Sunday Afternoon Tea

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep

 to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot

My ponderings this week were brought about by a few different sources all coming together in a jumble of thoughts, becoming more focused as the week passed by.

There are weeks like that when God is trying to get my attention and it seems every book I read and TV show I watch and radio program I listen to in the car and Bible verse I read... they all come together to plant a seed of Truth into my heart (and hopefully reach that area of my brain in which one ponders).

When we were living in another state, the phrase "Live Life on Purpose" was constantly in my thoughts, especially during times of Bible reading and reflection.  This was during a time of great upheaval in my life which was to continue for at least a few years.

God was calling me... tugging at my heart... reminding me that our life "is but a mist".  I was in the midst of homeschooling years but living in a city with no friends, much less family, other than my husband and son.  My husband traveled almost every week for his job as a Corporate Quality Assurance Manager/Engineer.

But He that is "closer than a brother" used those days which became years to cause the roots of my faith to grow deeper into my soul.  The hurricane strength winds of adversity taught me one has to choose to live their life in such a way that each day they ask Him for direction and purpose and faith and strength and provision.

I was thinking this past week how I've recently allowed myself to drift through life instead of resolving to walk His path.  Multiple circumstances brought this to my attention, not the least of which was suddenly finding myself at the doctor's office and not hearing his usual "You are fine, see me again in three months".

The Springing forward of the clocks along with the sudden heat of the afternoon sun have also come together to wake me up a bit.  As I look through the lace curtains of my window, bright yellow flowers are forming on a large bush next to the fence.  Pink blooms are growing at the end of the branches on the small tree it sits near.

Not seen through my window but below the deck are dozens of bright and butter yellow daffodils.  Around the corner of the deck, azaleas are just beginning to show off lavender shaded buds.  Just a week ago the world was covered in shades of gray.  Another season has truly passed...

I have to remind myself of lessons learned during the difficult years of adversity... how He showed me we are all created for a purpose to fulfill as long as we have breath on this planet.  I think all of us who call Him Savior sense a passion He has planted in our heart even if we have let the flame become a pilot light instead of a burning bush.

I have been pondering the Jim Elliot quote above, words I hold as precious Truth from one who has walked before me and finished his journey at the age of twenty-nine.  Words written in the inside cover of my Bible in my youth.

Words I will continue pondering this week... am I spending my days doing those things which bring me closer to Him and His purpose for my life?  Have I let age or circumstances or lack of faith or fear come between me and the passion He put on my heart?

Another quote worth remembering is this...

I believe God made me for a purpose;

but He also made me fast.

And when I run I feel His pleasure.

Eric Liddell

I love that scene in Chariots of Fire when he is explaining to his sister why he knows running was a God given passion.  Is there something in your life in which... when you are doing it... you feel His pleasure?  I hope so...

Mine have changed through the seasons and years, as they probably have in your life.  For instance, my passion for early childhood development I experienced when Stephanie was little was later replaced by a passion for homeschooling when  Christopher was of school age.

My passion for corporate organization was later replaced by a passion for politics and social action which has been replaced by praying for our nation.  My love of writing and teaching Bible studies was replaced by a passion for blogging.

Some, however, have remained for decades such as a love of reading and writing and beauty and tea time and family and chatting about Truth at a coffee shop and all coming together to be His light in a dark world... never perfectly but always desiring to "feel His pleasure" in what I do.

So how is this coming together in Real Life and Real Time as I ponder where I am today in relation to the journey in which He called me earlier?  I'm finding the need to spend time in certain parts of the Word, reading books which are tugging at my heart, writing thoughts and ponderings, and listening for His wisdom.

It means becoming quiet and believing that when I ask, I receive... wisdom.  No matter what our circumstances, He is there and He intends our journey to be bringing us closer to the goal in which He called us. 

It will rarely be easy and always will need His strength and His courage and His provision to continue.  He designs the journey that way, you know.

But I believe as we finish our race, it will all be worth giving up what we cannot keep... to gain what we cannot lose.  Let us embrace that God given passion and feel His pleasure.  :)

Saturday Pantry Suggestions

We're in the midst of lawn work, March Madness (high school tournaments as well as the college basketball NCAA or NIT Tournaments for those in other countries), and St. Patrick's Day here.  I plan to serve fish and colcannon for dinner tonight.   The real history of St. Patrick is better than any legend.  :)

Today I'm also beginning a new Saturday series called Saturday Pantry Suggestions.  One can write only so many full posts about deepening the pantry and I'm constantly thinking of little ideas here and there.  So... I thought this would be a place to "park" them.  Some weeks may have a lot of information while others probably only a paragraph or two.

