Blurred Vision

Recent facial surgery has me fumbling about without any eyeglasses.  My trifocals (which I wear constantly) are too big and heavy to rest on the pressure dressing.  My “computer” glasses aren’t much better even though they correct only two fields of vision.  I’m thankful to have a lightweight pair for distance and TV viewing.  At least I can wear those!  But that means I can’t read the calendar, recipes or books.  I can’t do any crafts or use my sewing machine.  Even Bible study is out of the question since I use a small print, four translation parallel Bible.  What a dilemma!

That had me searching the scriptures (on the computer only) for NT references to blindness.  What a wealth of teachings I happened upon!  The Gospels alone contain 46 references using the word blind!  The most endearing incidents are of Jesus giving sight to the blind, like the following which appears in all three Synoptic Gospels;

Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.  All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"    Matthew 12:22; Mark 3:23-27 and Luke 11:17-22

Sadly enough, the Pharisees were unconvinced by this display of Heavenly power and accused Jesus of using the power of demons;

…But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."    Matthew 12:24

It’s easy enough for me to condemn these Pharisees as hard-hearted or perhaps foolish not to recognize the power of God.  If I’m honest, however, there are some ways in which I become blind to God’s Truth.  What about the “air pollution” and “smog” that hovers around me when I’m too distracted by worldly things to concentrate on the Heavenly ones?

Or, when I’m constantly in motion doing, doing, and doing – am I too busy to hear that “still, small Voice”?  I’m reminded that Jesus used the metaphor of blindness to condemn the unbelief of the Jewish religious leaders. 

“Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”  Matthew 15:14

At other times I’ve allowed petty, nagging worries to block my view of the Divine.  I need to get around all the underbrush for a clear and inspiring vista, just like Mt. Rainier appearing around the next bend!

Love as always,  Elaine (changing lenses again!)

Perpetual Spring

As the daffodils fade, the tulips burst open with their vibrant colors.  By the time they are pale and tattered by April winds, irises spread their orchid throats to the bees.  Lilies rise to spread their pollen over daisies and lupines.  They drop their petals as black-eyed Susans follow the sun at its zenith.  Step by step my gardens tell their tale of summer – and of our lives.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.  As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.  Psalm 103:13-16

After visiting with our children and grandchildren, I realize that families follow that same procession of life.  As our generation fades and loses energy, the next generation comes to full bloom lifting up the next beautiful “bloomers” to replace them in due time.

What a joy it is to see our not-so-little boys with their own little ones.  I rejoice knowing our family memories will live beyond us through generation after generation.  Some will be born with a love of gardening.  Others will bake or cook with a passion.  There will be readers and writers and painters.  My straight hair will plague some future great, great granddaughter who needs braces on her teeth!

I was very close to my Grandma and Pap-pap, so I treasure all my memories of them.  Those memories seem to grow clearer to me the older I get.  Because of God’s blessing in my life, I’m able to build memories for grandchildren to treasure long after I am gone.  Of course, I will be gone someday as Moses wrote in the one Psalm attributed to him:

You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning— though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.  Psalm 90:5-6

As I watch the seasons change my garden, the urgency of my limited life span is brought home.  May we all echo the Psalmist’s prayer:

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90:12

Love as always,  Elaine (deadheading in the garden)

Are You Really Hungry?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Matthew 5:6

 

In a trip to an Ohio camp meeting, Rich and I had opportunity to stop by one of our favorite state parks at Pymatuning, PA.  This area was the scene of many family camping trips and is filled with fond memories.  We visited the Espyville spillway and bought stale bread to feed to the fish.  If you visit the park, don’t miss this local wonder.

The spillway teems with fish waiting for tourists to throw bread down to them.  Ducks and seagulls float as close as they dare, hoping for handouts.  When bread hits the water, a feeding frenzy breaks out.  Ducks even dance precariously on the backs of the huge carp in order to snatch any stray crumbs.  Imagine being so hungry that you would trample on others to get just a bite of bread!

