Maine's Charms

I am in Otisfield, Maine. If you've never heard of it, that's because you have to look hard to find it on a map. It's about 45 minutes NW of Portland. My friend Emily and her husband Nick and two little boys live here. Their house sits on a decommissioned Christmas Tree farm, so the rows and rows of trees remind one of Christmas all the time. And they are so tall because nobody is cutting them down.

The town consists of one stop sign (that I could find), two fire stations, and a community hall. That's it. But this area has charm and beauty every way you look. This is in the heart of the lakes district. Every couple miles (it seems) there are large glassy lakes with dense trees packed up to the water's edge and mountains reflecting in the calm water. In the summertime, this place is booming with vacationers. The rolling hills, curving roads, views of the mountains, and abundance of nature is what draws people here. We stopped at a barren apple orchard where my friends picked apples a few months ago, with views of the mountains and a ski slope, and I found one lone apple on the ground.

Maine, you have provided cold weather (20-35 degrees) and a beauty of nature so foreign to my everyday, but no snow. I still like you a lot. My explorations of you will continue....

Thinking Cold Thoughts....

I am getting ready to go on a trip to Maine. Packing for cold weather is a bit challenging when you are in the warm weather. I just need to think cold thoughts....

So, I have made a list of my travel essentials. It's pretty short. As the phrase goes "take only what you need to survive":

1. Bible, journal, books, pens

2. My Olympus Pen E-PL1 Camera

3. Scarves, mitts, hats, tall socks, boots, coat

4. A suitcase with some other stuff (other stuff may include jeans, shirts, bath items, &c.)

See? packing is as easy as 1-2-3-4!!

Freedom

Freedom is experienced when we hand everything to God. Let Him handle our burdens, cares, and worries. The Psalmist wrote:

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.  -Psalm 55.22

Several years ago I did not understand what that verse really meant. My legs and arms were tied together in my own worry and timidity. Once I learned how to let go, and I mean truly give each situation and worry to God, I felt what it meant to be free, and I am still learning everyday. The truth of God's promises had finally gotten through the wall of my resistant heart. And since I got a taste of that free air where all faith and trust lay with the Creator of the Universe rather than with a person who is bound to mess up, I never wanted to go back to the way I was.

I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.         -Lewis Carroll

Set loose the ties that bind you. My ties began to fall off as I learned to travel by myself. Traveling is an adventure, one that is (much of the time) out of your hands. You have to learn to go with the flow. Enjoy the journey, because God is going to make sure I get to my next destination safely. This freedom allowed me to pay attention in the way of observation and even conversation with strangers. I sit there and take notes in my journal on what I see around me. I make up stories in my head about the people I see. I see the kindness of strangers in busy places. A funny comment will reach my ears. Or, I am presented with an opportunity to help a stranger with directions or something else.

Once you are free from the burden that ties you down and clouds your sight, you quickly see how much you had missed before because you were shrouded in that cloud. Whatever that cloud is made of, it is a veil covering your joy.

They trespass, authors to themselves in all,
Both what they judge and what they choose; for so
I formed them free, and free they must remain...
Man falls, deceived
By the other first; man, therefore, shall find grace,
The other, none; in mercy and justice both,
Through Heaven and Earth, so shall my glory excel,
But mercy, first and last, shall brightest shine.
-Paradise Lost- Book III, John Milton

Whatever You Ask

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. -John 14.13-14

More. Don't we always want more?

And yet I know that I always have enough in God. While I want more in life I know that in God I have all that I need. Never am I left wanting for food, clothing, shelter, love of family...

Jesus says in the verses above that He wants to give us what we want. If we ask in His name, and if the purpose is to glorify God, we should ask and Jesus says He will do it.

I admit, my prayers are lacking in the asking arena. Yes, God knows my heart and my desires, by He wants me to take that step of faith to ask for that which I want. Asking and seeking God opens our eyes and hearts to what He is showing us in all our days. When we see a prayer answered (whether it be a "yes" or a "no"), our hearts leap with a profound knowledge that it came from God, and our thanks is aimed in the right direction. Up to God.

This is how we stay connected with God each day. Reading the Word, praying, & opening our eyes, ears, and hearts to what God is doing.

Listen. Ponder. Grow.

My Bible, journal, and current book I can't put down

What does it mean to meditate on God's Word?

