Calm My Hurried Soul

Prose is my modus operandi -- and very plain "here and now" prose at that. But sometimes it just doesn't convey as much meaning as a few carefully chosen lines of verse. (I dare not call it real poetry...)

The following was begun on a few scraps of paper during my private devotions years ago. Maybe a decade. It wasn't until December of 2014 that I pulled together the scraps and added the second half.

Forgotten for a couple of years, I re-read it now and know I need to make this my prayer again.

I try to fly to Your presence
With my feet stuck in the mud.
My mouth says, “Praise You, Lord!”
But my mind is all aflood
                with the things I need to do today,
                a story read when I was eight,
                the way my back and body ache,
                and things too countless to relate.

My mind knows of Your power and grace
To calm my hurried soul,
But it needs to go much deeper
For You to make me whole;
                past the overloaded brain,
                distracted, in a daze;
                deeper than a routine prayer
                uttered with some shallow praise.

Calm my hurried soul;
May I rest in You again.
Sure I’m busy, Lord,
But that need not be a sin,
                unless life crowds out true living
                and plants hurry in my soul,
                and I cannot hear You calling,
                waiting now to make me whole.

Some busy years down the road
You make me lie down… long.
My broken body gave no choice;
My active strength all gone.
                I want to fight; You hold me down
                to trust that You know best;
                to stop to hear the Shepherd’s words,
                “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

Though still so limited in strength
The urge is hunting me;
A daily struggle, this inner drive,
To find value in activity.
                What’s the truth? God loves me not
                for daily, checked-off lists,
                but just because He made me!
                Do I really believe this??

So, calm my hurried soul.
May I rest in You again.
Help me slow down, Lord
To hear Your voice within;
                fill my life with Your true living;
                plant Your stillness in my soul;
                through pain I hear You calling,
                at work to make me whole.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

April Harvest 2017

First picking of asparagus steaming for a delicious, fresh 

side-dish at supper on April 24th

April Snows

If April showers bring May flowers,

what do April SNOWS bring?!

At least this spring is nothing like the year when on April 21st, our local branch of the National Weather Service made me laugh with an unusually lively ending to their daily bulletin. Picture the following exact quote in the nearly-monotone computerized voice of our weather radio:

"Enough said, as conditions will fail to evade their totally ridiculous state until we approach next weekend – at the earliest. We hope these words are not unduly harsh or frightening, but one must consider that the weather of the past month in these parts has not been realized in recorded history."

First Canoe Ride of 2017

At the start of April, we took a little drive to see how the ice was coming off the lakes. 

Though still mostly filled with giant ice-cubes, the water around the edge was so alluring. I proposed a little exploration in the canoe.

Some paths we tried were a bit too tight even for our narrow craft.

So close, but no way through! On the way out... that is.

By the time we came back 10 minutes later, this fissure had opened and become our only way home through the drifting icebergs! 

The Return of the Green

Tree buds are swelling.

Lilacs and honeysuckle are leafing out.

Early bulbs and perennials are pushing their way into the light.

Spring is here!

He Is Risen!

It has been longer than usual since I posted (or had a pre-scheduled post automatically load). That is because Elsa and I got to church again for a special Easter morning service!

The Easter hymns are glorious! Even more so with Dad's trumpet!

We chose to share in this joy with our church family, though we knew it would set us back for the rest of the day, and longer. ... Well, it is proving to be "longer." So I will just settle for a few pictures for now.

Dad's trumpet, bought through "The Canadian Brass"
when his college trumpet finally broke some years ago

Decorations in the church entry

Sleepy Dorothy in her Easter dress

Jesus is Risen, Indeed!!

Happiness

Every now and again we will catch a blissful look on Dorothy's stoic face. How it cheers our hearts to see her happy amid all the illness, weakness, and pain of living in her body these years.

If you hear my sisters or me suddenly begin chanting a funny little poem by A.A. Milne (author of Winnie-The-Pooh), it means we see an expression of utter happiness on Dorothy!

