DOUBLE DIGIT

Double-digit birthdays are biggies. Hallmark knows this and takes full advantage.

But the first double digit seems the BEST---a real milestone! 

For Caleb it was an extended celebration of sorts---from party with friends earlier in the month to a celebration with extended family days before---a pogo stick was even delivered to the door and a family dinner at Texas Land and Cattle on the “real” day!

Happy 10^th Birthday to our football playing fisherman CDL!
Cabela's awaits you with open arms anxious to help you spend your birthday "bucks."

SAD-urday

Pinkness came......in her pink tutu pajamas.....

....Pinkness.......captivated her cousins from the youngest to the oldest.....

......and all the ones in between.

Pinkness conquered....right down to her pink-tipped socks in the cousins' "good-by" picture.
Saying good-by to all these "grands" made this a real SAD-urday!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pre-Meal photos trying to "beat" the rain. Not a fave activity for kids but at least we have it!!

Plus, each receive an authentic soccer jersey from a Turkish team thanks to Serdar Bey who "shopped" for my grands so each one would have one. They LOVED them!!

Set up same as 2 years ago so we could see the changes. 

GLEANINGS

Gleaning. A picking up. A gathering. 

In Scripture we see it as the Lord's provision when Ruth came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. (Ruth 2:2-4)

I often glean spiritual truth from non-fiction books. Some gleanings are noteworthy.

For me, when short on time, I often approach a book with a glance at the Table of Contents. 

Much info can be gleaned from there to aid my "quick read" even if I read from the back...forward. 

The true gleanings, though, are the leftovers. Those phrases or thoughts which feed my mind after I have put the book down. Some books offer more than others.

With morning tea in hand, teach us to want : longing, ambition and the life of faith by Jen Pollock Michel offered a few gleanings:

Clarity and certainty are not the soil in which faith grows. (p. 112)

Prayer is where we meet God with all our humanity hanging out. (p. 113) 

The prayers of our struggle prepare the way for surrender, even praise. (p. 122)

Disappointing news might not have one in a conspicuous spiritual tantrum....but flinging silence at the sky is NOT at all a Mary type answer. 'I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' (Luke 1:38) (p.110)

Seeing agnostic Mary's life fall apart, her friends tell her to pray anyway.
"Yield up what scares you. Yield up what makes you want to scream and cry. Enter into the quiet. It's a cathedral. "
(But) how does getting on your knees do anything for you?" Mary asks.
"It makes you the right size." (p. 65)

That last one's a keeper---a true "prayer posture" gleaning for me.

Happy 40th Birthday!

Today is the birthday of our middle child---our younger son, Megan's hubby and Lucy's daddy. Where has time gone??

Prayers offered---straight from scripture. 

Pix to follow---

Frail-TEA

A tea drinker in a coffee drinking world----that can prove problematic sometimes. Even inhospitable. 

Irrational ailurophobia.

An "old lady" chosen to speak and teach.

Second guessing. Questioning. 

These frailties continue to pop up. Robbing me of my joy of warm memories of a land and people who touched my heart.

Frail-TEAs----a cuppa served from the pit, if not used for His glory. 

Praises for a BIG cuppa Turkish tea in my special "gift" from those who accepted me with all my frailties and loved me for who I am in Him. Served with remembering MP's quote made it all the sweeter. (Psalm 90:14)

My frailty is an act of worship when turned toward Him. (Michèle Phoenix)

Scarci-TEA to Opportuni-TEA

"In our weakness He is strong" is a familiar verse to most Christians. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

However, last week in Turkey, I saw the essence of that verse in a new light. His light. 

I saw my scarcity as His opportunity. 

My opening keynote speech was delivered with "scarce" light and "new" bifocals which made clearly reading my notes virtually impossible. 

The result had me sharing words  and experiences which I had not written down. Afterwards, a lady tearfully approached me and said thanks for sharing. 

"I thought I was the only one who had ever experienced that ." she said. 

We talked and it was as if the Lord used those words to release her from guilt and to renew a "right spirit" within her.

When my physical strength waned from lack of sleep, younger members of the team came alongside this "senior member" and offered "an arm" as we climbed the hill in Ulus toward the castle.

Last Wednesday, as we walked the road above the refugee camp, I was privileged to deliver food to families living down those narrow paths past the garbage. 

A needy place. A place of abandoned properties. A place with hungry children.

A place where the possibility of ISIS members roamed. A place deemed unsafe by some. A place of scarcity of food, both physical and spiritual. (Matthew 25:35)

At one crowded "home" a Syrian gentlemen invited us in. His "stove" offered us heat, and though he offered tea, we politely declined by "patting our chest"---  a gesture of thanks, but no thanks, as we were unable to accept because of time constraints. 

