Some Joy in OK!

Some of ye may have noticed that things here in my corner have been quiet lately.  Well, I think the two recent book reviews have sufficiently dusted out any cobwebs and this girl is ready to get typing again!

I wanted however to share the joyous news that was the reason for my absence...

Yes.  This is my beautiful mum and her cowboy.  I was so blessed to be able to fly across the Atlantic to be there for the wedding.  I got to spend three weeks with my family and all my friends back in T-Town.  It has been ages since I have seen my mother so at peace and happy and she couldn't have found a better gentleman.  I was so thrilled to be able to be there for it all, especially since I hadn't been Stateside or seen any of my family in a year.

It was truly an occasion that God brought together.  At one point the wedding coordinator pulled me aside and said she and both the photographer had been talking.  She said that this is the kind of thing they see every day, given their line of business.  However she said there was something about it all that gave them pause.  She said simply, "This is REAL."  The love, the joy and the sense of family.  She said she was leaving feeling as if her purpose there was not simply to work, but rather to receive a blessing herself, full of hope for her own family members' lives.

This something special was simply God.  Folks, we may be involved in all our own stuff, absorbed in our moments.  But the Spirit of the Lord is with us everywhere we go and people do notice.  May we never disregard that. 

Let your light so shine before men, 

that they may see your good works, 

and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

--Matt 5:16

It's the Little Things

 

Strawberries are my favorite fruit.  Springtime in Tulsa is the best for strawberries in my opinion.  You can find them in huge amounts, the fresh sweet smell drawing you to a display marked clearly with low prices.  I love it.  I went for three years without strawberries when I lived in Uganda, as the few visits home to T-town were off season.  Since moving to Ireland, those strawberries are more available, but they definitely come at a price.  I am currently growing my own in a pot on the balcony.  But today, I ate a load of these fresh American strawberries in my morning oatmeal.  It's one of the little things I love about being back home.

That's right.  I am in Tulsa.  It has been a year since this bit of middle America has been pounded by my flip-flop wearing feet.  I am here for a short visit with the fam, enjoying the celebration that has drawn me here... my mum is getting married!  And I am enjoying the little things that could easily get taken for granted, did I not live elsewhere - things I love, like family and strawberries.  And... driving big cars at fast speeds on wide roads, unlimited hot water that comes out with extreme pressure, petting my Daisy-doo who still remembers me even though this little dog is getting so much older, eating Taco Bueno, and hearing the constant sound of aircraft flying above that has become a distinctive part of the Tulsa background.  So T-town, thanks for the warm welcome.  It's good to be back.

Putting the Soul at Ease

Painting by Hiroko Sakai

Yesterday a couple of friends and I drove the few hours to Dublin to check out a car that I was considering purchasing.  I am not one to rush into decisions like this and a lot of prayer had gone into the whole process.  The night before, though, I caught myself panicking a bit.  Would I know if this was the right car or not?  Would I get suckered and have used God's money irresponsibly? If it was no good, would I have wasted both my and my friends' time and paid the costly petrol prices for nothing?  My emotions were all over the place and in the end I just had to pray, to ask God that He would do as He has done before, giving me that sense in my spirit of a definite yes or no.

Often, especially as Christians, our desire to do what is right becomes the stress that holds us back from doing anything.  We can easily begin to over-think things, like we are playing a game of chess and somehow have to figure in all the possibilities and ramifications of the each move, preventing us from actually moving. We get so lost in our own attempts to assses,

our emotions begin to dominate our choices 

and we either rush into something or retreat entirely.

Over the last few weeks I have talked about the REST God has been bringing to my body and the REST He calls us to spiritually, but what can lasso our emotions and bring them back into proper order, bring them into REST?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

--Phillipians 4:6

When we become anxious we are letting our emotions dictate to us based on what we perceive with our own eyes.  One examination of the word used here reveals a sense of being tossed to and fro, an emotional unrest.  In this verse, we are again being called to REST, this time in our emotions.  As Christians we know we are supposed to pray and trust God, but when our emotions get the best of us, it is hard to really let go.  If we read the verse again however there is something more mentioned than just the anxiety and the prayers; there is thanksgiving.  When we give thanks we are not just glorifying God, but speaking to our own heart about His faithfulness.  When we are struggling to find hope for the big things, we begin to thank Him for the small things.  Somehow our faith builds and we get so caught up in His goodness that it is easier to do that which He called us to do, to TRUST Him.  We move so much into Him that our emotions are restored to a proper functioning order and we have peace, even if the situation still seems uncertain.

