wonder-fall

photo from Southern Living

Although the actual calendar day to mark the beginning of Fall is 20 days away, it is already starting to feel a little more like my favorite season around here. The temperatures are dipping and the breeze is picking up. Have you ever noticed you can smell fall? Yes, smell fall. That's one of my favorite parts. My other favorite part is the colors. Oh the colors! The ginkgo tree above is one of the most brilliant trees during fall. We had them all around our college campus and I do not think I had ever seen one before then. At least, I had not seen them the way that I see them now. They are gorgeous!

For now I will force myself to spend the next few days enjoying what Summer has to offer, but I am anxious for all the joys of Fall too. I am thankful we live in a place where the seasons can be enjoyed individually and do not feel all the same.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

This post is linked up at The Inspired Room's Get Inspired for Fall Nesting Party!

Wonderful Grateful

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express.
-- Romans 8:26

It has been several years now that I have received a verse with a little devotional thought in my email everyday. When I worked in an office everyday, it was one of the first things I read each morning. Nowadays, I sometimes delete the email without reading the scripture. I am glad I opened and read today's verse from Heartlight above. This one hit me hard this morning and needed to read it again.

There are things Jacob and I have been praying for lately and sometimes we just do not know what to say. He knows though. I am so very thankful for a God who created a way to fill that gap between my feeble, finite thoughts and His infinite power.

What wonderful aspect of God has impressed you lately? I am curious, so leave a comment telling me how God has revealed Himself to you in recent days.

image taken by Yours Truly on a recent escape to Dauphin Island, AL

Wonderful Wisdom

"This is what the Lord says:

'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom,

Let not the strong man boast of his strength,

Let not the rich man boast of his riches,

but let him who boasts boast about this:

that he understands and knows me,

that I am the Lord who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight'

declares the Lord. "

Jeremiah 9:23 -24

Lately I have had some issues with my blog and the purpose for it. Originally, I claimed that it was to get acquainted with the blogging world so as to introduce my sister and her home business. What I didn't claim was that around that same time my grief counselor suggested that I start journaling to relieve the myriad of emotions pinned up inside my head and heart. This posed a bit of a challenge for me. I have never been a big journaler and knew that I would fail myself again if I resorted to pencil and a bound stack of blank paper.

In comes the blog. I had always found blogs somewhat baffling. Why would you want to display your life, your thoughts, even you out there in the never, neverland of the internet? I mean, Facebook, that's fine. It's keeping up with people you know, right? But a blog? Why in the world would you do that?

Well, I found some people I actually knew who had blogs and I conceded. Their backgrounds were so cute and you can stay connected with people you know other than on Facebook. (Go figure, right?)

So, the blogging obsession began. First, it was a story about something little that happened. A funny story that would be worth remembering. And while I wanted to do what my counselor had suggested, I wasn't quite ready to open my heart and my it a true blog-ary. You know with that whole, "Dear Diary, today I...." feel. No, so I thought I would just blog about what I was doing around the house. That way there would be no negative for others' to bear. No, there was enough of that and I needed to know how to deal with those feelings on my own without involving others. That was the whole point of journaling - not pulling others down with my negative thoughts and to release some things that I wanted to tell those that I could no longer talk to.

Well, over the last few weeks, I have felt a nagging at my heart. We are not talking about a gentle pull on my heartstrings. This was more like an elephant swinging from the ropes of my heart making it extremely heavy. As I looked back over the things that I had been blogging about, that's just what they were things. Not many people, not many relationships, not much faith. Just things. It made me sick.

I had been boasting about the "rare and beautiful treasures" that filled our home. And though that they are, there is way more to it. I realized last night, after reading the verse above, that in boasting about those things, I was really wanting to boast about my parents, about how much I miss them, about how when I look at all of those things I see them. You see, those things are not just things to me, they are memories and stories trapped in physical vessels. Those things are not so important to me as what they represent.

