Gathering Rubies

In Luke 22 we read that Satan entered Judas, we also read of the Passover and of the Last Supper. Jesus revealed he knew who would betray him, and next we read of the disciples beginning to question among themselves who might be the one to betray him. Then they start to argue as to which one of them was considered to be the greatest and Jesus said…

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-33 ESV
(This was not for Simon only but for all of the disciples).

Do we set ourselves up to be “sifted like wheat”? We know Satan desires to have us and he whispers in our ear daily to get involved with many worldly activities. We make “things” our gods and we convince ourselves all is well.

Satan tempts us with anything that will divert our attention away from God and godliness. When we get caught up in this and it seems we all do at one time or another, then we must ask ourselves- is there anything of faith that remains in us? Are we chaff or wheat? Satan wants to test us, hoping to bring us to spiritual devastation.

We live in a fast paced world. At times it seems if we plan our lives right down to the very second. Somewhere along the line it seems as if we have bought into the idea that there is something wrong with us if we don’t occupy every minute of our life with some sort of activity. Are we crowding God out of our lives with all of our own interests?

As we go in and out of our seasons of life, and as we turn again, let us remember to strengthen one another.

Rest in God’s presence and relax in his Peace.

 ”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30 NIV

I mentioned a while back we have had a guest teacher for July and he will continue on through August. He is amazing and I could listen to him all day. God has blessed him with the great ability to teach. It feels like ‘one on one’ and his classes have been remarkable.

Today I will share one of the things he shared with us this past Sunday, and I hope I get it right.

A grandfather instructs his grandson to go to the kitchen, get a glass and only fill it half full of water. The grandson does and brings the half-full glass of water back to his grandfather. The grandfather takes the boys arm and shakes it causing the water to spill out. He then asks the grandson why the water spilled out of the glass and his grandson replied “because you shook my arm.” The grandfather said “no, it was because you put the water in the glass.”

The moral of the story is that whatever we allow our heart to be filled with, good or evil, that’s what will spill out when we are shaken by life, so we need to choose carefully what we allow in.

So simple yet so profound!

Here are a couple of other things he mentioned.

The first thing Jesus said to Simon after he had fished all night and then caught so many fish the nets were breaking and the boat was sinking is  “don’t be afraid.” Luke 5:8 Jesus isn’t waiting for us to mess up, he knows we are sinners; he wants us to keep on keeping on. “Don’t be afraid!”

He also said, “We either bring others up to their spiritual potential or bring them down. Be an advocate for another and, at the very heart of community is forgiveness.”

I don’t know, perhaps it won’t be the same reading about it second hand; perhaps you “had to be there.” I do know people are talking about this class and it is attended by more and more people each week.

Disclaimer-No it wasn’t the kind in the picture and no it wasn’t that big. Yes, I was scared enough that it could have been!

If I were a superstitious person I might say I jinxed myself by being pre-occupied hoping what I’m about to tell you wouldn’t happen. I’m not superstitious and it came about anyway.

What I feared and dreaded has happened!! I had an encounter with Mr. Snake last night around 8pm. I had gone to the coop to put the tarps down, I got the first one down and headed to the south end of the pen to the gate. I lifted the gate latch and something caught my eye about two feet from the gate. It looked like a long, very black and battered limb. I thought I don’t remember seeing that. I stepped through the gate and turned around for another look and that long black limb had a head attached to it! His body was outside the fence and his head was underneath the fence. I froze in my tracks, my mind was racing…what to do…what to do. My cell phone was in the house so I was on my own. I quietly and might I add very quickly walked around to the far end of the coop and dropped and secured that last tarp. I did this in record time immediately after I did the “stick wave”. Let me explain the ‘stick wave.’ I have started taking a stick with me to the coop because the spiders build a new web every day, right where I have to stand to do the tarps. I “wave” the stick all around the area where I have to walk to knock the webs down.

Sorry, I wandered. As I was bent over securing the bottom of the tarp, all the while my mind is racing like crazy and fear is weighing me down I felt a sharp pain in both of my shoulders. Surely I was trying to sprout wings to fly out of there. I quickly realized it was just tension from being afraid.

I headed back to the gate and the enemy Mr. Snake is still there. I got out, latched the gate and headed toward the house. After walking running what I considered to be a safe distance I turned around to look and he was slithering off into the sunset. All 3 plus feet of him!

