IOW: Rejoicing in Contentment

Believer...banish your fears;
cast out all doubts;
lift up the happy head;
clap the exulting hands;
rejoice;
give thanks,

Your heavenly Father cannot set you in wrong places.
Your loving Savior cannot lead you in wrong paths.

All is well.

~by Henry Law~

We have a little cat that wandered onto our property. I think she lived in the woods on the hill across the road for a while. She finally braved the scary highway and crossed into her own little 'promised land.'

She slunk around here for a couple months, always hanging on the fringes of whatever was going on, running away if we paid her any attention.

One evening as we enjoyed the warm spring air, she crawled under our chairs. My feet were propped up on a table so she settled down under my seat. Our other cats were around and insistent on attention, so there was no just sitting quietly. Finally they had given us the small measure they decided we deserved and walked off. The little cat stayed hidden under my chair the whole time.

After a bit, I put my feet down and she ran back until they were no longer moving. I think she must have been kicked by someone, judging by how afraid of feet she was. I reached my hand down and spoke nonsense in soft, soothing tones. The little cat worked up her courage and came over and let me pet her for a minute before her fear overcame her and she ran off.

I continued to try to win her over, thinking eventually to haul her away so we didn't end up with wild kittens born in the garage or under the storage building. I started setting food for her, separate from where our other two cats fed, since one, Muffin (the reigning queen of our little farm), would chase her away, and the other, Rocko, would scare her off with his rough play.

I named our little stray Patches, for the gray patches over her otherwise white fur. Patches gradually came to trust me. And surprisingly, her gentle nature won me over and she earned a permanent home in our cat herd.

For a long time, even with all the loving kindness she was given, Patches would still dart away in fear as we walked by. Then she started to run up as I walked in the yard and stroll with me. Now she rushes from wherever she is sleeping into the driveway when we drive in and escorts us to the porch. She will even walk ahead, then come back to see what is taking me so long to get there. She always stops at the top of the stairs and waits for me to bend over and give her a scratch between the ears. She trusts me and will even sleep under my big wicker rocker while I rock. She has learned that I will not hurt her and she seems to appreciate that I'm the one who takes good care of her.

But there is one thing about our little Patches that I have noticed. She never purrs. Even if she works up the courage to jump into my lap for a nice long pet session, she never utters the slightest rumble. It's almost as if she is afraid to completely give herself over to the pleasure of my attention and love, just in case it is taken away.

Aren't we like Patches sometimes? We skirt around God's lovingkindness until we realize it is really offered to us. Then when we accept His grace and salvation, sometimes we still hold back timidly waiting to see if we will be kicked for all the mistakes we make. We become more confident in His love as we spend time with Him and He reveals His nature to us. But for some of us, who have experienced disappointment and disillusionment with people in our lives, fully trusting in God's steadfast love never really takes hold. We struggle with our old expectations and never give ourselves up to just resting in His grace and enjoying the blessings of His presence.

Come on, dear believers, it's time to release old hurts and painful memories and curl up in the Father's lap to enjoy His gentle hand. He LOVES us with a LOVE that is forever. It's time to purr!!!

Thus says the LORD,
"The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness--
Israel, when it went to find its rest."
The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
"Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will take up your tambourines,
And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers. ~Jeremiah 31:2-4~

P.S. More on Patches' life story: Her previous owner saw her sunning herself on our porch rail earlier this summer and stopped by to confirm it was her. She had been missing from their home for more than a year. Because of vicious dogs that live near them that had already gotten another of their cats, they decided to leave her with us. Patches agreed wholeheartedly, even struggling out of her former owner's arms to run and hide behind my legs. She is six years old, has had one litter of kittens when she was a year old and has been spayed. She gets to spend the rest of her days in leisure her here on Morning Glory Farm. (She doesn't even have to do the mousing jobs...Muffin is our resident varmint hunter. And poor little Rocko was overcome by curiosity and didn't make it safely across the highway back in early June, so she doesn't have to worry about him pouncing down on her from high places as she walks by.) The only person she has to run away from is the Dynamo, but she does so halfheartedly. She submits to his rough love, then makes her escape as soon as he loosens his hug.

