"For all that has been...thanks
To all that shall be...yes"
Reflecting on my life
as a child, eager to follow You
as a mother-to-be on my first retreat here, dwelling in darkness
a year ago, when I last walked these grounds
I'm grateful for Your companionship all these years
My soul wells up with hallelujahs
I cannot hide my love -- my heart will have to sing
You have been faithful; You will be again
Looking ahead to the future...
the immediate when I return of final preparations for Japan
the pinch-myself family adventure to Japan
Carter's final years of high school
and the ticking clock for whole-family memories
the foreboding joy knowing that life can't always be this good
and the scary unknowns
But I say "Yes" to all that shall be
because I know the One who holds tomorrow
and I know who holds my hand
8-25-26
Walk slower
No one's in a hurry
There's no need to rush
Take time to notice
what God might be wanting to show you
Eat slower
Set your fork down between bites
Savor each bite
Look out the window
Let good food nourish your body
while God nourishes your soul
Talk slower less none
There's no need for words
It's here in the silence where you meet the living God
Pause long enough to hear
what God might be wanting to say to you
For it's here
in the slowness
in the silence
that He speaks
Or at least
it's where we're aware
of Him speaking
Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening
8-25-26
The Garden is multi-faceted
EDEN
It's a place of creation and communion
It's a place of purpose and passion
It's where I walk with You and talk with You,
and You tell me that I'm Yours
GETHSEMANI
It's also a place of dread and surrender
When it gets hard, am I going to follow You or not?
Am I going to take up my cross or take the easy road?
It's a place of failure and shame
I am the disciples
who could not travail in prayer
for even an hour
My flesh takes over, and I give in to temptation so quickly
But I'm grateful that the Tree of Life
is not in an earthly Gethsemane
where we'd be stuck in an endless loop of failure and shame
for there's another Garden
at the end of time
and when we eat from the Tree of Life,
it will be in a place we want to live forever
Face to face
All our Gethsemane trials and pains
recycled to bring You glory
And forever walking and talking with You
You'll walk us through this garden
to the next
8-25-26
I marvel at Your creation
the tiny traveling inchworm
the chittering, skittering chipmunks
the resourceful, watchful squirrels
the flitting, fighting hummingbirds
the stately, stout sycamore trees
the creative, cunning wolf spider
the melodic, musing birds
I marvel at the way You set up the world
ever growing and evolving
ever learning and understanding
able to love and be loved
able to make and appreciate music
depending on You
depending on each other
colors and beauty for our appreciation
all kinds of food, not only to nourish us, but for our enjoyment
Oh, the order and variety and creativity of this world You made!
And I even marvel at man-made inventions
like the flashing yellow and red traffic light
which seem to interrupt nature
but although they weren't part of Your 7 days of creation,
You made humans able to think
and tinker
and design
and dazzle
What a wonderful Maker, who made all this out of nothing!
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