Trixie's Travels...

Spring is on the horizon

 

 

 

 

Earth is crammed with heaven,

And every bush alive with God,

But only he who sees,

Puts off his shoes.

                  - Mrs. Browning

Stuck in the Weeds

Hot Rocks has used the term "stuck in the weeds" a number of times when describing different situations.  I looked it up on the internet for a decisive definition.  The term "stuck in the weeds" means:  "A colloquial expression used when persons are near or beyond their capacity to handle a situation or cannot catch up. Struggling. Very busy." 

It is an accurate term to describe how things have been here on the ole' micro-ranch.  It truly has been a whirlwind of projects since mid-February.  The weather was still in it's weird funky stage of off and on rain storms and our house started to have the arrival of what would later take over our lives....the animals.  What started out to be simple do-able ideas turned into monster-size projects.  We just kept swimming, sometimes drowning in to-do's around here. As soon as we thought we had a handle on things some other emergency happened.  Not to mention, we were just trying to lead somewhat normal routines for our lives but really who defines "normal" anyways?

I am off on a rabbit trail of sorts here so let me refocus. Thinking....thinking....thinking....o.k.  I got it.  This morning we finished our animal chores earlier than usual and the temperature outside was still crisp.  We had watered our garden area the night before so it was a good time to pull weeds.  We were behind somewhat on that chore so I called the kids over and told them to grab a bucket and start picking a few buckets worth.  The normal sighs arrived promptly but they did fill their quota of three stuffed buckets ~ all of which went to the animals for delectable morning treats.  

We have been so busy taking care of the animals that our garden had been severely neglected.  We had watered it and God was making the sun shine on it but weeds had infiltrated it.  The weeds were taller than our plants in some areas.  

You can barely see the rows that the corn are in because of the weeds.

I forgot to take a picture of Hot Rocks garden before we had started but it was COVERED - there wasn't any brown soil to be seen.  My normal M.O. (mode of operation) is to take these quiet times to reflect.  It isn't something I consciously do but rather something that I automatically do.  We normally do not have great and lofty conversations when we are working.  It is pretty quiet. We just go about our business; getting done what we need to do.  

I started to think about why this garden was so overrun with weeds.  We had neglected it.  We did the very absolute basic thing for it ~ we watered it, but we didn't care for it. Things had just gotten so busy with bigger projects that they had taken over everything.  

I had watched the plants growing from afar.  They were green, that was a good thing, that meant they were still alive but I couldn't do anything about the surmounting weeds.  

It is easy for me to learn from Jesus because He uses everyday things to speak to me.  He was teaching me a big lesson this morning.  Our plants were growing and they were producing fruit but you couldn't see what fruit they were producing because the weeds were hiding it.  

Lesson 1:  As a Christian, I can still produce fruit, though it may be small, but it will be overshawdowed and overlooked because of all of the "weeds" (sin) in my life if I do not take care of them and pluck them out.

The amount of weeds that we picked were three overflowing wheelbarrow full.

 

Lesson 2:  The busyness of life can consume so much of my time that all of a sudden I am doing disaster clean-up on a basic foundational necessity for my life.  Meaning, to pull a small weed is preventative action, to pull a big weed is preservation action.  (I need to protect/save my plant from the invasive weed so that it will LIVE!)  To spend my quiet devotional time and daily pull the small weeds BEFORE they become life-threatening spiritually.  

Pulling weeds takes time.  Not a huge amount of time if you stay on top of it, but time none the less.  I don't know what it is about this day and age, but busyness is an all-consuming killer.  The amount of things that supposedly "need" to be done or the thoughts that are planted in our mind that such and such has to be done because it shows that we are somehow a better person is just a bunch of baloney.  

I am only the person that Christ wants me to be when I am abiding in Him.  I am only the person that Christ wants me to be when absolutely NOTHING in this world takes priority over what He wants me to do, not what I think I need to be doing.  I am only the person that Christ wants me to be when I take the time to pull the weeds in my life and boy howdy, it doesn't take much for a weed to grow in my life.  

A total side note...Did you know that a weed can grow in only 1 tsp. of soil? Now that is a reality shock to a person's life....it doesn't take much for a weed to grow in a persons life.  

Well, part of Hot Rocks garden was cleaned up.  You can see the rows.  You can see the plants that we planted.  

We still need to get in the corn area and do some deep cleaning.  So if you will excuse me now, I have some weeding to do....

 

Holding Fast

One day I was working in the back and a little breeze had picked up.  I watched a dragonfly attach itself to a stick and it wouldn't let go.  The breeze was bending the dead branch and the dragonfly's thin glass-like wings would flutter a little bit, but it was only to keep it holding on to the branch.  

