A Chance to Touch Someone

God had to practically PUSH me out the door this morning. For some reason, I was just putting off my morning walk, making every imaginable excuse. I even showered first and made up my bed. I put on my make-up and "did a little something" to my hair. But, God just kept urging me on, so I laced up my shoes and headed out the front door. I am SO glad I did.
Before I even reached the end of my street, I was able to get a more positive impression of a new neighbor. He had seemed so burly and gruff when Steve and I stopped to introduce ourselves a few days ago. Today he was out in front of his house overseeing the delivery of some repair equipment and greeted me with a friendly "hello!" A few steps later I passed a couple of ladies from the other end of our neighborhood, one of whom I had not ever met, and they invited me to join them in the future on their twice-weekly walks. I think I just might do that! :) I continued on my way and was headed down a steep hill when I saw one of my new acquaintances, and I recognized "the look." My heart and my spirit immediately connected to the scene. A man was leaving her driveway on a motorcycle, dressed all in leather with a very impressive helmet. She watched him all the way to the front gates of our little community. You could almost SEE the heavy weight on her shoulders. I knew before I asked. That was not her husband on the motorcycle. It was her child. Oh yes. He was most definitely a fully-grown man, but he was still her child.
I gave her a few seconds and then made my way closer to her house and called out a greeting. "A man (or woman) who has friends must himself be friendly . . . " Proverbs 18:24 Right?? She came closer, so we could talk a few minutes. She was so glad he had surprised them with a visit and was so sorry to see him leave. And, her Momma Heart was deeply concerned for this grown man she loves so much. His safety. His choices. His future. I shared a few thoughts about how I could relate, and then one of my favorite verses came to mind. "But You, O Lord, are a shield for me . . . " Psalm 3:3 I told her that I often prayed that God would be a shield around my children. Somehow, I think it helped.
I made the picture of the solitary bird on the wire just yesterday afternoon and remembered it again this morning. I don't believe we're supposed to live our lives like this solitary bird. I think we need to connect to people, to help shoulder their burdens, and to share testimonies of our faith. One of the big reasons that God sees us through the hurts, the crises, and the challenges in our lives is so we can help someone else, so we can be a true friend. "Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away." Proverbs 27:10b Thank you, God, for pushing me out the door this morning. You had a divine appointment for me and wanted me to be the "neighbor nearby."

III John 4 -- MY Personal 10-10-10

(Sorry girls. I didn't mean to put Matt's picture first or make him bigger or anything. The computer just "did it by itself." :) The point was to find pictures of just the three of you.)

The beauty of a blog, I've decided, is that you can type whatever is on your heart. Comments, clarifications, or rebuttals can come later, but a blog is YOURS. You own it and can use it for whatever purpose you choose. My purpose is to encourage and to teach/share lessons I've been taught.

Today I am once again sitting on my upper porch (is that like an "upper room?"), listening to hundreds of birds and at least a half a dozen boats, and anticipating tomorrow. We're looking forward to visiting new Sunday School classes and continuing our search for a church in close proximity to our new house. I've also read that many couples have chosen tomorrow as their wedding day because of the fun significance of the date -- 10-10-10. Hopefully, all those weddings-that-turn-into-marriages will become Perfect Tens, too.

I don't believe in numerology or any such hocus-pocus, but our daughter with the master's degree in math from Georgia Tech has a great time with numbers, as might be expected. Her name is Laura, and her roommate at Auburn was also named Laura. So, they became "Laura Squared." :) When her son Nathan was a little over 3 years old, if you asked him how old he was, he'd say, "I'm pi." He even had a cake on his 3.14 birthday! You get the idea.

This morning I woke up thinking about the "10's" in my life. Steve? Well, he almost goes without saying. Who doesn't love Steve Pearson?? What I did to deserve him I will never know, but he is a treasure and a blessing, and I love him with all my heart. But, and he would add a hearty "Amen!" to this, it is our children who are the True 10's in our lives. Are they perfect? Not quite. Do they always "get it right?" Nope! Do they fashion their marriages, their budgets, their activities, their friendships, their parenting, etc. exactly the way they saw Steve and me fashion ours?? Let's don't even "go there." Truthfully, they teach US in many of those areas. And, after all, we need to have plenty to pray about, now don't we?

When John wrote the verse in III John 4, I know that he was referring to his spiritual children -- the ones he had led to the Lord who were continuing to be faithful. But, I can apply this to my own flesh and blood children and feel so blessed by it.

"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth."

Thank you, Father, that all three of them accepted Your Son Jesus as their Savior.

Thank you that they married spouses who are strong Christians.

Thank you that they are active in their churches.

Thank you that they are teaching THEIR children the truths of Your Word.

I truly have "no greater joy."

