Westwoods

It didn't occur to me till after school yesterday, that I have a weekend in front of me...I'm quick sometimes... Anyhow, I had suddenly somehow gotten through a most grueling week to discover...a weekend. I found this saying in a fortune cookie before I started teaching:  Be calm, like a giant tree in a storm.  That's me.  All the way... Ha! This is what I do on the weekends squeezed in among the other normal things like baking, laundry, and ironing.  The report cards came home for revision because some of my more discerning and detailed students found mistakes.  Can you believe that?  The top one of the stack, looks as if a truck drove over it. I made this comment in the class room on Friday and the student to whom it belongs said, "It did."  I have convinced my students that I am smart about somethings.  At least about how report cards get banged up. I think that I enjoy the domestic parts of life more because I don't get to do ...

This is one of those posts that many of you will scan and leave quickly because the content is too deep or boring or maybe it will fall on your ears as nothing...There.  You have been forewarned.  But to me, it means the breath of life.  A ray of hope shines in my winter dark because of God in His kindness leading me and helping me to bump into these truths along the way...I need this like one needs water in the desert. Last week, it was a simple line of song that got my attention.  It made me stop and I felt a zing as I thought about these words:  The dark is just a canvas for Your grace and brightness... I will tell you why this means something to me as briefly as I can... Every winter I get dark.  It comes no matter what. So to say, "OK God, since it will be dark anyway,  I give you this blank canvas to fill it with Your grace and the brightness of You...all winter long."  I think by spring, God will have done a smashing job with whatever H...

 Life and being married to this man, leaves not one dull minute... Last Monday, I was sinking into Despair and Gloom with the Darkness of Winter.  Bruce suggested we get away.  I snorted and said, "How?" or maybe I wailed it.   After all, I am a teacher, he is a busy man both in school and in the ER. By Thursday, a substitute teacher/teachers materialized, tickets to Seattle had been bought, and a trip was planned.  So, without further ado...we were on our way.  We drove and parked our car at the airport in Spokane, after which, we strolled leisurely to our gate and ordered Starbucks coffee and hot chocolate.  We mostly sat quietly together, soaking up the act of doing nothing.  And we snuggled like honeymooners, while looking our age.    In Seattle, we sat and ate lunch next to the glass wall stretching up and up and out and out.  There was a guitar player strumming and crooning his tunes, while  airplanes...

     Our world is full of so much to argue and debate about, in the workplace and church,or in our homes.  Goodness, there can even be the locking of horns driving down the road.  Trying to sort it all out can be rather confusing and upsetting if you are a peacemaker like myself, because everyone has a different opinion, cultural background, or belief system.  Why can't we just let things be, live and let live?   Realistically, I know this approach is wimpy and un-Christ-like. I know you "gotta stand for something, or you'll fall for anything".   I also know there has to be better way of doing it.      I am thankful and blessed to have been brought up to love Jesus, and to treat others how I have wanted to be treated. I am glad to have learned manners and have had the privilege of going to church on Sunday and in following the Bible as closely as possible. All these things are good things. I don't belittle them, but I sometimes ...

What I've been thinking...No matter how much I grow up, I will still fight me and my selfish heart. Even though I learn a lesson here and there, it sticks with the practice of trying again and through failure. Failure only means, I get to try again... to be kind to harshness...to be calm in chaotic times... to extend grace to the unlovely... What I've been reading in Scripture... Of God's power in the Book of Acts... Of Him being my shelter, my refuge, and my tower in Psalms... What I've been hearing... That it is dark for long lengths of time... That we ought to take our vitamins and drink green tea and exercise... What I also am hearing...  We thrive in being thankful to God for all circumstances... He never moves away even in the darkness of winter...He can reach into the darkness and help us live joyously, even in Idaho... What I am learning... I don't have to understand a situation to show love... It is my privilege as a Christ follower to show love...

      Sometimes in life, the background isn't what matters...       Even so, it is still there, all our memories, personal baggage,  And the stark facts as they were...            Sometimes we forget to see what is right in front of our eyes...       The beauty of now, be it cold and crystal, clear or pure...             It is easy to see the ugly in our surroundings..         Sometimes so easy, we forget to look for the good...          But if we take the time we are dazzled by God's provision of grace, truth, and guidance...        The things that lie before us are sometimes steps of faith...      Like going out on a limb...      We want to make sure it is safe first...      Or fun...      Or at least free of pain... My...