When I started this three week ‘experiment’ I would take my cell phone with me and since I didn’t have any pockets I would stick it in my, um well, somewhere else. Early into the ‘experiment’ it fell out and landed in the floor of the coop. It was then I decided I didn’t need to take the cell phone with me. This morning though after living the horror movie last night, I decided I needed to take it with me again, just in case I got cornered by Mr. Snake I could call my neighbors to come and rescue me. All was going well with the cell phone tucked away somewhere else. I got the tarps raised and let the chickens out, fed them and took their water containers back to the house to wash them and put fresh water in them. Just as I finished filling the last container, Splash!! My cell phone fell out of its obviously not so secure place right into the water. I’ll just say I am really getting good at doing things in record time. I snatched it out before it hit the bottom. Time will tell if it was fast enough.

Now I will tell you about the fun part of my day. Karla and I went shopping in Owasso yesterday morning. We both found some good bargains and had a great time. On the way home we stopped at a place called Ram Country, they sell a large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. We purchased some tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, Porter peaches, (the best peaches I have ever eaten) and a watermelon. When we got back home we fixed ourselves a tomato sandwich and the recipe will follow. Some may think a tomato sandwich sounds weird or gross, before you write it off your really should try one, especially if you have access to fresh produce. They are wonderful!!

Tomato Sandwich

100% Whole Wheat or Multi-Grain Bread (We used Milton’s from Sam’s Club)
1 large tomato, sliced
Mayonnaise to spread on bread
Sliced red onion (however much you like)
1 slice Pepper-Jack Cheese
Sliced Cucumber

You may put the cucumber on the sandwich. We had ours on the side with a drizzle of Italian Dressing. Delicious!!

The next three weeks are going to be a time of learning and awareness for me and looking at a few things with a different perspective. I am in charge of the chickens and guineas and I’m already learning it’s a full time smelly job. I’m practicing some of that sacrificial love, meaning I really don’t want to do it, but I’m doing it because of my love for my husband. We have had a lot of rain in the past few weeks and chicken poop, mud and humidity mingled together… I’ll just say that makes the chicken coop very unpleasant.

We have already had a lot of snakes too. I’m praying very hard that I don’t cross paths with one during this time.

At the end of the three weeks I will share with you why I’m taking on this little project, actually, I’m taking on all of his chores, except mowing for the next three weeks. He doesn’t want me on the riding mower.

Just two days into (I’ll refer to it as an experiment) and I’m already looking at several things through a different set of eyes.

I’m at the coop around 6:45am. Easing my way into the back fence, raising and securing the tarps, watching out for snakes, and did I mention all manner of spiders? Trying to keep my footing on the sloping areas and still watching out for snakes.

Next I drop the door to let the six hens and one rooster out. Then I gather up the water containers from the guineas side of the pen and the chicken’s side. They get scrubbed down and refilled. Chickens are very messy critters and I’m now wondering if they are cousins to the pig family. Three times a week they get crumbles in the morning and scratch in the evenings. At least twice a week they get chopped up greens such as cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, celery and any bread or vegetable scraps. They will eat just about anything.

Between two and four they lay their eggs and I collect them. We have five nests and they still almost always lay their eggs in the same nest. Twice a week I will clean the pen and the roost. I don a mask for that task, using a short handle hoe and I big white bucket I will scrape the roost of all “deposits” and empty and wash the bucket out and clean the pen out. Just before dark I am at the pen again, securing the pen and dropping the tarps.

The guineas are very low maintenance this time of year as they prefer roosting in the trees and they roam free all day long eating ticks and all kinds of bugs and frogs and they occasionally kill a snake. I only have to make sure they have fresh water and white millet. They love white millet. I believe they think its candy.

Day two into the ‘experiment’ I have learned just HOW much I appreciate my husband and what he does around here. I have also learned that bad smells still make me choke and gag and that I will always be afraid of snakes and spiders.

Until next time, just say a little prayer for me.

1 Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I know I’m not alone when I contemplate why I let so many opportunities slip by and I’m always able to “justify’ why I remain silent. Little excuses such as…being in a hurry, too many people around, don’t know what to say, they don’t want to hear ‘it’ anyway, too embarrassed. We’re all familiar with the excuses and we have been using them since the beginning of time and God has been reassuring us just as long. I wonder, what will I say to God if I continue in my silence?

Remember these —

Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Ex 4:10

God told Moses —

• “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

• Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.  You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.  He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. Ex 4:11-16

After speaking to the people and commissioning Joshua as God had told him Moses has this to say —

• “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deut 31:7-8

Jeremiah seemed to be timid when he spoke these words,

• “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”  But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Jer 1:6-8

God assured Jeremiah he would become strong and courageous.

God told Jeremiah —

• I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land. Jer 1:18
•  ”I have made you a tester of metals and my people the ore. Jer 6:27
• I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze. Jer 15:20

We must remember we do not have to be afraid to share the Good News.

