That we are exceedingly messy?  That we need more shoe trees?  That we don’t have enough closets?  That we have seven dozen children in our family?  That we like to go barefoot?  That we have too many adults living in this house?  That we are shoe sculptors?

So I ask you:

What does this picture, taken recently just inside our back door, really say about us?

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Two summers ago a friend of my daughter’s introduced her to a Christian singer/musician I had never heard of — Josh Garrels. Sara shared the music with Michael and me. At first listen I thought his lyrics were thoughtful and deep but wasn’t sure his style was something a middle-aged person like myself would ever truly enjoy. But I was wrong. The more I listened to the music of Josh Garrels, the more I liked it. Now he’s one of my favorite artists, and has been put into the category of “CDs I would immediately buy without first listening to,” because whatever his songs say, I need to hear.

If you’ve never heard of Josh Garrels, there’s a short, informative bio of him here.

His latest album is called “Love & War & the Sea In Between,” and he’s giving it away free. The entire album. As Sara and I were listening to it together the other night she commented after a while, “Who gives their albums away these days?” I think the fact that he isn’t after money and fame speaks something very profound in this age we live in. There aren’t many people who wouldn’t have a go at either if given the chance.

So I’m posting my favorite song (so far) from Josh’s new album. It’s called “Farther Along” and I think everyone needs to hear it. The lyrics make me cry almost every time I listen, and they speak a truth that those going through difficult times could be comforted by.

If you know someone who might like to have Josh Garrels’ new album, you can direct them to www.JoshGarrels.com. It’s downloadable and postable in many forms.

In the meantime, turn up your speakers and follow the lyrics as you listen to this song, which tells us all we can hold on a little longer, that we can help others be of good cheer because we know that the mighty God of love has everything under calm control, no matter how things appear in the world around us or in our own little lives.

Farther Along

(Chorus)
Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man dies, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because He loves ’em both
We’re all castaways in need of rope
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gate
Leading mice and men down to their fate
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

There’s so much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That dead weight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness, alright

Chorus

But still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like truth and a pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left to go
‘Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
There’s more glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levees and my bluffs
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the Son of God He’s forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Chorus

*        *        *        *        *

Thanks for reading, and have a blessed week…

This morning.

Look closely….in the big maple tree outside my office window (click on the photos to enlarge)…

A little further in…

Now you see him…

Breathtaking!

A reminder to me of God’s faithfulness….

For those of you who have an abundance of cardinals in your area, you might understand why a cardinal in our city, on our block, in our yard, in our maple tree, sitting for a long time right outside our office window, is a big deal. If you know us, you know where we live in MN, and according to this map that shows the habitats of the Northern Cardinal, these beautiful songbirds aren’t even supposed to be in our part of the state. And a little south of us, only one or two birds per acre are usually counted.

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalm 5:1-3

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

It always helps to look up…

“God is not impressed with religious duty; he is more interested in our spiritual gratitude. The Lord is always looking for the heart that is effusive in expressing thanks for his great mercies.  Even Romans 1:21 warns that God gave sinful man over to his own wickedness because ‘he neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.’ ”

“Purpose today to pour out your gratitude to God for every small and great mercy.”

Joni Eareckson Tada

*          *          *          *          *          *          *

Very early in the morning on June 28, 1981, I was preparing to marry a man I’d spent time with only once.

He was 32 and I was 23. We met because of his Aunt Yvonne, who was my dear friend at Beale Air Force Base in northern California, when I was married to the man who would eventually leave me and our two daughters.

A couple of years later, I got to know Michael through the mail and daily phone calls. After our three-month, long-distance courtship, we were married in a small ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, in Los Osos, California. My daughters and I moved from Southern California to start a life with him in northeastern Minnesota, and I’ve felt at home here ever since.

You can see a picture of Michael and me on our wedding day by clicking here.

Here’s what I thought I knew about Michael on June 28, 1981:

He was handsome.
Hardworking.
A devoted Christian who really had a thing for Jesus.
Had nice muscles.
Had kind eyes.
He did not hide that he was crazy about me.

