And Then Winter

Stitch Meditation on Trees

 As I sit and look out my window,

Or stroll on my almost daily walk

Tall trees stand

Exposed, bare

No fancy dress of greens, pinks, oranges or reds

Just skin and bones

Skeletons really

Waiting.

Waiting for spring to come.

Waiting for a new day.

A day when the sun will again warm the earth.

Waiting for a new dawn.

When new growth will begin to stir

Nourished.

Exploding into riotous color.

Providing shade, shelter, food.

To a world that’s been waiting.

Resting.

Preparing for a new day.

 

Happy needle pulling thread!

Rose

Sunday Thoughts - Blue, Red, Yellow

Stitch Meditations Done in Blue, Red, and Yellow

I am still working on my Stitch Meditations. I occasionally get behind but then I catch up only to get behind again.

I worked a series of red and white for valentines and then worked a series of white, cream, and beige. Then I went back to color.

I did an all blue one. Then I decided to do an all yellow one. Since those are primary colors I decided to do another red one. And then the thought came to me: isn’t it amazing that God took just three colors and from them created all the other colors we so enjoy today. That just blew my mind. And then I thought wow – Blue for heaven where God’s throne is, Red for His blood that was shed for our redemption, and Yellow for His Spirit, the light of the world. And really that’s all the color we need.

That’s my Sunday thought for this week.

Enjoy living in such a colorful world!

Rose

From a Child’s Mouth

So yesterday I spent most of the day with my grandchildren at my daughter’s house. While I was there my five year old grandson wanted me to put a certain program on their TV. Now they have at least three controls that operate their equipment and each is different and none of them worked the same as the controls I use at home. And although I am up in years I have a lot of background in computers and such, so it's not my lack of ability to understand but I just never paid too much attention when his mother explained their different controls and what each one was used for.

So I wasn’t having much success in filling his request and he was getting impatient and I was getting frustrated. So in frustration I just said “I don’t understand how these work, you’ll just have to wait until your mother can help us”.

 So from there this is the conversation between the two of us:

Him: Well why not? You’re an adult you should know everything.

Me: Yes I am an adult and I know more than a child but I don’t know everything.

Him: Oh, like I know more than Samantha (his two year old sister).

Me: That’s right.

Him: And Samantha knows more than baby Dean (Dean is a 4 month old baby who my daughter and her husband have welcomed into their home with his mother while she gets her world in order).

Me: Yes exactly.

Him: Except God, He knows everything!

Me: Yes that’s right!

Him: Cause he made everything.

So we have a problem that needed a better solution than the one I gave him. He didn’t tell me to pray about it, he didn’t tell me how ignorant I was, or how bad I was. He didn’t call me names or start saying ugly words to me. What he said was:

“Maybe you should move in with us and learn how to use them.”

In other words maybe you should do something that would solve the problem or at least try to help solve the problem.

I don’t know if anyone will understand why I posted this or not but I hope at least a few get it.

And no I’m not moving in with them to solve this problem. What I did do: I waited until his mother arrived and asked her to tell me again how to use the controls to get to his programs. And this time I paid attention. I listened. I let her explanation sink in. And this time I think I got it!

Rose 

Today ...

Today …

Love One Another

Today I prayed for Margie. I don’t know Margie’s story. I met her on the streets of midtown New York City. I had joined a team from the New York Relief group and we were just walking the streets of NYC looking for people we could help. Margie came walking toward us. Well really she was shuffling, she was bent way over as though she carried a heavy load and her feet and legs could barely move. She is homeless. Her friends on the street call her Speedy but we found out her real name was Margie. That is how I think of her – Margie. 

Today wasn’t the only time I prayed for her. She’s been in my thoughts ever since I met her so every day I pray for her.

Today though I thought I would share with you my experience. As the team leader begin to converse with Margie and see how they could help her. Other team members helped Zan set up an easel, blank canvas, paints and brushes. Zan does worship painting and the Lord has led her to take it to the streets of NYC. Zan and I began to add some paint to the canvas and as people came up we invited them to join in the painting. Some held back and watch, some eventually came forward and painted. 

We waved to the team leader to bring Margie over to join us. She came but held back saying she wouldn’t be able to reach the canvas. But we convinced her that she could just paint in one corner.

