Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Gooseneck Loosestrife.....Are You One?




This year when I started to work in our rock garden, I decided to take out about half of it that was taken over by Gooseneck Loosestrife. Doesn’t the name just kind of tell you that it doesn‘t know how to play nice. When we moved here ten years ago, this plant was well contained and added a lot to the garden. It’s white gooseneck shaped blooms were just what was needed in this space because of a lack of other plants. Every year these bullies have spread and spread much to my displeasure. Last year my lilies were crowded out, Astibles were crying uncle and the Hosta plants were fighting a battle for their lives. In the picture you see, that one beautiful daylily was one that made it through these monsters. I googled them and found that they and their cousin the Purple Loosestrife are called the “Freddy Kruger” of plants. One article described them as thugs and mobsters though my Gooseneck Loosestrife isn‘t as bad as the purple, which most consider a weed! One of the worst things about them is that they spread through a network of roots or “rhizomes” that never give up. Even though I pulled many plants and even dug out roots I see today, a new crop coming up. What tenacity!




As I often do, I put this scenario in the light of scripture and found that “roots” are mentioned several times throughout the bible. We all know the verse from 1 Timothy 6:10, that says “ For the love of money is the “root” of all kinds of evil”! Whew! Glad I don’t have a lot of money! But wait! If I replaced money in that verse with other things like power or recognition or….. You name it, it can be anything we put before the Lord in importance. My Gooseneck Loosestrife looks very innocent standing there with it’s beautiful foliage and cute little flowers but those roots which started out to cover a tiny bit of my garden now has choked out many other flowers that used to add to the beautiful hues of my rock garden. I don’t have to look too far to see where roots run deep and choke the life out of a happy heart. Sometimes dreadful things take us over like addictions, power hunger or sin but sometimes it can be normally good things that become more important to us than God.




I had to look to my root system to see if there is anything taking root in my heart. God reminded me that lately I have found myself being discontent. I look at my perfectly good furniture and want new, I love retirement but have found myself discontent with not having enough money to do all the things I would like to do. Because my mind is on things I do not have I have found myself not appreciating what I do have. As I examined my heart, I was drawn to scripture I read a few days ago.




Colossians 2:6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and over flowing with thankfulness.




Thank God that he knows our tendency is to root ourselves in the things of this world and choke out His will for our lives. I want my roots to grow deep and wide like my Gooseneck Loosestrife but I want those roots to be in Christ. I want to be strengthened in the faith as the bible teaches and to overflow with thankfulness for all He has given me! Amen





Friday, June 24, 2011

Hands Up!










Do you ever get discouraged over "unanswered" prayer? Have you prayed for something or someone for months or years without an obvious answer? I know I have and still do! I have had many prayers answered "yes" some "no" but many prayers have a big "wait" stamped across them! As I go to prayer I often start by saying "Lord, I lift this to you". At times I even lift my open hands as a gesture of giving my burden to Him.



As I thought of this today, my mind went to Moses! I found the scripture in Exodus 17, that tells how the Amalekites came to attack the Israelites and Moses told Joshua to choose some men to fight. Moses also told Joshua that while they were fighting Moses would be at the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hands. You might remember the staff of God that Moses used to show power during the plagues in Egypt, to part the sea, and to bring water forth from a rock in the desert. The staff represented God’s faithfulness. So Joshua did as he was told and prepared for war against the Amalekites.. Moses, Aaron and Hur (his sister Miriam's husband) went to the top of the hill as they had promised. As long as Moses held the staff with his hands in the air, the Israelites would be winning the battle but when he became tired and lowered his hands they would begin to lose. So Aaron and Hur sat him down on a rock and one on each side of him, held his hands up until the battle was won.

As we pray, make no mistake, we too are at battle! We do battle against the Satan who wants to defeat us, especially as we pray for some lost soul. That is when we, like Moses, need to lift our hands to God in prayer, knowing the power we hold in our hands. We need to pray without ceasing and keep our burdens lifted up even if we need to call someone to come along side us when we become weary.

So, "hands up," my brothers and sisters in Christ the victory is ours if we only stay steady! Invite the Savior to do battle for you as you pray and lift your hands in praise!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Man My Kids Call Dad!