 Thankfulness brings about emotional REST.

We arrived safely in Dublin, meeting up with a friend from our sister church there with a background with auto mechanics.  Upon investigating the car, I just had this gut feeling it was a no, but I waited as my friends checked over the engine.  My friend noticed details that were questionable and then more evidence that the car had been in a major crash.  When the salesman asked why we weren't buying it, we simply said we didn't want a car that had been previously wrecked.  He asked my friend to show him, after which he got very rude calling us liars and asking us in not so polite words to leave.  During the whole instance I had total peace without even my emotions getting riled at the behavior, because I had already begun to thank God for answering my prayer for giving me that definite answer for which I had prayed.   I continued thanking Him for things like the bonding between my friends during the journey, for the gift of service from my friend in Dub and his teaching us key things to enable us to check engines ourselves.  In fact, by the end of the day, I had been thanking God to such a degree that I was so full of faith, 

                            I was experiencing peace 

about other bigger emotionally fueled issues that I will face in this coming year.  I may not have come home with a car, but I was at rest and it didn't even seem to matter where the day or petrol costs went.  I can trust God with these things.

Are you ready to find rest?  In those toughest, most emotional times, will you begin to thank Him?  If you cannot thank Him yet for specific things regarding the situation because of emotional wounds, can you at least thank Him for the little things?  Just thank Him, and begin to experience His REST.

In the Beginning...

When most people think of the word adventure, they think of things filled with action, exploration and excitement.  When those same people think of rest, they may think of still, sleepy things.  I would challenge them to consider that  

some of the best adventures 

                                                   happen in a place of rest.

I first came to Ireland on a holiday from Uganda.  I was in a place where I was desperate for two things, Christian fellowship and rest.  Because of a lot of the challenges I was facing with my work in Uganda, I was broken and raw.  I knew I needed some space to breathe, to pray and listen to what God would say.  Going to Ireland, even for a holiday, felt too frivolous.  When I finally decided to go to Ireland for the visit, it was because my own emotional welfare demanded it.  I had finally become desperate enough to obey God's call to rest.  That visit ended up being one of my greatest adventures.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
 ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
    ²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
    ³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.  
¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
 ² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.       -- Genesis 1:27-2:3

We know God considers rest as in important part of life, even from the very beginning of creation.  We see Him model this at the end of all His labours.  However when we look at man's place in this passage, we can see something very interesting.   Man's first day was God's seventh.   
                                Man was born into rest.

I imagine Adam, entering into his existence with the breath of God, being awakened not as a baby, but as a man into a world filled with the creation of God.  God had said it was his to live in and to tend, to oversee.  Can you imagine exploring the world God had given, tasting the fruits and naming the creatures?  I wonder if he laughed with joy as he marveled.  This was adventure.

As one who finds so much peace by just being in nature, my visit to Ireland was an amazing exploration of God's creation.  I was everyday meeting new people.  God was speaking to me about His plans for me.  At first I struggled to accept them, actively rejecting the notion, but when I surrendered to the idea that this was where God was calling me, I became overcome with excitement.  There is nothing like a transcontinental move to get your adventure meter into the green.  Mostly though, I was finding adventure in the time alone I was having with God during this time of rest.  He was showing me things about myself - wounds that needed healing, gifts He wanted to develop in me, and faith He wanted to stretch.  
In my rest,  
             I found adventure.

Last week, I wrote about God's river, and finding rest in His current.  When we surrender like this, we can hear God so much more easily, but it goes beyond just that.  When we are totally dwelling in His rest, imagine what great adventure we may have!  Action, exploration, and excitement are pretty much guaranteed... 
Are you ready to dive in and let Him take you on an adventure in rest?

check out more on the topic of rest by joining our JAM Session at Bonnie's

Revisiting Poland

I'm currently needing a bit of rest.  But I have loved joining everyone on Spiritual Sundays with Charlotte and Ginger, so I decided to link you to a post written just over a year ago.  I think ye will enjoy it.  Let me know what ye think in the comments here or there.  God bless!

I didn`t think the stairs were ever going to stop.  In short sets of ten and spiraling down anticlockwise, the steps had me dizzy.  By the time we reached the bottom, at least the first level of the depths, my legs had turned to jelly.

