Painted Lady Butterflies on Thistles--and He Carries Our Sorrows

Painted lady butterflies seem to be everywhere this time of year.

They are all around our flower garden--and all around the crossroads at stoplights in town.

 They were in South Dakota a couple weeks ago when we were up there.

 While Danny was supposed to be helping bring wood to Alanna and me to split,

he was finding a slug (which he had to show someone)

a garter snake,

and a praying mantis (below) which he also had to run off and show.

 So while he was gone, I took a picture of the butterflies flitting all over the alfalfa in the back yard.

They were everywhere.

 For science class the next week, Danny, Hannah and I learned about painted lady butterflies (and several others).

Here is a dead one we found on the ground, and a live caterpillar I had discovered that morning on my flowers inside the house!

We learned they lay eggs and feed on thistles. 

I don't like thistles. 

But I like flowers and butterflies.

And I guess if there weren't thistles, these butterflies might not exist.

Maybe if we didn't have heartaches and sorrows, 

we would not understand or experience the depths of thankfulness and joy and understanding and even glory

that come only as a result of the pain from the thistles of our lives.

A couple days ago, Jonathan offered for me to come with him to a painting job up near the mountains.

He knew there were some deciduous trees up there and he knows how much I miss deciduous trees this time of year.  He and Sam were painting the front of this A-frame house.

They expected it to take an hour and a half, so I had done errands in town and then joined Jonathan to drive down to this place along Little Turkey Creek. I had taken my Bible along, and was able to sit in the sunshine on a stump and read after wandering a while under the trees and along the road.

 I accidentally went through weeds several times that had these awful, clingy prickers.

 Dozens or hundreds of them ended up on my skirt.

I had to pick each one out individually.

They came from these weeds!

Lord, You know exactly every pricker that swipes against our spirits as we walk through life,

sometimes every step irritated by the prickliness of that burden or sorrow or bother that wants to cling to us. 

Today as I drove a load of clothing and books to a Goodwill drop-off, 

the song on Christian radio was I think from the Messiah.

The words were, "He hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrow."

 And right there, coming up on the stop light, 

I burst into tears. 

Because He had known that there were burdens too heavy to even put in words,

and sorrows too prickly to know what to do with.

One pricker is bad enough, but sometimes there are dozens of them all at once.

And He was just letting me know that He bore those, so I didn't have to.

I'm not strong enough to carry some things of my own,

much less the burdens and sorrows of others.

But His truth and promise is, "I have already borne your griefs, just as much as your sins.

I have carried your sorrows.

Come to Me and rest, because My burden is light."

Garden Produce---and God Is Gracious

Saturday Hannah went along shopping with me to the farmer's market in Falcon.

I love that place--a little taste of country and homegrown garden vegetables--and even bananas only 25 cents a pound!

We go to market because we only get a little from our own gardens--though we are thankful for that little,
including this wonderful lettuce, the best we've ever had out here!
We love wilted lettuce salad the best, with a few slices of bacon fried and crumbled, then about 1/4 c. each of apple cider vinegar and raw sugar added to the hot grease. You let that come to a bubble, then pour over the lettuce, and use a little lettuce to clean the pan,
then stir and Yummy!

The kids were also so happy for the multi-colored heirloom carrots they grew!

Enough beets for several pots of borsch and a few other dishes.

But we don't get enough from our own garden, so we go to the market.
And sometimes we can't seem to scrounge up nearly enough inspiration from our own minds and spirits, so we go to devotionals and biographies and such material for the help we need.
This book is one of the best I've ever gone through, from Caring for the Heart.

One thing I like about it is that it was written by another conservative lady who did not throw away her conservative beliefs and standards just because she needed personal help and counseling and was working through issues and getting help for her struggles through knowing and trusting Christ more intimately and personally.

It was comforting to read a book written by a conservative Mennonite lady who was able to let go of unnecessary expectations of herself and others without throwing the baby out with the bath water. 
Wearing modest clothing and believing things like that marriage is between one man and one woman till death parts them does not need to be a hindrance to drawing close to Jesus and feeling His unconditional love.

Him loving us unconditionally doesn't suddenly  set us free to do wrong
or give us license to live any way we want to live or dress any way we want to dress regardless of how it affects the opposite sex.
There is something wholesome about young ladies and middle-aged matrons who are dressed simply and modestly as well as attractively.
People can see joy in your face regardless how you dress. 

