Faith Is Like A Canoe

Have been going through a time of concern…not calling it depression...just traveling through some troubled waters. Have gone before my Heavenly Father, seeking the answers to questions in His Word and through my prayers. I know I don’t have the answers but I also know God does! It seemed like the longest time before an answer came back…stranglely it came in the form of a memory.

Was on Facebook this afternoon and looking at some pictures of some old friends we left behind in Louisiana. Their grown daughter was visiting with her parents and her grown brother and his family. The pictures were taken somewhere in Tennessee and were far beyond any postcard photographs I’ve seen.

As I scrolled through the photos enjoying the sights and seeing their family enjoy the outdoors, one shot in particular caught my eye. It was a photograph of the grandfather (our friend) at the back of the canoe holding a paddle and his grandson sitting proudly in the front of the canoe. The grandson was enjoying the canoe trip immensely.

This particular picture sparked a memory of a trip our Sunday School Class took to Buffalo River in Arkansas. It was a large group that included many children and a lot of canoes. On one particular outing, I was placed in a canoe with one of our Sunday School members. He, being an experienced outdoorsman and also a seasoned canoeist, I found myself lulled into the deepest sense of calm. The water was like glass. Just days before the very same river (due to heavy rains) had been deemed a Class 4 River…meaning only experienced canoeists were allowed on the river. But today the river moved us along and I watched with the utmost care every sight I could take into my mind. It was more than beautiful…it was holy! After a while I lay back in the canoe, so I could listen to the canoe move through the water and see the eagles soar over the sides of the canyons. Never was I afraid…never was I concerned about where we were going because I knew, John, our guide, had our canoe and our group well in hand. Just thinking about that trip floods my mind with snapshots of memories of that time on the river and riding unafraid in the canoe. And, when our canoe approached an eddy or some white water, John remained calm and navigated us through the troubled water. Never did he panic nor did he lose his grip on the paddle…sometime during the journey, John was so captivated with the sites, he lay the paddle across his knees as he allowed the current of the river to move us along.

Faith is like riding in a canoe. You need to have an experienced person, like John, to help navigate you through the troubled water and eddies. And, when you are about to miss a scene of a lifetime, your navigator points it out to you. “You won’t want to miss this one,” he would say. How effortless it seems for him to keep the canoe moving through the waters.

Jesus is our experienced navigator. When we "faith" a circumstance, we make the choice to climb into the canoe and sit down…allowing Jesus to steer with His paddle…trusting Him to guide you through the troubled waters…listening to His voice and seeing things He doesn’t want you to miss. And sometimes, you can even see Him when the waters are calm around us, sit with the paddle across His knees. Those are the moments He basks in creation and He sings! (Zephaniah 3:17)

Are you finding yourself still on the shoreline and not sure about getting in the boat? Climb aboard and sit down! Trust Jesus! It is a ride that takes a lifetime! And, oh, what a ride indeed it is...and then one day, when the river brings us back ashore, we gently step out of the boat and into Heaven. Amazing!!!!!

“If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.”

Making New Memories

Here she is...my sister, Carol. Isn't she beautiful!!!!

It is hard to believe that 15 months has passed since Carol first became ill. Wow! Time has passed quickly for sure. For the most part, she has recovered...but not completely. The part of her recovery that continues to lag behind is her memory.

On some days her memories are clearer than on other days. Just last week I called her to remind her that she would be heading to our home state to visit with our family. She had it written down, so she remembered it. Yet, as we talked, she was unable to give the name of her daughter-in-law whom she absolutely dearly loves! Nor could she retrieve the names of her grandchildren. Each time we visit by phone she sounds so happy and she longs to see her family.

When Carol awakened, she had no memory at all. So, we made her a photo album that had her family members and their names and how they were related to her. She got pretty go at that book. Then, her husband bought her a digital frame and she liked that as well and watched it a lot.

As I type this, she is making her way home to our family. I'll join her on Monday at our parent's home. Can't wait to see her. Am hopeful that she will feel safe and comfortable as she has not seen our family since she was ill.

Have made another photo album that she will take back with her with pictures of family that visited her while she was in town. It will have their names and also notes that they wrote to her during their visit with her.

My prayer request for this time with my sister and our family is that God will give her new memories that will hold fast. She is an incredible lady and loves God so much! Would you join me in that prayer? Will let you know...

