Precipitation. :)

Having lived in the Phoenix are for over 40 years, I never used to think about precipitation very much...it was a rarity! Because as a family we have always loved seasons and snow, in particular, we would sometimes head to the mountains for a good winter snowstorm.
Now that I live year round in those very same mountains, I have developed a much greater appreciation of seasonal changes, and especially the lessons I learn about God and about life when it precipitates!
Because temperatures can fluctuate here during a winter storm, it is not unusual for us to have a variety of forms of precipitation in just a few hours. Not long ago, we had a day with sunshine, then rain, then hail, then more sun, then snow! Yesterday was sunny, today it snowed lightly all day. We have had numerous periods of snowshine today, too ( my FAVORITE! Snowing while the sun is shining!).
As June approaches, even our restaurant marquis remind us to pray for rain! June is our driest month, and hence, forest fire season. Rain is minimal and a desperate need. In July and August we have rain. Glorious, garden feeding, earth refreshing, tree protecting, wonderful smelling rain!
Having grown a vegetable garden and flower garden here in the mountains, I have realized anew the importance of life-giving rain.
So you see, precipitation is important and varied!
Here are just a few of the lessons I have learned from precipitation...I am sure there are many more to come in the future!

1) God is infinitely and wonderfully creative! His amazing attention to detail and beauty leaves me awestruck.
2) Sometimes beauty beyond description comes in the silence. Like a blanket of collaborative peace, the tiny individual snowflakes cling together to cover all things. If you do not watch for them, you can miss their quiet arrival.
3) Sometimes the prescription for healing, refreshment, and renewal brings with it inconvenience. It is not always convenient to have rain, but it is a blessing and balm to our parched earth, and allows for beauty to delight us in spring and summer. Many of the lessons God has worked in my heart were very, very inconvenient. But He uses them still to soften my rough edges and make my life more beautiful.
4) Sometimes change is painful. When you are busy with some activity or important chore and the gentle snowflakes become hail or sleet, it HURTS! Change has often caused me pain in life. But I am positive that if nothing changed in my life, I would tire of it quickly and whine about the boredom and monotony. Perhaps I just like to whine.
5) I LOVE THE SEASONS! I am in the autumn of my years, but I have no doubt that just as God has faithfully brought about the changing seasons since time began, He will continue to be faithful and noticeably present during this season of my life and through the winter of my years. I love spending every day seeing and experiencing His Creative Presence.
Next time you have precipitation where you are, enjoy it, and look for the life lessons!
Have a great weekend!
Annie

Welcoming in a New Year...

Another year has come and gone, and we are well into a brand new one. I have not been overly excited about ushering in 2013. The world around us is more and more becoming a scary place. The country we love is divided...there are great chasms between the ideologies, values, priorities, and opinions of our citizens. Sin is blatant, rampant, and barbaric. Satan is no longer subtle -- he has no reason to be. He is having a field day. Our leaders take away our rights on a daily basis, speak lies and deception, and corruption is everywhere, especially in high places. It can be discouraging. It can be downright depressing.
But more significant than the ugliness in today's world is the truth that God is in control. He is not wringing His Holy, nail-scarred Hands, nor pacing the Halls of Heaven trying to think of a solution. No, He is never-changing, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is the Great I AM. Every bit of what is happening in our world today is part of His Divine Plan, spelled out in His Word, the Bible. So how should we respond to the decaying world around us? What are we to do?
We are to trust Him, serve Him, and live in such a way that others wish to know what motivates and inspires us. Our God is busy at work in the classroom of my heart! I have much to learn this year. How about you? Come, let's sit at the Master's feet, as he directs our paths!

A Most Despicable Weed...

One of the most difficult weeds in my garden is this HORRIBLE one!  It is called Puncture Vine, and it is deceptively pretty -- it has nicely shaped little leaves that radiate from a central point, and it gets pretty yellow flowers.  But lurking EVERYWHERE among its little branches are horrible burs!  They are shaped like a mini Maltese Cross, and they are as sharp as razor blades. They cut my hands right through my gardening gloves, and I have had bloody fingers numerous times, just trying to get them out.  They have quite a deep tap root, so in order to get them out, I use a hand trowel, but they still have to be lifted out and put in the trash can, which means still handling them to some extent.  The very bad news is that the seeds from these weeds can lay dormant for 20 years or more, and then spring to life under the right conditions!  When the burs dry out, they become even more treacherous, puncturing bike tires, mower tires, wagon tires, soles of shoes, etc.  These "goatheads," as they are called, I guess because of their shape when dried, can fall off of your shoes onto your rugs, floors, carpets, etc., you can have the further delight of stepping on one barefoot and recalling why the weed is called Puncture Vine. OUCH!
The only surefire way to get rid of it is to DIG it out -- a painful process, indeed.  The best remedy is to make sure it doesn't start growing in the first place.  It can become massive, and can take over your garden and smother your precious flowers and veggies very, very quickly... Sigh...

Because of the perfect construction of the burs, looking just like a Maltese Cross, I looked up the history of that emblem.  Wow.  

