Growing Through the Seasons

Frost had been predicted. I went into my garden to gather the last of summer’s bounty. As I plucked unripe tomatoes and loaded them into the cradle of my arm, I wondered once again, why did I not remember to bring a bowl or a basket with me to the garden?

When the final harvest was completed, I surveyed the garden plot and decided that a fall clean up was necessary. So I began by pulling out the tomato cages and stakes that had been anchored deeply into the earth to support the growing vines.

Then I pulled out the plants, rooted firmly in the soil. Some had roots spreading out horizontally where they had reached out for nourishment from their surroundings. All had flourished, some more than others, and each root pattern was different.

It got me to thinking how our lives are like those plants. In our early summer gardens, we sow seeds or transplant seedlings with care, envisioning a bountiful life and a fruitful harvest in the season ahead.

We can begin anew in our own lives during any season.

Each day is an opportunity to grow in a new way; to start again and to envision the life in which we will prosper.

As summer stretches her long days into warm nights, we watch our gardens grow. We make certain they are watered faithfully, so that the plants can receive their nutrients from the soil. Roots reach out underground to sustain the rapid growth of the plant; and as the plant grows, it reaches to the sky seeking sunlight to nurture its growing abundance.

Are we so very different?

Our feet are firmly planted in this life, and our faith can nurture our growth, but we must reach out to sustain that growth. Our roots are where we are planted, our families and our communities. We can keep pretty much to ourselves, and maintain our lives just as they are.

Photo Courtesy Ed & Bunny Cooke

Or, we can reach out to others nearby and share in their lives, too, intertwining our “roots” with shared experiences and personal growth. We can nurture each other by sharing our faith journey and helping each other to navigate this challenging life, day by day.

Where do you reach out for personal growth? Like the plants reaching for the sunshine, we need to reach out to the unknown to try new challenges and new adventures. We will be sustained by the foundation of our roots, our families and our familiar lives. But we will be challenged to find new footing as we grow, to sustain a broader base of interest.

Plants need sunlight, water and soil to grow.

People need faith, hope, and love to grow.  

The One who makes all life possible is the One we need to turn to every day to sustain our growth, and indeed, sometimes to simply make it through each day.

All of nature is one, and we are a part of the whole. God created nature to work in harmony with itself, enduring through the ebb and flow of life; through vibrant, new growth, sustained life, and finally decomposition of the plant material that will feed the soil and future generations.

So must we be ready for the give and take of life; opportunities for new growth and times when we must cast away that which no longer serves us. We must sustain a willingness to explore new ideas to offer our minds new avenues of growth, and we must share our knowledge with those who are younger to encourage a new generation of thinkers and caretakers of this planet.

To strengthen our spirit, we need daily contact with our Source. Through prayer, meditation, and conversation with our Creator, we connect with the source of our energy and maintain our ability to grow. God is our sunlight.

When we turn our faces to be warmed by His presence, His peace fills us and becomes our provision. It is the sustenance we need. Like plants that maintain life through sunlight and photosynthesis, we are nurtured through our connection with God.

We can feed our spirit by connecting with the power and peace of the One who is loving, patient and forgiving. We need not fear the unknown when reaching out in new directions. God will always be there to strengthen and nurture us when we seek His guidance.

Photo Courtesy Ed & Bunny Cooke

It’s nearly as simple as turning our faces to the sun. Only instead we need to turn our hearts to God, seeking Him throughout the day, and thank Him for the beauty that surrounds us in the people and places He leads us to.  Gratitude is our fertilizer.

When we build our foundation on fertile soil, we will grow. By offering thanks for all things that touch our spirit and make us happy, we live a life of gratitude that nurtures our spirit. And this is a fertile foundation for continued growth in our lives.

We are sustained by our communities of love and faith as our foundation, and we are nurtured in growth by the love of our gracious God. In this way, providing all of the ingredients for a prosperous life, we can joyously live and grow through any season of our lives. 

A Penny for Your Thoughts

Do our thoughts really matter? Do the things we think about really affect our lives? I believe they do. Because where we put our thought energy is where we will direct our lives. Perhaps that is why pessimistic people remain so, and optimistic people are forever looking forward, believing that good can come from any situation. 

