Southern Living Yankee

BACK TO BUSINESS I've been away from writing way too long. Juggling Tom's new swing shift schedule, training 50 hours for the library job, and the "sale of the season" every weekend at you-know-where were enough spinning plates for me. Today is the day. Tom's at work now, Aaron's at school, I am off today and tomorrow, so this is it! In a few moments I will look at the pages I've written for the book. After weeks away, what will I see? Will they be amazing? Wonderful? Uplifting and encouraging? Or just the opposite--my greatest fear--DREADFUL!?? So, please pray for me today. Pray for wisdom and patience and perseverance. Pray for clear thinking, freedom from interruptions and distractions; pray that I can focus! Also, please pray for my friend, Crystal, who is having radiation treatment today and will have to be in isolation for the next several days. "People person" and involved mother that she is, this is extremely difficult. Our Thanksgiving w...

PROMISE IN MY POCKET Every time I put my hand in my pocket, there it was, God's promise to get me through today: "The Lord is the strength of my life, whom shall I fear?" My nervous fingers literally held onto the post-it note I wrote it on. I had laid awake most of the night, anticipating a confrontation at work. A last-minute Bible look brought this verse to my attention. It would be my lifeline, stuffed deep in my pocket. Meditating on it, I realized how well it corresponded to another favorite verse of mine: "God arms me with strength and makes my path perfect." And then I remembered how I'd gotten into this sticky situation: I had prayed and asked God for something. Moments later it happened! God was in this! He had started it, and He would be my strength. I had nothing to fear. And now it's evening. I survived. God was right, there was nothing to fear. Here from my third floor window, city lights shine against blackness as the day closes. The radio...

KINDNESS Taffy had questions for me in her reply to my blog last week--and I'll get to them sooner or later, but I want to remember some things that happened this week. First off, Taffy's reply happened, and I was struck by her kindness. "Why should she bother to ask how I'm doing?" I thought. It's because that's the way she is--a kind and gentle woman. Our paths have "just happened" to cross. I felt very blessed because she asked. Am I weird to always feel so amazed that I have friends? I'm very grateful for them all. Second, I heard from Anne this week (Anne of Chesterland, sounds regal, doesn't it?). She emailed me with a bit of news on her trip to Africa, and then I swear we were both laughing over email as we wondered at God's sense of humor and His surprises: her very first mission trip was just a couple months ago, to El Salvador. Now she's been to Africa, and in the spring her church wants her to go to Italy! If anyone had...

BUTTERFLIES Have you ever watched a video of a monarch butterfly emerging from the crysallis? If I remember correctly, the crysallis turns from its luminous light green color to a shiny black, and then it seems to dissolve. In place of the black you begin to see folds and stripes and smoothness break out into bent, wet wings and black spindly legs. The butterfly stiffly starts to spread and fan it's wings. Body fluids work into the hollow appendages and joints of the insect as if lubricating the pistons of a machine. What begins in weakness picks up strength and patience, and if patient enough for just the right moment in which strength and desire combine, results in lift off. Dear God, Please pump my friends with patience. May those moments of strength and desire converge in their hearts this week, and may their faith soar to new heights. Amen!

DAY OF REST Yesterday we spent part of the afternoon at an arboretum. It was one of those great fall days, not too hot, not too cold, just enough leaves were down to rustle as you walked along, and the trees were beginning to show their red, yellow and orange colors. We saw trees we'd never seen before, and also walked through an herb garden and a rose garden. I had to hold my hands tightly together in the herb garden to prevent them from pinching off leaves and stems to smell. And, as always, in the rose garden I had to smell each variety--you know that the different varieties of roses have different fragrances, don't you? I wanted to be a hummingbird or a honeybee so I could bury myself even further into them. All that got me to thinking about heaven. Imagine having eternity to see and learn about all of God's creation? (No. You're not going to have to sing in the choir 24/7.) I think I will take some time to learn more about trees--maybe even ALL of them in the new h...

NEVER A DULL MOMENT! I started working part-time at Penney's again, and I had an interview at the public library for a part-time job there, too. I am also on a call-list for substitute teaching. Plus writing. Adds up to about 4 possible part-time jobs. Tom starts his new job on Oct. 23. Sounds crazy? I think we're getting used to it, just going with the flow. Still have boxes to unpack, curtains to hang, pictures to put up . . . Here's where God's grace comes in: I'm not freaking out! I know all this will pan out. I have this supernatural peace. Plus, I am always thinking about my writing. Every time I meet new people, I wonder how my writing can connect with them, their issues, their circumstances, their needs. I think it's very engaging. God has put some interesting people in my path. Writing update : ("finally!", you say out loud.) :) 1) My part of the book proposal for the collaborative project has been sent off to the other writer. Please pray for...

Today we should receive a copy of the job offer from Tom's interview last week! They called on Friday. The offer is less than he makes now, but more than we expected, plus regular hours and 4 weeks vacation. It's very attractive. But pray that God gives us wisdom as we comb through the details of the contract. Brad tells me he will move into an apartment today and start classes tomorrow. I can't begin to explain what a struggle this has been! I really felt some fiery darts this past week and had to live out much of what I taught on at Riverview a couple weeks ago. "Until we know that life is war, we will not know what prayer is for." But it seems the cloud has lifted for the moment and I breathe a cautious sigh of relief. I think it was a week in which your prayers were crucial. I praise God for them and for you. HOW TO LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR OWN BLOG If you would like to leave a comment on this blog that others can read, too, it's very sim...