Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Simple lessons from the forest

Wildflowers

Come join me on my walk through the forest ☺

Saturday my husband Larry and I went on a walk or moreso a hike and we took our time. Larry was exceedingly patient with me as I took a lot of photos plus, I just can't keep up with him. This was my first hike since my back surgery. I have done a lot of walking, mostly on level ground and slight inclines but walking in the Hills can be a bit challenging at times but worth it to be sure. I hope to make it a much more common event.

Wild Daisies and Common Yarrow

I love flowers, wild flowers to be sure and I uploaded most of my pictures on flickr but would like to share some with you here, along with a few thoughts. In the forest you just never know what you will see and what you will learn.

Three-Nerve Woodbane
I keep expecting the center flower to start singing and dancing, kind of like in Disney's Fantasia... I am such a child at times 'o'

While walking I felt the presence of the Lord all around me, kind of like walking in the Garden of Eden with the Lord and basking in His presence. It was so peaceful, so beautiful and wonderous. I was amazed at all the wildflowers. I think because of the rain there were more than usual, but maybe not. Maybe I just noticed them more this time.

I love these soft grasses and the way the sunlight played
among the trees. I felt the Lord so strongly -
Kind of like He was playing with us in the woods.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.
The world and all its people belong to him.
For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas
and built it on the ocean depths.
Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?

Psalm 24: 1-3, 1 Cor 10:26

I Spy: A Buck
One I didn't see until it jumped up.
We also saw a doe with twin fawns...
The Hills are full of wonders!

When we ask the Lord, the Holy Spirit into our heart we are indeed walking in the garden with the Lord and experiencing all the wonders of the earth with him. I feel so awed by God's presence in my life and in the life of those I so dearly love.

Wild Daisies
So precious..."He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me..."

My walk with God is not always easy but then we should not expect it to be. I know when Larry and I were walking up a ridge and over fallen trees that at times I might trip a little or need a helping hand while climbing over some rocks and I know my God is with me and has also given me a wonderful partner in life who helps makes my walk a little easier. There is a good reason why God gave Adam and Eve a "helpmate".

I am not sure what these are? Chokecherries possibly?

Walking: A few months ago who would have guessed that I could be hiking again through the forest! God is the ultimate healer, not just physically but also spiritually. The healer of the body, mind and spirit.

Dotted Gayfeathers... We saw patches and patches of these

I also noticed on my walk that so many "weeds" were so beautiful, especially from a distance. Take this Canadian Thistle (below). At times you'd see small patches of this weed and the purple was so gorgeous but up close you can see the thorns. It is amazing how many beautiful things we chase in life and once we get what we think we want we realize what a waste all the time, effort, or money truly was. Another of life's small lessons from the forest.

Canadian Thistle: A bit of deceptive beauty

One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 121. I remember the first time that really heard it was in the movie, The Sound of Music and I have loved it ever since. It is my "comfort" scripture and it constantly tells me to keep my eyes on Him who created me, for when my eyes waver, I stumble or even fall. But, the wondrous thing that I have really grasped onto lately is that I am a child of the King and when I stumble, when I fall, when I stray... He is there to catch me, to chase me down, to hug me, to love me because I am His and He is mine.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
He who watches over you will not slumber...
Psalm 121: 1-3

I want to be like this buck, very alert and know at all times the Lord's voice when He speaks to me.

I feel in so many ways that the Lord not only healed my walk (my back) but moreso my walk with Him and He is still perfecting it and drawing me closer to him daily. I also see him working so much more in my children who are for the most part all grown. I am feeling lately that I need to do a special Fast for my children - but am waiting for a little more clarification as to what kind of Fast He is calling me to do. I think maybe He needs to do a little more work in my heart and in my mind first so I continue to pray about it and seek God's guidance.

It's a beautiful day!
A variety of evergreens touching the clouds

Thank you for joining me on my walk. I pray you have a wonderful God-filled day ☺

Before closing I want to share a wonderful blog by Pastor Mark (he led the missions trip to El Salvador that Joey participated in), ThreeBeans. Check it out ☺ You will be blessed.

And last but not least...Thank you for the prayers for my daughter Tara. She is still having a rough time with the mono but has a good, praying doctor. Alexys returned home to her Mom as well so that helped lift their spirits. Thank you again and God Bless!

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

An Update

Aleyxs laughing at the squirrels...Two were fighting

Sunday my daughter Tara called and said she was at the emergency clinic. She had been sick and tired for over a week. Well, the diagnosis was not a good one. She has Mononucleoisis. On top of the mono Tara also has a sinus infection so she is ordered to be away from her daughter for at least a week since she is highly infectious so we picked Alexys up on Sunday and have the little angel for a few more days or when the doctor says it is safe to return home. As for me I had mono when I was 21 so am not at risk. Tara returned to the doctor yesterday for stomach pain and it is affecting her spleen.

Mom and daughter talk on the phone several times a day and when it rings, Alexys runs to answer it with a big, "Hello Mommy!". It is so cute. Alexys also found a pacifier in her toy basket and I just let her have it. Being without her mom and dad for this many days does take its affect. She is a bit more clingy than usual today it seems, but I am sure that is normal. Last night she woke up in the middle of the night crying and was saying, "Sing Rock-a-bye" and then fell back to sleep. It is pretty impossible for a baby to understand why mommy isn't here but they do talk often and I have plenty of pictures of Tara around.

