Ten Questions

My fellow blogger friend Ariella nominated me for the Liebster Award. It was a nice surprise. Ariella has posed some questions for me to answer. It looked like a fun thing to do. Also I thought I would give her some exposure. So check her out sometime just click here. 

1.What was the hardest thing you have ever done? Probably the day we drove my Mom up to Mayo clinic when she had a brain aneurysm. We weren't sure if she would live through it. It was removed, but she ended up disabled. 

2.Why are you blogging and how many times a week? I love to write, always have. I’ve kept journals, and wrote Bible studies and I even took a writing course. A year and a half ago, I was going through a tough season and I had so much to share. A year ago in July is when I started blogging. Just wanted to share what God was doing in my life. So glad I did. 

I post a encouraging blog every other Monday. Wednesdays, I post pictures that I have taken. Thursdays I post what I call Ramblings; light, funny writing that hopefully make you smile. 

3.What is your favorite indoor/outdoor activity? Writing, reading, and spending time with friends and family. Outside:Flower and veggie gardening. Walking, traveling, and sitting on my porch. 

4.What sound do you love, i.e. Waterfall, wind...? Voice of a loved one on the phone, birdsong, spring peepers, babbling brook, and my favorite songs. 

5.If you knew Jesus was coming back next year, what would you change in your lifestyle? Probably pray more passionately for some loved ones who aren’t believers. To be honest, I wish Jesus would come back tomorrow. Nothing is holding me back here on this earth. I long to be with Him. 

6.If you have a half hour of time of free time, how would you spend that free time? Go outside and enjoy my flowers and eventually my porch.

7.What movie or book made you cry? I just recently watched “Saving Sarah Cain.” I cried. Great movie. Sophie Hudson’s book, “A Little Salty to cut the Sweet” made me laugh so hard I cried. I’m rereading it, loved it so much. You’ll love her blog “BooMama.” 

8.What is your favorite ice cream or cake? I wrote a blog about cake about a month ago. Chocolate cake is it for me. I love mint chocolate ice cream or anything that has chocolate in it. Hey I just love ice cream in any form, combined with cake? Ohh Baby! Ok, deep breath, focus on the next question...

9.What did you do and play as a child? I lived on a farm so I played outside all the time. I had a sandbox, a treehouse and a long lane I rode my bike on. Woods to roam in and a barn to play in. Even in the winter, I was outside sledding and building forts. 

10.What touches you deeply in the history of your country? I love history and enjoy reading and watching shows about past events and people who were courageous and who made an impact. Real history is much more interesting than fiction. 

I just want to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my blogs and for leaving encouraging comments. I’ve loved blogging this past year. I was tempted a few times to quit, but the Lord kept pouring good stuff in me to share. It’s been great to connect with some of you. What a blessing you are! 

And now 2 questions for you. How long have you been blogging? And have you felt like quitting sometimes? 

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Significant, not Inferior

I guess if I pinned down when it began, it would be in elementary school. I felt the sting of rejection then. The girls usually would shun me out of their groups, the boys constantly told me I was ugly. I heard their pointed laughter and sneers. 

It continued throughout the rest of my school years. I had very few people I considered friends. I usually hung out in the library, hidden away with my precious books until I had to go back to class. 

The only true friends I had were in my church which was in another town. It truly was the bright spot in my life. 

I’m not sharing this with you so I can gain your pity. I’m not a drama queen by any means. To be honest, I’ve never really shared this with anyone before. But, I heard a video blog recently from a friend who shared about struggles with inferiority. Her video stirred my heart.

When you face rejection like I did for a prolonged time, it can be like a burr stuck in your soul. You may pull it out, but there are still residual effects that leave us feeling inferior and worthless. 

I can still feel inferior sometimes, to other people and in my self. I’ve never been the type of person who is a social butterfly. Usually I will not reach out to people I don’t know. My train of thought is that, “They probably won’t like me anyway.” Or if I do reach out, then it’s, “They are just being polite, they don’t want to be my friend, because they don’t like me.” 