Letting Go of Our Prayers

A while back I read an allegory about a little girl whose favorite doll was broken. She was so shattered and hurt that she ran immediately to her daddy and pleaded with him to please, please, please repair her precious doll. After all, she slept with this doll, she ate with this doll. This doll was her constant companion. The thought of the doll being broken broke her heart and made her cry. So, her daddy attempts to examine the doll and see what damage was done and what he might do to repair his little girl’s doll. Examining the doll proved to be quite difficult as his little girl would not totally release her doll to the hands of her daddy. He would ask her to release the doll’s foot, which she did, but then she held onto the doll’s arm. The little girl simply could not let go of her doll and hand her completely to her daddy. Her daddy gently hugged his daughter and spoke tenderly to her and explained that unless she released the doll to his care, he would not be able to repair the doll. Reluctantly, the daughter released the doll to her daddy’s care so that he could repair her doll.

Did you ever consider that we are very much like the little girl and that our prayers and concerns are very much like her doll? How often do we hold onto our prayers and concerns and not fully release them to our Heavenly Father who waits patiently for us to release them to Him?

What freedom would we experience if we would only let go and let God have our prayers and concerns. It is when we fully release them that we are fully open to what God can and will do. Abba is Hebrew for “Daddy.” So, when you cry, “Abba God, please answer my prayer,” you are saying, “Daddy!!! Please answer my prayer!”

You, my dear friend, are God’s great delight! He is crazy about you! Did you know that God delights in you so much that He sings over you? Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that, “The LORD your God is in your midst,) a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (ESV)

A Jewel in the midst of Bluebonnets

Having taken time away from the office, my honey swept me away for a ride into the country. He was on a mission and he was not to be deterred. We rode for quite a while before we found these beautiful bluebonnets. He knew that I was missing having seen them this year.

We spent the afternoon riding the roads, listening to tunes, laughing and enjoying God's creation. It was a day to remember and to store away on rainy days when life seems overwhelming. We can simply look at our pictures or...pull from our storehouse of precious treasured memories and live it over again and again!

Here it is - a work of confection...

Please note the craters already peeking through the icing. Would like to say that this was the end of the story...

My honey calls me this morning as he is leaving an early meeting. He tells me that he took the cake and hope that was the right thing to do. I said, "It was okay and that I hoped Cheryl knew that a whole lot of love went into making that cake. The appearance pales to my affection and appreciation for all she does." He went on to say, "Well, the cake kind of slid in the car when I made a turn." To that information I responded rather dryly, "Well, did it improve the appearance?" He laughed and said that he didn't know but would be sure to let Cheryl read my blog.

I am thinking of changing churches!!!

Seriously, Cheryl, if you are reading this, you must know by now how precious and dear you are to our family and our church. Hoping the cake taste MUCH better than the appearance! You are loved and we give thanks for you being in our lives!

Let 'em Eat Cake!

Okay, tomorrow is Administrative Assistance Day and we love our Cheryl. She is the best thing that has happened to us in a long time. Making sure that I remembered that Cheryl LOVES carrot cake with Cream Cheese Icing, months ago I noted in my calendar to make her a carrot cake for Admin. Asst. Day. Plan A -good, until...

The timer chimed and I checked the cake. Perfect! Cake was ready to come out of the oven and to be turned onto the cooling rack. I was in the process of doing just that when the cooling rack caught on my blouse. I was literally hung between the cake pan, the cooling rack and the cabinet.

Calling for help over my shoulder to my honey to no avail as he is watching television. The struggle between me, the cooling rack and the steaming cake pan is growing with great intensity with every passing minute. In a final yelp for help, my honey finally hears me...only...it was too late. As we watch in horror (kind of like watching a train wreck), the cake slides seamlessly out of the pan but breaks apart (in multiple pieces) onto the cabinet. Does "never mind" come to mind? I'm just asking...

My honey, now on point, has made an assessment of the situation and suggests that we put toothpicks in the cake to hold it together. After all, once it is iced, who would know...I'm thinking toothpicks sticking out an inch from the iced cake is very telling, but what do I know? Or better still, hey, why not use that toothpicks to get that last bit of carrots out of your teeth once your through with the cake! Where is that bottle of wine?????

After icing the cake, the toothpicks firmly in place, I stand back to see how this episode will unfold. Not good! Toothpicks now make the cake look like a melting sputnik... “Could it get any worse?", you ask yourself!

I now take OUT the toothpicks and stand back to assess the damage. Hmmmmm...after allowing the cake to "rest" on the decorative and colorful plate that I had selected as part of her gift, the cake now looks like a lava cake...not good!

Thankfully, my honey has passed through the kitchen disaster area and is now ready to make another assessment by saying, "Why not put sprinkles on it. No one will notice." Doubting that even a novice baker would miss the growing craters forming in the cake, I retrieve "Spring Design" sprinkles from the pantry. I "generously" sprinkle the cake with tiny multi-color butterfly sprinkles...

