Vacation Begins

Day 1 of vacation starts out hot and sticky which is quite a change from  six days of rain. We arrived at the camper last night to a beautiful evening that changed to thundershowers. I had been reading on our journey down, so I grabbed my jammies, put my feet up and continued reading until 10:00 p.m.

 I finished my second book by Maryann McFadden, "So Happy Together."
I love the way she skillfully gets inside the hearts of three generations of women. The first one I read by McFadden was the Book Lover, her current novel. The same themes run throughout: women, their relationships with themselves and each other, the strong sense of place, and romance.

My granddaughter, McKenna is with us and the next crew comes today, my son and his family.
 I will attempt to keep blogging but not making any promises :).

Week Three: Inner Excavate-Along

 

  Chapter 3 of Inner Excavation for the third week of Inner Excavate-along .

 My home reflects the things which I love. 

I gather:

Travel Dreams

Women in Prayer

Reminders That I Am One Part of the Whole

Old Things

Books, Books, Books

Memories

Movies With Heart

Photos on Walls, in Albums, on iPad, in camera etc.

My granddaughter posted a few photos of my home from her point of view over on McKenna K Designs & Doodles

Puddles, Phones, and Prayers

It has been raining for days! My new flower bed must be one big puddle by now. These beauties are loving it. The friend who gave them to me said they love the water. Apparently she was telling the truth.

I must admit that I am struggling with giving thanks for all this rain. We had to have the telephone company come today and replace our outside wires. They were old and cracked and the heavy rain was causing us to lose our phone connection.

On the positive side, it's a great day to read or catch up on computer work,the phone company didn't charge us, and my granddaughter arrives later today.

And these flowers are absolutely gorgeous, regardless of the rain.

I am, however, praying for sunshine next week when my whole family gathers for camping.

Thus Far...

Ten days ago, we penciled in, Meet for Prayer, June 25. Four of the 6 of us were able to make it.

Our Yada sisters group,as we have become known ( named after the original Yada Prayer Group) has evolved over the past year, losing two members, one to heaven, another to a different path. God has added two new women to our midst with very little transition, which is amazing!

Tonight, we shared some of the concerns and struggles going on in our lives.

"Now, let's hear what God has to say."
Those were the words out of my mouth as we went to prayer.

As the original Yadas, we began with worship and moved into prayer, ending up in 1 Samuel 7:12-17. This is the passage where Samuel declares, "Thus far has the Lord helped us." and he laid the Ebenezer stone as a remembrance.

We began to declare all that had come before this moment in our lives, Good!

God weaves all things together for good according to His plan and all things serve Him as we surrender it to Him.

The passage came alive and so did our worship. Our hearts were uplifted and the things we talked about earlier changed as our perspective shifted.

By the time we were finished, we were laughing and sighing and saying, " We heard from God."

One word from God can change your life forever :)

Sunday

 

Worshipped with Bethel App today , then on to church . 

Napped, read a little, now you know what I am doing. 

Rainy Sunday.

Mufffin Mindfulness

 

 Rainy Saturday morning felt like hot muffins. As I was mashing bananas I started thinking about using my senses as in Inner Excavation, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a picture of the mashed bananas.

 

This is a bit of a process because I replace a few ingredients to make them gluten free and lower fat.

While putting the mixture in the tins, I was looking out my kitchen window thinking that I might get a few good pictures after the rainy night . I set the timer, popped the pan in the oven and went outside.

 

I came in the door to the timer going off. Mouth watering, donning potholders, I pulled the muffins from the oven. 

"What is wrong with these? " 

Thinking back I realized that in my haste I had forgotten to put in the baking powder and baking soda. They tasted like glue and looked like it too.

In the trash they went.

 

Thankfully, I had one lonely muffin in my freezer. Hot from the microwave, buttered with honey and paired with white ginger tea, result was yummy.

The only problem now is that I have to make another batch tomorrow.

One other teaching of  Inner Excavate is to be present in the moment. 

One lesson at a time please.

A Week in Review

I just finished eating supper and thought I would write a quick post.

This has been a productive week and I actually had time to enjoy some quiet time, paying attention to my senses for Inner Excavate-Along.

Hubby and I began the week on Sunday with family. Grampy got his share of hugs :)

I avoided starting a new novel because I wanted to read my two new non-fiction books. More on that in a later post.

I booted up my laptop and wrote, which hasn't happened in a long time.

Today a friend came over and we dug up a new flower bed. I wasn't sure I would survive that one. So hot!

Regular stuff like office work, laundry and working out twice at the gym completed my days, yet I still found time to give myself a pedicure.

Truthfully, I am tired tonight.

There's a glimpse of my week in review.

