Gathering Rubies

Larry and I are celebrating our thirty-first wedding anniversary today. In a way it doesn’t seem possible and in other ways it seems like we have always been together. He is a VERY good man, a spiritual man and he has always put our family and our needs before his own. I know I have been blessed beyond measure! I never imagined I could have someone love me the way he does and I truly thank God for him.

The following poem is from Day Spring Cards. It is a beautiful poem and aptly describes our journey, and the best is yet to be…

Shared Lives

Two trees…
a white oak and a red oak…
grew side by side, so close
 that after many years,
their trunks had joined as one.

Yet each retained its
own limbs, bright leaves
and brown acorns.

Throughout the years,
these trees shared the warm
spring rains, the carefree days
of summer and the glory of
autumn. Their leaves changed
with the seasons, adding beauty
to the forest around them.

They also shared the harsh times…the bitter cold
when winter came and
iced their limbs and made them break…the springtime storms
when the wind would push and pull and twist their limbs, tearing
their leaves away.
They weathered these difficult times, relying upon their combined strength and
sure-foundation oneness.

Our lives together have been like these
trees—one in essence, separate in specialness…
each depending on the other…sharing the happy times,
lending strength in difficult times.

As we continue to grow together,
I look forward to the blossoming of our dreams…
rooted in God, united in love…
with branches reaching up to Heaven.
As wonderful as the past has been,
the best is yet to be.

You may recall last week I sent a letter to my husband, listing a dozen things I love and appreciate about him. I mailed the letter on Friday and it was delivered on Saturday. He is usually the one who walks out to check the mail and he always brings it in and either puts it on my desk or leaves it on the kitchen counter.

When I mailed the letter I printed out a label so he wouldn’t recognize my handwriting on the envelope and of course I didn’t put a return address on it. I guess he thought it was junk mail and he didn’t even open it. I nonchalantly picked it up and handed it to him. He rolled his eyes and opened it and I left the room right after he started reading it.

I had mentioned in my previous post that the look on his face would be priceless. I was the one who likely had the “priceless” look when he walked into the kitchen.

His eyes were sweating!! Big time!! I felt AWFUL!!

He assured me it was because he was completely caught off guard and that he loved getting the letter, yet he felt undeserving of the praise I put upon him. By that time we both had sweating eyes. The letter made his day and it made mine too. I love making my husband happy!!

It truly is more blessed to give than to receive.

I would love to have you share your stories of how you unexpectedly remind your spouse of your love and appreciation.

Ps 5:3 In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

It is a beautiful sunny day with a predicted high of 72°.

I feel energized and endorphinized. Ok, so that’s not really a word; but hey, my endorphins are working overtime and that’s a good thing. I am excited about the upcoming Tulsa Workshop and looking forward to hearing some great lessons, singing, classes, and meeting a lot of my blogger friends and their families. This year will be my first time attending the Tulsa Workshop and from what I’ve been told; I am in for a real treat.

What an honor we have in calling on God, not only in the morning as the above verse from Psalms mentions, but we can call on God any hour of the day. We can start our day giving thanks and honor to God. We can ask for safety from any harm, to help us overcome temptations, we can ask for guidance, mercy and justice. We don’t know what any day will bring for sure, but we can be certain that we can take our requests and cares to God.

Sometimes I feel like I can compare my prayer life to a jigsaw puzzle. I have seasons of discipline and seasons of chaos. At times I feel like I pray without ceasing and other times I don’t remember praying. I am determined to make prayer a natural part of my life, and by natural I mean that if I don’t pray, then I will know immediately something is missing and needs my immediate attention.

Russell, in his sermon Sunday after reading Mt 11:28-30, commented that “weakness is not because I’m in the battle but because I’m not drawing near to God-if we’re not praying we are going to lose the battle”. That is sticking with me, jabbing my conscience and encouraging me.

Prov 13:19 A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul.

Prov 15:13-14 A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.

I don’t have much of a “Poker Face”. If something is eating away at me, I might have a smile on my face but my eyes will betray me every time. My eyes reveal my emotions, happiness, sadness, anger, and pain. There is a phrase I have heard about our eyes being the windows of our souls. Perhaps the thought comes from the following scriptures.