<-- Jennifer at Scraps & Snippets is hosting this week's In Other Words. Visit her to view more posts and to add your own take on today's quote.

IOW: Rejoicing in Contentment

http://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/09/iow-rejoicing-in-contentment.html

The God of Second Chances

"Dear Lord,
I do not ask that Thou shouldst give me
some high work of thine,
some noble calling

or some wondrous task.

Give me a little hand to hold in mine."
~
Anonymous

During my high school senior year. the Equal Rights Amendment was once again up for a vote. The militantly feminist messages pushed by several single female teachers were confusing and just some of the messages being shoved at young women throughout my growing up years.

Shortly after I graduated, I started dating my dear husband. My mind was consumed by young love and the excitement of preparing for a wedding. We lived in newly wedded bliss for two years. I worked just enough to keep me from getting bored, as we lived in a tiny apartment in the Awase area of Okinawa and I was away from the American community on the military bases. When we arrived at my husband's next duty station in Plattsburgh, NY, we were expecting our first child. My life was consumed with preparations for our new arrival. Shortly after our first daughter was born we moved to the little house next door to my husband's parents in West Virginia.

To help with a few bills while my husband built a car rebuilding business, I used my dental assistant training and got a part-time job. It was a tough summer, missing my daughter, especially at feeding times. Thank the Lord for milk pumps! By the fall, I had enough and my husband's business was covering our small expenses, thanks to the generosity of his parents letting us live rent-free. Life revolved around the joys of our growing daughter and getting to see each other any time we wanted.

The business grew difficult with extremely hours long needed to succeed, I was beginning to feel the strain of living so close to in-laws, and we missed the military life we had given up. We chose to return to the Air Force and moved away. We enjoyed our tiny family and were blessed with the surprise of another little one on the way when our daughter was 13 months old. With the arrival of our second daughter, the easy-to-keep-up-with household required more effort to stay organized. Three years, the birth of our son, and two moves later, I was barely keeping up with housework and budgeting was just non-existent. The feeling I was missing out on something lodged itself in the back of my mind. I went back to work in a job I could work while the kids were asleep at night.

Gradually I lost the joy I took in my children. No longer were accidents and messes cute. When I was given an opportunity to go back to school, I jumped at it and spent two years trying to juggle the whole thing, only really succeeding in academics. Then we moved again. By the time we had been married 10 years, we had moved seven times.

One of the ways I got familiar with an area when we moved was to pile the kids in the van and drive around exploring. During one of those times, I discovered a wonderful radio station that had a program from Proverbs 31 Ministries. I couldn't tune it in at home, so I planned our trips around the radio schedule for Focus on the Family broadcasts and Proverbs 31 broadcasts. God gave me a wake-up call and pulled my heart back to my home. That eventually led me to homeschool my children and it seemed life was back on track in my mind. Of course we moved again...and because of several circumstances, we put our children back in public school. I again found work outside our home and for five out of the next six years my children attended public school (household moves 8 through 11).

We put our son in a private Christian school, which we felt was necessary for him and I used this as an excuse to take a very busy job in support of the 2002 Winter Olympics. I had a lot of responsibility and the job was prestigious. I got to hobnob with people from many countries. I justified the inevitable neglect of my family by reminding myself that I was working for a Christian organization. At one point I was working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week.

When my husband retired from the Air Force that June, we moved back to his hometown, into the house his parents had lived in. I gradually again saw what a blessing being home with my children was. But, alas I reaped what I had sowed...my children were very busy in all kinds of things. Our oldest daughter moved out because she felt we were too restrictive and it took God's intervention to help our family heal from the years I had neglected to make them a priority in my life.

