Beauty and Encouragement

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Do We Have Impaired Vision?

Recently, we had a Christian brother from a far away land, visit our church. The visit was surrounded in some quietness and secrecy as the country he is from does not look favorably on Christians and his life and the lives of his family could be in danger. This brother has visited us a few times before..... about every year or two, I guess. The last time he was here, he showed some slides and one comment he made a couple of times caught my attention.... He said, "Here is an old woman, doing her work." Well, that "old" woman wasn't very old! Another time he said, "Here is another old woman... she's about 45".  He was speaking very respectfully, but I felt offended for the women, as 45 is not OLD.... until I realized that in their culture, 45 years old IS old and their lives do not last as long as ours, and I felt sad.

This year, he was so excited about the new school building God has provided and the building is helping so much. I looked at this "wonderful new school building" and I saw a rather small building that looked somewhat like a plain cement block building that was painted white. It was nice, BUT I wouldn't have called it wonderful. I was humbled by the realization that for what they live with, it IS wonderful.... it is such a blessing to them.

Then he told of the wonderful and beautiful benches inside the school. When he showed the pictures, I saw nice benches with no backs to them. The benches were painted red... and they were very functional.... but "wonderful" and "beautiful"?  My heart began to ache as I realized anew just how much we take for granted.

That man rejoiced over simple sewing machines that have been provided for some of the women to use.... electricity is very unreliable there and the sewing machines have to be very simple to work there. The women were using them to sew school clothes for the children in the school.... and they are so thankful. He said that someday, they hope to be able to have a sewing machine that will make buttonholes. I thought of my own sewing machine that sews buttonholes nicely... and I use it... sometimes..... but life is so busy.

He was REALLY rejoicing over some sand water purifiers that had been bought with money given for that purpose in the last year. They have to get water from a little ditch.... and he showed the difference between the cloudy water they had been using and the clear water with the filter. What a difference.These are very basic things that we take for granted.

His excitement was for the people in his ministry.... for the needs being met so the name of the Lord Jesus Christ could be glorified and spread. Something else they hope to get are solar projectors to help the people in the villages to learn.... the projectors are $1500.00 each.... that is a lot of money, and yet, they have no electricity in the villages and solar powered projectors would work there.  Money is tight for us, but we have so much.... compared to those in that country and other countries.

It is so easy to have vision problems and to feel they are normal... because it is what we always see. We see opulence and excess. We see food wasted... or food eaten to stave off boredom, not because of hunger. We see a zest for trying to be "happy". What if our main goal in life was to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and to bring others to Christ? What if we said no to ourselves more often and used more of the provisions God gives to us.... to help others?  I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy our lives wherever God has put us.... I really think we should.... but maybe we need to clear up our vision problems so that we can see the needs of brothers and sisters in Christ also.

Thank you for visiting today... I hope you have a wonderful day. :)

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Do You Cut Your Fingernails In Church?

Do you cut your fingernails during the church service?  No?  I don't either.... but at church when I was in my teen years, someone cut their fingernails every Sunday morning..... and it could be heard all over the sanctuary - it really was quite loud. I never knew who was doing it, but I sure thought they were rude, inconsiderate, not paying attention to the sermon, etc.

You see, I would NEVER cut my fingernails during church... NEVER... and I think I felt rather self-righteous about it.  Recently I talked to a friend who shared that a church she used to attend also had a person who clipped their fingernails during the church service. I was surprised to hear it as I thought there could only possibly be one person in the world who would do such a thing..... but I guess there were at least two such people.

I started thinking about it... and I still consider it rude and inconsiderate and think that they should be paying attention to the sermon, not just clipping their nails.  As I thought about it though, I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit about the times that I have created a mental grocery list during a sermon.... or planned out the afternoon's activities all the while sitting so nicely in the pew..... or made a mental list of what I needed to add to my To Do List at home.....or let my thoughts wander to something other than the sermon.

Those times were times when my thoughts wandered away from the Word of God.... away from the message being given.... away from whatever God wanted me to learn and they were wasted moments. They were times when I did not take my thoughts captive. 

Noticing that cute little child peeking over the pew can be all it takes to derail our thoughts..... or wondering why another person isn't there today (Are they sick? Should I send a card?) can be all it takes to make us miss something important. Making a quick note of the thought that needs to be dealt with so that I can keep my attention on the sermon works well... I can remember to check on the person later... not right at the moment. 

