says that “Television, Filmaking industries are Big Polluters.”
But, then, you knew that.
O, I see, they’re talking: environmental. I was thinking something else.
Author: pamela
The Tender Mercies of the LORD
We’re home again and it’s really incredibly sweet to be here tonight. As I look out the window and see the reflection of lights—reflection of lights?!?!? my senses are jangled as we do not ordinarily have “lake front” property… The flood waters are receding but will likely remain in the farmlands for quite a while. We now see, in a whole new light, the merciful kindness of the LORD and praise Him for His tender mercies. We are humbled at His protection and provision. I’ll write more about it all later. For now, I have posted a few pictures. But this one is one of my favourites in a tender hearted sort of way.
more pics here.
a flood of thoughts
We’ve had an interesting few days as we’ve watched the Snohomish River rise and then overflow its banks and flood the surrounding valley and farmlands – as have many of Western Washington’s rivers! Floods don’t occur without a bit of excitment for our family. And excitement we’ve had! More later as this slice of life will no doubt linger a bit.
just a check in
I got to thinking… it probably seems from time to time that I forget I have a weblog. It’s not that I don’t want to write or even that I don’t really have time to write – instead, I just don’t have the bloggiest idea what thing to take time to describe or relate. So, no blogging today. We’ve got a River to watch.
http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/river/station/flowplot/flowplot.cgi?quick=single&id=SNAW1
split loyalties
I’ve been a die-hard KitchenAid (mixer) aficionado. It’s wonderful to use, wonderful to look at and a wonderful time-saver for me. I’ve used my KitchenAid almost daily and sometimes several times a day for 18 years. It’s perfect and has never given me trouble. I do have to replace a second whip and a second flat beater, but at no time has the machine been a problem to me. I was familiar with the machine (in a larger model) when I worked as a cook and was determined to have that necessary piece of equipment in my own kitchen. I also have the attachments that make it all the more versatile. Truly, it was the best piece of kitchen equipment we’ve ever bought. Several of our friends have Bosch mixers and many times through the years, I felt sort of like I had the inferior product and yet still felt my machine was wonderful and very beneficial to me.
But then… it still wasn’t a Bosch. I felt dumb when they’d talk about all the wonderful things their mixers could do. I felt loyal to my faithful old friend. But, it was incapable of competing with the Bosch when making bread dough, for example, and couldn’t churn out the larger volume of cookie dough, either. But, nonetheless, my dear old cobalt blue mixer kept on working, whirling out meringue and whipping up egg whites and churning out thousands of batches of cookies, cakes and brownies through the years –not to mention the thousands of pounds of cheese and other items that have gone through the shredder/slicer! I never thought anything could replace the quality of the KitchenAid—except a bigger KitchenAid. And I never really thought I’d like anything else, for that matter. But I do so trust the judgment of my friends and take very seriously their thoughts and experience – especially where homemaking is concerned.
And then the UPS man tapped on the door and delivered the box.
I wasn’t home the day the box was delivered. I was in Canada getting crowned. Well, I like to think of it as a coronation service, it certainly cost as much as a marvelously catered soirée. I was calling that crown a food processor cover like no other! I had to share a little bit of reality with the dentist when he told me I need several of these little goodies. I shared with him that it was, indeed, wonderful to have all these little trinkets from his office, but I need a far different solution from here on out. He decided to see things a little differently and agreed to help me through this season with an inferior remedy for ailing teeth—not eliminating them altogether, but covering them differently. I can’t afford to be friends with the folks in that office. Their idea of a good day costs too much.
But I digress.
So we were standing in our kitchen and my husband asked me if I wanted to see what was in the box—well, certain it wasn’t anything *I’d* ordered, I reluctantly agreed. Yes, so you can guess the rest of the delightful story. He had gone ahead and ordered the Bosch mixer. See, it all started with the planning of our online store and what items we wanted to carry in our store. We made a big list of all the things that we could think of that say: family, that say: welcome home, that say: tradition — good things for families — good things for homes. One of the things on that list was –bread– or bread making things. Bread says welcome home. Knowing that our friends all agreed that their Bosch machines were the best, I decided to look into what it would take to sell them. And the rest, as they say, is history. We made application to become dealers for the Bosch machines and other specific pieces of kitchen equipment. And as we prepare the website, we’ll be able to offer to other families this great piece of equipment.