Read More...

A Rare Treat

Today's view of An Rinn from Lookout Park                                            photo by Kathleen Keegan

He spreads the snow like wool
   and scatters the frost like ashes.

Psalm 147:16 

I awoke today to a flurry filled sight, a rarity for us on this southeast coast of Ireland.  It was so beautiful, and even though it was a small amount, I was breathless for a moment.

The first thing I saw this morning, snowy rooftops.

 After taking this picture barefooted on my balcony, I was really breathless - from the cold!  While it may not compare to such extremes elsewhere, this is dramatic here and when you mix freezing temps with the wind blowing in off the sea it is FIERCE!

I immediately texted my friend Katie to see if she wanted to step out an enjoy the beauty.  We stood at the harbour on which my small town sits, took a few snaps and went for a Saturday lunch out.  We talked about things God is doing in our lives.  Then we went for a short drive to the hills and we took more pictures.  We finished our adventure back in town with mugs of hot chocolate, with plenty of marshmallows of course.

On the hill with my town and the sea behind me.

I have spoken a bit about God's provision and faithfulness in recent posts and it is a motif often repeated in the Bible as well.  God is ever showing us His nature in the nature around us, in the relationships we have formed and especially through His Word.  He is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Mighty One.  Psalm 147 gives a whole list of things that express the greatness of God.  Let us begin this new week the way David began this Psalm.  Let us praise Him!

Praise the LORD.

   How good it is to sing praises to our God,
   how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

 Psalm 147:1

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A Story About a Dress and a Divine Appointment

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life."

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 

I was desperately looking for a dress for an upcoming event.  With only two weeks remaining, I had searched my small town and even spent a few hours going to all the shops in Waterford City.  Those who know me well know that this is some kind of torture.  I am definitely not a shopper.  My mom finds great humor in the fact that my flat is actually located on the top floor of our town's mall.  In recent years I have become more adept and can actually count a few times where I enjoyed the experience.  This has not been one of those times.  The main challenges have been time, budget, and difficult sizing.

So this week, when my Friday obligations were suddenly removed I decided to go to a mall in Cork.  Since the drive is one hour each way and I didn't come up with the plan until three in the afternoon, I knew time would be tight.  But upon walking into the centre, I felt the Lord say I would leave with my dress.  

The first shop I went into had some gorgeous high quality options, but they all cost up to two times more than my budget.  I asked a saleslady there which shops she would recommend considering this.  After an hour, I had been in every shop with no success.  I decided that if I were to spend more than planned it should at least be high quality so I began to head back to the first shop.  But the conflict about the prices came in my head and I turned to leave altogether.  Finally reminded by the the feeling of the Lord on my way in, I turned back around to the shop again.  Anybody watching me would have for sure wondered what this crazy girl was doing!

I saw the lady who had helped me before back by the fitting rooms so I told her about my shopping frustrations. She took me around the floor pulling dress after dress that might work before going with e to try them on.  It was then that I learned she had already clocked out.  She stayed and chimed in on each dress until I had found the perfect dress.  The ladies on shift stepped away for a moment and she came up to me, whispering.  "The ladies think we are friends so I can give you my employee discount of 25%." 

I was taken back and refused saying I couldn't possibly.  She looked to see if the girls were still out of ear shot.  This time she reached out and touched my arm.  She was trembling.  She said, "You're a Christian, right?"  I said yes.  She replied, "I have to do this.  Let me do this."     

I had not mentioned anything about God so I was a bit surprised.  Knowing many of the churches in Cork I quietly asked her which she attended, but she shook her head, hand still trembling said, "None.  I am a failed Christian." 

In my heart I begged God for the right words, none came so I didn't speak.  The other workers came back.  We bought the dress together, me using her discount.  I wrote my name and church on a paper with a pastor friend's church in Cork on the back.  She almost started to cry.  "That's where my ex-husband goes."  I mentioned some other churches, which she acknowledged as knowing personally, hands still trembling.  We walked out together.

I tried to thank her again and again, but she wouldn't have it.  I told her how she'd saved my life, but she acted like it was the other way around.  With nothing left to say we each turned to go our own ways.  She continued to tremble and then paused just before leaving to say.  "Wait, the final price almost even managed to fit your budget didn't it?"  Actually it had come two quid under budget.  

