We are starting something new at our place. We are set up for horses. We have horses. We have more horses than we can ride. About 2 months ago a young girl came out and began riding one of our horses. It's been fun to watch her smile, laugh and learn how to handle Gizmo; a charming POA Baihley broke a couple years ago.
Last week another girl came out to our house to get introduced to the horses and today she began her horse lessons with Baihley. Our goal is to have a place where kids can come and learn to ride that otherwise couldn't afford horses and horse lessons. So far it's been quite the fun adventure. There is something unique about this young girl; her mother is deaf. Last week as we sat around the table and talked, it made me very aware of silence. The young girl would sign to her mother what I was saying and they would be talking back and forth; in silence. Silence seems so loud sometimes it's almost like someone is shouting. I watched the girl and her mother and the facial expressions. I haven't been around many deaf people in my life. When I lived with a neighbor lady after my father died, her grown daughter came back from college to live at home. She was deaf. I would come home and walk in the kitchen and the TV would be on but no noise. Edith got used to having the closed caption on and didn't even bother turning the volume up. It seemed real odd for me; very natural for both of them.
Today, as the girl and her step-father who is also deaf, were talking at the close of the lesson, it made me very aware of the silence that was filled with words. Perhaps they were words I couldn't understand, but they were words I could see. Her expressions made her signing come alive. I was even beginning to understand what she was saying.
We are warned in the Bible to watch the words we say. I know God allowed those who cannot hear a special sense. The way of expression lives out their words much more meaningful than sometimes the words we use. I used to love to watch my friend Karen sign at concerts. Every once in awhile she would come on stage and sign the words to a song. The meaning was never missed; the expressions, the gestures used in signing made the words jump into our hearts not simply our ears.
I am looking forward to getting to know the family more but also to learn how to make my words be words of expression lived out not simply words spoken. How can my words leap into people's hearts? How can I live out what I say and not simply speak? May I speak by my actions; the physical sign of the inward changes in my life. Not just say "I love the Lord" but let the actions; my sign language so to speak, say "I live the Lord."
She left this morning after she cleaned tack. She isn't paying for her horse time, she is working it off. And by the smile on her face and the giggles of two girls working on the saddle, it wasn't work at all.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Gifts that keep on giving!
This past week was my birthday. In my life birthdays weren't over-played. Some people have to be drama queens on their birthda; to me it's just another day but this year was a bit different. It was the first year in many that my friend would not be calling to wish and sing me Happy Birthday. There would be no plate of chocolate chip cookies, there would be no smile, there would be no sitting in the living room in their home and just killing time. She passed away right before Christmas.
I said to God in the morning that I was excited to see how he would replace what was missing.
Well God answered in a big way. I have had at least 100 different people contacting me to wish me Happy Birthday- many singing, tons of cards and e-mail greetings. People that I haven't heard from in years, people who I don't know well but knew it was my birthday. I had the chance to spend time with three people; extremely important in my life in a 24 hour time period. The one night we were eating at a Japanese restraunt just loving life and I thought how great God's imagination is; I just wanted a simple sign that God knew I would be missing her and he gave me a billboard bigger than life to remind me how much I am loved and appreciated. It's definately the gift that keeps on giving!
I said to God in the morning that I was excited to see how he would replace what was missing.
Well God answered in a big way. I have had at least 100 different people contacting me to wish me Happy Birthday- many singing, tons of cards and e-mail greetings. People that I haven't heard from in years, people who I don't know well but knew it was my birthday. I had the chance to spend time with three people; extremely important in my life in a 24 hour time period. The one night we were eating at a Japanese restraunt just loving life and I thought how great God's imagination is; I just wanted a simple sign that God knew I would be missing her and he gave me a billboard bigger than life to remind me how much I am loved and appreciated. It's definately the gift that keeps on giving!
