Christmas In July

My daughter received these peonies to celebrate the birth of her first-born.
No, you're not cross-eyed.  They are out of focus.

I played Bible roulette again this morning with my Women's Devotional Bible.  I pick it up from the side table and read whatever page it opens to.  Do you ever do that?

Today I happened upon this poem by Anne Ortland, a Christian musician and author.

Incarnation

"The Lord is in His holy house"-

Oh, grace beyond describing,

That Christ in me should please to dwell-

Immanuel residing!

"My soul doth magnify the Lord,"

I sing with lowly Mary,

That God should choose to enter in

This

      humble sanctuary!

I read it through a couple of times, marveling at her word pictures and the truths of which she spoke.  Her inspiration came from Luke 1, the story of the angel's announcement to Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Luke 1:35 & 37 jumped out at me:  

The angel answered...

"... no thing (word change and emphasis mine) is impossible with God."

Luke 1:37

A favorite daydream came to mind immediately.  For several years my Dear Husband and I have been mulling around the idea of moving closer to our children.  We want to experience life with them on a WAY more regular basis.  We want our visits to be unhurried, not sandwiched between two 3-hour drives.  

This dream is my impossible thing for these reasons:

We'd need to sell our home.  

In this market?

I would have to quit the job I love.  

Not work with my students?  

How could we afford to replace the health insurance benefits it provides?

DH would need to continue being self-employed.

In this economy?

We would need to forge new lives for ourselves, individually and as a couple.

This means a new support system of church and community friends-can't expect the kids to fill all of our time

This dream and the accompanying thoughts are never far from my conscious mind.   They often surface causing my heart and tummy to ache.  But this morning, as I read Anne's poem and the Truth from God's Word, I laid those cares at His throne of grace.  Because Jesus, the One that Mary bore, in Whom I "live and move and have" my being,* lives in me and with Him no thing is impossible.

What is your impossible thing?

May God give you grace to trust that He is living and moving in your life

with the knowledge that His plans for you are wonderful.

Love, 

Karen

*Paul is quoting the Cretan poet Epimenides in Acts 17:28.  I didn't know that.  Did you?

P.S.  I WILL BE ON VACATION FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR SO AND DON'T EXPECT TO HAVE INTERNET ACCESS.  I HAVE SCHEDULED ANOTHER POST FOR WEDNESDAY, SO Y'ALL COME BACK AND VISIT, 'KAY?  WHEN YOU VISIT AND, PRETTY PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT, KNOW THAT I WILL VISIT YOU TOO WHEN I GET IT TOGETHER RETURN.  

Playing along with 

Beverly for Pink Saturday

Charlotte & Ginger for Spiritual Sundays

All Means All

 I got to celebrate Mother's Day at Anthony's restaurant near where our kids live.  

This was the view from the window.

Yes, it was a gray day. 

But we Northwesterners  choose to look at the bright side of the weather.

Notice the clouds reflecting in the water.

The evergreen and new-growth green of the slopping hillside.

The boats gently bobbing on the quiet water.

After brunch, we noticed a patch of blue sky and said,

"It's turning out to be a lovely day!"

By contrast, on Saturday our dogwood was glowing in full bloom during a sun break 

as I finished tying  my grandbaby's quilt.

Last Monday I secured  the edges with decorative machine stitching.

It's not perfect, but a whole lotta love went into each stitch. 

True Confession:  I chose Contemporary Christian instead of listening to Country music.

Decided that, as I worked, I'd note lyrics from the songs that spoke to my heart about God's plans for grandbaby's life.  More often than not, lyrics for these songs are based on verses from the Bible.

What better way to pray/sing blessing into his/her life?  

[Don't think that's possible with Country music.]

Yes, it took twice as long to tie the quilt, but it turned my nervous anticipation into peaceful joy.

And, TA DA!

Here's the result:

7 days before her due date!
As close to being a mommy on Mother's Day as a girl can be, without actually holding her baby.

