We’ve had some very heavy rain lately, with flash flood warnings. That seems like nothing compared to the devastation we watched on the news this morning in Oklahoma. As I sat there in my plaid flannel nightgown with a hot cup of tea in warmth and safety, I prayed for the people there, especially those who have lost children. What can people like Michael and me do for those who are suffering? At this stage of our lives, all I know to do is pray and send money. And to not take for granted this day we’re given, because there are no guarantees that we won’t be the ones needing help and comfort another time.

On to more trivial things — Michael and I bought a juicer recently. We’ve watched several mind-blowing movies that have opened the door of my previously tightly closed mind just a crack, and I’m incorporating a few new things into our days that I would never have considered before.

Part of my motivation stems from some obvious signs in past years that my immune system is lagging. I’ve written before about how I was diagnosed with an immune system disease in 2002 called Sarcoidosis, which thankfully went into remission (or disappeared completely!) after about a year. But now when I can’t get over a cold without it turning into a weeks-long infection that needs major pharmaceutical intervention? Not good.

When my children were very young I was a whole foods kind of mom, and they didn’t eat sugar and most refined foods. We ate lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. When we moved to Minnesota I began to let things slide because the food culture here was so different from Southern California. And I guess it has been downhill ever since. We still eat fruits, vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, love salads and eat whole grains, but I have become lax in many ways regarding meal prep.

After watching this, this, this, and (be forewarned there’s a bit of language in this,), I’m trying to make one green juice a day for Michael and me. I love green vegetables and crave salads, but drinking anything green and grassy smelling has always made me gag. To successfully down a green drink would usually take me thirty minutes and lots of begging God. Michael used to drink Barley Green every day and loved it — he’s not put off by the agricultural fragrance or flavor of green drinks at all.

But I got me some people I need to take care of. And I got me-my-own-self I need to take care of. So I squinched my eyes shut and clicked on the “buy” button on amazon, and our juicer arrived a couple of days later.

Here’s what we’ve been having, and because of the fruit in it, I can actually drink it down within three minutes (Michael guzzles his) and still be standing upright and smiling afterward:

Organic Green Juice

4-6 large kale or Swiss chard leaves (I cannot believe I am actually typing those words)
1 peeled cucumber
4 stalks celery
1 cup strawberries
1 Granny Smith apple
1 piece ginger root
1 handful fresh parsley

I have added the juice of a lemon at times and have also used organic romaine, which is a bit milder than the kale. Today I’m actually soaking some chia seeds to use in tomorrow’s juice.

I also still eat pizza, drink milk very occasionally, and had a Culver’s Butterburger last week, so the changes I’m making are very slow changes. But it can’t hurt us to add an enzyme-rich, vitamin and mineral-rich green drink to our diets, and we’ll see how it makes us feel and whether or not we experience any really noticeable health differences.

I’ve also read many times from different sources that our American diets cause our bodies to be very acidic, and eating foods that are alkalizing is a good thing. So Michael and I have been drinking melon smoothies, and we LOVE them. Three ingredient yumminess!

1.  I cut up a ripe honeydew melon into ice-cube sized chunks and freeze them.

2.  When it’s time for a smoothie I let the honeydew chunks thaw for about 15-20 minutes, just until they’re not rock hard anymore.

3.  In a blender or Nutribullet (we have both and the latter works better for this) I pour unsweetened almond milk and a little honey, and blend it for a few seconds.

4. Then the honeydew chunks can be thrown in and blended until completely smooth, and more almond milk can be added until the mixture is pourable.

I can’t tell you how rich and refreshing this tastes to us.

So enough about juices and smoothies, now I want to tell you something cute and funny. We had our 10 year-old grandson Mr. McBoy over for two nights recently, and we had such a good time with him. I taught him how to play Gin Rummy, he beat me at Farkle, we read books together, listened to G.T. and the Halo Express CDs while the rain beat against the windows, and just enjoyed each other’s company. On Saturday evening I asked Mr. McBoy if he would massage my feet for me (he is known for his strong hands and cheerful willingness to give hand and foot rubs), and he readily agreed. I thought five minutes would be generous of him, but he rubbed my hands and forearms, ankles and neck, and then offered to rub my back if I would lay down on the floor while Grandpa watched Gunsmoke nearby. I did. After a few minutes of my teetering on the edge of a blissful coma, Mr. McBoy said, “Grandma, I don’t mean to be gross but if you want, I can massage lower on your back, near your gelatinous magnus.”

