Transplanted into Clay

Right after lunch I dashed outside, leaving the dishes on the table,

in hopes of getting some flower plants transplanted into the soil

before the rain arrived.

The clouds were dark to the west.

Wind was whirling the helicopter seeds off the maple trees

at such a rate that it sounded as though

there were drops already pattering against the ground.

I picked out some flower plants to put into beds,

and some I saved to plant in pots that will sit on our front porch this summer.

These plants are my babies.

Back in the cold of winter I browsed through the seed catalog,

mulling over what seed varieties to buy

for the vegetable garden and flower beds.

I waited for the mailman to bring the package with all the envelopes of seeds.

And then I planted.

Some round seed, some flat, some with odd shapes, some large,

and some so small it was hard to even see them.

And I waited again.

Then there were little bits of green coming through the soil.

The little seedlings lived in our living room on shelves

with lights to grow by.

I watered and waited.

After a number of weeks some had outgrown their space

under the lights, and it was time to move them outside

to begin the hardening off process on the front porch.

They got adjusted to real sunlight and cooler temperatures at night.

But if it was really chilly, they got to come back inside.

 Now it was finally time for them to go

where they were meant to be from the beginning.

In the flowerbeds.

I set to work digging holes.

In some beds my trowel slipped easily into the earth

and brought up dark loose soil.

Perfection for little plants to begin to thrive.

Another area I planted required muscle and chopping at the dirt.

There were bright red clay clods coming to the surface.

And you know, I actually felt sorry for the little plants

with their tender white roots that were going into this hard soil.

It actually wasn’t fair that two plants

went in with the red clay,

while the other two, from the very same container,

went into the rich dark soil. 

That’s when I started thinking…

It’s something that stirs deep inside me when I think of myself

at this time in history,

in this country of the United States of America,

raised by a father and mother who loved me and protected me.

When I think of right now and the little family that is my own.

It isn’t fair that I have all of this.

So, so, SO many of my Christian brothers and sisters,

whether they live a half mile from me

or on the other side of the world,

have a life that doesn’t include these blessings.

On the other hand I have known my own seasons of hardship and pain.

As I put my little plants in the ground

I pondered God’s immeasurable plans and purposes.

I didn’t care less for the flowers I was placing in the clay

than I did for the ones going into the good soil.

Sometimes God moves us to a place of hardship,

a time in our lives where the soil is red clay

and it feels like our tender roots of faith will die.

It feels unfair that we are in this desperate time

when others seem to live life so easily.

Like the God who nurtured and loved us no longer cares.

But just like I will water and fertilize

and watch my own little plants,

God cares for each of His own.

He will not forsake the ones He loves.

In the same way that I have a plan as I put my little plants

with their tender roots in a hard place,

God also has a plan.

My plan is for these plants

to bloom and to create beauty where there is ugliness.

Can it be that God’s sure plans for each of His children

in a  difficult circumstance could be the same?

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 

'plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

 plans to give you hope and a future. 

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, 

and I will listen to you. 

You will seek me and find me 

when you seek me with all your heart.' "

 Jeremiah 29:11-13

Richard and Johanna -- Engagement Photography

I love these two people!

Johanna is my husband, Nathan’s, baby sister.

I’ve known her all her life and it’s so exciting to see her as a beautiful

woman who’s getting married next month.

Richard is a godly man.  A rare find.

He is gentle and strong.

I am so happy for both of them.

Late one Sunday afternoon we did an engagement photo session

 starting in Charlottesville, and finishing on the farm

where the daffodils grow in masses.

Richard and Johanna, 

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you 

with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,

 to grasp how wide and long and high and deep

 is the love of Christ, 

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge

—that you may be filled to the measure of

 all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more 

than all we ask or imagine, 

according to his power that is at work within us, 

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus

 throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.”

Ephesians 3:16-21

Water -- I Heart Faces Entry

Today was sunny and hot.  

My girls were delighted to have a chance 

to play with the water hose and wash the Jeep 

this afternoon after they finished their school work!  

So here’s my entry for this month’s challenge 

at I Heart Faces with the theme for May 

is “Rain/Water”.

Click the I Heart Faces Button to see more entries!

Living Worship

The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that

the chief end, or purpose, of humanity is

“to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. "

Human beings were created to glorify God -- to worship Him.  

So how does this ultimate purpose of worship

 look in our everyday lives?  

