Can penguins run?

Sometimes God gives me  things to do that I’m  not very good at. I keep reminding Him that I’m a penguin and  not good at running, but He just pats me on the head as if to say,”That’s ok, I know what I’m doing”
To make matters worse, lots of others know that  I’m  not so good at running- and they remind me  and others who may not have noticed , that I’m not so good at running.
I would gladly quit if only God would let me! But alas I have no choice  but to continue to run, all the while knowing just how unqualified I am  for this very assignment.
Honestly, it is humiliating…..humbling, and almost overwhelming, but somehow He keeps embracing me and nudging me forward   to overcome all the voices that  say,"Give it up!”
Funny how it works- ya get a job to do that you don’t ask for, you’re no good at and you’re totally unqualified for – and everybody knows it-  but still it’s your job!
Ya gotta wonder WHY?
I do!
Moses did!
Wait a second- this is exactly how Moses felt- he was instructed by God to SPEAK before the mighty Pharoah(Don’t worry, I don’t fancy myself to be a “MOSES”) and he told God that he couldn’t speak well. (Exodus 2)
Moses’ answer to God-“Who am I that I should go unto Pharoah and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
God said- “Certainly ,I will be with thee!”
(Exodus 2:11-12)
And to Paul He  said-
2 Corinthians 12:9 ..
My grace is sufficient for thee:for my strength is made perfect in weakness.Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
I’m thinking I’m gonna have to trust God to walk me through, and pick me up when I fall on my face, and forgive me when I rail at HIM for making me RUN.

TIME TO GO RUN!!!!
If you don’t like  the way I run…please close your eyes, cause I’m gonna run as long as HE tells me to.

Making lemonade!!!

As I was teaching Math this week- (actually reviewing some basic principles in preparation for standardized testing for Luke)   this song came to mind~
It really has nothing to do with math but it does have to do with HOW we "do" math.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.




When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn 'twill be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.




'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,




When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn 'twill be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.






'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.




When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn 'twill be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.


******shaker song - simple gifts - elder joseph brackett - 1848


You see, we were reviewing the rules for all operations in general and then working a problem or two for application. Simple routine for me- but Luke? No.
While I'm quickly reciting the rule, he's thinking,"But WHY does it come out that way?"

When he asked me- I was just baffled- "Luke it's just the RULE!!! Just do it this way and it works- every time"

Not enough for him- he has to know WHY!!!!!

UGGGGH! I dont even CARE why - and I surely can't explain it!!!

I'm not sure one way of looking at it is better than the other ,but I do know this- sometimes "over-thinking" is not good for the soul- not mine anyway.

I   know that God created many kinds of people with very different personalities and I am of the simpler sort-and I fully believe it IS a gift!!!

In the past I loathed the fact that I didn't think "deeply spiritual" about everything- in fact the harder I tried to, the more miserable I became.(then I learned to make lemonade!!)  :)

Once I embraced the fact that I am what God created me to be , and I need to be the VERY BEST ME I can be- I was a much happier person. I've been liberated from the "pseudo-spiritual deep-thinking wanna be" I so wished to be and have settled upon the plain old simple, happy ME that I am.

Somehow, that seems to be a comfort,( if not an amusement), to my deep thinking friends. I am surrounded by wonderfully deep, thoughtful,spiritual people- and apparently God decided that it should be just so- for both of us!

I still admire those deep thinkers- but I know that they feel ,see and think things that are heavy and difficult because they think so deeply- and I find myself thankful that I don't bear some of those burdens. I hope to lighten their load when I can, but more than  anything I hope to be exactly what God desires me to be and nothing less.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

Merciful......rescue......

Having just returned from yet another funeral, I'm forced to reflect ,

once again on the meaning of life...

The point of it all.

I know , deep in my heart, that God directs

and has plans for our lives...

but in the face of death,

 I am forced to evaluate LIFE.

Not only mine but those of the people I love.

The ones I see day to day...the tired,struggling, lonely ones.

The forgotten and troubled ones.

The ones who endure emotional pain, physical difficulty, loss  and abuse.

As I sat in this funeral I saw the generations of friends that have and are even now suffering these things.

It seemed  my heart would  burst from the pain of it all.

How could just this small group represent so much suffering and sadness?

This world has become so troublesome and sad at times.