Just Because

I am going out to sit in the sun for awhile and I wasn't sure what to blog today.

I love this picture so I am posting it just because.

Two Words

A few days ago I posted a picture of my beautiful Peony in blossom. See June 14. This is that same flower prior to its opening. Before that it was a tight green bud, covered in ants. I called my friend and she said that was normal, but it wasn't until this week that someone told me they won't bloom unless the ants eat the outer green coating off. You can still see a bit of that skin around the edges here.

Week 2 of Inner Excavate-Along includes a meditation of the senses. I call them "be still & know" times (Psalm 46). As I was sitting quietly, breathing and listening and asking simple, one of the books I'd purchased over the weekend came to mind.
It is Holly Gerth's book, "You're Already Amazing."

I read chapter one and began to answer the questions in the back of the book for that chapter.

Two words spoke into my spirit.

The first is mended.

I thought about the day to day journey of life and walking with the Lord. I may have posted a year or so ago about the scripture in the last chapter of Hebrews that talks about Jesus equipping us. The word for equip is the same root word in the Greek as used in Matthew 4 where the disciples are mending their nets. The NIV says "preparing." It literally means "to mend by stitching.
Anyone who has done any sewing or quilting or handcrafts knows the labor of hands-on love that goes into this process.

Why would the immense God, who created and controls the universe, take the time to create a flower that can only blossom when the ants eat away the outer covering?

Why does He mend with stitches when He can heal instantly?

We, as artists, writers, crafters, women, know the love of the journey- not merely the finished product.
We are created in His image. He, too, loves the journey with us. With me.

My second word is Cherished.

Green Light

My iPad was on my lap. As we approached the toll booth, I touched the camera app, lifted the iPad, and snapped three pictures. For my granddaughter, this would be normal but for me, unusual.

We passed through the booth and I reached into my bag for a book to occupy the next stage of our journey.
I pulled out Inner Excavation and began reading Chapter 2.

Sharp intake of breath...

Looking at the past. Here I was headed to a reunion with a childhood friend I hadn't seen for 45 years. Staring at the past.

I spent many years of my life either hindered by my past or struggling to get free. Last year was my Disencumbering. My thought was, "I don't want to return to focus on the past."

In the same moment, the photo I had just taken ...

The green light with the word etched within, "thank you."

No ordinary moment.

As I move into this week of chapter two, I am sensing a shift in perspective, in knowing my past.

Eucharisteo.
Giving of thanks.
Moving forward.

Reunion

Several years ago, a childhood chum sent a letter to an old address of mine, which somehow made its way to me. We began to write a couple of times a year and send a few pictures.

Rebecca, aka Becky, and I grew up together in Ohio. We lost touch when I moved to Maine at age 15. Later Becky married and moved to Colorado.

Recently she sent me a letter( she doesn't have Internet) saying she and her husband were coming to the east coast for a graduation. Could we meet up? I replied a resounding YES!

Yesterday we met at the Kittery Trading Post, 6 hours south of my home in the northern tip of Maine. We settled on to a bench in the lobby and spent the next two hours getting reacquainted, sharing stories and pictures of grandchildren. It was amazing!

What a roller coaster week this has been!

Changing Viewpoint

How long has it been since you lay on the ground and looked up at the sky?

Sunday afternoon, there were two chairs around the mini-campfire my hubby made to keep the bugs away. Both were occupied, so I plopped down on the grass with my book. A few minutes later, I lay back, feeling the cool soil beneath my body, eyes transfixed on  the striking blue of the sky.

Peace surrounded me.

Sometimes we simply need a change of perspective to step into peace.

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He restores my soul." Psalm 23

Homegoing

Today our little town celebrated the life of a prayer warrior who recently went home to be with the Lord.

 It was a picture perfect day with blue skies and breezes to keep the black flies at bay. The service was held at the graveside, where many people, young and old shared how Jo touched each life. I don't think she ever met a person she didn't pray for.

At one point in the service, I felt like prayer mantles were silently falling upon us.

I heard someone say recently,"Celebrate each life you come in contact with."

I don't think we realize how precious the most ordinary person is. I know I don't.

 Open my eyes, Lord.

I Begin

I
begin
again

despite guilt for time wasted

fear of failure hovering

duty glaring.

I begin to pardon myself
for all words unwritten, photos untaken, joys walked away from.

I have the audacity
to
begin again.

Photo Shoot

I am dedicating this blog post to my amazing granddaughter who helped fashion my new blog header.

She positioned me for snapshots, took the pictures and helped me load them from my iPad to my laptop. Then her creative eye assisted in selecting the right photos.

Having her beside me in the process removed the stress and added laughter to the mix :)

Check out her blog at http://mckennakdesignsdoodles.blogspot.com/.