1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #77

Such a gray day!  For the third day in a row.  When will it ever end?  Is this why everyone tries to escape to warmer climes in March, not because of the cold, but because of the gray?

And as I drove home, all I saw was gray ...

... the gray siding on the village hall
   ... the gray pavement in my rear view mirror
      ... the gray electric meter on that home
         ... the gray foundation of that home
            ... the gray roof on that one
               ... the gray fire hydrant on the corner
                  ... the gray post on the church sign

"Even the siding on our house is gray!" I thought as I pulled onto our street.

How can I fight all this gray ... inside and out?

"From gray to GRATITUDE!" I realized.

768. a trip uptown on a gray afternoon
769. packages at the post office!
770. a library to pop into
771. the humor issue of Reader's Digest to check out (won't humor help fight the grays, too?)
772. a ginger snap dunked in a cup of hot tea
773. an encouraging phone call
774. music to nurture the soul
775. anticipation of time with a friend
776. a project to work on (the Japan trip)
777. an hour's conversation in the car with my husband to and from prayer meeting that night

These gifts are just that ... gifts!  And not just gifts, but the icing-on-the-cake gifts.  "All I need is Jesus," is not a trite statement.  He truly is the best gift.  He is enough, and I do not need these other gifts.  But the discipline of noticing them points me back to the Giver of all good gifts and helps me give Him my gift of thanksgiving.

To join in on reading others' lists or recording your own, visit the gratitude community at “One Thousand Gifts" or check out the new website:  One Thousand Gifts.

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #76 ~ This moment in time (a recent Saturday morning)

751 ~ 767

::A comfortable comforter hastily thrown back over the bed to appear made

::The sound of water pounding down in the shower

::A coffee table strewn with papers and pamphlets and ads from the farm show

::A few tote bags on the floor - one of snacks, one standing in as an overnight bag

::A corner torn out of USA Today, a sudoku puzzle in progress

::And a receipt from Hotwire, which led us here, to one of the few motel rooms left in this city

::A weekend away!

::A super comfy cozy hotel suite

::A GREAT breakfast in the lobby

::a morning alone for this introvert to recharge, after a day at the Farm Show, while her husband returned to the show which is visited by 300,000 people in four days

::classical music streaming from the clock radio

::time to place a catalog order I had been procrastinating

::cell phone coverage (which I don't have at home)

::catching up with a friend several states away

::morning snack of an apple

::A microwave to make hot tea

::beautiful early spring day out the window (tho' it's mid-winter)

Riches

Their faces stare back at me, as I sit here at my desk, a 2-foot by 3-foot bulletin board propped up against the wall in front of me.

Pictures are crowded onto it, overlapping each other, obscuring the greetings that say, "Peace on Earth" or "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

Each of the photos is unique.  A few are poor quality, printed on a home printer.  A few were taken by professionals.  Some are staged, such as the family on the antique tractor, while others are the traditional, "Everyone line up in a straight row" sort. Some tell of life events - a birth, a graduation, a wedding.

Each of the people in the photos is unique as well.  I see our siblings, our nieces and nephews, my cousins, Jim's cousins.  I see college friends, the boy who was my student his third grade year, kids from Jim's youth group now raising their own children, a friend from missionary training, a grieving widower with two young children, friends who had a happy year, and friends who had a devastating year.

Each picture tells a story.  I remember that the smiling young man in that photo looked so dark as a teen in his family's photo some years back, how it was the only picture I kept on my desk all year, as a reminder to pray, and I rejoice to see him now smiling, and to hear that he is walking with the Lord.

I see the face of a man who prays daily for me.  A lump forms in my throat.

I see my neighbors from Japan, posed in front of a temple, and I remember to pray, and marvel at God's providence, that a Baptist preacher's wife in the South (whose path has also intersected with theirs) no doubt received their card as well and no doubt prays.

I see an elderly couple, beginning the path to dementia.  I ache for their family, but I know they are eager for heaven and lived their many years well.

I see a lifetime of God's guiding my path to intersect with each face on the board. I see God's grace to give me the riches of friendship.  I see the diversity of His unique creation as well as the diversity of His body.  And I can only thank Him and ask for His continued mercy in each one's life.