What Father’s Day card could ever express the gratitude and love I feel for the man who my kids call Dad. Though his own father died when he was less than two years old, he knew he wanted to be a good dad. He changed diapers, fed babies in the middle of the night and shoveled baby food into open mouths, he called “sparrow mouths“. I remember when the first of five daughters came, he went from being a man who used the words "I love you" very sparingly, to one who couldn't say it enough. With those "I love yous" came tears that happened every time he talked of his kids and is true to this day! But along with this wonderful tenderness came a resolve to give them what they needed and in his mind what they needed most was the Lord! Sundays, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights and any time the doors were open at church we would be there. If there was a teen activity he got them to church, though sometimes he wasn't sure where the money would come from. Even when I started working on Sundays he would load everyone up and go to church! The girls still talk about the good times they had talking about “life” as they went to and from church.

There was several times when he could have advanced in his job, to easier jobs but turned it down because it would have meant working a different shift and being away from his family. He always wanted to be there for them and didn't mind sacrificing to accomplish that! In fact he never considered it a sacrifice but a privilege.

Now, our kids are grown, and they have kids of their own (who are wonderful) but they will never out grow the love that this wonderful man has for them.





I praise our heavenly Father for putting His love into this man who my kids call Dad!

Happy Father's Day my sweet Larry

Saturday, June 18, 2011

"A Weed's Life"

Photo by Allison Smith






This morning we took advantage of the cool temperature and worked in our garden. With my newly sharpened hoe, I started to chop away at the million little weeds that had taken up residence there. Anytime I hoe weeds I always think about my grandma and how she loved to garden. I remember her telling me never to hoe in the evening because the cool of the night allowed the weeds to take hold again. As a child, I imagined these little green fella's jumping up while we slept and replanting themselves. (That might be a great theme for a movie). Grandma preferred morning because the heat of the sun would kill the roots of weeds so they could not replant and require another weeding a day or two later.

Sometimes sin, hate or disobedience in our life is that way! We feel sorry for it, we really want to get rid of it, we know that this is not the will of God so we ask Him to forgive us but we never really let the light of God purge it from our hearts. In the privacy of our dark thoughts we replant those bitter weeds!

I find that if I avoid reading His word, stay away from church, and spend no time in prayer I can be pretty well assured that those weeds that God uprooted will take root again. Instead of listening to the prompting of the spirit I can have a dialogue of my own it goes something like this: After all, I can conclude, "it's okay to hate my neighbor look what they did to me". Maybe I can even excuse myself from gossiping thinking that "the TRUTH needs to get out"! Doesn't it? We can justify just about anything if we do not hold it up in light of God's will and Satan thrills to the thought of sins forgiven, taking root again. He is even more thrilled for us to believe God is unable to forgive our sins! Aren’t they too bad for even God to forgive? How silly would it be for me to go out and try to rescue those weeds I chopped out of my garden and try to claim they were never uprooted from their places at all. Sins like weeds if left unattended can take over a life like weeds take over a garden so as the “Master Gardener” uproots your sins and forgives you make sure to let the Son shine with a light that only he can give.





Maybe I should write a story about those weeds replanting themselves, I could entitle it “A WEED’S LIFE”.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Hootie Creek, Hootie Creek, Hootie Creek!



As I looked through some of my favorite recipes on AOL, I came across a recipe that I loved. The name of it is Hootie Creek Cranberry cookies (Gift in a Jar). I loved the name as well as the recipe. Just try saying Hootie Creek a few times, it just makes me happy letting it roll off my tongue! The recipe is wonderful also, its a cookie packed with dried cranberries, macadamia nuts and to top it off….white chocolate chips! It seems since I have been trying to eat healthy foods, my eyes are always wondering off to some delicious recipe or other forbidden foods. How could I be happy with lettuces, carrots and lean turkey when my heart pleads for Hootie Creeks?

I am not the first person to desire what I do not have, and the bible is a good place to find a good many of them. If we think of David, he had everything he needed or wanted but he looked on what he didn’t have, another man’s wife! Maybe one of the most well known was Eve! In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything they needed, God had placed them in a paradise with beauty all around them. They could even talk with God in the evening but…..they wanted more. Eve looked upon what she couldn’t have and the devil lied to her saying you need just one more thing! She took and ate the forbidden fruit and we know how that turned out! How about those Israelites? They never fail to crack me up! If you read through Exodus in the bible we find that God parted the Red Sea and let them walk through on dry land, He provided water from a rock, they wore the same shoes for forty years and no one had to make a trip to Payless Shoes to get new ones. They trekked around the desert for forty years and their ankles didn’t even swell. So you would think they would trust God to provide food for them but they grumbled and did not trust Him even after all he had provided so miraculously for them. How patient God had to be toward these bellyachers! So God provided an omer (about 2 quarts) of manna! This was really a “Gift in a Jar” but they wanted meat like they had in Egypt. They even longed to be back in Egypt where they suffered great oppression, saying at least we had all we wanted to eat! So God provided quail in the evening. What unfailing love he has for us.

