“Your focus will dictate how you fare in this life.”
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
Psalms 138:8 ESV
Medication.
Meditation.
The difference is in the focus. Where we put our energy. Where we let our thoughts go. What we believe will work.
I opted for the “quick fix” back in the day. I had an inordinate amount of trust in doctors and Western Medicine. I trusted in the diagnosis. I was younger. More naive. I craved escape. I was afraid. Of everything…life, love, and losing it all. And, consequently…I nearly did.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1 ESV
I just finished writing July’s post for the Sisters on the Fly blog. I wrote about the many freedoms we are blessed with beyond Independence Day. The audience for that blog is women campers. There is a certain reservation in my writing there as I am paid to do so. Therefore, I am somewhat constrained in my topics. I always check in with them ahead of time, find out what their theme of the month is, and write accordingly. It’s not like this blog where I speak my heart and my truth. So I’ll write the “Marshmallow Ranch” version of that blog here.
Independence Day. The 4th of July is coming soon. Images of family gatherings, cookouts, baseball games, fireworks. That’s what it’s all about, right? Well, yes…and no. In 1776, our forefathers of this nation set forth a document that outlined our beliefs pertaining to our independence from Great Britain. Man made laws that apparently gave us our freedom. However, we were given freedom long, long before this document was drawn up. At least…we were given the choice.
“The empty nest can be painful, no matter which of you leaves first.”
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.”
Colossians 2:1-5 ESV
I got married young the first time. I was nineteen. I thought I knew everything! I was just about finished with x-ray training. Hubby #1 and I literally grew up together. Our families have known each other since long before we were born. The day after graduation, I hopped on a plane and flew to England to join him. He was stationed there in the Air Force. I had never been on a plane before. I cannot imagine what that must have been like for my mom. She still had my brother at home. He has a developmental disability and always lived at home with her, so she never did have that “empty nest”. But I know she missed me terribly and it had to have been so worrisome for her to have me so far away the very first time I left home.
My older daughter got married when she was twenty-one. It wasn’t too long after that when she and her new husband moved to Long Island. I thought THAT was way too far and it just about killed me. I was having trouble in my marriage. Her younger sister was only five years old. I hated having them so far away. I visited as often as I could, but it was a really hard time for both of us. We had always been very close. A half-empty nest is just as painful.
“When that day comes, you won’t ask me any more questions. I can guarantee this truth: If you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you.”
John 16:23 GW
The doctor came in and said all the worrisome tissue was removed and from his experience, he was sure the tumor is benign. No lifting or raising my arms for a few days. No shower for 48 hours then just gentle cleansing for two weeks. The skin was closed with SuperGlue with dissolving stitches in the layers below. No riding mower, pool, or hot tub for two weeks. I have to wear a tight sports bra for support and compression for the next few weeks.
On the way home, there was a terribly hard rain with localized flooding. We went north to take the interstate and avoid the flooded roads in town. As soon as we pulled on the highway, it started raining so hard the windshield wipers could not keep up. There were cars pulled off with their flashers on. We turned ours on and crept along. I grabbed the cross I have hanging in the truck and said, “Jesus! Take this storm away!!!” I kid you not, we didn’t drive fifty more feet and the sky immediately lightened up and the rain nearly stopped!
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 KJV
When I was a little girl, my daddy always brought me a paper kite at the beginning of summer vacation. It was in a long, narrow plastic sleeve. You got two flat sticks, one long...one shorter...with slots cut in each end. You got a sheet of thin paper and some string. You fastened the two sticks in a cross shape first. Then you stretched your string around from end to end of the sticks, making a kite-shaped frame. You laid the frame on the paper and folded the edges over the string and glued them closed. Once the glue was dried, you attached string loosely from top to bottom and from side to side so you had something to attach the kite to the kite string with. The last thing you did was affix a tail. They didn’t give you this. You usually used some scrap material you had handy. You tore the material into two or three long strips about an inch wide. You cut one or two of the long strips into shorter pieces...maybe 4-5” long. These you tied every 6 inches or so down the long strip. Then you attached that long strip to the bottom of your kite and it became the tail.
Have you ever tried to fly a kite without a tail? You can’t. The wind picks it up then it goes around and around in frantic circles until it crashes down to the ground. My dad taught me you had to have an anchor so your kite would fly high and true.
“Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.”
Galatians 6:7 GW
Mr. FixIt has a blueberry bush. I’ve never raised blueberries, nor have I seen a blueberry bush. But, he has one and he’s darned proud of that thing. He’s been babying it for years. He had a cage around it to keep the birds and deer away from his beloved blueberries, but over time, the wood rotted and the gizmo collapsed over the winter. This spring, Mr. FixIt (who happens to be a mechanical engineer) drew up plans for a fool proof contraption to replace it. He decided to use PVC pipe, which is brilliant. It won’t rot or get termites. He took off for the hardware store and came back with everything he needed, including bird netting to put around the whole thing. Sixty-five dollars later, he had this impressive cage build and anchored to the ground. There was NOTHING going to ruin his berry harvest this year.