 

 

I sat there and watched this in amazement.  I had just spent the past few weeks telling the Lord that I didn't think that I was strong enough to go through certain things that I was going through.  I wasn't trying to wimp out, I honestly had come to the place where I realized that I was in over my head, it was to much for one person to handle.  

At the same time, in me was stirring a resolution to allow God to take control. To rely on Him more, to let go more and just "do the next thing"; I wasn't going to look at what wasn't happening, but on what was happening that day, that hour, that moment and I found myself content.

 

My contentment didn't stop people from commenting on the series of unfortunate events that had recently taken place in our lives.  Comments of "You always have things happen to you."; "I don't know how you deal with this..." and etc.  It was funny to read in a book that I just finished, that the author had gone through the SAME EXACT THING.  Her circumstances were different of course, but the response was the same from others.  Her (paraphrased) comment on it was "the last thing you tell a hurting person is how bad their life is". A person knows when things aren't going in an easy, go with the flow manner.  I certainly know, really who doesn't? 

For weeks, I have mulled over these scriptures:

"...but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me.    

But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

I like how the Phillips translation says it:

"...but I keep going on, trying to grasp that purpose for which Christ Jesus grasped me.

But I concentrate on this:  I forget all that lies behind me and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal - my reward the honour of my high calling by God in Christ Jesus."

I have been created for a purpose and it is simply to know Christ.  The things that I go through only allow me the opportunity to better know Him.  I need His strength to get through these things, I need His wisdom to figure out which way to go, I need His love to fill my heart each day so that I can share it. I want to be like that dragonfly that just kept holding on until it was the right time to let go because when he let go; I watched him soar higher than my old English walnut trees.

Jesus says, "Cast ALL your cares on Him, for He cares for you."  (1 Peter 5:7) I have been and at times, somethin' fierce! A couple verses later, the Bible says, " And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." (verse 10)

The strength of a person only lies in how often they use it.  If it is my greatest desire to keep my eyes on Christ and do the things that He has asked of me; my strength in Him will grow.  My faith muscles will grow.  I will be able to hold on when the wind picks up just as my dragonfly friend showed me.

 

 

It is only when I take my eyes off Christ, my Glorious Prize, that I loose strength and my faith becomes weak, my spiritual muscles become small and I lose my grip.

I learned a valuable lesson that day, one that I hope to not quickly forget, I haven't so far!

The Road

When we were in Montana a couple of months ago, we found this great Wildlife Refuge a little past Swan Lake.  We decided to drive down to check it out. There was only one road in and one road out - so you basically had to "wait your turn" if you were trying to enter and someone was trying to leave or vice versa.  

As I looked over the pictures that we took, I realized that I had taken 2 different shots of the one road.  

One coming in......

 

and one going out....

 

It was the same road, but just from 2 different perspectives.  

Coming in there were hundreds of tiny butterflies everywhere.  They were all over the road, all over the plants and trees and even our car.  I won't even tell you how many we ran over as we slowly crept our way down the road.  

Going out you saw bees all over these yellow flowers...

 

I started to think that my life is a lot like this road.  God has placed me on a path and at times, I don't know where it will leave - a lot like when we were coming down the road.  We didn't know how far the road would take us, if it would turn, where it would turn or if there was another exit.  But looking back up the road, I remember the pot holes, where the things were beside the road; more importantly, I remember where it started.

In my life right now, I have a choice as to how I will look at the road.  I can either briefly look behind and see where it all started or I can look ahead and see what may or may not lie ahead for me.  

I would rather look ahead to see what God has in store for me.  I can briefly look behind and see where it all started; but if I keep looking back, I may trip and fall on something that was right in front of me.  I can also miss the beauty of what lies ahead.  

It is better to keeps my eyes in front of me, then I won't miss anything that God has for me.

His Promise

Before I started this trip, there were crazy amounts of rainbows appearing in our area... more than I had seen before in quite some time.  They were strong rainbows, not the soft glimpses of rainbows when a storm subsides.  These rainbows tended to come out in a break of the rain, but you could see that more rain was definitely on the way.

I couldn't help but think of God's promise to never flood the earth again-the way He did in the days of Noah and that the rainbow was a testimony of the fulfillment of that promise every time it appears.  It is funny how the promise doesn't show itself through the whole storm...a rainbow isn't appearing the whole time a storm is taking place, but you look for it at the end of the storm or you are even surprised by it when the storm concludes. 

Sometimes I am blessed to see a rainbow in the middle of a storm, when things have calmed down a bit; but it is only for a short period that I see the fulfillment of that promise and then the storm continues on. 

The rainbow comes whether I am anticipating it or I am surprised by it, because God is faithful to what He said He will do.

I kept asking myself, am I always looking for proof of the promise at only the time I look for it or can I trust God that at the right time He will faithfully show me the fulfillment of His promise?