As I poured the wheat berries into the mill this morning, I smiled as I realized that I have a machine that can do what the KitchenAid could not. It can effortlessly knead 12 cups of flour, whereas my other cannot bear more than 6 or 7. As we’ve continued on the quest to make healthful changes to our diet, the whole grains are an integral part. I suppose, for me, the greater thing is that since I have nerve damage in my arm, I can’t do a lot of things I used to do bcz it’s too painful to work that arm. I’m amazed that I like the machine so much! It’s wonderfully designed for ease and simplicity and the “open” feel to it makes it much easier to use. Besides, I think bread brings boys home and keeps ‘em coming back for more.
So I’m sold. I hope lots of other people will be, too. ~wink~
To walk with and watch the LORD
What a defining day this has been. And with an opening line like that, one might assume I’ve come to some great revelation or conclusion about a matter, or that some marvelous epiphany has occurred in my walk. No, and yes… no, nothing huge has been happening, no great changes or anything like that, but, rather, it’s wintertime. Every year about this time a defining event happens that tells me no more sitting outside, no more warm, sunny afternoons are going to be enjoyed by the water or the rose garden. It’s wintertime now. Every year with the first frost, all the leaves fall from the huge walnut trees. We watched off and on for hours this morning as the leaves fell in great clumps and the tree that was full of frosty leaves this morning is bare this afternoon. Each year I think of filming the great display of God’s handiwork, but instead, I just watch. The frost signifies the end of the hydrangeas, the roses and calla lilies.. the drooping leaves are a sad sight to me today. It seems wintertime has come early this year.
The woodstove that heats this home is continually being checked on today as we get into the groove of feeding it with wood and keeping the back porch stocked with a good supply. This is the hard season of the year… it’s the time of year that requires a different kind of work—different than summer, that is. In summer, there’s kind of a smooth, airy feel to the days — not so, in winter. So the delicious summer is a savory memory to me today. The memory or wonderful times, the heat and water of Georgia, Southern California, Oregon, and Eastern Washington… and points in between all flood my mind today as the chill has set in and is hard to shake. I don’t appreciate it, but I know I want to and so am looking for the blessing of the season. And the LORD, in His gracious mercy, is teaching me the joy of winter and cold weather, the necessary passage of seasons so dear to me. And in this instruction I find great wisdom and comfort that He carries us through the seasons of our lives and is showing me the importance of enjoying the Autumn season of my life as He brings to mind the many ways He blessed and worked in the Spring and Summer seasons of my life.
So we continued on in our study of 1Corinthians 11 this morning. Again, we didn’t even scratch the surface (no surprise here) but talked at length about God’s order in the gathering of the saints and His design for the inner working of the body and the necessity that the body be in unity. O, this is a challenging matter bcz of all the personalities that comprise the body of Christ and all the views, experiences, traditions and interpretations of God’s will for believers. Paul writes in verses 18 & 19 about divisions, etc., and we talked this over this morning and see that these things occur today probably more than ever with the advent of instant communication, books, gatherings, and a myriad of other resources readily available.
As I’ve mulled this over, I can only conclude that the answer to the divisions and schisms in the body is: the Word- for the lack of devotion to reading, studying and meditating on the Word and spending time in prayer is at the heart of troubles men face (by “men,” I mean men, women and children). Whenever there is a problem in our body we can trace it to one of those things (and in our home, for that matter!). Even misunderstandings can be traced to one of those things—well, those, and lack of bearing, believing, hoping and enduring all things in love. Whenever there’s a problem, it’s a matter of one or more of those things not being heeded. So we talked further about the bearing with one another, tarrying one for another and so on. What a blessing it is to walk with and watch the LORD.