Monday, August 31, 2009
ANTICIPATION
Sunday after church we stopped by the mall to eat lunch on the way home from church. You could tell those of us who had been at church; we were a bit more dressed up than those lugging shopping bags. We got our food and settled down at a table in the middle to eat. I love watching people eat. Not that I enjoy watching people eat, but I enjoy watching people in the process of eating. One family caught my eye. Grandpa was sitting with the baby and the older girls were flitting between grandma, the table and mom. I remember those years. The kids were usually so hungry they thought they would die (we still hear that today but no one has died yet), and if anyone is with me, I get the slowest food line and the cashier who can't take my order and then it's not what I ordered. Eating at the mall has it's advantages which is also the disadvantage; there are many places to choose from. We were only a 2 line family yesterday but there have been times when we are all in 5 different lines.
What caught my eye was the little girl sitting on the end of a table across from us. She had waited for Grandma to get the Subway order and then kept swinging her feet while Grandpa held the baby and looked around for Mom to get back from whatever line she had been They all sat looking at their food until everyone was sitting down and then they bowed their heads to pray. Now about this time, the rebel in me wants to stand up and yell, "Go Jesus", but the sensible part of my Norwegian blood just sat watching. What amused me was the little girls actions. She had her head bowed the entire time but her head was bobbing up and down and her hands, clasped together in the traditional Sunday School prayer format but they were going up and down opposite to her head. I watched as Grandpa prayed. The little girl never quit. I'm not sure if she is a constant motion kid; she didn't really seem like it before then because she was waiting so patiently. Perhaps she was just so excited that she could not keep still. Grandpa obviously didn't say a simple quick prayer. It was a bit more involved because I watched for about 30 seconds as she bobbed, nodded, bobbed, nodded, shook her hands, bobbed, nodded, etc. With the same motion she was bobbing and nodding as soon as the prayer was ended, the wrap came up into her hands and a big bite and the nodding and bobbing quit.
There is something about anticipation that makes us bob and nod. We used to stand by the kitchen door and watch when company was coming. More than a few times we have driven up to Aaron and Kristin's house in Peoria, and seen little faces pressed to the glass waiting for the family. When we know something is going to happen we anticipate excitement or perhaps fear.
Yesterday morning in church I invited the congregation to kneel and pray with me. I pulled the microphone off the stand, knelt by the piano and begin to pray. I wasn't watching but I didn't think a lot of people were bobbing and nodding and hopping around during prayer. Why not? Because we forget what it's like to let the thrill of excitement go through every vein in our body. Shouldn't we anticipate talking to the creator of the universe with excitement and fear? We should be chomping at the bit to tell him everything in our heart and give him our fears. We should be bopping our hands in excitement thinking we can hardly make it through praying to get a bite out of whatever he's laid in front of us as our blessing. We should be so excited to pray that we anticipate the moment that we simply say, "God, it's me and you won't believe what I've got to tell you." I'm not sure I anticipate prayer with that excitement. Sometimes I anticipate the answers to the prayers I am putting up to God. Often, I anticipate my reaction to the answers I think I'll get before I've even said "amen" but do I anticipate praying? Do I sit on the edge of my seat waiting to pray? Is talking to God so exciting that I am bobbing, nodding and shaking just because of the thrill that speaking to God is?
I watched until we were done eating. That little girl sat and ate every bit of her wrap. She seemed so content and happy with her tummy full and her grandma and grandpa there to share not only love but the moments of simply praying for a Subway lunch. It reminded me of how simple God wants the relationship with me to be and how complicated I often times make it become. Marette
What caught my eye was the little girl sitting on the end of a table across from us. She had waited for Grandma to get the Subway order and then kept swinging her feet while Grandpa held the baby and looked around for Mom to get back from whatever line she had been They all sat looking at their food until everyone was sitting down and then they bowed their heads to pray. Now about this time, the rebel in me wants to stand up and yell, "Go Jesus", but the sensible part of my Norwegian blood just sat watching. What amused me was the little girls actions. She had her head bowed the entire time but her head was bobbing up and down and her hands, clasped together in the traditional Sunday School prayer format but they were going up and down opposite to her head. I watched as Grandpa prayed. The little girl never quit. I'm not sure if she is a constant motion kid; she didn't really seem like it before then because she was waiting so patiently. Perhaps she was just so excited that she could not keep still. Grandpa obviously didn't say a simple quick prayer. It was a bit more involved because I watched for about 30 seconds as she bobbed, nodded, bobbed, nodded, shook her hands, bobbed, nodded, etc. With the same motion she was bobbing and nodding as soon as the prayer was ended, the wrap came up into her hands and a big bite and the nodding and bobbing quit.
