I Lift My Eyes Up....

I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help.  (Psalm 123:1, The Message)

 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  

My help comes from the Lord,  the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

 Spent a little time on the back porch this afternoon

soaking up some sun and doing a few of my exercises holding on to the porch rail.

 I was thankful to be surrounded by early autumn beauty

and sad when the loose pages of directions for some knee rehab exercises

floated off the seat of my walker.

I haven't gotten to the "stairs phase" of rehab yet,

so I tossed a couple of weights on them and will ask my husband to retrieve them later.

I often "toss a couple of weights" on quotations that inspire/instruct/challenge me--

short, concise statements that I don't want to float out of my mind.

I do that by storing them in my hand-written journal*, in the quotes tab of this blog, 

or in my Twitter account.  

They are more easily retrieved than before 

when I wrote them on random pieces of paper that were difficult to re-source....

*Have you noticed how frequently Dr. David Jeremiah encourages 

his congregation and listeners to journal?

Remember "Creative"?

 “There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.”   Martha Graham


Creative/create are "my words" for 2014.

I've come to realize that a lot of my creative work involves

generating creative ideas
and watching others bring them to fruition.

Like the decorating of the dollhouse
inside and out...

 “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” 
— John Steinbeck

 the installation of a plug-in in our kitchen island...

or the painting of several miscellaneous picture frames.

I DO do weekly creative writing, select music for our congregational singing

at church, and play the keyboard each Sunday,

but maybe my creative energy is MOST directed toward coming up

with activities that will engage my mother when I visit her

several times a week in the Special Care Unit (Memory)

where she is a resident.

  Above, she is engrossed in the arrangement of the doll house that I carried in one morning...

below, we test the capability of a vintage cash register/bank

to count and register the coins we inserted.  (It worked perfectly!)

I'm afraid I've not consciously planned or documented a creative activity every day,

but I DO enjoy those that I have and hope to include many, many more in the days to come.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to remember that

 “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.”  Jack London

By the way, how are YOU incorporating "YOUR word" into your year so far?

Speaking of "Progress"

 I found this little cart at one of my favorite thrifts stores.

It was half-off day and I thought it had potential.
~
Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow.
Great results cannot be achieved at once, and we must be satisfied to advance in life
as we walk, step by step.  (Samuel Smiles) 

The first thing I did was to prime it (above).

I wasn't sure what color to paint it until my husband suggested

fastening a laminate top to it.  (The laminate top had been on an end table

that we'd found discarded on a curb. We used its legs for another project

and the laminate to top this cart.)

So.........after seeing the color on the edges of the laminate,

I went to the paint shelf and thought this color might work.

It's not a "popular" color, but I think it's going to turn out just fine!\
~
Each man must learn his own ideal and try to accomplish it:  
that is a surer way of progress than to take the ideas of another.  (Romain Rolland) 

 Stenciling provided the finishing touch!
Yes!  I like it.

 C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity.   

We all want progress.  But progress means getting nearer

to the place where you want to be.  And if you have taken a wrong turning,

then to go forward does not get you any nearer.  If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest

is the most progressive man.

So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art.  Grow up in Christ.  The basic foundational truths are in place:  turning your back on

"salvation by self-help" and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment.  God helping us, we'll stay true to all that.  But there's so much more.  Let's get on with it!  (Hebrews 6:1-3, The Message)

Speaking of progress,
we have at least these three versions of this classic book on our shelves.
It's one maybe three to five books that I re-read regularly.
I'm thankful that I was introduced to Little Pilgrim as a child.
The story frequently comes to my mind and with it comes courage!

Study

I am busily engaged in the study of the Bible.

 I believe it is God’s word because it finds me where I am. ~Abraham Lincoln

No one ever graduates from Bible study until he meets the author face to face. ~Unknown

We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, 

not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. 

Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. 

Our problem is that we are lazy. ~R.C. Sproul

He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone; only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? Does any thing appear dark or intricate? I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights. “Lord, is it not thy word, If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God? Thou givest liberally and upbraidest not. Thou hast said, if any be willing to do thy will, he shall know. I am willing to do. Let me know thy will.” I then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remain, I consult those who are experienced in the things of God: And then, the writings whereby being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn, that I teach. ~John Wesley, Preface to Sermons on Several Occasions, 1746. 

All the desks pictured above are among several others that my husband refinished.
They have been or will be sold or given away.

Can you tell I can't pass up a well-made desk offered at a reasonable price?

We actually have five others in our home and one in my husband's office.

While growing up in a pastor's home,
we called my father's office "the study"--not an office.
Desks have always meant "STUDY" to me.

And I love to study.  Especially God's Word.

Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.  
2 Timothy 2:15, Amplified Bible

One of the desks in our house

The Twelfth Man in my Huddle

God is kind, but he's not soft. 

In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change. 

Romans 2:4 

So tweeted Kay Warren this morning.