The first day I came home and saw this thing out in the field, it vaguely resembled a teeny-tiny batting cage. It really stood out with the stark white of the PVC against the lush green backdrop. So, Mr. FixIt went back to the hardware store for green paint for camouflage. It turned out to be John Deere green, but it was a darn sight better than it was before.
“The LORD is responsible for this, and it is amazing for us to see. This is the day the LORD has made. Let’s rejoice and be glad today!”
Psalms 118:23-24 GW
#1. Watermelon! OMGosh! When I was pregnant with Daughter #2, I craved watermelon....in January. It’s hard to find good watermelon in the winter but when I did...it was heavenly. I keep looking for the sweetest, juiciest watermelon every year and I have to say, I only get it about two or three times all season. So much of the food I love doesn’t taste like it used to. Partially due to aging taste buds. But I think all this genetic engineering and hybrids have ruined the flavor of so many foods.
#2. Hard rains in the late afternoon leaving the evenings cool and breezy. The added bonus of fog clinging to the hillsides is divine. This was Sunday evening. A perfect ending to Father’s Day…playing in the field with Mr. FixIt’s son and one of his grandchildren.
“Zucchini and straightneck yellow squash for the garden.”
“Whatever has happened before will happen ⌊again⌋. Whatever has been done before will be done ⌊again⌋. There is nothing new under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9 GW
After church and our weekly breakfast out yesterday, we headed to Rural King to look for some more zucchini and yellow squash seeds. For some reason, ours did not germinate. We looked all over that store and couldn’t find any seeds. It was impossible for their vast selection to have been sold so we asked the manager. Turns out, they keep their seed displays only to a certain date, then they donate them to FFA (Future Farmers of America), FHA (Future Homemakers of America), and 4H. I think that’s wonderful, but it left me without zucchini and squash. I have these really great pickles I make with them. You know when you let zucchini and squash get ahead of you and you end up with some really BIG squash that could be mistaken for the Goodyear Blimp? Those squash. You cut them in half, scoop out the pithy, seedy part, and cut the rest into half-inch cubes. Cut onions the same way. Using any typical recipe for bread and butter pickles, mix the green zucchini, yellow squash, and onions with the pickling mixture and process them the same way. OMGosh! I could eat a whole jar of those with a fork!
“Pray BOLDLY at every opportunity…even at coffee with the girls.”
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.”
James 1:5-8 MSG
Yesterday was coffee day with the girls...those magnificent ‘71 Divas from my high school class. We didn’t all know each other in high school. We really became most acquainted through Facebook and efforts to gather as many classmates as possible for class reunions, dinners, picnics, and the like. We are, all to often it seems, meeting at funeral homes anymore. I decided four years ago us gals need to get together and form a tribe...a sense of community of the feminine...when I came back to West Virginia to live. Now, we look at our monthly meetings as caffeine fueled talk therapy and I’ve seldom missed it.
There weren’t as many gals gathered yesterday. Illness, hospitalization, vacations, and general summer business kept many of our regulars away. There were also a few who came that don’t get to attend very often. It’s always a different group but the dynamic is the same. We are there to have fun, let our hair down, laugh a lot, and offer support to one another as we learn what’s new in each other’s lives.
“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.”
Psalm 74:17 NIV
Wow...there’s a day for everything, isn’t there? I’m going to take my knitting with me and knit in the historic hotel lounge where we meet once a month. Maybe I’ll get my friends interested in knitting!
I was sitting on the front porch knitting yesterday when I heard a loud noise in the driveway. A flat, wet sound I was unfamiliar with. I looked over and Kitty Boy seemed to be really interested in something there. I went over to inspect his find and here was this tree frog. I’m not at all sure if this was what we call a “peeper”, because he sounded more like he was making objectionable gassy sounds to me. Anyway, I chased off the kitty and scooted that fat boy up into the woods where he belonged. Hopefully Kitty Boy will forget where he left him.
“Your focus will dictate how you fare in this life.”
“Let Freedom Ring!”
“The empty nest can be painful, no matter which of you leaves first.”
“Ice Cream and Miracles!”
“God is the tail of my kite…He anchors me.”
“The blueberry bush on The Ponderosa.”
“My all time favorite summer thing…watermelon!”
“Zucchini and straightneck yellow squash for the garden.”
“The tomatoes are growing like crazy!”
“Pray BOLDLY at every opportunity…even at coffee with the girls.”
It’s World Wide Knit in Public Day!”