The eight points of the cross are believed to represent the eight vows the early knights had to observe:
1) live in truth; 
2) have faith; 
3) repent of sins; 
4) give proof of humility; 
5) love justice; 
6) be merciful; 
7) be sincere and whole hearted; 
8) endure persecution.
(See www.choppers.com/iron_cross.asp)

This lovely emblem was counterfeited and made despicable by Adolph Hitler in 1939, who re-introduced the cross, but with a Swastika in the center...then it was called an Iron Cross.

What is that, Lord? Yes, I am listening and focusing.  What would you have me to learn here?

1) Purging the weeds from my life can be a very painful process.
2) Recognizing the weeds for what they are can be difficult...they are serious imitations of the genuine; they are counterfeit, fake,  They are a perverted, distorted version of something good!
3) Some of the roots go down deep, and are really hard to get out.  
4) Some have been dormant for a long time, and suddenly spring to life under the right conditions!
5) It is best to never allow the weeds to grow in the first place.


Lord, please help me to apply what you have taught me here!
I have been busy this week identifying the despicable weeds in the garden of my heart.  Ugh! They are noxious and have to go! Do you have any despicable weeds in your garden, too?

Blessings to you this weekend!  :D

Galatians 5:19-21  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Some images from Google images, others are my own photos

Lessons from the Garden #1

I am a newbie at gardening...well, at vegetable gardening.  I have always grown lots of plants and flowers, but not veggies and fruits.  One thing I have always grown well is WEEDS!  I can grow tall, magnificent, well-rooted weeds with very little work.  Amazingly, they just come up wherever, whenever! I hate pulling weeds!  I find them highly irritating. It is hard work to get rid of them, and requires care so I don't uproot my young plants. What is worse, now that I am growing new things, I don't know (especially in the early stages of growth) which is the plant and which are the weeds. Some of my weeds even look very pretty.  (However, you may look closer and find some really nasty thorns!)
This is a great parallel to life, isn't it?  We have to be very discerning, or weeds can pop up and look like the real thing. They can look lovely, enticing, and worth feeding. They can be so deceptive that we may cultivate, pamper, and encourage their growth. If we are not careful, we can cultivate and encourage the wrong things to grow and thrive in our lives.
Thoughts and feelings of jealousy, envy, anger, resentment, ungratefulness, bitterness, self-centeredness, self-pity, arrogance, pride, etc., can be growing just under the surface. When we begin feeding them, suddenly, they grow into full-blown sins and become huge!  God doesn't want those ugly traits to characterize the life of His children.  Unfortunately, they are pretty easy to grow, and don't even require a lot of nurturing.  They can even take over, if left unchecked. They can surprise us by springing up in odd places...
 In Colossians 3:12 it says, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
It is interesting to me that God chose to tell us to clothe ourselves with those traits -- clothing is worn on the outside of the body.  Other people see it easily. It is always on display. So, too, these important character qualities should be clearly evident to all who see us and know us. We can disguise the weeds in our hearts and minds for a while, but if we do not work hard to remove them, they can choke out and take over the growth and fruit-bearing, and even work their way to the outside -- to our countenance, our attitude, our speech, etc. Not a pretty sight. 
So, I must continually kill those pesky weeds! In my vegetable garden, I have to work hard to yank them out by the roots or they come back quickly. I must carefully prepare and nurture the soil so my good plants can grow and thrive.
In my life, I use the Word of God as my weed killer, and meditating on Scripture can work as a good preventative for future weed growth! Even after all these years, it is still hard work and a never-ending task.

But keeping my gardens growing well (minus the weeds) and bearing fruit, is well worth the effort!

Have a good week!  :D

Yes, I know it has been forever since I have updated my blog.  Rather than wasting this whole post lamenting and explaining the busy-ness of my life, just accept my apology and know that I will try to keep up better! 


Do you ever wonder where you would be if you had not made the choices you did? I do.
Would God have led me right back to this place at this time through a different route?  Would my life be happier or more fulfilling, or sorely lacking substance and full of pain, had I chosen another road?  Would you change something major about your life if you could live it over again?
I would not.
I began my journey of faith as a very young child. I have always had a deep desire to know God better. My earnest prayer has always been to do His Will.

"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."  Ephesians 5:17
 I could have chosen a different path -- I could have chosen a different mate, a different career, a different place to live. But would I be satisfied and content?  I know that He has always had plans for me -- plans that He established, plans I longed to fulfill. 


