The Universal Mommy

Yesterday I sat in a little street cafe in Paris having dinner. Besides me there was a mother and her two children. There was a little girl who may have been six or seven and a little boy who looked to be about five. 

The two children sat having the best time playing with their newly acquired toys from their fast food meal. In the mist of their delight they chattered away aimlessness and took total delight in emerging themselves into a world of make believe that children of that age do so well.

Meanwhile the mother managed the realistic things that all mothers manage. When it was time to go she nudged the children in fluent French that it was time to pack up their belongings and prepare to leave. Of course this saddened the two who were totally engaged in magnificent game of marching their little toys across the table.

As the mother gave each child directions her tone of voice indicated that she wanted a little more speed added to the process. Keeping in mind that I do not speak French there were no hinderances in my ability to understand what she wanted her children to do.

Mommies have a way of connecting to way of connecting to each other that surpasses language. I sat and watched as she reminded the children not to leave their belongings, to pick up their trash and to stay together by holding hands.

Before they left she straightened her daughter's clothing and took both children by the hand before leaving for their next venture in the city of Paris.

The language of motherhood is the same all over the world. We speak the simple language of nurturing, concern and sometimes frustration, but regardless  of the language we stand united as one when it comes to our children.

Blessings

As I sat in my hotel room in Paris at four in the morning unable to sleep listening to the soft purr of my friend fast asleep in the bed besides me I began to realize that once again God had awaken me to share His thoughts with me. It's the day after my fourth ninth birthday and He wants to recap a few of the highlights both the triumphs and the struggles.

We often have these early morning discussions. They are usually the types of conversations that are one way,

God speaks and I ponder in my mind the meaning. The variation comes in the length of time that the pondering last. Sometimes God leaves me pondering his words until he gives me a practical application that untangles me and opens my eyes for his clear vision. This can be anywhere from a day to a week.

However, today there was no pondering, God's words were clear and untangled in both my heart and in my head. My life has been one of victory and blessings.

God has given me many blessings that have come in the form of friends, like the one that so soundly sleeps in Paris, and a husband who loves me more than words can utter. 

I have been privileged to be honored with many victories, a daughter who graduated from school with honors who is finding her way in the world and coming to see God for herself, a blossoming career doing what I love and the opportunity to travel and see the other side of the world.

I enjoy these early morning discussions, they are God's gentle reminder that is just for me about how victorious and blessed I am.

 

  

A Lover of God's Creations

Every morning on my daily walk I go past a house that is heavily laden with the most beautiful flowers. When I first took notice of this house I thought the flowers were artificial; after closer inspection I realized that they were real.

The beautiful blossoms just seemed to flourish under the care of of their owner. Their vibrant colors and robust healthy leaves burst forth a zuberance that no other yard possessed. After walking past this house several times I realized that the gardener possessed something that many of us long to conquer, the ability to nurture our gifts and talents so they bring God glory.

As I continued my walk I begin to think about the small investment of time, money and energy that the gardener had placed in her hobby. It only flourished because of her care and effort . God tells us that our gifts are unrevocable, it's up to us to use them. When we begin to see them as the easiest way to glorify God, then they will flourish like the flowers of the Gardner.
God will gently catch the scent of our gifts and spread them like that of a pollen infused bee.

I want to glorify God by encouraging others to plant, water and nourish their God given talents and abilities.

A Tender Moment Pushing the Grocery Cart

Recently I've been spending a lot if time at the grocery store. There's some thing exciting about all the possibilities on variations of foods that you can choose from as you stroll from aisle to aisle.

My daughter always tells me that I need to get a life, because most people detest going to the
supermarket. However, this has always been an enjoyable task for me. My most recent trip proved to be quite enjoyable. Any one who knows me well knows I have a fondness for nuts, the edible ones that is. As I stood in the aisle deciding on whether I should get walnuts or pecans I was witness to the most tender moment between a man and his son.

The two came along side of me and stopped to browse at the many variations of candy that the store offered. The little boy, who couldn't have been any older than five asked his dad if he would buy him some gummy bears. The dad replied, "Only if we get some swedish fish to go along with them."
The smile that appeared on the little boy's face was priceless. They had struck a deal on the purchase, they even made it official by shaking on it.

