Hay Fields

I live about 5 minutes from town, which is just enough distance between me and city limits for a good country drive.  I regularly see cows feeding, swarming hawks and owls, tractors plowing and sweet morning mist rising from farm ponds.


All through late spring and summer, as long as the rain lasts, fields and fields of tall green hay rise up.  It always interests me.  I'll watch it begin to grow, each day gaining height.  Then, one bright day I'll see a dusty green tractor start the all-day processing of baling the hay.  When five o'clock hits and I head back home, the farmer will still be out, cutting and baling the fields.  By next morning, the fields are freshly cut with all the hay in neatly packed bales. 

I thought about that farmer yesterday - how accomplished he must feel when he looks behind him as he drives back to the barns.  He'd never know how accomplished he was, though, if he never looked back.

Sometimes in our Christian life, we are told to never look back, to press forward.  But I think looking back is a good thing.  What awesome testimonies come out of remembering where we were when God picked us up & carried us though a storm.  When our children were hurt and we cried out to a loving Father, who heard us and intervened. 

Oh, God, that we may remember what you have done.  That we may look back, not with heavy hearts but with hearts free and rejoicing, at all the plowed fields of life.  Oh, Lord, that we may worship you daily for this!

I Will

I will put my own spiritual life before all others. I will purposefully draw close to God.
James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.
I will read the Bible more and daily.
Psalm 119:24 Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors
I will practice self-control over what I put in my body, making each decision to put something in my body a conscious decision.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
I will speak good. I will practice thinking good and pleasing thoughts about myself and others.
Philippians 4:8 whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I will exercise my heart, knowing that my body is God’s temple.
Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.
I will support my husband as the spiritual head of the family.
Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
I will make a conscious effort to be Christ-like and raise my son by example, rather than just by word.
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
I will practice making sure all I do glorifies God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
I will find and make time, knowing I have the support of my household, to do these things.

Please, Daddy?

I watched, exhausted, as my little boy splashed in the pool as much as his water wings would allow. My doctor had just told me I was low on B12 a few days earlier, and, boy, was I feeling it. The other "grown ups" were stationed around the pool this 4th of July, chatting about lawn mowers, summer league baseball, and fruit salad recipes. Not Cole's mommy. No, I was struggling in chin deep water to keep Cole and his Spiderman floaties from bobbing under.

Just when I was about to bail out, I caught my dad's eyes. "Cole," I exclaimed, "ask Poppy to swim with you!" My dad, already dried out, fully dressed, and full from hot dogs and baked beans, was in no way, shape, or form ready to jump back in the water.

Barely two, I knew it would be a miracle if Cole conjured those words out of his mouth, but again I prompted, "Cole, if you say those words I KNOW Poppy will get in." And I knew, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that if Cole asked that of Poppy, that Poppy would get in.

While miracles do happen, that wasn't one of them. But it did remind me that our heavenly father sometimes just wants us to ask. He wants us to lay aside the aspirin bottle, the sorrow-covered tissue, and the piling collection letters and just ask.

James 4:2 says "Ye have not because ye ask not."

When we ask, we must have faith - just like I had in my earthly father.

Matthew 21:22 says "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

Interesting... I just realized I haven't asked God to heal my B12 imbalance. Forgive me, Lord!

Hand of God: A Song

Verse 1
Oh hand of God
So mighty, strong
So quick to save
My soul from harm
Oh hand of God
That rescues me
From self and sin
To set me free

Verse 2
Oh mighty God
Stretch forth Your hand
To calm life’s storm
On thee I’ll stand
Oh hand of God
Bring forth the sun
Let me see clear
Salvation come.

Verse 3
Oh hand of God
That took my nails
The blood flowed free
Your body frail
Now risen high
For all to see
I lift my hands
To my risen King.

Verse4
Oh hand of God
You beckon me
To praise the One
Who died for me
Oh hand of God
I hold you strong
List’ to the crying
Of my heart’s song

Chorus
So mighty God
I praise your name
My hands held high:
An offering
Hear these, my words
Unworthy now
To you great God
I humbly bow.

Give me a Giggle

Give me a giggle.

A chuckle is old
it's fleeting and quick
Not always remembered
Rarely poured on thick

It comes from grayed heads
or long-nosed professors
A humph or a heh
Often ahemed to a lesser

A laugh, as you've heard
is lengthy, at best
It's hearty, contagious
A gift to the blessed

It comes from a gaggle
of manicured mothers,
of water-cooler talkers
and fraternity brothers.

A whoop or a snort
A snicker or roar
Will get a few smiles
and sounds hard to ignore

Ha! or Bah-hoo!
An exclaimed Whoa-ho!
An exuberant medicine
For an ail or a woe.

But give me a giggle
and I'll tell you why
The giggle is sweet
somewhat sassy and shy

A giggle is hidden
'neath sleep-over covers
From school girls in pigtails
and innocent lovers

A giggle is pure
A heart-skipping sigh
It can't be held in
But why would you try?

A quickly caught breath
Of excitement and wonder
Anticipations
no longer asunder

Love and the promise
of tomorrows-to-be
A secret, a shhhh
Do you see what I see?

Yes, give me a giggle
Not a laugh, nor tee-hee
Keep me young and vivacious
Loving life, loving me.