Discoveries...

 I never thought of myself as being foolishly sentimental

but I've discovered some things about myself lately that surprise me.

Maybe the surprise is in the fact that I'm still surprising myself.

You'd think by my age I'd know everything there is to know about ME.

The other day this slipped out of the pages of an old Bible of mine.

It must be about 10 years old.

 I remember the day Nick drew this.  

We were sitting in church 

and he presented it to me mid-service with a grin.

I loved it then

but I loved it more the day I rediscovered it.

Look closely...

"God is God"

It doesn't matter that this son is not a natural-born speller,

I knew what he meant to say all those years ago.

"God is good"

But what he actually said blesses me all the more.

And I need to be reminded of this Truth just about 

every

single

day.

"God is God"

...from the mouth of babes...

"I gave in, and admitted that God was God."
C. S. Lewis

In the midst of a week of more rain than sun,

I managed to have lunch outside with something else that surprised me.

I've always loved old books

They've been around me most of my life

but usually as a piece of "art" 

and not so much because I make it a habit to read them on a regular basis.

I shared the other day of my love for my grandmother's copy of

  Streams in the Desert

I love it

 partly because it was her mother's

 and then hers

and partly because it is old.

And to me, old books like this represent 

wisdom

ancient words of Truth,

written down to be rediscovered through the generations.

Secrets, there out in the open

but often ignored.

It's how I feel about the generation of World War II veterans that are leaving us quickly...

there is so much history 

so much depth

that we have lost 

and replaced over the years.

Everything that is shiny and new has replaced what is old and weathered...

and without realizing it we have lost what was once prized.

The simple 

outdone by the complicated.

I suppose that is why when I found this book in our church library,

penned in 1895

it spoke to me....

There were others by this author,

all with shiny new covers

and written in modern-day language

But THIS one

this one needed to be rediscovered by someone.

I noticed that it has not been checked out of for over 10 years...

I couldn't put it down.

{Even when the librarian tried heartily to draw me to other titles by this author}

It was the appearance and the age 

I had no idea what the book was even about...

I just knew I needed to hold it for a little while.

"With Christ"

by Andrew Murray

Not coincidentally,

the words inside the cover were ones I need to 

hear

and 

practice

"With Christ:

In the School of Prayer"

The ancient art of a life dedicated to prayer

The pages are fragile,

unblemished by the markings of a pen

I forego my desire to highlight and mark it as I do in my own 

Book of Ancient Art

not because it's more sacred

but because it's not mine

and I have to return it May 1st.

{I'm working on a good speech about why I should purchase this copy from the library

and replace it with a shinier version that apparently others would prefer to borrow.}

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."
C. S. Lewis

I've discovered a few things about other people this week, too.

HE thinks it's perfectly fine to grab his fishing pole and 

drive the mower down to the creek in our backyard to fish.

HE forgets that a gallon of gas costs more than a VALUE MEAL.

{and hopefully HE enjoyed that trip, because it's the last}

 SHE has discovered that  if you stretch several cords together, 

the laptop reaches out to the driveway and 

sunbathing is more fun when you're on facebook.

HE came home to visit last weekend.

And has discovered throughout the week that he is terribly allergic to SOMETHING.

HE is back again this weekend...with hives.

Benadryl is his new companion until a visit to an allergist can be arranged.

Yesterday, I discovered THIS

 Apparently it was 

"DRIVE YOUR TRACTOR TO SCHOOL Day"

Only in Lancaster County might you drive past the local high school 

and see these babies parked in between the lines.

I have so many questions about this:

1. Do you need a license to drive them?

2. Do they get good gas mileage?

3. Where can I buy one?

"The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. 

Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home?

 For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back."
— C.S. Lewis