Silly isn’t it? It seems like it anyway when I read it now. Thanks to the Lord’s gentle touch in my life I’ve come a long way.  I’ve learned not to be harsh with myself. Don’t beat myself up. Speak gently to myself. After all I wouldn’t dare talk to other people like that. 

In the video blog, my friend mentions that when you say inferiority, you hear the word fear. That’s the underlying problem isn’t it? It’s all about the fear. Fear of being hurt and rejected again. And when you fear, you shrink back. It paralyzes you. This has to be a great weapon the enemy welds to keep us from the abundant life God wants us to have.  We miss out because of lies! I’m not inferior and neither are you.

The opposite of feeling inferior is knowing I am significant. So do I seek after someone to love me and give me that significance? Will a human being give me that security? I’ve looked for that in many people and was found lacking. It wasn’t that they didn’t love me, but no human can sate my thirst, fill my emptiness. 

“The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.” Jeremiah 14:3

Anything or anyone other than Jesus is an empty cistern. Jesus is the Living Water. I drink of Him and I thirst no more. So I need to take my eyes off people and fix them on my Jesus. Also simply knowing the Truth has made a difference in the way I look at myself. 

I may digress at times when that old nettle sticks me. But not for long. The truth rises up within me and I say to myself, “This is not so. The Word says, I am this...” 

I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. I was chosen. I was adopted. I am an heir of God. God’s grace has been lavished on me...etc. And this is just in Ephesians chapter one! 

This is how you “encourage yourself in the Lord.” I guarantee that any feelings of inferiority will dissipate when you speak the Truth to yourself. 

Knowing I am significant, fixing my eyes on Jesus, not people, and getting the Word in my spirit. This has helped me to walk in confidence knowing who I am and Whose I am. Of course it’s a journey not a three day cruise! I’ve not arrived yet. I still struggle sometimes; perhaps I will still have remnants of that burr sticking to me till I leave this earth. 

Beloved, you are not inferior. You are a confident woman of God. Don’t believe those lies the enemy hisses in your ear. Nothing scares him more than a woman walking boldly with her God! 

2 Timothy 1:7  says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” Amplifed 


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Rambling Thursdays

                                     
                                                                  John Ford's Point

Monument Valley was featured in two of John Wayne movies, “Stagecoach and The Searchers. 

Let me just say up front that John Wayne was my hero as a child. I loved him and watched all the movies that came on our TV. Now I have so many of his movies on DVD. 

When I think of westerns, usually the first picture that comes in my mind is Monument Valley. So when we realized we were going to the Southwest, the first place we wanted to see was of course Monument Valley.

We had high expectations, but wow, our expectations were blown out of the water!  I want to share our experience there, since it was so special.  

I was surprised to find out it is not a National Park. It is in the Navajo nation and they are caretakers of the area.  It is located on the Arizona/Utah state lines. It’s a scenic drive approximately 150 miles northeast of Grand Canyon. 

There is an entrance fee to get inside the park. ($20 per car.) This enables you to drive around the park if you wish. Now this is where I read other reviews to make sure our car was up to the task of driving around red dirt, pot filled roads. I decided that no, I wasn’t taking a chance. After all we still had three days left of our vacation and I didn’t want to spend those days repairing our car just so we could return home. 

Now, if you have a 4/4 SUV or a pickup you should be fine. We went with a guided Navajo 4/4 tour. There are a few of them to choose from. We went with Sandstone tours. It is pricey, but believe me it was worth every penny. 

We took the Sunrise tour which was about 3 1/2 hours. Our guide took us to a place where we could see the sun rise over the plain; it was amazing! 

We stopped at a few arches, drove through sand dunes, visited an indian hogan, and saw petroglyphs. We stopped at numerous places along the way to take pictures. 

A few vivid memories: The full moon perched above the buttes. A fox darting alongside our truck. Red rocks glowing in the sunrise. Gazing over John Ford’s point. The absolute stillness and remoteness deep within the valley. I’ll be pondering these memories this winter when I’m freezing to death.  Believe me, I’ll never forget it. 

Now on a more practical note...we stayed at The View Hotel there at the park. Again it is pricey for a hotel. But they don’t call it The View for nothing. Each room has a balcony that overlooks the valley. We sat on ours and watched the sunset. It was quite lovely. 