"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11


Although the road has not been easy, and I have had my share of pain, suffering, heartbreak, and sorrow, I have never walked the road alone.  He has been with me every step of the way.  I may not have held tightly to His Hand, nor always acknowledged His wisdom guiding me along the best path, but He was by my side and holding on to me all the way.  There have been times I felt like I was walking blindfolded, taking tentative steps and wondering where the road ahead would lead.  But He has faithfully guided me and patiently listened to my murmerings and complaints about not liking the road on which I travel.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5-6

I have experienced amazing blessings in seeing how God has worked things out in miraculous fashion, orchestrating and causing infinite details to come together as no one else could. True to His Nature, He continues to delight, amaze, and confound me with Himself. 
A road of faith is a "road less traveled" -- it is a road marked by looking up in order to see straight ahead.  It is knowing ahead of time that there will be twists and turns and boulders in the road, but a strong and able Friend and Guide goes with me.  In looking back, I would definitely say that the greatest lesson I have learned is that God is FAITHFUL.  That fact allows me to look ahead with joyful anticipation.  I am exceedingly grateful for His Hand in mine along the road of life.  There is joy in the journey and a secure knowledge of the final destination!  


This is my all-time favorite poem.  It so beautifully states what I have been pondering...
Here it is for you:


Hugs,
Annie

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (1920)

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.


Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 Inviting Jane and Lizzie to Tea

www.teacupgallery.com

 

Some of my favorite people are those I have met between the covers of a book.  Two of my very favorites are Jane and Elizabeth Bennett, the two eldest sisters in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.  My heart's desire would be to invite these two ladies to tea, if only it were possible!
I am very much like Lizzie in personality, which is why Jane's personality is such an asset! 
I often reflect upon Jane's comment, "Lizzie, you do not make allowances for differences of situation and temper," and know that I am also hasty to judge situations and people, and all too quick to survey a circumstance and see it with my own ingrown eyeballs, from my own very limited perspective.  There are many days when I wish I could pour out my heart to Lizzie over tea, knowing that she would be quick to commiserate with me, offer her wise advice and perhaps some action to take, and then say something to calm and console.   Some days I would not wish Jane there, because she would cause me to pause, re-think, forgive, and consider, when I would prefer to simply react and receive support and encouragement for my position. 
But there are other days, when I desperately need Jane alone, to sit with me over tea, to comfort me with her kind words and remind me of the right thing to do.  I do need her gentle voice to tell me to "make allowances for differences of situation and temper." 
Do you have "literary" friends whom you would wish to invite to tea?  Why would you choose them?  I think I will be inviting more of my dear long time friends to tea parties, as well.  We shall greet you in the near future!

Blessings, dear friends,

Annie

"These Are A Few of My Favorite Things..."

Sometimes you can learn a lot about a person by finding out what they like and don't like.  I have been thinking a lot lately about my favorites...but that is a very broad topic!  There are favorite colors, (mine are pastels) favorite sounds (like music, birds singing, children laughing -- especially babies laughing --  are at the top of my list!).  There are favorite places, like home, Disneyland, England, Switzerland, and Patrick Pond.  I have lots of favorite activities, like reading, writing, going to antique stores, and having tea or coffee with friends. So how do you just make a list of favorite things?  What are the THINGS I enjoy most? Well, that list would not include God, family, friends, or pets (or animals in general) in my list because although they are at the very top, they are not THINGS.  After those dear ones come other living things like plants, trees, or flowers, so they are not in the list either.  Hmmm...
So here are some of the THINGS I like best, not really in a priority order because that order may change daily!  I really like so many things, the top 20 doesn't even come close to expressing all the many things I enjoy most, but here are the ones I could think of right now:   
 rainbows
 farmhouses
 barns
 white walls
 the ocean
 rural communities
 chocolate
 coffee
 tea
 thrift stores
 garage sales
 clouds
 sunsets
 picket fences
 jewelry
 Thomas Kincaid artwork
 Handmade patchwork quilts
 vintage everything
 rocking chairs
 teapots, cups, and saucers

Well, that's a start! There must be thousands of things I especially like and enjoy!

There are some things I DON'T like, also.  These are not in a specific order, either.

waiting in lines
ridiculously high prices
headaches
mean people
toxic, negative people
people who are not authentic or honest
arrogance
disrespectful words and actions
LOUD anything -- music, machines, people, cars, etc.
gaining weight
Dental Work (even though my dentist is fabulous)
talk radio
violin music slightly off pitch
hangnails
MOSQUITO BITES

OK, well there you have it.  A whole bunch of likes and dislikes.  I'm sure tomorrow when I read this I will wish I had different ones in each column, but that is the peril of putting your thoughts in print. 
What about you?  Think about your favorites this weekend!  Count your blessings, and when you start chalking up your dislikes, be thankful that you have the ability to think of them, and live where you can express your dislikes freely!

Lest I be remiss for not expressing my remembrance of 9/11/2001, I remember much about that tragic day, as if it was only yesterday. It was awful...horrible...Frightening.  The good that came of it was that for weeks and weeks afterwards, everywhere you went you saw flags -- hundreds of flags, everywhere!  They were on businesses, homes, corners,cars, dog collars, everywhere!  People across our nation were banding together, proud to be Americans. People across the land were praying -- remembering God and interceding for others in prayer.   I find it sad that that degree of patriotism  and leaning toward God came and went all too quickly, and that it is hard to find today, as it was before the tragedy struck.  I pray that it does not take another 9/11 to awaken us to the blessings of liberty we all enjoy, and cause us to pray for our nation on a daily basis.