Thoughts from the side of the ocean...

OCNJ 2014

Everything is doing what it was created to do

When I turn my back on the boardwalk and the early morning distractions of people and stuff--the reoccurring thought this week has been that everything in front of me-nature- Gods created things (other than humans) are all doing what they were created to do. 

The ocean stays in it's boundaries. The waves crash; over and over. The fish swim. The birds fly and forage. The dolphins raise up and blow water to breathe. The sun rises, shines and warms. The wind blows and a new day always begins. New, and yet always the same. 

We mess all that up with our need for change and our need to do things our own way. We try to change the order of things-try to change the way things work. But nature hasn't changed its ways...it still works the same way that it has for centuries. It is still good...just like when God decreed that it was. 

We have messed things up for Him with our arrogance and our insistence on knowing a better way than His way. 

But if what He made was good-and all of creation (except for man) still does things His way...then who are we to think that we should change the order of things to suit our own desires? He's pretty kind to let us continue in our ways. Ways that change us and draw us farther from Him. He leaves us to destroy and rearrange what He made...hoping we'll recognize that we're changing what was once good and turn our attention back towards Him. But mostly, we don't. 

We continue to twist what is right and wrong, we kill unborn babies for our own convenience and hail it as "choice", we twist the natural order of things because it is "our right", we waste what was once in abundance, we treat each other with contempt and we take pride in redefining what was once sacred and holy. And we're proud of the results, proclaiming that we are setting up a better nation. 

But out here-sitting on the beach, with my back towards all that we've messed up, I still see glimpses of the original. I remember how things were meant to be and I'm trying to force myself to turn back around- because I'd rather stay right here...where things do what they're created to do. 

I want to stay where things are right and enjoy communion with the One who made it all. We got it all wrong and have created a mess. 

No wonder He calls us here-to the wide open space of the ocean. We all feel it- this need to be out here, to stare at the massiveness of the ocean. Maybe we come because we need to be reminded that we can't change everything. Some things will always do what they were created to do. They are whispers of a holy reverence that cannot be changed. 

Praise him, sun and moon,

    praise him, you morning stars;

Praise him, high heaven,

    praise him, heavenly rain clouds;

Praise, oh let them praise the name of God—

    he spoke the word, and there they were!

He set them in place

    from all time to eternity;

He gave his orders,

    and that’s it!

{Psalm 148}

Because I need to remember...

Sometimes you read something that just resinates with you 

and you just have to figure out where to write it down so that you don't forget...

Today it is this:

"Never walk away from someone who deserves help;

your hand is God's hand for that person."

{Proverbs 3:27}

and this:

"Your lives are a letter...This "letter" is written not with pen and ink,

but with the Spirit of the Living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, 

but on human hearts."

{II Corinthians 3:2 & 3}

In the busyness of living it sure is easy to forget 

that my hands and my heart are booklet that tell the story of God....

or not. 

I'm just mulling over these words today...wondering where they apply to my life- 

and where I keep them from applying. 

This...

This morning, these words spur me on.
To get out of bed and face the day ready.

To hear the truth and say NO to the lies.

Hear the truth- don't get distracted by the presentation...

then press on through your day, friend.

Press on..

Spring...it's inevitable.

I wish I was more faithful at having something worthwhile to say and write here...but alas, I do not, so let's be happy with a once a month post, shall we?

Since it was quiet at my house this morning, I treated myself to a morning of reading the latest issue of

I never like to be rushed through my monthly issue, so a cup of coffee must always be brewed and in hand before sitting down to read. {Truth be told, this morning I crawled back in bed with the coffee and spent the next few hours chasing every link in every article. That's a lot of links and a lot of staying in bed. But who cares?}

Maybe it's my Spring Fever, but I needed a little inspiration to get me through these last dreary, endless days of winter. Here's a recap of my morning, as dictated to my other Neighborlies friends this morning. You'll have to read for yourself, but here's my takeaway...

"I have just spent the last hour (+) sitting in my bed with a cup of coffee and the Neighborlies. This issue had far more outside links that had me traveling ALL OVER the place on the www. I discovered some awesome little nooks that I had never visited before! Seriously...I'm being modest by saying I've been here for an hour. I dropped Emma off at school at 7:30 for a lax tournament and I've been tucked back in my bed since then. This issue was my favorite, I think. Each month feels more legit than the last...like we've put together some kind of real magazine or something! Michelle Bailey Walls, the photos and the placement of them were perfect.

The things I learned this morning: purchase a better foundation, check Target for Baby Lips, stop wishing for something I don't have and enjoy what I do, find some branches that need to be forced to bloom by my bed, purchase one of Aimee's lovely paintings for my home, have coffee in New Holland and remember that the hard days are being redeemed (OR check the local listings for a hunky husband named Michael Taylor---or one who looks and acts eerily similar to him. ) So much to do..."

My quiet morning is over. Time to get on with living this day out. The sun is occasionally shining and at least it's not cold enough to snow, so there's that. Not quite excited to spend the day on the sidelines of a lacrosse game to watch my baby sit on the bench....but again, it's not snowing..so there's that. 

Just a few more weeks and maybe we get the OKAY from the doctor to play on the field. It's been a long recovery from that darned ACL surgery for the poor girl. But the end is in sight, girlie, and it's going to happen soon! 

In the meantime, let's be happy to see the sun show itself on occasion and look forward to the break of a new season.

Here's to Spring and it's badly anticipated arrival this year...Countdown to 5 MORE DAYS!

Winter whine...

I'm not going to be one of those bloggers who posts about how much she hates winter right about now. I'm not going to drone on and on about how much snow we've had dumped on us in the last week and a half. And I'm not even going to mention that the temperatures have only popped above 39 degrees once in the last month. 

I'll spare you the whine and even the pictures.

In my spare-snowed-in-time, I've been writing an article over here.

If you haven't sat down with an issue of Neighborlies before, 

now is a good time to introduce you. 

{It's not like you haven't already watched a hundred movies, checked your facebook, tweeted till you're dizzy and pinned for hours while you've been stuck inside...}

Just pour yourself ANOTHER cup of hot cocoa and check it out. 

You don't have anything better to do at this point, 

Do you?

Shelter...

We've had more snow this year than I can remember ever having in one season. 

I'm not complaining, I do love it...especially when it means a day spent at home-

 in pajamas all day, by the fire. 

I'm not passing that up any time soon.

At this point in the season, I'm burning the reject-wood in the fireplace.

It requires more effort since it's old and burns twice as fast, 

but I'm not complaining...

I'm obsessed with fires 

and being warm.

But all throughout the day I can't help thinking about some people I know who are not as fortunate as we are to have a place to call their own. A place that has healthy food in the kitchen...

running water in the sinks...and a warm fire in the living room. 

They're living in a shelter.

Warm and dry, probably...

but certainly not what anyone would call home.

Most days they wander from morning until night, just biding their time from free church meal to free church meal, until the time comes to return to their place in the shelter at night.

And what happens when there's a snow storm 

and the public library you rely on for warmth during the day

is closed...

It's a terrible existence for anyone to have to live through...

add on the fact that they are pregnant- 

and as a mom, it is almost unbearable for me to see.

We do what we can to help and support, 

but it never seems like enough...

I can only hope that someone has allowed them to take shelter during the storm today...

I'm praying they know Comfort far deeper than their circumstances dictate.

Still trying to figure out exactly how that looks...

because sometimes love just never really seems like enough...

Grateful today for a day off of work

in my house

by my fire

with my daughter

......

And reminding myself that, but for 

{GRACE}

that could be me...