Amazing Plans

A group I belong to, has each member give a blog prompt for the month.  Here's the prompt for August:

Jeremiah 29:11  ~ For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.  They are plans for good, and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I admit, I've had a hard time with this one.  It's simple and straight forward and I couldn't think of a thing to say to shine a brighter light on it.  It shines brightly all on it's own.

Then....and then, I saw this picture.

This verse came alive to me.  I can't think of a better time to share with a child then when they are still in the crib.


Why do we wait until we are caught up in a way of life that is not God's perfect plan to read and apply this?   Not only do we train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6) but we should also surround that child with this wonderful promise!

All those loving and precious childhood verses we read our babies, and put on their bedroom walls, are so sweet, but I just love knowing that this could be one of the first promises a child should learn. God DOES have a plan for your life.  He knew you before your were formed in the womb, before you were born, he set you apart, (Jeremiah 1:5).  His wonderful plan for you is good, isn't that exciting!  As a new baby is held in the arms of his Mommy or Daddy...he is being told of this awesome plan God has for his life!

I love a newborn baby.  Full of promise, and miracle and gift from God.  A promise spoken by parents to love and protect....and promise by God that gives all that and more....more then we could ever give on our own.  I pray that all babies have the chance to hear and carry in their heart this promise.

A Passel of Memories

Passel.  Isn't that a funny old word?  It's not used any more, which is kind of a shame.  It means a large number of people or things.  I think it should be used again.

This past weekend my husband and I went on a 180 mile yard sale, it originated in Detroit and ended at the other side of the state near Lake Michigan.  It was along the old Sauk Trail, which was a native American Indian trail running through Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.  Once you are about 50 miles west of Detroit, the old  US Highway 12, as it is now known, becomes beautiful rolling country side. Old farms, and sweet villages take you back to a different time.  Corn fields, beans growing and fields of sunflowers make your mind and body relax.  They don't make noise, blink lights, or demand your attention;  you just give your moment in time to each beautifully planted field and it give you back an extraordinary sense of gratitude  and a  heart full of good feelings.  I was anxious for more then one reason to take this little trip.  The sales were fun and interesting, but family ties to this part of the state meant much more to me, only I didn't realize it at the time.

Many, many years ago my Mother's side of the family took interest in this beautiful farm land near US Highway 12.   My uncle was the first to buy an old farm house and acreage.  He and the family still lived here in town, but even 60 years ago he got fed up with being taxed every time he improved his home.  He quit improving it (to my Aunt's dismay) and went out and bought an old farm to visit on weekends. It was a place he could plant trees (with the help of my cousins) and enjoy what God had created.  Unfortunately he passed away not to long after he bought that place, but he paved the way for a passel (great word!)  of memories to be made on that very land.  For many in our family, it became the catalyst for the need deep down to have a place in the country.  In time,  another Uncle and Aunt and her family, as well as cousins have purchased part of his land and built homes.  This farmland and my family that lived there opened up a treasure chest of  never forgotten times spent there.

Hal and I took a slight detour off of  highway 12 that took us where the old farm is.  Where we had a family reunion and some of our children were just babies.  We sang, laughed, reminisced and ate way to much. This is my Hungarian side and the cooking and especially baking lingers still.

Tears are forming, that passel of memories are flooding over me.

To be continued...............

Putting Off Priorities

Today I have..........

Made my hair appointment.

           Reserved a hotel room for an over night trip were taking.

           Paid the monthly bills. 

           Planned next weeks meals.

I have not scheduled my appointment for a stress test.  There are no  known heart problems, this is just a routine maintenance test, you know....the kind of maintenance that come with advancing years. Sort of like extra fiber in your diet. It seems to take more effort to maintain status quo these days.  It is neither painful nor messy, yet I dread it.  I have always been able to do the test on the treadmill, and thus avoid the injection of a drug to raise my heart rate, and I hope that continues.

Why am I dragging my feet to make the call?  I would probably guess it's the fear of the unknown. For a person who is barely, hardly not at all, Lord help me.... health conscious (i.e. overweight) there is always the dread of your undisciplined health habits catching up with you, especially when confronted and tested in a medical setting!  God has been so good to me thus far.  No diabetes, or major issues other then that blasted arthritis and having to replace a few joints, which I'm so thankful went well.

