Shining Light

I attended a memorial service yesterday for a woman I have known for over 20 years. She was a mentor to hundreds of women through the years. She was also a tremendous cook and gardener, among other things. She brought me most of the starts to my herb garden at my last house. She herself had been through abuse, addiction, multiple marriages, and horrendous diseases and circumstances. But she never gave up in her pursuit of joy. A couple of years ago she had been given six weeks to live. But she persevered for two more years with such a loving attitude determined to serve through the number of her days.

On Monday several people visited her hospital room where she had already lapsed into a coma. They surrounded her in love as she had each one of them. With a room full of friends and family she suddenly awoke to ask what they were all doing there. She told them all that God was much bigger than we could imagine and the Light was amazing. That very witness increased the faith of many who needed it. The beautiful report she delivered was an astounding punch of encouragement for those that were in the room and all who heard about it later. Many left her room, thinking she was rallying. Just an hour later she passed, I believe with great joy, about where she was going. It was her perfect day, her soul leaving the broken body to rejoice with Jesus in person.

I wanted to post this photograph that showed light streaming through the trees along the train route to Silverton. My friends in Colorado call these 'God rays'. That streaming light shines on and through us. As Isaiah said "Arise and shine, for the Light has come. The Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee!" We are called to be light, Mary Lou let that light shine through her. She knew that she was on earth for God, to serve and love others.

Death does not separate us from the Love of Christ. And as our capacity for love through relationship with Christ increases, so does the light that shines in us for others.

Mary Lou, my blessing for you:

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Proverbs 4:18

Divine Appointments

I got something done yesterday that has been brewing for a long time. I triple matted and framed a picture of the scene I captured along the Durango-Silverton train route. It now lives above our mantle so we can remember being there together in that unbelievably stunning vista.

My husband works for a train company, and we have come to enjoy riding trains. We had heard about this train and wanted to take it someday. That 'someday' happened last fall, and produced this divine appointment. The stop along the route, the light, the time of day, the position of the train, all worked together to bless me with the opportunity to see this doorway of incredible gift to my spirit. Allowing me to be there with my camera also gave me the gift of being able to share it with all of you. The exact place going the other direction was almost passed before we realized how different it looked.

I define a divine appointment as a meeting up of a person with another person, event, or place that changes them and increases their faith and belief in God. This time and place along the river with the God rays streaming through the trees seemed to transport me out of time and body to a complete melting into the scene. I get a peace that returns in part every time I look at this picture. I felt so loved by God to have been brought to this place to experience how much I am treasured and loved by Him. He is Light and calls us to be Light, also.

Sometimes these moments cannot be captured by a camera. The grandeur will not be translated to its full wonder through a photograph, but this one came pretty close. It translates the Light sort of in the way Thomas Kincaid paints. In fact, it is hard to believe that it is a photograph and not a painting. This posting is not to boast about any skill on my part, but to boast in Christ about the wonders and amazing divine appointments that He has for us to give us glimpses of how we are loved.

I pray for you all to have divine appointments this year. Seek Him out, and you will find Him. Slow down, breathe, be present, listen. Blessings abound!

Joy Comes in the Morning

The crud has camped out in my family through the holiday season. I got into the doctor on Christmas eve day because I knew I was in trouble and could not get through the Christmas activities without some antibiotic. Glad I went, though I hate going to the doctor. He said I was headed for pneumonia. I could not get a full breath and surely began to feel panicked.

However, one 14 dollar pill down, I began to feel better in half a day. I was heartbroken to miss the Christmas eve service, but sent my husband on ahead. That is when the blizzard started. After the early service everyone was dismissed to head home before the roads became impassable.

Lo, and behold, we got a record snowfall, and woke up to the most astounding heap of wet, heavy snow in our backyard. Two pills down the hatch, I was beginning to see a big change in my breathing capacity. I went out into the sun, bundled up to enjoy the sunlight and beautiful snow. Before you know it, the joy that comes in the morning had me making a snow fox. We rarely see snow in Texas, and when we do it is not of the quality or quantity to build anything that last more than half an hour.
I moved on to make a grizzly bear, but thought better of expending too much energy while recovering from infection. The pull to continue to create in the snow was overcome with a gift of common sense and wisdom from the holy spirt.


