While I was planting my garden and enjoying the ritual of spring, I thought about the verses in the Bible that talk about birds and flowers. The birds don’t concern themselves with what they are to eat; they also have no need to practice or lay out a plan for their mating ritual.
The flowers don’t need to worry about their clothing but they also aren’t concerned with how and where they are planted. They are confident, when it is time, that they will be watered, the sun will shine and they will grow.
Today I saw a bigger “value” to those verses: nature doesn’t (even on dire days) plan or worry about the next ten years of wind, snow, sun, rain, hurricanes… They know they are cared for!!!
When my children were young and we were urban missionaries, the money we raised was enough to pay the rent and the utility bill. But what about food, bandaids, and clothing?
Each month we received anonymous certificates to buy groceries.
On occasion, I would find an envelope with money on my desk from a volunteer (paid for stuff like bandaids.)
The clothes for the children were hand me downs and my husband had plenty of clothes and shoes. I on the other hand had enough clothes to fit in a small luggage. I never thought “what will I do when my clothes wear out?”
What I did notice, when we left ministry, was that all my clothes sprouted holes. I realized that clothes that are worn every single day rarely last for 10 years. A secret: I was never better taken care of then when I had nothing!!!
We need to be reminded that we have a God with great big loving hands who shelters us from more than we know and provides for us in unseen ways. Lean on Him when the days are stormy be thankful to Him when the days are good.
Luke 12:27-28
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!
Psalms 103:13-18
“Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.”
Job 38:41
“Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?
Matthew 10:29-31
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
P.S. All of the above applies to our needs. If the birds of the air decided they wanted steak rather than seed, they would be disappointed. If the flowers wanted to wear Vera Wang, they would be forlorn.
Do the people who ask for holiday donations for the poor really know what it is like for us?
Do they do it so they can feel better when they sit down to a big fat goose?
I can’t wish them ill really I can’t. I just wish my belly could for one day a year be filled with something that didn’t come out of a can.
I would love to have one gift (even if it was fruitcake) that was wrapped with a red ribbon that I could spend a half hour opening.
I’m not that much different than you. Well yes my face is dirty and I’m missing a tooth (or two), but we all want similar things (warm beds, food for the kids, and a loving smile to say goodnight to.)
That’s not what you look forward to?
Ah yes you are part of the Scrooge Tide. It never changes just the amount that jangles in the pocket. During Ebenezer’s time, it was probably a jumble of coins worth fifty dollars (or 30 pound sterling). Now the sound is the inaudible click of plastic rubbing against plastic. Hmmm what is your credit limit? 2o,000, 100,000 for each card, unlimited…????
My limit is $10. No, that is not per day – that is per month. They all hoped I would just give up, dig the hole myself, and throw myself in it.
Not yet! You Scrooges out there with your long noses and beady eyes – your time will come!! Plastic cards will be worth nothing and you will be unable to rub them together to stay warm.
I’d like to toast you then with some holiday cheer. But we will wait. There is plenty of holly where I live to decorate the halls and I’m more than willing to share my can opener…
Today’s prompt at WordPress daily writing prompt is Ready Set Go. Take ten minutes and just write – then post. I did take a moment to correct spelling errors but aside from that this is a straight write.
Photograph images are of my copy of A Christmas Carol circa 1938.
I have travelled all over the world. In many of my sojourns I have been welcomed into the homes of the people I have worked with. I have slept in a 1950 milk truck, the upstairs of a church, the dirt floor of an orphanage,..
Daily Post Prompt: If you could pause real life and spend some time living with a family anywhere in the world, where would you go? Anywhere / the world is filled with gracious people with open arms.
Photographers, artists, Anywhere / the world is filled with gracious people with open arms.poets: show us TRAVELS.
steam rises off his black car as he zooms away from us
forever
years later my fingers caress the silk ties he left behind
to me that is hope he will return
she knows in her heart the date and occasion that each tie was given to him
but there are no more waterfalls
just a desert wasteland
of dried up emotion
my white togs grow grey with time
and poverty overwhelms us
and yet we are happy
in a simple world of black and white
brown and grey
the camera pans over a sea of paint
little fingers dabble
a woman’s hands portray life
on canvas after canvas
and life and hope and even a bit of love are reborn
upon a brush filled with color
the camera pans back
walls hold colorful beauty
eyes and smiles peruse the canvas
we still can’t always get enough money for clothing or food
but the stories on the paint filled canvases
are more
than
enough
for this not so little girl
and her talented mother
This is an unedited freewriting exercise inspired by Krista at wordpress weekly writing challenge. The two requirements: write about a memory (starting with the words I remember), write for ten minutes.
As a singer, my singing was always compared to Carly Simon. I have never thought that the songs I have written reflected her but I do believe this one does in a rudimentary sense. As an advocate, I aspire to give a hand of hope to the downtrodden. May it never be too late to help the little ones.
Here’s to all those tears that need to be recycled to water the pain in our world
Gud skaper noko nytt ved sitt Ord og sin Ande, vi kan ta imot det i tru og få oppleve at han gjer sitt verk med oss. Hans skaparkraft verkar konstuktivt i våre liv og skaper noko som er verdifullt for oss. Naturkreftene verkar nedebrytande, i fylgje entropilova, men Gud er Ånd og det som er født av hans Ande består. Jesu frelsesverk er fullbrakt og fullkome. Han er den siste Adam, som er ifrå himmelen og som for oss har vorte ei livgjevande ånd. Han gjev oss den Heilage Ande frå himmelen av berre nåde. Han gjev oss det evige livet.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. - Edgar Allan Poe
penned in moon dust 