The room was very nice. The people are friendly and helpful. Be forewarned though, there is only one restaurant on the grounds. They don’t have a deli to speak of. We wanted to grab a snack and only $5 chicken salad sandwiches was available to choose from. For dinner, the restaurant was okay. We regretted not bringing our own food. 

There is a campground and cabins there. The cabins looked very nice. South at Kayenta there were a couple of hotels if you choose not to stay here. Also west is Goulding’s trading post which has a lodge. 

There is a gift shop which was nice, but I was disappointed to see some “made in China” type items. If you want to buy authentic items, the native indians do set up tables/booths here and there along the way. 

To sum up our experience, I would say the tour was amazing and we would do it again in a heartbeat! But we weren’t cracked up about the hotel. It just wasn’t worth the money we paid. 

If you come out west, you must take a tour. You will not regret it! Next time I watch a John Wayne movie I will certainly look at it in a new light. 

                                  

                               Scene from "The Searchers"

Thursday Ramblings

My Husband and I had the privilege to go see the Southwest on our vacation. We’ve never been and well, let me just say, we were blown out of the water! 

Words such as beautiful, pretty, even breathtaking doesn’t seem to explain how we felt at times. It felt like we were walking through a movie set sometimes, surreal, just dreamlike. 

Anyway...(I need to shake myself back into reality here, excuse me,) I wanted to share with you some great places to visit if you go there in the future. 

We visited many National Parks. Now I need to say up front that my Son whom I mentioned in a previous blog is a Park Ranger in Nebraska. More on that later.  So I am intensely interested in anything involving National Parks. But let me give you some tips. 

First let me tell you about the Park Passport book. My Son got me hooked on this. You can obtain it on Amazon or in any National Park. It has a cool map of all the parks and monuments. I bought the smaller version, (less than $10). There is a larger, more elaborate version also. Here is a pic:

Each visitors center at the parks have a place where you can place a cancellation stamp in your book. It’s free and it’s just a cool way to memorialize your visit. It would be a nice memento to leave to your kids or grandkids. 

We visited Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Navajo National Monument, Canyonlands, Arches, and Agate National Monument. Each one was unique and special. 

Petrified forest’s rocks and vistas were pretty. The old Route 66 also went through the park and there was a special display memorializing that. We only had time to do the Painted Desert portion of the park. It did not disappoint. 

Of course Grand Canyon was special. We entered in the East entrance which is less busier. We also went before the sun came up and watched the sunrise in the canyon. Wow! 

Now, on a side note...if you leave out the east entrance, the village of Cameron has a trading post that serves amazing food. We ate breakfast there and I still think about that meal today. You can get authentic Navajo fry bread there. It’s kind of like an elephant ear, but much better. 

Now, the next stop was Navajo National Monument. To be honest we didn’t have very high expectations. It was on the way and I wanted to get my book stamped. But it blew us out of the water let me tell ya! Beautiful, wide sweeping canyons and a great hike through the desert. The main attraction was at the end of our hike. An overlook into the canyon revealed a pueblo city carved into an arch. 

It’s a very remote park in the Navajo reservation. In fact goats walked across the road in front of us. It was surreal moment hearing their collared bells as they moved through the desert. I felt like I was in another country. 

 Next stop: Canyonlands which was otherworldly. If you go, check out the “Islands in the Sky” vista. We spent a few hours just in that section driving around to the lookouts.  

We stayed in Moab, Utah which sits in between Canyonlands and Arches. It’s a cool little town with neat shops and great restaurants. We stayed in a “Mom and Pop” hotel which was much cheaper than the chains. 

Once again we rose before sunrise to enjoy Arches. It’s a great time to enjoy the beauty of the rocks glowing and lack of crowds. We only had half a day, so we went to the Windows section. What a wonderful hike we had! There are numerous arches in this area. The snow covered Manti La Sal Mountains were in the background. 

Let me just insert here that this area is Hot! If you intend to do any hiking, early morning and evening is a must. 

Our last stop was Agate Fossil Beds in the Nebraska panhandle where my Son works. Now I’ve only been through Nebraska one time and it was on I-80. Off the interstate, wow! This is beautiful country. Sweeping vistas, with buttes here and there. 