Oh yes. How apt.

You know what he was trying to say, don’t you? I chuckled and said, “You mean my gluteus maximus?” and he giggled when he realized his mispronunciation and said, “Oh yeah, I meant that.”

I declined his offer, but I think I’ll always remember what he said. It will be something we’ll get a kick over many years from now. I told Mr. McBoy that gelatinous magnus is probably a much more accurate term for my backside than the correct anatomical term.

I love a good malapropism (the act of using an incorrect word in place of one that is similar in pronunciation), don’t you?

I know a little girl who used to say “I don’t want to take anything for granite.” I have a friend who heard someone else comment in a theater while watching Schindler’s List: “Oh how sad, look at all those emancipated people!” I have someone in my own home who says, “It’s cold outside and I need to get all bumbled up!”

How about you? Can you think of a malapropism you’ve heard or one you’ve said yourself? If yes, why don’t you sit right down on your gelatinous magnus and leave a comment telling us what it is?

I can’t wait to read all the perpendiculars!

Did you have a nice Mother’s Day on Sunday? If you’re a mom, did someone give you a card or a hug? If your mom is still living, did you spend time with her or give her a call?

My daughters blessed me on Mother’s Day with cards, a soup/salad cookbook, lip gloss, and some home-fried corn tortilla chips, homemade salsa and homemade guacamole to munch on while we visited. That was my mouthwatering Mother’s Day dinner — piles of fresh salsa with cilantro or chunky guac balanced on still-warm chips, about seventy-nine of them, with some iced tea. Yum.

My own beautiful mama died in February of 1993, so it’s been a long time since I’ve picked out a Mother’s Day card. I think of her so often, and thought in her honor I’d share some things she taught me:

1.  Always cook twice as much food as you need at every meal, just in case an army stops by unannounced. I think Tupperware was invented for my mom, because she was unable to make a meal without a huge heap of leftovers. She was definitely one of those 1950s/1960s moms who showed her love by serving good food, with second and third helpings urged.

2.  One of the joys in life is to take a drive in the cool of the evening while eating an ice cream cone from 31 Flavors. I was the youngest of three children, but I was born late in life to my parents, and I thought going for a drive was totally boring. What does a seven year old want to do with her free time? Probably not sit in the backseat of a behemoth Buick LeSabre station wagon for two hours while her parents gawk at fields, trees, houses and flowers. I think that’s why ice cream was always involved, so they could bribe me to go along without pouting. Now that I’m older, I love taking drives too. It’s always a treat for Michael and me to take a drive up the North Shore of Lake Superior — the blue splendor never gets old.

3.  Little girls’ hair looks best without bangs. My mother could have started a rabid anti-bang movement had her personality been a little more fiery. You can see here and here how her “foreheads should been seen and not covered” philosophy was enforced with her only daughter.

4.  Blues and greens are classic, soothing colors to decorate with. In our home we had avocado green carpeting, a blue and green floral couch, a deep blue velvet chair and ottoman, dark green painted kitchen cabinets, blue and green kitchen wallpaper, textured blue wallpaper in our foyer, blue and green glass grapes on our coffee table, and a dark green recliner in the living room. I didn’t pay much attention then, but those colors must have seeped by osmosis into my bone marrow because to this day they’re my favorites.

5.  Always buy Duncan Hines cake mixes, never Betty Crocker or Pillsbury. I rarely make a cake with a mix, but when I do, I’m a total Duncan Hines snob, turning my nose up at the other brands in the baking aisle. There really is a difference.

6.  Doing something artistic or creative each week feeds the soul. My mother had creativity oozing from her pores. She was musical, artistic, and crafty. She had long slender fingers that danced over our Hammond B-3 organ keyboard and she could of course read music but never needed to. Once she played a song, it was in her brain forever and she could play it thereafter in any key. She loved taking classes to learn how to china paint, macrame, decoupage, and knit. I still have china plates hanging in my house that were her first attempt at painting, that look like a master did them. She loved needlepoint and rug hooking and sewing. I didn’t know it then, but I can see now that my mother loved beauty, and was innately drawn to create beauty in our home.

