the mountain

last week we decided to head west. we wanted to see family and also visit the oregon coast. we haven't done that in several years and were itching to get our toes in the warm sand.

as we were driving and getting closer to western washington i got my first glimpse of Mt Rainier. it is a majestic, snow covered peak and i LOVE looking at it any chance i can get. my husband is vision impaired. mainly what that means is he can't see very well. most of his eye nerves have died out so he has a narrow field of view as well as not having much long distance sight ability. when we look up at the stars at night, he only sees the brightest stars, if he can see any at all.

so when i saw mt rainier, i exclaimed "there's the mountain! what a gorgeous sight!" michael looked at the perfect blue sky and announced that he didn't see anything. tho he couldn't see that the mountain was there, he knew it was cuz he had seen it many times before and he believed me when i told him that it was there. later as we got closer, he saw it for himself.

i wish i was more trusting of what i don't see. many times i know the Lord wants me to trust Him that what He is telling me is there, is there. whether its finances that we need, a healing touch from Him, or an answer to prayer .... but i act like since i can't see it, its not there!

Lord, give me eyes of faith to trust tho i cannot see, and faith to follow you wherever you lead.

spunkie's example

during our first year of marriage, my husband got me a cute little mutt of a dog. we named her spunkie since she was so rambunctious as a young pup. we made the mistake of feeding her scraps from the table, but being the obedient dog she was she would wait patiently for a hand out.

i remember sitting at the table eating my meal and having spunkie sitting next to me, her expectant eyes trained on my every move. she wouldn't leave or turn her head until there was no more chances of a juicy handout being given. if i got up from the table she was right there at my heels.

then one day i was reading ps 123:2 "as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shall be gracious to us." since i dont' have a maid and probably never will, i thot of spunkie...

sadly, i realize that i don't keep my eyes glued on the Lord waiting for Him to give me a treat. i get distracted often, i leave the room, i get impatient, but then i remember spunkie's example. i need to be more like her. expectant, patient, hopeful of what my master may give me, attentive. and like a maid to her mistress, i need to be ready to do my master's bidding the minute he says "go" or "come".

what a joy to know at the end of that verse, it implies that if i wait long enough, the Lord WILL be gracious to me. now that is a treat worth waiting for!

the apple tree

when we moved into our house in Sumner we inherited an old apple tree. my husband, being in the tree industry, decided it needed a good trimming. this tree probably hadn't been pruned in over a decade. it was knarly and there were limbs crisscrossing every which way. it was an ugly mess, but my husband saw what it could be like, what it should be like.

he went to work trimming the branches, cutting, cutting and cutting some more. when he was finished there were very few branches left. it looked decimated. but he assured me that this old tree had needed a severe pruning in order to bring back order and purpose to it. all fall and winter i looked at that tree and wondered if we'd have to take it down eventually. but in the spring new growth appeared. new branches started growing and it began leafing out. over the next few years we were at that house, that tree began bearing fruit and looked better than i ever imagined it could be. it was a stately, old apple tree bearing fruit and spreading its branches to shade us during the summer afternoons.

many times i have felt like that old apple tree. way out of control, left to grow without a good pruning, until the Master Pruner comes along and gives me a severe pruning. sometimes i wonder why He waited so long, but most times i know He was giving me the opportunity to voluntarily come back in line with His will. and when i didn't or wouldn't, He would step in with the pruning shears. not wanting to have to cut down the tree altogether He would cut and cut and cut some more ......

lessons from a beagle

we had a beagle for a short while. her name was sophie, and tho she was the cutest little tyke you've ever seen, she had a rebellious and disobedient streak that manifested itself over and over again.

when she had done something naughty, she wouldn't take her punishment, but would rather run and hide behind the couch or under the bed. at first we chased after her and tried to nab her, so that she would take her punishment, then we decided to wait her out. neither was satisfactory as she wasn't truly repentent and would do the same naughty deed only minutes later.

what i noticed was that when sophie was hiding from us so as to avoid any consequences for her actions, there was no relationship between us. there was no cuddling or walks outside, no playing fetch or wrestling. tho i was ready to forgive at any moment she was not ready to be forgiven.

i wonder how often i behave that way with God. am i so afraid of the punishment or consequences of my sin that i avoid Him and thus, cut off our relationship? how much better to quickly get it out of the way, repent and return to fellowship with the Lord. He's ready to forgive, am i ready to admit i need forgiveness and humble myself before Him?

the mama dog and the cliff

a few years ago i was going thru a tough time. i was really doubting God and His goodness in my life. i even contemplated chucking my faith and beliefs that i had held all my life.

then the Lord gave me a picture of a cliff, a canyon. one that went straight down and if you fell you were a goner. on the edge of the cliff was a puppy dog. she was too close to the edge, she could fall off at any moment. but then i saw the mama dog. she had her mouth around the scruff of the puppy's neck, holding onto her so she couldn't fall. the puppy was safe. she could gaze down into the abyss but she couldn't fall. the mama dog loved her too much to let her go .....

Jude 24 " Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy"

soon after i realized that what i believed was true and i knew that the Lord had held me fast as i gazed down into the canyon of destruction ....

talking with God

i have a non-verbal son. he is 8 now, and we have learned to communicate thru a bit of sign, some gestures and learning what his body language means. last weekend hubby was out of town so it was just joe and i. becuz he doesn't talk, it made for a very quiet (and boring) weekend.

as i was walking down the stairs, following my son, i wondered if God might feel like communicating with us is a bit like communicating with my son. is all i do is let God know what my wants and needs are? does he have to do all the talking? could it be that God would prefer a deeper communication with me?

so then i thought, well, how could i communicate with God in a deeper way? and it struck me that when i get to know a new friend i want to find out all about them: what they are like, where they've been, what they like and dislike, what experiences they have had, what they want for the future and so on.

and so, i'm off to find out the answers to all of these questions about God. i'm sure it will be enlightening to find out what God is like and what He has done since the world began, what He likes and dislikes and what He wants for the future ....

want to come along on the adventure with me?

What is a Seed Story?

my sister was telling me about an author she was reading who talked about seed stories. these are little nuggets of a story that have a big impact. a moral or a lesson involved. i thought this would be perfect as i am always seeing seed stories in my life.

so here is a random collection of seed stories that i have gathered thruout the years. enjoy!