Here’s what I know without a doubt about him on June 28, 2011:

He is still handsome, in his grizzled sort of way.
He still has nice muscles.
His eyes are even more kind, and reflect the true kindness of his heart.
He still has a thing for Jesus, and nothing has dampened that fire. Not the sudden death of loved ones, not unanswered prayer, not the cruelty of Parkinson’s disease. Yes, Michael still has a thing for Jesus, and it is the foundation of our whole life.
His hard work has blessed our family time and time again over the years.
His smile still makes me smile.
He loved this song when he was younger, and still does very disturbing things when he hears it today.
He cries easily.
He is extremely generous.
He’s humble and doesn’t ever boast about himself or want to draw attention to himself.
When he cuts his fingernails he holds his hands up and smiles at me, because we know it’s “Blade Time.” We sit down on the couch and he scratches my legs, back and arms with his “blades,” while I moan and become semi-conscious.  🙂
He loves birds and dogs, and it seems all birds and dogs love him back.
He has never touched another woman in 30 years.
He will never touch another woman as long as we both shall live.
He loves and respects old people.
He thinks everything I cook is delicious, even though that couldn’t possibly be true.
He believes his daughters are the five most stellar women in the world.
He chooses to think the best about every person.
Whenever his wife feels like she’s losing her grip, he steadies her.
He doesn’t care for poetry.
He experienced and survived things in war that would have ruined other men.
He can’t dance.
He doesn’t ever tell people what to do.
He knows and loves flowers, and enjoys receiving bouquets.
He loves a Culver’s Butterburger at least once a month.
He’s always willing to do something goofy, and can poke fun at himself.
He loves India and Israel, and has been to neither place.
Whenever we learn of a need, he’s quick to take my hand so we can pray together.
He always forgives, and quickly.
He never forgets the blessed forgiveness of Jesus.
He still sings and points at me when we hear this song.
In his heart, he still likes to build things.
He does not hide that he’s still crazy about me after thirty years (I will never get over this one.)

When I wished him a happy anniversary this morning and teased that he was married to an old bag, he smiled and hugged me and said, “I love everything about this old bag.”

And we laughed together.

After thirty difficult, wondrous, faithful, boring, exhilarating, surprising, predictable, blessed, miraculous years….we still laugh together.

Happy Anniversary Michael!

Have I told you lately that I love you?

I’ve had some requests for my “recipe” for the made-up concoction that calls to me in my bed each morning. “Juuuu-lie…..ooohhhh JUUUU-lieeeee….time to get up….I’m waiting for you!”

So every morning I sit up in bed at an hour that is too indecent to mention here, and put on my Acorn slippers. Then I put on my glasses and head downstairs, leaving Michael, Edith and Mildred still snoozing in the dark.

If you ever wanted to make yourself a Cappuccino Cooler, here are a few things you might want to do.

1. Choose your cup. This is important. I like drinking from a cup that actually feels right in my hand and is interesting to look at. If you happen to have a lot of cups to choose from, you might go through a process of elimination like I do sometimes.

I stand back a few seconds and scan the shelves in our kitchen that hold our blue and white cup and mug collection. If you don’t have shelves that hold your cups, you could just open the kitchen cabinet or the dishwasher door, stand back, and do a quick scan of what you have available.

On any given morning I might ask myself, “Should I choose this cup today?”

“The one that Lorna brought back for me from Mexico? Hmmmm….or should I choose this cup?”

“The cup one of my daughters gave me over twenty years ago?”

“Or maybe today I’ll have my Cappuccino Cooler in this one…”

“Then again maybe not. It’s delicate and lovely, but would only hold 1/4 cup of my concoction and I think I’d like a full cup this morning.”

You get the picture — I’m having a conversation with myself and it’s a good way to start the day. But not as good a way to start the day as having a conversation with Jesus. I really recommend talking to Him before you talk to yourself. Not kidding.

I might look at this little cup and consider it momentarily — it’s one my friend Lorna brought back to me from her trip to Israel:

But it doesn’t hold much liquid either — this pretty cup would be better for an espresso. Then I might look at this one — it’s certainly big enough:

But I usually don’t drink out of this large mug. Carolyn made it for me in her high school ceramics class and I’ve always cherished it. But it’s not dishwasher safe so has only been rinsed now and then. There’s a fine, oily layer of dust in the bottom of this one so it doesn’t make the cut.

What about this one? It’s a relatively new gift from my friend Carole who lives in the Chicago area. She came to visit recently and gave me this as a hostess gift. I love it.

Yes, this is the one I chose this morning and have liked drinking from lately.

If you really wanted to have the ultimate Cappuccino Cooler drinking experience, try matching your cup to a beautifully decorated room in your home, like this one. Or you could redecorate your whole kitchen to match your favorite cup. I believe with all my heart that if I were drinking my morning Cappuccino Coolers in that room, I would be a better, more genteel sort of woman. Refined, optimistic, and serene — those would be the words you would use to describe me.