7.  Morro Bay, California, with its huge, brooding rock and morning fog, is one of the best places on earth. While my friends who had younger parents were being taken on water-skiing vacations to Lake Nacimiento or to beach houses in San Diego, my parents loved the little central coastal town of Morro Bay. It was sleepy, foggy, cooler than our city in Los Angeles County, and they dreamed of living there someday. They both eventually did, but only after they divorced.

8.  A clean, clutter-free house really does make life easier in the long run. I was not a fan of my mother’s clean-up-a-mess-as-you-go policy when I was little, preferring instead to “store” things under my bed or in the back of my closet. Today, clutter-free is what I crave, and I think a little maintenance every day is better than an exhausting overhaul once a month.

9.  Grandchildren are some of the greatest treasures God gives. Had there been such a title, my mom would have worn the sash and crown awarded to The Ultimate Grandmother Supreme of the Universe. She loved her grandbabies, sacrificially devoted her time to them, taught them how to cook and bake, powdered their bottoms with Estee Lauder dusting powder after a bath (“because they’ll sleep better if they’re dry and powdered!”), and had them spend the night often. I wish I were half the grandma she was.

10. Being a good friend means listening, laughing, encouraging, sharing, remembering, and being real. In spite of her many gifts, my mom wasn’t an overly confident person. It’s like she was unaware of how deeply she was affecting peoples’ lives. I thought having 100 friends was a normal thing when I was a little girl, because both my parents knew how to be loyal friends and were sought out by many people. I look back in my memories now and see that my mother somehow always made her friends feel as though they were her favorites. And she wasn’t duplicitous at all so it’s not like she planned this. I think each friend truly was her favorite friend; she knew them well and made time for them and laughed and cried with them. After my parents’ divorce and my mother’s nine-month emotional collapse, my mom’s loving and generous employer Helen Hasabales hosted a Virginia Sooter Day, to help welcome Mom back to work as an organist, and to the land of the living, basically. Over one-thousand people signed the guest book on that day. I will never forget how my humble mama touched lives, mostly without ever knowing it.

So I guess I have a few of these lessons my mom taught me down pat. I have tested her Duncan Hines theory numerous times and totally agree. Morro Bay is truly a wonderful little town and I wish I could visit more often. Have any of you been to Morro Bay? And having grandchildren is one of the happiest things that has ever happened to me.

But many things my mother demonstrated I am only now beginning to learn. Hopefully.

How about you? What are some things your mom taught you?

Today is Sharing Day at Community Bible Study, the final day and celebration that closes 30 weeks of study. We studied Mark and Ephesians this year, and it has been marvelous. Next year we’ll be spending our 30 weeks in Daniel, Job and 1 & 2 Peter.

The leadership from our class will do a song at Sharing Day that I can barely get through without sobbing. Tears stream down my face every time we sing it. I don’t think any song better depicts what CBS is all about.

It’s called “Ancient Words” and is sung by one of my favorites, Robin Mark.

Have you heard the song? It makes me want to take up my Bible with more reverence and awe than I do.

If you have never attended CBS, you can click here to see if there’s a class near you. This fall will begin my 16th year and nothing has ever affected my spiritual life more.

Have a blessed week!

If you have visited my blog regularly, you may have come to recognize some of the names of the friends who comment here. It always makes me happy when a commenter acknowledges another person’s comments or offers encouragement. I’ve seen this happen on other blogs as well, as if a tiny community of people who haven’t met springs up under His name and love.

Today I’m going to share a prayer request with you, from my dear friend Kay who lives in Cornwall, in the south of England. She and her husband Alan are sincere believers who live a quiet life, face some serious health problems with cheerfulness and trust in God, and who have recently gone through a very difficult thing. With her permission, here are Kay’s words:

‘I believe that the enemy strikes out at us in various ways. In my experience I’ve found that he tends to spot my weak points and attacks them one-by-one. In the past I’ve been attacked financially, through bullying at work, health issues and loneliness, to name a few.