Wouldn’t it be great if we were that hungry for the Word of God?  To keep watch, eagerly awaiting Bible study and prayer time?  In Psalm 63:1, David writes of his longing for God while running from Saul in the wilderness:

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  Psalm 63:1

Now that’s a real hunger!  In his time of exile, David longed to be among the worshippers before the tabernacle in Jerusalem.  How blessed we are to live under the new covenant.  We have the completed Word of God right in our hands!  There are so many in the world still yearning for the Bread and Water that satisfies.  I’ve seen photos of crowds of people reaching up to a missionary handing out Bibles from the back of a truck.  Thanks be to God that the salvation He offers cuts across all cultural and language barriers:

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”  John 6:35

Although you may not know it, there are many around you who are thirsting for that which eternally satisfies.  May you slake your thirst in God’s Word daily in order to share it with others.

Love as always,  Elaine (feasting on the Word)

Parsonage Pets

I wrote this two cats ago before our new siding was installed, which did diminish the frequency of these unwanted visits.  These applications to God’s Word are still true, though…

  Country living has some wonderful benefits that are beyond compare.   The furry ones aren't exactly my favorites!  Chester has caught his share of moles when they wander into the house as the weather turns colder.  We've gone through a few rodent purges in the shed, as mice rained down from the rafters -- literally.

    Our biggest problem is a result of a building flaw.  I suspect there should have been a foot or two of brick built up from the slab before the wood siding starts.  Since the siding goes all the way to the ground level, crevices and entry holes are easy to excavate by all manner of critters.  Moisture from melting snow has left the bottom edges rotting and curling up from the "foundation", leaving ready made gateways into the world of humans.

  I was eating breakfast one morning and heard a scrabbling in the bathroom.  I turned to see a fat chipmunk foraging around the washer and dryer!  Later that day, when the chipmunk appeared in the kitchen, Rich fetched Chester from our bedroom to do his feline duty.  After that, there was no rest for anyone until the rodent had been evicted!  Chester screeched around corners and up and down our few steps.  He caught his "mousie" several times and had the poor critter terribly upset.  Finally, the chipmunk found a way out and disappeared for good.  We haven't seen it feeding out under the bird feeder since.  Perhaps it expired of its wounds or simply moved on to a more pastoral neighborhood!

  Living on a slab encourages hoards of insect refugees.  I regularly evict crickets so they won't keep us awake at night.  I never kill them (for one thing, they'd make an enormous spot!) because they are useful insects, just not in the house.  Also, Chester loves to chase them and eat the legs off them!  Ugh!!  How repulsive!  Such noisy pursuits in the night are not appreciated by the humans.

  Last night was our most disturbing incident by far.  Rich was sitting with Chester in the living room and saw something moving in the hallway.  Did I say "slithering"?  He got up to turn on a light and found that it was a snake!!  Unfortunately, Chester saw it, too, and R. had a terrible time keeping him away from it until he could identify it.  So he thumped on it with a broom for a while and then we threw it outside.  It was only a small garter snake after all - about 12 inches long and no bigger around than a pencil, but disturbing, none the less.  R. hates the thought of walking around the house barefoot with snakes about and I get the willies to think it was in the hallway, on its way to our bedroom! 

  Now I don't tell you these stories to discourage you from coming to visit us.  It's not as if they are stampeding up and down the hall!  But it did bring to mind our need for continual diligence as per Peter’s warning in 1 Peter 5:8;

Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

He's always looking for those little entry holes -- the rotten places in our defenses that can be easily breached. 

  Sometimes it's the chipmunks of the world that invade.  Leisure and self-indulgence look so appealing and harmless when they are outside our lives.  But once inside, they gnaw away at the beautiful fruit the Holy Spirit has been growing in our hearts and leave droppings of selfishness in its place –

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

  Crickets are like those annoying habits we chase after, trying to get them under control and silence their persistent nagging!  There will be no peace or rest until we've evicted them!  God makes the job so much easier by giving us the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.  He's the One Who actually helps us seal up the foundation around our "house".

