A Word

I realize i've been doing this all wrong...i've given the names of my years at the end...letting life happen to me instead of me happening to life.

Ann Voskamp has dubbed her past years with such terms as koinania, eucharisteo, communion, rest, no fear...and now Bonnie Gray is challenging those of us who long to write~~who long to use the written word to share that which is deep within~~with a prompt: what is our one word for 2015?  Ha!  There's even a book titled "My One Word" by Mike Ashcroft...

Oh the humor! How could I have known when my friend, Terry, sent me a link to Faith Barista's blog about Spiritual White Space that this would be the "thing" to catapult me back into a writing habit...?  But here I am, and I am wondering what ONE word does God choose for me to influence my 2015...

 

Could it be "Forward"...when the last couple of years have been stuck looking "back"?  Empty nesting can be such an empty place...filled with changes that are so foreign and overwhelming that moving left or right is impossible and moving forward is a black hole of vast nothingness.

But now...words that, in scripture, indicate something new...something is about to change.  And it refers to the NOW, not the past nor the future.  It carries with it the connation of cultivating, encouraging, nourishing...

Out of the blue, "lavish" comes to mind...i actually just spent some time in scripture meditating on Mary and her alabaster bottle of perfume lavished on Jesus.  What would a year of "lavish" look like?  Extravagance, generosity, abundance, elaborate, splendid...

Here I sit contemplating what my Lord might be saying to me, as if I must choose...and I realize He's telling me "but now, it's time to move forward and live lavishly!"

So my word for 2015 will be "lavish!"

We can define our year with a focus that leads us closer to the One who holds us in the palm of His hand...what will you allow Him access to in this new year?  :)

My cup overflows just knowing His plans for me are more than I ever could dream or imagine...!

Linking up with Bonnie Gray and "Faith Barista!"


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Writings on the Wall...or in this case, the dust ruffle

In making one my daughter's bed today after company left, I spotted this on the dust ruffle:

I found my mind traveling back 18 years...One of my best friends had disciplined her less-than-2-year-old for writing with markers all over their hallway wall.  That week, she lost her precious baby. She never cleaned the markings off the wall; and when she moved, her family carefully cut the sheetrock around the artistry, framed it, and displayed it prominently in their new home.  Sometimes, you just gotta see with a new perspective.

Now, I'm sure one of my grandaughters created this masterpiece..it doesn't really matter which one.  It sort of gives me this sense of their presence and comfort knowing that a part of them has been left with me in our home.

As a grandparent, I have a different perspective.  In fact, while I can smile at the thought of the secret that is hidden under a quilt, I can rest in the confidence that~~at some point~~each one of my granddaughters has left such masterpieces on some unorthodox canvas and probably were disciplined in a way that no longer left them with the desire to create further reminders of their presence.

I'm glad this happened before that time...because it sure does make my cup overflow!

A Place of Rest

My secret garden is the place I go each morning for my quiet time with Yeshua.  The thirst in my soul is quenched here...it is here I am emptied out and filled up ready to poured out. This is my time to be refreshed and renewed so that I might flourish in my day.

Being still before the Lord has never been one of my strengths, even though it is one of my strongest desires.  So it is amazing that this secret garden has provided me with a place that invites me in and beckons me to draw closer.
       
Right now i'm in Ezekiel. It's a harsh book. It feels repetitive. Yet there are new revelations and applications for me each time i'm brought back to its pages.

  

The readings I look forward to the most are a Psalm and a Proverb.  They open my eyes and my heart in worship and teaching.  Today, Proverbs 3 held a treasure chest full of reminders in every single verse...it overflowed with more than my brain could hold.  I could write a separate piece on that chapter!  Psalm 27 was my Psalm for today...I read it over and over and it was my praise for today. 
                                


In return for my praise, God shows me His majesty in my garden.  Mr. GoldFinch appeared up today introducing me to Mrs. GoldFinch, and it looks like Mr. and Mrs. Hummingbird (who showed up late in the season) have 2 new friends with whom they are allowing to share their feeder!  The garden teems with purple martins, chicadees, woodpeckers, mourning doves, sparrows, cardinals, mockingbirds, purple finches, squirrels and rabbits.

Bouquet after bouquet of flowers burst with color, filling the air with its soft scents, and bring vividness to the life that has been nurtured here. 

 

Though the thick moss will soon give way to new grass, I immerse myself in its softness, and the healing that the damp soil brings to my feet causes me to linger with each new step. 

Trees tower up into the sky with a protecting canopy that ushers in the soft summer breezes along with cooling shade, coloring the sky with differing hues of green.

In these days in which the realization that another season has passed and my parenting days are over, my secret garden offers me solace to focus on the One who gives me hope and assures me of my future and of a new season just as He promised in Isaiah 43:19:

Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.

All these reasons, and more, are why my cup overflows today.

Empty Nesting: Chapter 1. Revelation!

The day has finally arrived.  I am now an empty nester. My two youngest two daughters have left and are now settled in New Zealand...and I am left with a house full of quiet.

In case you are wondering, yes~~I am feeling the full effects of "empty nest syndrome."

During this first three months, however, I have discovered something:

In a house that has, at one time or another, boasted a 5:1 girl vs. boy ratio, our toilet paper consumption has decreased from 15 rolls a month to 3!  Now you might laugh at this; but until you have spent years with a houseful of females, you have NO idea!!!  (There was actually a point in time when Keith calculated that 3 sheets for #1 and 6 sheets for #2 were plenty per person per bathroom visit, but he couldn't figure how to enforce the new rule!  I. Am. Not. Kidding.) 

Add to that shampoo and other hair products, razor blades, baby lotion, cosmetics and~~BAM!!  We are meeting our budget for the first time in YEARS!

That is only the beginning...car insurance~~I can pay a whole year in one setting!...the grocery bill~~ohmygoodnessgraciousalive!~~we even have leftovers, and fruit and snacks don't disappear in one day!  Let's talk gasolin~~We filled up the truck the beginning of September and didn't return to the gas station until the middle of October...the fuel in the van lasts ALL week long!!!

BUT.

Dadgum, it's quiet.

And the space is huge whereve I walk.

And I discovered I don't know how to cook for just two.

And I realize that I actually ENJOY being chauffeured wherever I go and not have to actually drive myself. 

And there's no one with me to bribe into pumping gas.

There's no one to braid or updo my hair.

There's no one to look forward to walking through the door every night.

I walk into their rooms, and there is nobody there.

And that unchanging mountain of toilet paper in the bathroom basket...it looks like overkill.

Today, I came across Ecclesiastes 3:
   To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;

"A time to mourn...

and a time to dance."

W.O.A.H.

How can mourning and dancing possibly exist in the same sentence?! 

Reflection.

Revelation.

A smile. God knows how to bring us back to where we need to be...and in that one small verse, I am reminded~~it's okay to mourn, but it's always followed by dancing. 

Maybe I can grab a few yards of toilet paper and use it for a ribbon dance...!!

Thank you Yeshua, for filling my cup to overflowing!