My Visit to the GRAND Canyon

 

Arizona heat lessens as we drive north. I’m skeptical. Will the picture-perfects from Facebook and travel brochures steal the grandeur like a spoiler robs the surprise of a movie? Our car approaches the rim. People walking, traffic crawling, buildings block my view. Then, a brief first-sight glimpse! One sharp breath, my eyes sting, as the vastness slams into my senses. Heights stage contrast with depths, shades of colors collide, and my stomach flipflops seeing land give way to bottomless space. I whisper worship. Later, we hike downward and then watch a sunset from the top. It's second-rate, for love-at-first-sight has ruined me.

Random Musings

 I'd like to do better about writing every day. If I had assignments and deadlines, I would have structure and goals. Being disciplined without those borders is challenging. Anyway, here is the writing for today. I followed a prompt and this is the result:

“At the end of the day”,
Became a buzz phrase to say,
From pundit to preacher,
It doesn’t go away.

 

I pondered, what did we use to say,
To mean the same thing in another way,
All in all… or when
all is said and done…
Or it boils down to…
Or when you stop and think about it…
 
Catch phrases come and go,
What makes one popular? I don’t know.
I feel either apropos saying the trendy words,
Or resist what feels overdone and absurd.
 
All in all, what is now lit,
Will fade and something new will fit,
When all is said and done,
Now will be then and lose its fun
 
It boils down to keeping in touch,
Choosing to use it, or not so much,
When you stop and think about it,
If it helps understanding, why quit?
 
So at the end of the day,
What more can I say?

Untangle Their Hearts

 

I'm coming unannounced as I walk into their driveway. The fenced yard has a gate right next to the garage. A couple of bungee cords are crisscrossed through the handle and through several links in the fence, making a maze I have to untangle. This time a flat board dolly of some kind, on wheels, is parked in front of the gate, and the bungee cord winds through the handle of the dolly. I thread and pull the cords like yarn from a mixed-up, knotted skein, hoping I can put it back together correctly when I leave.

I had tried to call but no answer. I knock on the door several times and almost conclude they aren't home, or worse, one of them is in the hospital. Then I hear sounds behind the door, and it soon opens. Richard, a grey-moustached man, greets me. He doesn't say why he didn't answer my phone call earlier, but he is friendly, and we begin conversation. I'm bringing a pretty, variegated red and white poinsettia to brighten their Christmas season.

We talk for a while. Judy emerges from downstairs, and we chat some more. Our church theme this year is One for All and All for One. Names were written on puzzle pieces of the "ones" we want to invite to know Jesus this year. Richard is on my piece. We've built up a connection through their dog, Dolly, who greets me when I exercise walk by their place. I don't know where they stand with Jesus, but I want to show them His love.

I leave, securing the gate the best I can.

Lord, please untangle their hearts and minds from any mess the enemy has knotted into their thoughts and beliefs. Prepare them to receive your love and salvation. Give me your heart to care and ways and ideas to bless them. 

 

Summer Lingers

 

The cool fall air hangs out in the shade, giving summer one last day to heat the sun-exposed areas with too-hot-to-sit-in temperatures. I sit halfway between the two in my long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

Leaves still dress the trees in summer green, although many have nodded to Fall, donning red-tinged garb. Windy, gentle gusts loosen some. These drift across the yard to end their existence in decay, their final gift to the earth. The wind dances the leaves still clinging to their flexing branches and makes a rushing sound that crescendos and ebbs in pleasant rhythms.

Bees buzz and bob close to my head, but find no sweet fragrances to fixate on. I easily swat them away. A neighbor’s wind chime jangles pleasantly.  Another neighbor's wind flag moves like a hero's cape in action. A songbird tweets timidly as though uncertain its voice is welcome in the changing of seasons. White seed specks drift with the wind, released from an unseen pod.

Summer, I’ll hold you while you linger. I don’t want to let you go. Fall is approaching and will chase you away. I’m comforted to know you’ll be back next year.