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.   2 Corinthians 1:21-22

  Worst of all is the serpent that slithers into our lives!  What a loathsome and frightening tenant!  Envy and hatred slip in when we're not paying attention and end up in our very "bedroom" before we know it!  Ugh!  We hate it once we recognize it for the snake that it is but often, by that time, much damage has been done and others have been bitten.  We ourselves are poisoned by its influence on us as we walk unsuspecting and barefoot.  We must always keep our feet shod with "the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace", Eph. 6:15.  As Peter admonished us, we must be ever on guard.

  Keep the Light of God's Word ever shining in your hearts so you won't be surprised by things that slither, gnaw or chirp in the night!

Love as always,  Elaine (was that a cricket I heard?)

Our Family Chronicles

With a brand new family historical journal in hand, I was able to interview my Mom’s generation concerning their elders before they passed on.  And once they did pass, all their remaining photos came to me!  I sifted through boxes and albums searching for old photos that hinted at our storied past.  It’s such a responsibility being one of the oldest remaining in a family!

Sorting through a wide assortment of black and white photos gave me the inspiration for an ambitious wall display.  Unfortunately, I’ve been unable (without spending money on a search) to go back farther than three generations.  Even so, I feel such a sense of accomplishment every time I see this wall of family photos.  Now that we have grandchildren I feel the urgency of “capturing” these lives gone by.  Some advise writing our stories down.  Others suggest an oral history.  When I consider that this one photographic project took me three years to complete, I’m overwhelmed!

One of the things that makes the Bible so precious to me is the long and rich history contained there in.  This continuing history is one of the compelling internal evidences of the infallibility of the Bible.  What a treat to read about life in very ancient Egypt through the life of Joseph!  Who can resist the excitement of the battle between God and the Egyptian magicians as the plagues ravaged Pharoah’s kingdom?  Then there’s the Hebrew mass exodus!  On and on, the history of man winds through the ages leading up to the coming of Messiah.  Our religious history goes back thousands of years!

As Christians, we are all part of a vast family reaching back to the days of Abraham as in Galatians 3:26-29:

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

How thrilling that Jesus, the Son of God, is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters!  A family tree doesn’t get any better than this:

Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.  He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."  And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."   Hebrews 2:11-13

We are the children God has given to our Messiah, Jesus Christ!

Love as always,  Elaine (me in my Pap-Pap's hat)

Precious Keepsakes

In recent travels we visited with friends who are collectors.  Their house is stuffed with sets of glassware, dishes, dolls, books, etc.  We stayed in the “red room”.  You guessed it – everything in the crowded room was red, right down to the vanity seat.  Even the bathroom featured a special collection of red Christmas items!  To me it was sensory overload.  I could have spent days looking at everything in their home.  But that got me to thinking about my own personal collecting…

Our early spring weather brought our daffodils out too soon.  Yes, they brought cheer following a grey and dismal winter but they were in danger of freezing a few nights ago.  A predicted dip into the teens overnight would surely ruin them.  R and I took a flashlight out so I could snip off the yellow blooms and bring them indoors to enjoy.  Who could deny that I’m a plant collector?  I’ve so many houseplants that I post little notes advising which ones need fertilized when.  Before house guests arrive I have to move plants out of their temporary sleeping quarters! 

 

R and I love books.  When we travel we take opportunities to stop at any used bookstores we pass along the way.  I feel sorry for our children who will have to sort through them all when we are gone.  I won’t even mention the photographs stuffed in boxes and albums!

We are a nation of collectors.  We Americans are fascinated by our own history.  Museums and historical monuments continually host a stream of interested tourists.  These same tourists take home remembrances of their vacation, putting them out where they can be seen.  Their visitors can enjoy these souvenirs and ask about their recent trip.

