Six and One-Half Months Later

Wow…time does fly!  That Princess Baby is now 6 1/2 months old!  She sits up, hardly ever spits up anymore and now eats sweet potatoes!  Her Grammie is completely mesmerized by every little action, smile or coo.  Sarah Grace is so smart and she looks right into your heart with those bright blue eyes!  Her Mommy and Daddy are doing a good job with her, the little schedule keeper.  Shopping trips take longer and are arranged less frequently but certainly are fun!  The little Dolly tried out her cart cover for the first time a couple of weeks ago at Marshalls and was ecstatic!  She loved being a “big girl!” 

I hope time slows through the holidays so we can enjoy the wonderment of our first holiday season together but holidays never linger,do they?  That’s why I keep a camera to my eye…at least you can enjoy what you missed in the flurry of the moment.  Sarah Grace has here own file and it is already bulging.  External harddrives are a must when you have grandkids.  I sure love my Dolly Pie!

A Prearranged Meeting

We met one day on an untypically dry NW Spring day.  It was a prearranged meeting.  We had know idea what each other looked like, so was rather like a blind date, not exactly You’ve Got Mail style….but I did bring roses. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s meeting was wrapped in apprehension.  I had no qualms.  My excitement at the thought of finally meeting you left me breathless.  There you were and, oh, you were perfect.  You didn’t say much but your presence spoke volumes!  Days have passed and we’ve only met 6 times but to know you is to love you…for the rest of my life!  You have such a way about you…everyone is smitten by you.  You will grow more lovely every day, unwittingly captivate more hearts, touch more lives.  I pray that God will be your Wings and your heart will soar with Him, that you will find His world delightful and beautiful and He will show you the Way and, in Him, you will find peace in the valleys.  I will pray for your safety everyday, assuredly He will guide your steps.  I hope God will give me plenty of time to love you, watch you grow in Him, and the wisdom to do it well.  A sweet May Flower, the Princess of Grace, you were sent from above into our Spring Garden.  May I give you water, Princess Sarah Grace? 

A Gift Called Sarah Grace

One day a little girl named Claire climbed into a waiting lap.  This child, unusually astute, began counting the number of titles the bearer of the lap had acquired in her rather long life…Mother, Aunt, Wife, Friend, Sister, Cousin, but not yet Grandmother. 

Some time has passed by and if little Claire could retrace her steps back to that lap, the bearer of the lap could now tell her, with great enthusiasm, that she had been given a Special Delivery gift by the Gift Giver and that, at the perfect time, she had, in fact, been awarded the special title of Grandmother (Grammie for short.)  Assuredly little Claire would giggle in delight and bestow a congratulatory hug and Grammie and Claire would laugh and rejoice together over the worth-waiting-for amazing gift called Sarah Grace!

Passion of Expectancy

Guest speaker…often conjures up a yawn or an apprehensive step.  I shouldn’t be so stuck in a rut and when Dr Art Azurdia from Portland’s Western Seminary began his hand waving, point-making gestures last Sunday, I felt my husband sit a little stiffer in his seat and take a gulp of air.  The hand gestures hadn’t bothered me yet…perhaps his rut is deeper or my inquisitive nature was stimulated.

When Dr Azurdia asked us to imagine the disciple’s distress at Christ’s declaration, “I go…” (Jn 14:2), with sanctified imagination, I scooted forward a bit.  How can you not scoot forward at such a suggestion?  Okay, I’m imagining their distress…these men walked with Jesus, ate with Jesus, learned at His side along the dusty way, stood aghast at the miracles, the raising of the dead, the healing of the lame.  And now He says, “I go…”  The King is going. Inconceivable. He’s leaving.  Jesus then says, ”Verily, verily, I say unto you (listen up, guys), he that believeth on Me, the works I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” (Jn14:12) He’s going to His Father and I’m to do greater works…right.  They must not have really computed this at all until after Pentacost.  BUT the greater works were amazingly witnessed and experienced by those left behind…these were MIRACLES, in fact.  In Acts we see 3000 men converted (raised from the dead) in response to the Gospel of Christ in one day.  Ungodly dead men, unable to respond to human stimulation, seeking not after God but only the works of God,  were resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this in response to the Gospel preached by obedient men filled with the Holy Spirit.  Undeniably a miraculous act and the life-giving Word flourished and Christ is still raising the dead today.

Then the disciples departing Master said, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (Jn 14:13) In My name…His name is the verbal embodiment of all He stands for.  His will and our prayer…perfect harmony.  Answered prayer embodies the awesome greatness of the Father as Christ’s work is continued through those left behind.  Who is to accomplish these “greater works” that God places on our doorstep?  Those that “believeth on Me.” And so, Believer…what do you ask for that only God can do in today’s God-rejecting society that He alone may receive the glory? Dr Azurdia asks.  In response to prayer, we may expect miracles, death-defying, soul-raising miracles.  On the merits of Christ’s death and resurrection, live in the passion of expectancy that He will work, for His glory.  There are fruitful days to come.  Thanks, Dr Azurdia, the Word preached has stimulated a world-weary soul and I am passionate in my expectancy.  The Father will receive the glory.

