The Star

 

          Throughout the summer plants and flowers take turns being the star of the show. One will shine and show off especially beautiful petals while another is fading off.  There are many favorites but this is one of my most favorites, the mandevilla.  With its long tendrils, vines, and continual blooms throughout the summer warmth it is so dramatic and striking that it takes the prize.  Right now, the freezing snowy weather is striking my mandevilla down for the winter, although it lasted through the fall months in the sun room.  It is just a special star in the garden with brilliant almost fluorescent petals that draw your eyes.  

          People like to be the star of the show, too.  Each of us sometimes get in the rut of thinking that we are the center of life.  So many verses in God’s Word tell us that God cares for us, He loves us, He died for us, He saves us, He fills us, He walks with us, He never forsakes us, He answers our prayers, He protects us, He feeds us, He guides us, He plans for us, and the list goes on.  Sometimes God does so much for us that we start thinking that we are the star.  Recently God abruptly literally stopped me in my tracks.  It’s like He spoke out loud to me!  “You are not the star.  You are not the center.  You are not what life is about.  I am.  I am worthy of all praise, honor, and glory.  I am the Star.  Worship Me.  You need to rearrange your thinking.  You need to repent of your self-centered thinking.  My work in the world is way bigger than your little life.  Let go of your hurts and worries and look at Me.  I am the Star.”

          There was an immediate relief in my heart and mind!  A gigantic burden slipped off.  A clarity in vision and purpose filled my mind.  Life isn’t about me - it is about the Star and about His plan.  Sometimes we get so focused on our little life that we get tunnel vision.  It was invigorating to have God stop me in my tracks and refocus my vision.  It also took worries and frets and fears away, putting them where they belong - on Him.  Repenting released my heart in an amazing way!  What a wonderful and strange God!  God is nothing like us.  God is in another category!  And oh, how glad we are!  God is the Star!                    

                                                                                                                  K.C.

Unexpected Expectations

 

          I’ve been cleaning up the raised beds and pots of sad leaves and debris.  Rains have come and flowers have said good by for the season.  Expectations of withered leaves and bare branches have taken over.  It’s always with some sad thoughts I tuck away the beds for winter.  But one dreary day my attention was drawn to something purple in the side flowerbed.  Low and behold the old fashioned bluebells were blooming once again!  They had died off and now had grown back!  Now that was the unexpected expectation!  I had expected everything to be totally done and dead, but here they were growing lovely as ever!  That made me walk around the yard to see what other treasures I could find.  A lone nicotiana blossom stood to cheer me as well as a few tiny roses that were giving it their all.  The unexpected blossoms were a delight, especially considering that my bleak winter expectations had taken reign in my mind.  Bleak expectations can really darken and hamper our minds. 

          Are you giving space to bleak expectations in your life?  The times are sobering, serious, and scary.  Between a pandemic, politics, and worldwide catastrophes, we are living in trying days.  During these last few months the  Lord has been nudging me to quit reading so much news and instead to focus on Him.  To expect not the expected but the unexpected.  Looking for God’s work in others, looking for His presence, looking at His promises, and looking for His blessings in the darkness have been changing my outlook.  God is asking me to expect His goodness that is bringing everything together for the return of Jesus Christ.   Psalm 62 is a great challenge to meditate on.  “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my rock and my salvation;  He is my defense;  I shall not be moved.  In God is my salvation and my glory;  the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”  Along the way, God is shining His light in this world, and He wants us to raise praises to His name!  When His promises and glory are reigning in my mind and heart, the whole world, as well as people, will look different.  We are to be set apart, redeemed, and heavenly minded people.  Letting God be God, I am open to see the unexpected because our God has a habit of doing the unexpected.  Let’s not live with dark negative thoughts that hamper us from singing the praises of our Lord Jesus Christ!  

                                                                                                                                             K.C., 

 Jj '

Redirected Desires

                                              Starting with washing windows.

Then the labor of love.

         

The finished sunroom !  Come for a cup of tea or frosty glass of lemonade.

These summer months have been great for the mandevilla, 

but not so great for us as it get over 120 degrees !

