SelahV Today by hariette petersen

WHEN FIRES RAGE

It saddens me.  Even though fires are what give my grandson his vocation, and the possibility of fires demand more firemen be trained and employed, it still breaks my heart to see the destruction a raging fire causes.

I've shared photos with you two days ago of a place here in Southeast Oklahoma that takes my breath away each time I see it.  It's so serene...so pure and clean.  The photo on the left is one I plan to make into a greeting card.  However...

...yesterday afternoon a fire which had burned over 4,000 acres near Medicine Park, jumped a road and headed straight for this little community.  The photo of the tarantula (right) I took that was crossing the road with a couple of partners just outside of my lens. Over and over I heard of more engines and water being needed on the scanner-radio.  I also heard of trailers burned to the ground.  The entire community of businesses and homes were evacuated.  With 35-mph winds prevailing, and drought in our area, it will be a miracle if the fireman from over 20 stations are able to hold the fire at bay.

My grandsons, Ryan and Jordy, were two of the many firefighters battling the blaze.  I've prayed for them alot through the night.  My daughter has prayed....and listened anxiously to the online scanner.  It's not easy to fight fires anytime, let alone in temperatures topping 104.  Even the evening held temps of 96.  Tomorrow there's no relief in sight, either.  Firefighters will deal with heat exhaustion.  Many of these men are volunteers.  They don't get paid to protect our lands and homes from fire.  They do it because they care.  They care about their community, and their neighboring communities.

It's rather surreal.

One week a place is at peace and blossoming with the serenity of heaven on earth.  The next week it is a charred and ruined land...tarantulas gone, the roadrunner I saw chasing something (most likely a snake), into the brush, is probably gone, too.  Houses, trailers, homes...gone...structure fires is what they are called.  Homes are what residents call them.  I do feel sad.  My husband preached in a little church in Medicine Park when we first came to Oklahoma.  They are sweet, dear people.  I know some are now homeless.  Just as they were homeless years ago, when a tornado ripped through the town.  Some residents packed up and moved on.  Others stayed and rebuilt--much like these Okies will do when the fire has taken all it can take. 

All across America, people are homeless.  Floods throughout the heartland.  Tornadoes dotting the nation.  And soon it will be hurricane season.  I've watched as families cried at the loss of their loved ones...of property...and livelihoods.  It makes me see how blessed I am to have what I have.  I am so grateful for my grandsons who brave the elements and fire which threaten to destroy the peace of my neighbors.  I am so grateful for the volunteers who fight tirelessly all night then go to their jobs each day.

How much we take for granted in life.

I listened to the dispatch report a domestic disturbance.  A husband and wife arguing.  I wonder if the officers will be okay as they approach these two discontented people and enter their dysfunctional lives.  I pray so.  I pray they'll all be fine.  I pray for the families around our country who are hurting and unemployed.  I know their pain, their fear, their anxious thoughts.  It is not fun.  May God grant to all the peace that passes all understanding as they stand the trials upon their faith.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7. 

To get a BETTER idea of how gorgeous this place is, take a virtual tour of  Medicine Park, Oklahoma (/link)..  It's beautiful...or it was.  Today's light will bring a clearer picture.  May God be with them all, and may we be there for them before the embers cool.  selahV

THIS photo was the bridgeview as my friend, Karen, and I left Medicine Park a couple of weeks ago.  I hope I can still cross this wooden bridge next week and see some green still growing.

[To VIEW an ENLARGEMENT, just click on the photos] 

ONE BLOGGER'S VOICE

A few years ago, another blogger friend asked me what I wanted my blog to say?

At first I thought, are you kidding? I am my blog. My blog is me. My blog says what I say. It speaks for me. It's the window into my heart. Occasionally you get a glimpse of my soul. Frequently you get a chunk of my mind--sometimes it reveals how little my mind can be. Often you see the struggle in my spirit...

the growth of my being...the lock upon my angst and irritants...

the secrets to my sanctification...the portal to my open arms.

My blog is a snapshot...taken from different angles...with and without makeup.

Many days my blog is the mirror in my monitor. It speaks to me. It shows me every freckle in my image. It exposes all my vulnerabilities. When I look closely, it magnifies each weakness I possess. It humbles me. It challenges me. It calls me to walk a bit straighter...taller. It brings me to my knees.

