Reflection

My best self

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. ~e.e. cummings

How often I have stood in the meadow and gazed at this beloved view. It is part of me, I consider myself part owner anyway, having been blessed enough to have grown up near Yosemite. We went there every year. How grateful I continue to be for my parents, who instilled in me a deep love and appreciation of nature. Those memories have carried me through many tough times. I can’t help but smile when I think of all those trips……so thrilled at the first view of those magnificent cliffs. Sometimes, unable to contain our excitement, we would pull over and run outside just to get a whiff of the sweet pine-air.
 
I have always found my best self close to nature. I really become the person I most want to be. I become at ease and the self confidence that alludes me nearly all of the time, comes to life in it. Much of the time I am ill at ease in the world, never sure of my place in it. But there, standing in a meadow, or on the shore listening to the crash of the waves, my best me comes out. I like myself there. Nature beckons me, invites me to be a part of it…..asking nothing in return except to come and enjoy.
 
Feel the peace of it, relax in it, and thank God for His marvelous creation.
 
Nature itself glorifies God as nothing else can. People many times fail to do that, but nature never does.
 
“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther
 
Stroll over to Moonboat Cafe and see the post that inspired my own post today……..thank you Cassandra!

New Every Morning

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness………Lamentations 3:22-23
Four days……12 hours long…….working continually……..we made it. This past week we merged two giant factories automation systems and hundreds of programs that make everything work and dealt with the impending disaster that came with it. It was like trying to make fire and oil co-habitate. My part in it was small, but stressful, since factory managers and group leaders were hovering close by. At the worst possible time one of them came up and asked if I needed any help. He must have seen my glazed over look. I was overwhelmed.

Praise God, by the time we all left last night, my area was almost normal. No doubt there were sleepless nights for all involved. I can only praise God for the end of the week. He brought us to the other side, just as He always does.

I am sure there will be glitches, but there are people there working them out. Today is a day of rest for me…….I am meditating on the great old hymn this morning as I anticipate some much needed mental rest for a few days.
Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. “
Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
I love the line about no shadow of turning……..God never changes, and that is the one thing we can always count on.
Hymn written by Thomas Chisolm who died in 1960 at age 94. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 1,200 poems and hymns including O To Be Like Thee and Living for Jesus

When did pop lose its soul?

Is it just me???

Pop music has lost its soul. I was driving to work this morning after a very long stressful week and I needed to hear something that would make me smile…..a feel good CD. I had Simon and Garfunkel in there from awhile back, so I put it in. Instantly I was taken back……..I remembered high school English class….we all had to print out a popular song, read it out loud and then discuss the meaning behind the words….the soul of the song.

I must say, that at 14 I was very innocent. The song I chose was “The Boxer,” by Simon and Garfunkel. Before I read it aloud, I had to ask my Dad what a whore was. That was the closest they got to a bad word in the song lyrics back then.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the “soul” of pop today, with the “soul” of the pop of yesterday. Here are a few snippets I found that frankly, made me sad for where we are today…..

It doesn’t matter if you love him
Or capital h-i-m
Just put your paws up
‘Cause you were born this way, baby Lady Gaga
I got a dirty mind
I got filthy ways
I’m tryna Bath my Ape in your Milky Way
I’m a legend, I’m irreverent
I be reverend Kanye West

Feels so good being bad
There’s no way I’m turning back
Now the pain is for pleasure
‘Cause nothing can measure
Love is great, love is fine. Rihanna
(These were the ones I could write, the others were too foul)
and yesterday….
When you’re weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
I’m on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I would lay me down….
I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.
And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies. Simon and Garfunkel
Ah! Poetry and words that touch the heart and soul.

In my opinion, music, like art and comedy should be universal. Something everyone can share and appreciate. It should inspire emotion, deep feeling, sadness, joy, wonder, longing….the full range of emotions. There is so much beauty, goodness, wonder and love in the world.

It makes me wonder what the fallout is going to be for our youth that fill their heads with this stuff……it is no surprise that so many are depressed and hopeless…..

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

I leave you today with an almost prophetic song. To me this is one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written. If you get a few spare moments, pull it up on Itunes or Pandora and listen to it. Think about where we are today, everyone walking around with their heads bent, texting……plugged in, tuned in and tuned out of the world around them. It will produce some chills I guarantee it!

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
And a special side note of Congratulations to James and Elizabeth on your wedding day today….I wish you much joy and God’s grace to light your way……

From death to life…..

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life;” Romans 6:11-13

I wasn’t going to listen to Romans this morning on the way to work. I thought…..I listened to this last week. I have heard it all before…..But I forgot one very important thing about God’s word. It has staying power, the power of life in it. It never fails to bring life to the hearer. As I listened to the words of Paul again, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I began to get chills up and down my arms.