THIS MORNING THERE WERE DOVES (A Note to my Daughters from Quito, 2006)

I'm not sure that I've ever shared this, but for many years now I have associated birds with the reminder that God is present and that He cares. In my mind it began when you both were small and we were living on Moss Chapel Road. One morning in particular I was extremely tired and troubled. Perhaps one of you had been sick all night or I was concerned about finances or how to get everything done that I was expected to do. At any rate, I was sitting at the kitchen table and saw an entire covey of quail sweep en masse across the back yard. It was beautiful, and I immediately thought of the verse "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" -- Matthew 6:26 After all, mine and your Daddy's particular passage of Scripture since the day we were married has been Matthew 6:19-34. The sight of those birds that day gave me such a lift, and many times since then, something similar has happened.
Driving back and forth to my teaching job at Danville-Neel Elementary, I loved spotting hawks perched on the telephone lines along the way. They always seemed so watchful and powerful. When we lived at Cedar Cove, there were many different kinds of birds that we could see and hear -- martins, bluebirds, woodpeckers, etc. -- but my favorites were always the hummingbirds. In Cuenca, our first home here in Ecuador, we had a hummingbird feeder right outside the dining room window. It was uncanny how often hummingbirds would be there when I was teaching my ladies' Bible study.
Here in Quito we put the treadmill in one of the outside rooms which made it possible to open the door and face our small side yard where we have a few flowers. Many mornings I am able to watch long-tailed hummingbirds while I exercise or small sparrow-like birds or the big black ones with bright orange beaks. But, this morning there were doves and only doves the whole 45 minutes. To me, the message was unmistakable. God wanted me to have peace.
If I am peaceful, then I'm better able to help your Dad be peaceful about tomorrow's biopsy and the possible results. If I am peaceful, I can put you two and your brother in God's hands and not try to "fix" everything in your lives but trust Him to work everything for good. If I am peaceful, I can face our future calmly, expectantly and with joy. I'm happy that God sent doves for me today, and I just thought I'd let you know.
P.S. Now to October 7, 2010. That particular biopsy of Steve's was negative, but one a few months later was positive. Subsequently, he had surgery, but all follow-up tests have been very good. Praise the Lord. Today as I was returning home from my walk, I spotted a red-headed woodpecker on the highest point of our roof. I think today's message was simply: "Smile and enjoy!"

PRIDEBUSTER!!!

God must have thought I was getting just a little bit too big for my britches. I have the house all shining with everything in place. And, I have a great meal planned for my brother and sister-in-law. I splurged on a prime rib roast, and we're having a corn casserole, baked potatoes, salad with lots of veggies, biscuits and apple dumplings. I can hardly wait to share it with them while we laugh and talk. As an added bonus, Steve is home today and is loving his new nest right along with me. The weather and temperature are perfect. What could possibly go wrong?
A little while ago I reached into my NEW pantry to pull out some ingredients I needed, and "what to my wondering eyes I beheld," but clear evidence that mice had been there. YIKES!!!! How in the world????? I have spent the last hour or so pulling out everything that had been nibbled, throwing previously-perfectly-good groceries away, putting potential enticements into airtight plastic containers, washing, scrubbing and waiting for Steve to get back from town with some traps. YUCK!!!
Now, every little noise will be suspect. And, instead of opening the pantry door with a sense of pride and joy, I will open and close it quickly and hope I don't see anything furry or hear any squeaking.
Why am I surprised? After all, we live right in the middle of an open field. We DID invade their turf, after all. But still . . . .
Okay, God. Lesson learned. . . . AGAIN. You have given us this place and this time to share and enjoy, but You're in charge and can take it away or "tweak" it whenever You want. During the next few nights, I will be extra alert for "things that go bump (or squeak) in the night."
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" -- Proverbs 16:18

SEASONS!

I have been fortunate to spend the majority of my life in North Alabama where we have four distinct seasons. Except for the extreme heat and humidity in late July and August, we mostly experience a mild version of each one. Spring is glorious with dogwoods, azaleas, buttercups and tulips. Summer is long and hot, but at least we have lakes, swimming pools, watermelon and homemade ice cream. Fall is crisp and colorful. We may not have as many trees as North Carolina and East Tennessee, but we certainly have better football! :) Winter is relatively brief and is cold enough to cause us to doubt the validity of "global warming," with just enough snow about every other year for a decent snowman and a bowl of snow cream. Sleds and ice-fishing equipment, however, are not big sellers around these parts.
We lived for four years, though, where the seasons consisted of "wet" and "dry," and other changes were almost imperceptible. There were definite advantages to Ecuador's predictability and consistency in terms of temperature and amount of sunlight (12 1/2 hours a day EVERY day). A biggie was the constant flow of bananas, pineapples, papayas and long-stemmed roses fresh from the fields to the markets. But, another plus was the fact that you only needed ONE SET of clothes. Seriously, I wore the same ones the whole four years! Long pants or skirts, long-sleeve shirts, sweaters and sturdy shoes. I laughed out loud when I saw this verse one day in Deuteronomy 29:5. God reminded the Children of Israel: "And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet." Ha! Some of my friends who are "shoe people" would have had some serious issues. :) But, to me, it felt like a kind of extra blessing for being in His service. When it was time to move back to the States, I just gave all of those clothes away and bought some new ones that were hopefully more up-to-date before I returned to the classroom.
When I apply the idea of seasons to this particular time in my life, I am taken completely aback. My mind believes that I am barely out of spring and into summer, but my body and my birth certificate tell me that I'm into fall now and had better start gathering some nuts for the winter. Yikes! I don't know how short my fall or my winter might be, but there are some questions for which I need the answers.
What new friends are still to be met?
Which old friends should be cherished?
What amazing new "worlds" am I yet to discover?
How many memories do I still have time to make with my loved ones?
How much more time do I have to demonstrate unconditional love to my children and grandchildren?
Who is waiting to hear MY testimony while the Holy Spirit is drawing them?
How many more opportunities will I be given to say "I love you" to Steve and have him hug me and say "I love you, too?"
What does God want me to do now that He has brought me to this point in my life? What ministry has He fashioned me for?
What lessons does He still want to teach me?
For today, in this season, I will claim the promise that "He who began a good work in you (me) will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)