Sometimes my blog says more than I want it to. Sometimes it says less...far less.

But what do I want my blog to say? I want it to say:

Life is a treasure, a privilege, a gift--yet, a whisper in the wind.

Family is a blessing--a Christmas morning, a Thanksgiving dinner, a Birthday party--each day of every year.

Love is a hug, a thoughtful word, an encouraging phrase, a written giggle, a lingering smile, a moment to grasp and never let go.

Friendship is possible and much more than a word, a thumbnail, an email, or moniker...it loyalty, love, empathy and encouragement--a shared joy, heartache, or struggle--held in another's heart, mind and hands.  It's a safe space--where judgment has no place, condemnation is absent, and truth is gentle.

Loyalty is precious, integrity is honorable, respect is necessary.

Christianity is a holy union with the Triune God...it is binding...a lifestyle...a commitment...a temporal race...a community anyone can join with eternal benefits and reward.

God is real, is sufficient, Scripture is Divine and filled with instruction and hope.

Jesus is not a historical figure who gave nice talks and showed compassion. Jesus is REAL.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He  He is the Living God.  He is everything you need and everything you've longed for.  And no one, absolutely no one, comes to the Father except through Him.  He who believes in, relies on, clings to Jesus receives eternal and everlasting life.

And...my friends, I guess that about sums up what I want my blog to say.

For the moment anyway.  selahV

[SO MY FRIENDS:  What do you want your blog to say?  If you write the answer, come back here and leave your blogpost url and I'll link to it and tell others to drop in and listen to your Voice.]

BLOGGER'S REFRESHMENT

All Things Heart and Home

An open jar.

Empty.  Shine it up...clean away the sediments and dust.

A few hydrangeas.  Blue and taupe.

Drying.  Three.  Dying.  What pleasure in the air.

Fill me up, Lord.  Fill me with Your love and goodness.  Fill me with Your fruit of gentleness, kindness, peace and hope.

A zinc lid.  Placed upon the jar.

Lock Yourself inside me, Lord.  Close the jar and use me for Your purpose and Your plan.

Ah...I needed this just now.  The quiet.  The waiting is not hard at all.  I have been still, and now I know.

I know that You are God.  selahV 

Because She Commented

Today I posted a quick thought about the CBO's findings regarding the national debt and blurbed a bit about what we need to do (Like anyone would listen to me, anyway).  Lo, and behold, a commenter dropped a line to fill me in on some information she felt related to my quick-posting.

I decided her comment deserves a whole post.  But first, I'm gonna reprint her comment here so ya'll don't have to go hopping over to my other post and lose your train of thought when you come back to see my response.

Christiane wrote: "Just a thought: I do not know who CBO is, but you will be happy to learn that not only did Exxon Mobil make $19 billion in profits in 2009, Exxon paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS. Not sure if the American taxpayer paid the IRS the 156 million that was given as a 'rebate' to Exxon Mobile, or if that money for the 'rebate' was borrowed from another country. So things are already going in the direction that you want them to be going in. Exxon Mobile is not alone in its good fortune."

My reply:   Christiane, thanks for popping in and delivering your cheery thought and quandry.

Maybe I can help you some: "CBO" stands for the Congressional Budget Office. I hear tell that whenever a bill (such as Obamacare) is making its way through the halls of congress, they ship it over to the CBO to determine how much the stuff is REALLY going to cost Americans. Right now they are telling us how insane the Obamacare plan is and how middleclass people are going to be eligible for Medicaid soon. (Of course we won't have any doctors to attend to us because they are all jumping out of practice and heading into corporate care and government jobs). But that's alright.  People gotta go where they can make a living if they can't make a profit, don't ya think?

The CBO is who Obama quotes when their reports favor something he wants, and the CBO is who he invites to the Whitehouse for a bit of arm-wrestling when they don't give him the numbers he wants for things like Obamacare.  Who knows? He may even serve beer.