The last thing I wrote about was worship,

Praising God though the Pain

in an intentional act of surrender,

which is a very real part of life.

 But as a mother (and homeschool teacher especially),

 my days often feel ordinary, routine, and repetitive. 

I am not always going through something gut-wrenching

that requires me to choose to worship through the pain. 

I am not always surrounded by visions of God’s majesty.  

Honestly most of a believer’s worship is not very glamorous or exhilarating. 

So how do we worship in the everyday? 

When we’re teaching school, doing dishes, grocery shopping,

-- all those mundane responsibilities? 

How does worship fit into LIFE?

 

Often when I pray with my girls at breakfast time,

 I ask that God would help us

to worship Him with our lives that day.

 When I pray that, it’s because of the first verse in Romans chapter 12. 

The one that says,

“ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, 

in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, 

holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” 

The word for “worship” in this verse 

can also be translated as “service”. 

That’s intriguing to me.

 If I want to worship God in my normal daily life,

 (knowing that worship is the reason I even exist)

this verse has a key!  All my ordinary day long,

my physical body is doing something. 

So here’s the punch line – am I ultimately doing

all I’m doing for God? 

Because if what I’m doing is for God,

then the very actions of my physical body are worship to God. 

Now that’s cool. 

I don’t even have to be deliberately thinking about God

to be worshiping Him. 

By the power of Jesus Christ in me, my very LIFE

 can be an act of worship to Him. 

Every little thing can be done to glorify Him.  

(On the other hand, life can happen isn’t worship to God.

 I know this very well!  But that’s a whole different subject.)

 

The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossian people says it so well,

“… We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of

 his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,

 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord 

and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work,

 growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened 

with all power according to his glorious might 

so that you may have great endurance and patience, 

and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you 

to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness

 and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” 

Colossians 1:9-14

Worship Part One - Praising God though the Pain

"WORSHIP"

Is there picture or feeling this word brings to your mind?

 

Maybe you think of that feeling of awe when you experience

a breathtaking sunset knowing Who is Creator.

(I use the word experience because

knowing the beauty of it is something more than seeing.)

The smallness you feel when you stand on the top of a mountain

and look over the land below until it curves off the sphere of the earth.

Or that same feeling of smallness when you look up on a clear night

and know those sparkling specks are astonishingly gigantic balls of fire

 that are millions of light years away.

 

Maybe worship makes you think of the last time you were in church

singing about a God who left heaven and became man.

A man Who was wounded, pierced, and crushed for our sins. 

Maybe your hands raised in worship to this God

as you stopped singing because your throat was too tight

and a tear was slipping down your cheek.

These experiences are worship. 

These are beautiful times when worship is easy. 

When it just wells up because you know God’s goodness and majesty.

 

There are other times when worship is not easy.

 And yet we must worship.

 No, it will not look the same as the effortless worship that wells up in our souls.

 It is not painless.

These are the times when your heart is grieving.

 And still you trust the Lord’s goodness.

The times when your body is truly so weak and sick. 

And yet you believe God is faithful.

When life seems hopeless.

 But you cling to the Truth of the Word.

“Don't use your pain as an excuse not to worship;

you actually take your pain

and you bring it with you before the altar,

and you stand there with your pain and you say,

“Though all this is true, yet I will rejoice in You!”

 It is the highest form of worship that exists."

 (So sorry, I don’t know the author.)

I believe this. 

This is not mushy worship.

This is not a feeling that will leave when the singing stops.

This is where true surrender leaves you with peace in the pain.

Where yielding to God’s truth gives

hope that is deeper than the hurt.

 

I know personally the intense joy

of worshiping through the hard times.

 I know that it is not without pain.

Not without sacrifice.

 Not without total surrender. 

I would like to encourage anyone who might be

reading this while you’re going through your own sufferings.

Praise God right in the middle of your gut wrenching sobs.

There is nothing pretentious or artificial about this worship.

It is the real thing.

Worship Him for His goodness in the midst of your pain and weakness.

He is worthy of your worship.

Oh so WORTHY!

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually 

offer to God a sacrifice of praise

--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

Hebrews 13:15

Pastel - I Heart Faces Entry

“Pastel” is the theme for April at I Heart Faces.

I chose this photo of my Cassie Jo

and her soft yellow chick.

(This made the top ten!)

To see other entries click the

I Heart Faces button.

 

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com