Back on the Wagon…

I fell off the wagon…not the welcome wagon, the band wagon, and not the sobriety wagon…I fell off the wagon of personal commitment to daily seeking God first thing each morning. It wasn’t a long hard fall; it was more of a gradual slide of shortening my time spent in prayer and Bible study. It then became easier to just work it into part of my day…some where in my day…no certain time…just somewhere. Then before I knew it, I was saying my bedtime prayers and they included my morning prayers as well. The little devotions I was getting from a friend and from a few other sources were substituting for my personal Bible study.

Then it hit me…I’d fallen off the wagon…the wagon of personal commitment to spend a certain time each day seeking to know my Lord better, to praise Him, to honor Him, to intercede for others to Him, and I was feeling pretty yucky!

My days just wore on and I couldn’t seem to focus on anything…when I did try to pray, I’d fall asleep or my mind would wander to other things…I felt like the Hebrews wondering around in the wilderness for forty years! Thankfully, it’s only been days, well maybe a week or so for me but it feels like a long time that I’ve been floundering around with no purpose, no right path to take, no voice from my God saying, “This is the way, walk in it”.

So, I’m back on the wagon as of this morning. I made sure I started my day with prayer, Bible study, and praise and thanksgiving. I didn’t read the other devotions until late in the day. I put first things first…that would be my time with my Savior…after all; He did give His life just for me! Today seemed to have more purpose, I accomplished more today than I have in a week. Aah, the joy that fills my soul when I am grounded in God’s word.

Thank you Lord for bringing your wayward child back to your word…back to the wagon. I thank you that the wagon didn’t leave without me…That you are always there waiting for your children to see the error of their ways and return to You and that you welcome us with open arms…lifting us up on the wagon, into your lap so we can learn from your Word, and rest in your peace and presence. Thank you my Savior!

All my love,
Lisa The Wagon dweller

Beauty Marks…

What are the marks of beauty? I mean really, what it is that defines beauty? What is it that makes a person beautiful?

As I prepare to speak at a Ladies Tea at a Senior Citizen’s Center, I am thinking about all the marks of beauty those ladies possess. Some may call them wrinkles, but I call them laugh lines…you know those deep lines around the mouth that deepen when they smile. How beautiful they are. The deeper the lines the greater the joy that life has experienced.

Then you have the brow or forehead wrinkles…how precious they are. These are the precious marks left from years of watching, worrying and and hopefully praying over their friends, and family. You see the creases made when they are told of the death of a loved one, when their heart is broken because their child is in harms way defending our country, when their best friend has cancer, these are the marks of beauty for they show the deep concern these women share for everyone they love

Then there are the liver spots, or old age spots, as some would call them, can there be beauty in these marks, you may ask? Why yes, these beauty marks show just how hard this body has fought the good fight, has weathered the storms of life, has withstood the test of time, and lived to tell about it. These beauty marks tell of days spent at the beach before there was such a thing as such screen, when beauty was more than skin deep, and when the most important beauty trait a person possessed was their inner beauty.

Finally, we have our crowning glory…our silver hair. It is truly a mark of beauty…it must be so because even Miss America is crowned with a crown made of silver that sparkles and shines!

Barbie may think she is the ideal of beauty…but I’ll take my laugh lines, wrinkled brow, liver spots, and silver hair for they show the dignity, wisdom, love, and grace that can only be perfected with age!

Dear Lord,
Thank you for my Mother and the other wise women who have taught me to grow old gracefully. While I still may hide my gray hair and use my anti-wrinkle cream, help me to remember, that with age comes beauty beyond compare. Thank you for the beauty you are perfecting in me. Thank you for the beauty in the women around me…for my mentors. Help me to always know that beauty is so much more than skin deep. Help us all to see your scars for the beauty of salvation that they brought and still bring.
In Jesus Name,
Amen

A Daughters Love…

I had the privilege of spending the weekend alone with my youngest daughter, Amanda. My husband went to see his Mother, which I probably should have done as well, but I don’t get to have many one on one times with my “grown-up kids” so I stayed home.
Amanda arrived Friday evening about 5:30 and we headed to our favorite Japanese restaurant where we enjoyed a leisurely dinner. We then visited Wal-mart where we purchased all the ingredients for the new dishes Amanda wanted to learn to make…corn pudding, meatloaf, Vidalia onion casserole, and resurrection rolls! While we were waiting in the check out line, I called Pizza Inn and ordered a Chocolate Chip pizza for our dessert that we could pick up on the way home.