Today's suggestion is on the small-ish side as the perennials must be cut back before new growth starts this morning (who would think one would have to "beat the heat" in March!).  I wanted to share some ideas how I stocked up recently on a tight budget.

One of the ways I stock up is with serendipitous sales.  A few weeks ago I stopped by the grocery store to purchase a bottle of Mrs. Bragg's vinegar (the kind with "the mother").  It's cheaper there than at the health food store.  I was so excited to find a Manager's Overstock sale on the vinegar which put it less than half price... so four bottles came home with me.  For less than the price of two bottles, I was able to stock up.

Another spur of the moment stock up happened at Wal Mart recently when I noticed they had my favorite non-aluminum baking powder (which I hadn't seen there before and is expensive at the other grocery store) in small containers for 99 cents each.  I checked the expiration date and it was two years from now... so I bought three.

I love these opportunities and part of living a pantry lifestyle is developing a habit of looking for them.  For instance, after the Holidays I check the price of cranberries and as soon as they go on a good sale price, I purchase nine or ten packages, slip two or three of the packages in individual gallon size Zip Lock bags, and place the gallon size bags in the deep freeze.  (I bought just a few packages before owning a deep freeze and kept them in the refrigerator's freezer section.)

In the case of cranberries, I've learned to accept a good sales price and not wait on really cheap clearance prices.  I've only come across them a couple times and when I waited on them... suddenly there were no cranberries.  Since there is no store near us that sells them frozen, that meant no recipes with fresh cranberries until the next Holiday season.

Now to slip on the garden gloves and get to work while there is a cool breeze.  :)

Picture:  Apron Gals

Pruning, reading, and writing

My, this sudden hot weather changed my To Do list!  We have had to drop some items off our list and add lots of pruning, weeding, cutting back, etc.  Not to mention dragging a small tree limb from our yard to the forest!  These were all projects for late March and early April in normal years.

I'm trying to get some writing accomplished in the midst of the outside chores.  Hopefully tomorrow (Saturday) I can get started on a new Saturday pantry series I've wanted to do for awhile.  It will include simple "off the top of my head" stocking up and pantry suggestions each week.

There are two new writing assignments.  One will be introduced next week and the other is for the Living Better at 50 website (of course, I am only 39...).  I love their site but wasn't sure I could squeeze in any more writing when they asked if I wanted to be a contributor.  However, when they said they could use some of my blog posts then the answer was an easy yes!  They recently included a couple of my pantry posts.  That website can be found... here.

I have a long (and belated) Recent Reading post to write.  I did a lot of reading when I had a cold.  I can share with you the lovely magazine I've been reading... here.  I don't purchase many magazines these days but the Victoria Classics Tea Time Bliss magazine is gorgeous and has yummy looking recipes.  It's an inexpensive "get away from it all" vacation.  :)

I am feeling much better.  While it may be unusually hot here for March (highs in the 80s when we are usually in the 50s), I am enjoying the sunshine and warmth.  Miss Victoria, on the other hand, can't understand what has happened.

We really don't want to turn the air conditioning on (as it will eventually... maybe... return to normal temps) so the furry feline has been found stretched out completely waiting for the next breeze to come in through the window.

That is when she isn't sitting in a bedroom window looking at birds through the screen, wistfully desiring to become a famous feline bird hunter.

Picture... yes, they are fake.  ;)

A few thrift store finds

The buffet has a more Spring-like look these days with the "new" flowers and pretty bunny.

I was rather hesitant to share my latest health challenges yesterday as I always lose a Follower or two when I do.  But as I've said so often before, I'm not here for "numbers".

Which is good as I only see the Follower numbers because they are right in front of me and I don't try to view any others.  (I view Blogger numbers only when requested, such as recently by a publisher.)

I prefer biography in its' Truth among bloggers.  I much more can appreciate what is accomplished when it is done in the midst of adversity.  Isn't it true that everyone has something God has allowed in their life which they must overcome?

Anyway... I wanted to share a few items found at Goodwill these past couple of weeks.