If you know anything about me from following my blog, you will know that I am crazy about wildlife. The friends I have made on Evergreen Mountain have changed my heart forever. On one particular visit I was able to hand feed a red fox. It was an exquisite, thrilling experience.

I had been transported from the heaviness of sickness and lethargy to rising on Christmas morning to the joyful energy of a child playing in freshly fallen snow. God had invited me to co-create something to express the incredible joy that was blessing my spirit. Abundant life; joy in the morning. It was one of the most joyful Christmas mornings of my life, following one of the most dismal Christmas eves of my life.

God is so good! Restoration, hope, life, breath, faith, trust...

My true Joy did come on Christmas morning to a manger long ago, but he is as real to me today as that freshly fallen snow.

Joy Comes in the Morning!

Expectancy

I came upon the word 'expectancy' in the book, "The Shack" a few years ago. It has rolled around in my mind, straightening my path, my attitude, and my actions since then. I can tell you that it is in the opposite direction and trouble of that other word, 'expectation', which usually leads to resentment, disillusionment, depression, and general malaise! Not a good path on which to travel or stay for very long.

I found myself overwhelmed as usual this time of year with too much to do, too little time, too many expectations, too little energy, and a general lack of excitement because of the emphasis on what needed to be done, bought, cooked, cleaned, then add one hundred more words. Mostly on the unrealistic expectations others have and I have of myself.

It seems that each Christmas season some small thing pierces the 'doing' and gets my heart back to the childlike expectancy of Advent. Waiting, joyfully watching, believing. Some of that arrived in my house today when I was putting together some gifts for my husband's workplace. An idea came to me about how to do a personal gift for some folks that do not expect one. It is such a fun thing to do because of the very fact that they do not expect anything. No exchange, no drawing names, no reason, except to be singled out and given a gift. Those are sometimes hard to get and receive for many reasons. Freely given? Must be a catch. I must hurry out and get something to give back. What do they want? What did I do to deserve this? Oh my!

~~~~~~

I decided to post a picture of this creche that I photographed at a house on the Progressive Dinner route. Its simplicity shot an arrow of love right to the point of my need. I remembered how Jesus did not come in the way he was expected. Surely this could not be the Messiah! Our KING born to a virgin as a baby in a lowly manger? Expectations of how and when his kingdom would come to be? They are still all over the chart.

But the expectancy every Christmas, when it pierces my heart, is fulfilled when I realize I have been the recipient of many undeserved gifts. GRACE, MERCY, UNSPEAKABLE JOY, PEACE WITH GOD, A FUTURE AND A HOPE, ETERNAL LIFE. I can't earn any of that list. I can't even give a gift back except to love this little one who would grow to be my Savior; to let that seed of the kingdom which lives in me shine with love.

Expectancy can only be quenched by God. It is not a Christmas list to be fulfilled. It is more simple and complex at the same time than something that can be written down and demanded. It is the awesome way in which God shows up, perhaps in the way we least expect; then in the manger, and now in our daily lives. The LIGHT came to earth that we might be LIGHT to others.

The Vine

I am the vine, you are the branches.
Jn. 15:5

~~~~~~

We stopped at a roadside market and got to see the vineyard of Black Bridge Winery. Lee told us how the grapes must not be harvested until every bit of goodness can be moved from the vine into the grapes. The top leaves were already brown and some seemed to be frostbitten; yet, it was still not time to pluck the grapes.

God wants us to bear fruit, but we must be attached to the vine to do so. We can spin our wheels, be in control; on paper seem to be getting lots done. We can get exhausted in doing.

You could say to a productive sort, "Hey, slow down. You don't have to do everything. Delegate!" Well, some of us with 'mother' hats have not so much of a window to rest in a day, and not a full night of rest before it starts all over again. Sometimes there is no one in human skin to help, or we have too much pride to ask. We caregive to everyone but ourselves. We can start or restart some healthy snacks, praying throughout the day, a short walk or nap if possible, smiling, and practicing an attitude of gratitude. We all can take a few connecting breaths and get centered again in the truth of what we are...the BRANCHES, not the VINE! Lord, help us to remember our life-giving attachment that nourishes our soul and produces good fruit.