My weight is my biggest, I don't even know the word to use here......I guess I would say.the biggest weight on me. It cannot be hidden, it's right there for the world to see...and often judge.   The depression, anger, sadness, embarrassment, and so on it causes should be enough for me to get a grip on it  - once and for all.  I should add....please don't give me weight loss advice.   I could write a book on the way to lose weight.  I know all the answers.  I've done all the answers.

I will make that call, I will go and have the stress test and pray every thing is OK.  I will also try for the um-teenth time to take off some weight.    If I didn't believe that through God all things are possible, I wouldn't even try, because in myself I am weak, but I am not without hope.

The Family Room

We have a room in our house we call the family room.  It's where we spend most of our time, we watch TV, get lost in our computers, listen to music, do a lot of reading - and generally do our living. Did I mention we eat dinner in there too?  We also have been know to snooze in that room, we each have our favorite spots for this; me on the leather couch with my fleece blanket in colors of rust, blue and tan.  Hal in his recliner with his fleece blanket with ducks on it. Our family has grown up, left and now have their own families, no longer filling the room with their precious presence.  Even the grands have their own places.

The Family Room has a sliding door to the deck and back yard.  In the summer the yard is filled with flowers, birds on the bird feeder and wind chimes making melody.  In the winter every thing is covered in snow.  It doesn't matter the season, we always look out that big glass door, just to check that every thing is copacetic, and it always is.

In the winter the fire will be burning in the fireplace.  In the summer the air conditioner will be blowing cold air through the vents.  It has brought us comfort and shelter for many years.  Not much changes in this room.

Today I was giving the comfy old  room a cleaning.  Hal's recliner is next to the fireplace.  His "area" is a mess. I'm just telling it like it is.  He calls it his command center, which is another way of saying, don't touch my stuff. Someone once told me to buy a basket so he can keep his stuff together.  He has 2 baskets and nothing is together.  He's a note writer, a how to video watcher, a reader, etc., and every thing he needs to address that has to be within arms reach.

I no longer tell him to thin out his collection.  His many things represent him.  Why do we try to eliminate things that bring us joy for the sake of looking spiffy? It's not dirty....it's just his "collection".

Want to know the best part?  One day our kids will have to clean out that collection.  I hope they pause and see us in those things that made our life, that was so routine, yet so dear to us together in our family room.

And then they will need to rent a dumpster.

So Thirsty

We're just coming out of a several days of some very high temperatures.  I put off leaving the house unless necessary, knowing that sooner or later, we would have a break in temps.
During this hot spell, the warning of excessive temps came across my cell phone.  I thought of all the people that weren't as fortunate as I.  Those who work on our roads, came to mind immediately.  I'm certain you've seen them.   There are out there, wearing brightly colored safety vest and hard hats, their faces red from the heat, and if you touched those red faces, it would be hot to your hand.  Perspiration soaks their clothes and drips down their heads, stinging the eyes with it's saltiness as it works it way down the face and neck.    With their mouths so dry the tongue must stick to the roof, they are longing for a drink of cold water; and their body has to have it.  The thirst is strong, the throat is parched and even the muscles ache and cramp from lack of hydration.  So Thirsty.  Have you ever had that feeling?  Please....I need a drink of water!
We were created with thirst.  It reminds us to replace what the body needs to keep alive.  In the winter the thirst is still there, it does not disappear when the weather changes.  We hydrate and the body uses it up, but  we can never say that's enough, we will always need  more.  It remains a constant, and it has to be re-supplied.
That same thirst, exists in our spirit life.  There is a thirst so deep for God, it has to be filled daily or we dry up.  If we ignore that Spiritual thirst, in time our inner soul becomes like a desert.  The soil is so dry it cracks, it's barren and nothing grows there.  We  wonder why we feel so empty, why aren't we blooming and feeling the living water flow through us?  We feel like a cactus, with pointy spines, and people may hesitate to come close, we seem that miserable.     Oh, the cactus holds a bit of water, enough to keep it alive, but we have access to so much more then the cactus!
Why just exist like a plant in the desert?  Seek the Lord, thank Him for all His goodness, let Him quench your thirst of your soul....not just once, but over and over!

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life.  Who ever comes to me will never go hungry, and who ever believes on me will never be thirsty."
John 6:35 NIV