SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: Christmas at the farm....

12/23/12 ....Full Circle Ranch---always so welcoming. Everyone is invited in but Jesus comes first!

Berlin UMC members and ALL members of the household of faith and the  Old Berlin community always welcome! 

This year's fun decorations for upcoming holiday party are all about the "Light." 

Crooked Tree a story of redemption for children and dedicated to Inge Smith, Stefan's mom, who celebrated 6o years of teaching this year at Smith Pre-School in Franklin, TN . 

“We dedicate our book to Inge Smith, who has devoted 60 yeas toward educating young children of Franklin,” Wood wrote in the dedication. “She leaves and indelible mark on all young ones she teaches and has made many crooked trees stand straight and tall.”

Donning.....

12/20/12 ....for first time in days. Underwire. Deodorant. Real clothes. (TMI, I know) Feeling somewhat better----of course I am, since I'm headed to the doctor. Hope to take a grateful spirit with me ---after all, he is "working me in." It helps that hubby was once Doc's racquetball coach. 

I need to focus on what God has taught me through this "extended" illness (day #11) & be grateful.

Life lessons: 

• Being a complainer  is NOT a good thing----it doesn't help anyone, especially me. 
• I need to cry out to the Lord and not to others. 
• Focusing wile praying without an open Bible is very difficult---almost impossible for me for any length of time. 
• My heart is easily overwhelmed by by tragedy of recent days and I need godly direction on absorbing such info as well as any action to be taken. 
• I need to seek His truth in all physical and emotional suffering. 

I know that joy and suffering are two halves of  the wholeness of my faith. Psalm 61 is where I'm starting to keep this thought at the forefront of my meditation. Psalm 73 also comes to mind. Can't wait to see what the Lord teaches me when I don my prayer shawl, come out from "under the influence" of meds and allow Him to "restore" me.

Smiley gifts

12/19/12 Some gifts just make you smile---this one does because it is a "grand" one----our ID. Grandparents live here! Old men and old women!

Grandchildren are the crown of old men,....(Proverbs 17:6)

Prayers for Michael

12/18/12 Michael B. from IL is at St. Jude today for his scans. Praise the Lord for all the answered prayers for his health as you lift prayers on his behalf today. Please pray for good results and God's best for him throughout his life. They are here only briefly and I am too sick to be around anyone, much less a precious St. Jude patient.

Here are some pix from his last visit in September.

Michael & sister Ellie 

Sharing books (no surprise there) w/ Ellie and camera shy Michael 

Michael turned 5 this year!!!

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

“Who, What, How, Why, Where” meditation needed….

12/17/12 As have most Americans, I have been consumed this weekend with the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut that resulted in the grisly shooting deaths of 20 elementary school first graders.

Innocent children---the age of my grandson, Caleb, and the precious little kindergartener who lives across the street and hurried out this morning to give me a “princess” picture that she had painted, so that I could hang it on my fridge.

Who could even think of such a devastating act? What forces of darkness are we facing in our own country? How could such a tragedy happen in small town USA? Why do bad things happen to good people---especially young, innocent children and caring teachers? Where is God when the hurt is so incredible?

Years ago, I read that evil is live spelled backwards (E. Stanley Jones) and evil is representative of what occurs when we try to "live" with our backs turned toward God.  So how do we, members of the household of faith, respond to those in the midst of horrific pain and  suffering caused by such evil?

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (I John 3:18)

Prayer. Prayer for others. It’s the act of intercession and brings comfort, peace and extra measures of grace, both to the pray-er and the one for whom he prays. God’s love and grace prayed on behalf of others need to be the front line of our response.

Prayer, and its supernatural comfort, is even being discussed on national TV.  Words of comfort don’t seem to be adequate but spirit-filled prayers allow God, by His spirit, to touch the very soul of the sufferers.

But God……reminds us in His word that our battles in this fallen world are dark and the spiritual force of evil is very much present.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

Meditating on that and interceding in prayer for those who have lost so much might be part of the answer to those hard questions. Our actions, armed with God’s truth, are so needed in this fight against evil.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: Austin, TX

12/16/12 “Don we now our gay apparel.......troll the ancient Yuletide Carol”

with all its fa, la, la, la, las, had me asking myself, “What am I donning?” What kind of cheerful countenance am I putting on while lying in bed?

Remember the old Four Seasons song verse, “I’d change my sad rags into glad rags, if I could?” Sounds like a choice to me. So I got up and decided to post Snapshots to remind me of the wonderful “pre-Christmas” days, I had prior to getting sick. “Putting on” positive reflections of God’s goodness---those are the glad rags I am donning.

A-men--Sign said it all! 

Opulent Driskill hotel---built in 1886

In Austin TX, residents decorate trees all along the roadside---this one obviously done by a UTx  fan!