But look at that hand. Does that look like the hand of a refined and genteel woman? No. The red and crepey skin betrays me! The blue and bulging veins tell my tales! Now everyone knows I’ve been breaking my back picking cotton doing paperwork and folding laundry and mismanaging Schnauzers. Well, fiddle-dee-dee, I guess I’ll think about that tomorrow.

Now, back to cappuccino creating. This next step you might want to skip, because it takes a little time.

2. Frost your cup. After choosing your cup, put it on top of some ice cubes in your freezer. (But don’t sit it on top of the cool pack from Walgreen’s that your husband uses on his newly replaced shoulder.)

After putting your beautiful cup in the freezer, you can attend to a few morning chores, like I do. I make hot coffee for others in the house, set up medications for those who take them, make lunches, see if any new words have been played in Words With Friends on my iPad, dial up insulin for those who need it, get things ready for the different breakfasts everyone has…that kind of thing.

If you don’t have all this to do when you get up in the morning, then don’t put your cup in the freezer before you make your Cappuccino Cooler. But if you do, it will be frosty and delicious and will seem like something special.

3. Gather your ingredients. There are only four! This is an easy recipe.

If you don’t like hazelnut flavored creamer what the heck is the matter with you you can use any flavor you like. My niece Savannah prefers vanilla so when she visited us at Thanksgiving time, I made her a Cappuccino Cooler with vanilla creamer instead.

4.  Begin with instant coffee. Next, spoon one teaspoon of instant coffee (Maxwell House is smoother tasting, Folger’s instant coffee has that bitter taste many coffee drinkers like) into your beautiful, carefully chosen cup:

5.  Add the chocolate. Put in a few squeezes of Hershey’s Chocolate syrup on top of the coffee granules:

6. Add the creamer. Then add a few splashes of hazelnut (or your favorite flavored) creamer. I would guesstimate that I pour in between 2-3 tablespoons into the coffee/chocolate mixture:

7. Stir. Now just stir this all together until you get a thick dark slurry.  My computer dictionary defines slurry in this way:

“A semi-liquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal suspended in water.”

Obviously this slurry is a step above that slurry. Here’s what ours looks like:

Just stir for several seconds until the instant coffee granules dissolve in the other ingredients.

8. Pour the milk. Pour it just to the top of the cup. I use 1% but if you wanted a dessert-like coffee drink you could use whole milk. Very rich and creamy….

9. Taste and adjust. Stir some more, and then take a taste-test:

If it’s not chocolatey enough for you, add another squeeze of Hershey’s syrup. If you want a stronger coffee flavor, add some more granules. Too strong? Add milk. Make it your own. Even though the recipe is called Julie’s Cappuccino Cooler, I’ll step aside and let you call it Belinda’s Cappuccino Cooler or Juan’s Cappuccino Cooler or Taneeka’s Cappuccino Cooler if you like. Whatever your name is, whatever you want to call this concoction, go right ahead and do it. I can share.

10.  Enjoy. Finally, stand in the middle of your kitchen in your Acorn slippers, lift the (hopefully frosty) cup to your lips, take a dainty sip and say, “Mmmmmm…”

Someday I hope to stop drinking my Cappuccino Coolers. They’re just too yummy. I think when a person reaches the age of 53, a gradual decrease in yumminess should be already occurring in their life.

Let me know if you try your own concoction…what flavor creamer did you use? Did you do everything I’ve instructed you to do? Did you chill your pretty cup? Did you stir well until a slurry was achieved? Did you stand and say “Mmmmm?” Did you drink it in the room in your house that matches your cup? I want to know.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful day!

I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions lately. Like, “Should we really put our house up for sale?” and “Is there anyone out there who needs a six-bedroom house these days?” and “How in the world am I going to get 4500 square feet ready for a showing at the drop of a hat?” and “Where did I drop my hat?”

Other questions I’ve been asking are: “If we do sell our house, where will we move?” and “Why can’t I find any smaller houses that meet our criteria?” and “Who ate the miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups I hid in the door of the freezer behind the coffee beans?”

Lots and lots of questions are being asked. Sometimes I even ask myself questions out loud.

Questions like, “Should we leave American Siberia Minnesota altogether and move to a more temperate city like Asheville, North Carolina? Or Flagstaff, Arizona?” and “Should we have an open house when our home goes up for sale?” and “Where did I put that important contract that needs signing and returning in three days?”

Sometimes in the morning I ask myself questions like this: “Is it morning already?” and “Why do I feel like I’ve been beaten with a baseball bat during the night?”