          

          Many years in the making.  A lifetime.  You know, those dreams you possess for years and years that are so illusive.  Being the gardener that I am, I’ve always wanted a greenhouse to start seedlings in, to relax and escape in, to create in. Alas, now that life’s years have passed, I dropped that desire only to have my husband pick up the project.  I do wonder sometimes about God’s timing.  Instead of a rustic greenhouse for plants though, he built a lovely retreat where we can relax, read, or just gaze out the windows.  It is like God wanted this sunroom to be a cozy place of friendship and relationship rather than a place of labor. It is way lovelier that I ever imagined!  

          I’ve been thinking about this exchanged and redirected desire.  God redirects us through different stages of life.  After a lifetime of varied and continually changing relationships, I am focusing on rest.  Restful relationships that abide and relax.  Relationships that demand nothing except the desire to be together. I’m not sure there are human relationships like this, but one thing I do know:  God desires this kind of relationship.  From Genesis on, God has made it abundantly clear to us in every way possible that He is looking for times to walk together in the garden or abide together in the quiet of the vineyard.  Times to sit at His feet or to follow in His yoke.  It is these times that we listen to God’s voice of love, tenderness, correction, mercy, or direction.  

          There is a desire in my heart for human relationship like this as well.  This week visiting with an old friend only emphasized this.  We talked together about Jesus which strengthens the intertwining triangle of friendship.  I not only long to abide with Jesus but with others who love Him as well.  Don’t you?  What a marvelous gift from our Savior who calls us together to be His family!  With these thoughts I invite you to come to my sunroom for a refreshing visit together with Jesus.  

                                                                                                                                          K.C.

Finishing Well - My Job or His?

 

Taking over the path!

There is a sneaky acorn squash hiding below the zinnias.

Flowers, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers criss-crossing in a jumble!

          And there you have it!  Another summer is ending!  The last hurrah!  Flowers and veggies are pouring forth their last efforts before the race ends.  Winter is approaching, nights are getting more crisp, days are getting shorter.  With these last few weeks of summer have you noticed that your garden tends to just take a big breath and poof!  Vines take over, stems go criss-cross, and flowers go gangly!  There is more green than bright color at this stage.  It is like the garden takes one last go at making a big effort to finish well.

          Lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about “finishing well”.  It’s a phrase we are starting to often hear especially since we have retired.  It must mean we are aging.  (Read my frown between the lines.) What does this phrase really mean?  Inside of us is a drive and desire to finish well in this life.  And I know it probably comes from Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your Lord.”  Yes, we want to do well for our Lord Jesus.  But I have been thinking about this in a different light and from a different perspective.  It seems that the focus is on me, the pressure to perform well, that I do well.  It almost seems prideful with a lack of humility.  In the last few years there have been quite a few big names of Christians who have fallen pretty hard and low.  If these have fallen who am I to think I can finish well?  What makes me any better than these sad people?  

          My soul is so needy that unless God reaches into my heart and strengthens me with His amazing powerful Spirit, I am sunk.  I cannot finish well.  So from here on out I am changing my thinking.  Philippians 1:6 says it great, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” So my soul is singing the praises of our glorious Savior, Jesus Christ!  For it is only His work in and through me that will finish well.  When I abide with Him and lift His name high, there is no pressure, there is no unsuccessful labor, there is only worship.  And when I am worshiping Jesus I am not thinking of myself finishing well.  He is taking all of my thought.  He is my focus.  Praising Him will occupy me.  Like Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20, I will sing and praise the Lord and He will set ambushes against my enemy, for His lovingkindness endures forever!  It is His battle, not mine. I’m resting in Jesus’ complete work to finish me well.                             

                                                                                                                                              K.C.

Attention !!!