A beautiful state capitol decorated for Christmas with carols playing in both English and Spanish

Whole Foods flagship store with more pepper varieties than I've ever seen

Fun in 78° temps

Tea at the Driskill with Gigi and Bonnie, my young friends

6th street---home of the dueling pianos and lots of "live" music

A "teacup" tree at the Tea Embassy---right up my alley

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

One is really “decked out” with the Lord---so it should show in my countenance even from my sickbed. I felt better just looking at the pics---hope you will as well.

Saturday Summary

12/15/12 “Misery loves company” NOT! This misery wants comfort.

On TV all mysterious afflictions are diagnosed and cured within a 60-minute time span after a BIG dose of antibiotics. Though I’m in the 6th day of my flu-type malady, with lots of drugs, I keep thinking it can’t get much worse,….but it does.

Sleep is incremental, at best. It hurts to inhale. It “stinks” to exhale with a tongue coated with “Halls” blue. Cough pills take 2 hours to kick in, and energy is non-existent.

I want “southern” comfort, not the booze kind---the “bless your little heart” kind that comes with steaming chicken and noodles and iced sweet tea to balance the pain of a burning throat. I want assurance that I’ll be “all better” SOON!

But God….has life lessons for me. He wants to be my comfort. He wants me to learn through this experience that I might offer comfort to others in such affliction so that they might be encouraged and not lose heart. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7) 

He wants me to focus on “nursing care” given by hubby and the sustenance provided by others. He wants me to focus on Him as my Jehovah Jireh, the one who provides.

He wants me to quit complaining----did I hear an “A-men” to that!*

*Hm-m-m-m, I did not increase the size of the font on that last sentence. Think maybe I really need to heed that!

"Poor Me" update

12/14/12 Still sick. Have taken to the bed. Drugged, because lying down exacerbates the drainage and coughing.


Words of wisdom just received from blog reader who has "real" suffering---just like her---reaching out to comfort others, not focusing on her own pain.

Remember that the trials of others don't eliminate the magnitude of your own suffering.  Their suffering is theirs, but yours is yours and just as bad for you as their suffering is for them.  Just different kinds of suffering.  God works in and through them all.  I'll be praying for peace, grace and your full recovery in the midst of your "interruption." Carolyn O

SUFFERING....interrupting my plans

12/11/12 Suffering that's physical, but temporary---so what's the BIG deal, Dotsy? Too tired and weak to get out of bed. Too miserable to sleep.  Fever. Chills. Head ache. Sore throat. Cough. Yet, I know that in the scheme of things, my malady is minor.  But… right now it feels like MINOR in all caps! It’s interrupting my plans. Plans to be with friends in celebration and plans to be with other friends in the midst of their suffering. “Worthy plans,”are they not?

I have just had a fun, refreshing Austin, TX, trip with chums---it's our 23rd annual, and that was followed by a glorious visit to Doris' farm, not a sweeter place on earth for soul restoration. So, truly I should have NO complaints. Get over yourself, Dots!

One of my blog readers has chronic, severe headaches and she continues to find God's grace in every aspect of her 3-year search for answers.  This year I even had the privilege of transporting a “spiritual giant” to chemo and I NEVER hear her complain though I'm sure chemo was not originally her plan.

Another dear friend just emailed encouraging words because she, too, is now going to have the privilege of being there for a neighbor/friend as she starts her chemo journey. She’s where I want to be once again. Tonight I learned that sweet J.H.’s lymph node results were not what we had all hoped for. We had prayed “God’s best” for her. So….this must be part of His plan. But….my plan is to be there for her. His plan is that I will wait until I am healthy. I just need to trust His plan.

In fellow cancer sojourner, Michèle Phoenix’s, song, “You Are” (about her MAC cancer journey) she wrote,

"That this journey I follow with its joy and its sorrow,

is a gift I embrace 'cause it flows from Your grace.

I will trust in Your goodness in my season of weakness 

'cause it is what it is---but I know that You are who You are!"

 I have learned these last few years that it is in the classroom of suffering, (whether spiritual or physical---with ranges from minor to terminal), that the Lord teaches us life lessons. Lessons that build trust. Trust in Him, not self.

We're not doubting that God will do the best for us, we're wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. -CS Lewis

So, my plan tonight, in my semi-drug-induced state, is to head to bed with Romans 12:12 in my heart and on my lips and to pray for the aforementioned folks in the midst of their “hard place,” that they might be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction and fervent in prayer.” Maybe I need to add myself to that plan!

HEARTFELT MEDITATION

12/10/12 Think about this.............

What you say flows from what is in your heart (Luke 6:45)

Have you been surprised recently about the words that have spewed from your mouth?

When one’s heart is rooted in gratitude, the fruit of the lips will be words of joy and encouragement.

What are your words revealing about the condition of your heart?

A heart submitted to God (James 4:7) will begin to see God’s hand of grace in every aspect of life and be grateful. Appropriate words will follow.