There is something about anticipation that makes us bob and nod. We used to stand by the kitchen door and watch when company was coming. More than a few times we have driven up to Aaron and Kristin's house in Peoria, and seen little faces pressed to the glass waiting for the family. When we know something is going to happen we anticipate excitement or perhaps fear.
Yesterday morning in church I invited the congregation to kneel and pray with me. I pulled the microphone off the stand, knelt by the piano and begin to pray. I wasn't watching but I didn't think a lot of people were bobbing and nodding and hopping around during prayer. Why not? Because we forget what it's like to let the thrill of excitement go through every vein in our body. Shouldn't we anticipate talking to the creator of the universe with excitement and fear? We should be chomping at the bit to tell him everything in our heart and give him our fears. We should be bopping our hands in excitement thinking we can hardly make it through praying to get a bite out of whatever he's laid in front of us as our blessing. We should be so excited to pray that we anticipate the moment that we simply say, "God, it's me and you won't believe what I've got to tell you." I'm not sure I anticipate prayer with that excitement. Sometimes I anticipate the answers to the prayers I am putting up to God. Often, I anticipate my reaction to the answers I think I'll get before I've even said "amen" but do I anticipate praying? Do I sit on the edge of my seat waiting to pray? Is talking to God so exciting that I am bobbing, nodding and shaking just because of the thrill that speaking to God is?
I watched until we were done eating. That little girl sat and ate every bit of her wrap. She seemed so content and happy with her tummy full and her grandma and grandpa there to share not only love but the moments of simply praying for a Subway lunch. It reminded me of how simple God wants the relationship with me to be and how complicated I often times make it become. Marette
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Now I lay me down to sleep
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."
We heard an old fashioned evangelist last night. It was my night to lead worship at the Union Gospel Mission so Tyler went with to run powerpoint and a traveling minister was there to preach. I led worship using old camp songs; he preached about camping in the wilderness. God uses all things to make it look like it was planned. He reminded us of old prayers; especially the lay me down to sleep prayer. How often we say things we don't really mean; well perhaps not that we don't mean but when things change, we change. Let me explain.
Most of us say some kind of a prayer as we are drifting off to sleep. For me it's the end of the day, refresher with God; kind of like a reviewal of the events, analyzing the good and figuring out how to handle the bumps in the road. But there are days when I do the "now I lay me down to sleep" kind of prayer. I like the prayer; I have nothing against it except it's meaning get's lost when we wake up. "Now I lay me down to sleep. " Sometimes going to bed is relief. Sometimes going to bed is because of exhaustion. Sometimes going to bed is because there is nothing left in the day. We lay ourselves down to sleep. We totally rely on God to handle putting us to sleep.
"I pray the Lord my soul to keep" If we have a living faith in God, this is a no brainer. If we really believe that He is keeping us 24/7 then praying that he keeps our soul during the night reminds us that God's work is pretty simple right now because we aren't fighting him. We pray that he keeps our soul when it's not active; are we praying that he keeps our soul when we wake up and are getting ready to do "our thing" for the day? Not always. It's more that we worry about what might happen during the night when we aren't conscious. We think that if we are not aware, God needs to be on call because we can't handle the situation. The reality of life is, we can't handle any situations regardless of our consciousness. We need God to keep our soul more during the awake hours because that's when we have the ability to really mess things up big time.