Let’s back this thought train up a bit. Think about what occupies your thoughts the most. Do the burdens of life crowd your impressions of the day? Do you have control over your thoughts? Can you push away negative thoughts that threaten to overburden you? 
This isn’t always easy to do.

It seems to me that negative thoughts get caught up in a cycle of repetition. Something we’ve done or said that we later regret plays over and over in our minds, making the situation seem worse than it really is and making us feel worse in the process. 

Can we stop the cycle? Is it possible to look for a positive spin on the problem and force a new thought to overcome the abrasive one? I wonder, could this be as simple as living with gratitude?

Spending time worrying about paying the mortgage or other bills won’t get them paid. Worry only causes distress that can manifest itself into physical symptoms of illness. As I lay down to sleep at night, I could toss and turn worrying about the future. But I don’t. Instead I choose to end my day by giving my thoughts to God. With thoughts of thankfulness for the day and gratitude that I have a warm home and a place to sleep, I drift off into a peaceful slumber. 


"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 (NIV)


Is this what it means to hold our thoughts captive? Giving our worries to God? And perhaps not just our worries, but also those thoughts that threaten our peace? In our humanness, our minds may wander to less than ideal thoughts. We need to hold those thoughts captive and present them to God. I’ll bet we’ll stop thinking unclean thoughts in a hurry if we know we have to be accountable for them.

So what will it take to capture our thoughts, to make our minds obey the rules we lay down? Consistency, in not allowing our thoughts to stray where they shouldn't, and realizing when we have lost control. When our thoughts wander and threaten our peace, we will have to seize them, acknowledging them before God, and relinquish their power over us. 

With practice, our thoughts will become more consistent with the lifestyle that the Apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)


  
 
As we endeavor to improve our thought processes, we will invariably fall prey to the vicious cycles of negative thinking that threaten our peace of mind. We won't always experience completely forward progress, and that's okay. What is important, I think, is to gain an awareness that we are able to exercise control over own thoughts. And through prayer and communion with the Holy Spirit, we can give our fears and worrisome thoughts to God, freeing our minds to focus on what is really important - the beauty of life, and living each day in the example of Christ. 

Blessings on your journey.

Choosing Acceptance

When winter came creeping back onto my doorstep last week, my heart was not prepared for it. I was enjoying the days of fifty degree weather in early January, and a part of me pretended that we could just skip the snow and cold this year and morph right into an early spring.

Being born and raised in Wisconsin, I knew this couldn’t happen, yet the prospect sounded very encouraging. When they predicted the storm, the meteorologists and reporters pounced on the story with gusto. But in the early morning it was clear that only a mist was falling out there. Forget the fact that it was freezing to glare ice on surfaces. They were wrong. The temperatures would stay warm and it wouldn’t snow.

My cat, Lucky- he knows how to nap!

Sometime mid-morning the rain began to mix with snowflakes. By late morning, there was no denying that only snow was falling. And a lot of it, too. Usually when the first big snowfall begins, in late November or early December, I am filled with excitement like a child (though I usually don’t admit this to other level-headed adults).  This time, however, I chose to turn my back to the window and took a long winter’s nap.

When I awoke, the flakes were falling fast and furious and the world was already white. There was no denying winter had arrived, and I realized I had two choices, enjoy the snowfall in all its beauty or stay in bed until spring. Accepting winter for the good it brings helped with my attitude adjustment.

Walking the snowy trail behind our home

There is a peacefulness in walking amidst the falling snow which can’t be compared with any other time out in nature. Winter brings a coziness and less-hurried pace of other seasons. I enjoy the solitude, warm fires in the fireplace and the family together under one roof sharing hot meals and time together.

We humans have the innate capacity for acceptance. Making the best of our situations and finding the good in them is essential to finding our happiness. We find God’s peace in knowing we are exactly where He wants us to be. Perhaps our circumstances are not what we hoped. We can easily feel longing for things that might have been or once were. Time is an ever-flowing river, constantly moving forward. As much as we would like to, we cannot hit pause; nor can we go back in time.

Choosing acceptance helps secure our present. When we are fully invested in the here and now, we can find joy in our current situation rather than pining for something that can never be. This takes practice, and letting go.

