In the Rustling Grass, I Hear Him Pass...

"This is My Father's World..."

This has been one of those years I will remember for the many challenges to my faith and my commitment to Christ. It has been anything but fun. Health problems; loss of a job and the ensuing change in my financial stability; loss of family that moved and no longer live close; vision problems that required surgery - all changes I did not plan on and definitely did not welcome. I am not a hero or a saint, by any stretch of the imagination. I am reminded, when unexpected trials invade my comfortable, “safe” world, that I have feet of clay. I do not suffer well in silence, but find myself escalating my protests until, surely , they reach the ears of God (and everyone else who happens to cross my path!) I must have kept God Our Father up many a night, weeping and gnashing my teeth. It didn't help me to read the Word of God, which informed me, rather insensitively, I thought, that 'His strength is sufficient for me.' Decidedly NOT what I wanted to hear!

It truly is not a case of me handling it all well. But this week, I realized all over again just how much I feel the smile of God on my face, even though I have been an uncooperative, even rebellious and difficult child in His household. He has never put me out! He has never closed me off. He has never told me to stop whining. Instead, He has pulled me close, like a mother wanting to comfort her hurting child. He has done just exactly that. He has comforted me in my losses, over and over and over again. He has lifted my head to look in the eyes of Love that knows no bounds.  He has held onto me tightly and would not let me go. He has patiently led me to a place of rest and recovery, uniquely fashioned for me, in ways that take my breath away. For that, this day, I am incredibly grateful and humbled, all over again, by the Love of My God.

Nature writes on my heart the signature of God.  I find Him everywhere I look in the beauty of His creation. Surely, He who  made me to love Him in that way, knows that about me even better than I do at times. As if in a coma, sometimes, I actually forget how much I love the creative world that surrounds me.  This week, He brought it all before me in a way that I couldn't miss it - He is in the game - He hasn't left the house - He loves me and is healing me.   I decided, just "out of the blue" (God must laugh at how lame I am at catching on to His healing hand in my life, sometimes!) to take an art class that is just pure joy for me to be part of. One of my assignments was to “just go outside and photograph nature” in order to study different forms for drawing. So I grabbed my camera and hung out at the park today. Here are a few of the beautiful and funny pictures I took today. 

Now, while I was walking in the park, basking in the simple and spectacular beauty all around me, there happened to be a free concert from a christian group playing in the background. I laughed to myself, realizing how perfectly God, the Master Artist and Music Maker, had orchestrated this day to custom fit me as an instrument of healing and loving me. I am going to share some of those shots with you here. I hope you enjoy them and see the Magnificent Beauty of Our God, and even, the God of All Laughter, smiling down on you as He did on me today. This is how God is loving me back to life right now. How about you? How do you find Him loving on you, healing you, encouraging you, comforting you in your losses and your struggles? Because He is you know. 

I love to look around me and be surprised to find Him looking back at me!  Do you see Him over there - spreading His beauty out for you to see?  Do you see Him waving to you in the branches of that gorgeous tree swaying in the wind? Do you feel His kiss on your cheek in the warmth of the noonday sun? Do you hear Him singing to you in the music that is winding itself around you everywhere?  Do you hear Him, now?  He's singing a love song over you today.  He's saying, "I'm with you in it all...don't be afraid...I have you covered...I am the Maker of the wind and the stars and the sea...they all know Me and answer when I call.  Trust Me.  Run to Me.  I love you more than all..."

"...and to my listening ears, all nature sings..."

"and round me rings the music of the spheres."

"The morning light, the lily white,
declare the Maker's praise..."

"I rest me in the thought, of rocks and trees,
of skies and seas, His hand the wonders wrought."

"This is My Father's world - O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet." -

(All of the above captions taken from one of my favorite hymns,
"This is My Father's World, by Maltbie D. Babcock, 1858-1901)

This is just a funny picture of a gnarled old tree that, if you look real closely,
you can see eyes looking back at you!
I do believe I even see a wink!!
I love the quirky things I see in nature that make me think
God must have a sense of humor!

"Just another quirky picture that appealed to my sense of humor!
Made me think of the truth that God writes his loves letters to us all the time -
but He doesn't use straight lines...!

Barbie...

My two little granddaughters were visiting this weekend. They love to curl up on my bed in the morning and settle in for tickles and giggles and stories to tell. I don't know who likes it more - me or them! This past time, I watched as my seven year old played with one of her latest Barbie dolls - a birthday present from her grandfather. Her sister, at age eleven, is beginning to question the impossible standard that she sees embodied in Barbie. With a clear and honest observation of the contradiction between these dolls and what she sees all around her, she tells me flatly, "I don't get it. Nobody looks like that!" This little girl is growing up! I imagine to myself, what would Barbie say, if she could climb out of her plastic body, move her plastic lips and tell us what she thinks of her world. It might go something like this.

Would you stop looking at me, already? I hate the way people are constantly gawking at me. Little girls want to grow up to be just like me. Little boys hope they get to marry their own 'Barbie Doll' some day. Let me tell you, it is no picnic being Barbie! For over 50 years now, I haven't had a decent meal, EVER! If I gain an ounce, I've been told - I'm out of a job. And I cannot afford to be out of a job. Do you realize how much money it takes to dress like this? I set the standard, they say. Everyone wants to look like me. For my entire life, I haven't been able to age a day. That's right. No fat, no wrinkles, no laugh lines, no grey hair...No life. I wonder what it's like to laugh so hard your belly hurts. To smile so often, your face gets lines? To cry when it hurts instead of pretending it never does? To know that even when you are old and grey, you are loved by your Creator? To know that it's OK to admit you're not perfect. You don't have to be. God loves you just the way you are. I can't imagine that kind of freedom. Don't ever trade it for a cheap imitation.

You know what I wish? I wish I could trade places with YOU. I would do it in a minute. Just for the chance to be real...


Scripture Reference: Psalm 139: 14 "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."