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.

Grass around the Blackberries

I have been pulling weeds and weeds and more weeds in my garden.  We have had some nice rain nearly every single day, which has caused everything to grow really well, especially the weeds and the mosquitoes!  Yes, the tomatoes are growing, too, and the zucchini, the strawberries, the roses, corn, and other lovely things.  We have had some great thunderstorms, with plenty of lightning, which is good for the garden!  Did you know that lightning changes nitrogen in the air into a form plants can use?  It's called "fixation" of nitrogen -- cool, huh?  It sure seems to help things grow.

I love cool, green grass. Getting grass to grow in bare spots in the yard has not gone particularly well so far.  It is, however, growing extremely well all around my blackberries and other plants inside my garden, where it is not welcome.  I guess you could say it is, "growing like a weed!"  It seems ironic to have to pull the grass out around my garden plants, when I WANT it to grow elsewhere and it doesn't!  

I have been developing a healthy appreciation for all kinds of little creatures who live outside.  I am very willing to let them live out in the yard and in the garden, where many of them are very beneficial.  (If they are inside my house, they are not welcome, and are doomed.)  I think I have a mental gauge that defines outdoor creatures as acceptable when they are below a certain size.  When they get a bit too big, they become a bit creepy.  Well, I was out weeding around my blackberries when I looked down at my shoe and THIS GUY was on it.  Of course, since he was WAYYYY over the acceptable size limit in my brain, I screamed and shook him off.  Poor guy...he was motionless for about 10 minutes, then he was gone.  I did not weed the section where he disappeared...

Today, however, I was blessed by hundreds of lovely ladybugs in the garden, and a few nice sized earthworms.  I was happy to see them, and let them know that I appreciate the ladybugs eating all the aphids so my roses don't have any, and the earthworms aerating the soil so my veggies and plants grow better.  

When I look at the tiny insects in my garden or contemplate the absolutely amazing artistry captured in a sunset, I am so humbled -- humbled that the Almighty God of the universe, who drew the polkadots on the the backs of lady bugs and uses the sky as his painting canvas, cares about the details of my life.  In the grand scheme of things, I seem so insignificant.  But God calls me His beloved, His friend, His child.  Wow.  That really is mind boggling.  I am constantly amazed by His Grace.  I have known Him for 51 years.  We've been through a lot together.  I see Him and His handiwork everywhere, and I am daily captivated by His love.

How Great Thou Art (Second Stanza)

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee; How great Thou art!
How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

(Written by: Carl G. Boberg and R.J. Hughes )

 "What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:4 (ESV)

“He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth." Job 37:3

 

About First Days...

Many of my dear teacher friends started back to school in the past couple of weeks, and by now, the students have arrived!  I was thinking about how a teacher must always being ready for anything at a moment's notice, especially during those first few days of school! I was reminded of a particularly “interesting” first day in my career…

It was a few years ago, while I was living and teaching in the Phoenix area.  One of the characteristics of summer (we start school in early August, when it is still WELL over 100 degrees most days) is the large number of interesting creepy crawlies that may appear anywhere at any time.

On this particular first day, all the precious little Third Graders had their eyes on me as I told them about the great things we were going to learn and do during the school year.  But I had my eyes on a HUGE cockroach that was inching its way up the back wall, and then across the ceiling.  I knew it could decide to let go and drop onto a student's desk below at any time.  I had to decide whether to ignore it and hope for the best, which could surely result in screaming, running, crying, and general mayhem and unsafe practices, or act like a hero and somehow capture the critter.  Smashing it was out of the question, since we study about those guys in Third Grade science...  So, I told the students to get out their colored pencils, knowing the activity would keep them busy for a brief time...long enough for me to grab a jar from under the sink.  Then, I stood on a child's desk (after saying Excuse Me) and pressed the jar to the ceiling, trapping Mr. Cockroach.  Since I failed to grab something to act as a lid for the jar when I lowered it down, and knowing the unlovely Mr. C could easily get out of there, I was forced to calmly put my hand over the jar.  I smiled as I told the wide-eyed students that this was one of the great science topics we would study, and that I was going to release him out in the bushes near the parking lot, and they were to stay seated.  I accomplished this feat without delay, and then used GOBS of hand sanitizer to get the gross feeling off my hand!  Mission accomplished, we were right back to work without delay -- but my heart was pounding as I considered how the whole thing could have turned out, had I given in to procrastination or not wanting to deal with Mr. C.  Teachers don't get paid nearly enough.  :D

Speaking of always being ready for anything, we are commanded to be ready for our most important task:

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)

 ¹ “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound^[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ⁵As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

 Blessings,

Annie

The Classroom

One thing I have learned in my life is that I am never out the The Classroom.  I learn something new every day, and sometimes I have to learn the same thing over -- maybe over and over and over!  I have spent way more than half my life teaching others, and have always been a learner in the process.  The best way to learn something is to have to teach it -- that applies to many different skills, academic content, and life lessons.  Often in my teaching I would discover that the character qualities and behaviors I found most frustrating in my students were the very same things God had been working on in me.  Not listening too well comes to mind.  And impatience.  And overreacting, critical thinking, and on and on the list can go. 

This blog has been going to happen for decades.  I just had such a hard time putting my deepest, most private thoughts on paper, where they become vulnerable to the scrutiny of others.  But the prompting has become too strong, and the purpose too clear.  So, I hope to have many posts in the future, as I share my world and heart and faith with you.

Blessings!

Annie