There is a phrase used in football sometimes - "the Twelfth Man in the Huddle".
According to Wikipedia, the first recorded use of the term was in the November 1912 edition of The Iowa Alumnus, an alumni publication of the University of Iowa (then known as State University of Iowa).   E.A. McGowan described the 1903 game between Iowa and the University of Illinois this way:  "The eleven men had done their best;
 but the twelfth man on the team (the loyal spirited Iowa rooter) had won the game for old S.U.I." 
In 2012, I successfully navigated a radical life change.
Looking back, I have to say, I did my best*....but it was the Twelfth Man who
"won the game for old R.L.G."!

God IS kind, but He's NOT soft!
It's reassuring to know He has me "firmly by the hand".
I'm wondering what radical life changes He has in store for me in 2013?

How have YOU experienced the Twelfth Man in YOUR huddle this past year????

*Well, almost.

A Good Read & Tranquility

“The root of the cross is not justice, though its fruit be mercy, as you say. The root of the cross is love, and what is laid down is more than gold, it is blood, life: given not with the clink of dead metal, but with the groans of a many dying in agony…..That is more than justice…it is love.  Nor is it merely a just love.  It is a merciful love.”

“God loves me, even me; and though Satan parade my sins and weakness before me, yet am I saved by the love of God in Christ Jesus, from which nothing can separate me.”

“In my house we do not flog a man for loyalty, nor for love, however inadvisably expressed.  We treasure it.”

“There is no healing without hope.  Despair is life’s direst enemy.  Despair is living death.”

“For the moment they (the novices) are working well, praying devoutly, living contentedly.  No doubt trials and difficulties will assail them, but just now we have tranquility.”

Two vintage walnut bowls I couldn't resist at the thrift store yesterday...

 I despaired of copying all the lines of The Hawk and the Dove Trilogy that caught my attention and culled out my deeper contemplation.  These are just a few of them.  Add to them the story - two stories really - of the bond between a mother and her daughter and monks to their beloved Abbot and their God, and you have a story that will hold your attention from beginning to end.  Well, it certainly held MINE. I've placed a request for the book that follows this trilogy and can't wait until I receive notice that it has arrived at the closest library branch.

Read the book, if you haven't already.  Visit the author, too.  I've traversed her entire blog and beyond and have found frequent inspiration and challenge. 

My desire today is to live as the novices were - at least for the moment 
..."working well, praying devoutly, living contentedly."

Isn't that the the essence of tranquility?

The Pleasure of "Her" Company

 It wasn't ALL I did yesterday, but it was the part I remembered to capture in photographs...

 I traveled to a neighboring town with my husband who had a meeting there.

 Winona Lake is where I spent four years of my life while my father was in seminary.

 I seldom pass up an opportunity to return.

 After a morning of thrift store browsing, I went to the BoatHouse for lunch.

 It's situated very close to where I sunned on the beach

 and almost exactly on the spot where the roller rink was located (I think).

I asked for a table at the window.

I looked longingly at the Dessert Menu...

but in the end ordered only this broiled salmon salad.

It was delicious.

Afterward, I returned to the meeting spot to wait for my husband.

I read a few chapters of a novel,

wrote some personal notes, stamped and addressed the greeting cards I'd taken along,

and then decided to nap in the sunshine streaming into the car.

The day was a change of pace for me,

and I was perfectly content with my own company.
(Are YOU comfortable with your own company?)

Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. 

 And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone. 

 ~Paul Johannes Tillich, The Eternal Now

Dead Ends and Dark Alleys

Cornucopias - "Horn of Plenty"

Red (warmth), yellow (energy) and blue (strength).

Maybe seeing these colors together will get my blood going ...
I had to tweak the photo a bit to produce the color.
Sometimes that's how it is in life.  You've gotta "tweak" it!
I admit to feeling a bit lost.  And lethargic.  A bit adrift.  Lately.
When I stumbled upon these bookends sitting on the bottom shelf
of one of our bookcases yesterday,
I was reminded of the abundant and full life that Jesus came to give us all.

I receive it (again) today!
I remind myself of the
importance and pleasures,
opportunities and beauty
that lie in every second of this gift of TODAY...
I "tweak" myself with words like these:

Live your life, take chances, be crazy. Don't wait cause right now is the oldest you've ever been & the youngest you'll be ever again.

 “I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. 

I skip down the street and run against the wind.”

 Leo F. Buscaglia 

“Find life experiences and swallow them whole. Travel. Meet many people. Go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. Try everything. Exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life.” Lawrence K. Fish

How can we please the Lord? Be hopeful in him. 

"The LORD takes pleasure in those who hope in his steadfast love." Psa. 147:11

(from a John Piper tweet)

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  Genesis 1:28 

This, That, and the Other Thing

“Just 'cause you got the monkey off your back
doesn't mean the circus has left town.”

(I can't remember where I read this...but I LIKE it!  It kind of helps explain the way the old sin nature rears its ugly head from time to time...)

"...There's no routine on weekends like this, just a list of things to be done and one by one they're mentally crossed off. There's no rush to get through it, no guilt if anything goes undone. My aim is to get through my work but to enjoy it too, even the seemingly dull bits."  (From Down To Earth, a gentle and encouraging blog to live life with simplicity and intentionality.)

