November: An Invitation to Gratitude Series {Time Away}

November 3: 

Time away. Uncharted days intended for restoration. Extended sessions of simply watching the day open and close. Hours, when left unscheduled, become fertile ground for new conversations, thought filled impressions that birth new intentions. Seeking to hear God's whispers as waves roll.
                 

~

Additional Posts in this Series:
Day 1 Attentive Listening
Day 2 Boundless love

Morning's Stillness

In early spring wind off the waves brushed gently against our faces with soft touches of warmth and great moist whiffs of the sea. Pants legs rolled up to sink feet in the white bounty of coastal sand and surf. We walked. The wind swept through the mind, carrying the burdens of living far out to sea. I point out the scurrying Sand Pipers and he scours the beds of washed up shells for beauty.

Sand glistens in the way of gems, reflecting light from facets of uncountable grains, all broken, polished, and scattered across the beach. Treasures of the sea cast onto the shore, sourced from rock, shells, and marine life, mingled in tidal deposits washed up by waves. 

As I recall myself bowing over the sand, scanning the collection tumbled onto the beach, I ponder how similar this image could be to holy God gazing down from celestial heights onto the minute beings of humanity. Certainly, the diverse bits of shells, rock, driftwood, the occasional gull’s feather, or dried sand dollar ~ certainly, such a collection is loosely symbolic of humankind’s wide range of color and form in varying stages of wave tossed brokenness. I ponder the scriptures that assure us that our Creator follows the journey of each remnant of life and gathers it all for redeemed purpose.

And I walked, 

heart full to bursting, 

contemplating the divinely guided galaxies in the cosmos 

replicated in small earthly microcosms 

for human eyes to witness 

the magnitude 

and detail 

of God’s power.

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,

He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth,

The Lord is His name.

Amos 9:6

~

Linking to Still Saturday, Sunday Stillness, Weekend Brew, Tell His Story. Click on their buttons below to join the community of posts.

What Lies Within Us...

I muse over it. What can be gained that is positive in a hospital waiting room? 

I have sat here many times in recent years. Cancer struck in my family. My loved one endures treatments, tests, procedures, scans, and surgeries to keep disease at bay.  Part of my roll in this journey is to wait. 

Initially I did not understand the demands of the roll for one who waits. Getting my loved one delivered on time with all required necessities absorbed my preparation tasks. Once the wait time began, initially I would sit in a haze of numbness induced by crisis. Gradually people-watching distracted me... then magazines that were left behind by others. Eventually I had read everything published that month and needed to scrounge more selectively for recent issues. Maintaining focus on a book often didn’t work; too much effort required for my emotionally drained mind. 

In time I raised my head above the fog of crisis and determined that this season of waiting must be made worthy. Surely there were angels of caring to appreciate. There were God moments to be recognized. There was character to be deepened. There was wisdom to be gained. 

My expertise in this endeavor improved.

I found that I’m fortunate. The hospitals and doctors’ offices in my community are new, beautiful, state of the art. Carpet muffles noise. Upholstery in coordinated subtle hues soothes the nerves of worry as well as the ones imposed by the sedentary wait. Large and varied art works distract ones gaze down long walls, along corridors to unknown places. I watch as surgeons arrive to give a simplified version of surgery-results-with-a-positive-spin to each waiting family. Coffee or hot tea is available to warm-over refrigerated skin and mellow-over anxious minds. 

And there are tools for this journey of waiting. There is a mind set of intention and discernment to be developed. There is an action plan to be designed with alternative measures to be fleshed out. There is a stretched out, slow motion, sense of time that must be embraced. There is a partnership of consistent presence with God that must be established. And there is a collection, kept packed in a bag that accompanies me on every wait filled journey. 

The bag holds tangible tools that allow me to be present with my heart. Tools that soothe over taxed emotions. Tools that are gentle with the haze that clouds clear thought. Tools such as a grown-ups version of a coloring book with prompts, so I don’t have to prompt myself. A journal for decorated word pictures, unpunctuated writing sprees, art copied from hospital walls, impressions that crowd and ramble across my thoughts . A laptop to electronically doodle in similar forms. Tea bags, ear plugs, a favored shawl ~ whatever, to create a haven in the midst of strangers and busyness. 