As they proceeded to gather their purchases the father said that they needed to head down the aisle where the milk was, after all that's what this trip was for in the first place.   As  we parted our ways I thought this was the last that I would see the deal making pair.

They had acquired several other purchases beyond the candy and the milk since our earlier encounter in the nut and candy aisle. The three of us were now in the frozen foods aisle. The gummy bears and the swedish fish were now securely at the bottom of the cart and there was no doubt about their purchase.

As the little boy stood along side of his father as he pondered about the brand of vegetables that his wife wanted, he gently tugged his father's hand to get his attention. His father said, "Yes, son what is it?"  The little boy, with his innocent face and crystal blue eyes looked up at his father and said, "I love you daddy."  His father looked down at him and took his son's small hand in his and said, "I love you too."

Witnessing God's tender moments is a miracle, they are often far and between, but for me they were between the frozen peas and the milk.  Remember, God's miracles are happening all around us, if we take the time to hear we might be surprised what happens in the frozen food aisle.  Happy shopping!

When The Son Touches Us

It was a bright sunny morning when I looked out my dinning room window and I saw my husband leaning back into the seat of his wheelchair with his eyes closed resting his head on the side of the garage, with his baseball cap and a pair of shades protecting his eyes.
He always has a total look of contentment on these bright sunny days, ever since I have known him, he has truly relished a sunny day. It makes me happy watching him find happiness in something so simple.

When we close our eyes and lean back in our spirits and take in the Son of Man finds that same joy, when we close our eyes and sup on this word. He stands at the dining room window of heaven watching us sink into his word just as my husband finds total contentment sitting in the doorway of the garage.  When I walk away from the dinning room window and I know that my husband will again find comfort and warmth on the next sunny day it gives me the reassurance that The Son of Man finds that same reassurance that we will continue to turn our hearts and minds to his word and seek the comfort and warmth of a living word that washes us and breathes the breathe of life into our very souls.

The Little Dead Deer on the Side of the Road

One morning I was taking my son and his friend to school and on each side of the road I saw something that caused me to think about God's ability to keep us close to Him when we stay in his word.

On the left side of the road there were two dead possums. These little possums were laying close to each other as if to symbolically say, "We have stuck together to the very end, together we have seen our last."  On the right side of the road there lay a young deer, he was alone.  There was no fellow comrades laying on the side of the road with him, his symbolic epitaph reads, "I have left the heard, here I lie alone in my last days."
The little deer had chosen to leave his heard, he pulled away from his hedge of protection.  He went his own way into the arms of danger, he had no brother to stand in the gap with him or to lead him back to the woods where he would be safe from on going traffic.  The little possums met with an unfortunate fate, but together they stuck it out together.  Isn't this what we often do when God does everything to get us to stay under His hedge of protection.  When we stray and go our own way we often endanger ourselves as well as others who might be easily led astray.  I want to stay under God's hedge of protection, there is peace in knowing that we have Jehovah-Rohi our shepherd who leads us in green pastures and makes us lie down.

I know what your thinking, that's a little deep for a bunch of road kill, but that's what's so profound about this, God uses anything and everything to keep our minds stayed on him.  By the time I reached my house I was fully praising God and thanking Him for the dead possums and the lonely  little deer, because in these mundane and a little gross things he kept my mind stayed on Him and in Him I have peace that goes beyond my understanding.

He is Already Here

I drove by a church today that had a sign that said,"God we need you, come." As I see it the sign should have read, "God is here, we need to come." In the senseless terror that continues to plague our world we has forgotten that God is the author and finisher of our fate.

He is not idly sitting by watching, he is
orchestrating the very things that frighten us when we sit at home in front of our
television sets asking, "How does God
allow this to happen?" The question should be,"How could God not allow this to happen?"

We have some how forgotten to take God at His word. He told us in 2 chronicles 7:14 what He would do if we would just humble ourselves. Our lives are not our own, our wills often make it difficult to follow this word, to humble.

Going back to the sign on the front of the church will be a scary thing for many. When God comes how many of us will find that we are in that surrendered place of saying," God, here I am, I have humbled my self, I have sought your face."Because soon the only thing that will be left for God to do is to come.

This will surely grab a hold of our attention unlike any other sign.