We read in Matt 6:22-23 that our eyes are the lamps of our body, if they are good our whole body will be full of light, if they are bad, out body will be full of darkness, and in Matt 12:34 we see that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Later in Matt 15:19-20 we see that out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Our expressions as well as our words can reveal much about us. A cheerful face suggests a positive attitude and reflects our inner joy and our speech Heartache, as stated in the Proverb above crushes the spirit and it too can rule our face as well as our mouth.

I love to sit in busy places such as a mall or an airport and observe people. It’s fascinates me, the things I see and hear and it sets my mind to wondering.

Prov 15:15 For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.

These verses guide us in building values for shaping the kind of heart described in vv 13-15.

Prov 1:7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Just my jumbled thoughts for today~

We have reached another Friday, seems as if this week had wings and flew away.

I was in one of my closets today looking for something, (which I didn’t find) and saw the boxes and boxes of photographs which I keep intending to organize. I made a mental note to do that soon and as quickly as I did the thought came into my mind that I’m not promised tomorrow”. I pushed that thought away with this one; “then someone else will have to do it”.

I have what seems like a kajillion things to do today and so far I’m not making much progress. So I’m off to start some of my errands. Hope you all have a terrific weekend!

Enjoy this bit of humor

Trust

Travel is hard enough without the airline industry scaring us with their terminology.

As I drive to the airport, watching for the signs that indicate what exits to take, I wonder what sadist named the place where you trust your all to a creaking bunch of nuts and bolts Terminal.

When I check in at the counter, I remember this particular flight was chosen by my travel agent for one reason—it was the cheapest available.

When it’s time to land, why does the flight attendant have to remind us that we are making our final approach? (On a recent flight, the attendant announced reassuringly, “We will be in the ground very shortly.”)

Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

I have heard this quoted another way too. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is the present, treat it as a gift.

Yesterday slipped away, I didn’t get to write; still it was a very productive and fun day. Larry, Mom and I had planned an outing to Tulsa to do some furniture shopping for mom.  We picked her up at 10 and she had her sunglasses on in the house, (She looked a bit like Ma Barker) which made me laugh until I found out one of the lens came out of her regular glasses. Her ophthalmologist is here in town so that turned out to be our first stop. They fixed her up and next we stopped at our local library to drop off all of our bundled newspapers for recycling and finally we headed to T-Town.

The first furniture store we visited was great. We were barely inside the store waiting for our eyes to adjust from being out in the bright sun when we were greeted by ‘Dave’. He followed us around for a bit and realized we might be awhile, so he left to help some people who came in after us.

Mom found a couch and a chest of drawers in less than an hour. I felt like shouting out “We Have a Winner”! If you recall our last furniture shopping trip just gave us all a bunch of tired feet after several hours of looking and driving. I’m feeling very optimistic at this point. She found two couches she liked in record time and quickly decided she much preferred the second one. After finding the chest of drawers she was afraid she wouldn’t remember where it was, so I asked Larry if he would find Dave. In a short time he came back with Dave, only it wasn’t the same guy. I looked at Larry and he very slyly said “his name is Dave too.” I chuckled and not wanting to get the first salesperson upset I explained to this guy that someone was already helping us. He assured me “all was well” and introduced himself as “Dave number four”.  It was a huge store, but I still found this a bit amusing, four “Dave’s”…

He was a nice guy, not pushy at all and mom really liked him, which is a huge plus. She pulled me aside to let me know that she was going to be making an offer other than what the asking price was. I just responded by saying “ok” and added a quick comment that they probably wouldn’t change the price and let it go. Remember, mom is 86 and that is how she likes to do business. If something cost a quarter she will offer you a dime and hope’s you will sell if for fifteen cents. It’s sometimes amusing and other times embarrassing.

We went back to sit on the floor model of her new couch and Dave began writing the invoice. Mom’s first approach at lowering the price was to ask if they offered a Senior Citizen Discount. They didn’t! Next she asked if the decorative pillows came with the couch. He laughed and said “sure”; he would throw in two pillows. Then he showed her that the price included two pillows. The couch was already marked down to $349.00 but mom wanted another $50.00 knocked off. Needless to say she didn’t get any discounts, but she liked “Dave number four” and she liked the items she picked out, so we headed to the back of the store to pay for her furniture and finish the paperwork.

