Mere Christianity...

"Give me all of you!!! 

I don’t want so much of your time, 

so much of your talents and money, 

and so much of your work.

 I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!!

 I have not come to torment 
or frustrate the natural man or woman,

 but to KILL IT! 

No half measures will do. 

I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there;

 rather I want the whole tree out!

 Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, 

all of your desires, 

all of your wants and wishes and dreams. 

Turn them ALL over to me,

 give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self---
in MY image. 

Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. 

My will, shall become your will. 

My heart, shall become your heart." 

— C.S. Lewis

 (Mere Christianity)

Creatures...

Remember last Fall when I posted this?  

And a few months ago when I posted this 

{some of you thought it was a little too much information-but it's nature, right?}

Well, the other day I was sitting outside reading and heard a crash out in the yard.

One of the wild cats had chased a bird into a birdhouse on my shed

 and was literally sitting on TOP of the little house.

{Can you see him through the trees?}

she didn't like that I yelled at her...

It's hard to see in this picture, but can you see what's behind her?

That's right...nature has, in fact, taken its' course

because there are two kittens standing in the background, watching.

We never seem to have normal experiences with animals, though...

these kittens are adorable, but destined to be wild and mangy like their parents

{AS I'M TYPING THIS, there is a cat fight happening out in the yard!}

The neighbors have determined that someone dropped the original cat off..

and generations of cats have become wilder and more headstrong than the last.

I'm not really a cat person...

I like them from a distance, so it works for me 

as long as one of them doesn't come down with a nasty case of rabies.

Lately, we have quite a few of these critters, thought, too...

This one was walking across the yard the other day...

it's blurry {that's a quarter it's sitting next to}

 but it's the HUGEst beatle I've seen since 

we discovered this one in Africa...

 Kind of makes you not want to walk barefoot in the grass anymore...

The other day Emma went to the fair and came back with this:

She named it Kesh...

This morning Kesh looked like this:

Yes, that's my floor!

We didn't have a fishbowl 

{because I know we kill them}

so, she found a suitable bowl for him and left it on the counter.

{next to the pile of papers is a glass bowl where Kesh used to live}

Apparently, fish can jump to their death.

Kesh did.

The only creature that seems to survive around here is this one in that cage back there...

she's a parakeet that we purchased on a whim

{we purchased a mate for her who we found dead in his dish one morning}

She does this fabulous screeching sound when she gets all excited.

It grates on you.

But, she keeps living

and we're not sure how

because we're not exactly the best at keeping animals alive around here.

Don't get me wrong, we love animals...

but we're so stinking bad at keeping them alive.

Only the annoying ones seem to stick around...forever.

I prefer to enjoy other people's animals

and the ones that roam in the yard at a distance.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

     Cecil F. Alexander

In the stillness of the morning...

I sit here again this morning...

In the stillness

the quiet of a household still in slumber

It is not unlike other mornings I have sat here, 

but this morning holds a new chapter ready to unfurl.

  

It involves change and transition 

and lots of unknowns.

It is part anticipation 

part mourning

part resolution

and 

part awakening.

This morning marks the end of another school year

and the beginning of another summer together.

But it is a different summer already

There are children with jobs

schedules to coordinate

and somewhere in the midst of it all I search to find a time to 

connect 

and 

gather together.

And I recognize that if I don't make it happen

it will not.

So there's this on the door

waiting for everyone to input their 

work schedules

and

social schedules

And I think perhaps I may need to schedule family dinners, too.

But one works in the morning, 

while the other works in the evening

and the third 

who doesn't work at all

 has already decided that summer will be horrible

if she doesn't have a social calendar of her own 

And then there is me.

My relished quiet time has taken on a shorter life-span

It will require my

 getting up earlier

staying on task

and

intentionality

And come next week all of this changes...

And I will need to learn time management

and plan ahead

and flexibility

Because

I finally have a glimmer of an answer to the questions I've asked for so long...

"What do You want from me?"

"What do you want me to do with what You've given me?"

"How do I take what You've placed in me and 

use it to help support my family?"

And while I wanted answers

longed deeply for them

the answers involve change

and 

change is hard.  

But it's a good hard.

I've spent almost two years in a volunteer position

and I've learned things about myself I didn't know were there.

And somehow

at just the right time

there was a need to create a new PAID position

that has been handed to me.

