is one of my favorite experiential nouns. DAL)

After the physical shedding of "extra" clothes, shedding of vanity seems a natural occurrence. A shedding of pride ensues.

I will ask into my shell only those friends with whom I can be completely honest. I find I am shedding hypocrisy in human relationships. What a rest that will be! The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask. (Lindberg, p. 32)

May these "sheddings" bring a sincere simplicity of life that offers serenity in 2018---for all of us. 

CHOOSE TO SHED???

Maybe 2018 is the year to shed "choose" as My One Word!

Hmm-m-m---"shed" conjures thoughts.
Remove the mask. Give up the pretense. On no---what will people think.

Yet, I'm already pondering which mask to shed first. Maybe normalcy. In the scheme of things, I don't seem as normal as everyone else I know in my age bracket.

We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to, can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2, MSB)

That verse sounds like transparency without self-promotion. Oh how easy it is to type what might make me more acceptable to others. Hm-m-m, that might be one more trait to "shed"---putting the opinions of others about me, before God's opinion.
Please God, not man. (Galatians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:4) Shed the rest!
Bear with me in these inchoate entires as I find my identity in Christ alone & find my way to blogging in 2018.

WAITING---I'M NOT A FAN!

My One Word for 2017 was "choose." I definitely would not "choose" waiting.

But....sometimes we don't have a choice. Life chooses for us.

ARG-G-G--more waiting!

 Finally, 3 hrs later!

Grateful for Jeremiah 17:14 verse from brother, Bobby for my hubby.

Actually we need a lot of Isaiah 40:31 "waiting" over here---to gain strength and not grow weary as we begin 2018, not as we would have chosen.

Mother would have served us a double portion of black-eyed peas!

CHOOSE: CLOSURE

Closure---a sense of resolution or conclusion of an artistic work. Certainly, that's a stretch thinking my blog is an artistic work but I did want closure to these 2017 "Choose" entries.

But God..........had a an interruption in mind. So, plans of celebration were cancelled and my happy New Year "ears" remain in the "ready" position, tho not to be used this year.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me that God has a plan. And the last few days we have altered our plans as the Lord has directed our steps. (Proverbs 16:9) His choice for the way we would close out 2017.

CHOOSE: LESS THAN ORDINARY

Sometimes Dove "less than ordinary messages" are "spot-on," especially when they're tucked inside the "white and dark chocolate swirls" Yummy swirls, virtually impossible to find, unless one digs around for them in a mixed bag.

But....of the 9 spot-on yet, different chocolate messages I consumed, from sing aloud, solve arguments with a dance-off and quote your dad, the bookstore  one caught my fancy!

Actually go to a bookstore. Hmm-m-m-m.......Go to an actual bookstore. 

No matter how you say it, it's a "novel" idea!

So.... Today, I choose the extraordinary---a brick and mortar bookstore owned by locals!

CHOOSE: TIMELESS

Timless is a tough concept for a time compulsive one. Earlier time compulsive, blogs verify that malady as a part of my "make-up."

Ashley Bryan's clock in his Isleford, ME home.

Dear friend, Ashley Bryan tells me I need to learn to live on "island time." (John 10:10) As an Isleford, ME resident with only 20 year round neighbors, Ashley lives what he preaches, at least when he's on his island, population 65 in 2013. Since his best friend Soos died this year, I assume the population is now 64. (Psalm 90:12)

He lives well, wisely and humbly, even though he is is 94. (James 3:13)

Island time embraces "loving God supremely, serving others well" (Allen Bible Church) and living life moment by moment in His timing with a grateful heart. (Proverbs 27:1, Matthew 6:34) 

Timeless truth from an islander! (Psalm 16:11)

CHOOSE: NEARNESS

Growing up in the Methodist church in Hoptown, one tid-bit I recall is analogous with sitting near a roaring fireplace. If one doesn't feel the warmth, guess who moved away from the fire. Similarly if one doesn't feel the warmth of God's presence, guess who moved? Not God. He is Emmanuel, "God with us!"

Psalm 73:28 reminds us "it is good to be near God."

The verse continues, "I have made the Lord God my Refuge." Psalm 46:10 expands the thought giving understanding of the resulting strength that comes to one who chooses the nearness of God as a refuge. When I "move away" from that nearness, I suffer, as do others around me.

I know because I have chosen my own strength these past weeks and thus failed miserably! 

Control. Dread. Fear. Insensitivity. Ire. Irritability.  By-products of my own life when I move away from the warmth of His love,  

As a new year approaches, I hope to change my direction moving closer to Him.  May I allow that nearness of Him, to not only give me refuge but His strength as well. 

Nearness to Him is the essential for Christ-like living. 

CHOOSE: TEA-rrific TRIO

TEA-rrific trio, indeed!!!

New mug. "New to me" black tea. New Ann Voscamp book.

Such pleasures make it so easy to give thanks. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

For a tired, black tea loving, avid reader it's what was needed----a TEA-rrific trio just for me!