A View from the Garden

The garden view is awesome this year and I didn't have to deal with the garden hose at all...

Ohio enjoyed (survived) the Great Flood of 2015.

yeah-this is our yard...a few days ago...

and oh--this is my husbands replanted soybean field too....

 rain makes life messy sometimes...

but sometimes it produces some great flowers in a garden

and weeds...

I love flowers...I dislike weeds...

alot.

Yup...the front of the bed looks great...but as you can see they are being held up by brilliantly green and vivaciously happy 

weeds.

Which leads to the garden...that I actually MOWED today...

yeah---the riding lawn mower.

And I am a farmers wife for crying out loud...

humiliating. 

I really should have a manicured garden since that

is our family tradition.

pshaw.....not this year.

I AM MANAGING A FAILING ENDEAVOR...

(stop laughing)

Each of us have a heart that looks like my garden...

A little bit fancy...

A lot of nasty weeds...

Pleasantly productive...

Particularly  pitiful....

That's how life is.

We live in the flesh and it is messy.

Yet God still chooses to use us.

...to live in us.

I AM IN CHRIST.

and even though I am a mess...

He counted it all JOY

to go to the cross

for me

so he could bear fruit in me...

Sweet sister,

the power you have access to

brought Jesus back

from the dead!!!

He wants us to know

that YOU ARE HIS.

BLOOD BOUGHT.

SPIRIT FILLED.

SEALED.

EQUIPPED.

The down payment that tells you that you are His bride...the sealing of the Holy Spirit inside of you. 

"...I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance..." 

Ephesians 1:13-14

God gave each believer a SEAL.

A GENUINE MARK

OF AUTHENTICITY.

HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL.

Irrevocable.

He gave you the free gift of the Holy Spirit to let you know

YOU ARE HIS.

no doubts.

NO SECOND GUESSING.

Living inside of YOU...

and He will NEVER leave.

NEVER

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever." 

~John 14:16

Flesh and Spirit.

Painfully jumbled together as we climb upward to the high calling of being IN CHRIST.

I am thankful he doesn't look at my weedy mess and declare my

insufficiency .

I am IN CHRIST

and HE is sufficient.

I am IN CHRIST

and I am SEALED WITH...

THE HELPER.

COMFORTER AND COUNSELOR- John 14:16

TEACHER-1 Cor 2:13

LEADER- Romans 8:14

GUIDE TO TRUTH- John 16:13

GIFT GIVER- I Cor 12

COMMANDER- Acts 8:29

CONVICTOR OF MY HEART- John 16:7-11

And if the Holy Spirit is living inside of you...He will faithfully deal with the sinful weeds that are choking the life out of you.

Not because he is mad at you.

A garden can't weed itself.

It must have a caretaker.

I didn't walk out to my garden

and rant because it was full of weeds...

The garden was just doing what gardens do.

 And my sinful heart does what sinful hearts do.

I sin.

Our Perfect Caretaker pulls the weeds

and it is painful yet productive

Because

God knows that when those nasty weeds 

are gone...

you will be more aware of

of His presence! 

You will experience the glory of His goodness!

...and be overwhelmed by the grace

freely given to you IN CHRIST.

Sweet one, you are going to fall more

deeply in love with JESUS.

So press on sister to the high calling of 

KNOWING WHO YOU ARE 

IN CHRIST!!

It is a

great place to be.

..weeds and all.

The God Question

I don't know if you read the headlines-but this week a comet made news. Scientists were able to discover sound from a comet...wow...and it was beautiful!

Birds sing.

Cattle bellow.

Cats meow.

Dogs bark.

Bugs...make bug noises...

Wolves howl.

Leaves rustle.

Brooks bubble.

Rain patters.

Lightning.

Thunder.

Wind whistles.

Waves crash.

All of the sounds in nature sing.

They sing about the One that created them.

I wonder if we had ears to hear...what would they be saying?

NOWHERE ON GOD'S PLANET IS THERE

A PLACE WHERE GOD'S VOICE

IS NOT HEARD.

HIS CREATION SHOUTS HIS PRAISES

AND GOD 
THE CREATOR 
OF THIS VAST UNIVERSE 
DESERVES OUR WORSHIP.

****

******

" The heavens declare the glory of God' and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."  ~Psalm 19:1-3

Dying Beautifully

only. God. can. make.death. a. beautiful. thing.

God's creation truly shouts His praises.

Keri and I went shopping the other day. On our way home a storm was gathering in the east... which is SO not typical-usually it comes from the west.

The sun was just right and the colors became like fire against the dark sky...

And it hit me.

These trees are dying.

D.y.i.n.g.

Dead.

Each one is giving off a different color.

But the changes reflect the fact that they are dying.

And all I can think about is the study that I am in right now.

"Stuck" by Jennie Allen 

The whole entire study is about learning to

D.I.E.

to my MYSELF

ONLY GOD CAN MAKE DEATH A BEAUTIFUL THING.

I marvel at the autumn leaves...

I enjoy the changing of the seasons...