If ye ask anything in My name, I will do it.  If ye love Me and keep My commandments.” (Jn 14:14-15)

Color in the Pacific NW and More to Come…

The NW daffodils are basically on the way out (except for those blooming out by the road in front of my house…these still think this is their day to shine.) The De Goede Tulip Farm in Mossyrock is in full tulip bloom, admittedly a bit late.  A cold and reluctant Spring is to blame.  We spent the last two days south in Portland OR where the rhododendrons and dogwoods are in full bloom.  Looks like Spring has found a welcome home there.

My clematis is beginning its raging growth pattern, doesn’t seem to care what the weather is.  I can’t keep up…like a wayward child, it may just ramble wherever it wants.  Actually, I say that every year but eventually I insist that it grow where I want it to.  I’m a stubborn gardener. 

I’m ready for gardening in earnest, decked out in flip-flops and sunglasses, working to get the necessary preseason weeding, feeding and Annual planting behind me.  Covering my ears and bundling up against the chill, forced to concede if I want blooms in August, I braved the gray gloom  last weekend to clean the Black-eyed Susan bed and divide the Shasta Daisies (the cute miniature variety.)  Our Green Thumb gardener, who keeps my lawn looking nice and makes a nice healthy “Tea” from the clippings, inherited an armload of Susans, daisies and golden oregano.  He’s tilling his new acreage in Winlock WA this Spring for the beginnings of a grand nursery and is happy to receive my overflow! 

As much as I want a yard bursting full of Summer color to laze around in with my iced lattes, “basic maintenance” may be this Summer’s mantra. I’m hoping I’ll be much too busy being “Grammie” to worry about gardening as I cast my appreciative gaze upon a new little Blossom in Pink coming our way!

The Farm Chicks do it right…

 

The Farm Chicks caught my attention awhile back (first in Country Living magazine)…a clutch of hens who love nesting, decided to branch out and share their passion!  Now they have a yearly extravaganza, bringing thousands into their neck of the world (Spokane WA) for a Spring fling in the barnyard!  I’m puttin’ on my apron, packing up the picnic basket and walking shoes.  I’m gonna fly the coop!  Gotta check out the Farm Chick sale Jun 6-7…wanna come?

Waiting…

Somethings are just worth waiting for…a white dress, Easter shoes without laces, babies who wear pink.  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.  Ro 8:28.  Waiting is like a smelting pot, a refinery, chugging along, belching steam and applying pressure…but something beautiful comes about as a result.  God is in the beautiful business.  Praise Him for He cares about our every desire, He Who answers prayer at the good and proper time.  Beautiful things are worth waiting for.

Inspiration in the Mail

My daughter sent me a little something special in the mail…inspiration that tickled my fancy!!!  And Oh, how I LOOOOVE to get mail!  The card she sent me was hand-designed by Donna Fuller, a NW photographer, who has the privilege of living in Enumclaw, WA (more on that another time.)  Donna graces her cards, notes and booknotes with her sensitive floral photos or her own delightful sketches and sweet timeless sentiments.  You’re gonna love ‘em!!! 

(And I love my Grace Note for thinking of me….we’d better get off our duff, Sweetie!)

 

 

Waiting is an Artform

Banging out Beethoven, slinging paint or filling up a journal with rantings…just a few of many ways to artistically release the agony of waiting.  The more we wait the more creative we become…waiting is an artform! God waits patiently for us to come to our senses and trust Him and in His mercy has given us outlets.  He knows how impatient and needy we are.  Great works have been created due to impatience- houses get cleaned, walls are painted, gardens are weeded, coffee is consumed at Starbucks, culinary skills are finetuned, walks are taken, husbands learn to understand (hopefully), sketchbooks are filled…thankfully we were given God’s creative spirit!  The day will come when that which we are most impatient for now will be resolved and we will be on to waiting for something else.  Trust Him and get busy with your creative juices…today is the day to wait. 

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. 

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

                                                                                                  

Is 40:28-29, 31

Colorific Perks

 

It’s Spring in Washington which means it’s still cold but IF you get a splash of sunshine, grab your friend (or daughter like I did) and head to Puyallup and Watson’s Nursery (named for my delightful one, I’m sure.)  With cappuchino in hand and sunglasses on, we dove headlong into rows and rows of riotous color housed in a gigantic atrium!  What a perk!  What a blast of encouragement!  What an arousal of imaginative juices!  Everything from elegantly striped orchids to boisterous beds of Gerbera daisies and, of course,  Spring’s garden maids – Daffodils, Tulips and Rannunculas in abundance.  You can set your Spring dreams in motion in a heady place like Watson’s (not that 2/3 would last one day in my 40 degree garden at this point but give me a month and I’ll need a cart.)  The best thing about a nursery…they take care of it!  Watson’s also has a cafe if you stay so long your blood sugar plummets and if it’s gift you need for a birthday or special occasion (or to satisfy your own wants) it’s here, any day of the year…cool stuff!