And a camera {or phone option} to catch snaps; not of the private moments of others, but of beauty, affirmation, or hope. Because, I have found that if I keep my eyes lifted up, my gaze attentive for a bit of spiritual light, I will be blessed. Blessed by such as this; passing by the open door of a hospital office, I read scripted wisdom on the wall.

"What lies behind us

and what lies before us

are tiny matters...

compared to what lies within us."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This, a bit of spiritual light. In the midst of medical mayhem. I read the words as a reminder of God within us, within me, as confirming knowledge that the Lord is where I will find strength, compassion, and hope. To pursue that internal presence. To clothe myself with His compassion. To be watchful for the beauty in His creation. To center myself on His eternal promises. These are the gifts that can be available in the waiting.

I'm linking with these sites to join the beauty of each community. Click any button if you would like to visit.

God's Word: Alive and Active

Women seated circular around the room, 

gathering together for weeks, 

to draw fingers across thin pages of scripture 

seeking the Lord’s teaching 

for the collected Body and each seeking heart. 

Women’s heads bowed above the ancient text 

pouring over inked words 

that transform to inner Holy Spirit whispers 

and wash searching souls with Holy presence.

~

I travel to these sites each week to link up and to partake in the beauty 

that is shared  within each community. 

Click a button to sample the beauty.

  

Invitation Accepted

Would the seat be empty or just apparently so?

Who might come to sit, ponder the moment, offer insight, share an exchange?

Might the companion be ethereal; ever present, attentive, ear inclined to whispers, murmurs, or sighs.

Might the seat be consistently held by listeners from places divine;

an angel of mercy, a guardian assigned, the spirit of the heavens, or the power MOST divine.

Would the seat ever be empty through a life given by sacred design?

Seated with glory in the kingdom beyond,

how could the preferred chair in the orchestra of my life
compare to the diadem most royal?

Yet the chair has been taken, claimed since memory could record.

The invitation accepted, a standing reservation filled.

The chair is never empty if the heart wills it so.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; 

I will never leave you nor forsake you. 

Joshua 1:5

Sharing moments of Saturday Stillness here...

and moments of Sunday photo praise here...

Seeing God

My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

Job 42:5 NIV

I admit I once lived by rumors of you;

now I have it all firsthand -

from my own eyes and ears!

Job 42:5 The Message

I love the reflected image of green limbs against blue sky as seen in the aged glass panes of this window. Rather than stand in front of the window for the photograph, I stepped off-center then aimed the camera upward. A perceptively different view was revealed. The rippled character of the old glass, the angle of light careening the image back to the eye, created an additional unexpected, new way of seeing the window and it’s reflected foliage. 

I found Job’s story had elements similar to this photographic experience. Ultimately Job had to accept “seeing” God from an unfamiliar perspective. Grasping God’s omnipotent ways requires us to stand in a different place, accept the unexpected, and look at events from the unique vantage point of God’s lens. 

So grateful to have had you visit with me here and comment on your thinking.
Now join me as I wander on over to enjoy the the photos and musings of others at:

SUNDAY , Snapshot and Scripture, Still Saturday, God-Incidences  and

Seek Radiance

Become 

Radiant

in the

presence of 

God!

Moses was not aware that his face became radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 

Exodus 34:29-35
~

Whether one's habit is to bend the knee, raise the palms, lower the head, lift the eyes heavenward, or keep them closed; 

Whether one's habit is to seek a dark enclosure or a sunlit landscape,

light wicks of flame or lift notes of music;

It matters less than the the habit of bringing yourself 

prayerfully to the Lord 

in anticipation of the the radiance that 

the He may place in your heart and on your face.

With much admiration, I link here with faith filled others with a photo and a story to share at SUNDAY , Snapshot and Scripture, and God-Incidences

God-Incidences...When He's Been There All Along

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you."           Genesis 28:15

There are three of us on the couch. Me in bifocals, them in diapers.  Me spattered with the remnants of the day's meals, sneezes, and floor play. Beside me my daughter's two precious bundles; hoped for, prayed for, for years. They are entrusted to my care from time to time. Two fraternal gifts carried heavy for 30 some weeks; mothered tenderly now for almost 15 months.