 

Attention !!!  Sunflowers, standing at attention, some 20 feet tall, give the impression that they are guarding their fellow flowers.  I can’t help but think this is our God calling us to stand and to guard His people throughout the world.  I realize this is just a simple garden analogy blog, but the darkness through the world is painfully palpable and growing.  God’s people are suffering dark, dark days.  It is hard to write about the peace of my garden when there is such terror and evil all around.  God is calling us to prayer for His people, prayer that they will have the Spirit’s filling and strength to stand, to speak the name of Jesus, to be protected from evil, to hear God’s voice, to walk through fire with miraculous protection, to trust God’s purposes and plans, to know they do not walk alone.  Prayer is how we stand together with those enduring persecution and disasters.  By lifting these to God’s throne with all of God’s Almighty power behind us, we stand at attention.  

                                                                                                                                            K.C.

Double Delight

 

Only God, the Creator, could make such a beautiful rose!  No way did this exquisite beauty “just happen”.  The Lord God spoke it into existence!  This is a very precious rose to me.  I dug it up from my mom’s flowerbed as it was her favorite rose.  I believe it is called Double Delight, probably because not only is it so very lovely, but it smells wonderful. Now Double Delight is my favorite rose also.  Each time I bend down to smell it and admire it, I think of mom doing the same thing, and I think about how fleeting and quickly life goes by.  

Two years ago this week my mother went home to heaven.  It was a difficult time caring for her as she inched her way to heaven for 6 weeks.  For both mom and I, the “inching process” was excruciating even though we knew heaven was close.  God was walking with us each day I know.  But one of the unexpected helps was others checking on us each day.  As well as my family, one of her church elders came by each evening to just check on us.  Several others kept in touch each day just to tell us we were loved.  One of the results of those weeks was a bond knit between friends who cared enough to check on us.  

Our lives are “inching” forward quickly.  Before we know it heaven will be our home.  Are you building into other’s hearts as they are experiencing life’s trials?  It isn’t about sharing words of wisdom or answers.  Most people know the answers.  God has our days numbered, and we only live a few short years on earth.  Jesus Christ has prepared forgiveness and salvation at the cross.  When we accept His gift, He promises a relationship with Him, and as a bonus He promises heaven.  Yes, we know the answers.  We just want others to care and share a small bit of our burden.  Just be there.  

So when I look at this special rose a lot of memories flood my heart.  Difficult memories, but also loving memories of those who cared enough to enter our trial with my sister, Cindy, and I.  Thank You, Jesus, for walking with us through a most difficult time in our life.  Thank you Gary, Sara, Bethany, Lacey, Aisha, Carina, Cal, Randy, Gail, Kathy, Rick, Marge, Betty, Susie, Roberta, Amy, Deb, ........   May our names be on the list of someone who needs our love today.  It is a Double Delight - Jesus and friends.

                                                                                                                                        K.C.

Soaring Above the Garden

Recently each morning as I read my Bible there is an aerial show right outside my window.  It is quite spectacular and draws my attention everyday.  Around 20 or more Violet-green swallows give me a graceful, aerial, acrobatic fly-by.  It is such a fast fly-by that no camera can catch them for a picture!  They zip out of view as soon as they enter it!  Diving and floating in figure eight patterns enables them to snatch up insects.  Zipping and zinging through the sky at 28 miles per hour - my eyes can’t keep up with them!  Even to catch 2 in the picture above I count amazing.  But then watching them last spring and following their landings, we caught one building a nest in the old birdhouse attached to the kids’ playhouse.  I count this photo as a privilege from my feather friend as he posed.  What striking metallic and iridescent colors shined from the sunlight!  These birds are just lovely,  one of God’s magnificent creations.  

I have been reflecting on why I am so struck by these little creations.  Soaring above the garden with no thoughts of man’s concerns, these birds just obey the Master’s design for them.  My heart is heavy as I absorb the events happening in our country and the seemingly unending griefs.  There are no answers from my wisdom. I have no answer.  God’s answer is that mankind turns to Jesus Christ.  God’s perspective is surely way above ours, His thoughts the opposite of ours.  My soaring comes when I take God’s perspective as my own.  Isaiah 40:28 reminds us, “Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.  His understanding is unsearchable.”  I must continue to learn to “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God and set my mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”  Colossians 3:1-2.  When you and I obey this, things on earth change.  Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, etc. is put off.  Instead we put . , on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, etc.  When God enables, by His Spirit, this exchange, we give thanks and give praise to our Heavenly Father.  Isaiah 48:17-18, “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.  Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!  Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”  Then we soar, like the Violet-green swallows, above the earth.  Simplistic?  It is God’s design for us, for all mankind.  