He reassured me with Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man that He should lie nor a son of man that He should change His mind, does He speak and not act, does He promise and not fulfill?"

Trust has been hard for me but I can trust Him, I want to, I desire to, I have set my heart to trust Him even when it hurts and the storms don't seem like they will end.  He is faithful even when I am faithless.

May God's promise to you be enough to stand on.

Your Love

"For great is Your Love, higher than the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies."
Psalm 108:4

I'm so glad you called...

and told Pook to tell me to get up off my butt and go outside with my camera. 

I saw this

and I smiled.

It made me remember

God's promise (Genesis 9:12-17).

It made me think of

how faithful God is to keeping His promises.

It reminded me

of how faithful He is to me and those around me.

He reminded me today that He is my strength and He is faithful and all I needed to do was listen and look.  I'm so glad you reminded me to look!

Yippee!

1,000 Words

A thousand words of encouragement can be destroyed with one word of discouragement.

Where do you lie with that?  Me - ohh...ouch, zinger, little to close for comfort...

With that, words of encouragement that I received this morning -

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13

Don't look at what you can't do or don't have the strength to do - look at what He can do and take it one step at a time with HIM.

An Old Poem

Love

Love is often talked about
And often is defined
But clarity of meaning
Is sometimes hard to find

Some say it is a feeling
With a warm and friendly glow
But feelings are changeable
They come and then they go

But the highest form of love
The kind that God does share
Is a love that knows no limit
And the kind that's full of care

It's not a means to selfish end
It's given because there is a need
For better and for worse
It's a kindly and caring deed

It's shown by reaching out
With understanding for another
It's overlooking faults
Of a sister or a brother

It does not stop to measure
Just who is the most deserving
Its concern is not for power
But instead for kindly serving

It does not seek to dominate
And cause one endless strife
It does not say "I want my way"
Overwhelming someone's life

Godly love is a treasure
And sharing is the key
God shared such love in Christ,
His Son
And through Him we are truly free.

By Pastor Herb Knutson of Bethany Lutheran Church
printed in the Bigfork Eagle April 26, 1989

Funny the things I have saved for over 20 years.

Mixed Emotions

It was bittersweet on Sunday morning, I was able to go to church with the kids and the teaching was fantastic and....it was horrible all at the same time.  It wasn't who was delivering it that made it awful or even what was said - it was what God was speaking to me through it - a splash of reality about what was living, breathing, killing my heart and it was just down right ugly.  

He started talking about loving other people and believe me I am all for loving other people.  I love to love other people, to come along side others and just encourage them, make their load lighter...let them know someone cares because Jesus cares about them....BUT...yes, there is a but...the past few years have been difficult and people have hurt me.  The kind of hurt that brings a tear to your eye whenever you think of them and you wonder "Why??" and I have pulled back.

The Pastor gave an example of when you are driving down a road and you have a cup of hot tea and you hit a bump and the hot tea spills all over you - how do you react?  It isn't the tea's fault - you hit a bump.  The bump was there already too, but what does that bump reveal?  How do you react to what just happened?  I listened and wrote down what he said.... because I knew it was hitting a nerve.

I started driving home and started thinking about what had been said.  This had hit a BIG nerve because all of a sudden as I am driving I start to tear up.  The kids are in the back seat singing and talking away and my mind was completely engulfed in hot tea.  The hot tea had BURNED me - it HURT!! and I wanted to take the cup and chuck it.  Chuck it out the window - chuck it at a couple of people.  All I could think of is my 30 or so Starbucks mugs and just throwing them as hard as I could as fast as I could.  I was mad - I was angry - I have been for some time, but in reality, I was mad at God for letting all this happen.  Mad at Him for letting me hurt so badly...so very deeply.  

The sincerity of Christ's love has always drawn me to Him - before I even knew Him personally. To know that I was created to be loved is just dumb-founding to me.  So where is His love in all this? It is still where it has always been - in Jesus, in His Word.  I needed to talk to Him about it.  He already knew what I wanted to do with the cup.

The Pastor also brought up a quote from Tozer - I like that guy - Tozer said "Before a person can be used greatly by God, he must be hurt deeply."

I know the path that God has laid out before our family and because of what has been going on in my heart; that path has not been a high priority for me - if even in sight. 

As of today, my Starbuck mugs are still in tact and by just me opening up to the Lord and letting Him know that I was angry...that I wanted to chuck my cups...that I saw what was going on in my heart and I didn't want to live like this anymore...that I wanted to love again, love without reservation, love without restrictions, love like Him....the load has gotten lighter.  There is still a lot of crap to go through  - a lot to sort out, a lot to let go, but I am not alone going through it and I can look to the One who sees it all in the end anyways. 

"Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.  And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."  1 Thes. 3:11-13