Vivi

  We bid a fond farewell to Vivi, our sweet, young woman from China.  She has lived in our home for the past ten months.  The parting was bittersweet as most partings are.  She punctured our hearts, with her love for life, the minute she stepped through our front door.  It has been a joy to host her during this past school year.  Now she goes home to continue her schooling and her teaching.
  We will miss her.  I see little notes from her lying around the house.  They are like musical notes making a sweet, enduring  melody of memories.
  We love you, Vivi. 
  We always will.



Hebrews 13:2  Don't neglect to
Entertain strangers,
For by so doing
Some have unwittingly
Entertained angels.

For a Birthday Girl Who's Five

For a birthday Girl Who's Five

Bumble little bubble

Float from here to there

Cobwebs in the attic

Flowers in your hair

Life is full and messy

Plans may go astray

Overall His love for us 

Bids us stop and play

Tinker with a little toy

Sketch a happy face

Mix the dough with mama

Catch papas full embrace

Chalk upon the driveway

Paint upon the chin

Dig to China in the sand

Take a little spin

Follow quick the butterflies

Smell the blooming buds

Wash the car with grandpa

Playing in the suds

Here are birthday wishes

For a little girl who's five

Jesus bless and keep you

And make you ever thrive

Matt 19:14  Jesus said,"Let the children come to me,
and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs
to such as these."   

The Here and Now

  I'm trying to live in the moment.  To do that I am taking cues from my husband.  He is more spontaneous than I am.  Some planning seems to be necessary.  There are many moments during the the day, however,  that just need to be live in and enjoyed.  When I do that it helps me to face my fears without "what ifs."  I am better able to be filled with joy, sorrow, sadness, anger, and to deal honestly with each.  Life seems to expand.
  The best model we have for this is Jesus.  He seemed to take everything in stride.  He never missed a beat.  He really looked at people.  He was there, in the moment.  It never slowed Him down.  It never confused Him.  It never defeated Him. He was always right there.


Ex 3:14  God said to Moses,
"I AM WHO I AM.
This is what you are to say to the Israelites
" I AM has sent me to you."

Perhaps Wednesdays

  I think I am going to have to post my blog on Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays.  We watch grandchildren on Tuesdays.  They keep us busy and preoccupied.  By days end,we are both pretty tired.  It helps me to see the great wisdom of God when babies come to the young.  The energy I had during my childbearing days is profoundly different than what I have now.

  But I can still love and enjoy.  And I do.

  A former pastor once said that each of your children should be passionately loved by someone at all times.When the children rattled my nerves, I remembered that, and it helped me see their need.  It also helped me to know Christs presence and strength in me.  He was always there filling in my deficiencies and making me a better mom than I was.

  How can anyone parent without Him?
How can anyone grandparent without Him?


1 Corinth 13:4a  Love suffers long and is kind.....

Annoying Crash

   We were without a computer last week.  It cramped us up a bit.  My husband spent a lot of time trying to get it to work again, both on his own, and on the phone to the experts.  It was all to no avail.
He finally decided to talk to our son-in-law, who suggested he hit a certain keystroke.  Voila!
  We now have a sure and certain relief from the computer constipation of last week.  We are moving again.  How dependent on technology we've become!  I believe it has both helped and hog-tied us.  The really tricky thing is to know when it actually is a tool to help and to discern when it is just mind tickling entertainment.  It can be very mind numbing.
  The church of Laodicea became revolting to God by becoming lukewarm.  Let us stay alert so the vast opportunities of the present don't numb our minds to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.


Daniel 12:4  But you, Daniel, shut up the words
And seal the book until the time of the end;
Many shall run to and fro,
And knowledge shall increase.

1 Corinth 8:1 Now concerning things offered to idols:
We know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

Freedom

  Years ago our family attended a church that met in the lower level of a motel.  One evening I went to church alone and was particularly burdened and run down with some of the circumstances in my life.  Much to my surprise, someone had placed a large wooden cross outside the door.

  There were some chairs in the lobby so I sat for a few minutes to collect my thoughts for a time of worship and praise.  As I gazed at that cross, the Lord spoke to my heart.  He told me to hang my burdens on the cross, and when the service was over, I could pick them up on the way out. 

  I did hang my burdens on the cross that night.  The time of praise and worship was glorious.  When I left and saw that dear wooden cross, and the One who died to set me free, I had no desire nor inclination to pick up my burdens again. 

  They died with Him there that night.


1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your cares on Him
For He cares for you.

A Kiss and a Band-aide

  Our grandchildren are an excellent study in helping me hold on to childlike faith.  Theirs is an uncomplicated faith.  They receive good gifts with such open-faced joy.  Even after coming with such crushing troubles on their hearts, they unleash them, and skip on their way without burden or concern. They bounce back from falling with a kiss and a band-aide.

  I do not skip so easily anymore, and I certainly do not bounce like the kids do.  But, I can, with my heart set on learning,become like a child receiving all I can from a generous and loving Father.


Mark 10:15
Assuredly I say to you
Whoever does not receive
The Kingdom of God
As a little child
Will by no means enter it.