However the latest attack is related to a tradesman who has taken £865 from us and has not done the work. He has given us EIGHTEEN excuses and has had three phone calls from the police about this matter, and still he continues to dangle us on a string, so to speak.

Because this is basically a civil matter, we could take months pursuing this debt and still end up with nothing in return.

We have lost a large amount of money and although we are not rich, to be totally frank, God has indeed provided us with all we need. So, in a way, it’s not so much the amount of money that hurts, it’s more that I feel that my husband and I have been taken for fools. And I know that is a pride matter which is sin. But, even though I know my error, it feels like my ‘spark’, my joy, has been taken from me. I have suffered depression in the past and right now I can feel it’s trying to overcome me again.

I don’t ask for prayer for the return of the money, I ask for prayer for protection against depression.’

So, dear readers, will you pray for Kay and Alan? I am praying not only for what Kay has requested — that her joy and spark would return, but that this money stolen from them will be repaid.

I invite you to leave a comment to let Kay know you’ll be praying, even if it’s just a word or two. Or maybe God will impress a scripture on your heart to share with her….

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  Ephesians 6:18

Thank you and God bless you all….

Last week Michael and I drove 2 1/2 hours south to Stillwater, Minnesota to do several things. One thing was to have a special templated MRI for my upcoming minimally invasive total knee replacement surgery on June 10th. I laid absolutely still in a huge noisy donut for ten minutes and then the MRI was completed. Since my dear friend Su and I are on this Knee Adventure together, she and her husband Danny also drove down because her MRI appointment was right before mine.

After those appointments the four of us grabbed a quick dinner at Chipotle Mexican Grill, which was delicious. For those who might still say TACK-o for taco, Chipotle is pronounced chi-POTE-lay and not chi-PO-tul.

Then we checked into our gracious and beautiful bed and breakfast room at The Aurora Staples Inn, where we were warmly greeted at the door by the proprietor, Cathy. Cathy gave us a short tour of this elegant manse, saw us to our rooms, and invited us downstairs to the library where yummy appetizers were waiting for us.

Michael and I stayed in the lovely Giverny Suite, and below is a photo taken from the doorway. Whenever we stay someplace new I like to walk around the place and take in all the details, the views from the windows, the paintings on the walls, the books on the mantel or the magazines on the coffee table, the cleanliness of the bathroom (yes, it’s true). The first order of the day for Michael is to immediately try out the bed and pronounce whether or not it will give us a good night’s sleep. Neither of us were disappointed. There were so many things to appreciate in this inn and in our room, and the bed was great. You can click to enlarge the photos if you like.

Just to the right in the picture above was a corner gas fireplace, and since the weather in Stillwater was not what we expected for May, we enjoyed the warmth of a fire most of the time we were in our room. If you check out the website to the inn and look at the different rooms, you can see The St. Croix Suite, which is where Danny and Su stayed, right across the hall from us.

Here’s a photo of the inn, but you’ll have to picture it in different weather — while we were there it snowed a bit overnight, sleeted and rained, and the wind blew the chill into our bones, so the strolling we had planned for quaint downtown Stillwater was cut short.

Su and I were scheduled to attend a two-hour exercise and informational class from 5:30 – 7:30 that evening, so we all went downstairs to the library for our welcome appetizer before we headed out.

Since we had just eaten an early dinner we weren’t very hungry and I felt bad for wasting Cathy’s efforts for us, but to sit with friends we’ve known and loved for decades and to enjoy this serene and beautifully appointed setting seemed like such a gift.

Spouses were encouraged to attend the class, so Danny and Michael came with us. The room was filled with over-55 folks who were scheduled for either knee or hip surgeries. I was so glad we went, because I learned a lot and felt even more certain about my decision to have this particular surgeon and hospital for my ordeal. Su felt very reassured too. A Physical Therapist and an ortho nurse went through all the details of what we can expect, how we can prepare for surgery, and what recovery will be like.

The contraption in the distance at the right in the photo below is a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine, and when we’re not doing physical therapy, walking up and down the aisles of the hospital (within hours of surgery) and occupational therapy, our legs and knees will be bent and straightened while we’re resting in bed. For a photo of how it looks, click here.