Bookends

I love this gift from my parents! So very appropriate and symbolic.

A household with 15 bookcases needs bookends (for the books that don't fit on the bookcases!).

And what better bookend than a book?!

And what better bookend than a globe for someone who "had to search the whole world to find [his wife]" (as a lady from church wrote in her wedding card)?!

And ... bookends!  In Chapter 16 of Jan Karon's Out to Canaan, Father Tim and Cynthia refer to each other as "my bookend."

The book, the globe, the bookend itself ... all represent who we are.  

So you're headed to the mission field

A new missionary wrote, "What books should I read?   And what else should I do to prepare?"

I answered his second question first. 

Pray.  Grow in your love for God and knowledge of Him.  Keep him #1 in your life.  If you're married, foster your marriage relationship.  Divorce can happen on the mission field, too.  (Becoming a missionary does not exempt you from the temptations we all face in our home countries; in fact, it could be argued that Satan will try to tempt you more.)  Keep growing in what it means to be a self-feeder (all the cultural reinforcements of Christianity are NOT present in Japan).  Beg God to transform your heart and life by the Gospel and then participate in His work of doing so (without that ongoing transformation, you have no message for the Japanese people).  

How would you advise him to prepare? 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #75

741. the sound of runoff from the snow flowing through the grate on the street
742. my virtual sunroom, as the passive solar heat through the southeast windows raised the temp in the DLK (dining/living/kitchen) to 77*F after breakfast
743.  sitting at the kitchen table, working, with the morning sun shining down and warming me to the core
744. the internet and e-mail (I can't imagine planning an overseas trip without it)
745. the smell of bread as the breadmaker works for me
746. anticipating a gourmet lunch, from the white takeout box in the fridge (thanks to a yummy Valentine's dinner)
747. someone sharing openly how God is changing their heart in a struggle we share in common
748. mist at dusk with light blue sky and full moon rising
749. sweet fellowship via e-mail across an ocean
750. the delight of finding some unexpected items ~ and some I had assumed I had left behind ~ as I continue to unpack boxes

These gifts are just that ... gifts!  And not just gifts, but the icing-on-the-cake gifts.  "All I need is Jesus," is not a trite statement.  He truly is the best gift.  He is enough, and I do not need these other gifts.  But the discipline of noticing them points me back to the Giver of all good gifts and helps me give Him my gift of thanksgiving.

To join in on reading others' lists or recording your own, visit the gratitude community at “One Thousand Gifts" or check out the new website:  One Thousand Gifts.

Coffee shop over the florist, part 1

I have a friend who teaches adult literacy.  She told me some of her students' tricks that helped them fool everyone around them into thinking they could read; "survial tips," you might say.

After I went to Japan, I realized I learned those survival tips pretty quickly.  Not being able to read the signs (including names of shops), one starts referring to them in descriptive ways.  In the expat community, especially with new (and illiterate) expats always arriving, a whole list of descriptions (instead of actual names) arises.  "The road that goes by the Shell station," "the road by the police station," "the coffee shop over the florist," etc. 

I spent many happy hours in the coffee shop over the florist, seeking solace with a book and my journal, treasuring an hour with friends visiting our team from the States, listening to a hurting friend, pouring out my heart to a listening friend.

Even now I can taste their small scones with whipped cream and blueberry jam and feel the teapot with the flowers painted on the pottery and taste their delicious tea!

The outside looks like an overgrown cottage, and one has to meander through a maze of flowering pots and bushes to enter the store.  The downstairs is the most crowded florist shop you've ever seen (on the right) and the most crowded gift shop you've ever seen (on the left). 

Circle up the spiral staircase in the center, and you'll enter an oasis of quiet and space, with windows looking out (and not at the busy street scenes below). 

The coffee shop over the florist really does have a name, a French name actually, and while I reached the point that I recognized it if my Japanese friends said it, I prefer to know it as "the coffee shop over the florist."

Little did I know that it had a cousin in my new home, on the edge of the cornfields.  (Stay tuned.)

All that remains

Three young couples came for dinner the other night.