Margie made her way to the canvas and started. Soon she was a little straighter and could reach higher. There was a delightful smile on her face. She was enjoying it. We talked a little as she painted. She’s in her late 60’s, not much younger than me. We talked about abstract painting. There was a wonderful smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye as she painted next to a five year old girl who had also been invited to paint. 

Another New Yorker, a stranger to the two painting, stooped to help and encourage the young painter whose mom and dad were also enjoying the scene and taping their daughter painting on the streets of NYC. It was an amazing experience I will never forget.

We had to leave Margie to the streets that night because the shelter bed had been given to another lady one of the other teams had met. So I pray for Margie, for her needs, for her protection, and in gratitude that I was able to share a few hours with her.

To learn more about the New York City relief project visit http://www.newyorkcityrelief.org/. To learn more about Zen and her worship paintings which she sells to support herself and her ministry check out her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/worshippaintingsbyzan/ or her Etsy shop http://www.PaintingsbyZan.etsy.com.

When was the last time you stopped to look in the eyes of a stranger and smile?

Rose

CELEBRATE!

Here we are at the beginning of another new year. 2014. A fresh start. We’ve spent the last few weeks of 2013 remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. When God became man. We have the time wrong but really we should be celebrating the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God Almighty, every day not just on certain occasions. Daily. Celebrate. King of kings.

That is going to be my word for this year.Celebrate. I know people celebrate special occasions – birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new jobs, retirements, etc. But I want to celebrate every day. Every ordinary day. By thinking on Jesus and praising Him. By honoring Him first of all in my life. By remembering and returning to my first love.

Some of the definitions given for the word celebrate are:

1. Publicly acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity
2. Honor or praise publicly
3. To make known publicly, to proclaim
4. To praise widely or to present to widespread and favorable public notice

That is my intent this year. As I seek to live more in His Presence. This is where I want my main focus to be. I’m going to celebrate Jesus each and every day. In different ways. But always. Sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways. But all ways.

I know my soul and spirit rejoice when I am in church and praising Him with song and uplifted hands. I want to feel that rejoicing every day. The intensity of it. Every day. No matter what I am doing. To celebrate. Life. Love. Peace. Joy. Daily.

I plan to delve into the book of Acts because I believe that’s what they did in the beginning. Not a solemn, quiet, controlled celebration full of ritual and routine. No a daily exuberant celebration. One full of joy and wonder. One full of gratitude and sharing. Publicly.

Social media watch out as I overcome my shyness through the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. I don’t expect a big bang or explosion. Just a slow, quiet expansion of His Presence in my life. Lord help me to be brave. Help me Lord to overcome my fear of what others may say or think. Help me Lord to focus on You and the plans You have for me.

Help me Lord to celebrate You!

Happy to be His!

Rose 

Tangled

Tangled Floss

Remember this?  I have been working on organizing my floss and came across several skeins that had become quite tangled. As I sat working out the knots and tangles I was reminded of another time I spent untangling. I was sitting in my Dad’s living room with a large skein of yarn that had become impossibly tangled. I needed it for a project I was working on and didn’t have money to buy a new skein. So I worked and worked at it all the while my dad was sitting nearby reading the newspaper and watching me. Finally after several hours I was done and now had a nice round ball of yarn ready to be used.

My Dad just looked at me and shook his head “You must have a lot of patience.” he said “If it was me I would have thrown the whole lot away after five minutes and bought some new yarn.” Well that wasn’t an option for me at that time, but I am a pretty patient person in most areas of my life. However if circumstances had been different I may well have done just that.

As I was thinking about that I thought how our lives sometimes become so tangled through bad decisions we make or even how we react to circumstances beyond our control. Some of us became so messed up and tangled that even our closest friends and family were ready to throw us away as a lost cause, beyond hope, of no value.

But thanks be to God He sees the tangled mess and says I can work this out if you’ll just let Me. And with His help slowly the tangles come out. I was so deep in sin about to give up and end it all when He heard my cry and saved my life. He’s still working on my tangles and knots.

Even when He runs into a big knot His love and grace keeps working at it until the knot is loosened and the tangle is freed. Some of us are so tangled it may take our lifetime to get it all straightened out, but as long as we rest in His hands we have the assurance that He will continue until we are perfect in Him.

Happy to be His!

Rose