Rocky knows peaceful rest

Relinquishing our hopes and dreams to the One who really holds our future is a process to knowing inner peace. Trusting and relying on God frees us from worry. With His help, and with prayer, we can learn to let go of the wants and desires that nag at our heart. With acceptance, we can appreciate all that we already have been given and live our lives in gratitude instead of want. 

Audrey Assad has written a beautiful song that touches my heart. 

We cannot find true peace until we rest in God.

Restless, by Audrey Assad

JESUS Came so You can Live YOUR STORY

While living in Texas years ago, I attended a Bible study in the home of a dear friend from church. My friend had a old, dirty, cracked flower pot on her table, and she shared that this can be how we feel about ourselves in our unworthiness before our Lord and Savior. Then she brought forth from the inside of the filthy pot a beautiful shining crystal vase, and told us all "this is how God sees you". It took everything within me to not run crying from the room and never come back.

I thought all God saw of me was my stains, my mistakes and my failures. I felt I was a fake to be putting on this façade of a strong Christian woman when inside I was so terribly broken. Perhaps some of you have felt this way, too.

This video, with footage from the movie “The Story” makes me weep. The lyrics tell the reason Jesus came; for us to live our story with all of our failures and brokenness. We come before our Lord and He sees only our possibilities. He sees our greatness and our potential. With lovingkindness and forgiveness, our Savior releases us from the bondage of our past. We are born again, made new in His sight. Our sins are forgotten; they are gone with the wind. And even if we make more mistakes, and we will, because we are human after all, we can come to our Lord and ask for forgiveness, and He will set our feet on the pathway to righteousness once again. 

Mac Powell of the band "Third Day" sings these words of truth: "Tell me your story, show me your wounds; and I'll show you what love sees, when love looks at you. Hand me the pieces, broken and bruised, and I'll show you what love sees, when love sees you."

No longer am I ashamed of what once defined me from my past. I am born again in the Spirit. I know Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I am the daughter of a King! I am blessed. My friend, this is my Christmas wish for you, that you will come to know our Lord personally, and truly believe that you can made new.

If you are struggling with inner demons, He is the one who can save you. You deserve to live a life free from shame. Jesus came for you to live your story. And His great love can help you live your life with gratitude and peace. Do not believe the lie that this promise is not for you. It will be yours when you ask Jesus to come into your life. You can share with him all of your failures and successes. You can learn about His life through reading the New Testament of the Bible, and you can come to know Him personally by coming to Him in prayer. Ask Him for the direction your life should lead. This relationship can be the guiding force of your life. And it can begin with a simple prayer asking Jesus to come into your life.

We all need more than the simple existence of living life on this earth. Our lives are filled with challenges and sorrows, sufferings and joys. God can help us turn our challenges into triumphs, and our sorrows and suffering can help us grow into a closer relationship with Him. Our joys will be filled with gratitude and our rough places made smooth through knowing that God is always with us. Emmanuel, God with us. That is why He came.

A Season of Thanks

My soft, warm cat lies on my feet, keeping close and warm as I write. I snuggle under a blanket, as the chill of November has found its way into my bones. I am thankful for feeling the warmth, and I wonder about those who are out in the cold with nowhere to go. 

When I finally turn out the light, and snuggle further down into the covers with my pillows, I thank God for my warm bed and the roof over my head, and I say a fervent prayer for those who must sleep out in the cold.

How many times each day do we turn on the faucet expecting the clear, fresh water we need for washing, cooking and cleaning? Hot running water pours out of the tap, and the cold water is fresh from our well and ready to drink.

I am thankful for the water from the faucet, as I remember a time with a houseful of young children when we turned on the tap and no water came out. Thousands of dollars later, after replacing the well pump and pressure tank, we could once again turn on the faucets. Giddy, I went from sink to sink, room to room, turning on the faucets, only to see brown, murky water pour out as all the lines needed to be flushed. How thankful we were when the water ran clear and good again.

There have been times when we were without electricity. That means no water either, when you are on a well with an electric pump. When the power is out, how quickly we realize what we take for granted as we automatically reach for the light switch even though we know there is no power. When the power is restored, we are grateful for the convenience of refrigeration and a stove to cook on.