The CBO also reports on the GNP and GDP ( Gross National Product(/link) ), and how much Americans are producing and selling, versus how much America is receiving in return domestically and from the countries around the world that benefit from all the corporations we have sent overseas.  It's economics.  The CBO is an independent group that calculates economic stuff all day long and reports their findings...good or bad to the public. Kinda like Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman who  announced today(/link) that he's done all he knows to do to help jumpstart this sorry Obama economy. Just sitting here loving the change other folks voted for.  Hope that helps clear up who the CBO is.  It's just a thimbleful of info.

The "gimme, gimme, gimme" cries have just begun.  Entitlements, waste, and fraud have nearly bankrupted this nation.  But democrats just keep on spending.  And until recently the republicans had fun borrowing from China to give money to the rest of the world so they could buy our companies and use their profits to employ their people and build up their economies. And lest you think I believe Bush is lily white in it all, I don't.  He could have used a veto pen.  I also don't think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was his fault; no....it was Barney Frank's and Chris Dodd's and others. However, the buck stops with Bush's oversight and he blew that one. Hedge-funds, Wall-Street. I shudder.

Now China is buying up everything they can in America because they know our money is not going to be worth a plug nickel to them soon...our debt is stacked so high out into the universe, it will take lightyears to reach the end of it.  And Obama is printing more and more of the near worthless dollars and toying with inflation numbers every day by not including food and clothing into the equations.

Gold soared today after Bernanke's announcement.  Hope you have some.  I don't.  Bet ya can't guess what I think China's gonna do with all the bogus U.S. dollars they have of ours.  I think they'll be buying up all these foreclosures for near nothing in America--the business properties, the malls, the apartment complexes.  Other countries will do the same thing.  The world OWNS us, Christiane.  But, let's see, you're concerned about Exxon, right?

Exxon...ah...yes. The oil companies. It's all their fault. You know how much they made in 2009. 19 billion you say?  I'm not positive but I've been told that Exxon buys over half the oil they refine. Their profits go to shareholders. In many cases the shareholders are large institutional investors that fund pensions. Those pensions are going to everyday workers who probably don't have a clue that every time they fill up their car, and gripe about the price of gas (like me), they are putting a few dollars back into their own pension funds, (Iike my husband's) and my grandsons', and my church friends' and their families'. I hate the gas prices. The real crime isn't that we pay more for gas, the real crime is how much we have to pay the government for every gallon we buy in order to fund studies for shrimp to run on treadmills, and what makes pigs poo smell and billions of other wasteful things...like Michelle Obama's African Safari, and date-nights in New York, and the fuel for AirForce One to fly Obama around campaigning for another four miserable years. I won't mention the millions it costs Americans to pay the salaries of the First Lady's staff of 23, or is it 28? Other First Ladies have gotten by with one or two staff members.  I digress.  Back to Exxon:

Exxon employs thousands upon thousands of people. Those people pay taxes. Those people buy goods from people who would have no jobs if not for the purchases made by Exxon employees. When purchases and services receive money from Exxon and other oil employees (and other for-profit corporations), then those employees get paid, too. Then they pay taxes and buy food, clothes and go out to eat and have their cars serviced, and oil changed. And then those businesses pay taxes.

Ya know something, Christiane?

"...the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." 1 Timothy 5:18

I kinda see Exxon as that "ox" and I rather like that they are making all those profits. They deserve them. And so do the shareholders who invest without any real guarantees there isn't going to be another oil rig explosion, another oil spill, or Iran blowing up Israel which will cause those profits to go out the window.

And I think the employees of Exxon are pretty happy that they have jobs in this horrendous economy. And I'll bet some of the students receiving millions in scholarships for college, and charities and all the politicians who get contributions and then spend money on advertising so we can watch Wimbleton, and the Boston Redsox games, and Nascar for less than they charge at the gates...they're probably pretty happy too.

If Exxon made no profits, where do you think the shareholders stocks would be, Christiane? If Goodyear, Sunoco, Maytag, Pepsi and Disney, McDonald's and Walmart make no profits, who would pay the employees?  We need profits, Christiane. Far more than taxes. Taxes upon the people give the people less jobs, higher inflation, and debt from Washington, D.C. to Hong Kong twenty-thousand times and back.

I don't know if Exxon paid any taxes directly either, Christiane. But they sure paid a bunch indirectly. The problem is, the knotheads running the government are so busy snapping nude photos of their private parts and flexing their hairy chests, that they have no time to consider what their foolishness is doing to America.  And for that matter, the world.  Shucks, the head of the IMF (Dominique Strauss-Kahn), and other world leaders act like they are above the law with their rapes and call-girl escapades. No wonder the world is in such a mess.