I have an idea that God isn’t much impressed with all of our collecting.  What kind of keepsakes would God like us to collect?  Every Sunday we have opportunity to gather around a table set with keepsakes of Jesus.  His Body and Blood are represented there in the bread and the fruit of the vine.  Jesus even said it was to remember Him in Luke 22:19:

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

How can we forget this most important collector’s item?  These are the emblems of our LORD and Savior.  Paul knew how much this meant to Jesus when he wrote to the Corinthians at 11:24-26: 

…and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Let’s gather around this Holy Collection every Sunday to honor and proclaim Christ as He wanted us to do!

Love as always,  Elaine (dressing in my Sunday best)

Flocking Together

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  Psalm 8:1,3 & 4

I never cease to be amazed at the evidences of God’s handiwork in the natural world.  Sometimes I step outdoors just to feel a bit closer to my Heavenly Father.  My heart is lifted in songs of praise when I see the detail and variety within His creation.  Maybe that’s why the Psalms are so special to Christians.  David, too, was inspired as a shepherd boy by the wonders of God surrounding him in the outdoors. 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Psalm 19:1-3

As the birds return from their winter havens, I’m filled with questions concerning their ways.  Why do birds travel in flocks?  Is it to find the best feeding grounds?  Is it for the protection of traveling in numbers?  Is it because there will always be others watching for danger?  Is it the companionship of others of like kind?  Is it to be part of a whole that has the same needs and seeks the same goals?  It’s probably all of these and even more reasons beside.  Matthew 6:26 says that God cares about them and sees that they are fed. 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Matthew 6:26

Sad to say, we may be adding another widow to the church family soon.  Her mate of many years is in the final stages of lung cancer.  We’ve seen this tragic drama played out too many times in our little congregation.  It’s a time when the Body of Christ can be most comforting.  In fact, in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 we see that God Himself has that very thing in mind:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

“…so that we will be able to comfort…”  This is how God’s Family is supposed to function.  The security of knowing others surround us who know what we need.  Like a flock of birds, moving and feeding together – watching out for one another.  Just like God planned it!

Love as always,  Elaine (thankful for the Flock!)

Meant to Soar

At this time of year, I’m very interested in bird migration.  March came in like a lion, devastating the South while driving migrating geese north ahead of schedule.  It must be a comfort for them to find last year’s cornfields devoid of snow cover.  What a welcome rest stop on their arduous journey to the Arctic!  I never tire of watching hundreds, maybe even thousands, of geese banking and preparing to land nearby.  The Snow Geese are particularly beautiful as they scatter and regroup.  They wheel in the sky catching the sun on their blinding whiteness like silver glitter blown in the wind!  The black tips of their wings are only visible as they stall and bank in for a landing.

Sad to say, as gorgeous as they are in flight, they are just that plain while gathered on the ground.  They become ordinary barnyard geese grubbing in the wet mud.  Not very impressive at all!  It occurs that we as Christians are very much like them.  Our grubbing about in the daily routines of life doesn’t define who we really are.  We are meant to be lights on a hill, drawing others to Christ as Jesus explained in Matthew 5:14-16:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

It’s so easy to become mired down by our chores and time constraints.  If we don’t make room or time for God and His Word, we’re nothing but ordinary barnyard geese.  When that happens the world cannot not see the shining triumph of life lived in Christ.  A life that is lifted above this temporal earth, focused on eternity!

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.   Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.   Colossians 3:1-2

Love as always,  Elaine (eyes on the sky!)

Treasure in the Snow

And now for the exciting snow update.  Today we awoke to our first snowstorm of the season!  Pretty puny at five inches but it’s still snow to be cleared.

