BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD

5/31/12 Grackles, crows, jackdaws, whatever their regional common name, have a glossy black plumage. At our house, they eat all the pricey bird food that hubby buys for the flickers and jays. Very territorial, their raucous “threats” scare off other birds, namely our little songbirds. (Wish they would scare off the squirrels.)

On a more positive note, I do appreciate that blackbirds are a monogamous species, and the established pair will usually stay together as long as they both survive.

Plus, blackbirds preening in front of our breakfast room window, another daily activity, is actually kind of fun to watch as they display immense “self-satisfaction”.

 Blackbirds usually displayed in literature as destructive were given a new “light” by dear friend and author, Ashley Bryan’s, depiction in Beautiful Blackbird.” (2003)

Blackbird in Ashley’s book says, "Color on the outside is not what’s on the inside. You don’t act like me. You don’t eat like me. You don’t get down in the groove and move your feet like me. (my favorite line)….Just remember, whatever I do, I’ll be me and you’ll be you.”

Those lines spoke volumes to me of acceptance and are so easily lined up with scripture’s admonition to not just look on the “outside.”

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (I Samuel 16:7)

Remembering

5/28/12  Memorial Day---my first without my favorite vet, Daddy.

 Listening and Doing--- After we sit and listen during times of scripture meditation, we should rise and act accordingly.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1:19-20, NIV)

Interestingly enough, this morning's Commercial Appeal included James 1:20 in the King James version as it's "Today's Bible Verse". For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Scripture worth remembering on Memorial Day 2012.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: TEXAS

5/27/12

Summerfield Pond---older boys ride bikes there to fish each afternoon

Morning walks show drought conditions still prevail in Allen, TX

Morning chores---To "squirt" the cleaner is the best job of all

Perusal on the patio---a grandboy after Shug's own heart

Everything's bigger and TALLER in Texas

King of friendship---what an honor for a kindergartener

His yearly sports' schedule bears testimony to this award

I would have voted him "Creative Writer" but he does love to "invent" things and blow up liter bottles with soda and vinegar

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?

“Let the Little Girl Dance”

5/11/12 “Let the Little Girl Dance”---I know this iTune download of mine is not spiritual in context but the words could have some spiritual connotations, if "dance" was used as a metaphor for life with the Lord. From her condition before salvation, (alone/without God) as a wallflower who sits out of the dance because she’s never accepted the offer of grace. Timidly, as she accepts Christ’s offer and moves toward Him. She passes by all the "worldly Buddys" (temptations that beckon) as she walks toward her Lord. It’s obvious that she does in fact want to “dance” with Him. Now, if she’ll just allow Him to lead!

(Little wallflower on the shelf)
(Standing by herself)


(Never had the nerve to take a chance)
(So let the little girl dance)

Let the little girl dance Let the little girl dance

She never danced before
So let her on the floor
(So let her on the floor)

Let the little girl dance
Let the little girl dance


She wants to give it a try
So let the little girl by
(So let the little girl by)

She's been a little wallflower on the shelf
Standing by herself


Now she’s got the nerve to take a chance
So let the little girl dance

Let the little girl through
She wants to pass by you


Buddy, can't you see
She wants to dance with me
(She wants to dance with me) (Billy Bland’s rendition, 1960s)

 All of this once again prompts my somewhat continual prayer---“Lord continue to lead me in the ”dance” you have chosen for me.”

TEMPER THE HEAT

5/10/12 Each morning Mother always made her tea for the day. Right in the glass pitcher. She taught me  to make perfect tea by adding the sugar while the water was hot. (We never called it "sweet tea," it just always was.) To keep the glass from breaking, she always put a table knife in the pitcher and would pour the water so that it hit the knife first. I guess that somehow dispelled the heat.

I was reminded of this today as I read a “keep your spoon in the cup” incident described by the author in Surprised by Oxford, as her former professor was encouraging her, a “new” believer.

Keeping the spoon in the cup keeps the china from cracking under the heat, she explained…..The metal of the spoon becomes a conductor, protecting the delicate china from extreme in temperature.

You need to keep the spoon in the cup, Caro….especially when things get hot. God lifts us up, but He also grounds us. Fear will get into the cracks; fear ultimately is what breaks us apart. (Weber, 289)

I mulled my mother’s teaching with Weber’s analogy and some needed “fear” related verses. Mulling, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 16:8, Psalm 27:1-3, Isaiah 41:10, John 14:27, II Timothy 1:7 & Hebrews 13:6, as I drank my English tea in my Hadley stoneware mug from KY. What a combo!

Dispelled. Dispersed. Diffused. All good action words for tempering heat. Heat that comes from struggles and fear. Fear that will crack us wide open if we don’t allow the truth from God’s word to infuse us and thus diffuse the heat that can break us.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

5/9/12 International relations. Where does it all start? In the office of the Secretary of State? In a dining room of an embassy? In a church? For Tony and Kristin, it began in their hearts. Before too long, those heart tugs and first thoughts of international "relations" gave birth to COCO, who at age 2, extended their family makeup to two. Though sketchy on all the details, it’s a known fact that an adoption can be arduous. Factor in trips to China and dealing with all the red tape mixed with finances, language barriers and the central government of The People’s Republic of China----well, you get the picture. But God…………(Ephesians 2:4)

Coco and her daddy meet Lucy and her mommy

The real picture you need to “get” now is this one---a proud Daddy sharing his beautiful daughter with his best friend’s (from high school) family. Tony practically grew up at our house. He’s one of those measured on the upstairs door jamb that will accompany me to the nursing home some day. His name placement is under Evan B.’s mark---who has also honored the door with the measurement of his 2 young sons. These friendships which have spanned the years now span many miles from South Carolina and middle Tennessee, to Brooklyn. 

On this visit, first time dad, Tony, whose Coco already has a 100 word English vocabulary, and son Josh, also a first time dad, had even more to share. Their daughters got to meet. These guys do diapers. Who would have thought? (though Coco is picking up training rather quickly) I envision future trips between the two families---the best way to remain friends and for the girls to be told of the importance of life long friendships, regardless of miles.

In all the hubbub of getting acquainted, we didn’t measure Coco on “the” door. On the positive note, that just means a return visit is in order----a great way to keep up that relationship.

“Master” Meditation

5/7/12 Enjoying an afternoon “cuppa” with some of Mary Jane’s homemade shortbread and a good book, I came across the author’s explanation of an Alexander Pope epigram that begs the question, "who is your master?"

'I am his Higness’ Dog at Kew:

Pray tell me sir whose dog are you.'

As Carolyn Weber states, we all have a master. As she puts it, “ No individual by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve.” (Surprised by Oxford, 5)

We all will serve something or someone. At that point in her life, Weber was her own master, thus serving herself. Garnering respect for herself alone.

My notes from yesterday’s sermon on a passage in Malachi had me asking myself questions. Is the Lord truly the Master of my life? Do others see my service and respect for Him? Does the Lord receive from me the respect that is due Him?

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty…..”(Malachi 1:6)

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul," writes William Ernest Henley in his poem, "Invictus".

Acceptance or rejection of God as the Master of one’s life seals our destiny. Though God made us in His own image, God gave us choices. One may choose to steer his ship, the vessel of his soul, with a single purpose---to be a praise to God’s glory. God becomes the Master/Captain of his vessel and leads Him on the path to eternity with Him.

On the other hand, a “self” master mistakenly thinks that he can control all aspects of his life, apart from God.  If he chooses his own destination, thus veering off God’s course, this choice can lead to destruction.

Who’s your master?