~~FEMININE MATTERS~~

COFFEE POT BREAKDOWN EMERGENCY

Got up this a.m. and hubby didn't have any coffee made.  Horrors!!!

"What happened?  Where's the java?"

"Pot is broke.  It was making all kinds of noises."

Bummer.  What's a gal to do when the coffee pot breaks down?  Well, if one's daughter is up, you can run next door and borrow her extra pot or make a cup in her Kuerig.  However, when it is 6 a.m., ya don't wanna wake that little bear.  No, no, no.

So, I just poured some coffee in a coffee filter, gathered it shut, and clipped it with a paper clip.  You know.  One of those big chrome and black ones?  Worked like a charm.  Then I placed my coffee-ball-bag in a pot of water, brought it to a boil, waited a few minutes and "TA DAH!" Coffee, my way.  A whole pot.  All I had to do is warm it a bit in the microwave to the temp my dainty little tongue tolerates.  Ahhh... the joy of being me.  Sometimes I amaze myself.

When You Leave Ladies Alone

They do what comes naturally.  They have a picnic and teaparty in the warm sun of Spring.  That was Thursday.

Come Saturday, the party is over, and Spring is missing in action.  Would you believe 70 degrees gave way to 31 in two short days?

This is the newly mowed grass that the girls had been sitting on just two days prior.  I snapped this photo just before the grass was completely covered in snow on the first day of Spring.

EXPECTATIONS...by SelahV

What can I expect today?  No interruptions?  No rejections?  An encouraging word?  A sunnier day?  Perhaps these things will come my way.  Perhaps not.  Yet in each moment of the hours ahead, may I be all I can be to another and wait expectantly only in You, O Lord, my Redeemer and Provider.  selahV

I SHALL NOT COVET MY NEIGHBOR'S....

Ever since I lived in Kentucky and saw my first Redbud tree, I wanted one.  I wanted a place to plant one in my yard.  Hubby is not much for planting things where he could easily mow.  Being the sweet, submissive (uh-humm) wife that I am, I conceded my desire for his convenience.  So,for years, I enjoyed the Redbuds of other folks in the world.

In Webster, Kentucky, enroute to our first church in a little rural area, is a canopy of Redbuds that line the country road and cascade above it.  At this time of year it is breathtaking.  And whenever I see one in bloom today, my mind travels back in time to the days when I would drive that road for no other reason but to bask in their glory.

Throughout Kentucky, wild Redbud and Dogwood trees heavily pepper the countryside, the hills, the hollows and free-ways.  Every place I've lived, in these past 30 years, someone near me has had a Redbud growing in their yard.  I've reveled in their beauty.  I never had to want for one in my yard, because I could enjoy their short-lived blossoms usher in the first signs of Spring from my front porch.

Today I heated a slice of ham and cooked some scrambled eggs and took my breakfast fare out on the back patio to absorb the warmth of 80 degree Oklahoma weather.  As I sat there on the porch I noticed one area of my flowerbeds had been turned over.  I didn't know my husband had done that.  He'd actually squeezed in a few minutes at some point of the weekend to till that bed and turn over the seeds from last year's zinnias.  I smiled.  Such a loving thing for him to do.  Then I looked at the bedraggled space in front of me.  There in the midst of my bed was a baby Redbud tree.  It was actually sprouting leaves.  And it had one tiny grouping of blossoms proudly announcing they'd found their home in my back yard.

Elated?  I cannot begin to tell you the joy that tickled my heart.  God had taken our neighbor's glorious Redbud and transplanted its child at my feet.  Could anyone be so blessed?  I wondered.

Why now, Lord?  Why at this particular moment in time did you decide to give me one of the desires of my heart?  And then it came to me.  We live in a world of those who have and those who don't.  Those who don't, often covet the possessions of those who do.  And what that leads to can destroy a person.  It can give foothold to the devil; and he breaks out in a run through their lives. 

But God, our Father in Heaven, knows what we desire.  God knows when and where and how to supply all we need or want.  God has been blessing me greatly the last few weeks.  In the midst of a downward spiral of health issues, He chooses to bless my heart with a tree.  Not new health.  Not a cure.  Not even the right diagnosis, yet.  Instead, He chooses a blessing that tells me He cares about the tiniest things in my life; so why wouldn't He provide the greater things of necessity?  I know my Redeemer liveth.  And I know that He lives in me.  And I am so grateful for the promise of living with Him forever in a land where Redbuds will bloom and pale in comparison to the glory of His presence.  What a wonderful thing to consider today, don't you think?  selahV

[copyrighted, 2009, selahvtoday, hariette petersen]

THE SPACE THAT'S NOT SO SAFE

I was lying in my hammock looking at the tiny leaves unfolding on the pecan trees.  I lay there for quite a while thinking about all kinds of things.  Mother's Day.  My lousy health.  My wonderful grandchildren.  My phenomenal daughter.  My life in general.  My writing aspirations.  My uselessness.  My significance.  A billion thoughts flitted through my brain--much like the tiny bugs racing about the air.  I thought how great it was to have that hammock and the joy I've had in it the past three years since Chad's been gone.

The girls and I have laughed so much in it.  Sang song after song.  I even fell asleep in it one evening when sleep alluded me.  I remember how brilliant the full moon had been that night.  I awoke to birds singing and the sun rising.

No more.

When I got up from the hammock, it broke.  It now has a huge gaping hole in it.  Rotted.  Sometimes that's how I feel.  Like there is this great gaping hole inside of me that has eaten straight through to my soul.  But in time, the Lord, He fills it back up again and repairs the damage done by heartache and time.  selahV 

GOTTA NEW DOO...

Decided I needed a new doo for the digs here.  Wha'cha think?

I about laughed my head off making this banner.  When I put the photo of my feet with my granddaughter's feet and the hammock into the mix, I had no clue how dirty my little granddaughter's feet were until it popped up in widescreen magnification.  It was so appropriate for the Come-As-You-Are phrase from my old banner, agree?

Actually, all our feet are pretty dirty, if I'm gonna be honest.  We were playing croquet in the yard after dipping our feet in the swimming pool to stay cool.  And during the game we found ourselves getting our feet into some of the flowerbeds that bordered the area in which we were knocking our balls.

Being me is rather complex today.  I'll share later.  Much to do, but I shall return soon.  And tell you more about why I chose some of the photos for my banner above.  Until then, selahV