Relishing in the Quiet

For some time I have noticed that I've been searching for those moments that are quiet.  Totally quiet.  These moments, in the busyness of our society, are difficult to find, especially during the daylight hours.  But, when they are found, I relish in them, no matter how brief they may be.

Quiet during the day for me means no cars on the road to be heard, no lawnmowers busy at their task, no squawking birds or chipmunks or squirrels.  No airplanes to be heard overhead, no wild wind blustering about the leaves.  No neighbors, though loved, out in their flower gardens or burning trash.  The daylight requires a great deal of patience to find the Quiet.  But, when I am aware and divorce can myself from the task at hand, I can seize these rare and delightful moments.  There are flowers to be enjoyed, colors to drink in, breathing, deep breathing.  They are like a sweet wine and I drink deeply.

At night, when awakened for some call of nature or call of the body that is in rebellion, these moments are much easier to find and bring different benefits.  These moments may have with them a dark beauty.  The night sky filled with stars unnumbered, a moon giving a soft glow to the landscape, soft, falling snow that drifts past a window.  

 These moments are each different but yet, have the same restoring power.   It is a stillness that invades the mind and then seeps slowing into the marrow of the bones to calm.  Utterly calm.  For those moments, no matter how brief, give life to my soul.  I find myself, when outdoor, searching for them.  Nighttime disturbances, though annoying beyond measure, are not always unwelcome.  Each moment has its own sweetness, its own delight.

Searching and relishing quiet moments.

"Thou hast taught me

   that faith is nothing else than receiving thy kindness;

   that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him,

     love clinging to him as a branch to the tree,

       to seek life and vigour from him."

Taken from, Belonging to Jesus,  The Valley of Vision

"When amazing realities of the gospel quit commanding your attention, your awe, and your worship, other things in your life will capture your attention instead. When you quit celebrating grace, you begin to forget how much you need grace, and when you forget how much you need grace, you quit seeking the rescue and strength that only grace can give. This means you begin to see yourself as more righteous, strong, and wise than you actually are, and in so doing, you set yourself up for trouble."

- Paul David Tripp (from New Morning Mercies)

Seizing The Day

Sure, I'm supposed to be snapping green beans.  I"m doing what I do best, procrastinating.  It's going to be a late night doing beans, I'm afraid.  Just had to write about yesterday.

Carpe Diem-from the Latin, literally means to pluck the day.  I've always heard it said to "seize the day".  What happens when the day seizes you, or plucks you.  

Yesterday I  thought the day truly seized me.  A mountain of tomatoes that were in need of being made into soup and the ensuing mess that follows would be in need of cleaning.  My legs were not cooperating at all.  I was constantly needing to sit down.  My maid has never shown up to help with these chores at all! :-)  It came to the point when I need to ask God to give me strength just to stand long enough to get some tomatoes squeezed.  My husband came home thinking he would be cutting grass but in God's providence it had rained here...again....that meant that the cavalry had arrived.  He was such a help to me in the entire process.  God does work through simple circumstances.  

It has been easy to get discouraged lately when my beloved clothes line seems to have moved a mile away,  things just don't get done like they should or when they should and some of the things I love to do seem to be becoming a memory.

This morning a blogger that I follow posed about a remodel she and her husband are considering and how it might make life easier when they are older.  When someone else posted that it seemed "sad".  Here is what was written in return: 

Getting older is actually a privilege 
Sadly lots of people don’t get to find out about it.

Many, many wonderful things come with age and I wouldn’t want to be 25 or even 45 again for anything
(well …maybe I like to look like I did when I was 25 

For me personally every day since June 12, 1976 has been a gift from God. And for the past 38 years I’ve been allowed to grow older so I’ve got no complaints – just gratitude.

--Katherine Grossman

http://www.granny-miller.com/

Grateful.  Learning to be grateful.

Spring?

Most everyone has had enough of winter this year.  Perhaps those that ski found this particular winter rather enjoyable.  Not me.  It has seemed rather endless.

In light of my crankiness, cabin-fever and a recent trip to Wal Mart.  This arose:

An Ode to Spring

March 2014

Spring has sprung,

That's what they say.

I sit enshrined in fleece today!

Crazed with cold,

Four walls I flee,

To a store nearby to me.

Within this place,

Are colors rare

When black and gray are all I wear.

Bright, warm colors beckon me,

To try on clothes,

In a size three!

Lime, lemon-bold and tangerine,

But, do they match,

My flanneled jeans?

Nearby are very tiny things--

Two pieces held,

With little strings.

But could I stand my body bare

Without my thermal

Underwear?

Back home I head with empty cart.

This is not for,

The faint of heart.

My frozen skin,

Not ready for

Bright clothing that is paper thin.

Just six more weeks,

The rodent said.

How I like to think him dead.

Random Thoughts on Order

Another potholder is finished.  This one is all the darker colors with a splash of yellow here and there.

A good friend, Kathy, who is a quilter extraordinaire, encouraged quilters in a small class she was doing to put their fabrics into a paper bag and pull them out to create a "scrappy" look.  I've tried that.  Couldn't do it.  Even with these simple potholders, I cannot seem to make a "random" one.  I'll begin with the intention of just pulling any loop out of the bag only to find that it bothers me that there is no pattern or order to it.  The loops are then rearranged once (sometimes three times) looking for an eye-pleasing pattern and color combo.

What does this say about me?  Is this just a "first born" tendency?  Or, is it my love of a created order-- beauty with design?

It brings me joy to discover God's designs in nature.  How He puts colors together in the parts of the flowers that are pleasing to the eye.  Even the colors of vegetables are pleasing, as in carrots--orange with green.  The leaves of beets are a lovely dark green with purple veins.