                               

John had
Great Big
Waterproof
Boots on;
John had a 
Great Big
Waterproof
Hat;
John had a 
Great Big
Waterproof
Mackintosh--
And that
(Said John)
Is
That.



You may well wonder why that particular poem. ;-)

The reason: the title of this little rhyme is...

HAPPINESS

Interruptions

Time for another excerpt from "His thoughts said... His Father said..." by Amy Carmichael 

57 INTERRUPTIONS

The son wondered how it could be possible to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus when life was so full of interruptions. Hardly an hour was without something that broke its ordered flow.

One day as he sat by a mountain stream he noticed the lovely way of water when interrupted by the boulders that broke its ordered flow.

The river turned each into an occasion for beauty. And he understood that it was possible to live the river's way if only he took the interrupting things, not as interruptions, but as opportunities, and indeed as very part of life.

 And while he sat there by the water, his dear Lord said to him, As the ripples of the river glance up to the light, let thy heart glance up to Me in little looks of love very often through the day.

[Not surprisingly, the typing of this post was interrupted by one of the timers I have set every day to make me take supplements or Lyme treatments at specific times. :-) I had to smile this time instead of the occasional groan!]

Audio Church

It is Sunday again. A day set aside. A day of rest. The Lord's day. A day dedicated ever since the church of the first century for meeting together with other children of God.

And Elsa and I are at home on the couch. We have been for many months of Sunday mornings. I would say we are home "alone." But we are not alone. Jesus is here with us just as much as He was when we were able to consistently gather with our local church family. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.” - Jesus (in Matthew 18:20)

This isn't ideal. As the apostle Paul reminded the believers in Hebrews 10:
24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

But this is reality in broken bodies in a fallen creation.

And so we gather on our couch each Sunday morning. And Dorothy parks nearby in her wheelchair. She may as well nap at home as at church now that sleep is taking over the majority of her days.

For a couple of years Elsa and I would choose for our morning "sermon" a podcast from a number of good Bible teachers or pastors online. But this year I started sending my audio recorder to church with Mom and Dad. Sometime during the week I edit the file (trim excess and level the volume) to be ready to hear a week late. Another house-bound friend from church has gotten in on this as well.

Waveform of a Sunday message in my audio editing program

It is good to have this connection to our church family again... to be learning from the Scripture along with them - even if we rarely see them these years.

Drying Days

Hooray for hanging laundry outdoors to dry again! 

There's a special freshness about sun-and-wind dried clothes.

Regi is already getting too hot in the sun and is glad for his cool, shady spot nearby.

The "Ugliest" Season

Possibly contrary to popular opinion, I think spring is ugly -- the ugliest season of my northern year.

Shocking? Well, yes, if you're picturing bright, fresh greens appearing everywhere, water flowing and sparkling, flowers blooming. But that's only true in greenhouses at this time.

Instead, what I see for weeks and weeks after the snow thaws is... brown. 

Not golden, glowing browns like the late summer crops ready for harvest.

Nor the deep, rich browns of autumn foliage. 

But dirty, dead brown. 

No signs of green on the horizon.








Yet, there are beauties to see if one knows where to look. 

Sky: White-spotted blue days and ever-changing prairie sunsets are not dimmed by the season. 

Birds: From the voices penetrating my first thoughts in the morning and making me smile throughout the day - to spotting new birds daily traveling to their summer homes - to seeing near-constant motion out any window... what joys!

Downy Woodpecker

Chickadee and Sparrows or Finches

Hairy Woodpecker

Huge wild turkeys checking out our dead garden

Sunshine: It is so lovely to have this gift more often again after months of predominantly heavy grey. And how it changes the landscape with detail and warmth!

Enjoying the sunny deck with Gully (and Reginald nearby)
- complete with blanket, tea, and down coat.
On warmer days, the sun is already bringing some color to our pale skin.

I love how the sunshine brings out texture and beauty even on brown tree bark.

Lichen on the deck railing