 I could relate to this lady so well because she knew what it was like to work so hard to try to be right all the time,

and to not be able to relax and rest in Christ.

She knew what it was like to just try so hard about everything, and to struggle with depression and low self-image,

and so on. But little by little she learned to trust Jesus with her problems in very real ways

(which may come more easily to those who have had a loving upbringing and no major traumas in their lives.)

Each little chapter is so good, followed by a prayer. 

Here is an example of one of the chapters that spoke volumes to me, called "The Alarm System."

In it she talks about that ZZzzinging alarm that goes off in some of us ladies' minds when something is unfamiliar or scary or we think something may be wrong or something bad may happen.

She talks about how she learned to recognize them simply as alarms (perhaps based on traumas or fears in the past) rather than as truth always.

She learned to take time to differentiate between the alarm feelings that were based on truth, 

and those based on falsehood or fear. 

That devotional in particular helped me so much!!

Then below is another example--"The heaviness of negativity," and how she learned (and is still learning)

to turn her negative thoughts into trusting ones based on truth.

She talks about our value not being connected to our performance.

On this page, for example, she reminds us that not everyone responded to Jesus positively. 

He was the Supreme Example of love and goodness, yet how many people turned away from Him!

Even His own disciple Judas turned against Him and betrayed Him. 

Did that mean Jesus had not loved Judas enough and was a failure at ministering to him?

"The final outcome of a situation does not determine whether a person is a success or a failure."

"Jesus, not our success, is the determiner of our value...That value remains at 100%.."

I would highly recommend this delightful, prayerful, thought-provoking, healing, comforting, encouraging, simply written devotional book to my conservative friends

unless you are always on top of everything,

have everyone around you saying wonderful things about you,

feel yourself to be always a brilliant success

and never worry about being worthless or about what  other people think of you or never try too hard to always be right instead of wrong.

This book helps us to lighten up a little!
You can order it from Caring for the Heart Ministries, whose link I put on my blog a few days ago, 

by emailing caringfortheheart@msn.com or calling them at (719) 572-5550,

or online from Biblical Concepts Distribution at www.biblical-concepts.com. 

From CFTH the book is $13.

I thought I would share about that book since it's been such a blessing to me about how we can learn to go to Jesus very personally and know He cares,
 to be delighted with Jesus and to know more and more how much He loves you,
and to rest in His presence and not be in bondage to negativity and fear and doubts and legalism.
He receives us just as we are--including those of us who were raised with care about how we dress and conduct ourselves.
He loves us just the same in our long skirts and careful necklines,  in our simple hairstyles and lack of jewelry and make-up, just as He loves ones who haven't been raised or taught to value these things.
But we can have a BIG heart toward those who don't agree with us on every issue.
There are sisters in the Lord who love Him with a pure heart, I believe, who don't dress or believe exactly like I do,
because I have been friends with some of them for years and I find that they have strengths and depths of character and honesty and authenticity that some people of my beliefs do not have.
The foot of the cross is level ground.

Greater Love in Las Vegas

I didn't know about the mass shooting last night in Las Vegas until Carrie saw about it on Facebook.

Little did we know that while we were enjoying a peaceful Sunday walk out on the prairie at the Paint Mines near these wind turbines, 

and the family was listening to Mom read the story about Unshackled's Eugenia Price,

that this terrible tragedy was about to happen in Las Vegas.

Unique stories emerge.

One young man went to Las Vegas an agnostic; after narrowly escaping the carnage, he readily admits that he believes in God Who helped him get out of there alive.

 Others were not so fortunate.

It is difficult to go to sleep tonight after reading about it--and I'm up about midnight to eat a bit of cereal and blog my heart out. 

I wish I could do something.

I can only pray to the God Who can.

I'm so thankful for a president who is not ashamed to call the nation to prayer in times of hurricanes and tragedies, who orders flags at half staff, who acknowledges God. It's such a welcome relief from the godless government we've had. 

And then there were the stories of lives laid down for others--

a husband grabbing his wife and shielding her.

 He was young and she was beautiful--I saw their picture.

And she felt when the bullet hit him in the back--and she lost her husband.

His arms around her--he died.