Agate sits in a very remote area. The visitors center is special. There were mammal fossils found in the park, and they have them set up to look at. Also, there are Indiana artifacts in a separate room. We were impressed! I hiked both trails and loved the bird watching there. The Niobrara river runs through the park. 

Of course the highlight was seeing our son again. If you are in the area, or passing through, stop in and check out the park. You won’t regret it! 

I know I skimmed through a lot of details, but for the sake of boring you, I cut it short. If you have any questions, leave it in the comments. Next Thursday I’ll share about our visit in Monument Valley which is a blog all to itself. 

Have a good weekend!

Got a Second?

I heard great news for those of us longing for more time. On June 30th a second will be added to make sure the atomic clocks stays in sync with the Earth’s rotational time. It’s called a leap second. Kind of like a leap year from what I gather.

This news caused me to ponder about time in our lives. We live in the grip of time. We wake up with an alarm clock, we punch in and out at work and we rush to make appointments. 

Some days seem like an eternity, (like the day before vacation.) Other days, we wonder where the time went? Then you have the Daylight savings time issue! I call it an issue because here in Indiana it is!

For years we didn’t reset our clocks in the Spring and Fall. One season we were on Eastern and on the other, we were in Central. And we were all content with that. Then our state government, God have mercy on their souls, decided we needed to change. The “Spring ahead” is a killer let me tell you. It can take weeks for my body to adjust. But I love the “Fall back”, because I gain an hour. Well....at least it feels that way okay? 

It reminds me of Hezekiah when he lay on his deathbed and pleaded in prayer to live. God answered his plea and told him fifteen years would be added to his life. And then proved it by making the shadow go backwards on the sundial. 

Nevertheless, you and I can’t change anything about time. We can’t go back and change anything. We can’t look into tomorrow and see what’s ahead. Only God who, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 

Our God transcends time. And what’s so comforting is that He’s the “Same, yesterday, today and forever.” And,  “My times are in Your hands”. 

I remember a really tough season years ago. My precious Grandma had died, my Mom was crippled with a brain aneurism, and I was struggling with a hurtful marriage. One day I was sitting on my bed trying to pray. Trying is the key word, as praying didn’t come easy during that time. I couldn’t get past the pain and to be honest I just didn’t want to try. 

I sat there quietly with my Bible and gazed out the window at our bird feeder. It was a rather nasty day, cold and rainy. There on the feeder was a ragamuffin sparrow snuggled closely to the feeder. I thought it was dead, but as I drew closer to the window I saw it move. 

It sat there in the wind, rain and cold, it’s feathers all fluffed up. In that moment I heard my Jesus say, “I see that sparrow. I am aware of it. And I see you. I know your hurts and pains. I’m taking care of that sparrow and I’m taking care of you.” 

The tears ran down my face. I felt His sweet presence enter the room and envelop me. I never forgot this moment He met me in my need. 

Beloved, let me remind you of what Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Did you see that? We can’t add a single hour or even a second to our lives by worrying about it, or wringing our hands in anxiety. The God who transcends time can redeem our past, and provide Grace for what is ahead. 

Trust Him to take care of you. “From everlasting to everlasting, He is your God.” 

 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Psalm 31:14-15


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Teachable Moments

Joshua’s exhausted warriors stood around him. It was a long day of marching and fighting, but now the battle was won. Now the fate of the five defeated Kings await Joshua’s command. 

It had been quite the day. Five Amorite kings joined together to come against Israel. But Joshua would not be intimidated. God assured him, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."

God fought for Israel. He sent hailstones and made a longer day so their enemies would be defeated. They didn’t have a chance! 

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” “He is mighty to save!”

The once proud, powerful kings ran away and hid in a cave. Now they lay at the feet of Joshua. He turned this into a teachable moment for his young warriors. 

Joshua brought the kings out of the cave and had them lay on the ground. Then he told his commanders to put their feet on their necks. He urged his warriors to keep fighting, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight."

They killed the kings, hung them up on trees till evening, and put them back into the caves. Rocks were piled up around the entrance of the cave. 

