A special place

A special place
A porch swing can = Forever!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Cliffhangers!

This time of year can be stressful for those of us who get addicted to TV shows.  Tuesday night is TV night for my husband and I.  We plan our supper time and all non-emergency events so as not to interfere with NCIS night!  Even the Dog and Cat know our routine!  Last night was the season finale...what a "Cliffhanger"! Is Ducky gonna die, who got hurt or killed in the explosion, what will happen next season?  What about Tony and Ziva, are Gibbs and Abby okay?  What about McGee? How can we wait until September to find out "the rest of the story"? 

Of course, that got me to thinking.  Aren't we like that in so many other ways?  Can't wait for the end of a book....read the last chapter.  Can't wait for a reply for an email...check it 50 times in an hour.  Same with texts..keep checking your phone to see if the battery is okay.  Can't wait for a baby?  Nine months is nine months, can't do much to hurry that up (wouldn't want to anyway)!  Can't wait for commercdials..flip between channels.  We can't take not knowing every little thing and having some type of information readily available.  We don't like to wait AT ALL!

It wasn't until recently, that I began thinking about the "rest of the story" in other ways, too. So much is happening in the world, I see fear in people who are not fearful people.  Life is getting harder for all of us, and Jesus said it would.  He also said, "Don't be afraid for I have overcome the world".  He knows the "rest of the story" and we do too.  He's coming back for us, if we don't go home to Him first! 
It is  one of those situations like waiting for the new episodes in September...we won't get any information until it is time for the "rest of the story".  We can guess and we can wonder, but we don't really know how it will play out.  We are not going to know when it is the appointed time for Christ's return, but we have been given signs to know when the time is closer. However, with watching those signs, we are not to fear, because we do know "the rest of the story"...and it will put all of the waiting and fear and impatience behind us.. it will be worth it all! But, in the meantime, there is work to be done, life to live and people to reach.  And with His return comes a new Season...a never ending One!

Happy  "Cliffhanger" week, my Friends!

Friday, May 11, 2012

What a remarkable show!

Sunset at the pier last night was truly a spectacular show!  Oftentimes in the South, when someone outdoes themselves you will hear the comment, "He really showed out, didn't he?"  Well, all I can say is "Yes, Lord, You did!!

We got there about 45 minutes before sundown and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We could see several beautiful sailboats, and without cloud cover we could see all the way across the bay to Mobile.  As we neared the end of the pier, several people were gathered and looking at something.  It was a dolphin, and he was putting on a show for us!  I know, most likely he was feeding, but, beautiful none the less. He was so close to the end of the pier and stayed there for a long time, just holding court!  How neat.

On our way back, about halfway to the end was a beautiful long- legged heron, just preening himself on an arm of the pier and eating the fishermen's bait fish.  I really think he was posing for the cameras.

Fish were jumping, the water was calm, the soft waves were so restful, and the evening was unseasonably cool, and the sunset was magnificent.  And I truly believe that no two sunsets are alike.

How can so much beauty be packed into one evening at Sunset? It was the kind of evening where heavy hearts are made light, tired souls are restored and it's as if the Creator says, "Climb up in my lap, Children, I have something to show you, See, I made this dolphin, this heron, this bay, this sky, these waves and this Earth, and it is good, Climb up in my lap, enjoy my splendor, and let my beauty  rock your worries away!"


Yes Lord, You surely "Showed out last night!"

Thank You.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Back to the future........

Wow! how the months fly...April was a whirlwind month from start to finish.  How many times in our lives do we think that things can't get much...better, worse, busier, crazier..(you know how it is, fill in the blank in your own life)?  We had one of those months. highs, lows, ups, down, but now, things are starting to settle down.  But the best thing about the month was at the end. Some thing constant, something that has always come at the same time every year for 30 years of my life and 50 years of yours...your birthday.

What a great way to bring the blessings and constancy of life to mind.  Birthdays are markers.  Definitive milestones that say.." You are here, you have made it another year, and there is another clean slate, another adventure ahead.".  The past is gone, and we are back to the business of the future. But, being a reflective sort of girl, I like to look back a little.  I like to think of all of the ways that I appreciate you and all of the ways that you have made this last year remarkable for me and so many others.

From moving us across the state, to our family growing by marriage and by birth, to a new pastorate, to a new hometown, to new souls to reach for Christ, you have been a constant, loving, driving force in my life.   Only you can make me laugh each and every day.  Only you can make me smile when there is nothing to smile about. Only you can have the most beautiful eyes and the poorest vision.  You must have the poorest vision around because you overlook all of my faults. Only you can  finish my sentences or send me the same text verbatim at the exact same time I send it to you. Only you can look at me and speak a volume just by the the wink when a song comes on the radio. Only you can have a gourmet meal and a smile ready after an incredibly long day.  Only you can remind me that there is going to be sunshine after the rain, and not say "I told you so" when it happens! Only you can remind me that even though our load is lighter, as we travel on now, back to just the two of us, that there is hope ahead and life to be lived.

Maybe its the privilege of spending the last nearly 30 years with you, but, I am most glad for the past, and now I am even more excited about the future, and the privilege of traveling on with you  for the next 50 years.

So, one more birthday down,  we've looked back, and now we are on to the future!

Thankful for the power of Love!

Happy Birthday to You!