It is dusk. We are cozy. They are glistening with the sheen of infant beauty after baths and pajamas. Settled against one another on the nursery couch we watch Baby's Praise Collection DVD to wind down after a toddler's marathon energy day. It is a precious moment, sweet with with all that is important to childhood.


It happens in a blink. I briefly turn to the side table. Peripheral vision reveals a pajama-ed, toppling twin, overboard somersault fashion. Landing face up crying in ... what? Startled scare? Internal injury?

[My heart leaps to prayer.

Dear Lord, be present here! Dear Lord, this treasure here!]

I place quiet twin on the floor. Hoover over the toppled one who reaches for Grandma. Scooping him into arms and onto lap, I scan breathing rate, posture, limbs.

[Dear Lord, is all well?]

Beyond the holding I notice the long, over sized, floor pillow at my feet. A new one added to the room just today. Casually placed at the base of the couch. The one that cushioned the child's head-long fall. The one that oh so coincidentally is stitched with this toppled child's name on it. I stare. I dare, to wonder were these incidents divinely lead?

 [Were you here Lord all along? For this child? For the purpose he yet needs to fulfill? For this grandma who prayed for these care-giving hours to be blessed with safety?]

Little one calms, sniffles in the curve of head, arms, and lap that encircles him. He breathes easy, sits comfortably, quiets. No undo harm appears to be present.

[I close eyes to whisper...

Thanksgiving Lord for the gifts of this moment. For the good fortune of lithe little bodies that withstand toddler tumbles. For unexpected circumstances that intercede against harm. I choose to see your hand on this moment Lord. I linger here amidst these [now] clamoring toddlers, to raise my heart in thanksgiving Lord.]

Delightedly pleased to join others at the Gratitude Community, God-Incidences, and SUNDAY links. Grateful for the telling over there of God's hand on every life.

God-Incidences

Linking with a community of bloggers who recognize our Lord in the day to day moments and people of our lives.

{Reposting from July 2011, because the moment, the Holy Spirit in this moment, deserves to be shared over and over again.}

Old Dog sprints stiffly to the water’s edge; darting, nose skimming, reading the news of critterdom left on scented surfaces. A banquet of scents hangs in the air to inhale and savor. Bird song, rabbit skittering, and turtle sightings entice Old Dog from branch to brush and then back to the water’s banks.

The beleaguered, burdened human trails behind, mentally distant, unheeding, unseeing. A heavy heart and weighty concerns veil the senses. Dappled light dances across shaded lawn but eyes don’t really see. A canopy of green foliage rustles overhead as breezes shift and sway; but ears don’t really hear.

In time the Old Dog, satiated with the frenzied hunt for smells; settles and revels in the shade, nose attentive to buffeting scents carried on the wind.

A glance toward my Old Dog turns into a full measured pause. It’s clear his aging self has troubles of his own: sight has dimmed, hearing and muscles are much diminished. And yet, I hear the interior Spirit suggest; Notice, your Old Dog knows well enough to be here. He knows well enough to sense the cool of shaded grass on fur free skin, to lift the nose and savor the smells in the breeze, to feel the wind in his fur, and glory in the luxury of that, the divine restoration of that!

I feel my eyes widen, mind stumbling to be alert. I settle in the shade and strive to suspend worry and wrestling to attend. Water rushing over the rocky falls fills the ears.

Wind buffets warm across skin and lifts hair. The essence of wood, wind, and water, the marvel of it all, fills the breath, slows the heart, and quiets thought. Listen for that which one can hear only in spiritual stillness. To see what can only be seen with the soul, to sense the holy in the moment.

                      

 The Spirit of the LORD will be with you to give you understanding, wisdom, and insight.     

   You will be powerful, and you will know and honor the LORD.  

Isaiah 11:2 (CEV)

Human fears lift...

and shift...

reframed by deeper awareness and divine meaning that transforms into peace filled strength.

… to be renewed in the spirit of your minds…  

Ephesians 4:23 (ESV)

Smiling now...,

grateful for the gift received. Old dog and human head home renewed by divine nudging.