So, yes, our house will go up for sale on July 11th, and this is your last chance to buy it before we sign a contract and realtors start showing people through.  🙂

Do you or anyone you know need a large home in a quiet neighborhood, not far from the shores of Lake Superior? We have a unique and spacious home: six bedrooms, four baths, a formal living room, a den, laundry room on the main floor, huge eat-in kitchen (29 x 13), two fireplaces (one in the master bedroom), a dressing room off the master BR, a third floor guest suite, a bright office, basement, attached, heated double garage, a storage shed in the backyard, front porch with a swing, and a back deck overlooking a huge yard and private woods with a small creek. The house has almost new everything — new furnace, new carpet, new flooring, new air conditioning, new plaster and paint, and it’s amazingly economical to heat and cool for such a good-sized house. Click here and here and here and here to see a few photos.

Michael and I have found two houses we really like. They are ranch-style homes (a style I grew up in and never thought I’d live in again) with nice yards in quiet neighborhoods. One of the houses we keep driving by has a triple garage, which scores multiple man-points with the man who has a snowmobile, a four-wheeler, a riding lawn-mower, a fishing boat, and enough ladders and tools to subsidize a medium-sized construction company. This particular house has a lovely wooded back yard. The siding is a respectable shade of taupe. I look forward to seeing the inside to see if it’s something that would suit our needs. The only problem about this house is…it’s not for sale.

The other house we really like isn’t far from the first one, but it only has a double garage, which could be a drawback in Michael’s estimation, but I think I might be able to convince him to sell off some of his stuff someday. Not the boat or the four-wheeler or the snowmobile but maybe the riding lawn mower and some of the housebuilding paraphernalia. This other ranch-style house is set on a corner lot and is very private because the yard is full of tall trees. The siding is a lovely shade of green and the location is perfect. I very much anticipate seeing the inside of this house too. But we stumbled upon yet another snag: this house isn’t for sale either.

But why should that stop us? I have decided to write a short letter to the residents of each house and tell them how much we’ve admired their homes, and if they’ve ever thought about selling, perhaps now is the right time. Who knows? It can’t hurt to try.

In the meantime, it has been raining steady and hard for what seems like weeks now. Birdinal Creek in our back yard is up three feet. The wind has been ferocious and there are branches down in our yard, beach closings in our city (because even Lake Superior has swimming beaches), and power outages here and there. A fence post in our front yard has blown down too. I have grudgingly turned on the furnace for a little while each morning these past few days, but having to heat your house in June just seems wrong!

I don’t mind a gray, rainy day. Rainy days and Mondays don’t always get me down. Other things get me down, like Parkinson’s Disease in the man I love, and too much weight on aging knees, and a complete loss of culinary inspiration while still having to feed the multitudes. And the thought of moving is a bit of a downer. And the thought of not moving is a bit of a downer. So would you like to come over and have coffee and a chat since I’m such bright and cheery company?  🙂

Today will be a day filled with Foster paperwork (and I publicly thank the Lord for nudging me toward the lost contract — I’m always so grateful that while He’s making sure the billions of galaxies are spinning correctly in space, He doesn’t mind if His inept daughter asks Him to locate some papers in the office), errands, laundry folding, and perhaps a game or two of Words With Friends. Yes, I have a new iPad 2 and I enjoy playing the Scrabble-like game with a few folks I know. I have yet to win one game, but I play for the thrill of it, not to win. I would rather make the word gestate for 9 points than the word ax on a triple word spot for 33. But maybe that’s just because I keep losing. 🙂 Yesterday as I played with my friend Kay, I thought I saw a theme unfolding. What would you think of if these words were slowly being played out on your Scrabble board?

Boaters
Catty
Antsy
Ewe
Pig
Pug
Guinea
Meek
Tern
Son
Scatty
View
Spied
Diva

Kay thought of Noah and the ark!

Once upon a time, things on the earth were not going well. People were not living the way God had showed them to live, and there was so much violence and debauchery God decided to start over with one godly family. Noah was a meek man, and God spoke to him and told him that he and his family would soon be boaters. Noah did not have one son, but three. Soon they worked to load the huge ark with every kind of animal. Up the plank walked a ewe, a pig, a guinea hen, a catty feline and a tern. They were also allowed to bring their mates, because for many, many days and nights, there would be nothing much to do and they would all get antsy. With all those animals, it didn’t take long for the inside of the ark to become very scatty. Noah and his wife and their sons and families went up on the deck after the rain stopped to see if any land was visible yet. What a view they spied! Nothing but water everywhere, covering even the highest mountain peaks. It was at this time during the cruise that the pug started behaving badly and getting her flat nose out of joint. She developed a reputation on the ark as a doggy diva. After many months the water finally receded and everyone was able to get off the ark. How happy everyone was, until the violence and debauchery began again.