I celebrate the harvest

But do I strive to willingly lay myself at the Cross and marvel at the new creation 

that God wants me to be?

...or do I hold on to all of my baggage thinking it keeps me safe?

Do I joyfully die to the things that are holding me back in my walk with Christ?

...or do I assume that God is trying to steal my joy by telling me to let it go?

Do I embrace the pruning in my life so God can

bring about a bountiful harvest?

...or do I resist change and become bitter ?

• ONLY GOD CAN MAKE DEATH A BEAUTIFUL THING.
• ONLY GOD CAN MAKE DEATH A BEAUTIFUL THING.
• ONLY GOD CAN MAKE DEATH A BEAUTIFUL THING.

That phrase kept fading in and out of my head as we drove home from shopping that day.

And then it began to rain...

and God in His matchless Grace

Showed me in living color-

the beauty of dying.

When He sees 

 His Beloved Daughter 

crying out 

from the depth of strongholds

 to be delivered...

when she puts her trust in Christ

to be delivered...

when she dies so that she can live...

What does God see??

He sees His Beautiful Bride!

-ALIVE. VIBRANT-

not because of anything she has done.

but because of

WHAT THE CROSS OF CHRIST

ACCOMPLISHED IN HER.

THE DEATH OF HIS SON--

WOULD MAKE THESE DEAD BONES LIVE.

and make this wayward

child-

a beloved daughter.

I AM IN CHRIST!

HE SHOWS ME THAT HIS PROMISE

IS SURE. STEADFAST.

I am in CHRIST.

how. can. i. hold. back. from.

so. great. a. love??

In the process of change...the process of dying... He makes Himself more beautiful.

And in dying, I learn to live in Him.

So-today-I pick up my cross-and I lay myself at His feet

and learn how to die. 

...how to die to myself

...beautifully.

(thanks to a very sweet girl for letting me use her pic from Golls woods!)

God give me the wisdom to extend grace to others who are dying all around me.God give me the eyes to not judge what beautiful work you are doing in them.God give each one of us a heart to embrace the beauty of living for you and dying to ourselves.Jesus, help me to walk this road of dying to myself so that you can live fully in me.Forgive me for fighting the changes that will bring me freedom. Help me to honor you by laying my will aside so that You alone are made glorious.You are beautiful to me.Amen.

CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING SONG!

Die Another Day by Brian Free and Assurance

When the Hurt and the Healer Collide

Trust is the topic-and boy, it is a tough one to talk about today. Roots grow deep and the pain goes deeper. There are so many areas of mistrust...so many areas that need God's touch of healing.

Hurt me once-shame on you!
Hurt me twice-shame on me...
...and no matter what our circumstances are, we carry the shame around us like a wet heavy blanket that weighs us down and smothers the life right out of our living.

Abuse...sexual, physical, emotional.
If you were a victim-it was not your fault.
You did nothing to make it happen...no matter what anyone else said.

I worked for Children's Protective Services for 4 years...I saw it first hand. Little lives physically torn and mentally scarred. Babies physically died from sexual abuse in the county next to ours... A child in our county is physically blinded for life because of the brutality of a man. Another girl bore a child from her abuser...a boy lost all of the skin of his back because Dad got mad...that's real life. Those were the "worst" cases...there were hundreds more. Little boys and little girls...helpless.

Where is God when that happens?

My only offering...
God was there-he was weeping, too.
God was there-knowing your pain.
God was there-grieving the loss of innocence.
God was there-and his anger is kindled toward your perpetrator.
God was there-and He wants to heal your sexuality & your mind.
God was there-and He will right the wrongs that have been done.
God was there, sweet one.
God was there, holding your breaking heart.
God in his mercy saved you-brought you out of that horrible place. You are alive today and still breathing.
God in His infinite Judgment will have his vengeance on the one who did that to you.
That man...that woman...they not only offended you...they offended God.
And God is a God of Justice and his Word says that He is perfect in that Justice.
God is a defender of the weak and helpless.
And God is going to take up this fight and finish it for you.

trusting is a huge issue if you have scars from your past. Reaching out to a counselor, pastor or mentor can start the process of rebuilding trust issues.

There is a strange place...where the hurt and The Healer collide.
Learning to take every awful thing to the feet of Jesus and allowing him to heal YOU is beautifully painful. When your knees bend and the hurt from abuse is surrendered--forgiveness flows and You can be made alive...even though a part of you is broken. He is in the business of redemption..and sweet one...with God on your side you can trust again-you can live again and the shame will be erased, forgiveness flows and healing beings.The past becomes the past and not your present.

Trust the one who can make that happen for you-starting today.