Behind the Salt Truck

Early this month we experienced a short, blast of a wintery mix of snow and rain. It happened on the day that I usually travel to my girl friend's house to work on our consulting business. When I left my home that morning the wintery mix had just begun, so the roads had not yet developed a coating of snow or ice.

When I arrived at my friend's house I realized that I had forgotten a folder that was imperative to our ability to compete the tasks that we had laid out for ourselves for that day. I would have to go back home to retrieve it. We usually work for about three hours, my absentmindedness and the increment weather would delay our start.

However, I knew if we were going to accomplish anything at all that day, I would need to go home to retrieve the folder. So I started to head back home. At this juncture in my life, I have come to trust and know that God will protect and keep me safe on the drive home, besides, he even gave me the opportunity to bless my friend's niece by dropping her off at work before I headed back toward my house for the folder.

By the time that I had dropped her niece off and obtained the folder the wintery mix had started to pick up and accumulate, so it took me a little longer to make my way back over to my friend's house. As I traveled to her house she called to make sure that I was ok.

I told her that it was indeed a little slippery, but it wasn't too bad and that I would soon be there. I live in a small development that is quite hilly. We are often one of the neighborhoods that is last to get plowed out during increment weather, so our roads are a little more slippery than most.

My travel back to my friend's house was slow and tedious, however I continued this journey safely behind the salt truck. It reminded me about what life is like when we are following Christ. Sometimes we see the things that God puts in our path as hinderances. We often forget that our paths of travel are intricately
orchestrated by God's hand. He often places things in our path that slows down our travels on what would other wise be a dangerous road.

The next time you are stuck in traffic, remember that God is the ultimate traffic controller.

Spiritual frumpiness

I have often thought that I am one of those individuals who suffer from sun deprivation during the dreary winter months. Now that I am home during the day I realize that there is some truth in this feeling.

I am typically a very active person, however, I truly dislike cold weather. I enjoy being inside and cuddled under my favorite blanket with my laptop close at hand during the cold weather months.

When I was working on a daily basis staying at home on a cold winter day was a luxury for me; my time at home was treasured. Now that I'm home daily I realized that I had fallen prey to another dangerous syndrome, it was a malady that slowly snuck up on me without me fully realizing what was occurring before my very eyes.

I had become a victim of physical frumpiness. I have always loved fashion and would rush to any event that would require wearing shoes, especially a stiletto. Lately my stilettos have remained in the back of the closet and my sweats and sneakers have become the new couture.

Because I have a network of girl friends who know me intimately they took notice in my change of appearance. They reminded me that I wasn't looking like the peppy Roe they came to know and love. Their concern left me thinking about the secondary symptoms of my newly acquired condition of physical frumpiness.

As I sat in my quiet spot having yet another dialogue with God about many of the issues that were consistently plaguing my family I realized that this condition of physical frumpiness had secondary symptoms that could be detrimental to my over all spiritual health.

Along with the desire to make sweatpants and sneakers a daily wardrobe staple came the ability to forget the power that God gives us when we pray and leave it at his feet. Even though I believed I was appropriately applying the the best treatment I knew, prayer, I was still bewildered over the nagging symptoms of depression that were over taking my continence and snuffing out my internal joy.

I had multiple maladies, I had developed a condition that needed immediate, emergency treatment. A good friend of mine who at this point in time was sent to me by God served as the EMT,invited me to an intercessory prayer meeting which she attended as a regular member.

By this time I realized that treatment needed to be found and the healing touch of praying women needed to be applied directly to the source of my ailing spirit.

The prescription that was written was scribed directly from the hand of God himself. Encouragement, along with the gift of discernment and prophesy began to relieve not some, but all of my nagging symptoms of spiritual frumpiness.

Ezekiel (37:1-14) speaks of how the hand of The Lord came upon him and he was brought out by the spirit of The Lord and he no longer inhibited the Valley of Dry Bones. "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live."

I had been cured of my malady, I no longer inhibited the "Valley of Dry Bones" God had sent a team of rescue workers who knew the prescription well and could liberally apply it to the areas of need.

A bad case of physical frumpiness has many cures, stilettos, a little makeup and forgoing a daily dose of sweat pants worked for me. However, spiritual frumpiness has only one cure: seek the presence of God, lay your burdens at his feet and know that you are healed and delivered.