We squinted happily at being together under the patchy blue sky.
Sweet DIL, DH, Son, moi, D#2, SIL
D#1 and other SIL were in Europe

This morning I read this:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8

As I anticipate my daughter's labor and delivery, 

Jesus applied His Word to our circumstances this way:

"I will give her the gift of My grace in this, too.

Because I love her and her baby, 

they have My boundless provision of mercy and love to protect them.

For giving birth to this new little life is, indeed,

a good work!

So do not be afraid, O little [Karen],

for I myself will help [them].

{Isaiah 41:10}

To which I reply, "Thank You, Jesus!"

Grace, mercy, and love be to YOU today, too, friend.

Love,

Linking with

Ann at A Holy Experience for Multitudes on Monday.

This is a blog hop I whole-heartedly recommend.

The blogs I visit here are nearly always worthy of the time spent reading them!

I truly wish I could figure out how to add Ann's graphic here without the html code.

Again, I ask for my readers' help with this.

Also linking with

Internet Cafe's Word-Filled Wednesday

I'm Thankful For...

...my Golden Retriever, Boomer. 

 I read about a local dog show this morning and began thinking about her.  

Realized I still miss her.  

Terribly.

Boomer, 1994-2009

I know many folks in the world are hurting, hungry, homeless, and hopeless.

But I just wanted to take a few moments to

remember her

with you.

She helped me greet the day, every day, for over 14 years.

She suffered a stroke in August of 2009.

She'd been hobbling around on arthritic hips for several years. 

Be assured, we gave her doggie-type medicine for her aches and pains.

But that morning, I had to come to terms with the finality of her stroke symptoms.

Her head was tilted to 1 side,

She could no longer grin at us for her mouth was slanted in an unfamiliar frown. 

She couldn't move off her bed, much less eat.

In the afternoon we took her to the vet.

He gave her 2 shots.

One to calm her.

One to send her quickly to heaven.

We like to think she's gone fishin' with my Dad there.

She kept her eyes and ears peeled for...squirrels.  Oh, how I miss petting her silky fur!

This morning, I wept as I read about the dog show.

Now I am tear-less.

 I truly am thankful for the years we had together.

Years when she acted like the dog she was:

spots on the carpet, chewing on forbidden things, leaving land mines, etc.

Years when her cheesy grin greeted me 

without fail

EVERY TIME

she saw me,

even if she was being naughty.

She was always in a good mood.

She made sure it was safe to...

...enjoy our quiet time on summer mornings.

In the spring of 2007, I asked God to let her stay healthy 

till at least fall, 

after our 3rd child got married.

I just couldn't imagine all that planning

without her.

I told God I needed her

sweet, unconditional companionship

as I pondered the wedding.

She combined these 2 skills seamlessly:  vigilance and nap-taking.

I asked that of the God Who...

created the heavens and the earth,

gave His only Son, Jesus, to be my Savior,

numbers the very hairs on my head, 

wipes away every tear from my face.

She loved car rides.  This was the last time she rode in our 20 year old minivan.
We gave it to a charity soon after this, dog hair and all.

As usual, God knew what I needed better that I did.

He let her stick around for another 2 1/2 years. 

And when  the new school year wasn't far off, 

when I began to dread leaving her 

in the laundry room all day,

He took her quickly

to heaven.

Okay, NOW I'm choking up.

Not so much because I miss Boomer

-although the heart of God surely knows I do-

but because I'm remembering

His grace, love, and mercy 

 to me 

and to my dog,

pressed down and overflowing.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces...

Surely this is our God;

we trusted in Him,

and He saved us...

let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.

Isaiah 25:8, 9

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So don't be afraid...

Matthew 10:30, 31

Oh, the abundant grace and love of God!

May you be filled with it today, friend.

Love,

Want to meet lots of other bloggers?  Go check these fun blog hops: 

Linking up with Kristin, Jaime, & Melissa 

@ Take it from me

  

Lynn @ Spiritually Unequal Marriage

Java @ Never Growing Old