It's less about thinking, and more about listening to God through the words of Scripture. It's allowing the passage to sink into your soul and memory. It's about sewing up the seams of your scattered pieces with God's Word, and equipping yourself with the wisdom you will need at some point soon, when the devil comes along trying to challenge your faith. That darkness can be thwarted by your shining light, which comes from knowing God's Word and living it in faith. Constantly growing will be the opposition, so a constant growth in Godly wisdom should be an everyday goal.
Stop and listen. Ponder in your heart.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says "...just as you do not analyse the words of someone you love, but accept them as they are said to you, accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart, as Mary did. That is all. That is meditation."

Love Feasts

These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by the winds; fruitless tress in late autumn, twice dead, up-rooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
-Jude 12-13

What are the blemishes?
False teachings, fear, the ungodly, doubt and worry that we can't let go, lies we fall for, a darkness covering our souls. I am sure we can think of more. These things will steal all our bounty. Our joy. They feast upon what we have established as good. And we become dried up like Autumn leaves that have fallen to the ground.

It is so obvious, isn't it? It doesn't matter what the past looks like. Don't let it hold you back, or fill you with fear and shame. Think of each moment as a brand new sheet of paper to fill with your great stories. Or, as T.S. Eliot wrote, "Every moment is a fresh beginning."

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. -Proverbs 4.25

 Let our feasts be full of love and fellowship. God, please help me stay on course and not get distracted by things that will tear me down or take away my central core of You. Help me keep to the narrow path, even when it is the hardest thing to do. Even when I am scared or worried about what could happen. 

Another Day in Pictures

Good Day! It's Wednesday. That means it is a good time to share another day of pictures. The weather is lovely. Chilled. The sky is clear. The air feels fresh. It's a perfect day to take a walk.....and a lunch break at Mitchell's Coffee Shop, a favorite of mine. Joy crosses my path every time I step outside. I am making a habit of being outside today...

The City

NYC March 2003

A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning. The city is like poetry; it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines.
Here is New York, E.B. White

It's been many years since I have been to New York City. Early Spring of 2003 brought me to the city with my brother Jason and we were surprised by a day of snow. It was beautiful, and cold. I had not experienced city life in the snow before. The next day we drove out of the city to a church in the country, where Jason had to film an interview.

I have been craving another visit to the city. E.B. White's description of New York is exactly right. Life is compressed within the city, and yet somehow open and diverse. It's a harmonious mixture of life and even in the freezing cold as we walked the streets by the MET and the NYC Public Library. Central Park was blanketed in white and cold air hit my legs through my thin pants as we explored. I haven't seen snow since this trip, and I think it is due time for it.

Muddy Monday

Solitary sighs rise

Involuntarily

It is Monday

Truth be told

I don't quite mind the day

It's coming back from holiday

After a lovely time off of work, it is always a little difficult to go back to the usual office atmosphere. When I grow accustomed to sleeping in a little bit, making coffee, and stepping outside to sit and read or write in my journal as the boys work on the cars. When the family is able to enjoy time together in meals and games. I have to leave all that and go back into the cube life of the office.

So today, I am reminded from some words of Tara Leigh Cobble in her new book Orange Jumpsuit:

I had the hope, but I was choosing fear instead. After all, I get to choose what I think about- I can either think about how trustworthy He is or how things feel like they're falling apart. Instead of taking my thoughts captive, it seemed they were taking me captive.

These words are what I need today to remind me to trust in God's plans and directions. To know that even if His plans do not coalesce with my own ideas, if I follow the path God is leading me on, a beautiful harmony of life circumstances will ensue.  

The Lost Art of Reading Out Loud

There is something we are missing these days. That is, reading passages out loud. Whatever it may be: poems, stories, a chapter, a few lines from a favorite book, or song lyrics.

I remember in elementary, middle, and high school we would take turns reading passages out loud in English class. Everyone had a turn. Some students read slow, some faster, some with vigor, some were insipid. But I loved hearing the book come alive through each voice.

There is something about hearing words read. It fills the space around you and sinks into your soul. The words read by someone can infuse a phrase or scene in your mind. The words meld together as they are read, and with your imagination you create your version of the scene. It can set the tone and mood of the piece. When someone else reads, it might change the feeling completely and awaken something in the writing to you.

Yet he did not feel in the least as if he were dreaming; rather the other way; as waking was more actual than dreaming, so this seemed by another degree more actual than waking itself. -G.K. Chesterton