Coincidences
I have to laugh at the number of Coincidences that have been happening lately. By coincidences, I mean, when vertical meets the horizontal –or when the LORD meets us where we’re at. These sorts of things are like punctuation marks to me. Kind of an exclamation point to a study or a revelation or whatever… when we’re reading in a passage of Scripture and somewhere along the way we discover that a brother or sister in the LORD is reading or has been reading in exactly the same place and has come to the same conclusion we have about a matter or has come to a completely different conclusion and the LORD uses that situation to open our eyes to His Truth or something He wants to show us that we hadn’t been thinking about. But the times that have been richest are the times where a brother will share a passage we’ve been mulling over and confirms God’s working. Such was the case with that passage in 1 John that we’ve been studying over the last few weeks — the “love not the world, neither the Bling! things of the world…” passage.
We smile as we see the LORD is leading brothers and sisters all over the world and is ministering through His Word to bring us all to a deeper understanding or sincere walk with Him. We enjoyed listening to different men share in an “open meeting” this past weekend. It was no surprise after the first shared (from 1J2.15) that another shared and another from parallel passages. The first brother talked of several things that are drawing young people to “the things of the world” (MySpace, movies, music, internet) and I would add: clothing/styles. He talked of the importance of guiding or being aware of the dangers or trappings of those things. We whole heartedly agreed (This is what got us started with our website many years ago—the desire to set up a safe place to search out lots of good things and resources for families). So anyway, as men shared, the theme continued and was expanded as each elaborated on different points. Open meetings are often like that—they sort of become to me like a patchwork quilt; each piece fitting together with the previous piece and eventually through the evening a full blanket of truth is seen. We gathered with believers for an annual Cider press in the morning and on through the day and into an evening of sharing a meal, singing and hearing the Word. It was a delightful time —and as a family tradition, we always look forward to gathering with those friends and sharing what the LORD is doing/has done. The apple cider was delicious, too!
We smiled as the LORD continued to show us His Word as we came to our family table this morning and continued reading on in 1Corinthians. We happened to be at chapter 11 this morning. This, too, was significant as we’ve lately been discussing the gathering of the saints and the priority of coming together to celebrate the LORD’s day/supper and considered the importance of fellowship and structure of meetings. We also, of course, talked about the matter of headship and God’s order. We didn’t go through the meaning of the covering this morning as time didn’t permit that study, but will tomorrow as we gather again at the table. (We tend to do this fairly often – latch on to a particular thought in a passage that might not necessarily be at the first of the chapter and then spend an hour or two talking it over and have to go back three or four days in a row to discuss the rest of the chapter or the different points that seem to be whole books in themselves!) So we talked around the perimeter of the chapter and set aside the several verses pertaining to headship, hair and headcovering.
That matter (headcovering) has come up many, many times over the years – more in some groups than in others and more with some friends than with others. Probably every three or four years of our marriage, this matter comes up either as a result of a talk we’ve heard, a book or an article we’ve read or through someone we’ve spent time with. It’s a hot topic in some circles and yet needn’t lead to a volatile conversation or condemnation for those who do or those who do not choose the covering. I believe it’s a step of faith –not as in degrees of faith or obedience, but a step of conviction of the LORD and yet always seems to stir up quite a bit of controversy and seems to have quite a bit of debate surrounding it. It often becomes a dividing point or a distraction –but it needn’t be that way. So… we’ll be looking into that a bit more tomorrow.
Bling
It seems to me that studying the Word needs to be like enjoying a 5 course dinner. By this, I mean, that the time we spend in the Word generally tends to be more like a “fast food” drive through. We tend to skim instead of study and grab a quick snack instead making a feast of the Word. I know… I do this. I grab a bite here, a slice there, a drink now and then and think it’s refreshing – and it is, but so often, when I do this, I realize I am missing so much… so much more is right there – available to me – just for me: fresh bread from the LORD, day by day.
Last week in our Bible study we were considering 1 John 2 and the verses that caught our attention were 15-17:
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
So, we talked about what that means, loving the world and the things in the world and being conformed to the image of the world. The young people instantly said: the Bling! Bling (baby)!” So we talked about Bling. Wes asked, is “bling” what we’re looking for and is it righteous, honourable, holy, modest… to be looking for Bling? Is it honourable to want to be ostentatious? And if we’re looking for “bling” are we doing so to draw attention to ourselves? We all agreed that that’s the whole purpose of “bling” and more for “Bling-bling!”