One brought a fun game!

The dish drain was full of air-dried dishes the next morning.

And the sink was full of dirty dishes that soaked all night. 

But coasters, napkin rings, game pieces, and dishes are not all that remain.  They came because of deep bonds forged with Jim when they were teenagers in his youth group, meeting twice a week and going on lots of trips - mission trips, retreats, etc.  And they came because of growing together when they were college students and young adults meeting on Sunday mornings in a house across the road from the church for his Sunday School class (and breakfast by the grandma who lived there!).

And a lot remains!  Some are gung-ho for the Lord; others are struggling along.  The relationship with Jim is strong.  The relationships with each other are deep, perhaps growing into lifelong friendships, as they raise their families in the same town.

As I cleaned up the next morning, the sink full of dirty dishes reminded me that a lot more remains than what we see ~ in so many areas of our lives.  And so we keep walking by faith, not seeing always what remains or what will remain, but trusting that good fruit will indeed remain, by His grace.

More on food ~ update

Recently I shared about my debate about what to take to dessert fellowships and potlucks.  

In the end, my people-pleasing side won out, and I decided to make the perfect chocolate peanut butter marbled brownie recipe.

Thankfully others brought healthy options such as grapes, fresh veggies, and cheese and crackers.

Despite the people-pleasing aspect of it, it was a huge step forward in my transition back to the States, as I felt like I "fit in." It also proved my theory that anything from Taste of Home's America's Best Church Supper Recipes is a shoo-in for being a crowd-pleaser, as I have never received so many compliments at a potluck.

It's sort of like a "What to take to a potluck for dummies" -- the perfect crutch for someone who feels like a foreigner, but looks American.

Norwegian Bachelor Farmers

Garrison Keillor in his "Prairie Home Companion" radio program often tells about the Norwegian bachelor farmers near fictional Lake Wobegon.  And that is the phrase someone used to describe Jim a few years ago.  I'm not sure I would agree that he was a Norwegian bachelor farmer, but he indeed was a bachelor farmer.

Recently a farmer friend was telling about trying to work something out with a neighboring farmer, who is a bachelor.  "You could tell he isn't married.  The word 'give' is not in his vocabulary.  He doesn't have a clue what compromise is."

I'm glad I did not marry a bachelor farmer such as that one.

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #74

731. a day that reminds us of our calling for everyday
732. the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
733. the Spirit is indeed bearing that fruit, though the process sometimes seems slow
734. fun wreath on sale, as V Day approached:

735. paper doily garland

 736.  flip-style photo stand find at Goodwill

737. success at the snack fellowship last night (deviled eggs!)
738. fun memories made with an impromptu family dinner Saturday night
739. real-life, real-time stories of real deep change in someone's heart
740. highs in the 40s!!!!!

These gifts are just that ... gifts!  And not just gifts, but the icing-on-the-cake gifts.  "All I need is Jesus," is not a trite statement.  He truly is the best gift.  He is enough, and I do not need these other gifts.  But the discipline of noticing them points me back to the Giver of all good gifts and helps me give Him my gift of thanksgiving.

To join in on reading others' lists or recording your own, visit the gratitude community at “One Thousand Gifts" or check out the new website:  One Thousand Gifts.

You Will See Hoopoes!

They felt  God's call.  They took steps to leave their home and go to an unknown place.  There were many unknowns, many questions, and no doubt many people who did not understand.

All the logistics were settled, and they prepared to leave.  Shortly before departure, she was at a gathering, putting on a brave front (because God really had called them), but inside addressing her doubts.  

"I felt an arm come around my shoulder. It was the mother of yet another Christian worker from Turkey. No doubt she had been watching me and had guessed how I was feeling. Coming alongside, she wanted in some way to encourage me. 'Don't worry about going to Turkey,' she said. 'It's really a wonderful place,' and then, with apparent sudden inspiration, she added, 'Just think, my dear, you will see hoopoes!'" 

Hoopoes are a beautiful and distinctive bird found in Turkey, but the word came to mean much more to Lenna Lidstone. 

Lidstone and her family left for Turkey and for the many experiences God had prepared for them.  (For 99 cents, you can buy her book on Amazon and read of them for yourself.)