                                                                                                                                          K.C.

Easter Glory

I’m addicted!  Each spring as the trees display their radiant glow, it is like I have never seen them before!  I look forward to their magnificent display every year. Today is Easter and their beauty shines forth. It is as if to celebrate and rejoice that indeed, Christ has risen!  The trees are clapping their hands and showing the glory of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ!  I invite you to listen carefully to the Lord God of all the earth, and let your soul delight itself in His abundance.  His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts so far above ours that He is able to send forth His Word to accomplish whatever He pleases.  God invites us to turn to Him and He will abundantly pardon us, showering His mercy on us.  We shall go out with joy and be led with peace.  Even as the mountains and hills break forth into singing before us and all the trees of the field clap their hands, so will we be blessed by God’s everlasting covenant of His lovingkindness.  The gift of salvation is such a glorious gift given by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, that my response is one of total awe that He would offer His gift to me.  It makes me sing and shout!  

So I’ve decided this is a great addiction, an addiction to worship, one that brings glory to our Lord!  I do believe He loves us being addicted to Him and His Word.  What a marvelous Savior we have, full of mercy and faithfulness, lovingkindness and grace.  And that is what the trees are doing today, singing and shouting praises to God our King!

                                                                                                           (Isaiah 55 thoughts)  KC

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The Messy Cafeteria

,

 All winter long the chickens and ducks wandered with free reign through the yard winding their way through flowerbeds and paths.  We have really enjoyed their antics and listening to their chatter.  I sure hope our slug and spider population has diminished over the winter.  As enjoyable as it has been to watch them, by the end of winter their kitchen mess grew.  They are messy grazers!  Scratching and digging day after day left the cafeteria quite a disaster.  The raised beds and paths were covered and rearranged.  Alas, we had to put them in their pen and shut the gate.  We are still cleaning up the cafeteria!  

God invites us to His “cafeteria”.  We are to live on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.  Matthew 4:4.  Acts 2:42 tells us to devote ourselves to the teaching of the Word together.  Seeking and longing for the kingdom of God has much to do with the taking in of God’s Word, His Scriptures.  If you have ever really studied God’s Word you know that your hen scratching notes are messy.  I have lists of word meanings, arrows crisscrossing the page, colors of pencils for certain themes, cross references scribbled here and there, study books opened with slips of paper sticking out, and piles of notes laying around.  Pretty soon it is such a mess I have to take time out to straighten things up a bit.  But, Oh!  What glorious delight it brings!  There is nothing quite like it.  You ought to try it for yourself.  It reminds me of Jeremiah 15:16, “Your Words were found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart...”. Yes, God’s cafeteria is full of wonderful life-giving flavors and joys.  Truly, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  John 6:35.  What a feast!  Scratchings and all!                                   

                                                                                                                                      K.C.

God’s Invitation to You

 We spent a week on the Rogue River recently.  What a lovely setting!  God’s handiwork is always spectacular to revel in and admire.  That is what I have noticed through the years of carefully observing God’s handiwork -  there is so much to admire Him for!  From the magnificent Rocky Mountains to the tiniest Lily-of-the-Valley, God has given us a multitude of invitations to praise and glorify His creativity, to admire and lift His name high.  Sitting on this bench through the week, watching all the beautiful birds floating by, reminded me once again of God’s invitation to spend time with Him and learn from Him.  Though everything changes in this world, God never changes.  Continually, He is inviting us to His presence.  Even my water bottle sitting on the chair arm reminds me of thirsting for His presence. 

Knowing the salvation given to us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ is just the beginning as we press in deeper to know God.  Salvation is not just the “ticket” to heaven. Salvation is the beginning of loving and learning to know Jesus.  Throughout Scripture God is continually inviting us to Himself.  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28.  “Ho!  Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”  Isaiah 55:1.  Moses cried out in Exodus 33:15, “...if Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”  God promised Moses, “...My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  There are many verses throughout the entire Word of God’s invitation to come and meet with Him.  His promises are sure, never failing.  