♫ TRUST HIS HEART♫

All things work for our good,
though sometimes we can't see how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
sometimes blinds us to the truth.
Our Father knows what's best for us;
His ways are not our own.
So when your pathway grows dim, and you just can't see Him--
Remember you're never alone!

He sees the master plan,

And He holds our future in His hands.

So don't live as those who have no hope!

All our hope is found in Him.

We see the present clearly,

But He sees the first and the last--

And like a tapestry 
He's weaving you and me to someday be just like Him

(Refrain)

God is too wise to be mistaken.

God is too good to be unkind.

So when you don't understand;

When you don't see His plan;

When you can't trace His hand

Trust His heart.

For some reason, I just need the truth of this song to play itself over and over
in my heart and mind today...Hope it strengthens YOU, too.

Humble Duties

Yes.  That's my sink.  Clean dishes waiting to be put away.

Attention to humble duties is a better sign of grace than an ambition for lofty and elevated works...

The humbler graces and duties are the best tests. Hypocrites mimic all public duties, but the private and concealed life of true godliness they cannot counterfeit.

(See the rest of this Spurgeon quote HERE.)



Some observations about a few of the humble duties around MY house:

• They are repetitive duties.
• They are mindless duties (requiring little thought to do them)
• They pile up if not done consistently.
• Piling up is easier than CATCHING up!
• They aren't "fun".
• They take time.
• They don't take care of themselves.
• They are easy to put off.

BUT the Charles Spurgeon quote above has given me a fresh perspective on a few of the chores that are necessary to maintain a relatively clean and smooth-running household.  I see them as opportunities to experience AND demonstrate the grace of God to the only audience that really matters--the Heavenly Father Himself.  Attention to these is more important than to have ambitions for "lofty and elevated works"!  I want to wear my "sign of grace" well.

Miscellany from the Palazzo

While on vacation, I've been enjoying this book.  I've jotted down several lines from it in my journal, so it's taking me longer to finish than it "should".  I hope to finish it before arriving home today.  (It's laying on a scarf I found at a thrift store on Thursday...)  Here are a few of the shorter lines that stood out to me:

• It's wonderful, Chou; nothing matches, so everything does.
• The less there is, the more important all of it becomes.
• I made it better without changing the things that were best about it.
• People need to be together as much as they need to eat.
• I'd set out to be delighted.  For if I, myself, were not delighted, what delight would I have to give?

I just may have to expand a bit on that last one!
It became my vacation "mantra" and served me well.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Ouch! I Needed That!

This was at the end of an email Kathy forwarded to me. Often I don't read the mass-forwarded email messages I receive. This time, I did. It speaks to me at MANY levels. (See my recent posts at Power, Love and Self-Control.)

Don't ask the Lord to
guide your footsteps
if you are not willing
to move your feet.

How (Not) To Spend Your Time

"Spend your time in nothing which you know must be repented of; in nothing on which you might not pray for the blessing of God; in nothing which you could not review with a quiet conscience on your dying bed; in nothing which you might not safely and properly be found doing if death should surprise you in the act." ~ Richard Baxter

Harvesting Quotes

This morning, I "harvested" quotes that I'd hastily copied in my datebook over the past couple of months while reading at Borders (usually).  I find it interesting what subjects capture my interest...Some are not direct quotes but notes to myself adapted from something I read.

• Negativity is like rocks in a backpack
• Look at all the beauty that surrounds you and be content that it's enough.
• "Crossing too many t's and dotting too many i's make a room look overdone and tiresome.  One should create something that fires the imagination without overemphasis."  (Nancy Lancaster)
• Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.  (Mother Teresa)
• It doesn't matter what you wear; rather how you wear it.
• Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life...
• Like all good art, blogging connects your head, your heart, and your hands.  So don't hold back.  You never know what may await you.
• You throw your heart into finding your voice, your audience, and declaring your dreams to the world.
• Rule of Two:  Eat twice as often, eat half as much, and chew twice as long.
• (re. joy) Worry less about big, big sources of joy and find a steady stream of small sources.
• ...a couple with a passion for simple design and natural materials to create a home of pared-down perfection.

Do YOU write down this kind of stuff?  Where do you record it?  How do you store it? Why do we DO this???

My Trusty Date Book

Besides the usual shopping lists, appointments, birthdays, phone numbers and notes that are recorded in the small date book I carry in my purse, I frequently record quotations that seem important to me as I read magazines or books at Borders or in waiting rooms.  Here are a few of them:

"Collections reflect a life well lived." (Todd Richesin)
"Spend wisely, give wildly."  (Chinos.com)
"Giving  presents is a talent; to know what a person wants, to know when and how to get it, to give it lovingly and well."  (Patricia Glenconner)
"The soul is really like the earth itself.  It has to lie fallow for a while...." (Sue Monk Kidd)
"Thank God for what you have. Trust Him for what you need."
"A home is a place to do things not store things.  It's not meant to house your possessions but your life.
"Land of the free; because of the brave."

(I also record money spent, ideas, books I want to read, movies I want to see, things I want to do, things I NEED to do, recipes and blogs I want to check out...)