If she had stayed in Britain, she would not have seen hoopooes.  In the same way, she writes, "He would show me aspects of his beauty in Turkey that he wouldn't be able to show me if I stayed in Britain."

Many of Lidstone's hoopoes were disguised as hard times, unpleasant experiences, and disappointments.  But God opened her eyes to see them as hoopoes. 

What are the hoopoes in your life, glimpses of God that you would not have seen if you hadn't taken the path of obedience that day, that moment?

 

Thinking of Spring

Despite a windchill of 7 outside, spring is on my mind.

Warming my insides with tea from my Marjolein Bastin mug, I see through the dining room, out the window, and across the street, Mrs. K's Christmas wreath, still hanging on her deck, while she basks in the Florida sun.

The mountains of snow pushed to the side of the road by the snow plow are now only a few feet high.  Spring is coming!

The local farmers are meeting today to learn about better techniques for their upcoming crop.  Spring is coming!

Waking up to sunlight (each day a minute or so earlier than the day before ~ spring is coming!), I steal a few pages of Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts, before The Farmer meets the day.  (The book jacket shouts, "Spring!")  Reading page after page of Ann's poetic prose, stories of real life, real mess, and real everything infused with The Story of His presence, His redemption, His resurrection, and His gifts, lights a spark to my waning creativity and opens my eyes again to the beauty all around me. 

The morning sun is beautiful!  Sunlight and beauty ~ and eyes to see it (perspective) ~ bring hope. Spring is coming!

The springtime of the soul, the times of refreshing, are promised when we repent and turn again.

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Times of refreshing!  And so we wait for both spring and also the springtime of the soul.

You could tell they were newlyweds

Week two of our honeymoon began in a lovely mansion converted into a Bed & Breakfast.  After a week of being on our own, sharing breakfast with strangers was a little uncomfortable.  We seated ourselves across from each other, at the end of the table, away from the other guests.

A few minutes later, a young couple entered the dining room and hesitated.  Seemingly reluctantly they sat down in the remaining seats, the husband next to Jim, and the wife on the other side of her husband.  My curiosity was piqued!

I noticed that they both bowed their heads to pray before their meal, and so I began looking for an opportunity to engage them in conversation.

I forget now how it happened, but we soon were in a lovely conversation with this young couple, a couple full of youth! and hope! and a passion for God! and exploring how He wants to use them in His world!

He grew up in a Plymouth Brethren assembly in the north. She grew up steeped in southern culture. They met while volunteering with the youth in their church in college.  Missions trips had changed both of their lives.

Two months out of college, they had married two days previously!  And were on their honeymoon - cum - moving trip, as they headed off to grad school.  Utmost on their mind was finding a church and finding their place of service.

They shared their vision of serving God with all their life. 

And all four of us delighted at the mutual encouragement of having rich fellowship (if only for 20 or 30 minutes) with peers (if not in age, for sure in stage of life).  The memory stands out in our minds because it was the only real conversation we had with anyone (besides each other; oh, and waiters) during our honeymoon.

I hope I meet them in heaven and hear the rest of their story.  And I hope they are finding marriage as delightful as we are.

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2010 Version

Places where I spent one (or more) nights in 2010:

Cincinnati, OH
Tullahoma, TN
Manchester, TN
Lawrenceville, GA
Athens, GA
Marion, NC
Knoxville, TN
Staunton, VA
Blacksburg, VA 
Indian Rocks, FL
Oviedo, FL
Hopedale, IL
{over the Pacific}
Ichihara, Japan
south of Cincinnati, OH
near IN/IL state line
Bakersfield, NC
Bryson City, NC
Little Switzerland, NC
Pinehurst, NC
Wilmington, NC
Pawley's Island, SC
Charleston, SC
Kingsport, TN
west of Cincinnati, OH
Williams Bay, WI
LaGrange, IL 
{weekend away}
on the Caribbean
Strawberry Plains, TN
and home!

The list is in rough chronological order.  No new states in 2010, but three new countries and only three new airports (including Asheville, when it was significantly less expensive than the hometown airport, and Bloomington, IL).