I’ve been doing my exercises and a few of them make my right knee burn like fire, but in this very short time I can actually feel a difference. There’s less pain and more stability, and more range of motion. With such dramatic results, I might have been tempted to just do the exercises for a month and forego the surgery, except for the icky-looking deformity that makes my lower leg splay away from the center now. My valgus angle isn’t as bad as this photo, but this will give you an idea what I’m trying to describe.

Back at the inn, this is a picture of the landing on the second floor right outside our suite. I thought it was so nice that they keep that little corner refrigerator filled with treats for their guests.

The Aurora Staples Inn has handsome woodwork everywhere, and wallpaper that makes a guest feel like they’ve taken a step back in time. Or a thousand steps back in time. This view below was on the landing. Look at the gorgeous inlaid floors too.

Breakfast was at 9:00, so we got to sleep in — yay! Out of habit Michael and I woke very early, but to be able to stay in bed and read by the warmth of our fire was divine. I read a Psalm out loud and we talked about how grateful we are to know the Lord is always with us, how He sustains us, opposes our enemies for us, and draws us to Himself.

When we came down to the dining room our places were set and Cathy served us the most delectable fresh fruit parfaits with yogurt and granola, and then a baked French toast dish with blueberry sauce. I had no room for the petite dessert offered but I’m sure it was a delight to the eyes and the taste buds.

It’s just so nice to be expected, isn’t it? Cathy took every care to make us not only feel welcome, but expected. A Keurig coffee maker with fresh water set up in the parlor, books and games for the borrowing, a generous appetizer, friendly sharing during breakfast, the fridge stocked with treats, a tray with a pot of coffee placed quietly outside our door each morning…we felt tenderly pampered.

Su and I have been friends since 1980. She was the matron of honor when I married Michael, and I was the matron of honor when she married Danny. There’s a peaceful comfort that often comes in friendships that have lasted so long. I never feel like I have to be super perky and well-behaved around Su, because she loves me no matter what. And I think she feels the same kind of ease with me. We have known each other during some very unperky times, and the Lord’s faithfulness to us has been great.

Danny will be Su’s caregiver when her surgery is over and she’s recuperating at home. He’s one of the best men we know.

Michael and I slept later than usual, but I think both of us look permanently ty-ode. Nights can be challenging these days, especially in unfamiliar places.

Su and I have 32 days until our surgeries. Will our hospital rooms be right next to each other? Will we race our walkers down the hall together? Will we text each other about how bad the hospital food is? Will our pain meds make us goofy and foster some giggly memories?

Stay tuned, and I just might share about it here. Exciting stuff, people.

God bless your weekend, dear friends and family….

“If you cannot find time to pray, ask for forgiveness. Ask to be cleansed of the sin of having no time to pray…

…it could be that Satan is pushing you into too much work so that you cannot take time to pray.”

– Corrie Ten Boom

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I just read an article in our local paper about how a small company has opened a Segway tour business in our city. They will offer guided tours on the beautiful miles-long Lakewalk of Lake Superior, which I always say is our treasure. People from all over Minnesota drive to be near Lake Superior, and I’ve never grown tired of living close to it myself.

When you see it in person for the first time it’s staggering how huge it is. Growing up with plenty of opportunities to see the Pacific Ocean, I was speechless when I first laid eyes on Lake Superior in 1981, and gasped to Michael, “What’s that?”  Ahem. It’s a vast body of water, the largest freshwater lake in the world, and it looks like an ocean. And it still takes my breath away 32 years later.

So a chance to have a new experience and ride a Segway near the Lake sounds absolutely fantastic to me. People will have to ride single file and go fairly slow, helmets will be required, and everyone will wear a device that allows them to hear the guide share historical facts about our gorgeous part of the country.

I do like to walk on the Lakewalk near Lake Superior too, but I’ve had this teeny-tiny knee issue for a couple of years now and walking through a grocery store to buy raspberries, corn tortillas, eggs and canned pinto beans is about what I can manage without knashing my teeth.

Hopefully my teeth will shout hallelujah when my knee replacement surgery is over and all my physical therapy is complete and I’ll feel like walking long distances again.

