Thursday, April 30, 2015

Rodney's bush...

This rose bush belongs to my friend Rhonda's mother. We all call it 'Rodney's bush'.

Her son (Rhonda's younger brother) died some years ago. On Mother's Day each year, this bush blooms with at least one pink rose, usually before anything else is blooming.

Last year Rhonda's dad died, and this year on Mother's Day every bush in the garden was green with leaves, but Rodney's bush was loaded with these pink roses.

As Rhonda says... "they are in cahoots up there!"

Isn't it just like God to send this mom pink roses right under her window, on Mother's Day.

There is no scripture that says this is so, but knowing the heart of God... why not? It's one of those special heartwarming things that He does for us, knowing that we need something extra to see that He is with us, even in the roses He sends our way. In the rose, He reminds us that He understands and loves us.


Thursday, April 23, 2015

What I have learned about carrots...


Here is what I know about carrots...

I remember visiting farms as we were growing up. They always had carrots growing in the ground. It was fun for me, as a kid, to walk up and down those rows and see the green sprouts above the ground and know that a carrot was coming. I planted some seeds of my own, but as the tiny sprigs of green appeared, I gently pulled them up to see if there was a carrot on the end... long before the carrot had a chance to become one.

There are many carrots being dangled in front of us in this day and age, most of those carrots turn out to be nothing but a handful of weeds, or at the most, a HINT of a carrot.

A carrot is a good thing. It is healthy, and good for us, an important part of the vegetable food group. However... I am certain that they are referring to a fully grown carrot, not one that was pulled before it was fully grown.

Carrots and life??

Many times I have interrupted or hurried a process, (pulled the carrot too soon) that God was doing in my life, by becoming impatient before his lesson was complete.

There have also been a few times that I grabbed the carrot dangling in front of me. It was so tempting. Example: the face cream that promised instant results, wrinkles GONE within minutes. There are probably many more, but you get the point.

While I am thinking about carrots, I have to say that for all the years of our marriage, I have cooked and roasted carrots, with meatloaf, roast beef, etc. I always serve a nice portion on my husbands plate. It has never changed, when the meal is over, the carrots have been pushed to the edge of his plate, completely intact. He doesn't say anything and neither do I. 

One more random thought... my husband loves fresh carrots. Sometimes I forget to stick the fresh ones on his plate, so I am trying to do more of that. He always eats them all.

I am 'growing into carrots'... both on my plate and in my life. Like all other things, carrots are best used in the way God meant them to be.

See... it is possible to take one word, any word, and when you think about it for awhile, there is always more to it than just the carrot.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

He put my window sticker on crooked!...

He did... 

The state inspection sticker and the sticker for our community gate, were applied at an angle yesterday. 

It all began with a small piece of gravel on the freeway which hit the windshield and made a tiny hole. That hole began to grow, until there was a crack all the way across. Somehow, the cost of the windshield replacement was a little less harsh since the whole window was cracked now, and not just a tiny hole. I kind of felt like I got my money's worth.

When the job was finished, I got in the car to run errands, and I knew... immediately... that it would never be okay. I could have raised my eyes a little higher and not noticed, but no... the angle was there, it was never going to change, not until the next inspection sticker was due, and it could be replaced.

I could hardly wait to get home... those 2 stickers got carefully peeled back one more time, and now... they are straight and all is well.

It was a little bit like seeing a small area of my life that is 'off'... the more I think on it, the more I know it has to go. Funny how these little life things can remind us of other things...

I am so much happier when I go ahead and DO the things that I know need adjusting. 

God didn't have anything to do with the rock that hit my window, but he has everything to do with my awareness of my own crooked stickers, and with the knowledge that all of them can be straightened. 

That's what he does.
                           ----------------
(Above photo isn't my car, but the stickers look like mine did.)