Upon arriving home, putting away the groceries, and starting to settle in for a night of watching the Olympics, I opened the pizza box. It was burnt. I said, “Amanda this will never do…I ordered extra gooey/runny…look on the ticket and see if it says that!” Amanda asks, “Where is the receipt?” “Oops,” I say, “I put my chewing gum in it and put it in the cup holder in the car.” So Amanda goes and gets it out of the car, scrapes the gum off of it and reads the ticket…”it does say extra rummy”. I get on the phone and call the restaurant back, explain the situation and say I’d like another pizza. The manager is then put on the phone and hears me out and agrees to make me another pizza.
Amanda and I get back in the car, gummy receipt and burnt pizza in hand and head back to Pizza Inn. We pull up to the drive in window and our Pizza is waiting…extra runny and loaded with chocolate chips! We offer to give back the burnt one but they say we can have that one too!

We finally get home, don our pj’s, and settle in for a night of girl talk, great dessert pizza, and Olympics.
We hadn’t been watching long when Amanda says this must really stink for you Mom, not being able to see what’s going on. Then Michael Phelps swims his record breaking swim that is so close it is a photo finish. She proceeds to describe it to me. Amanda’s wonderful descriptions allow me to see through her eyes. How wonderful to be able to see again…even if just for a little while. How wonderful! Amanda is so conscience of my feelings and what I am missing visually so she tries to fill me in on what things look like whenever possible. It is such a blessing to have such a thoughtful daughter who is willing to give up a whole weekend to spend with her Mom.

Saturday morning we ate leftover chocolate chip pizza for breakfast…I tried to bring it to Amanda in bed but she got up before I got all the way back to the bedroom with her plate. Amanda spent a good part of the day working on her tan, while I did some laundry and wrote another chapter of my book. Together we cleaned out the top of my closet, changed the sheets on the beds and watched more Olympics. We finally cooked her new dishes that evening with pretty good success. The corn pudding wasn’t my favorite. I’d never made it before so I didn’t know how to guide her. She took all those leftovers home!

We shared some secrets. I’ll never tell. I promise!

Sunday we went to church and came home and ate leftovers, watched a movie, worked on the computer, packed up some pots and pans for her to take to her apartment, and she was off. Oh how my heart aches when she leaves. How precious my children are to me…what a gift from the Lord. I thank God for the extra measure of patience God has blessed Amanda with when it comes to dealing with a blind Mom. There will be stars in her crown!

I love you Amanda,
Mom…the keeper of the secret!!

I am sharing this wonderful story I received from a dear friend. I don't know who wrote it. Read, reflect and enjoy!
block quote
---------- A PERSPECTIVE ABOUT OLD BARNS
Only years of standing in the weather,
bearing the storms and scorching sun,
only that can produce beautiful barn wood. A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking.
He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.
I told him right off he was crazy.
He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car,his hands, and the way he talked.
He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn
sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.
I told him he had a funny idea of beauty. Sure, it was a handsome building in its day.
But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow
and ice and howling wind.The summer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's gone,
and the wood has turned silver gray.
Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired.
Yet, that fellow called it beautiful. That set me to thinking.
I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn.The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den
in a new country home he's building down the road.
He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful.Only years of standing in the weather,
bearing the storms and scorching sun,
only that can produce beautiful barn wood. It came to me then. We're a lot like that, you and I.
Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us.
Sure we turn silver gray too... and lean a bit more than
we did when we were young and full of sap.
But the Good Lord knows what He's doing.
And as the years pass He's busy using the hard weather of our lives,
the dry spells and the stormy seasons to do a job of beautifying
our souls that nothing else can produce.
And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy! They took the old barn down today and hauled it away
to beautify a rich man's house.
And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off
to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord
has for us on the Great Sky Ranch.
And I suspect we'll be more beautiful
then for the seasons we've been through here...
and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house. May there be peace within you today.
May you trust God that you are
exactly where you are meant to be. And...
I do sincerely thank God
for my wonderful friends and family
who love me even though
I do show signs of slowly weathering just around the edges.
block quote end

Maybe I'll let my gray hair grow out...just maybe!