Anyway, after I read about the Segways, I thought about the things I would like to do, but don’t, because of one excuse or another. Some of my excuses are presently legitimate, like the aforementioned knee that makes powder of my bones when I walk long distances. But I’m a fairly adventurous person even if few people would ever suspect this because of my stay-at-home hermit-like tendencies. Even as a little girl I used to plunge into the cold, mighty, thundering Pacific and swim so far out past the waves, when I turned and looked toward the shore the people looked like colored dots.

Here are a few things I would love to do:

Ride a Segway
Cycle long distances
Swim every day
Learn to high dive (I can do front and back flips now)
Water ski
Teach a class
Drive a Sea-doo on our Lake
Zip line through a forest in Alaska
Ride a pleasant, dependable horse
Para-sail
Buy a Vespa and use it for short errands
Be in another book club
Learn to love the taste of raw juices
Skydive from a plane, but only if Jesus Himself told me ahead of time that I would land safely

And conversely, there are a few things I would never want to try, no matter what. They are:

Mountain climbing
Rappelling
Working diligently to acquire a taste for alcohol
Driving a race car
Roller blading
Flying on a trapeze
Smoking
Raising Pit Bull Terriers
Spelunking
Starting a catering business
Scuba diving

So hey, what are some things you would try if you knew the outcome would be just fine?

What are some things you would never be interested in doing, no matter what?

I know that sometime soon I’ll be taking a Segway tour. At least it’s a start….

When I was a sophomore (age 15) at Covina High School in Southern California, one of my classes was Creative Writing with Mrs. Geneva Knutsen. She was a lovely, smiling, stately woman who wore a blonde wig, glided slowly and gracefully around the classroom, and spoke in composed whispers.

I have a notebook from that class that I’ve kept over the years, primarily because it makes me smile. It’s filled with the semester’s assignments, our attempts at sonnets and essays and contemporary poetry.

One day Mrs. Knutsen passed each of us a different picture or illustration clipped from a magazine. Our assignment was to write a poem or story to go with that picture.

Here is the illustration I was given (which I cut in two so I could fit it on one page, along with my typing from our IBM Correcting Selectric), and my poetic attempt that went with it (click to enlarge, and you might be able to click twice to enlarge more):

I have one word: sheesh.

Michael and I will be traveling soon, heading south the the place where I’ll have an MRI on my right knee in preparation for my upcoming surgery.

And guess what? Snow is in tonight’s forecast. It’s May 1st, and it might snow.

Have a wonderful week,

Good Monday morning! I am on day five of an antibiotic and feeling better. As I said before, I try very hard not to take antibiotics because I don’t want to alter my gut flora if I don’t have to. Do you try to preserve your gut flora too? I know my friend Carey is very diligent about hers. I’ve been drinking Kefir every day to to try ensure that some good bacteria will still stay on in my body while the antibiotic is using its big guns on the bad stuff. I’m so thankful to be up and around and not feeling like life is literally ebbing out of my body. Michael caught the bug and got well. Sara caught the bug and got well. I was not getting better, which clearly does not bode well for the state of my immune system, but this was not a huge surprise to me. I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis over a decade ago and that is an immune system disease. I got sick with Sarc right after I was pressured to have a Hepatitis vaccination (another thing I’m wary about) because of our line of work. Years later I read that Sarcoidosis was increasing in medical personnel who had been vaccinated against Hepatitis. But….this is not going to be one of those old lady posts where I outline all the things wrong with my health.

Being a bit behind after 3 weeks of sinus infection and a titch of pneumonia, I have at least 3-5 things to attend to every day of this week except Friday. A crazy week ahead that I wish I could pare down, but all the appointments are mandatory. I just felt like getting on the blog here and saying hello and posting a photo of an arrangement my daughter Sara created recently.

It’s a fabulous table-top arrangement made of flowers, leaves and limes. And a succulent or two, and some dry stuff. She’s not here right this minute or I would have her give me the proper names for all these elements below — I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t say “flowers, leaves, limes and some dry stuff.”

Anyway, I thought of how life is like this. Don’t we all have some gorgeous figurative florals in our lives, those things that take our breath away and make us so happy we’re able to see and appreciate the glimpses of beauty we’re given? Like friends? Grandchildren? Stunning sunrises? The love and mercy of God?