This little squirrel wasn't fazed by Alexys at all... Lexy just chased it all over

Today Alexys and I will go to the camp, about a minute away so she can play on the playground. She loves to swing and go down the slide. She also loves to play with water on my deck. I even had a little Elmo sprinkler out there and she loves watering the plants. So, keep us all in your prayers. Well, time to get the little one some milk ☺

Sunday in church Darrell Mansfield played and shared. He had done two concerts in the area, at Sturgis during the bike rally and in Lead at the Center of Hope. Darrell is one of the leading Christian harmonica players in the world and has an amazing voice as well. We hope he will come back to the area next year. On Dec 10th he'll be on TBN and his newest CD, Born to Be Wild was just released.

Our busy summer season at the camp is about over...It has been a great but super busy summer and some downtime is needed. Larry and Joey are working back on the construction crew for part of the week... Larry gets home about 5:30 p.m. then runs over to the camp to see what is going on and what needs to be done. We have quite a few weekend retreats coming up for the rest of August and September. I hope you are all doing fantastic... Catching up as much as I can with each of you.

Bye, bye ♥

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Friday, August 8, 2008

It Hurts

Friday's 40-or-less (you have to write a poem in 40 words or less - almost an impossible feat!) Anyway, Robin gave us quite the picture this week... And my first thought was how do I write a poem with some semblance of depth about a "daddy longlegs spider minus one leg?". Humorous didn't even occur to me... I think I need some comic relief in my life.

Anyway this is my effort...

It Hurts

I have never felt very

Loved by you. And the thought

Causes me to twitch

As if a spider

Was crawling up my arm

And it hurts,

Especially when it bites

The heart.

The fact that this free-verse is under 40 words is a miracle in and of itself... Yes, I am patting myself on the back... Cheers to me 'o' - Now if you want to read the complete version, let me know ☺!

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Thursday, August 7, 2008

Thankful

I give my Thanks to God today for so many things...

* I thank my Lord for my wonderful family and their love for each other. My four siblings and I all got together to discuss the future of our family and the kindness and concern for each other was such a blessing.

My Dad

* I thank my Lord for my Father who loves the Lord and prays constantly for his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I pray he remains as pain free as possible during this horrible trial with cancer that he is going through. Pancreatic cancer is so horrible...any cancer is. He is now under Hospice care and my wonderful sister Shannon is now living with him and taking care of him. We had a sort of family reunion last week and a wonderful picnic in the park near my Dad's house. God is good.

The latest blessing to our family, Tavius Jax "Tav" and his mother, my niece Olivia

* I thank my Lord for safe travels for me and my children - Luke flew in from NYC and Joey and I picked him up at the tiny Sioux City, IA airport and we drove to Nebraska to be with family. My brother, his wife and son Mathew drove up from Texas. My sister and her family drove to Wayne from Yankton and My Mom drove up from Kansas and Timoni had taken a trip to Japan...God blessed us all with safe travel.

Luke at the park - we had a huge family picnic. I hadn't seen him since he graduated so it was wonderful!

* I thank my Lord for Joey's awesome missions trip to El Salvador... God blessed the AIM team and the teens of El Salvador mightily. Almost 1000 teens gave their life to the Lord!

Joey with kids in El Salvador

* I thank the Lord for a wonderful camping/retreat season here at Kinship Mountain Ministries. The Lord has touched so many lives. I just love hearing the stories people share.

* I thank my Lord that my MIL Dorothy really likes her new home. In June she moved into assisted living. Living in her huge house was a bit lonely and confining in the wintertime. She has a lot of friends at The Oaks and is very happy there and plans to stay.

My MIL Dorothy with my boys Joey (l) and Luke (r)

*To God be all the Glory for all things in my life ♥

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2

* And I thank God for all my blogging friends... But I have to face it, I will never be able to catch up with all your blogs. This summer has been amazingly busy, with the camps, two trips to Nebraska and another planned very soon... Watching my granddaughter from time to time... and just life in general. Know that I do keep you in my prayers and I am sure to be a more faithful reader in the Fall...

I also want to share one of my favorite blogs... It is a relaxing one to visit and she often has a great recipe to share, INNside Innkeeping in Montana. I think you will enjoy it.

Hugs!

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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Joey in El Salvador

Joey with two little girls

Our son Joey returned last week from his very successful AIM missions trip to El Salvador. 29 teens from South Dakota ventured for to San Salvador to minister to teenagers, many of which are gang members. Naturally we are so very proud of our son for taking this step to minister to the lost. Joey is almost 17 and my youngest child. He has been so busy since he got home, football camp, friends, etc that I am looking forward to my long drive to Nebraska tomorrow. I will have him all to myself for eight plus hours ☺

Joey and his friend Nathan with a little boy

The AIM team were allowed in some of the public schools and many came up for prayer

Kings Castle Stadium, Saturday night program

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Joey with friends and nationals - left

The Slums - people live in places like this

Joey found this little puppy that he wanted to bring home - but he wasn't allowed to

When I asked him what was the best thing about the trip he said, "watching the miracles". His least favorite thing was the food. He is a picky eater. He loved the beach, the people, and the ministry. He was very shocked by how the people live saying, "we would live like millionaries if we lived there". He said he didn't even see one house comparable to ours and many lived in shacks. So, the trip was a real eye opener for him.

Joey said graffiti was everywhere - some of it rather amazing

Joey is in the very back on the right watching the dancing
The guys were also playing basketball

Four hundred teens gave their life to the Lord during there Saturday night ministry at King's Castle (Castillo del Rey) in San Salvador. Five thousand showed up so seeds were planted and many came up for prayer. One miracle he witnessed was a woman with two mute children who were healed and began to talk. God is so very good and no respecter of persons!

San Salvador, El Salvador (Our Savior) is on a volcano and this gorgeous lake is a volcanic crater. It is hard to believe there is so much poverty amidst so much beauty.