Like our Savior Who laid down his life on the cross so that we could be saved.

He shielded us from God's wrath by becoming sin for us.

He took the nails--the bullets--the judgment--the wrath--

so that we could be saved. 

Greater love has no man than this--to lay down his life for his friend.

Monday--Pizzas and Enchiladas--Important Work Vs. Unimportant

A few weeks ago, Crystal, Carrie and Rose drove to Missouri to lend a hand to our friends the Goodwins were have been suffering very much since his stroke.

(Rose was very, very happy to have her driver's permit so she could drive some of the time!)

The Goodwins get very little sleep at night, and life is exhausting. The girls cleaned and helped her organize some things and took her to her cataract surgery. One of the things our girls were especially glad to do was to cook some food and freeze meals ahead for them. They made chili, scalloped potatoes, enchiladas...

and pizzas!

They also spent some time with my sister Joella and her family. The girls and their cousins and a friend helped my parents with getting and stacking three loads of wood from the sawmill for my folks' winter wood supply.

My folks were so thankful for that help...

and I was thankful I could send my girls when I couldn't go myself.

Somehow, doesn't it seem like the work you do for others is more important than what you do for yourself or your own family?

Or maybe that is just the way it feels when you tend to be an others-oriented person, which can be both a strength and a weakness!

Laundry just doesn't seem to be all that exciting, although it is something you spend many hours a week working on.

The humdrum can get awfully humdrum--which is why I permit myself the outlet of blogging when I'm needing a bit of a break to restart my brain.

But every day we moms must remind ourselves that the laundry and dishes and ironing and mopping and cleaning and picking up trash and teaching school lessons and seeing that children do chores and get to the neighbor on time for work 

and tidying rooms and organizing in the basement and filing office papers 

is not unimportant work.

It's not unimportant when it is the Father's will for you.
Sweeping your own house can be just as important and count for eternity as sweeping Hope Family Chapel at a South Dakota mission after muddy boots paraded through multiple times.

Helping your own birthday boy have a happy birthday counts for eternity just as much as giving a Sunday School child a treat. 

Because it's all about love and obedience and glorifying God in our bodies, which are God's.

Whatever God gives us to do, we do with our might, cheerfully, willingly, unselfishly.

Lord, help me to sigh one time fewer today when I am tired,

and to remember that making a burning house on a cake,

or vacuuming my livingroom carpet,

or stirring the zucchini relish on the counter,

or going out now to take down laundry and sort it and put it away

gets written in Your book, too, as a living sacrifice given unto You!

A good link:

http://www.christyfitzwater.com/work-ethic/can-important-work-smaller-work/

 

"O God, You Are More Awesome Than Your Holy Places!"

"Oh, God, You are more awesome than Your holy places!"

Psalm 68:35

 This is a little country church that we passed in South Dakota--which turned out to be Catholic.

I was just talking yesterday to home school mom friends, while our three big families of children played soccer and other games in the park nearby.

The one mom came out of the Catholic church--little by little, as she read the Bible and began to see how the teachings of the church did not line up with Scripture.

"Why should we pray to a saint or Mary instead of going directly to God?" she asked.

"Because He is too busy?"

The Catholic church, she said, added so much to the Bible.
They could not trust the people to read it for themselves. The Bible had to be interpreted through the priests and the teaching of the church.
But do we in our churches do a whole lot better than the Catholics?
Must we interpret the Bible for people, or can we let them read it for themselves?
When we go to church, do we understand and believe that God is there already,
or do we depend on others, such as a pastor or a demonstrative saint, to create some sort of atmosphere to which we react by saying,
"God is here!" or "God was there this morning"?
 

It can be easy to idolize a person, a place, or a set of circumstances involved in some special manifestation of the Spirit.
We can idolize a pastor or a teacher or a mentor or some saint that God used in a special way.
We can idolize a memory or a dream or a moment in time or special service where people were demonstrating in the Spirit (or as a result of their own emotions), shouting or running the aisles.

Recently we heard someone bemoan about when was the last time that we saw someone "slain in the Spirit"?
The person had seen it twice, they said. Once a man came down the aisle near the start of church service, and he was so under the power of God that he just keeled over and lay there in the aisle, "slain in the Spirit," till sometime in the afternoon--
and God did more during that time, this person said, than anyone could have accomplished.