My heart has been screaming to tell their story and to boast about how they instilled in me, my sister, my brothers a frugal mind. To boast about how they taught us that the stove is not just a place to cook, but that your children can remember it as the place where you met and kissed and the world stopped for a minute when you saw your spouse for the first time in eight hours. To boast about the white cabinet and how it belonged to my mom's grandmother who took her to church and taught her about God. To boast about how they taught us that the table is not just a piece of furniture, but a place for the family to gather and share time together. To boast about Daddy and how he tried to rise above his early life circumstances and persevered to make a better life for us. To boast about how they taught us that food is not just food, but a blessing from God that should be savored and appreciated.

You see, I don't really want to boast about things, but I want to boast about what those things represent. Love. Good Stewardship. Gratefulness. Of those I am "proud to be in the possession of."

Isn't it wonderful how God provides what we need when we need it? From the food we put in our mouths, to the money in our pockets, to the verses of His word that we read?

last definition taken from dictionary.com

another wonderful wednesday

"But because of his great love for us, God,
who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in our transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
in order that in the coming ages he might
show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:4-7

For Love. He chose the way of the cross where mercy triumphs over justice because of love.

The Shack
by Wm. Paul Young

Wonderful Wednesday

Well, my goal for this week is to blog more than just on Wednesday.

This past weekend we headed out of town to visit hubby's brother and sister-in-law in Atlanta. We had a fabulously long weekend just hanging out with them and their family. We went tubing down a river, we ate ribs, and we played baseball. We had good times.

I am amazed by them. They do not know this but I talk about them all the time in Bible class and how their faith amazes me. By the end of this year, they will have gone from a childless, fairly fresh-out-of-college couple to having three children. They spent the latter months of 2008 preparing to become foster parents and in January of this year two of the sweetest boys were placed in their home. Then, in April they found out they were expecting their first child. They are amazing parents and I admire them so much for how they are allowing God to work through them.

Today is a BIG day in their world. The future of those two sweet boys will be determined which will in turn determine the future of brother and sister-in-law. A very BIG day indeed.

I cannot help but be reminded of having faith like a child when I think of them. They are following their father's will wherever it leads them....and I believe they will move mountains.

"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a child like this on my name welcomes me." - Matthew 18:2-5

I hope their Wednesday is Wonderful!

How wonderful is it that we get to approach the throne of God in prayer? We get to come into His presence and he asks us to do it boldly and with confidence. Ha!

"In Him and though faith in Him we may approach God
with freedom and confidence." Ephesians 3:12

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Something dawned on me in Bible class this past Sunday....my parents used to pray for me fervently. Now, we do not have that...especially our younger brother. We all need prayer, but he really needs it right now. It is even more up to us to approach God on His behalf to help him because our dad is no longer here pouring his heartache out to our heavenly Father. Then, something else hit me. There are lots of people who have no parents praying on behalf of them. I have heard that parenting is the hardest thing you can do and then again it is the thing that can draw you the closest to God. You have to take your petitions to Him because you realize you are not in control. God is. I know God has great things planned for my brother. I pray that Jonathan will be able to see that. I understand that I probably will not enter God's throne room with the same humility and fervor that my father did. He knew he could do nothing and that God could do far more than he asked. I cannot be afraid to go to God on His behalf - God wants me to come talk to Him about it and everything else for that matter! How wonderful is that?

wuhn-der-fuhl

Here's the definition of wonderful according to dictionary.com to get the gears going.

–adjective
1. excellent; great; marvelous: We all had a wonderful weekend.
2. of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing: The storm was wonderful to behold.

You can almost (work with me here) insert God for the word wonderful. Think about it.

Be back in a bit with more.

EDIT:

Okay, I am back with more. I have had this song stuck in my head pretty much all week. We sing it in worship service frequently and it is one of my favorites. Wonderful and merciful truly describe our God. The most wonderful part is in bold.

Wonderful, merciful Savior
Precious Redeemer and Friend
Who would have thought that a Lamb
Could rescue the souls of men
Could rescue the souls of men

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost the way
Oh, we hopelessly lost the way

You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

Almighty, infinite Father
Faithfully loving Your own
Here in our weakness
You find us
Falling before Your throne
Oh, we're falling before Your throne

© 1989 Word Music / ASCAP / Dayspring Music / BMI / All rights reserved

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 1:29