By the way, from Wikipedia: “Bling-bling” (sometimes shortened to simply “bling”) is a hip hop slang term which refers to expensive jewelry and other accoutrements, and also to an entire lifestyle built around excess spending and ostentation. In its essence, the term refers to the exterior manifestation of one’s interior state of character, normally displayed through various forms of visual stimuli.
So, this week we came back to the same chapter and were set to read on from verse 18 to the end, but first talked about the past week and what the LORD was speaking to each one of us. Well… “Bling” came up and we were sharing how just mulling over one passage or one thought over the week has such an impact on the what and why’s of life or what we’re doing and why.
So, through the week I found myself asking: am I doing this or that, or wearing this or that, or liking this or that for the right reasons? Am I looking for bling? Do the bling, bling’s of this world grab my attention—and keep it? Or, after a first response of wow! to this or that bling that grabbed my attention, is my next response is to walk away from it? Is my resolve to not be conformed to the image of this world? More… do I begrudge walking away from bling? I mean, don’t I deserve it? I’m thinking of the MaryKay consultant who, last week, said: “O, you deserve it!” And as I drove home later that night I thought on that comment… you deserve it. I thought of the number of instances where I’ve heard that phrase: You deserve it. You ought to do what you want. You need a break today. You work hard, you deserve a vacation. You’ve gone a long time without, now you deserve to have this… and on and on. I’m not dissing anyone… I think I say some of these very same things myself. But I’m mulling over these thoughts — bling and self…
Ah, what I deserve and what I have been given… thank You, LORD, for Your grace and merciful kindness.
Take no Thought
Just as God is, and is in, the big picture, the devil is meddling in the minute details. God’s working all things together for our good and the devil’s working everything to confusion. It’s not so much that the enemy wants us to totally yield to him, it’s that he wants us to *not* yield to God. Simple as that. We don’t necessarily have to focus on the enemy’s plans, or set our eyes on him — the enemy simply desires our eyes to shift away from God — to the enemy or to ourselves, it matters not where we look or what we do — just so long as we take our eyes off the LORD.
We do this when we have something before us that needs to be taken care of or worked out or whatever. We fret over the outcome, over the details and over the timing. When a child of God is fretting, the enemy is delighting. For the enemy of God sees that the child of God has shifted his trust in God’s care and provision (or has ignored it).
I’ve been mulling over a talk we listened to the other night. The speaker was talking about the passage in Matthew 6, beginning at verse 25, where the LORD is saying: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” And the speaker was saying that it is a sin to worry for the LORD has commanded: take no thought… You see, “take no thought” is one of the sweetest commands the LORD has given us. As I have been mulling over this passage, I have come to see a couple of new angles I either hadn’t seen or I had forgotten. Taking no thought means that we totally and completely rest in the capable care and provision of the LORD. What’s more, when we take no thought, it’s conveyed that we have utter and complete faith in the Father and His ways, His provision, His plans, His purposes, His design, His timing — every single detail that concerns us. When we shift our attention (regarding those particular details) and we start looking for ways to take care of our concerns, we’ve just violated the command to: “Take no thought.” Now, it may seem as though I’m taking a passage and dissecting it and lifting out a statement and building a whole case around three words… and it may seem I’m taking a bit of liberty or the speaker we were listening to was taking liberty to say: “It’s a sin to worry.”
My husband used to say this to me. I guess it’s why it has stayed with me over the last couple of weeks. My husband typically does not fret over the provisions of this life. His trust is in, and his eyes are fixed on, the LORD. He believes and I believe it’s a sin to worry.