In a chaotic world of competing politics, tragedies and injustice, it’s good to know the seasons can’t be controlled or stopped by human whim and decision.  Planet alignment or what the weather will bring can’t become a tool government can manipulate for advantage or revenge. Thank God for the absolutes of His creation!

An Ode to the Pleasures of Goodness

 2 Thessalonians 1:11 TPT

...we constantly pray that our God will empower you to live worthy of all that he has invited you to experience. And we pray that by his power all the pleasures of goodness and all works inspired by faith would fill you completely. 

I pray God will empower me to live worthy of all He has invited me into. I am privileged to have been invited into a good marriage, a job I enjoy, the lives of children and grandchildren who are wonderful people-each with a unique personality and purpose of life, and into the reality of being invited into the Kingdom of God.

What gifts, what privilege! I do want to live worthy of all of that.

I also want to be empowered to be filled completely with all the pleasures of goodness and works inspired by faith.

The pleasures of goodness for me include cool early mornings sitting on our deck watching daylight make its slow, but overpowering-darkness-debut. Sometimes the sky greets the daylight, decked out with a suit of pink and orange, as though prophesying a day full of color and happiness.

I listen for the first bird to awaken and give voice to the new day. A deer steps out of the woods, cautiously, and stares at me, unsure of my presence in this quiet morning. I hear the soft whirring buzz of the hummingbird approaching the feeder. I watch his needle-like beak dive into the tiny opening to slurp the syrup inside. His wings beat so fast, that I all I see is the motion they make, like not being able to make out the blades on a spinning helicopter propeller. 

As I open my Bible the pleasures of the goodness of his wisdom and insights do fill me. The Psalm I read invites me to sing along with the worship and praise the psalmist expresses. 

I ask now, my God, that your power would fill me with works inspired by faith. I've already offered works of prayer. I look forward to the other works you've planned out for me today. My heart is full of gratitude for your abundance and generosity. 

Hail to the King! May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it's done in heaven! 

Happy July 4th, 2024!

 

Our Family Gathers

The family of four arrive first,

Back doors open, out Rowan and Wes burst,

Hugs all around, then into our home,

The familiar, the new noted as they roam.

Off to the next-door park to swing and slide,

Then home again for Nana’s surprise.

Her Pinterest finds keep them busy for awhile,

She turning an ear to adult talk, meanwhile.

Games chosen that the youngest can play,

A snack and a kiss end the day.

Next day a trip to recall former days,

Mom and Dad’s college romance phase,

Driving by houses they once occupied,

This Valparaiso small town appeal hadn’t died.

Later that night, when all were asleep,

Nana and Papa picked up the next peeps.

Welcoming the Florida flyers, five in all,

Standing on tiptoe to hug the most tall.

The next two days were fun galore,

Hometown restaurants, games and more.

We lost count of visits for ice-cream stand treats,

The cousins connected never missing a beat.

A July 4th stop at Great Grandma’s small suite,

Later, tin-foil dinners and corn, oh, so sweet.

The last two family arrived that night from OK,

With dog Wriggley along for their stay.

After dark, fun fireworks in the driveway,

Then Nana projected slides that viewed sideways.

Would old, sideways slides fascinate the young grands?

Their exit before the end of the show proved, no, and not fans!

How pleasant the time spent at Chupp’s resort,

Fishing, boating and swimming-the day was too short.

The family from O left from there, deciding it was time,

Our number dwindled from 13 to nine.

Unexpected passing of a very close friend,

Time out to celebrate Del’s life, many hearts left to mend.

Sunday the clan proudly filled up one church row,

Then off to Evil Czech for brunch all in tow.

Monday included thrifting and biking,

Only Schrocks played some serious Scrabbling.

Tuesday was golfing for some,

The rest rode to Shipshe for fleamarket fun.

That last night together we played games and ate Pad Thai,

We memorized faces knowing it would soon be good-bye.

Early morning to the airport to drop off the flyers,

Later after a coffee shop chat, last hugs to the riders.