God’s beautiful creation is constantly an invitation to me to come and marvel in His presence.  May you, too, recognize the invitations of God.  May each of us love Him, learn from Him, lean on Him, and live for Him.  

                                                                                                                                             KC

Covered Presence

 One morning the clouds and fog rolled in so thick that the hills were swallowed.  I knew they were still present even though I couldn’t see them.   Pretty soon gentle breezes dissolved the fog and slowly the hills appeared.  I just can’t always live by what I see or even what I experience.  This dirty old giant pot holds a lot of dirt and mulch and really isn’t very attractive.  I keep it in the garden by faith.  As spring unfolds there will be tender shoots of dahlias coming up.  By faith, I trust that each year the dahlias will grow to 8 or 9 feet tall.  They always amaze me in their size and their huge flowerheads.  But I have to keep in mind that for quite a bit of the year their presence is hidden from my eyes.  It is the time of year strength and growth takes place in the bulb for it to be able to shine in the summer.

I love God’s Word.  It is the main delight of my heart and life.  There have been times, though, when I wonder where God is in the midst.  God has a habit of covering His presence in our lives.  That is one reason it is so important for us to soak our hearts and minds in God’s Word.  Knowing and trusting the promises of Scripture strengthens and toughens our spirits.  There are bleak,  dark times in life and there are times of gray indecision and questioning.  These are the times I must trust in what I know from God’s Word.  Just like the dark days of winter when the dahlia bulbs are resting in the soil, I must rest in the soil of God’s Word.  You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to recognize that Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, John the Baptist..... had many blank periods of questioning and waiting for God’s presence.  Are we any better than they are?  Just as they learned to persevere, trusting in God’s goodness and waiting on God’s presence, we, too, are strengthened and perfected in the same manner.  Let’s keep company with the greats of Scripture!  

The covered presence of God will lift in His timing.  And glory will appear!

Simply Step Back

 

It’s been a while since I’ve written.  When life gets really consuming and overwhelming my way of facing it is to step back.  Stepping back means a return to the simple things.  Very simple things.  One simple enjoyment is to keep a close eye on the chickens and ducks. These big birds eat left over seeds from the finch feeder, consume large quantities of slugs and spiders, and bring me much delightful joy in watching them.  They just remind me to count the blessings of God, rather than to count the griefs of life.   

How many birds do you count in these pictures?  The total count is - 13 chickens and 4 ducks - and we sure keep them counted!  Already we have saved 3 of them from the dogs around.  They waddle all around us when they are out of their pen jumping in the raised beds looking for treats.  I could name them for you, but you would know then how simple I really am.  There’s Greta and Charlotte, there is Toast....there is Jeffrey....  Just adorable little creatures.  They really are pets.  When it is warm out, the ducks waddle up their ramp and plop into their little pool of lukewarm, brown, buggy water.  It looks so soothing.  Not.  And then sometimes, behind us in the wood pile we will hear a bawk, bawk, baaaawkkkk.  Ah ha!  An egg has been deposited!   

Lest you think this is all nonsense let me illustrate.  For several paragraphs I have written about chickens and ducks.  While reading this have you even thought of trials you are facing, or the frightful politics and news of the day, or pressures facing you?  You see, you can’t do both at the same time.  At least it is a little harder to do that.  My point is this.  So much is piling in on our hearts and lives, so many concerns and worries, fears and what-ifs, that we are carrying mountains that God never intended for us to carry.  Bringing your minds and thoughts back to ultra simple things gives you a mental and emotional break and allows you to refresh and regroup.  It allows the mountain to be flattened just a bit.  God wants our whole soul to be in tune with Him, and when we get caught up carrying mountains, He is left out.  We are the losers then.  I encourage you to find several simple things you enjoy and step back.  Simply.  Step.  Back.            

                                                                                                                                                      K.C.