The scripture in Corinthians reminds us that no matter where we are or what we are doing, people will notice us.  Sometimes God just wants us to be there, living the life.  We carry the presence of God in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, this aroma of Christ that speaks to those in need.  Let us remember this, and move forward with the full confidence of Christ in us.  It is He who transforms lives.  We trust and obey.

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A Good Day

These days I find myself exhausted constantly because of some health problems with which I have been dealing.  So when my morning meeting was canceled and I knew that the day would go at a slower pace, I'll admit I was a little relieved.   I was able to get a good amount done before heading to Harbour Mill House for our Tea and Coffee Drop-in.  I caught this bit of sky on my way there.

 

Here is another view from the quay on which Harbour Mill House sits.

It's beautiful isn't it!  Of course only in Ireland can you have this sunny day with only a few clouds, and still be rained on while standing in a freezing wind!  After running a few errands, I returned home to my kitchen filled with the tempting smells of the morning's labours.  

I had sweated some onions, carrots, celery and a parsnip in a bit of olive oil with salt and garlic.

  I always make sure to use the leafy bits of celery as well as they seem to add a lot of flavor and also look pretty floating in broth.  Of course I had to use some fresh sage from my summer container garden.

Then came the remains of the roasted chicken I had made for company on Sunday.  Irish chickens are amazing, so juicy and full of flavor.   It doesn't look so amazing with most of it gone, but any soup lover knows the potential of such a thing.

Topped off with water and some seasoning and it remained simmering until I left.  Now at home I sit in silence.  It was a calm day, but productive and not rushed.  I am tired, but not broken.  I am thankful.  I am breathing.

I am happy to be in this moment...

in my warm home with this bowl of soup

under this evening sky.

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A Taste of Truth

Okay so this isn't quite what some would expect, so let me explain...

This weekend, I joined a few friends from Dublin for a girl's escape!  We went up to Belfast to attend a worship and prayer evening.  On the way back the next day, we stopped for lunch at a place recommended by someone from the church.  Would you believe it was a garden center?  I knew you wouldn't, which is why we took the photo of me nibbling the seed cone!

Actually the place had a lovely restaurant where I enjoyed a typical carvery lunch, finished off with a Florentine Cookie, one of my favorites, and a good cup of black coffee.  As we gave thanks for our meal, the verse above went through my head.  I was so grateful for the provision God had made for such a weekend.

Indeed God is our provision, our source and our hope.  While His great love endows many blessings, we do not need excess in this natural world to be sure that God is looking out for us.  When I lived in Africa I met many who only had millet, a kind of birdseed, as their food, yet they were overflowing with the joy of the knowledge of Christ.  They knew He could work in all situations as they kept their eyes on Him and they believed Him for it.

Let us today, cast aside our worries and believe God for who He is.  Let us seek first His kingdom and His righteousness for He is good and He is trustworthy.  Let us take a moment to thank Him for all He has done and in His great love continues to do.

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Sligo

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The waves crashed against the thick grasses that grew at the base of the castle edge.  I was in Co. Sligo, a five hour drive north from my home on the southern coast.  The weekend getaway was meant to be a retreat for folk from all over Ireland, but I was struggling.  My prior weeks had been riddled with emotional and spiritual battles, as well as major physical issues.  The weekend should have been a respite, but just a few hours into the journey the clutch stopped working and the problems didn't stop.  The weekend became a very tangible expression of the need to be fully dependent on God alone.

The location was lovely, the people even lovelier and all the activities were well planned.  I was however disconnected from that.  I was suffering from a kind of trauma and I was not doing a good job of hiding it.  I was thankful for the space people gave me, even if sometimes it was out of awkwardness rather than understanding.  With the weekend as a culminating point for all I had been facing, the weeks following the event were marked with fragility.  Yet God, being faithful as He is, brought beautiful healing. 

The retreat was in August, but I hadn't opened up the pictures I took until this week.  It was nice to see some pics of friends, reminding me of good conversations and even humorous instances.  Most images were moments of silence though, those seconds of stillness in the nature God created.  God speaks to me in nature, and when I saw the pic above, taken from the safe battlements of Parke's Castle, He spoke to me of His mercy, hope and healing.  He is such a good God.

For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You

In a time when You may be found; 

Surely in a flood of great waters  They shall not come near him.
You are my hiding place;  You shall preserve me from trouble;
         You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.   

Psalm 32:6-7

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