Again, thanks for commenting and assuring me that what you think I "want is happening", even though what I suggested is so far from the strawman you tossed into this stream, it takes all my strength to toss it back. Have a nice day. Wherever you are. selahV

FOR THE CBO'S LATEST FINDINGS GO HERE(/link).  THEN CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN. (And in case you don't know...the IMF is the International Monetary Fund--big big job. Big)

Blog-phobia

Since 2006 I have met all kinds of folks in Blogville USA.  Some folks read but don't write blogs.  Some read and don't comment on blogs.  Some comment but do so anonymously so no one knows who they really are.  Some sign-in with a pseudo name without ever revealing who they are.  They think that makes them legitimate voices in the world of blogging.  They may think that gives power to their opinion--but they just don't flip my switch.  I think it's highly possible they may be suffering from *blogphobia.

However....there's no reason to fear...

...anyone or anything when one is in Christ Jesus.

I don't fear anyone...

...for their views...or their proclivities...or their ideologies...or their theologies...or their skin tone...or their power...or authority...or position...or their diseases or their preferences for blue and lime-green hair and matching rhinestone nose studs.

I figure, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

I admit, though; I have few "phobias".

I'm afraid of stupid drivers.

Occasionally I feel like someone has punched me in the gut when a car pulls out in front of me. I figure that is a kinda post traumatic stress syndrome since someone jumped a stopsign last December and plowed into the front-end of my little Chevy Malibu. So I wouldn't really call that a "phobia"....Yet.

While there are some folks I don't make a habit of sharing waterbottles with, I don't get any goosebumps when I bump into them in a crowded mall, or am served by one at a restaurant, have one as a nurse, or am followed by one in the dark of night.

You see. We live in America. And in America, we are entitled to our own views, proclivities, ideologies, theologies and preferences. We are not entitled, in my belief, to think ourselves better than any---because after all...

..."we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

I have made mistakes.

I have failed.

I have chosen unwisely.

I have spoken too quickly.

I have rebelled against God. But for the grace of God, I'd be wallowing in dens of iniquity now. I am a blessed person.  At a time when my life hung in the balance, the LORD reached down into the miry clay in which I squirmed and saved my sorry neck. He set my feet upon higher ground and told me to walk in His way, to stand in the hour of adversity, to trust in the hour of darkness, to be unfraid in the face of raging waves--for He was gonna hang with me--through thick and thin, for better or for worse.

A friend of mine has a similar story. And quite often I get agitated and irritated at folks for treating my brother-in-Christ like the scum of the earth while they piously extol their compassion for those "unregenerates" who self-righteously wallow in dens where I once wallowed and spit on God.

I don't know everything that others (my friend's critics, for instance), have done to promote integration...or right wrongs done to society's outcasts. I do know what my friend has done. He's not one to blow his own horn. And to be honest, I'm not gonna to blow it for him. (not today, anyway.) I will just say he's an honorable person. A man who loves Jesus. He loves Jesus far more than he does his own reputation or likeability. I couldn't ask for any person on earth, other than my husband, who is more loyal. I think that's why I like him so much. He's the real deal.

Sometimes I scratch my head in wonder...

How can we condemn and slander and misrepresent our adopted brothers or sisters and expect the unadopted lost souls to believe we have one ounce of sincerity?

But "phobias"?  I don't know; perhaps folks have **boldphobia. ***Boldphobiacs have an unreasonable fear of bold people. They congregate in groups and pretend they are bold and make anonymous statements against bold people. They only speak when they know their army is standing behind them with swords drawn, or from behind the anonymity of monitors and bogus email addresses. They'd never go to war with a slingshot and stone because boldphobiacs are afraid of giants.  selahV

**boldphobia and ***boldphobiacs and *blogphobia are not in the dictionary. I made them up.

ON ANOTHER NOTE:  Below is a link to a compilation of the kind of church that made the difference between life and death to me in 1976. I'm so glad they reached out and gave. If you want to read about being a part of something great, go here.