So, I’ve been thinking about the ‘watchcare’ of the LORD. I’ve been thinking how He is utterly and completely aware of every single thing that pertains to each one of us… all of our quirks, our likes and dislikes, our idiosyncrasies, our past, our present, our future. He’s intimately aware of every thought we’ve thought and every dream we’ve dreamed, every wish we’ve wished, every hope we’ve hoped and every whim, motive, desire –every scheme, every trick, every lie –every conniving thing we’ve ever done. He knows every disappointment, every resentment, every retaliation, every denial, every distortion, every exaggeration, every hurt, every jealousy, every bitterness, every trial, every embarrassment, every loss, every shame we’ve ever experienced. He knows every feeling of hope, of joy, of love, of fear, of excitement, of anger, of passion –everything we’ve ever felt, everything we’ve ever thought, everything we’ve ever experienced: He was there before, during and after. Every time. Your life is more to God than what you’re going to do, eat, drink, wear or live. God’s so concerned about you and me that He tells us: “Take no thought.”
He’s saying: trust Me. Please trust Me. I am *for* you. In Me is *yes!* for you. I don’t mean to imply that God is saying, yes, dear, whatevvvvver you want. No. He’s saying trust Me, I *will* take care of you. Count on it. Mark it. Believe it. I am taking care of you.
To the end of that chapter, He is guiding faith. Faith says, yes and okay. Faith says, yes and I will. Faith says, yes, LORD, I’m Yours and I am listening. Faith says, no matter how things seem to be to me today… I will trust You, LORD, and I will wait on You.
Sooner than later
I so appreciate our friend’s approach with us regarding nutrition and healthful foods. She’s patiently helping us (well, me–really) see some areas I need to alter regarding the foods we eat (and don’t eat) and how to make some adjustments. I like this manner of addressing food issues bcz I am dealing with more than simply what and when to eat.
It’s sort of a bizarre thing… it probably *seems* like people who eat whatever there is to eat, a SADiet or whatever, do not care about nutrition or anything else very much. But it’s really not that at all… it’s simply life long programming. And, for that matter, taste acquired over decades. And then simply a lack of motivation to do anything different.
Most people I know don’t make any dietary changes at all until a big bang goes off in their head. The big bang usually follows a conversation at a Doc’s office. The conversation usually contains the “c-word” Cancer or fatal________ or cardio_______ or something else (probably containing the word *high*). That, or suddenly, they land in the hospital in a diabetic coma or someone else does and they realize *they* need to do some reevaluating of the menus and shopping and dining out or whatever.
Now… I’m in the former rather than the latter — I just go along most of the time doing whatever we do, eating whatever we eat and haven’t had a knock-down-drag-out wake up call. Yet. But… I am not stupid. This path I’ve been on has that “wake-up call” somewhere along the way. Or I bypass the wake-up call and say: Good Morning, LORD. (In heaven)
So, I’ve been having a tremendous week of thinking, rethinking, evaluating, reevaluating and working to make some alterations to the food schema around here. And it takes a lot of evaluation — and I mean honest evaluation — to accurately assess the overall food schema of one’s life or in one’s home. Too many of us think we’re not so bad — I mean, we did have a balanced dinner, after all, and we do eat fairly healthful foods… we only had sweets a few times this week today. And then we take stock of what’s in the fridge… and then the freezer. Wow, uh-oh. Then the cabinets: mixes, grocery canned foods, cream-of-whatever soups, hot-chocolate mix, peanut butter, oils, fats, sweet-cereal, and ah, well looky here: chocolate chips, walnuts, crushed Heath bars, white flour, butter, Crisco, white sugar, brown sugar… hey, wait… that’s all important stuff for my deeeelicious cookies. And then you say: okay, okay: What do I have to give up in order to eat whatever I want? Or, okay, I’ll give up all that stuff for 6 weeks… or 6 days or whatever. I’ll do whatever I have to do in order to be able to eat what I want to eat. Sorry. It won’t work that way.
We don’t really have a strong desire to give up anything or to have our delightful diets encroached upon. And we don’t want anyone to tell us we can’t have something. Well, at least not until that doc mentions one of the C words: Cancer or Cardio_______ or something else. Unless… unless we simply stop and take a good look at our life and ask: LORD, is there anything in my life You want me to change? Am I placing a higher priority on food than I am placing to have a genuinely, fully submitted walk with You?
Unless we do this, we’ll probably wake up (sooner than later) saying, Good morning, LORD. How would You have used me had my whole life been totally yielded to You?
More later.