As we prepare for our Thanksgiving feast, I marvel at the food choices we have before us. As I come home laden with packages from the grocery store, I thank God that we have the means to buy food to celebrate with family and friends through a feast of thankfulness. 

I prepare an enormous turkey that gave its life for our feast.  As I mix ingredients for the wide variety of side dishes we enjoy, my boys help with peeling potatoes and smashing cranberries. And I smile at these young men grown from boys who used to be so much smaller than me. And I am thankful in my heart for the gift of having them in my life.

We sit down to eat at our table loaded with an abundance of food, and we hold hands in a large circle as we share our thanks through saying grace. It is a moment special to each of us, to be together to share this meal, and to share time with each other. Everyone feasts, enjoying the plentifulness of foods and the company of loved ones.

There will be an empty place at our table this year. A dear friend who was family to us has left this world for what lies beyond. I know many of you may have an empty chair, too. The sadness we feel in our loss is immeasurable, yet life abounds around us and we move forward with each and every day.

Knowing the transience of our life on earth, we share in a feeling of gratitude for the time we get to spend together. We must cherish one another; love each other for our goodness and our faults. Each of us has a special part to play in the lives of those around us.

We are all connected. Together, we make a greater good. Let it be so.

Hope Through Prayer

I think a lot of people get hung up on the idea of what prayer should be. They think they need to pray fancy words or say just the right words, or to pray for a long time or in a certain way.

Let’s keep it simple. Prayer is communication with God. That’s really all there is to it. He created us, we are His children, and He wants to have a relationship with us.

He doesn’t care if you have a PhD or a GED. Your words need not be fancy. He simply loves to know what’s on our minds. Of course, He already knows, but He likes for us to come to Him and develop a relationship.  A simple prayer of, “You know my need, Lord” opens your heart to Him in a way that trying to muddle through your troubles on your own just doesn’t do.

Why not think of prayer as an all-day conversation with God? This is my view of what to "pray without ceasing” means. It doesn’t mean chanting all the live-long day. At least I don't think so. Just keep the conversation flowing, and share with Him what is on your mind.

The way I see it, frequent prayer keeps God in the forefront of my thoughts as I go about my day.

When I wake up in the morning, I say a simple prayer of thanks for rest and safekeeping while we slept. Sometimes it’s as simple as, “Good Morning, Lord!”  Then, as my son gets on the school bus to go out into the world for another day, I pray for his safety and for the safety of all the children.

After my husband leaves for work, I pray for his day. I pray for our sons at college as they go about working so hard toward their futures, and for our oldest son as he  finds his way in life. I pray for God to guide them and to let His presence be known to them. None of these are long, drawn out prayers. I simply ask for what I need and pray in Jesus’ name.

Throughout the day as prayer requests or special needs arise, I take time right then and there to pray for the person. That way I won't forget during my busy day and I speak to God when the urgent need is placed on my heart. 

I thank God a lot, too. Gratitude fills most of my prayers. And it can be as simple as “Thank you”. When I safely traverse a usually dangerous intersection with not a car in sight, I smile and I thank Him. When I see beauty in nature that causes me to pause and feel gratitude all the way down to my soul,  I pray my praise and thanks. When I receive the gift of friendship and it warms my heart, I know God is in the midst of this. Each time I feel gratitude, I offer a prayer of thankfulness.

The simplest prayer I have ever muttered was also the hardest for me to say. When we are trying so hard to accomplish something on our own, we don’t like asking for help. But there comes a time when our resources are depleted, we have nothing left, and in desperation cry out, “Help me, Lord!” 

He will come to us, and help us in ways we might not have foreseen. He hears our prayers. He wants to hear our prayers. And He wants to keep the conversation going.

We give thanks for food before we eat, and thanks for our day before we sleep.  Living with an “attitude of gratitude” can raise our spirits and help us navigate this challenging life.

Keep it simple. Speak to Him. Let Him know your heart. And you will begin to know a deeper relationship with your Maker than you could have imagined. Ask Him to guide your steps, and show you the way He wants you to go.

And remember to tell Him that you Love Him. “I love you, Lord” is the most beautiful prayer. “Thank you for loving me” is a wonderful way to end your day.