The house now stands quiet, routine is back,

I’ll drink in the peace, yet feeling the lack

Of the fun and the chatter, the hugs and the loud,

The messy and busy, the love and the crowd.

The memories will linger, the cleaning, too,

Then we’ll meet up again, can’t wait ‘til we do.

Mephibosheth 's Handicap Wasn't His Attitude!

 

Imagine growing up, crippled and unable to walk, all because a nursemaid dropped you as a child when you were five years old. Mephibosheth was probably raised by his mother in a very modest existence since his father, Jonathan, and grandfather, Saul, had been killed in battle. Saul had been the king and Mephibosheth would have had a promising future. But when Saul and Jonathan were killed, the rest of the family had to flee fearing a takeover of the kingdom by David, who Saul had considered his enemy. It was in this effort to escape that Mephibosheth was dropped.

There isn't much said about Mephibosheth's early years, until King David's heart of kindness and desire to honor his deceased friend, Jonathan, brings Mephibosheth into a whole new set of circumstances. We do know that M fathered a son, Mika.

As David asks whether any family of Jonathan is still around, Ziba, a servant from Saul's household tells David about M. Ziba brings M to David, not knowing why he was being summoned. David declares that for the sake of showing kindness to Jonathan, M will now receive everything that belonged to Saul and his family, and M will eat at his table. Ziba and his sons and servants were to farm the land which would provide for M. There's a parenthetical comment in the text that says Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. I wonder whether this was giving Ziba and his household a lower ranking. Had they just assumed Saul's property was their inheritance and now it was given to Saul's crippled grandson? All the members of Ziba's household were now servants of M, and M lived in the capitol city, eating at the king's table like one of his sons.

This story has always impressed me. David's kindness to a crippled man changed his whole life! 

 I reference this story in another blog post I wrote earlier. I include a link in that post to a song by Leeland entitled, Carried to the Table. A very beautiful expression of this story.

https://randomlyruthful.blogspot.com/2012/02/carried-to-table.html

In my reading in 2 Samuel today, Ziba and Mephibosheth are mentioned again. When David flees from Jerusalem because his son Absolom is staging a coup, Ziba meets him with donkeys and supplies for David's fighting men. David asks about M and Ziba lies, saying M stayed behind because he thought Saul's Kingdom would now be restored to him. David then declares that all that belonged to M would now be Ziba's. Ziba appears to humbly accept this transfer. I think Ziba took advantage of the situation to get back what he had before David favored M.

But the story doesn't end there.

As David returns from the war and the whole kingdom is now his, Ziba, his sons and servants show up to let David know they will serve his household and do whatever he wishes. Mephibosheth somehow gets there also, very unkempt, as he probably had no one to tend to him during the time he stayed behind. David asks why he had not come earlier to join David.

 
M shares truthfully that Ziba had betrayed him, but he would not make any appeals to the king. M said, "All my relatives and I could expect only death from you, my lord, but instead you have honored me by allowing me to eat at your own table! What more can I ask?”

 
“You’ve said enough,” David replied. “I’ve decided that you and Ziba will divide your land equally between you.”

“Give him all of it,” Mephibosheth said. “I am content just to have you safely back again, my lord the king!”

What a humble man of honor! He had feasted at the king's table, staying in gratitude and not entitlement, and when he was betrayed by Ziba, David's kindness was enough. He was willing to give up everything to have his king safely back again. Out of contentment and gratitude he chose forgiveness over gaining possessions and harboring bitterness.

Mephibosheth's attitude is in sharp contrast to the world's thinking and reactions today. We are children of the King of kings, sitting at his table, and our inheritance is rich and sure in Jesus. Should we respond in anger when things of this world are taken from us, or our rights are violated? M was content to be loved by the king and his allegiance was unwavering.

Lord, may my heart be always full of gratitude for all you've done for me and for all you've given me. Don't let me be pulled away into bitterness and greed for what's mine, because someone mistreats me or betrays me.

May my contentment in having you as Lord, Savior, Friend, and Generous Giver of every good and perfect gift always be enough.