Like me, they had all they needed but they craved Hootie Creek Cookies! How God must love us to listen to our grumblings and see our lack of trust , yet sees fit to provide us with what we need and even throws in a Hootie Creek cookie once in awhile.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Big Mama!

Mom gives Jenna a hand to help her out of a scary spot that she found herself, while exploring!












One of the tales I tell about myself happened during a very sad time in the life of our family. My daughter, Nealy had a miscarriage and after several days of hoping this little life would make it, she lost the baby. With modern technology the whole process could be observed and it was grueling to see this precious life slip away. As to be expected, Nealy, and Tim, her husband, were very heart broken as was the whole family. I remember praying as I packed to go to Indiana. I cried as I asked him to keep his hand on them and then I said something that made me stop and almost laugh. I said Lord, just take care of them “until” I get there. Mind you, I was talking to the creator of everything, who I obviously believed could be with my daughter and listen to me at the same time and I asked him to take care of her “until” I got there. Of course, I didn’t exactly mean that but sometimes, as a mom, I act like if I could only get to them “I” could fix everything. I must be a slow learner because over and over I realize that there is really very little, in my own strength, I can solve in the lives of my kids and grandkids. In my humanness I lack the power to even protect them. The only power I possess is through Christ who strengthens me as well as my kids. But how many nights have I tossed and turned worrying, only to find that worry had changed nothing? It’s only when I let go and lift them to the throne that He can do more than I could ask or think. He can give them hope when all seems hopeless, he can strengthen them in the world that they face, he can heal their hurts, he can heal body, mind and relationships and He loves them even more than I do. If I live to be a hundred, I will always have to fight the temptation to be “Big Mama” but I am so glad that I have a Father in heaven who looks down on me with love and tells me step aside “Big Mama” “it is for this child I died and there is nothing too big for me to solve.” With a grateful heart I put them in his good hands once again trusting that that He is a Big God who promises that nothing is impossible with him.






In the bible is an account of a father who was much like me and tried to do everything on his own. His son had an evil spirit that was trying to destroy him by throwing him into the fire or into water to kill him and his father, after trying to everything on his own, came to Jesus and said “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us”. I can just hear the frustration in Jesus’ voice when he said “If I can? “If I can?” Then said, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” The father at that said with renewed strength “I do believe; Help me overcome my unbelief”!






So when his son was healed, this Big Daddy realized that only “He Can!”! If we only believe in Him, everything is possible! Lord, help this Big Mama to overcome my unbelief!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

If a Hawk Squawks Duck and Tarry!








I went out early to my favorite place to talk to the Lord, my "prayer chair"! It was perfect with a gentle breeze wafting across the grass that was still glistening from dew that had fallen during the night! The birds were singing, each one their own tune in the swaying trees that moved gently in the breeze. As I took in this beautiful scene, one of my favorite songs came to my mind "In the Garden". I couldn't help but sing those beautiful words........ "I come to the Garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses" And the voice I hear falling on my ear, the son of God disclosed. And as I raised my voice in the chorus ......

"And He walks with me and he talks with me and He tells me I am His own....



Suddenly came a SQUAWK! SQUAWK! A small hawk with squawk like a full grown eagle, dipped close to the ground in front of me and interrupted my special moment (maybe he didn't like my singing). As I tried to recapture the mood, the crazy thing came again! Swooping again and again close to my head, I tried to see what it was trying to get but found nothing that looked like something this bird of prey could eat! What was this annoying little creature looking for? After several more passes over my head he finally left me alone. Now trying to refocus, I tried to remember the words of the song I was singing when I was so rudely interrupted!

.....And the joy we share... as we tarry there... none other has ever known.

My feathered friend intruded into my "moment" he had interrupted my life by swooping in unexpectedly and threatened my joy. His persistence nearly derailed my time with God but as I tarried in Garden of His presence I was able to share his joy in spite of the hawk squawk!

I think of the times that life and it's problems have dive bombed my spirit unexpectedly and how I have ducked and swayed and nearly lost my joy to the enemy who squawked his lies to me. It usually happens when I need to spend time in the garden but sometimes it is when my heart is full that the enemy tries his hardest to swoop in and pluck my joy from me. In those times I need to tarry in His presence all the more! Praise God that he allows us to share in his joy!

So when you hear a hawk squawk, duck and tarry!

The next verse of the song, I also love!

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that he gave to me
Within my heart is singing!

Chorus:

And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and he tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever know.




Praise the Lord!