The End (thank God.)

I’m hoping that if our house sells, and if we find just the right smaller place for our needs, somehow beyond all hope and imagination, the back yard of our new home will look something like this:

If it doesn’t, I will manage.

That’s it for now. A friend just arrived to borrow some ladders from Michael’s extensive collection. If I’m lucky maybe he’ll take them home and forget to return them.

I’m hoping you all have a blessed week!

Have you heard that old song called “What a Difference a Day Makes” sung by Dinah Washington? Yes? No? In case you don’t think you’ve heard it, click here and you’ll realize that you really have heard it before. Somewhere you’ve heard it. In an elevator or in possibly your grandmother’s kitchen. Here are some of the lyrics:

What a difference a day makes
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain

Remember now? I thought so.

Well, today’s post was almost titled “What a difference a day makes” but then it would have been lying. And I try not to lie to my readers. So when you see the photos below you’ll understand why I had no business calling this post “What a difference a day makes,” because the change from photo 1 to photo 2 happened in 77 days, not in one day. When you have your own blog you can write what you want (at least in this country, thank God), and I got a hankering to call this post “What a difference 77 days make.”

Now sing it with me a little bit, in a moody and smoky voice like Dinah’s: What a difference seventy-seven days make….two and a half little months…brought the sun and the flowers…where there used to be rain. Very nice!

Anyway, the day before yesterday we had a soft, steady rain, and in the morning we woke to a bit of fog that obscured the tops of the trees. Looking at the lushness of the garden at the base of our big maple tree, I remembered that not too long ago I took a couple of pictures of the same view as the winter was waning and snow was beginning to melt.

This photo was taken on March 31, 2011. You can barely make out the 8-shaped garden under the maple. (Click to enlarge if you like):

This photo of the same view was taken on the morning of June 16th, 2011:

What a difference 77 days make.

Now, aside from occasional mental meanderings into odd and unexpected places, I also like to think on how what can be observed in the physical world might be corresponding with what God is doing in the spiritual realm.

When I looked at these two photos the first thought that came to my mind was, “Lord, my life is the first photo! I’m so fruitless and dreary and dormant and blah!” And when I looked at the second photo I thought, “Lord, you can do anything. You can bring life and growth and fruitfulness again.” Then I thought, “Wait, maybe there has never been much life and growth and fruitfulness in the first place…” Then I thought, “No, that must be a lie. I will reject that and assume it’s a lie meant to discourage.” (Aren’t you glad you don’t live in the tennis court that is my mind?)

And even as I sit typing this, I look at the green, blooming lushness of our front garden and I ask the Lord, “Jesus, will you bring life and growth and fruitfulness to my life again? Even if it takes more than 77 days?”

I don’t know where many of you are in your lives right now. But if you’re anything like me, you might be feeling as though you’ve seen more vibrant, vigorous times. I understand. And I don’t think we’re the only ones. Take another look at the two photos above. Which one resembles your life the most? For those of us who might choose the first photo, I believe that God can do the same with a life that He can do with my yard.

Methodist minister Virgil Kraft said, “Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”

I used to have a drab and dirty yard. I now have a lush, full-blown spring in my yard.

I’m praying for a lush, full-blown spring in my heart. And in yours.

Our lilacs are in full bloom now, and Sara cut some last night and brought them in so their scent can fill the house. I can’t actually smell their scent filling the house — I can smell them when I put my nose right into the blooms — but I think it’s quite a romantic thought to have the scent of lilacs filling your house, don’t you?

When I got up this morning and saw the lilacs in the bathroom, kitchen and living room, I smiled. Then I thought I’d write a poem about how lilacs profoundly affect my everyday life.

Up on the mantel, lilacs really add some style-ack
All over the house, lilacs really make me smile-ack
I wouldn’t mind, if the lilacs were in pile-acks
To smell that purple scent, I might even walk a mile-ack

And if you’re worried about the costa
Try decorating with a bit of hosta

Then you can sit on your couch and look at the lilacs and hosta for a little while-ack.

(Please! Hold your applause….)

Do you ever bring fresh flowers or greenery into your house? What kind? Where do you put them? What are your favorite living things to decorate with?

Sara obviously likes to decorate with flowers since she’s a florist, and I truly appreciate that.

I, on the other hand, usually decorate with living Schnauzers. Nicely placed, they can add dimension and personality to any room.

“Rock bottom isn’t where you fail, it’s where God recreates you.”

Matthew Barnett

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *