Passion

My heart has heard you say, 
"Come and talk with me." 
      And my heart responds, 
       "Lord I am coming." 


^{Psalms 27:8} NLT

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts

Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a really good book. Actually he has wrote a lot of good books. But I digress. The book I'm thinking of is The 5 Love Languages. It tells how we each feel loved and give love in different ways.
 For instance, I feel loved by gifts. I wrote in another blog where my friend Ellen gave me wood colored, pre-sharpened pencils. They were one of my fav gifts ever. Another one that comes to mind is a cross necklace from my daughter and than son in law. I still feel loved when I wear it and it was given to me forever ago. I know she put a lot of thought in it. I can remember a quilt from my wedding shower, glasses with our initial W on them, a Doggie cookie jar. I loved them all.  Enjoyed them in my early years of marriage.  When I was a child my dear Aunt Tiny gave me a little perfume set. It was the only gift I remember from my aunts. People didn't give gifts as much than. I have a gazillion first cousins so it wasn't practical. But that year she gave me a gift. I have always remembered.   My Grandma gave me a little Golden Book Bible Story. I loved it. I don't remember other gifts from her. There were a lot of us. But I felt loved than. And  my oldest Mandi was given a beautiful bright red and blue knit blanket when she was born from Paul's Aunt Sandy. Aunt Sandy and Grandma Bauman came to visit us in one of the many places we have lived and she brought this blanket with primary colors and teddy bears. Everything else we had been given for Mandi had been soft pink, yellow or green. This was vibrant and different. We still have it.  Gifts are awesome.  I love them.  They make me smile.

There is a verse in Proverbs that says:
A gift in secret pacifies anger....

None of these gifts mentioned were given in secret or to pacify anger but what a neat concept.  It's one thing to give a gift out of love, to celebrate a wedding, a baby, a new home, Christmas.  But give one to pacify anger?  I'm assuming if there is anger that someone has a problem with someone else. And when you have a problem with someone the last thing I would think of would be giving them a gift.  But this is a way to deal with a problem that can't be resolved. I know someone that gave a gift anonymously to a couple they had a problem with and it all worked out.  They than were able to get along together well.  Amazing!  I think it is worth a try.  So next time you have a situation were there is anger and you can't seem to resolve it.  Give a gift!  In secret!    

Stories, Everyone has one

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.  Lemoney  Snicket.

I have always loved stories.  I remember sitting in a big chair with my Mom reading from the Bible Story book. It had exquisite pictures. I remember my Dad and Uncles telling stories of how fast they drove to get back home to Tennessee.  And arguing over who drove there the quickest without getting a ticket.  But that's another post.  I loved hearing their stories and other's stories.  Every Sunday we were at one of my Uncles houses and there were stories of what happened since last week and what the neighbors were doing. What funny thing each had seen or done that week.   We were a loud, happy group always with a story.

And as a child I met many a friend in a book.  Huck Finn. The Happy Hollisters.  Nancy Drew.  The Little Red Hen.  Peter Pan.  The Cat in the Hat before the movie ruined him.  I joined in with them in their adventures.  I loved them truly with all my little girl heart.  Then there was those people on TV like Caption Kangaroo who told stories and had cartoons with stories.  I loved Davey and Goliath on the TV show.  I could go on an on.  

As I grew older I remember reading in the Detroit News the story Black Like Me.  It opened my eyes to a different point of view.  I read Dave Wilkerson's  The Cross and the Switchblade.   I saw there were problems in the world but God could help.  Autobiographies, biographies..stories lovely stories.  

As I said I LOVE them.  They make life better.  They teach truths without nagging.  They give your mind something worthwhile to think about so you won't be one of those people that gets BORED.  How can you be bored if you can remember a story that captivates you every time?

Also our stories, our families' stories, are important.  We are not really telling these stories.  For all the neatness of the internet, we are not talking with each other.  We aren't telling how Uncle Arnold's brother's cut down a tree with him in it.  (True story..haha)  We aren't telling what it was like to move to Detroit city from rural Tennessee or why we moved there.  We need to share our stories with each other.  How did you come to be a Christian?  How did you meet your husband or wife?  What did I look like as a baby?  I guess we need to become storytellers again.  And teach children to be curious and ask questions again.  We need to slow down and talk more.

So draw up a chair, grab some sweet tea or lemonade, put up your feet.  Let's sit together on His porch in the warm sunshine and share our hearts.  Let's share our stories.  Heart to heart.  What's new with you?  What's He done for you?  What other stories have you heard?  Let me tell you my story.  Let me tell you a story I've read.  Come with me on an adventure......  When I was a little girl.  I had a bike.  Her name was Cindy.  She was teal blue and Daddy got her from the Sears store when I was 7.  I had so many adventures on her.  She was like a story....a way to have adventures.  You just had to hop on and ride.  I hope you will hop on the storytelling vehicle and see where the adventure takes you.  

Coconut Pie Blessing

I LOVE Coconut pie.  From the flaky crust to the sweet filling,  rich with goodness, that makes your mouth smile, to the piled high light brown meringue to the toasted coconut on top.   I love every bite of it.  Makes my mouth water to think about it. YUMMY !!!

Today I pray that God will bless your life that way.  A delicious foundation (crust) with many layers of goodness.  Filled with sweetnesswith a taste you love  (filling).  Covered with richness of blessings and fun (Meringue).  And even more topped off with glimpses of his great love for you  surprising you with the deepness of flavor that knowing He loves you adds (toasted coconut pieces) .

And it's not a diet pie.  No deprivation in God's blessings.  Whole goodness.  No fake flavors or ingredients.  That is what the enemy gives.  Actually he deprives.  God blesses fully, abundantly.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10: 10 (Amplified version)

Be blessed dear reader.  Be Coconut Pie Blessed!

Dreams and White Picket Fences

When I was younger I had a dream.  A naive dream perhaps, but a dream neither the less.  And it was my dream!   My dream  was:   I wanted a house with a white picket fence.  

I was thinking about dreams the other day.  Someone had challeged me to dream, to resurect old dreams, to remember unbirthed dreams.  I pondered on this turning it over in my mind.  I had a dream to write.  But I'm doing that here.  I had a dream to sing but I laughed about that.  I'm not really much of a singer.  But my husband reminded me of my Uncle who couldn't carry a tune in the proverbial bucket but he sang anyway.  He sang for the Lord and his pure love for God and  deep sincerity blessed many.  I would love to hear him sing again.  I'm sure he's singing in heaven.  But I think I will only sing for my grand baby and my children on my bus for now.  Well, maybe in my prayer time I will sing in worship and of course at church with the congregation.  But this didn't seem to be the dream that I could settle on.  That one dream that was really in need of being resurected.  

Then I hit on it!  I remembered my dream for a house with a white pickett fence.  As I thought about it I realized that it wasn't necessarily a literal picket  fence.  Oh, it may have been originally.  But with the advantage of age I can look back on it now and see it was a symbolic thing, this picket fence.  So I dug deeper and explored my memories.  Why?  What? Where? How?  Just what did this fence represent.  I was unprepared for the answer but very touched.  You see my Grandma died when I was 10 and as it would, it had a profound effect on me.  She was the most loving person I've ever known.  I remember after traveling the long 10-12 hour trip from Michigan back home to Tennessee.  There at the end waiting for me was Grandma Loftis' arms ready to embrace me into her soft tummy with a squeeze of love.  Undconditional love.  Love that came just because you were hers.  Belonging, Safety, Joy, Peace, Fun, Warmth,  all these and more were in that embrace.  And as I thought of the picket fence I realized that the fence embraced the home like Grandma Loftis' arms embraced me.  In my young mind her arms were welcoming, safe, warm and inviting.  Love was there.  It was a safe place.  Sanctuary.  

I explored the dream.  My mind goes to two different places here.  Home as a sanctuary and a person as a sanctuary.  And I'm not talking about a church sanctuary here but a safe place, a taking sanctuary from the wild and woolly world kind of place.  

 First let's look at a home with a picket fence.  A picket fence is sort of protective object.  Even though you can come in easily.  It is symbolic.  You have to pause a moment to decide to enter... to find the gate and enter.  You have to question.  Am I invited here?  or not?  Do I belong here?  It is a boundary.  It says this is "our" little piece of the world enter if invited.  I want my home to be warm, inviting, loving.  I'm working on it.  

But in the meantime.  My mind has wondered to the other place.  A person as a sanctuary.  My Grandma was this.  I long to be this.  I want to be a safe place with unconditional love and warmth.  I want to bring joy and peace and be fun.  I want to have a listening ear.  I want you to leave me feeling better than when you came.  I want you to feel you belong.. no rejection.  This is how I want to be.  Sometimes I am often I'm not.  I find the more time I spend with the Lord learning who I am in Him the more often I'm able to be more like I want to be even though I have a way to go.    But remember we are talking about a dream.  I'm dreaming and praying that I can be a white picket fence kind of woman and that my home can be a white picket fence kind of home.  It is my dream and I'm resurrecting  it.  And with God's help I know it will be a dream come true.