And don’t we all have some figurative leaves in our lives? Just plain green things that are all around us and often go unnoticed because they’re just always there in abundance? Like air to breathe? Like ordinary duties to tend to day in and day out? Like messes that have to be cleaned and food that has to be prepared?

And how about limes? Do you have some limes in your life? I don’t mean literal limes, I’m talking about those things in our lives that are nourishing but are a little hard to swallow. Things like hardship that has been allowed because it will make us more loving and patient if we bear it while staying close to the Lord. Irregular people can be limes in our lives. I hope I’m not somebody’s lime, but I think I might be! Being in God’s waiting room while praying in hope and expectancy can be a lime-like thing. It’s good for you, but not your first choice.

I think we can take the beautiful blooms and the ordinary leaves and the sour limes we’ve been given, and let God make a beautiful arrangement from them. Sometimes he’ll use some succulents too, as in the photo above — things that grow even though the rain is scarce. And what if He throws in some dry stuff? Can’t dry stuff that isn’t very pretty or useful on its own add to the beauty? I think it can! I have plenty of dry stuff in my life that I’m hoping He uses for His glory.

I can think of one thing that should not be used in a unique arrangement like the one above. Anything moldy. That would have to be thrown out right away, so it doesn’t ruin the rest of the stuff. So while the Lord might use flowers and leaves and limes, I’m pretty sure He wants moldy or rotting things thrown out immediately. Lies, complaining, bitterness, cruelty, unfaithfulness…those sorts of things that never add to the beauty.

Anyway, this weekend Su and I will be having our MRIs to prepare for our June 10th knee replacement surgeries. Then we have to attend an exercise class to help us prepare for good recoveries by strengthening our muscles now. I think that would be a lime — a little hard to take, but very nourishing.

I pray you have a blessed week. Thank you for stopping by here.

What are the flowers, leaves, limes, or even dry stuff in your unique and gorgeous life arrangement?

When I was a teen, there were some people my parents knew who were predicting that World War III was just around the corner. My parents weren’t buying it, but I recall reading the Xeroxed words of this prophecy of sorts, and feeling disquieted and unsure. What would World War III do to our country, our planet, or even our family?

Just a year or two later, my parents’ thirty-one year marriage ended, and the aftershocks from that event felt worse to me than any war.

There’s so much that threatens our stability. Wars, rumors of wars, famines, plagues, recession. Drought, illness, divorce, infidelity. Addiction, selfishness, pride, worshiping at the altar of self. Isolation, deception, poverty, dishonesty, greed. And I’m sure you could probably add a few of your own thoughts about what threatens a person’s stability.

My own sin can undermine my stability. My prideful tendency to face the day in my own strength instead of humbly relying on the Lord minute by minute to guide me and enable me to love and care for those in my home, this feels unstable and precarious.

Here’s where I go when I’m beginning to feel a little wobbly, a tad bit unstable in my ways of thinking and doing.

It’s my place of refuge in our bedroom, the big overstuffed chair by the windows that overlook Lake Superior two blocks away. And sometimes I turn the chairs so I can just spend time looking out over the water. I do my Community Bible Study here. I enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart (Psalm 100:4) by writing in my gratitude journal here. I think most of you have been named in that journal. I sometimes write out my prayers here, calling out to God to help us and to have mercy on all the ones I love. This is a place of praise. And it’s a place of quiet, where I try to be still and know that He is God.

Here’s the passage of scripture I’m meditating on today:

He is your constant source of stability;
He abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;
He gives all this to those who fear him.

Isaiah 33:6 — The New English Translation

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I know a woman whose special place to meet with the Lord is in her car. I know another who prays when she gardens or shovels snow. I have a friend who begins her day talking to the Lord and praising Him in the shower. I have another friend whose small bedroom has become her altar. Most of us have heard the account of how Susannah Wesley’s meeting place with the Lord was underneath her apron, pulled over her head. Where do you go most often to meet with the Lord?

How thankful I am today that no matter what theatens to undo us or to steal our joy and peace, there is always a place we can go to meet with the One who is our constant source of stability.

Blessings,