Oh, I have hope- eternal peace and even joy.....

but the pain of this world is real

and if nothing else would make me seek God

and the promise of life eternal,

this pain and sadness would drive me to seek HIM.

I don't have any wise words or a big lesson~

just a heart full of mercy and compassion for all of those who are suffering.

I'm so glad that God has me in the palm of His hand-

He shelters me from the raging storm that is this world and the pain within it.

Ps 61:3

For thou hast been a shelter for me,

and a strong tower from the enemy.

Ps 62:7

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

***If you saw me today and thought me unfriendly, you were right.
I wasn't fit to be around people-
In a day or so I'll feel a bit more like it but it sure seems to linger longer the older I get.
It just seems that I have so much to "think-out" and I can't think and function at the same time....:)
so, until a brighter day......

One of the songs that was played has been a favorite of mine for years-

it's called "PRESS ON" by Selah~

it wasn't avaialble to play here but I did put a couple by them that are dear to me as well.

~ The Heart of a Farmer ~

A farmer must have a very special heart. A nurturing and patient heart, I think.
You have to have faith,hope and endurance to plant a tiny seed, in the soil of the great, big  Earth.
Then after planting that tiny seed, there are literally hundreds of things that CAN happen to prevent it from sprouting. That's where patience comes in.
  Once it sprouts, the tiny seedling is vulnerable to   more dangers as a tender little plant.
Once established the farmer watches (daily,if it's me) to see how the tiny plant is weathering the dangers.
The farmer  endures the growing,blooming and producing fruit stages and then manages to reap the harvest and do it all over again!
My hat is off to the   Farmer!!
And even more so to the ORGANIC FARMER!!!!!! (No poison in his arsenal to combat the ills that threaten his crop.)

You may think I am understanding these things because I am  a farmer like this~~~~

You'd be wrong!!!!

Joel 1:10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: .....

Rabbits ate my corn.......................................Armadillos rooted up all my freshly planted rows....

Worms totally destroyed my Morning Glory Vine and my sunflowers-IN ONE DAY!!!!!!

No- I do not have the heart of a farmer- I was sooo angry!!!

I searched for this worm and took great joy in delivering him to my chickens!!!

In fact, I did it so fast I didn't even THINK about taking a picture of the nasty thing! 

I'm gonna really expose myself here- I was so upset- I really had to work at not crying!!!

I was just devastated!!!

I have put so much work- willingly- but work just the same, into this tiny effort. 

I just walked and kept my quivering lip from letting go of nasty words about all the critters that I was mad at!!!

Every bed I stopped at had some type of destruction but when I got to the Morning Glory Vine that was it!!!!

~       ~       ~

Jon 4:5 ¶ So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.


8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.


9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.


10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 

~       ~       ~

After a proper time of "mad" I got the camera.

I don't know how else to deal with my gardening blunders!!!!

I DO NOT have the heart of a farmer-but of a rebel I think!

VBS 2009- OPERATION SPACE

Created with flickr slideshow.

Never say slow down around here!!!!!

Can you see the fishing pole? Little Bubba is watching his cork bob...what a life!!!!!

Maybe I need to follow him around a bit for lessons on relaxing.

It seems no matter how hard I try to accomplish things here at home I get further and further behind!!! Am I doing this to myself? Am I crazy?
Is there really that much to do???
YES- to ALL of the above!!!

Though life is good and we are blessed I do need to find a way to slow things down a bit...I thinking about exactly how to do that.I'll make some headway as soon as VBS is over and we get back from 2weeks on the road and Ryland is born and school gets started and...and...and...- see what I mean???

We had a really nice weekend-on Sunday we had our church meeting under the trees here and a baptism in our pond and of course an old fashioned picnic and an unexpected thunderstorm!!!AHHHH-Louisiana!!!!

We also had a moment of excitement when a good friend's toddler escaped her momma's grasp and tumbled into the pond. My 15 yr old appeared from nowhere and was in the pond rescuing the baby before we knew what had happened. Thank God for the speed and sharp ears of youth!!!!

O.K and the silliness of youth too!

On Monday the kids came out and we had traditional Memorial Day bar b que brisket with all the fixins and then settled out around the pond to fish- or rather to watch Andrew fish! He caught another 5 lb catfish. I even made a yummy red white and ..well- there really wasn't any blue but it was yummy!!!!

We got to cuddle Wendy too!!!