Parched

I am feeling a bit parched these days - just sort of "tapped out". I'm going to pause for a little bit to get refreshed. Be back soon.

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day 35 - Flower Gardens

I love flowers. I especially love those English flower gardens where all sorts of beautiful flowers grow in abundance. I admire those who have green thumbs and can seem to make any plant flourish. I am not one of those.

However, I am familiar with a Gardener who freely shares His garden with me. I revel in its beauty and variety every time I walk.

The other day He displayed it against a backdrop of perfect blue.


Yellow seemed to be the color of the season - coming in a variety of shapes and sizes.


He even decorated them with beautiful butterflies.



He planted grasses along the sides of the road that rippled like spun silk in the morning breeze.


- for variety He put in a splash of red.


- tiny yellow flowers mingling with lavender ones.



- then some white flowers against the green.


- and for breathtaking beauty, red holly berries.



- a still pool of water among the rocks adds just the right touch to His garden.


- a little rock garden to set things off.



He also planted some oaks - long before I ever took my first breath. They stand like sturdy sentinels in our front yard.


Then He added more - to grow strong and continue the vigil.



"This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118: 24

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day 34 - Overflowing with Thanksgiving

"We are all debtors to God's common blessings, beginning with life and breath and health and strength all the way down to the specific ways He is working in our lives this moment - forgiving us of our latest sin, bearing with us in our growing pains, providing for us in ways that bring us joy, teaching us insight from His Word that nurtures and sustains us in trial, giving us the ability to love and be loved, comforting us with His Spirit's voice, and drawing us into closer fellowship with Him. Gratitude sees it all from God."
James MacDonald

I know that I have written about gratitude before for my Joy Challenge, but I just had to do it one more time. Not because I couldn't think of anything else (honest), but because today my heart is just filled to overflowing with thanks to the One who has given me everything and so much more. The above quote from my Bible Study, "Lord, Change My Attitude" sums up my feelings perfectly. I am so thankful for this study and for Pastor MacDonald, who has taken spoken to my heart over and over again in such a powerful way. He makes me laugh too - a wonderful trait in a Pastor I think.
We measured over three inches of rain in the rain gauge this morning. I am so thankful for the rain. It has come in abundance this month, but in such a way that there was no flooding or damaging storms - just life-giving rain for a drought thirsty land. Thank You Lord.

A cold front blew in during the morning hours, sweeping away the clouds and humidity - leaving us with cool, crisp air. Oh the joy of open windows and fresh breezes blowing through the house.
I think we appreciate it a bit more after months of 100 degree weather, windows shut tightly against the oppressive heat.

I am so thankful for:

- little birds who sing their hearts out - with gratitude, perhaps, for a beautiful day

- rain water gurgling down the ditches along the side of the road - making beautiful music

- refreshing breezes moving us along on our walk

- realizing anew the amazing gift of love the Father has extended to me - I who have done nothing to deserve it.
"In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and gave His son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
I John 4:10, 11

- for the verses I have hidden in my heart this year. Had it not been for Beth Moore's challenge, I would never have begun. I honestly thought there was no way I could memorize scripture at my "advanced" age, but we are on verse number 20 working toward the goal of 24. Every single one of them has ministered to me in one way or another. The word truly lives and breathes and has the power to change us.

- for the grace and forgiveness that brings such joy and peace. I cannot measure the enormity of such a gift. The burden and the guilt of a life -time of sin cleansed and washed away. Nor can I measure the cost - "...He gave His only begotten Son..."

- for help and strength as we walk through difficult times.
"Do not fear for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; surely I will help you; surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
Is. 41:10

- for safety for my loved ones as they travel

- for health

- for laughter

- for the firm foundation under our feet, no matter what the circumstances in our lives or in the world around us.
"The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation."
Ps. 18:46

For all these things, and so much more - Thank You Lord.

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day 33 - Poetry

A Stroll

A perfect day to meander
down a lonely country road.
The sky above a watery blue
The leaves all russet and gold.