Goodwill had these flowers in a pretty (but pricey) arrangement that I passed up.  I could afford these matching stems that I simply placed in a favorite vase.

This pretty bunny was on the Goodwill cart along with the silk flowers for only 99 cents.  Here is a closeup of the beautiful colors.

I've been wanting something to hold the TV and DVD remotes in the living room.  This "tray" was also still on the cart at Goodwill.  All I had to do when I arrived home was...

Insert a pretty scrapbook paper with complimentary colors under the glass!   While it looks like this "tray" was manufactured with the handles, I've seen similar DIY projects online using a picture frame.

It's not often I find three such inexpensive lovelies still on the cart (our Goodwill, like many, pulls their big carts full of stuff to go on shelves out and leaves them there for people to fight look over before objects are put on the shelves).

Today I must do a little yard work, just a little at a time with lots of resting in between working.  We have small tree limbs everywhere on our property as a result of high winds and strong storms.

Here in Real Time

I'm still alive and breathing and all that.  For a couple more weeks I'll be tired easily as my doctor is adjusting insulin levels, which always leaves me "off kilter" for awhile.  During my usual three month check up last week, he was alarmed that my blood sugar levels were spiking again and asked if I'd been unusually exhausted... ummm... yes!  I was near the 300 level when tested in his office, which is dangerously high.

In Type 1 (Juvenile) diabetes, the body eventually becomes used to the amount of insulin it is receiving and the levels must be increased.  We have hit that plateau again... sigh.  Since one's insulin levels affect everything from clear thinking to mood swings to weight gain, it is always an interesting couple of weeks as the adjustments are made.

But at least I have an excuse for exhaustion, foggy thinking, gaining weight, and being crabby.  :)

My house is just getting put back together after hubby decided the carpeting in the family room and living room had to be shampooed.  It all sounded so innocent until he also decided everything that was not too heavy to carry had to be removed from those two rooms into the kitchen, garage, dining room area, and Christopher's old room.

It took one day to move it all out, one day for the carpet to dry, and two days to move it back since I decided to dust and clean most items before they were put back in place.  For three days I couldn't get near my computer... literally.  I'm very happy this is a cleaning project that has to be done only once every two or three years!

Our weather continues to be unusually warm.  I thought I had a few more weeks until it would be necessary to do some pre-Spring clearing of the lawn and garden.  Obviously the outside world thinks it is April already.

It is so good to be back even if it is not at full mental capacity... although my children would say that is an everyday issue regardless of insulin levels.

Sunday Afternoon Tea

The flowers are springing up, 

the season of singing birds has come,
      and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.

Song of Solomon 2:12

Please allow me another re-post, this favorite was from March, 2010.  I once again woke up this morning noticing the singing of the birds, just as in this post from the past.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth but instead became unexpectedly crazy busy.  Will explain all soon...  :)

There was something different about a morning this past week.  As usual, I pushed the button to start the coffee maker, took my thyroid medicine, and looked to see where Miss Victoria had parked herself (usually viewing only her back side as she's perched on the back of the sofa looking at the outside world through the curtains).  But this morning... what was it that I hadn't noticed before?

Birds... the predawn symphony of bird songs.  Oh, I'd seen many more birds and I'd heard them on my walk down the gravel road to the rural mailbox but this was the first morning I heard them singing before dawn.  I smiled as I knew (despite the weather forecast) spring had truly arrived.

My soul is beginning to come out of its' late winter slump.  As I wrote a dear friend recently, I've felt so far from God.  My Bible had not been moved in weeks and I'd not been able to read any devotional books.  I was dry and parched and it felt like the chill went through to my spirit.

My heart would cry out, asking Him what there was that had come between us... deliberate sin, unknown trespasses, unforgiveness, not dotting an i or crossing a t?

I believe I knew in my heart that it was none of the above.  Yes... it is true that one's heart grows cold as one does not read the Word or talk to Him.  Not due to some legalism or rule but having everything to do with the fact Christianity is a relationship with a real Person.  One grows further apart from anyone they do not communicate with...

It wasn't until I heard the singing of the birds and felt the warmth of sunshine as I gently worked the soil... pulling the old dead away to make room for new life with my rake... that nature helped me know.  My soul felt like that which was dead but I knew differently.  In truth, it was much more like the greeness of new life peeking up through the dirt.  It was coming awake after the long, dark, cold, difficult winter in which illness started in my flesh and affected my spirit.

