1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #92 (911-927)

May 21, 2011

:: quiet breakfast alone in the room where I’m staying – oatmeal, apple, yogurt, tea

:: pleasant walk to the church grounds

:: being on stand-by … to fold programs, to receive messages to pass on to others, etc.

:: attending to the bride when the matron of honor was rehearsing (or singing)

:: bursting with emotion as the ensemble sang, “Thine Be the Glory,” and the bride (a long-term co-worker) was escorted down the aisle by the robe-wearing officiant, the team leader of our mission team

:: listening to an incredible sermon from Ephesians 5

:: hustling upstairs to the bride’s room to fasten the bustle (as instructed when I “happened” to attend her final fitting at a dress shop in Chicago)

:: mingling outside with some of the 200+ wedding guests during the outdoor part of the reception (while the inside was being transformed from sanctuary to reception hall)

:: reunions with countless former English students and one dear man whose family welcomed me warmly in 1989 (!)

:: rejoicing that those countless former English students heard the gospel so clearly (and applicably) during the wedding ceremony

:: sitting in a chair along the wall, trying to escape the crowds during the reception

:: hearing the testimony of a girl whose life and faith have changed, due to implementing a suggestion I gave her a year ago … to start a thousand gifts list!

:: helping with the massive clean-up efforts

:: sitting in a booth at Daikyo, eating radish and plum salad, while catching up with my friend who served as my matron of honor ten months ago

:: unloading a carload of wedding supplies back at another church building

:: snatching a few minutes to make an unexpected phone call to Jim on the VOIP phone there :)

:: collapsing into bed at 11.15 PM after writing this

Brunch blog conversation

 “It was fun, with just enough Bible thrown in to make it a Christian meeting.” 

This was part of my response to what Kimberly wrote about brunches.  Her sister-in-law replied with a piercing post about how she has been ruined for this life.   My full response can be read here.

As with each person seeking to follow Christ, the three of us are in process, so our comments are not perfect.  We're each trying to figure out what it means to live as a Christ-follower in this world, especially this corner of the world where God has us now.  (All three of us have gone through pretty drastic transitions in the past year.)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #91

901.  rain-brought rest from intense fieldwork

902.  protection from crop-damaging hail near here

903.  ceiling fans

904.  open windows

905.  flowers (weeds) picked by a little girl

906.  joyful sounds in a room filled with well-wishers at a 90-year-old's open house

907.  giving a mid-morning ride from the tractor dealer back to the farm

908.  CLEAR blue sky

909.  opportunities to organize (a suitcase for packing and food for while I'm gone)

910.  Dairy Barn opening for the season

Art

Still in the process of framing and hanging the wall-hangings we had and which we received as wedding presents, plus in the process of accumulating holiday decor for a living space that is larger than my Japan apartment.  Here are the latest:

Garage sale find -- possible Easter decor?

Wedding gift painted by Jim's aunt - the frame pulls it all together!

Wedding gift - scene from my hometown; amazed to find the perfect shade of color for the mat

Townwide garage sale

Spring is the time for townwide garage sales.  Each farm town selects a weekend, and then the Betterment Association or the Village Office prints a map showing where all the sales will be and listing each one with a description of items for sale.  Maps are available at the bank or gas station.  (No advertising fees!)

Last weekend I went with my SIL and her girls, more as a tag-along, for my introduction to townwide garage sales.  The weather was perfect. We parked the car, and walked around, from one sale to the next to the next. 

My purpose was also to get a feel for pricing, since I was going in on a friend's garage sale Tuesday & Wednesday in a "real" town. 

This weekend are the townwide garage sales in our town (of 1300 population).  So, this morning I walked up the street to two of the sales of my neighbors.  And I came home with the items you see above ... for $4. 

The rain today is yucky, and I have a to-do list that might be too long, so I'll forfeit the other sales around town.  (Also, I need *nothing*!!)  But, it is a good way to meet people.  I met several daughters-in-law and grandchildren of two of the ladies in my Q place.

Lies

Last week I wrote in an email to a friend,

Today has been a pity party day. Not good!  I need to pull "Lies Women Believe" off my shelf and review it. 

Then I sat in a friend's garage, manning her garage sale while she spent the morning as a teacher's aide.  During a lull, I found "Lies Women Believe" on the book table, and started reading it.  When sales got brisk again, I returned the book, and later, took a lady's dollar when she bought the book.

The next day, out of my mouth came the words, "That's a lie from the pit," as someone else shared a certain struggle with me.

And then I read here of ten false thought patterns, and could identify with them, as ones that trip me up. 

And then on the Desiring God blog, I read about some of the lies women are prone to believe:

"... satisfaction in God himself.  God is our portion, our very great reward. No man can satisfy the longing in a woman's heart, ...  Misplaced desires set us up for failure in every relationship we have. But a woman in Christ abiding in her union with Him is equipped to eschew independence from man and stay engaged, strongly helping the man, ... secure in her identity in Christ. Such strong women are very good for the Church."

I am thankful for a boss who welcomed and encouraged women to be "strong women under authority."

I am thankful for John Piper's Challenge to Women, listing not only 14 challenges, but also challenging women,

"That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered,"

and going on to list more than 85 of those roles that can minister to others.

What roles have you discovered in your search to be a strong woman under authority?

This season (1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #881 - #890)

(Blogger had some issues, and this post ended up lost.)

He’s only had three hours sleep, ...

“You okay?” I ask.

“Calling for sun today. Gotta try for the beans.” He reaches for socks.

We’re in this window before rain. Hundreds of acres of beans to plant.

Those are the words of Ann Voskamp, but they could be mine.

This window before rain, these days, week perhaps, of ten minutes a day of being awake together, usually from 6:00 - 6:10 AM, both too groggy to speak intelligently enough to make conversation, he reducing a full cereal bowl to nothing while I fill a red insulated lunch box as full as I can to cover the next two meals plus snacks, and then he leaves, calling out, "See you tomorrow."

It's the same for all farm wives.  We run into each other around town, and the conversation goes something like, "He came in at 3 AM," or "I don't know what time my husband came in last night."

And when we need our husband's input to coordinate a plan for sharing rides on Sunday, a day filled with worship, lunch, two small groups, and a 90th birthday open house, my sister-in-law starts to say, "Ask Jim ..." and then auto-corrects to, "If you see Jim before then, ..."

It's only for a season, this we know, and we're ultimately thankful ... thankful for

physical safety & protection
strength
meaningful work
equipment in working order
this window before the rain
protection from all sorts of weather disasters we hear about on the news
a retired father-in-law who puts in his share of long days, too
the camaraderie of mother-in-law and two daughters-in-law sharing a ride to prayer meeting

And these images and more:

The open seed bags line the tailgate, ready.

The truck bed sags under the heaviness of seeds

(Ann's words, again.)

And I'm reminded of a cross-stitch sampler I received years ago:

Who plants a seed 
beneath the sod
And waits to see 
believes in God.