In the meantime….Larry had found a really neat little storage cabinet he wanted for our office and while Dave was at the counter he leaned over to me and said “if you can get him to knock $50.00 off of that cabinet, we will get it”. I am cracking up, he has been hanging out with mom too much. I told him I would try but didn’t think I would be successful. As soon as Dave came back I told him I wanted to show him the cabinet and that we would purchase it if he would reduce the price by $50.00. He laughed and said he couldn’t do that but wanted me to show it to him anyway. So he and Larry took off and mom and I followed behind. When we caught up with them, Larry was standing by the cabinet by himself. He said “Dave went to check on something”. Mom was getting tired so she had sat down nearby to wait on us. Dave came back with a half-poker face and half-grin. He said that was a discontinued item and we could purchase it for $50.00 off and it would be the floor model which we were looking at. So we got a $300.00 cabinet for $250.00. I didn’t dare tell mom, I was afraid she might cancel her order. The delivery charge just for mom’s two items was $89.00 and from the furniture store we were only about 30 miles North of Tulsa. We all thought that was high. Since we were getting ours delivered with hers we told mom we would help with the delivery charges and take her to lunch. That made her happy.

We left the furniture store and went to the Lanna Thai Restaurant. Larry and I had  KHAO  PAD  Lanna  Thai  fried  rice  with  choice  of  chicken,  pork  or  beef,  egg,  green  peas, carrots,  onions  and  tomatoes,  topped  with  green  onions. Served with fresh cucumbers, lime and clear soup. I had mine with pork and extra hot for my spiciness. Larry had his with Chicken and medium hot. Mom had ON-SHORE  SEN-LEK  TOM-YUM  Noodles  with  choice  of  chicken,  pork  or  beef, bean  sprouts, and crushed  roasted peanut, topped  with  crispy  wontons,  green  onions and cilantro. She ordered hers with beef and medium hot. We had a very relaxing and absolutely delicious lunch. We caught our second wind and off we went again to another furniture store; this time looking for bookshelves.

We had more good fortune at the second store. Mom found a very nice bookshelf for her living room with sliding glass doors. It had to be ordered and should be here in two weeks. We will pick that one up to avoid another delivery charge, this place wanted $75.00 to deliver and $10.00 to set it up. Larry will take care of the assembly too.

So, for the three of us, today’s yesterday was a “present”, and all of our “today’s” are a gift.

 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. Ps 42:1

I have read that when a deer is weary from being hunted that he/she will search out a place of water, such as a river or creek and that it will stay in the middle of the water, being careful not to touch anything that he could leave his scent on, and sometimes will even submerge his body in the water, except for his eyes and nose. The deer, being exhausted, is hot, tired and thirsty and pants after the water as a place of safety. Doesn’t that paint an appropriate description of the above verse from Psalms?

I know many times when we get caught in the heat while walking, I become hot and dry and ever so thirsty, and when I drink my water it is refreshing and ever so welcome. Have you ever been so thirsty you can hardly stand it, yet you‘re far from anything to drink to take away that longing your body is craving for? I have and I feel panicky when I find myself in that kind of situation. The desire to quench my thirst suddenly becomes priority, looking for and longing for. “Panting for”

The Psalmist writes that “his soul pants for God.”  We need water to live physically and we need God to live spiritually. Our souls should be panting for him, desiring to feed on his Word continually. So many times, we neglect what we have at our fingertips, choosing instead to do things that are enjoyable yet they really don’t bring us any kind of accomplishments or real satisfaction. Yet take it away and we become obsessed with having it. Is this not true?

Can you imagine if our bibles were taken away from us? I know my soul would be panting to have it back.

When I neglect God I start filling myself up with other things. Sometimes they are harmless and other times they are quite dangerous. The more I fill myself with things of no value, the more restless and unsatisfied I become.