Our oldest moved back home and 8 months later gave birth to our grandson. Although the circumstances were not ideal, God blessed our daughter with wisdom and she is a wonderful mother trying to do her best with her son. We are fully supportive of her and I get the opportunity to do my best for my whole family now. I have gotten to be a big part of our grandson's life and will be starting preschool lessons with him this fall. My heart always wanted to be home...my stubborn will just wouldn't listen. God was right alongside me the whole time and He guided me to an awareness of who He created me to be. I've been able to shake off all the confusing messages I received growing up about what is important in a woman's life.

I get a second chance to help in the life of a young one (and hopefully many more young ones as my children find Godly mates and start giving us more grandchildren). I also have the privilege of being a mentor to our grown daughters and an example of a woman seeking God's heart for our son. P.S., a great plus of being a grandparent is that I get to teach and love and spoil and send the darling home. And every step of growth has also strengthened my relationship with my husband. Because God is faithful, I am truly blessed!

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." ~Proverbs 14:1

(I've been both...its much more fulfilling to be wise!!! If you like stories about lessons learned, read my August 25th post :)








Nina is hosting In Other Words at her site Mama's Little Treasures. If you want to participate, write a blog about the quote in the box above on your site then click on the link to Nina's blog and leave your URL in the Mr. Linky box. You will also find links for the other participants' blogs.

The God of Second Chances

http://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/08/god-of-second-chances.html

The Summer of My Discontent

My husband and I like to take long motorcycle rides in the country. We have had several trips this summer through the farmlands of Ohio. I have a tendency to look at farms or large parcels of land for sale and try to commit the realtors’ numbers to memory. On more than one of our rides, I commented out loud that, “I would love to have that place.”

My husband's reply was surprising, “That’s why I sometimes hesitate to take you riding. It always makes you discontented with what we have.” I felt a quick bite of shame at his response. It’s true…seeing secluded farms or properties with plenty of space between them and their neighbors evoke a longing in me…every time.

I pondered over my husband’s comments for a long while, determining that I would suppress that longing the next time it reared its green and envious head. I have been somewhat successful. I started looking for ways I can implement characteristics of the farms I like into our property. I have focused on the gardens in particular.

The second weekend in August we were riding on Ohio county road 775. We passed many farms, including four Amish farms. I examined them closely to see what made their places so appealing. I discovered three things:

1. There was no clutter of belongings everywhere. (“…a time to keep and a time to throw away.” Ecclesiastes 3:6b [NIV])
2. The gardens were well tended. (“…a time to plant and a time to uproot.” Ecclesiastes 3:3a [NIV])
3. The farms were just big enough for the Amish farmer and his family to tend without needing expensive equipment. (“That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:13 [NIV])
   

Our garden is a bit of a sorry affair. After I spent the first half of the summer in physical therapy unable to bend and dig because of my back, we were overrun with weeds…massive ones as tall as me in some instances. My husband spent the better part of his time off from work trying to get his mother’s broken water line fixed. It was a huge undertaking (involving laying 450 feet of line and going back a couple weeks ago to fix yet another leak at a joint).

I just spent a week digging, hoeing, and tugging weeds trying to reclaim the space. My husband jumped in on Saturday to shovel up some of the weeds. I am, as of this writing, itching to get out there and plant some Red Russian kale, Bloomsdale spinach, and Mammoth Melting Sugar edible-podded sugar peas. With my loaded tomato plants staked, the pepper plants doing beautifully, and my one surviving okra plant steadily producing a pod a week, we will have a small, but lovely harvest soon.

We have a nice place. It’s not huge, just an acre and a half. It’s not secluded at all, with neighbors on each side and a highway in front, but it backs up to Twelvepole Creek and has a mountain on the other side of the creek, so our backyard is private. And it is ours with out the burden of mortgage payments.

It is just where God intends us to be. If that were not true, I am sure He would have given my dear husband the same longing to find a bigger and better place. Since He has not, I can only conclude that I am, like my plants, meant to bloom where I am planted, focus on the blessings I have, and work to be a good steward of these same blessings.

And I have this great promise to cling to when green-eyed envy tries to rear its ugly head:

“A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough.” ~~1 Timothy 6:6-8 [The Message]

The Summer of My Discontent

http://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/08/summer-of-my-discontent.html