CBO Warns America is teetering on the edge of debt disaster. It has increased 2.1 billion per day in 2011. If we do not stop spending, and cut the budget, we will soon be spending far more than we are taking in. Outgo is more than revenue IN-put. What can we do?

Demand our lawmakers:

Make tough choices and Man-up.

STOP SPENDING!!!!!
Bring Home the troops!
Cut ALL CORPORATION TAXES TO O% with a moratorium for 10 years.
BRING HOME the Corporations! Bring Home the JOBS!

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS?

UPDATE  MORE BAD NEWS: CBO also reports that the grand stimulus plan that the Democrat Congress (which doesn't want to stop spending even now that America is too indebted to buy a toothbrush on credit), and President Obama promised would bring shovel-ready (ho-ho-ho) jobs--that same stimulus plan doubled the National Debt.  DOUBLED OUR DEBT IN TWO YEARS.  DOUBLED.  See full report here (/link).

Life Is Short, Breathe Slowly

 
One Early Morning at Medicine Park, Oklahoma, 2011

Blogger's Curse

There are those who curse in words and gnaw on their own words forever, like a cow chews its cud.  Their curse has a reverberating effect and cause others who hear it to gnaw on those words and judge other words they may have spoken in the past.  The unsettled curse taints the reception of other words in the future.  One's curse gives birth to suspicion, to question, to deeper inspection.

My stepmother cursed me.  From the time she entered my five-year-old life, to the day I left home at sixteen, she told me I was "a lazy, good-for-nothing brat".  She said, "You'll never amount to nothing!"  "You're a hussy like your mother."  It took years for me to overcome some of the other curses she wrapped around my brain.

Recently, a respected individual in my faith accused me and all my brothers and sisters (of like faith), of lying and being bigoted toward a certain people group.  Some think this curse will all blow over and go away.  A few think that it was a well-deserved indictment for which we all should repent.

Here's the thing.

When a person (of world-wide reknown and influence), accuses a whole group of people (within earshot, or Twitter-shot, of his sphere of instructional authority), of mean-spirited bigotry bathed in lies, it is not likely that Believers who "hear" or are made "aware" of the curse will sit kindly by and nod their heads in agreement, or flick away the condemnation with apathetic ho-hums. Though some will turn the other cheek and move on, the curse will not settle anymore than a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow.

It is also likely that those within the "people group" will use the indictment to further their own agendas and cast their own unrelenting form of accusation upon us all who were being cursed with the scarlet letter from the reknowned and influencial.

"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest." Proverbs 26:2

In other words, when someone condemns, the untruth will not settle down.  The curse will flutter in the wind and live on in the minds of others and flutter in their imaginations and obscure viewpoints again and again.

Because I blog and because I have on occasion voiced my opposition to another's words or views, I have been lied about, dumped on, maligned, accused, and criticized.  Goes with the territory of voicing one's opinion.  Not everyone will agree with you.  Oddly, in the nearly 2,000-plus posts I have written, I can count on one hand the people who have sent disparaging, meanspirited, accusatory emails:  One.  One person.  I can also count on one hand the ones who've logged on to bash me...one preacher of said emailer, and a handful of their cronies.

God has been good to me.  God has blessed me.  I am grateful.

For me, the lesson in the blogger's curse, is that we'd do well to guard our tongues in what we say about others--especially when speaking of the Bride of Christ. Personally, I have no animosity towards the "reknown and influencial" spokesman who let fly a curse upon me and my faith-group. I just lament the fact that this "curse" will not rest for a very long time.

Indeed, because it was spoken by such a person of influence, it will go down in the annals of history of my faith-group and will someday be ferreted out as a nugget that few even realize exists. "An undeserved curse does not come to rest."  There is a day of accounting for every word we utter.  Best we choose them wisely, don't you think?  selahV

For Other Related Posts:

WHEN THE DEVIL SPINS A TALE

Bloggers Biting Bait

Bloggers are funny characters.  Some bloggers really crack me up.  They have no problem jumping into the middle of a stream that does not concern them whatsoever, and giving their undiluted opinion of a person's character. Often these folks do not even offer a "how do you do, mr. host/hostess," nor a "thankyou for allowing me to comment on your blog".  Nope.  They just plunge right in and say unseemly things about some person's motives, intent, and integrity even though their blatherings have nothing at all to do with the subject matter.  It's crazy.