This stranger invited us in.....and offered hospitality out of his meagerness. S asked if we could pray.  He said yes. Together......Syrians, Turks and Americans bowed in prayer. 

I saw scarcity in lives of others that God used as an opportunity for the household of faith to share His love with both food and prayer. (Pix of family removed for their safety.)

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, (Isaiah 58:10)

In Turkey, my cuppa scarci-TEA was clearly filled many times with His opportuni-TEAs.

Opportunities to allow me to experience afresh His sufficiency for myself as well as others.

Prayers of Deliverance

Where in the world is Dotsy? Not here----tho I was this time last week. 

Antalya was planting trees and flowers and sprucing up there land for the arrival of the world's leaders.

I was.....Studying God's Word. Praying for others. Praying for those to come.

The morning I left, the lobby was filled with the "advance" teams. Heightened Security. Advance teams responsible for the safety of world leaders. Yet, the President of France, François Hollande, is not in attendance because of the terrifying security breach in his country.

Deeply aware of the tragic cycle of continuing violence around the world, especially in light of the recent terror in Paris, I am grateful to have been a part of prayerful intervention in this land just last week. May the prayers of many of us who walked these paths prepare the world leaders' hearts to hear from the Lord. True security comes only through Him. Only He can "deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:13)

Dancing.....all the way home.

Even Lufthansa aided my "dance" all the way back to the states!
As a bone weary traveler it soothed my soul.
So grateful that there is a "time to dance" even in a cramped airplane seat in the economy section!

3 hours left in a 9 hour trip---an added affirmation---3 hours is doable!
Connection after "customs" was NOT doable by airport standards.....but God answered Ruth's prayer and the departing flight from Chicago to Memphis was delayed in Biloxi and arrived "late" by airport standards, but just right by His.
Dancing....all the way home in our dreams as we slept the final leg of our flight!

Nightly News: Terrorist Attacks in Paris

A cuppa securi-TEA is needed all over the world.

Where in the world is Dotsy?

Dotsy is wherever they serve Turkish tea! Turkish tea is one of the best teas ever brewed!
Imagine that!
Tea with "yummy" breakfast served by my Turkish hostesses.

Tea served during a school break. Love their shapely teacups.

Tea at lunch served with dessert.

Tea in the afternoon served by the Turkish shop keeper.

Tea offered in a Syrian refugee's "camp home."

Tea harbor side in Antalya. Everyone imbibes.

This must be what heaven will be like.
Tasty tea all the time......that's where you'll find Dotsy.

Going....Going.... GONE!

Going....Going....this time GONE!

Guess where?

 Go ye into all the world. (Mark 16:15)

Going...............Wherever Jesus calls.......................!

Fortune Cookie Fun

Even our "Sunday" waitress at Formosa knew which cookie to give me.

Talking in Circles

Speaking in tongues. Speaking in circles. All are confusing for a listener. Translators are needed.

I speak in circles because I think in circles. One thought is not completely out of my mouth before I am sidetracked and in the middle of yet a new and different thought. Too often, I don't finish with verbal closure,  I merely tag on the beginning of a new thought. In other words, I am hard to follow in conversation.

Maybe other "elderly"folks struggle as well, as evidenced by the FBOFW comic in this morning's newspaper. "The man talks in circles."
Certainly, it's been an aspect of my speech recently because in March, I posted a Circular Nature blog entry along these same lines of disjointed thoughts.
I tend to think ahead and my thoughts never seem to quite catch up with my speech. Such distraction has been prevalent lately.

With family and friends, that's not so-o-o bad. But....on my upcoming trip I will be teaching folks from many nationalities and I don't want the translations to be garbled or get bogged down because of my circular language expressions.

I'm asking the Lord to grant clarity of speech so that "the words of my mouth....would be acceptable..."  (Psalm 19:14) as well as asking Him to "guard my mouth and keep a watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3) so that my words don't go down those hard to follow rabbit trails of our western culture. Please join me in that petition that my talking in circles would cease----at least for this upcoming event.

R 'n R

Alliteration appeals to me. Alliteration stays a tad longer in my memory!

Refreshing blog entry.

R&R =Retreat blog entry.

So......it is no surprise that this reflective image caught my eve.

Repenting and refreshing go hand-in-hand but notice which comes first!

Words that truly "reflect" the One who refreshes. Refreshing, tho conditional, is readily available