No thought for the heavy burdens,
Or the things I've left undone.
No counting of the minutes,
Just a walk in the warmth of the sun.

Deliberate steps grow lighter,
A peace settles into my soul.
As He slips into step beside me
For an unhurried afternoon stroll.

Poetry prompt: We’ve been celebrating ’slowing.’ Make a “word pool” of at least five slow words. Yeah, I guess molasses counts. But verbs are good too. Create a poem using a minimum of one of your slow words, but feel free to use the whole pool. Post your poem by Thursday, October 22, for links and possible feature. Drop your post link in L.L.'s comment box so she doesn’t miss it.

My five words were: meander, pokey (which I didn't use), unhurried, deliberate and stroll

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day 32 - Front Porch Weather

Long before I bought my lap top, during the days when I was saving money in a little envelope, I dreamed about some day sitting on the front porch and writing. I got the new lap top months ago, but the weather continued to be far too hot to make sitting on the front porch pleasurable.

A cool front came through on Friday. We went from a hot, sticky 92 degrees on Thursday to temperatures in the 70's on Friday. At last, open windows with fresh breezes blowing through the house and a chance to sit on the front porch.

What joy! The sky is a cloudless blue, the grass is freshly cut (my husband worked for hours over two days to get it looking that way) and green (no longer dry and brown), the flowers are blooming, little butterflies are bouncing through the air, the branches of the old oaks are swaying gently in the breeze and I am quiet and still. There isn't another sound except the distant buzz of an airplane.

The cares and concerns of life haven't disappeared, but they have faded into the background. I have this precious moment, and my heart turns to Him. All that satisfies the soul comes from His open hand. He knows how to give His children good gifts. I am blessed.

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day 31 - Smile

My Dad is working toward the day he can walk out of the rehab facility, where he has spent the past week, on his own. He grows stronger each day and soon he will do just that.

There are many people there, though, who will never be able to walk through those doors again. Their remaining days will be spent confined to those small rooms and long halls that make up the nursing home part of the facility.

I pass them every time I walk the halls toward my Dad's room. The tired eyes, set in softly wrinkled faces, seem turned inward. Perhaps they are looking back in time - to the life they once knew. It hurts my heart.

I have found that if I can engage their eyes and give them a smile from heart, they are quick to respond. Faces that seemed set in rigid lines relax and there is a connection. Sometimes that is all there is - just that smile in return - but with some it is the opening to exchange a few words.

Some time ago the Lord whispered to my heart that I could have a "ministry of smiles." I, who am so shy and timid about approaching others, could bless someone else by simply smiling. It is amazing the reaction this simple act invokes. The looks of surprise, the smile in return, bring me such joy. It is such a little thing, but the Father is a master at using our "little" to accomplish His "much".

Blessings,
Linda

That smiling doll is my granddaughter - more joy!!

A Sweet Fragrance

When we first moved into our house over twenty-five years ago, I planted a little rose bush by the garage. It did fairly well the first year, but I don't think it was an ideal spot because it began to fail bit by bit, year after year.

Every spring I would look it over, trying to decide if it was worth saving. I thought perhaps if I cut away the dead branches it would grow fuller. I ruthlessly pruned, and for a while it looked better. Inevitably, though, more branches would die off, and it began to look hopelessly spindly.

We had a terrible drought this past summer, the worst on record. At first I struggled to keep the rose bush, along with all the other flowers in the garden, alive, but as water restrictions deepened it was like fighting a losing battle. Every living thing in my garden looked as though it could not possibly make it through that long, hot summer.

Then the rains came - refreshing, life-giving rains. Overnight the plants put out the most vibrant blooms I had ever seen. It really was miraculous. The flower garden looked lush and colorful, with the exception of my poor, little rose bush. It was tall and scraggly with fully half of the plant nothing but dead wood. I reluctantly decided that I would have to dig it up in the spring.

To read the rest of this devotional please visit Laced With Grace. I will be there thursday.

Blessings,

Linda