I love it!!!

laundry. cooking. cleaning. growing kids. DAILY. Rain or shine. Healthy or sick...DAILY. That is the life of a Mom-and only a Mom knows the full weight of the meaning "DAILY" in this context...mundane sometimes.
and I love it!!!!!
Every minute of it...even when it is hard-when it is thankless-when it is good and when it is bad. When it is painful to watch and even more painful to pick up the pieces. Sick or healthy-rain or shine.
I love it!!!
I love my life!! I would never trade these days for anything else. They are full of drama, pain, joy, fulfillment, brutal reality of poor choices and the fall out, disappointments, twists and turns, let downs, and high points.
I love it!!!
I love watching the kids grow to be adults, making adult decisions and taking on life's challenges with Jesus on their side. And sometimes suffering the consequences of not choosing His path. It's not easy. Standing back and praying that they embrace all that God has planned for them with joy and anticipation of His faithfulness.
I love it!!!
I love seeing God work on them...just like He does on me. Painful yet prosperous. Beautiful but bloody. In all of the baby steps-God is at work to make them more like Himself. Mistakes and all. Poor choices and all. Watching God's perfect chisel as he turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.
and I love it!!!
I love seeing answered prayers and depending on God alone to get them home safely-to protect them in body, mind and spirit-to cover them with his grace-to reveal the hidden things. To guide them into being godly and developing a heart for the lost...Knowing all the while, everything is out of my control and mistakes will happen.Jumping off the deep end with a God that has got them covered. Joining Him in what He is doing.
and I love it!!!
I love seeing the God of the Universe create new beings. Light bulbs go on and you can see Jesus working. From the terrible two's to the awesome teens and onward...Daily shaping, molding, pruning. I never realized how DAILY the changes came. Somewhere between diapers and driver's license...life happened. They grew up and I sit back in awe at how God works the good, the bad, and the ugly for His purpose.  
and I love it!!!

So, all of you Mom's out there that are ready to throw in the towel...ready to think that God isn't seeing or knows what is happening. When you think your prayers just hit the ceiling. When you think that it just doesn't matter and your kids are just too far away to be found.
LOOK UP...LOOK UP...LOOK UP
cause your kids are going to
GROW UP (...fast.)
they need you to show them Jesus...DAILY
--so they know where they will
END UP.
AND THAT TAKES A BOATLOAD OF SOMETHING THAT YOU AND I CAN'T POSSESS-UNLESS WE HAVE MET JESUS. We need his GRACE.

AND I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL THAT HIS GRACE FOR THE JOB IS
DAILY. and. SUFFICIENT.

" This will be written for the generation to come, 

That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD."

~Psalm 102:18

I LOVE IT!!!

MOM--your kiddos are ' the people yet to be created' in that verse...and it is happening DAILY...and HE IS SUFFICIENT, and FAITHFUL to finish what he started in your kids.

We serve an amazing God who gives mama's the opportunity to be His hands and feet DAILY to our families. So today-PRAY. LOVE. SERVE. LISTEN. LOVE. DISCIPLINE.
in His Daily-All Sufficient Grace.

A Trip to the ER

Ok-life on the farm is somewhat dangerous...but our place is ridiculous! We sat down the other night and calculated the grand total of medical procedures our family has needed. The list is pretty impressive. Our latest trip to the ER,a few weeks ago,was for a single staple in the head...a launching from a horse...minor check off of the list. Kid stuff.

Over 23 years our family has had...

82 staples
138 stitches (or more, the math got fuzzy)
4 broken arms
3 broken fingers
2 eye injuries-requiring metal to be removed
4 sprained ankles
1 sprained wrist
1 broken elbow
10 missing fingernails
Lost count on burns...
Immeasurable bruising...
35 days in-patient hospital stays
3 out-patient hospital stays.
4 major abdominal surgeries
2 Root canals
2 sets of wisdom teeth removed
5 broken noses
2 broken heels
4 adult teeth pulled
Foot surgery
Elbow surgery
2 cancer scares
Appendicitis
A whomping case of Scoliosis

I am proud to say we are all up-to-date on our Tetanus shots, although we are considering rabies shots...that would be a new thing to add to our list. And yes, we have teenage drivers...pray for us!

How is your list of wounds? Do you spend time counting the people and things that have hurt you?--savoring them? Making a list of how everyone has hurt you? Oh, how bitterness creeps in over the years. 

Jealousy, Anger, Gossip, Envy, Strife, Hurt...all of our ugly comes out when we harbor unforgiveness.  Self absorption has a way of making us miserable and the power of unforgiveness becomes frightfully obvious to others and yet oblivious to ourselves.

We keep really, really good records on others and forget that others have a record on us. Call them OUCHIES or BOO-BOO's or whatever you want but a band-aid isn't going to fix it.

We all know the verse--we KNOW we are supposed to forgive but it is so hard sometimes! Why?! Maybe pride, maybe it feels too good to keep someone else on the meat hooks, maybe we think way too much about what has been done to us than on what we have done to someone else. Either way-Jesus shows us how to forgive. He lived it --died for it and He wants you to extend it to the very person that drives you crazy. Yeah--that one.

I really don't like going to the ER because a trip to the ER means there is a wound that needs healing...something is broken that only a Physician can heal.I am so grateful that I can turn to someone who has the knowledge and skill to heal me.

That wound you have held on to for so long...It's time for a spiritual trip to the Great Physician. Don't you think?