Where did you go in 2010 for the first time? 


Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2009 version

Date night ~ WITH mentoring ~ at John Deere

We joined hundreds of other "premier customers" at the local John Deere dealer's annual customer appreciation dinner.  The main shop area was cleared out, and long tables filled the room that normally has tractors and combines in various stages of dis-assembly and repair.  The 43 employees and their families served our meal, and on our way back to our table, we pulled a soft drink can or water bottle out of a front loader filled with ice. 

We found an empty table and sat down, while Jim scanned the crowd to see if he knew anyone.  I didn't even try to look for a familiar face.  Soon, a man came and sat next to Jim, announcing, "I wanted to meet this wonderful woman who would agree to marry Jim."

And the three of us spent the next 45 minutes or more sharing thoughts and experiences, pondering the wonders of God, considering how He's calling us to live, and anticipating heaven. 

A classmate of Jim's, he is a successful farmer, happily married with seven daughters, active in church leadership, and, I can say from experience, intentional in conversation.  (This intentionality is not new; he has used it over the years to encourage Jim in his pursuit of marriage.)  He talked candidly about marriage, its ups and downs, challenges and hope.  We discussed common church struggles, books we've read, strategies we've seen and which ones may be biblical. 

All the while, the hundreds of others in the room craned their necks to watch the John Deere commercials, cleverly disguised as movies, on the big screen.

But, it was as if we were in another world, enjoying the sweet taste of fellowship as a couple with a like-minded believer. 

Thank you, John Deere, for sponsoring such a wonderful date night!

And thank you, Lord, for the gift of fellowship!

On this date last year ...

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #73 ~ Blizzard of 2011

These gifts are just that ... gifts!  And not just gifts, but the icing-on-the-cake gifts.  "All I need is Jesus," is not a trite statement.  He truly is the best gift.  He is enough, and I do not need these other gifts.  But the discipline of noticing them points me back to the Giver of all good gifts and helps me give Him my gift of thanksgiving.

To join in on reading others' lists or recording your own, visit the gratitude community at “One Thousand Gifts".

The blizzard of 2011...

Thankful for heat, for power, for four walls and a roof that stayed intact, for freedom to stay home and not be out in the deadly winds, for food, for projects, and for:

(#721 - #730)

... 4 overflowing bags for Goodwill
... one organized closet
... piles and piles in two rooms sorted, tossed, and filed or otherwise organized
... bags and bags of trash
... carpet that is now visible! in those two rooms
... organized and pretty-to-look-at insides of nightstands, closet, armoire, etc.
... feeling more and more a part of the neighborhood
... the neighbor who brought his snow blower over to loan us Jim
... the neighbor who said, "Awesome!" when hearing of our plans for a mens' neighborhood Bible study
... and who said his wife would love to come to the women's one.

More on food

Since moving here, I find myself with regular opportunities to take a snack to small group or take a dessert for a dessert fellowship or other such "bring a dish" events.

And it has been hard for this people-pleaser who is also going through reverse culture shock.  As I pondered the next dessert fellowship, I searched through Taste of Home's America's Best Church Supper Recipes, trying desperately to fit in.

I found the perfect chocolate peanut butter marbled brownie recipe and could just taste it!  And then I thought ahead to Sunday night, when I would hold a plate in my hand and walk the length of the dessert-laden table.

What would I put on my plate?  Would I be hungry when I did so?  I would be putting something on my plate just to fit in with the crowd, to have something to do while I sat at a table, talking.  And wouldn't I rather fill my body with fresh fruit or some cheese and crackers?

So I was delighted to discover a list of healthy snack options on this page of freebies and to see a woman who has the ear of lots of Christian women (in America, at least) speak to the topic of eating when we're not hungry (at least I assume from the title that that is one of her points) and to address this taboo subject (in the West) of the sin of gluttony (my words, not hers; I haven't read the book).

You can be sure this book is in my cart at Amazon, waiting until the value of my cart reaches the free shipping level.

Has anyone read it?  And what is your favorite healthy option to take to a dessert fellowship?