As a young Christian, newly coming to know Him in the Jesus Movement, I heard those who were my age now talk about finishing strong.  I couldn't comprehend what they meant.  How could one who walked with Him ever become lukewarm... or worse... walk away?  It didn't make sense.

Until one walks many miles on life's journey and has had (what they believe is) one too many storms ravaging their path... winds and rain and hail and desert and darkness and loneliness and loss and the cold of winter and the heat of the summer sun... all along the path of their life.  As they journey from youth into middle age and then into old age, they feel they have been chewed up and spit out by Life.

Those who finish well come to understand that His mercies are new every morning.  They look forward to "the time of the singing birds".  They learn in their journey not to fear the cold but to realize they must keep walking the path until the time of refreshing begins.  In spite of how they feel... there is life within... His life.

Those who finish well do not finish perfectly, they will enter Heaven out of breath with bruises and scratches.  Only those who do not make the journey... or who walk away from it... do not show the affects of that walk.

Those who finish well know the crown does not go the fastest or the strongest... but to the person who crosses the finish line... who has not given up in the darkness of the winter days of their life. 

As life returns all around me... life is flowing back to the soul.  Spring has come.  I know I can finish the journey.

Bliss...

Learning to trust

Thank you for not minding my re-post on Sunday of one of my former "Tea Posts".  It was written two (or was it three?) years ago on a Valentine's Day.  :)

I do have so many things to write about but at the moment I find it hard to ponder.  My heart is heavy as I have watched the news footage from Southern Indiana.  My father was from there and my eldest brother lived in Salem for many years.  It was in that area that the mother, father, and two children were all killed and then their little toddler who was found alive just passed away.

If you have never been there, it is some gorgeous country.

Being afraid of tornadoes and even Tornado Watches (let's not even talk about Warnings) has been an issue between God and me since childhood.  We have lived through many near misses and I helped clean up a friend's house after the big Tornado outbreak of 1974.  Most of the time I'm able to stay calm and just pray a lot.

I truly believe we all have areas where we have to lean on God for His strength to infuse our own in an "I believe, help my unbelief" kinda' way. 

If anyone were to accuse me of using God as a crutch, I must admit I would look at the person in utter amazement and ask them, "Of course, don't you?!!!".  :) 

Picture:  Christ Growing in Wisdom

Sunday Afternoon Tea

I originally wrote this post two years ago while pondering the subject of Beauty.  I thought I'd share it again today.  All pictures, of course, were taken during that past winter.

Re-reading Hidden Art recently has me contemplating the importance of beauty in our lives and the reason we have within us an overwhelming desire to be surrounded by that which is lovely.

As Edith says in her book... many times and in various ways... Christians more than anyone should live a life that reflects beauty and creativity as we are made in the Image of a creative God.

Never perfect, of course, as only God is perfect.  Every attempt we make to bring beauty and creativity into our life will result in imperfection.

However, in this fallen world we find ourselves living... accepting the imperfections in people, places, and things is better than never trying at all.

It has been such a good weekend to be pondering a creative God... and us in His image.  I woke again Saturday morning to a thick layer of sparkle on the forest after another night of Hoar frost.  Soon I was throwing my flannel housecoat on and locating my boots at the bottom of the closet to stand on the front porch and snap away... the zoom lens allowing some great pictures without stepping into deeper snow.

Light flurries were falling, which I found later is actually called diamond dust in a Hoar frost... as they are not actual flurries.  Diamond dust... now that is a lovely gift from the Creator on St. Valentine's Day weekend.  Especially when one did not have to drive on icy roads last night. :)

It has always been easy for me to see the beauty in God for He has poured out such loveliness to us in this world.  I mean, really, He didn't have to create that which makes chocolate or fine cheese or chewy loaves of french bread.  It is He who created the world which makes possible my morning coffee and afternoon tea.

He brings to us that which is seasonal... strawberries and rhubarb in spring, melon and tomatoes in summer, pumpkin and apples in autumn, and peppermint everything at Christmas... well, perhaps not everything... but enough.

How much we reflect the creativity of our Maker when we spend an afternoon in the kitchen baking a pie, roasting beef with mushrooms, mashing potatoes, steaming green beans, and putting on the pot of coffee when the snow is falling outside... or... creating tiny cucumber sandwiches, miniature lemon scones, and pouring pink lemonade in pretty teacups for a summer tea.