There is nothing sweeter than deep personal communion with God. I can be in the deepest pit, yet if I start reading my bible I am directed to passages that fill my every longing. I am amazed over and over with those experiences. It starts with one….me …and ends with two….me and God. It’s real, it’s personal and it is intimate.

Worship is a stairway on which there is movement in two directions; God comes to man, and man goes to God.

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isa 58:11

I guess I’m feeling like a well watered-garden this morning. I’m feeling a peace I haven’t felt in a while; and even with my daughter being in the hospital, I’m at peace.  I’m leaving it all with God. Wouldn’t you agree a well-watered garden would have to feel peaceful?

Since July 7^th when I posted Temptations and Mountains and July 8^th’s post on Commitment, I have been following the “change my eating habits” program that I put in place for myself. I (we) just started walking this week.  I have lost six pounds and while that isn’t record breaking for three weeks, I’m okay with it. Like I said, I’m experiencing a lot of peace right now and it’s good.

We walked just after it rained this morning. The temperature was in the low 70’s and we had a gentle breeze blowing in our face on the way back. Everything was fresh and peaceful and I just couldn’t stop myself from praising God in my thoughts, all the while we were walking. I definitely felt guided by the Lord.

When I get the courage to empty myself of various pleasures, it seems God always fills me up with something better and I’m amazed how that happens.

Paul declared that “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men”. Rom 14:17-18… (I understand this verse is talking about one whose faith is weak and how we should act toward a weak brother, but sometimes I can be a weakness unto myself)

I thank you all for encouraging me and for your prayers. I’ll close leaving you to ponder the following quote.

I have never met a soul who has set out to satisfy the Lord and has not been satisfied himself.  (from 1001 Quotes)

I’ve had a happy week…Sunday morning, Larry and I gathered with the church to praise and worship God. Sunday evening we met with church family again to welcome the three new members of the Vincent family, Tatiana, Allbina and Michael. After months of prayer, fundraising and uncertainty and several trips to Russia they are now a family. A truly joyous occasion. Hopefully we will be repeating that event again soon, when the Weast family is able to bring home the boy they are adopting. He will be joining three sisters and a brother.

Monday I attended Ladies Bible Class, made my weekly trip to Wal-Mart. Mom came over in the afternoon and we played four games of Scrabble and she had dinner with us. I cooked a roast and made some coleslaw. We had fresh corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes and fresh cantaloupe. (And yes, I’m still on my “diet plan”). Fresh summer veggies are hard to beat.

Tuesday, in the afternoon I went to the beauty shop and purchased a new head of curls…ok…I got a perm. Spent the afternoon and evening relaxing with my honey.

Wednesday I spent almost five hours cleaning house and doing laundry. I keep saying I am going to break it up into two days and I never do. Once I get started I get on a “roll” and just keep on going. Wednesday evening we went to bible class. We are studying in Hebrews….I love Hebrews, a lot of ‘”meat” in that book.

Yesterday I made a Pecan Butterscotch dessert for our Thursday night bible class. We have been meeting just over three years, usually a group of 10-13. We watched a DVD from the 2009 Tulsa Workshop, part one of Evangelism Here and Now by Patrick Mead. Larry and I watched all three of them last week and decided to share them with the group. If you haven’t seen them I would encourage you too. Great job Patrick! Our group will view the remaining two over the next two weeks.

Today is one of my favorite ‘happy’ days. I suppose because all the years I worked it was the end of the work week for me. It meant getting off work, picking up Chinese food or some other favorite for dinner, relaxing either with our kids or spending the evening playing Rummikub with friends, and staying up late. (I still worked for several years after our nest became empty).  So…even though I’ve been retired for five years, I still look forward to Friday’s.

It doesn’t take much to make me happy. I am easily pleased and I’m thankful that I am. I guess my rough and rowdy years have really made me appreciate what’s really important.

So what is the secret to happiness? I’m not sure there is only one answer. I think our attitude plays a huge roll in how we perceive happiness. As I have learned to let go of me and my wants and be filled with Jesus and his example, I have found myself to be a much happier person.

I am sincerely happy and grateful my sins have been forgiven and are forgiven continually as I repent of them.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Rom 4:7-8

I ask you…what is the secret to your happiness?