(Just found this review:  Owlhaven.)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #72 ~ Isaac Watts

711. the mighty power of God
712. safety in the blizzard
713. the beautiful, bright, sunny, calm day after the storm
714. the goodness of the Lord
715.  a neighbor who loaned his snow blower
716. food, heat, electricity
717. friends coming to dinner tonight
718. an encouraging, almost mentoring moment (45 moments) at the John Deere dinner (stay tuned for a future post)
719. how His wonders are displayed in the snow drifts that look like sand dunes
720. all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;

Culture Shock on the Cookbook Shelf

As I sat in the living room, perusing Taste of Home's The Ultimate Ground Beef Cookbook, Jim innocently asked, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for recipes you would like," I happily replied.

"Why don't you look for recipes you would like?" he gently suggested.

In response, I held up the front cover and asked, rather incredulously, "In here?" and added, "I could probably count on one hand the number of times I purchased ground beef in Japan."

As a farm girl, one would think I grew up eating meat and potatoes (and I did!), but most of my adult life has been spent in a different place with different foods.  And I am still adjusting to the foods I eat now (even the ones I prepare).

February Projects

February projects:

:: continue purging -- from the small (why do we have 3 scales?!?) to the large -- and bless others while at the same time simplifying our lives

:: create a bulletin board with Christmas card photos

:: walls, windows, and floors (dream about window dressings ... and start hanging some; find some throw rugs;  get the wall hangings out of the box in the closet and hang them - in groupings)

:: plan our trip to Japan

The last verse

Years ago while searching the hymnal for hymns about heaven, I was not happy with the selection.  And so I kept searching through the hymns that were not in the section specifically about heaven. 

My hymnal started filling up with pink highlighted phrases about heaven, scattered through all the sections of the book.

Recently our pastor has remarked on the fact that so many of the old hymns mention heaven in the last verse.  And, I would add, not just the old ones.

from God of Gods, We Sound His Praises:
     "Lord, we look for your returning..."

from Our God, Our Help in Ages Past:
     "...and our eternal home."

from Great Is Thy Faithfulness:
     "...and bright hope for tomorrow..."

from Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken:
     "hope shall change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise."

from O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go:
     "that morn shall tearless be."

from I Know Whom I Have Believed:
     "his face I see," and "when my Lord may come..."

from Loved with Everlasting Love:
     "welcomed home to his embrace..."

from Blessed Assurance:
     "watching and waiting, looking above..."

from It Is Well with My Soul:
     "haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back... the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend..."

from I Know That My Redeemer Lives:
     "return and claim me, Lord"

from Day by Day:
     "till I reach the promised land."

from Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him:
     "the hour of our receiving promised joys with thee."

And those are from just a small section of my hymnal.  What about you? What hymns of heaven do you turn to, again and again?

Living (and dying) in a village

"It's tragic, really," the neighbor said.  She sat in my living room, drinking tea, while we got to know each other and she told me about the neighborhood.

A few days later, I walked into the library and a teenager who seems to hang out there, turned from the computer and loudly (and proudly) declared to me, "I'm dressed up, because we're going to a visitation.  It's for {Bob Smith}.  He's not our relative.  This is how he died."  And she proceeded to discuss matter-of-factly the tragic accident that led to {Bob Smith's} meeting his Maker.

I drove home from the libary, and saw the hearse slowly pulling away from the church where the visitation was to be.

The next evening I answered the doorbell to let in our dinner guests, and counted 12 cars parked further down on our little street.

{Bob Smith} had formerly been married to a lady on our street.  A tragic accident took his life immediately upon impact.  Only four years older than Jim, he was a long-time employee at one of the agricultural businesses in town.

In a village of 1300, who did not know him, live next to him, work with him, purchase from him, go to school with him, have some other connection with him, or know someone who did?  

Just eight days before the end of his life, not knowing who lived there, we had knocked on his ex-wife's door to invite her to a neighborhood Bible study for seekers.  She was not home, but an adult son politely took the invitation and said he was visiting, but would leave it for his mom.

And now we pray for the Seeker of souls to send others to our study (or others like it) before it is too late, even as we pray for comfort for {Bob Smith's} family.

{Name has been changed.}