• God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 
• So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Heb 13:5-6

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand — shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Matt 5:14-16 (The Message)

A friend on Facebook mentioned Johnny Cash yesterday and the following song immediately came to mind. It really is bittersweet and brings back many memories of heartache and very bad choices. I certainly don’t know Kris Kristofferson, he wrote the song, or Johnny Cash, one of many who sang the song; still it seemed at the time it was written especially for me. Too many times this song described me.

Those who have followed my blog know that I battled drugs and alcohol. Those days are long behind me and I am ever grateful they are. God’s grace reached me and continues to cover me. Everyday I see college kids/friends/family taking this road and it breaks my heart. They know they are making wrong choices and many who love them have tried to warn them of the destruction that lies ahead. Still they “party” on, living recklessly, living for the moment, living as though they are invincible.

Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

I’d smoked my mind the night before
With cigarettes and songs I’d been picking.
But I lit my first and watched a small kid
Playing with a can that he was kicking.
Then I walked across the street
And caught the Sunday smell of someone frying chicken.
And Lord, it took me back to something that I’d lost
Somewhere, somehow along the way.

On a Sunday morning sidewalk,
I’m wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone.
And there’s nothing short a’ dying
That’s half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleeping city sidewalk
And Sunday morning coming down.

In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughing little girl that he was swinging.
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the songs they were singing.
Then I headed down the street,
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing,
And it echoed through the canyon
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

On a Sunday morning sidewalk,
I’m wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone.
And there’s nothing short a’ dying
That’s half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleeping city sidewalk
And Sunday morning coming down.

Below is a verse written to me and all who have been cleaned up.

1 Cor 6:11 A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit. (from THE MESSAGE)

It has finally happened! I can’t log onto my Facebook account. Last night there was a message on my FB page that one of my granddaughters had written on my wall. She sends me hearts from time to time but this was different, it was a little box that suggested she had sent me a cyber gift. My gut told me to send her a message and tell her “thanks for thinking of me” however I wasn’t comfortable opening applications. Then I thought, “oh, it will be ok” and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Let me digress and say if your gut is telling you something you better listen! As soon as I clicked on the box I noticed that messages were going out that I had written on several of my FB friend’s wall.

I immediately deleted the application and posted a message on my wall that if anyone received a message saying I wrote something on their wall…I didn’t….and to ignore it or delete. I can’t remember the exact wording. Then I decided to be on the safe side; I would change my password. After doing that, it was late and I went to bed.

This morning I can’t log into my FB account. I keep receiving a message of “incorrect password”. I was very careful when changing it making sure I typed and retyped the new password correctly. So, for the past three hours I have been waiting for FB to email me the “confirmation” code. During the wait I have Goggled FB and how I might contact them and get help. Lo and Behold! FB does not offer “human” customer support. I’m sorry, but I think that is beyond tacky!!

I finally found a place on FB ”help” to let them know I haven’t received my confirmation code and that I need to reset my password. That was over an hour ago. Now I just wait, patiently, um, make that semi-patiently.

I am learning something about myself that doesn’t quite thrill me. I’m feeling a bit antsy being unable to access my FB account. Could the antsiness  be that I’ve not felt good for the past 2 days; semi-sore throat, very scratchy chest and my head feels like it might explode. I’m pretty sure it is all allergies related, there is pollen and other thingy’s from the trees EVERYWHERE around here. I feel like all of my friends are having a party without me, oh…boo…hoo.

Eccl 7:8-9  Endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out.  Don’t be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head. (from THE MESSAGE)

I’m hoping to find no lumps on my head!

I’m also hoping I don’t have to wait until December ~ : D

One time a warden asked a man on death row what he would like to eat for his last meal. The inmate said, “I would like to have a huge piece of watermelon.”

The warden said, “You must be kidding? This is December. Watermelons have not been planted, let alone harvested.”

The inmate said, “That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting.”

If you leave a comment, please leave it here since I can’t get on FB. I don’t even know if you can still see me on FB at this point.

There was an article in our newspaper Friday which brought back a flood of memories for me.

This is the headline that caught my attention-Last survivor of California kidnapping saga dies at 35. The victim was Timothy White. He was the youngest victim and last survivor of a widely reported California kidnapping. Mr. White died of an apparent pulmonary embolism. Timothy was five when he was kidnapped while walking home from school in 1980, by child molester Kenneth Parnell. I remember it because of the Steven Stayner story.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the story. Parnell abducted Steven Stayner in 1972 from Merced CA. At that time I was living in Hornitos CA, a very small rural community a short distance from Merced. I didn’t know the Stayner family personally, but had friends who did. Fear absolutely gripped every parent and we all started watching our children a lot closer. These kinds of things weren’t supposed to happen in our backyard.