And because God's hand is all over it, 

I know the time is right

and it is good.

And I am humbled by 

His kindness

His timing

and

His continued provision

It will take time to adjust around here

and we will have to pull together 

to remain together

But the One who orchestrated it

will surely keep it together...

of this I am sure.

And so, this morning, in the stillness

I am ever aware of His continued goodness to my children and I.

And I anticipate how He will use me here

as well as there

The title I wear HERE remains first and foremost...

it is constant

and priority.

But there's a new title,

"Client Advocate"

and because I see it as a gift given,

I am grateful

and 

humbled

and excited to see it all unfold...

There are young mothers to love on

babies to help save

LIFE to affirm...

And who doesn't like that their NEW JOB is really their OLD JOB, but with a paycheck...

And, that their first day of work isn't really their first day of work

and no butterflies are involved...

It is good...

"Open your mouth and taste, 

open your eyes and see—
         how good God is.    Blessed are you who run to him." 

Psalm 34:8-10

In this morning stillness

my thoughts run far

and my need to be intentional is firm 

it will take the whole family to make it work well...

but I think we are all up to the challenge.

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart..."

Celia Thaxter

This happened....

  Last week she was drinking from a sippy cup

and just the other day 

she decided she was old enough

 to get all dressed up for a school social..

 She decided she was old enough 

to borrow these from her cousin...

 She decided she was old enough 

to have someone else do her hair and makeup

And I decided that time with her is short...

She is growing up.

In about 25 years,

when I think about letting her loose to date,

 this will be posted across the door frame of my house:

"He that would the daughter win, 

must with the mother first begin."

 ~English Proverb

"If you want your children to improve, 

let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others."

~Haim Ginott

Emma..

If you're reading this, I hope you hear me...

YOU

are a beautiful reflection of God Himself.

He planned it that way.

He placed in you everything you would need for

LIFE

and

GODLINESS

and then He said that everything you need

HE will be.

Beauty 

comes from Him

We can't force it

can't slip it on

can't paint it on

It happens

when day upon day

we focus on Him.

What HE has given you as a gift on the outside

He is cultivating on the inside...

Let Him.

“Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon you.” 

and 

IN you....

You are beautiful...

You are sacred...

A planting of the LORD 

FOR THE DISPLAY OF HIS SPLENDOR...

display Him well...

I love you.

 I stopped here the other day while I was walking... 

this patch of roadside weeds caught my attention
Ever thought about how many variations of weeds there are?

In this one square foot of weeds there are handfuls of variety.

Weeds are such a nuisance to me that, had I created them,
I would have made them all the same
cursed them as WEEDS
 and been done.
I wouldn't have put much thought into them.
But God did.
They're all uniquely different
because for some reason, this mattered to Him.

and isn't that just it?
Creation MATTERS to Him

It may have only taken 6 days to create
but in those some 144 hours
millions of detailed organisms were created.
And each and every one of them must have been important
He must have wanted us to notice them...
otherwise, why bother?

"Nature is school-mistress, the soul the pupil; and whatever one has taught or the other has 
learned has come from God – the Teacher of the teacher."
De Testimonio Animae


Maybe weeds didn't come along until after Adam and Eve sinned..
maybe they were just a result of the fall.
But even if this is the case,
a lesser-god would have deemed them all the same and moved on.

I can only assume that there's a reason each leaf and stem is different...
and that it has something to do with God wanting us to know that
even the little things matter to Him.

I'm reading through the book of Genesis, 

finding new perspective from old Words

 marveling at the wonder of

 life

death

creation

order

Sometimes it becomes too familiar to us

The details blur

and God's creativity is lost

His attention to the most minute of details is forgotten 

and unappreciated.

He's reminding me that the Words on the pages of His Word
are encounters that
real people had with a real God
they are a picture of 
who He was
and who He IS
they tell me about 
ME


I'm not all that different from Eve....
She too walked with the Sacred
saw His creation all around her
became discontent
wanted more
she, too, had all that her heart needed
and
forgot


"We worship the one God who fashioned the whole fabric 
with the instrument of elements, 
bodies, spirits, and by His Word commanded it, 
by the reason with which He ordered it... 
whence it came about that the Greeks also 
give the universe the name of "kosmos." 
Invisible though He is, 
He is seen. 
Incomprehensible though He is, 
He is by grace revealed.
Apologius XVII