Other bloggers write posts designed to bait other bloggers to bite on the topic and find nothing but minnows nibbling at the end of their lines.  I almost jumped into a stream yesterday.  People were going on and on and on about a person I felt was being maligned in a way that was so far from the truth it embarassed me for the writer posting their rhetoric.  I thought long and hard about correcting the record.  I even wrote a calmly, well-reasoned, logical response to each and every person who was saying demeaning things.  Then...

...then I decided to read through some Proverbs for a energy-boost of wisdom.  I read several verses until my eyes landed on this one:

"Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own."  Proverbs 26:17

I've never grabbed a stray dog by the ears.  But by golley I do know the sounds of a hound-dog that is grabbed that way.  It's such a bone-chilling bellowing wail.

The offending words being written about this person in that blog-stream illustrated this verse very well.  Writers obviously were ignorant of the subject matter and only based their opinions and thoughts upon previous encounters they'd had with the person--or things they'd read about the person.  And even though I am privy to far more about motive, intent, and thoughts behind the discussion topic, I had no business rushing into a quarrel not my own. 

I felt really good that the Lord checked my spirit, controlled my fingers, and helped me resist the temptation to meddle where meddling is not warranted.

I've all but stopped commenting on blogs.  I find most blogs I frequented in the past (and no...you know I'm not talking about yours), have deteriorated into quarrelsome blatherings and fingerpointing rather than engaging the subject matter.  Quarrelsome attitudes beget more quarrels.  There's little room for reason or truth or desire to get at the truth in a matter when people write post after post inviting character assassinations. 

I find some bloggers write just to rattle out words to get more readers.  More comments.  The more outrageous they can make their posts, the happier they seem.  The more pats on the backs they get for unwarrantly slamming another individual for even daring to broach a controversial subject, the more they write about the individual...the more they bring up that person's name...the more they post about them to bring more readers to rush in and grab stray dogs by the ears.  My eyes can no longer stand the screeching wails, my friends.  I think I've decided how I will handle further streams with tangled lines baited with guile.

I shall not bite the bait, or rush in with a stray dog by the ears.  I might even give up fishing altogether and train my dog to hunt.  selahV

Walking the River

It's not easy.  Some may think it easy to walk the "lazy river" at the waterpark.  Bless their hearts and ability.  To me it is a feat.  It is a marathon.  It is an accomplishment.  Yesterday, I was able to walk around it several times.  Oddly, it is easier for me to walk with the resistance of water than to walk the mall with no resistance.  Less pain.  Though I walk each slowly, the water-walk doesn't hurt my hips as much as the concrete walk does.  Afterwards, I get out of the water and it feels like tons of pressure on my legs.

My granddaughters are patient with me.  I am so grateful.  My joy is watching them float in front of me.  It's counting seconds to see how long they can hold their breath.  It's watching them turn somersaults in the water.  They know that we go to the waterpark to have fun in the sun and water.  But they also know that Grama can only walk in the water.  I cannot get in and out of the huge oversized tubes and float like other people.  I can't go on the slides and giggle gleefully as we slither down slides and slip into the water.  I have to be careful how I bend and move to avoid back injury.  I can't get into the wave-pool because the waves cause me to struggle to stand.  The struggle knocks my back out of whack.  They understand.  Kids are like that.

However, because I can walk, and can get into the water, sometimes they forget how hard it is for me.  I can't pick them up or let them ride on my back like last year.  I can't move as quickly.  I am constantly thinking about how I move as I focus on how far they are from me in the water.  Sometimes they have to stop playing and wait for me to catch up so they are not out of my reach should need help in the water.  They don't complain.

It makes me think how fortunate I am to have a heavenly Father who is always able.  He is not only able to move quickly, but instantly.  He knows which way I am going before I go there.  Unlike me, He is not limited by physical constraints or weakness.  Just as my grandchildren depend upon me to protect them, I depend upon my Father to protect me and aid me in making choices that guide me in physical caution.  My limitations keep me glued to the limitless power and spiritual sufficiency I have in Christ. I am grateful for the grace to write...to laugh...to see my grandchildren enjoy life.  I am grateful for the grace to simply walk the lazy-river.  It is enough.  His grace is sufficient. 