I was hearing it against the backdrop of everything we have been through these past many months

I got a picture in my mind of impassioned Paul, speaking in front of a courtroom, striding back and forth. One moment Prosecutor of sin, the next brilliant public Defender of the faith, (as if it needed any defending.)

As I listened to the first 6 Chapters the words flowed over me and I reflected on the past 3 days…..that’s where the chills came in. We can go through anything, my friends, because we are a people who have been brought from death to life. That’s how we roll.

That is the reason for the hope that lies within us. That’s the thing that makes it possible to rise up in the morning and do it all again, and with an attitude of hope that no circumstance or person can ever stamp out. That’s the brilliant backdrop, the reality that we can’t see with our eyes, but that we feel with every fiber of our being.

Each one of us knows the truth. We were built to last. Though our bodies are perishing, our God stamp……our spirit, our soul will live on. And one day, we will rise, as He rose, with new bodies. Bodies that can live in God’s world, with Him forever. What a tremendous hope!

 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3

And He is with us now. As I look back on the past few months, I cannot deny God’s hand at work….we have talked about it, Elaine and I. I have stood beside her, helping her to navigate this particular valley of death. That’s what it has felt like anyway.

Dealing with all the stress of a Dad with dementia, one minute angry and accusatory, the next minute apologetic….

His move into a rest home……..

Her Mom’s move in with us…….

Learning to live under the same roof with Alzheimers and everything that goes with it……

The emptying out of their house, which we did ourselves, with the help of some very helpful “angels” to cart off some of the biggest items, finishing only just last Tuesday.

Moving everything left into storage.

And finally, the sale of their home…..I can only say that God has been glorified through it all, because we know the truth of these words……”I will never leave you or forsake you……and He hasn’t…..and He won’t.

And in between all these lines there is the everyday life, the toughest part. Where the nitty-gritty battles are fought day in and day out. The fatigue and stress of living with someone who has lived their whole life through a prism of negativity. The life you escaped from.

I look back in disbelief at what we did……the three of us.

I look ahead with hope, because He showed us again that He will never leave us.

Explaining Light

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
Einstein could explain just about everything about how light works, but he couldn’t explain the source of light itself, where light originally came from…..”And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to (can be detected by) the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light 
Source: Wikipedia
We have all these fancy technical explanations about how light works, but until we know the source of the light itself, we will remain in darkness, no matter how well we can explain the theory.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
I wish for you a sun-dappled path today, and illumination for each situation you encounter. I pray that His healing touch will be a balm to your weary soul and that you will be saturated with His peace. May you feel His grace resting within you, and may you find a quiet place in the sun to rest for a moment as He gives new strength to your bones and joy that touches your heart.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

Remedy for Regret

The way I see it, one of the best ways to minimize regret both now and in the future is to cherish the present.  Nothing makes you feel more acutely the weight and passage of time more than knowing that you weren’t fully living it when you were there. The thing is, it takes time to learn that. I think of times spend with loved ones and I want desperately to get that time back because I know where my mind was back then. Too many times it was distracted……or I was irritated by some small thing.
Or focused on myself. I wish I could go back……redeem it somehow.  
Now that I have reached fifty plus two, time feels like an out of control river rushing under a bridge, and me watching from above. Instead of focusing on what time I still have, I get caught up in time I see already gone. It’s like trying to drive by watching the rear view mirror.

I lose sight of what is still to come, and there is so much more.

I think it is a mistake to think that once you get a certain age, the best years are behind you. Every stage of life is important and necessary and of great value and each season carries it’s own unique lessons. And when I think of eternity, all I see is an ocean of time with an giant expanse of more joy and peace than I can possibly imagine. 

I am determined to live more right here in the present. I confess, this week my focus has been on just getting to the end of the week. I started the week already looking ahead to the weekend…..I wonder now what moments I stole from myself or someone else…….

That is the best way I can think of to let the people in my life, and God know that I truly cherish them……

Right now.

First two pics are from google
Last two were taken of niece Lauryn by her big “Sis”

We Are Blessed….

Help me not to live too fast or too preoccupied Lord, that I miss the beauty in little everyday moments. For these will not come again, and they need to be caught, captured. They are all a reflection of You….each and every little one.

Sometimes just the acknowledgment of these, is a form of prayer that God hears………He writes it down in His book, He takes note. We thank You, Lord for each and every moment you give us. When the gate of our heart and soul swing open to let You in……if only for a moment between breaths…..

 We are blessed…….