 So how do we respond to hearing stories like these?

By being discouraged that we haven't seen such a thing?
By assuming we aren't spiritual enough, and deciding we need to pray more, fast more, sacrifice more, do weirder and weirder things to try to get to where someone can be slain in the Spirit, too, since that is held up as being such a great thing?
First of all, I don't think we should discount such occurrences.
God does special things in special times and ways. May we never be guilty of discounting unusual occurrences that result in God working just because something is out of the norm.
But Paul the Apostle never exhorted believers to seek to be "slain in the Spirit,"
but to "be filled with the Spirit."

Being filled with the Spirit typically results in strength, not in being "slain."
Strength that enables you to be laid "down", not laid "out."
Strength that enables you to be stable and established and joyful and steady,
that enables you to praise, not pulaver,
to sing with understanding, not scream crazily and scare people.
What does the Psalmist say right after exclaiming, "O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places"?
He says, "The God of Israel is He Who gives strength and power to His people."
Not the God Who strikes His people down in the aisle so they lie there like Saul did after being anointed king, though God indeed did do that as a once in a lifetime experience.

That was a once in a lifetime thing. But as a rule, God gives strength to His people.
Strength to believe and love and do good works;
strength to worship and praise and sing and exhort and tell the next generation of His power;
strength to make difficult decisions and follow through; strength to do God's will,
to get up day after day and find our strength renewed.
When God manifests His power in unusual ways,  should we seek and pray and hope to see that exact kind of thing again,
Assuming God isn't present in power unless we see that again???
Did it ever occur to us that God does not often do the exact same thing twice?

At Pentecost, He came with tongues of fire and the sound of a rushing mighty wind,
and the apostles spoke with tongues.
But it never happened quite that way again.
Check out the other times God came powerfully in Acts.
He seldom if ever replicated Himself the same way twice.
With Cornelius, the Holy Spirit fell on them and they spoke in tongues, but sorry to say there was no wind and no tongues of fire.
Hopefully  nobody was looking for them or they would have been bitterly disappointed.
When Paul preached to the Ephesians about the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit fell on them,
they merely spoke in tongues and prophesied.
No fire or wind or lightning or lying prone in some church aisle.
After the wonders of Pentecost, what happened was a lot of conversions and a lot of healings--and a lot of persecution from religious leaders!
And it was all about Jesus--and people--and salvation--and God's glory.

The apostles didn't go out making a big to-do about the tongues of fire and the wind and how well they all spoke in tongues and how--WOW!--God was there that morning!
They didn't idolize the things they saw and heard.
They proclaimed the Risen Christ, Who is to be believed on by faith!
****
"O God," the Psalmist wrote, "You are more awesome than Your holy places!"
The upper room where Pentecost happened was a holy place.
Our church sanctuaries where God meets with wherever two or more are gathered together are holy places.

 But God is more awesome than His holy places.
He is more to be desired than demonstrations.
He chooses to come in many different ways--
and very often, it is in a still, small voice.

Very often, He comes in quiet ways to us as we wash the dishes or read our Bible in our room or sing to a shut-in or share comfort and counsel to a broken person.

God is still coming to us right here in America,
in our homes and churches,
in our imperfect and sometimes broken relationships.

When we come to Christ in faith through prayer, He gives rest to our souls so that we no longer need to strive and seek and labor for demonstrations or special occurrences.
They may happen, but God is God and He is present and working
 whether someone is prone in the church aisle
or crying themselves to sleep over their own pillow--all alone except for God.
 He is present whether someone is singing on the platform
or practicing at home to share with an invalid--
or just to sing because it is worshipful and uplifting.

Just because someone preaches eloquently or sings emotionally and everyone gets emotional,
or someone testifies in a way that gets our emotions stirred,
or someone shouts or jumps or runs the aisles,
doesn't necessarily mean that God is any more present or at work than in those quiet hours at home or at work or at church when we win silent inner victories over unthankfulness and bitterness and strife and temptations--when we turn our hearts heavenward and know He is there.

"O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. 

The God of Israel is He Who gives strength and power to His people." (Psa. 68:35)
We seek for You, O God, as the Lord's Day arrives tomorrow!
We seek for You Yourself, not for some demonstration,
for You are an awesome God!