In the palm of His hand

Thanks, Lord, for speaking to me while it is still early today. As I sat and looked at this tiny toad in Elijah's hand, You reminded me that I am in the palm your hand. Afterall, wasn't that the theme of my entire Emmaus Walk? I can't believe I didn't see it sooner!

Isaiah 49:15b, 16a - "I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;"

Grace like rain....

is the title of a song that carries a lot of meaning for me these days. It serves as a reminder of how thankful we, as Christians, can be for the great work of Jesus on the cross. Grace has always been a bit hard for me to grasp and that is why I included it in one of my children's names. We all need to give and receive grace every single day.

Not coincidentally, the Lord has been speaking to me in other ways concerning rain recently. During a faith-shaking week of events, we had to drive home through a torrential downpour on the expressway. With lightning flashing, thunder pounding my ears, rain rolling in a blinding sheet down the windshield, we made our way through construction cones and barrels. Being the nervous person I am, this was definitely not my ideal driving experience.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, though, there was God's still, small voice. "Tamra, do not be afraid. Look at this rain. It is my blessings raining down upon you! See how profuse? It is my love pouring down, covering you." Thank you, Lord. You are so good to me.

The rain, too, has served to remind me of His unfailing provision. He sent His rain this week to water my flowers and garden. I did not have to drag the hose around or toil one bit to get them all watered. He can and will take care of me like that as well.

As always, though, whenever the Lord blesses, the enemy of our souls is right there to try to snatch it away. Yes, the watering has been plentiful lately - and the weeds have loved it just as much as the other plants! It is all I can do to get them all yanked, but I will take the good with the bad. And I will have a good attitude about it, too.

Lord, give me wisdom as I walk with You and listen for Your voice. Help me to recognize weeds in my life and have the courage to pluck them out. Grant me the strength to uproot the ones that have been growing for a very long time and, as a result, are particularly tenacious in their ability to fight removal. By the power of Your Spirit and in the name of Jesus I humbly ask for these things. Amen.

The audacity

I've been meaning to write about the visitor to my flower bed and garden for a bit now. This little guy wreaked havoc on me all through the earliest stages of putting our plants in. A few of my plants, namely the marigold and sunflower, were all but chomped away. Upon close inspection, I discovered little holes and tunnels from the offender. Whenever I'd come upon one of those holes or tunnels, I'd pack it full of sod or weeds. The next day, though, I'd find more evidence that the intruder had returned via another route. It was quite frustrating. One time, I dug a hole in the flower bed only to have the ground fall away revealing a complex series of tunnels beneath. It had been virtually hollow under there, and I hadn't any idea.

And so my days went on, repairing the damage of this visitor, and trying to rid my garden of his presence. Quite accidentally, I came upon a way to send him packing, but that wasn't before he let me know what he thought of my interference. The kids and I were having a bonfire and working in the garden. It was getting pretty dark out, but we kept working so that we could finish up the last few things. Suddenly, from across the garden, we heard a grumbly, complaining animal sound. We all stopped to listen, asking if anybody else had heard the noise. It was actually quite disconcerting, but we finished up what we were doing.

As the night wore on, though, I began to feel annoyed with this creature. How dare he chew us out for working in OUR garden? Afterall, wasn't it ours to do what we pleased with? The audacity of the little guy was a bit much for me to take. It wasn't long, however, before it began to dawn on me that I could draw parallels between this experience and my own spiritual walk. Wasn't I just like that poor creature, grumbling whenever God attempts to bring change into my life? Stubbornly attempting to go along where I want even if He erects barriers? Who am I to do any of these things to the Creator of the universe? Wow! That kind of put it all into perspective for me.

I hear You, Lord.

Seeds and Weeds

I mentioned in my last blog how the girls and I had planted flowers from seed and transplanted them. There is just something extraordinary about doing it this way. Sure, it is so easy to buy the plants already grown, but then you skip all of the hope and faith that goes into putting a seed in the ground and waiting to see what it will become. Or if it will become at all.

When we planted our seeds, the girls and I would go out each day and examine the ground for any emerging sprouts. Sometimes, in our eagerness to believe our seeds had grown, we would see any sign of life and think it was our plant. Usually it was nothing more than a weed. No matter how much we wanted it to be one of our plants, we just couldn't make it be so.