No, I would never clip my fingernails during church..... and I am doing much better about not being distracted during the sermons.... but I know I need to be vigilant to keep my mind focused on what I can learn during church- I need to always  "bring every thought to the obedience of Christ."



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A Day At The Park In Pictures

 
One day, some of my kids and I had a day at the park..... the weather was beautiful-low humidity and cool temperatures- very unusual for July. It was an unplanned trip.... one of those times when the kids asked if we could just go to the park - I think it was the first or second time we have gone to a park this summer.








 We took cameras and just really enjoyed the time we were there. Lots of other people also thought it was a beautiful day to be at the park, so there were many people, but it is a big park. 

There were quite a few lily pads and lilies that were open.... and beautiful.

 Several turtles.... this small one just kept swimming around under the lily pads since he couldn't get up on a lily pad.... he tried again and again.

Later, he finally made it up on one... then only stayed there for a minute or so..... like a child... needing to keep moving, I guess.

Other ones sunned themselves and swam.... this one wasn't very big either, but was bigger than the little one. There were a couple of quite large ones, but they stayed in the water and out of sight most of the time.

 It was relaxing and pretty as we walked around the little lake.... as long as we watched out for the little boys riding scooters around the lake again and again.  They kept asking if anyone was missing a flip flop as they had found one in the water and were trying to find the owner. They seemed to be on a mission and were having fun. :)

So peaceful... and relaxing to be near the water.

 The mother duck and two ducklings swam around a lot.... especially toward anyone who offered bread.

 I just love the rich colors of the scenery....

 We saw the bird house out in the water..... and the shield under it. The shield is like what is used for preventing squirrels from getting the bird food.... or cats from getting the birds. We couldn't figure out why they had it on this one though, out in the water.

 This is a city park, but this area had the feel of being out in the country a bit.

 What is it about tossing things into the water and watching the ripples? Just something about it that is enjoyable. :)

 In parts of the park, there were lots of lilies - tiger lilies and other kinds. Someone had obviously taken two of the head of those lilies and tossed them into the water.... that was interesting and my kids tossed them out a bit further....

Well, then my kids got an idea.....

One of my sons was able to reach one of the flowers... and pick it out of the water....

 Then they put it on a lily pad. :)  They wondered if anyone would wonder about the strange lily pad flower.

Later, when they crossed over to the island and my oldest daughter and I were the keepers of cameras and cell phones on shore.... three girls came along and spotted the flower. "Look at the lily pad!" they said. :) We chuckled over that.... So if you see an article about the unusual lily pads... you know they aren't really real. :)

 Big trees in the park.... so interesting from this angle......

 Another big old tree.....

Lots of bright echinacea flowers....

 The rose garden had some really colorful roses.... so pretty.

The park has been full of the beauty of God's creation.... so much beauty especially in this time of year with the growing season.

 Time to leave.... it was fun..... it was nice to go to the van for granola bars-we were hungry.... then we headed home. Of course the kids asked if we could do it again tomorrow.  I smiled, and said.... "no". :)  We will have to do it again though.... we don't do this enough and there are so many nice parks around.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and enjoying our walk in the park with us. I hope you have a great day. :)

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Such A Busy Bee....

This week in the garden, I watched a busy bee.... and decided to try to get pictures. He kept moving...

He prepares for take-off here and one leg is extended. Notice that the extended leg has yellow dust on it - that is the pollen being collected and moved to other flowers.

The phrase "Busy as a bee" is pretty accurate.... they move here and there so quickly - I never saw him stop... he was in constant motion.

 Always moving.... .always searching....

God has equipped the bee to do the job he needs to do.... and to do it well. What a blessing to have bees in the garden.... it is helpful on our flowers, but his work is vital for our fruits and vegetables.

He has left the echinacea........ and  moved on to other flowers.... hopefully on the melons and squashes.... or maybe the cucumbers.... or any of the other plants in our garden.

I am so thankful for bees... and their dedication to their job.  I am reminded that like God equipped the bee for his job.... God has also equipped me for my job and I need to be faithfully doing the work God has for me.  There is joy in knowing that I am doing what I am created to do..... and that the work God has for me to do.... has a purpose, even if I don't always see it.  Thank you for visiting...... I hope you have a wonderful day. :)

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