Lord, today, I pray for those who struggle with limitations--be they physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.  I pray you meet their needs and help them recognize it is You Who gives them the strength, the perseverance, the faith, and grace to conquer the river currents of life.  selahV

 

What's going on with Typepad? it won't let me post to my blogs. Won't save the posts. And I see where others in the Typepad family are having multiple problems. Has Typepad been hacked?

BLINDED TO BLOSSOMS

I noticed the lone surviving lavendar plant from the twelve I had planted (5 years ago). It had wild morning glories twisting its way amongst its purple stems--what a stranglehold it had.  I'd seen the daisies clustered behind my pecan trees, but their presence did not bring the usual excitement typical for me.  From my kitchen window, I barely gave a glance to the array of giant Foxgloves growing by the fence.  A smile...a nod of praise to the Lord for their perennial presence in my life.  Scripture came to mind..."Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Luke 12:27

Yeah, Lord; I know.  But lilies don't have chronic back pain, I reasoned.  And lilies don't outgrow their attire.  And lilies don't get bronchitis.  And lilies don't have company coming and have a tub to scour and tables to dust. 

Recent weeks of pain had robbed me of enthusiasm.  Oklahoma's sweltering heat discouraged a walk outside.  A messy neglected house simply did not deserve a bouquet to grace the dining-room table cluttered with bills, books and my grandchildren's art renderings. Thoughts of company coming this weekend and the need to clean my home gave little room for musing about the backyard.  All I saw was the need to mow the lawn, the desire to secure my hammock before my friend arrived on Saturday.  Then...

...then my granddaughters came to visit.  They skittered to the patio doors and spotted the giant multi-colored foxgloves.  Maroon, magenta, peach, and pink.  They saw the purple Rose of Sharon.  The "oohs and aahs" punctuated the air with awe and wonder.

"Grama, did you know you had flowers out there?" Haylee informed me. "Can we pick some?"  Within moments she and Kinsey emptied a basket of its wooden blocks and found their scissors and headed out the door.  Normally, I would grab my camera and follow them.  Yesterday I simply slid the door closed to keep out the flies and bees and headed back to my recliner, grabbed a tissue and waited out my three-minute coughing spasm.  My head hurt.  My chest hurt.  My stuffy nose leaked out of my eyes as tears covered my cheeks.

I sat there thinking how little I cared about flowers.  But how wonderfully warm and soothing it felt to have my granddaughters visiting.  Their mom had kept them at bay for days because I'd been feeling so lousy.  And now, their enthusiasm and joy touched a need inside me I had not realized was there.  I knew the girls would soon bounce through the doors with their basket of glory, so I got up and went to the kitchen and filled a clear bowl with water.  I went back to my recliner, blew my nose and waited.

Before the afternoon was over we'd had a teaparty, sat cuddled together watching Popeye and Ben Ten, drank hot chocolate and talked about Vacation Bible School coming up next week.  Haylee was particularly excited.

"I can hardly wait.  We are going exploring.  It won't be like when we went to Australia and saw the animals, or the other year when we, uh...I can't remember now, but we are going to some place new."

"I think you are going to New York this year," I informed.

"WHAT!  Wow, that will be fun!  That's where the big buildings are, and...", and on and on she exolled all she knew about New York City.  "But we don't really go there," she reminded me, "we just explore it in pretend."

I thought about that precious moment.  The wonder of a child.  The expectations. Life.  Joy oozed out of every pore.  Kinsey was caught up in the excitement even though she had no idea why.  Joyous memories of past VBS explorations thrilled Haylee and provoked undiluted positive anticipation.  Oklahoma's heat didn't matter.  Insects didn't matter.  And I'm certain if she had a Summer cold, it would not matter.  Life was a bouquet of grandeur and a rainbow of promise.

Oh, to be young again.  Oh, to let my spirit ride the wings of butterflies and bumble bees.

Later, when the chatter, the joy and the busyness of two little girls surrendered to the stillness of the house, I could not help but stop and try to smell the blossoms in the middle of my dining room table. I'd been all but blinded to the array of maroon, magenta, purple and pink blossoms before my granddaughters came to visit.