I think I do that in life, too. Sometimes there are things that I want so badly to sprout and take on life. I watch and wait. Then it happens - something sprouts up! Hooray! But how many times do I not recognize it for the weed it is? "It can't be a weed," I tell myself, "I've wanted this for so long!" And so I go on convincing myself and trying to squash down that nagging feeling that it might be a weed afterall. When will I learn?

Transplanting

At this time of year there is often a lot of transplanting going on. My household is certainly not the exception. Actually, we've had three rounds of transplanting recently.

The first group looked amazing the next day, but slowly deteriorated thereafter. Most are still hanging in there as their roots gain new footing in foreign soil. Some looked to be in dire straits, but seem to be perking up and recovering. I am now noticing greener leaves and new shoots growing. They proved to be resilient.

The second group met calamity as they overnighted in my house. Our cat had a grand time chomping on leaves and knocking over the one that was in water. I had been so excited to receive them, too. Definitely not the way I wanted things to go down with my prized possessions.

I just finished transplanting the third group. Unlike the others, these little guys were sown from seed in a little clementine box. We had lined the bottom with dead leaves to keep the dirt from spilling out and to help moisture stay put. We watched them expectantly and were overjoyed when the first sprouts appeared. They kept coming and coming! Unfortunately, as they grew, they began to get crowded. Things were definitely getting cramped in that little clementine box. It was time to separate them before they would no longer thrive.

I lovingly dug them out and transplanted them in a variety of pots and areas in our flower beds. There were so many of them! My daughter and I kept referring to them as if they were people. "This little guy needs some more support. I think he will do well if we put him here - don't you think? Don't put him too deep or he might not do well." Before long I began thinking about how I will be transplanting my children into the world before long.

Like the third group, I waited for them and rejoiced with their arrival. I watched them grow and provided them with the things they needed to do well. I have tried not to be careless with them like I was with the second group, bringing things upon them that would harm them. They are growing, for sure, and soon they will need more room. It will be time for them to strike out on their own.

Inevitably my mind wonders how their transplanting will go. Will they be like the first group? Will they strike out on their own, full of zeal, only to wither under the pressures to come? I do not know how it will happen, but I do know that God is faithful. He loves my children even more than I do, and I can trust Him to take care of them. And, if the transplanting does leave them withered at first, He is able to revive and restore.

Strange requests

Earlier today I had noticed some kind of flowers growing on the side of the road when I was out and about. I noticed them once again on the way to church. On the way home I asked my teen son if he would get out of the car and bring some to us so we could identify it. Son #1 was a no go. Son #2, however, was game. Cool! We dropped him off and circled the car around to swing back and pick him up. As we approached him standing on the side of the road waiting for us, I had to smile to myself. What a strange request I had made of him, and yet he didn't consider it to be strange at all. The girls OOOHED and AAAHED over the prize that accompanied him into the back seat. The flowers ended up being pinkish, not the white color that they had appeared to us as we sped by. Another reminder to me that things are not always as they seem. The mystery flower's name? Daisy fleabane. The kids will probably always remember its name from now on. Who knows? Perhaps they'll carry on with them the memory of tonight's strange request. Just maybe they'll smile to themselves years from now when they encounter the same flower.

The beauty of simplicity

When I closely inspect most flowers I am blown away by all of the little intricacies in their design. Nothing simple about most any flower - the Lord really went all out when He made them. Amazing! As I worked in my tiny garden today, I couldn't help but ponder this.

As I looked over our garden, I suddenly became keenly aware that it didn't much resemble anything you'd see pictured in a magazine. All at once it seemed to be lacking in so many ways. I shouldn't have been surprised to find those thoughts lurking in my mind. Afterall, society tends to lean towards the philosophy that MORE is better. That is rarely the case, though.

Sometimes LESS is better. Less keeps me humble. Less helps me to work on being content in every circimstance. Less helps me appreciate more and expect less. Less gives me the opportunity to trust Him each and every day to meet my needs. Living a life of simplicity can be a very beautiful thing.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiates 3:11a)