TOIL-WORN …update

Last night my early motherhood flooded my dreams, specifically the joy of breast feeding my little girl. 

 Moving from place to place yet having a constant need to feed my baby…holding her tighter…softly rubbing that velvety, wispy-blonde scalp, running a much-younger finger around her pink cheek…her eyes calling out “so good", “more, please”.

Recently I’ve been craving holding my girl, who is soon to be a 3rd-year college girl.

This memory probably bubbled up through my synapses because of deep longings ... Or, putting on my ‘faithful ears', His creative design emits into my dreams so it can intersect with today’s devotion…

My Provider wanting to ‘feed me’, hold me in His arms…

feeding me a greater Way than through breast milk, greater nutrition from His Holy Word

flowing out His eternal-soul care.

Corners of my cravings, also included my having attended two funerals...one for an ‘aunt-in-law” family member and one for a dear Church-family member. 

Below:  Aunt Doris in her wedding dress designed out of her veteran hubby's parachute he used to jump into Holland in WWII...so precious !

Below is Mr. Bobby and his wife...
We volunteered together at our church and got to share stories of our families and college times...Roll, Tide!  I will miss my friend dearly...
so, now I will be about loving Ms. Joan even MORE.

Two people...whom I was NOT ready to ‘lose’ now (which speaks of my selfishness in delaying their Holy Communion with their Lord). 


So, I wanted to share a comforting understanding of 1 Thessalonians:

Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening - Thursday, June 28, 2012 (Morning)

"Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."  1 Thess. 4:14

...each night a Sabbath for the day
...toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does a weary child when it slumbers on its mother's breast.
...clothed with the wedding garment of incorruption.  Blessed are those who "sleep in Jesus.

OH,JESUS, YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO ME...

…comforted me with a ‘holding of my baby’ in my dreams 

…‘sent your angels to guard me while I claiming 'Sabbath in sleep’. 

Tell me how You're talking to the readers of my blog...
but I'm hoping they'll leave me comments, too!

P.S. Update:  My girl called me Thursday night and told me she was heading home Friday morning...so God anwered my prayers VERY specifically...God's so creatively wonderful!

THE 83RD HODGEPODGE

JOINING JOYCE…FROM THIS SIDE OF THE POND:

1. FREEDOM and LIBERTY are casting-out fear words.  They were fought over, people died for them.
Yet, lately they’ve been SQUASHED by people who don’t seem to appreciate them, or understand what they mean.  Why do some want FEAR sneaking back in where it is NOT wanted…my prayers are for casting out that FEAR and welcoming back in true FREEDOM and LIBERTY.

2. HOTDOGS/BRATWURST/SAUSAGES call out to me, wanting to be covered in onions/peppers/mustard sometimes, and other times they just want slaw or pickle relish

3. ASPARAGUS would be on my ‘all-you-can-eat’ wish list, and it doesn’t matter if it’s roasted, baked, seared or barbecued…God was thinking DELICIOUS when He made that one!

4. Our household rotated around a TRIUMERATE: three officers functioning jointly…God, Daddy and Mother.

5. Only a few times as a kid did I get to go to PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA for vacation…and it was wonderfully fun walking on the shore, looking for sea shells and sand dollars with my Mom, playing catch in the pool with my Daddy…not so fun was having my shoulders and back rubbed in Noxzema after the sunburn, because we did NOT have the good sunscreens lotions/sprays.

6. GUEST ROOMS are great for SNORING relief , so mine gets used quite a lot. 

7. Celebration of the 4th changes according to the weather: less humidity calls us to watching fireworks outside our church with the multitude of families in our town; thunderstorms require our watching public TV's presentation from Washington on the TV.


8. Usually during this time of year my grandmother’s touch-me-nots are blooming.  But, this year NONE came up and my yard is empty of color (almost)…I did LOVE having them

FLOWER BEDS–n- a little dough

One of our most famous Georgia Peaches, PAULA DEAN, is known for saying this:

…and I know I am to be thankful for the weather my Lord has given me to be able to witness on my own, no matter what it is, how uncomfortable it might be or if it’s not to my liking at the moment.

There is certainly tons of things I SHOULD be doing out in the yard today…really.
But, let me share with you our dilemma of this time of year living on this longitude and latitude of this Great State!

Partly Sunny 90°

Real Feel®  99°(uuugh!)

Humidity: 51% (just sticky enough)

Cloud Cover: 35 % (not enough to keep the sun off)
Normal 86°

Continuing to work inside in the air conditioning on those things NOT so stressful as pulling weeds or mowing grass, is my preference at this time.  Washing laundry and vacuuming seem so menial when you compare them to the two labors previously mentioned.

Even though I am being productive, I’d love to surprise hubby with the yard being done before he gets home….hhhhmmmmm? 

Using the social media to get the word out to some strong, youthful bodies out in the community who might like a little Summer ‘spending dough’ is the idea!

They'll be able to relate to $$  ... (kind of like Tina Parol when she sings,“Who’s got your money now?”  

"I left you a note
Letting you know you're broke
[Chorus]
Who's got your money now?

  

So…I’m hopeful our strong, able-bodied youth will read my AD and ANSWER my plea…

The hubs would LOVE a newly-cut yard for this evening!

FRIDAY FRAGMENTS...wk end waftings

Joining Mrs. 4444s over at Half-Past Kissin' Time for some Friday Fragments!