I fondly remember the picnics with my kids when we... at the last minute quite often... would assemble cheese and fruit and stop by the grocery for good bread on the way to the park.  Nothing which required any special creativity, other than the purchase of a vintage picnic basket at a garage sale during the summer, with such a picnic in mind.

It is God who placed us in a world of beauty which can leave us breathless... whether falling diamond dust on a Midwestern forest, the alps of Edith's home as she wrote, the amazing colors of a New England autumn, the calm waves of Lake Michigan in summer, the paprika coloring of the earth where my New Mexican friend lives... all the colors of the rainbow to make up the earth and sky and water which surrounds us.

Hubby surprised me yesterday with yellow roses for Valentine's Day. Part of me wanted to tell him he should not have spent the money but the wisdom that comes with a long marriage caused me to bite my tongue and say thank you.  

 

I carried yellow roses on our wedding day.  While I do love red roses and pink roses and lavender roses... my preference is always for yellow roses.  Looking at yellow roses makes me happy.

So, the next time I'm displaying pretty china, polishing the silver, dusting beautiful (inherited) antiques, admiring the large paws and pretty nose of a kitty, picking the freshest of green beans and tomatoes from the garden, listening to the music of birds or Bach, searching for treasure at the thrift store, walking beside the duck pond at the park, or feeling refreshment and strength as I read the Palms of King David...  I will ponder the One who loves us enough to have placed us in such beauty.

And it isn't Heaven, yet... can you imagine?

This and That

Yes, the pillow was from the original Shabby Chic collection at Target... years ago!

I'm feeling a little better each day but still feel weak.  Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.  So many have had this same cold/bug!  I have a doctor's appointment next week and if the cough is not substantially better, I'm sure he will give me cough medicine with codeine.

I'm allergic to codeine but the amount in the cough syrup doesn't bother me much.  Now, the codeine in pain pills is another story!  I had my first bad reaction to Tylenol-3 after the C-section with Christopher's birth.  I'd never had a reaction to it before .

Sometimes I can't think of much to say here and then there are other days... such as now... when my mind is brimming with ideas!  I do hope to get more of them pen to paper keyboard to screen.

I am so far behind in housework (does dust seem to know when you are sick?), e-mails, snail mail, practicing decorating with the pastry bag for the wedding reception, and anything else requiring putting much thought into an activity.  I have, however, been doing a lot of reading!

Next week I hope to write a couple Comments posts, one general and the other having to do with deepening the pantry.  I will respond to comments about my pictures and the camera now because they made me smile.

My camera is actually old by today's standards and was given to me by a dear bloggy friend when her family acquired a newer camera.  I love it!  I don't play around with it as I've found the Intelligent ISO setting works very nicely for a point and shoot type camera.

It is also usually set on Forced Flash Off as the real reason so many pictures look "off" is when I must use the flash (I almost always have to use it in my living room as the only window there faces the front porch and rarely gets much sun).

Sometimes my outside pictures are acquired with help from the zoom lens.  For instance, I can see my neighbor's barn from my house but the close ups are taken with the zoom.  There is a highway, a fence, and lots of bushes between my camera and the actual barn.

My best indoor pictures are taken with bright morning light.  The one thing this camera doesn't do well (and I'd love to have that option) is to take pictures in dim light without a flash.  I admire those candlelit pictures on blogs that draw us into the scene.

I learned long ago that a picture should either show off an object or tell a story.  For instance, many of my pictures are close up or taken from an angle.  I once read that the biggest mistake the amateur photographer makes is snapping pictures too far away.

I saw that when we lived in Detroit and I picked up the pictures I'd taken at the Zoo.  Most of them were terrible because they were taken too far from the subjects.  Looking through the lens, I thought they looked fine but not when I received hard copies of the pictures... lesson learned!

I love to tell a story by grouping some items together.  One time the only good light I had was in the kitchen so I had to take the objects off my coffee table and put them on the small kitchen "island" that I can wheel around for the best light.  Sometimes I just have to take a picture with the flash or I'd never get a picture at all.

I've noticed that people who love to create in other areas (decorate, garden, sew, paint, etc.) seem to take pretty good pictures.  Perhaps because they love learning new ways to show their creativity?

There is always so much to learn!  If anyone has learned how to take very low light pictures with a point and shoot camera, do let me know!