"If I did before I wake"... usually when we go to sleep it's dark. I never did like the dark. I'm not sure who told me there were boogy men under the bed, probably my older brothers, but it worked. I didn't like whoever or whatever was hiding under my bed ready to come out and grab me when it was dark. It I don't wake up, I definately need a little help;
"I pray the Lord my soul to take." If I don't wake up, heaven is the next best thing because in my mind it's dark in hell. Remember I don't like dark. I don't want to be somewhere in the dark if I die. I want to be where there is light. I want to be where there is peace. I want to be where there is God. The problem with the prayer is that in the morning when we wake up, it's not dark, the boogy man didn't get us, we take the reins back from God and say, "Okay- since I didn't die, I'm back in control for the day."
When in life do we actually begin praying what we believe?
Perhaps it would be better if we prayed,
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And in the morning, when I rise, I won't attempt to run my life, The God who made me knows my needs, I'll simply pray and let Him lead."
We heard an old fashioned evangelist last night. It was my night to lead worship at the Union Gospel Mission so Tyler went with to run powerpoint and a traveling minister was there to preach. I led worship using old camp songs; he preached about camping in the wilderness. God uses all things to make it look like it was planned. He reminded us of old prayers; especially the lay me down to sleep prayer. How often we say things we don't really mean; well perhaps not that we don't mean but when things change, we change. Let me explain.
Most of us say some kind of a prayer as we are drifting off to sleep. For me it's the end of the day, refresher with God; kind of like a reviewal of the events, analyzing the good and figuring out how to handle the bumps in the road. But there are days when I do the "now I lay me down to sleep" kind of prayer. I like the prayer; I have nothing against it except it's meaning get's lost when we wake up. "Now I lay me down to sleep. " Sometimes going to bed is relief. Sometimes going to bed is because of exhaustion. Sometimes going to bed is because there is nothing left in the day. We lay ourselves down to sleep. We totally rely on God to handle putting us to sleep.
"I pray the Lord my soul to keep" If we have a living faith in God, this is a no brainer. If we really believe that He is keeping us 24/7 then praying that he keeps our soul during the night reminds us that God's work is pretty simple right now because we aren't fighting him. We pray that he keeps our soul when it's not active; are we praying that he keeps our soul when we wake up and are getting ready to do "our thing" for the day? Not always. It's more that we worry about what might happen during the night when we aren't conscious. We think that if we are not aware, God needs to be on call because we can't handle the situation. The reality of life is, we can't handle any situations regardless of our consciousness. We need God to keep our soul more during the awake hours because that's when we have the ability to really mess things up big time.
"If I did before I wake"... usually when we go to sleep it's dark. I never did like the dark. I'm not sure who told me there were boogy men under the bed, probably my older brothers, but it worked. I didn't like whoever or whatever was hiding under my bed ready to come out and grab me when it was dark. It I don't wake up, I definately need a little help;
"I pray the Lord my soul to take." If I don't wake up, heaven is the next best thing because in my mind it's dark in hell. Remember I don't like dark. I don't want to be somewhere in the dark if I die. I want to be where there is light. I want to be where there is peace. I want to be where there is God. The problem with the prayer is that in the morning when we wake up, it's not dark, the boogy man didn't get us, we take the reins back from God and say, "Okay- since I didn't die, I'm back in control for the day."
When in life do we actually begin praying what we believe?
Perhaps it would be better if we prayed,
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And in the morning, when I rise, I won't attempt to run my life, The God who made me knows my needs, I'll simply pray and let Him lead."
Monday, June 29, 2009
Father's Day
We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend up at the cabin. Addlea called on her way to church to tell her dad Happy Father's Day. We had two Jim's and an Aaron at the cabin who were fathers. Kristin's father is named Jim and so all three opened their presents right after a nice breakfast of pancakes; with designs and chocolate chips. The kids bought their grown father a small toy remote control boat. It has been the joke a few times and Addlea asked me if he was serious? I said it didn't matter, it would make a fun gift for the cabin. They took it out on the water and had a great time with it; we haven't tried to how far across the lake it will be yet but I'm sure there is time for that. When we got home last night we had family Bible study in the living room and after it was all over, Addlea came over to her dad and thanked him for being such a great dad and then in return he said, "Thanks for the boat." Addlea didn't miss a beat. "You're welcome, you paid for it." She then went on to add, "you paid for the orange slices too." One of Jim's favorites is orange slices.