During winter storms I’m always concerned about our birds (and so is Farah!)  Because we’ve had a mild winter we haven’t many winter customers to our feeder out back but I become very attached to the few that come.  A flock of goldfinches and several Amer. tree sparrows regularly stop by to refuel.  Blue jays throw the seed on the ground and the dark-eyed juncos gratefully clean it up.  This morning our trees were crowded with disgruntled mourning doves.  I’m glad I thought to fill the feeder yesterday or they might have brought their picket signs!  They are more dependent on feeders when snow covers the ground.  But those brave juncos, trusting there is seed under it all, come and dig through until they found the treasure they crave!  Their past experience told them there would be food -- no matter how bleak the prospects appeared.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Matthew 6:26

We should all be like those trusting little birds.  In the midst of life's storms, we can always find the treasure we seek in God's Word.  It's been there for us in the past and, no matter how blurred and confused our present may be, His wisdom will continue to comfort and guide us!  Remember how Jesus answered Satan's temptation to turn the stones into bread while He was fasting in the wilderness in Luke 4:4?

But He answered him, saying, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'

We’ll be well fed, too, by feeding daily on His precious Word!

Love as always,  Elaine (where’s that shovel?)

Into the Wind

What a blustery day we’re having!  It seems more like March than February.  The trash bin would be doing back flips if it still had a lid but that blew off last year!  We lost our electric power for about an hour this morning.  The house cooled off quickly because of the wind, so I was especially grateful when power was restored!  The birds are lying low until this passes but I find the occasional blue skies cheering.  While having my prayer time today, I observed a lone crow flying into the wind.  He must have had an important mission to endure such a buffeting.

As Christians, we, too, have an important mission.  Unfortunately, there are times when we must endure a buffeting from dark forces at work around us.  Even the Apostle Paul understood how difficult the Christian walk could be and wrote of our need for preparation in I Cor. 9:25-27;

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Rich recently attended a breakfast hosted by a local funeral director.  Each year, Mark invites the “clergy” from the area as a thank you for past business.  Indeed, all of us have made many visits to his funeral home in Camden – too many, it seems!  It is a good chance for R. to meet various religious leaders from the community.  Unfortunately, one is also exposed to many foolish, non-scriptural assertions in such a mixed group.  All the boasting of personal “spirit-filled” experiences made Richard eager to slip away as soon as it seemed courteous to do so, thanking his host for the breakfast.  In the meantime, Mark is further convinced in his belief that religion is “the opiate of the common people”!  And who can blame him when he is exposed to such imaginings?

As a follower of Christ, one can feel very alone in a world gone mad with pride over the traditions of men!  The Christian bookstores are filled with books promoting the latest fancies of men who are revered as religious leaders.  Yes, my friends, the winds of error are blowing strong across our land.  As God’s People, we must be prepared through prayer and diligent study to struggle against the prevailing winds;

Ephesians 4:13-14: …until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Stay close to The Master and He’ll give you the strength to keep flying into the wind!

Love in Christ,  Elaine

Gardener by Creation

Genesis 2:4-5:  This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens— and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground

In God’s original plan Adam, the first man, would be a gardener in Eden.  Apparently man was as necessary as rain to the propagation of plant life.  The very first time I dug in the dirt and planted a seed, I knew I was a gardener by heart.  In time I came to learn that God made man a gardener at the beginning of creation probably because God Himself was a Gardener:

Genesis 2:8-9:  Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.  And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  

Winter has arrived with its gray skies and treacherous traveling.  But, as a gardener by creation, I am content to stay indoors planning my gardens for the new year.  I am not discouraged watching the snow cover the ground and freeze one day and melt away again the next because I see my gardens as a work in progress.  Yes, it looks like a bunch of dead sticks out there but I can imagine the lush green of summer as God works His wonders with my “plants of the field”.  God is more than able to coax life and color out of the brown mud of spring.  Spring bulbs hiding beneath winter’s chill are already preparing for their big spring event!

Genesis 2:15  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

 

I get a real sense of accomplishment thinking back to past gardening projects – even the ones that didn’t work out so well.  I pray for the strength to see this new gardening season through to the end.  Then God will cover my gardens with a blanket of snow once more to await the warmth of spring.

Love as always,  Elaine (sorting seed packets)