Hmmmm...now the cake looks like it has been attacked by psychedelic gnats and has imploded from the weight of the swarm! Not pretty!!!

Not to be without a good idea nor does he seem to fear the deranged woman standing at the kitchen counter armed with a spoon and a spreader, my honey again makes another pass through the kitchen epicenter and adds this comment, "Who knew that cream cheese frosting could double as glue?" After that he left the kitchen...

The imploded psychedelic gnat covered cake is now covered with a Tupperware lid. You remember those from the olden days - those puppies could take a nuclear blast? Determination as to the fate of the cake is yet to be determined. However, my honey has offered to eat the evidence and buy her a store bought cake. Now that is plan I can work with...

Hair Coloring At Home is NOT for Sissies!!!

Again, another money saving opportunity is questionable! I don’t know about you, but my grey hair is gaining on me. It seems that the roots have been touched up and before I am out the door, they are growing out again!! One would think that the salons use Miracle Grow my hair to make it grown faster so I can return sooner.

So, I began the quest of taking on my OWN hair coloring. Some of you may be very good at this, but let me tell you this job is NOT for sissies!

To reaffirm my stance that one needs the right tools for the right job (please see below for blog on that subject) the truth could never be…well…more true!

In an effort to saving $$ by coloring my own hair at home, Steve and I purchased a “boxed” hair color. It looked good. The girl on the box looked great and man, her hair!!!

I remember vaguely Steve inquiring about the color and if the color was correct and I vaguely remember assuring him that it was indeed correct. He went so far as to ask me if I had the correct number. Being more confident that I should have, I assured him that yes that was indeed the right color.

If ever there were more proof that Murphy’s Law coincides with the importance of an event, let me just tell you that it does! Steve serves on a board of directors for a non-profit organization. Last night was the “gala” (in other words – high dollar and no, your flip flops won’t be working for you that night) event.

The question begged itself, “Why not color it this afternoon so that it will be fresh and at least come close to the girl on the box?” So, with no anticipation at all in my heart, I grabbed the box and headed into our bath area to commence the ordeal.

Again, one would think that the color coming out of the bottle would be the color of what your hair will resemble. ..Oh, not so, my little pretty! Thinking that it might be a good idea to “do” my eyebrows as well, fails me now, but at the time, it did seem like a good idea!

Momentarily the color began to appear in my hair. I had not looked in the mirror but had moved on to more important work while the color was correctly timed to perfection. Once the timer went off, I breezed by Steve’s office to let him know that I was almost ready to go.

There are looks on one’s face that allows the other person to sense many emotions: danger, fear, humor and quite possibly confusion. You might be thinking to yourself that one could not possibly express all these emotions at one time, but by some miracle, my husband did. Oh, and I forgot to mention he said, “Honey, you kind of look like Groucho Marx!”

Feeling a severe sense of foreboding, I quickly go to our bathroom mirror and look. Oh, my Lord! I did look like Groucho Marx!!!! Steve followed me in to the bathroom and asked, “That is coming off your face, right? “ Face, what do you mean it’s on my face??? Oh Lord, it’s on my face!

Shampoo has no fury like a woman who has applied the wrong hair color. After washing it in the kitchen sink, I quickly wrapped my head in a towel and went back into the bathroom where the lighting was better. Steve waiting there (safe move on his part) stood patiently while I unwrapped the towel.

All of a sudden he began to speak Spanish to me. I look into the mirror and this fair skinned, freckled child of God looked like Maria Gonzales or a very old Cher with short hair).

Well, what is a girl to do but “go on to the show!” I dried my hair, rolled it and applied make up. Steve was awesome and I fretted over what to wear that would make me look to gothic!!! We settled on an outfit and I sprayed the disaster and out the door we went.

There were many heads that turned as we entered the room. I would like to think that it was the beautiful silver heart filled with rhinestones hanging from my neck that caught the attention, but somehow I’m not so sure.

After the evening finally ended, Steve brought me a glass of wine as I sat at my computer submitting a business transaction.

Let us just say, this man of mine is the love of my life. Not once did he make me feel (after the Spanish speaking thing) out of the ordinary. You would have thought he had escorted the most famous movie star ever! He held my hand and introduced me to all his friends on the board.

I’m thinking two things: First, I am keeping this man of mine! He is such an incredible man of God and I couldn’t love any man more (than Jesus). And two, hair coloring at home is not for sissies!!! I’m thinking that maybe it is worth the $$$.