I was reading on Facebook this morning and saw Michelle's comments about her dad and his picture. Our dad's were good friends and both are in heaven. Both dad's would do just about anything for their kids. Both dads, well, I'm pretty sure Mike did too, paid for their own Father's day gifts in a round about way.
If I were to buy a gift for my father, now that I'm older, it would be probably more common sense than when I was younger. But there is something refreshing about the gifts children buy their fathers. I really thought my dad needed a new saw. I had $5 and bought a beautiful wood handled saw. I still have hanging in my garage the velvet picture of a bull I bought my father for his last Father's day. We know what everyone got him because he wrote it on the back of the picture. I wasn't living at home then, so it my dad really didn't buy that gift. Why he would have wanted a velvet painted bull I have no idea, but it was a good idea at the time.
Life down here usually means someone has to pay for the gift. Sometimes when you're the parent, you buy your own gift in a round about way. As a parent, it's fun because the gifts coming through the love eyes of children say love like nothing else can; often good for nothing except the "I love you Daddy" that they bring.
Many times I say thank you to God for what he gives me and in the very same breath I have to say, "you paid for it." I thank him for the freedom to worship; God paid for it with the life of his son. I thank him for forgiveness; only made possible through the blood. I thank him for second chances; once again only made possible because Jesus rose again. We are thankful for the gifts we cannot purchase regardless of the amount of money we have. I have been blessed so much; God provided it. I have so many talents; God equipped me. I have so many life long friends; God directed our paths to cross. I have been pulled up the mountain by God's hand and kept from falling down the other side by his arm around me. I have struggled to get across the river and been thrown a life jacket of mercy. How can I say thank you when I know the price God paid, but then again how can I not say thank you when I know how much it cost God? I am forever grateful for a heavenly father who not only knows the gifts I need but also has unlimited funds to provide them. I need to quit worrying about the 'stuff' in life and just start opening the gifts that lie with my name on them. My gift to God in return cannot be bought with an earthly price. No matter what I do, I cannot bargain enough to offset what God's done for me. Those are the times when you simply step back and say "let me live for you." For all the blessings, all the gifts, all the angels of protection flying above me, all God wants me to do is simply "live for him." Don't make it harder than it is, don't make it complicated, don't try to sugar coat or understand, just live for God and let him give, give and give. For those of you with Father's Day piles in the closet of unique gifts that have no good use here on earth, remember it's the thought that counts... and perhaps you have a life time supply of white elephant gifts!!!!
I was reading on Facebook this morning and saw Michelle's comments about her dad and his picture. Our dad's were good friends and both are in heaven. Both dad's would do just about anything for their kids. Both dads, well, I'm pretty sure Mike did too, paid for their own Father's day gifts in a round about way.
If I were to buy a gift for my father, now that I'm older, it would be probably more common sense than when I was younger. But there is something refreshing about the gifts children buy their fathers. I really thought my dad needed a new saw. I had $5 and bought a beautiful wood handled saw. I still have hanging in my garage the velvet picture of a bull I bought my father for his last Father's day. We know what everyone got him because he wrote it on the back of the picture. I wasn't living at home then, so it my dad really didn't buy that gift. Why he would have wanted a velvet painted bull I have no idea, but it was a good idea at the time.
Life down here usually means someone has to pay for the gift. Sometimes when you're the parent, you buy your own gift in a round about way. As a parent, it's fun because the gifts coming through the love eyes of children say love like nothing else can; often good for nothing except the "I love you Daddy" that they bring.