The colors of fall flood the eyes with the glorious colors of creation.  Golds, reds, yellows are set against a green backdrop completed with a dazzling blue sky.  Certainly there is a seeming randomness to the colors of the woods, but I see a design.  Or, perhaps it is the Designer who shines.  God's choice of colors if for us.  It is a delight to our eyes for a reason.  Is it any wonder that fall is the favorite season of so many people?  Who cannot find beauty in this riot of color?



I've given up trying to create randomness in quilts or my little potholders.  Not that I don't enjoy another's random creation.  I just can't, at least in this way, bring myself to be capricious.  Some might say that this keeps me from being spontaneous.

Alas, for all my fondness for order, it seems that I find it difficult to maintain it in my home.  Daily "to do" lists are often scuttled by unexpected opportunities, unknown plans of the spouse or just plain weariness.  When I can achieve even some small sense of order in my little world, I find it restful.

As I write, it begins to sound as if I'm a control freak.  No, not the case, I believe.  It sands to reason that if God, who created order, would desire his people to be orderly- creative and orderly.  Wanting to control each tiny aspect of our lives to suit ourselves is nothing short of idolatry.  When people are control freaks their trust in God has been shattered somewhere along the way.

Our best plan should always include, "Lord willing".  God is the Master Planner.  He is in control of all those little, and not so little, interruptions that come into our lives.  Accepting and embracing His ordered plan for our lives is often difficult.  I find myself often saying, " for God's glory and my good"(--John Newton).  Knowing that God is in control, that he has the smallest details of my life designed to shape me to better glorify him brings me comfort.  Sure, it is not always very easy to accept and I'm not always in a position to jump up and down for joy when, in my limited perspective, things don't look very wonderful.  I'm a work in progress.

O GOD MOST HIGH, MOST GLORIOUS,
The thought of thine infinite serenity cheers me,
For I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed,
   but thou art for ever at perfect peace.
Thy designs cause thee no fear or care of unfulfilment,
   they stand fast as the eternal hills.
Thy power knows no bond,
   thy goodness no stint.
Thou bringest order out of confusion,
   any my defeats are thy victories;
The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
I come to thee as a sinner with cares and sorrows,
   to leave every concern entirely to thee,
      every sin calling for Christ's precious blood;
Revive deep spirituality in my heart;
Let me live near to the great shepherd,
   hear his voice, know its tones, follow its calls.
Keep me from deception by causing me to abide in the truth,
   from harm by helping me to walk in the power of the Spirit.
Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities,
   burning into me by experience the things I know;
Le me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel,
   that I may bear its reproach,
        vindicate it,
        see Jesus as its essence,
        know in it the power of the Spirit.

--from the Valley of Vision, Resting on God

Finally!

They have finally bloomed!

They must be a late variety because they are the last of anyone's crocuses to bloom.  However, they are my first.  Just in time for Easter!  As you can see, the other bulbs are popping up, too.  Spring must be coming--finally!

God's promises never fail.

Have a blessed Easter.

Response to "God Made a Farmer"

Since I didn't watch the Super Bowl, I did not see the Dodge Ram ad.  It was not until Monday morning that I heard the ad replayed on the radio.  I must admit that Paul Harvey's voice and the images that it stirred from my childhood made me feel proud to be a farm girl.  Now I've never been one's that real quick, but something about the whole thing didn't seem quite right, but I wasn't able to put my finger on it.  The ad was put on the back burner of my mind until today.

While researching chlorinated water, of all things, I ran across this blog post that I believe you will find very interesting and, like me, helpful:


Sustainable Farmer’s Response to “God Made a Farmer” Superbowl Ad

This response made sense to me.  This may be one of the reasons the ad did not sit quite right with me.

Plus, why would Big Auto want to glorify Small Ag?  Just say'in.

Starting Seeds

It has been a few years since I started my own seeds.  With the limited window space at our old place, my poor little plants were stringy and weak.  This house has some nice south facing windows on the third floor that I want to try for seed starting.  It is warm enough that the cat fights to be up there as much as possible.

This year, I'm looking at starting some non-GMO and heirloom seeds to put out in the garden.  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds sent me a free catalog that is both colorful and inspiring.  Of course, there is still Johnny's Selected Seeds.  They, too, have some great varieties.  I'm working on my lists...dreaming of a beautiful pest-free, weed-free, abundant garden this summer.

This Mother Earth News article on seed starting was found at 3Breeze Homestead's Facebook page.  The article offers 11 steps for starting your own seeds.  There is a wealth of information on seed selection, timing of planting, as well as lighting.

While I wait for a cold frame, I may use some clear plastic storage containers to not only keep the little babies warm, but also make it easier to move them around from warm, sunny window to the outdoors, when appropriate.

(from the gardenweb.com)

The wind is howling and the temperature dropped from 67 degrees yesterday to 22 degrees right now.  Checking out seed catalogs on a winter's day makes spring feel right around the corner.  Well, almost.

What will you discover when you turn your eyes in dependence upon the Lord?  You'll find him gazing back at you, eagerly waiting to bless.  Upon tiring of fighting with pigs for food, the Prodigal Son had finally 'come to himself' and begun the journey home.  I'm sure that as he walked, he searched intently for some sign of his house in the distance.  But he wasn't the only one who was seeking.  'But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him' (Luke 15).  While we're still far away, his compassion overwhelms him and he runs toward us!  He is not standing around waiting for us to come to him properly sorry.  He doesn't allow us to come to him as hired servants.  No, if we're going to return to him, then he is going to enjoy the pleasure of graciously blessing us with all the riches of full sonship.

--Elyse Fitzpatrick