"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger." Psalm 8:2

What a blessing to have the lips of children.  The hope in their hearts.  God knew this day would come when Satan tried to rob me of health, to blind me to the blessings of His glory.  God knew that when each seed from every flower in my backyard died last fall and burst forth in new life this Spring that the girls would come and marvel at their splendor.  God knew they'd offer praise because of the enemies in my life--weariness, illness, and depression.  He knew.  And so He prepared for this day for me to see the blossoms of His love.

How about you?  Do you see Him today?  I hope so.

PRAYER:  Lord, give those who are weary.  Those who are blinded by the sin of life.  Those who cannot lift their eyes.  Give them a child to come and show them the way...to offer praise for Your goodness...to remind them of Your watchcare and to silence the foe and avenger in their lives.

Cell phones, Cancer and Kids
Researchers are researching to see if cell phones are giving people brain tumors. Not sure, just speculating. They said dying your hair blonde would give you brain cancer a long time ago. Next thing you know they'll be telling me my knee problems are due to my laptop. You worried?

SO, I'M THINKING OUT LOUD HERE...

And I just wonder what advice you folks might have for me.  You remember my car accident last December 9th that totaled my Chevy Malibu, don't you?  (How could you forget if you've been reading my blogs?)  Anyway, after two months of insanity with them over my car, they finally saw the light, realized how ridiculous they'd been in compensating me for their client's error, and paid me for my car.  However...

Allstate still hasn't settled with me on my medical bills.  I had to pay the stupid bills that they are responsible for because they won't pay the medical bills until I stop seeing the chiropractor. That's dumb.  The chiropractor didn't cause the accident and make me have to go to the emergency room and get x-rays, etcetera.  But because I am still seeing a chiropractor--they still won't pay them...no offense, nothing personal...just standard pressure procedure.

Every so often Allstate calls me (different person every time), and asks me if I am still seeing the chiro.  I say yes, and they say they can't pay me anything or pay the bills until I settle.  I say, Okay, and wonder if I will ever see a dime of what I've paid out. Feel the pressure?  I do.

Meanwhile, I began to feel quite a bit better, and was able to blowdry my hair without taking 5-minute breaks, so I decided to tell my chiropractor to just go ahead and send in his bill to the insurance company. (Yeah, I caved.)  But he shouldn't have to wait for his money and they aren't going to settle with me until I stop going to him.  Well, he sent in his paperwork but I'm still going to see him. It helps alleviate the pain.

Remember a few weeks ago when I simply reached for a piece of paper on a shelf at waist level and pain erupted again in my back? I wondered then, if I spoke too soon in letting the chiro send in his bill.  I can't remember when I felt that bad, other than the days following my accident.  I had really felt much much better from my treatments, and was able to finally dry my hair, roll it and not have any pain.  I still had lower back discomfort but chalked that up to old age (yeah, I know...I'm not old) and degenerative disc.  I just don't want to be so limited with my neck.  But there I was again from simply picking up a piece of paper.  Pain in my neck and shoulders.  Yep.  Started the first part of May. (Shhh, don't tell Allstate.)  I started paying up front for chiropractor treatments because we sent the final bill into the insurance company on the accident.

Now I'm having second thoughts. I'm still seeing my chiropractor but only scheduled once a month.  Dagnabbit! It helps the pain.  But I couldn't keep waiting on Allstate to get my money back for the other services.  I need my money.  I shouldn't have had to pay those bills in the first place.  That 2,000 dollars will go a long way in paying the chiropractor for treatments now.  He can't keep seeing me for nothing.  Allstate has had his bill for a bit over a month now, and they still haven't paid me back for any of my medical bills.

I suppose I was stupid to settle without knowing if there is something going on in my neck that was overlooked with a regular xray.  I hate to put out more money that the insurance company won't give back to me to have an MRI.  Sigh...such a quandry.  Always a quandry.  Praying I make the right decision.  Praying, praying, praying.  With my luck, Allstate will finally settle with me, then I'll find out I need some kind of surgery that will cost a fortune.  Double sigh.  Oh...yeah...I forgot.  (The Holy Spirit just reminded me of something).  "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."  Psalm 138:8a  He keeps me looking up every time I begin to look down.

[P.S. I'm beginning to see why people get attorneys when they get into accidents.]