Many times I say thank you to God for what he gives me and in the very same breath I have to say, "you paid for it." I thank him for the freedom to worship; God paid for it with the life of his son. I thank him for forgiveness; only made possible through the blood. I thank him for second chances; once again only made possible because Jesus rose again. We are thankful for the gifts we cannot purchase regardless of the amount of money we have. I have been blessed so much; God provided it. I have so many talents; God equipped me. I have so many life long friends; God directed our paths to cross. I have been pulled up the mountain by God's hand and kept from falling down the other side by his arm around me. I have struggled to get across the river and been thrown a life jacket of mercy. How can I say thank you when I know the price God paid, but then again how can I not say thank you when I know how much it cost God? I am forever grateful for a heavenly father who not only knows the gifts I need but also has unlimited funds to provide them. I need to quit worrying about the 'stuff' in life and just start opening the gifts that lie with my name on them. My gift to God in return cannot be bought with an earthly price. No matter what I do, I cannot bargain enough to offset what God's done for me. Those are the times when you simply step back and say "let me live for you." For all the blessings, all the gifts, all the angels of protection flying above me, all God wants me to do is simply "live for him." Don't make it harder than it is, don't make it complicated, don't try to sugar coat or understand, just live for God and let him give, give and give. For those of you with Father's Day piles in the closet of unique gifts that have no good use here on earth, remember it's the thought that counts... and perhaps you have a life time supply of white elephant gifts!!!!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Get used to saying Goodbye
We heard an incredible sermon today- Mother's Day. Although it wasn't exactly about Mothers, it was about the church and their plans, vision statement and mission statement. In short it was about making more disciples and making better disciples. The one comment that stood out for me was near the end of the sermon when the minister began to share that we should get used to saying goodbye because we aren't supposed to get be comfortable sitting in the pew beside the same people every week. We are to grow, expand, move on, serve, bless and grow... and that will mean that you will be saying goodbye and hello!!!! Wow- that means we are supposed to quit saving a seat for our friends in church and welcome that new family with the little kid that colors on the hymnal. That means we are supposed to get out of our comfort zone and invite someone out to lunch we don't know very well... so we get to know them better and help them grow. That's a tough one- get used to saying goodbye!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Why can't I just bring a salad?
I learned several years ago that if you say, "Whatever need me to do, just give me a holler" can come back to haunt you. Well, perhaps not haunt, but definately change your life. I casually said that to my Bass guitar player in my worship band. Then, he called and for 9 months I babysat tripletts. It was a wonderful, but tiring experience. So the other day when I said, "Just let me know if you need me to do anything", I did mean it, just not that. My friend from growing up years was losing her earthly fight with cancer. I went down to visit and had a wonderful 90 minutes of bonding, praying and left knowing it would be the last time I saw her on this earth. I said the "whatever" bit and then they called. The "whatever" they needed was a bit more than my heart wanted. I'd really just have preferred, "can you bring a salad or babysit during the funeral", but no it was, "Can you sing a song you wrote in 1979 at the funeral?" My memory is poor, and I could only remember about the first 2 lines and went through all my music in vain. Then I remembered that I recorded a whole bunch of songs and they were in the basement on cassette tapes. Thanksfully, that song was there. So Tuesday I will go and give honor to someone who battled breast cancer. I will go and share from the heart and this time it will be a bit more painful than babysitting the tripletts. It will cost more than bringing potatoe salad, but it will warm the heart a lot longer. For you see, God taught me years ago to make the offer and let Him give me the power to fufill my promise. That for God is a piece of cake; for me it will be a faith building, character walking to the piano experience but also a time to bless dear friends. And the song... It's called Sunny Side of the Mountain. It was written after my second cousin was killed and my uncle died the next day. I don't think I have ever sung it since I sang it in church in Owatonna in 1979. I will sing it again; it's now recorded and God will be honored and Sherill remembered with love and devotion and we are living not for what we see on this side of the mountain but for what's on the Sunny Side of the Mountain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)