Now as I read this, I’m thinking, why would Joshua made a public spectacle of the defeated kings? 

Lets consider the past of the young warriors. Their parents stood at the boundaries of the Promised Land and refused to enter. They said, “We can’t take the land. The inhabitants are giants. We are like grasshoppers in their eyes and our own.”

And so they spent the rest of their lives wandering in the wilderness for forty years. And then buried there. No doubt the young warriors heard over and over again, “But we couldn’t take the land. The giants who lived there were fierce and undefeatable!” 

Now they stood with their feet on the necks of the so called fierce, undefeatable giants. They saw them up close and personal. Joshua wanted them to see and know without a doubt that when God fought with them, they were invincible! 

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” “He is mighty to save.”

God is declaring to us today not to create giants out of your problems and the unknowns ahead. Because truthfully they’re not overpowering. They are like these defeated kings underfoot. The enemy is under our feet. We are the ones who are overcomers.

“We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Yes, there will be battles ahead, tough, lean seasons, and strongholds to conquer. Whatever is ahead, God has promised to provide His grace and power. The Lord is mighty to save and He will fight for us. He will do whatever it takes for us to win the battle, to go through as conquerors. Let’s be like Abraham who did not “waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God”. 

He said, “I will give you every place where you set your foot.”  The inhabitants were already doomed before the Israelites stepped into it. 

God had given them the land. They only needed to take God at his word and take it. 

Beloved can I tell you that your enemy the devil is already doomed? 

 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:15

This excites me to no end! Just like Joshua made a public spectacle of the five doomed Kings, Jesus did the same to our enemy when He died on the cross, and then rose from the grave. 

He crushed our enemy under His feet. He snatched the keys of death, hell, and the grave. He sits at the right hand of God, “with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

Because He so thoroughly defeated and doomed the enemy, we are overcomers. He defeated the enemy for us! 

I hope this encourages you like it did me. I want to leave you with this passage from Ephesians:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm

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Rambling Thursdays

Unplugged is a word that has entered my family lately. My son started a Park Ranger job in the panhandle of Nebraska last week. I’ve only been through Nebraska one time and through is the appropriate word as we were coming back from Yellowstone. 

I recall empty spaces and numerous buttes that rose up from the prairie. It was beautiful, but a bit eerie to a midwestern who is used to trees and neighbors within calling distance. 

Well, my son is in the wilderness now and he is officially unplugged. No internet, phone service, and no satellite, not even an antenna TV. He does have a radio, and a landline. It’s all new to him, and he freaked out at first. Thankfully he has a mom who suspected this would happen and sent him with books, yes gasp! Books! 

Anyway, this made me wonder how I would do in his situation. I watch Life Below Zero regularly. I am fascinated with all those people who live off the grid. One woman, Susan lives 500 miles from the nearest city and 80 miles from the closest road in Alaska. 

Now simply living off the grid, might be doable. I love to read, write, do puzzles, paint, garden and other various activities. But if Susan wants to eat, she has to go out and kill it. If my survival depended on me catching a fish, or nabbing venison, I’d probably starve. 

I love to fish, but I’m no pro. I’m just “throw the hook in and if there’s a fish nearby maybe I’ll get lucky”. 

I’ve never hunted anything. Does searching for a Cold Stone creamery on my phone count? I sat with my husband one deer hunting adventure. It lasted maybe an hour until I began to freeze. We ended up at a nearby diner for breakfast. 

The closest I get to unplugged is our company cottage in Southern Indiana.  No TV, or internet. I love it! I always feel so rested and relaxed when I come back home. But there are restaurants and grocery stores nearby too. 

Anyway I took this long trail to wind you around to this latest obsession of mine: Adult Coloring Books 

If I was going to a unplugged place, I would take my coloring book. These are selling like hot cakes. They can’t keep these in stock and it was backordered when I ordered mine. I waited with bated breath for three weeks until the wonderful day it arrived. 

I bought markers from wonderful Hobby Lobby and I have been having a high ole time coloring. So, in closing, as long as I don’t have to hunt or forage for food, yes I believe I could live off the grid. Could you???