 Two weeks after White was abducted, Steven Stayner, who had been kidnapped by Parnell seven years earlier, escaped with White from the remote location where they were being held and hitchhiked to safety. Stayner was 14 at the time.

Stayner, who only could remember his first name when he escaped from Parnell, was reunited with his family in Merced, California. He was killed in a motorcycle crash nine years later in 1989.

Parnell served only five years in prison for the kidnapping and molestation of Stayner and White. He died in 2008 at age 76 while serving a life sentence for trying to purchase a 4-year-old boy for $500 in Berkeley, California.

Steven’s brother, Cary Stayner, is on death row in San Quentin for the murders of four women in Yosemite National Park in 1999.

My heart has always ached for the families of these two victims. The heartache and the tragedy are unimaginable.

My prayers are with their families and I ask that you will remember them in your prayers too.

Hide-and-seek or hide-and-go-seek is a variant of the game tag, in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more “seekers”. Wikipedia

I remember playing this with my brothers and neighbor friends as a young girl. I liked the hiding part much more than the seeking part. I didn’t like being caught off-guard, when the seeker would find me unexpectedly and scare the daylights out of me.

I have tried playing Hide-and Seek with God too, it never works either. We have all tried it, even from the beginning of time. Adam and Eve tried hiding from God after they ate of the forbidden fruit. Gen 3:8-10 Jonah allowed himself to be thrown overboard, only to be swallowed by a large fish in his attempts at hiding from God and not doing what God told him to do.
Jonah 1:1-17

I recall a story about a large bowl of apples, placed at the front end of a cafeteria line at a theological institution for the training of Christian leaders. The note attached read: “Take only one please, God is watching.” Well, some practical joker attached a note to a tray of peanut butter cookies at the other end of the line. It read: “Take all you want. God is watching the apples!”

That has been my attitude too often, trying to get away with my sins while “God is watching the apples”.

We can’t hide from God; he can watch the apples and the cookies at the same time. We may try hiding from him, yet he never hides from us. He wants us to seek him!

Ps 139:1-12 O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide mean the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

I was in a very crowded place (it looked like a college campus) and I seemed to know a lot of people and was having a reunion of sorts when a very tall man who I apparently knew of, but didn’t really know asked me to come to his office. I agreed and we walked up a few stairs which took us inside a very large and medieval looking building. We then walked up three more sets of stairs. I guess this might be a good time to mention that I do not like stairs, and especially not heights. I followed him and seemed to have complete trust in him. After the third set of stairs he suddenly disappeared and so did the stairs. All I could see after that were the railings but no stairs. Although I could no longer see him, I could hear him and he persistently urged me to follow him the rest of the way, which in my estimation was another four or five feet straight up. I questioned him how I was supposed to get there and he didn’t answer me, just kept insisting I come up to where he was. I started to panic, I didn’t want to refuse him yet I knew I wasn’t going to suddenly sprout wings either. I kept telling him I couldn’t get there and he became angry and started calling me names and insulting me. Thankfully that’s when I woke up! This is what I dreamed last night and it is still nagging me this morning and it is what prompted me to write about courage.

Am I living a life of courage? I admit at times I’m like Peter when he was walking on the water, when the wind came up he became scared and started to sink. It isn’t always easy to be courageous when troubles and difficulties are pressing down, yet for me that is when I really need to press forward. Over and over Christ encourages his disciples (and us) to be of good cheer, don’t be afraid, “it is I”.

If only I would always remember these words from Rom 8:35-39 Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.  None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing — nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable — absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. (from THE MESSAGE)

I am ever thankful that I can always go to my bible and read great stories of courage, promises and hope.

Examples of Courage-  
Abraham leaving his country- Gen 12:1
In offering Isaac- Gen 22:1-12
Gideon, in destroying the altar of Baal- Judges 6:25-29
Ezra, in undertaking the dangerous journey from Babylon to Palestine without a guard Ezra 8:22-23
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 3:16-18
Daniel, persisting in prayer regardless of the decree against praying Daniel 6:10
Peter and John, in refusing to obey men, rather than God Acts 4:19-20

When I read those accounts of courage my own “storms” suddenly seem so very small.

Give us grace, O God, to do the deed which we will know cries to be done. Let us not hesitate because of ease, or the words of men’s mouths, or our own lives. Mighty causes are calling us. . . . But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifice and death. Mercifully grant us, O God, the spirit of Esther, that we say, “I will go unto the King and if I perish, I perish.” Amen. (from 1001 Quotes, Illustrations)