Our quick trip to NC for a family member's funeral seems to have taken my energy.

Is it just me or do you also find that zooming up the road for six hours somehow removes power from one's body

For reals...I don't know if its an inertia thing or what, but it wears me out to travel in a car more than three hours. 

-knitting rows on my never-ending shawl, napping a little and fumbling with my cell phone while playing WordsWithFriends, editing pictures and even FaceBooking

-NOTHING to see on the highways once out of each small town's limits.   

-turned off the air and took in the wafts of local air b/c the temperatures were in the high 70s to low 80s. 

-happy to get out of the amoniated-bacteria stench from the low-lying myriad of chicken houses we pass early on our drive.

-smoke from locals preparing barbeque meat

-such a wonderful tease to get you thinking of stopping for lunch (which we enjoyed from Burger King...not exactly BBQ)

-unfortunately, no honeysuckle sweetness along the way

-really enjoyed the humidity-free air beating our eardrums with a steady rumble without the interference of music or unending talk radio.

-long stretches; bridges protecting us from the Southern swamp land off I95 brought older smells soaked through the old cypress immersed in the black water of the Lumber River. 

(the city where the burial of our aunt would take place later in the weekend)

In the late 18th and the 19th centuries, the lumbering industries were critical to the region's economy. The Lumber River was a vital route for transporting 100-foot logs downriver to Georgetown, South Carolina. Lumberton, North Carolina served as an important turpentine and timber town. Lumberton is the county seat of Robeson County, located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region. Founded in 1787 by John Willis, an officer in the American Revolution, Lumberton was originally a shipping point for lumber used by the Navy, which was sent downriver to Georgetown, South Carolina. Most of the town's growth, however, began shortly after World War II. 

 

-each mile driven brought us one mile closer to family to celebrate a lifetime spent in these lowlands. 

We loved you, Aunt Doris, and pray Uncle Johnny will do fine until he sees you again.

John 8:31  "If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Blessings,

TURNING VIEWS...heavenly opinion

He's drawing me near today, in devotionals(1) and in blogging(2). 

(1)  From THE UPPER ROOM devotional today...
I read it and remembered my childhood...my mother has been a life-long seamstress.  But more importantly, my Mother has ALWAYS been my rock, my pattern for Christ-like living.

Please read this paraphrased excerpt:

Patterns  
Read Romans 12:1-8  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.- Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Ignoring a pattern could result in an ill-fitting garment

God provides patterns and longs for us to follow them. Moses was instructed, “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40). And Moses obeyed.

A pattern for living...the person, Jesus. He could have chosen not to go to the cross yet He chose to follow God's Will thru His love for all of us.

When we are willing to die to self and faithfully follow the divine design to love and serve others, we can be made into what God would have us become.  author:  Robert L. Stephens(Virginia,USA)

Thought for the Day:  Certainty about what God wants for us emerges as we choose to follow Christ’s example

(2)  AND, from a post by Sara ... The following 'haiku-esque' poem was birthed from my comment on her heart-felt post:

Turning Views

Tunneling feelings, centering inwardly

 swallowing each down a lonely abyss,

choosing to ignore God's panoramic-creation involvement

deflecting His whispers

constricting feelings, growing worries,

wanting control, heating anger become popping points...

until His showing His view, enlivens self-humbling

 individually falling to brokenness on broken knees 

breathing in His steadfastness

while He begins collecting selfishly-splattered teardrops.

author: skoots1mom

John 8:31

"If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Blessings,

PROJECT 365 & FRIDAY’s FAVE 5

Project 365 - Week 23

JOINING SARA and group...

as well as

AS Susanne said on her blog,
 “Sometimes treasures must be hunted to be found.” 
Come read what each of us found in our ‘blessings basket’ this week...








Early in the week, I saw this posted on Facebook…
Something for each of us to read and follow (for their safety)

On Tuesday, I started a new ‘zig zag’ pattern shawl…it’s really easy and it’s been fun to knit while watching TV   

This time of year, I LOVE to watch college women’s softball…
the super regional tournaments had taken place and the teams were headed for the World Series ….and my CollegeGirl’s school was represented, YIPPEE!!

Here we are ‘kicked back’ watching the first round of their playing…

Wednesday I got to catch up with one of my past ‘youth’…he is now working on staff with a mission organization teaching many college-aged students how to share love and Christ with the world…so proud of his ‘world’ traveling…he been to Texas, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Philippines, Pennsylvania, and soon to be in Arizona, I believe.  He’s growly deeply in Scripture and he was quoting it to me as he explained what he’s been ‘teaching’.  He’s got a heart to help ‘hard-to-reach’ people and he’s reaching them.   John Wesley would be proud of this ‘circuit rider’.













SOOOO EXCITED…the team we were cheering for WON the National NCAA Women’s Softball Championship!  My heart dances each time I see this picture I made with my cell phone…

Lifting the National Trophy HIGHLY on the field of competition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma after beating Oklahoma University!










My collegegirl came home last night…and I had FUN with her today…we went shopping at the biggest mall in the Southeast, went thrifting and bought some jewelry and tops, she got her hair trimmed and we enjoyed gyros for lunch!

 I’ll post a pic later, but right now…she’s wanting to surprise some of her friends and didn’t want me to post pics.