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17

It’s All About the Light

 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
Taking great pictures is all about the light. Finding it, chasing it, capturing it. And not just any light either, the right light. I am finding with my photos that either I don’t have enough light or I have too much. Once in a while I get it right on the money, and at this point it is a fluke when I do because I don’t know what I am doing…..yet. Right now I am trying to figure out how to get just the right amount of light in pictures I take at sunset, so they don’t look washed out. 
Jesus talked a lot about light. In fact, He was the light. When we find Him we find everything. We don’t have to chase Him, because He already made the first move. He died so that we could find it, find Him. The Bible says in John 1:4: 
 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
I am so glad I don’t have to run all over the place to find Him. He is right here with me at all times……..When life comes crashing in, I can go to a quiet place and find Him. And when I can’t get to that quiet place, I feel the stillness of His Spirit in my soul. I carry Him around and He allows it, wants it.
That blows my mind.
And He leads me places…….Sometimes He leads me walking. The other day while I was mulling over everything in my photo book, trying to make sense of it all and get my brain to work, I went out for a short walk around the park. I sensed Him saying, “See what you would have missed if you hadn’t come out here?”
Taking a walk is like letting the light in…….but only if you open your eyes to what He wants to show you. I confess, sometimes I have walked and been so upset I haven’t seen a thing.
But I don’t like walks like that, I want the other kind.
Peace in Him, Lori
photo courtesy of public domain pictures

Where we came from

“ Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.” Isaiah  43:18,19
Yesterday I was listening to Glen Beck and he was talking about how we as a nation are in danger of forgetting where we came from, losing our ideals as a country. Those are not his words, but were the gist of what he was talking about. You hear all kinds of talk today about how America is no longer a Christian nation. We have kicked God out of every public arena possible in the name of the first Amendment, which actually was written to protect religion, not limit its expression. But that is another topic.
I don’t know if we could call ourselves a Christian nation any longer, but I do know this. All over this great nation today, there are people gathering for Bible Studies, holding hands around a table, sharing their concerns about their families, work, praying over everything that is in their heart, and sharing their love for God. And not just a few. Thousands upon thousands. All through the week and not just on Sundays. They don’t just call themselves Christians, they courageously live what they believe until it hurts.
This is what my relatives came to America for. They came with hope flaming in their hearts for that freedom, not only to work and make a life for themselves, but to believe and practice without fear. I like to imagine what they felt when they saw the first glimpse of Ellis Island……and our Lady Liberty. Maybe the sun was shining on her, maybe it was dark, but there is no doubt that they saw something in her that our modern eyes could never see.
My Grandmother came over from Russia and almost died on the ship when she was 6 months old. Many years later she met my Grandfather and they bought land in North Dakota. They worked from sun up to sun down. Sometimes my Grandmother took over for my Grandfather at the plow, in place of the beast of burden. And they suffered a great tragedy. Their sweet little Annie was accidentally shot by a foster child at two years of age. My dear Grandfather left the rifle out only once. I believe he took that guilt with him to the grave. When they left for California, they left their farm and all the animals, most of whom they named.
They left Annie’s grave too.
When they got to California, my Grandmother’s relatives didn’t treat her very well. They gave her all the jobs nobody else wanted to do. When my Aunt and Uncle came, they lived in a chicken coop in back of the house. These were strong people, people of character.
They persevered, went to church, raised their families, and eventually started a successful business.
They didn’t believe anyone owed them anything. They knew they would have to sacrifice to get what they wanted. They knew the importance of waiting…..patience. Personal sacrifice.
And they knew that every blessing they received came straight from the Almighty Hand of God.

It is those ideals that I feel America and many Americans are in danger of losing, and not just our youth.
Would anyone you know endure harsh treatment from relatives and live in a chicken coop now? Would I?
It is what I am pondering today.

A few photos…….

These were taken at twilight in Micke Grove Park, Lodi California, where I grew up…….it was just my Dad and I running around, looking for good shots. It was a good evening and a precious memory of just the two of us.

As I walked around in the quiet of twilight, I thought of other times there when I was a kid. Going to the zoo and even then, feeling bad for the little grey fox that paced endlessly.  And years later, evenings spent running there with my then boyfriend. Good memories all……

My Dad, sitting with “The Reader” Downtown

There is something comforting about walking streets you have walked for years…….that familiar bump in the sidewalk, that alleyway with other shops you remember from before…..

And finally, the tree where I lost my first lens cap. Three trips to different stores came up empty. My Dad has taken it upon himself to look for it ever since. It has become a personal challenge to find it…..

I have so much to learn about this camera………and photography in general. I would be grateful for any tips from you pros!

Peace and blessing to you this day, Lori