What does a Tulip Farm say?

A Day at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm 

Thank You Lord for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear...

"Random, purposeless, mindless forces should produce a random, purposeless, mindless cosmos...But that is not what we have!"

- The Truth Project, tour 7

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language 

where their voice is not heard. 

Their line has gone out

through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

Defending and Celebrating Life, a gift from God

Under His Wings team

This year for the Steps for Life, MJ and Bekah and Paul joined up with three of their friends to form a walking team.  Together they were able to raise $4,750 to help the Pregnancy Resource Centers be able to reach out with compassion and truth to those who come into their offices seeking help.  It is an amazing ministry, and we were glad to be able to play a part in helping.  Thank you to all of you who sponsored them and/or prayed for them.  YOU also played a part.  We are the body of Christ, working together.

Isn't the mercy of our Father amazing?  He paid the ransom for sinners like us, adopted us into His family, gave us His Spirit and allows us the joys of working together in events like this to help thousands of people.  Thousands?  Yes.  Think about it.  We do because each of our children are adopted and each of them had birth mothers that had to make a choice to carry them to full term.  If they had made a different choice, they would not be here affecting lives all around them, being the blessings that they are.  And because each of their birthmom's made the choice of life, they do not have to live the rest of their lives with the regret of having killed their child in the womb.  The choice a woman makes when facing an unplanned pregnancy affects her and the child, and many others for the rest of their lives.  Helping even one woman (compassion, practical help, truth), when you consider the ripple effects, can in turn bless hundreds of people.  This team, with your help, and the labors of the volunteers at the Pregnancy Resource Centers, have worked to help many women, and by God's grace, we will continue to do so, which in turn really does affect thousands.  

Here are a few pics from the day for you to enjoy...

Getting ready to walk

After the walk, top fund-raisers were named.  The other team members could not physically be at the walk due to a wedding planned the same day (though they did do a two mile walk a different day), so our kids represented the team when it was announced that they were the NUMBER ONE fundraisers for the 5-12 age category.  Yeah team!  Way to go! Here they are, posing with Larry Gadbaugh, CEO of PRC.

We could not think of a better way to end the day than to take a drive to Salem to visit our friends, the Murray's, who had just given birth the day before to their son Micah John.  My MJ was thrilled to now have a little friend with the same initials as herself...while we chatted, they bonded.  Life is precious, and Micah John is a much prayed for, desired, gift from God.  We were thrilled to get to go celebrate his life with our friends.

What is a day of celebration without ice cream?

I do not think my kids know the answer to that!

Thanks for the flowers

I weeded the front flower bed today, and guess what I found?  Some sweet little flowers that I hadn't planted. 

The undesirables in the beds were weeded out, but the lovely were nurtured and watered with the hope that they will continue to share their beauty. 

Weeding time is almost always meditation time for me (precious time to chew on whatever God is teaching me). I love these quiet times with ample food for thought provided by the activity itself.  Today when I began to notice a number of flowers sown by the wind or some critter in my front beds, I paused and gave thanks to my Father for adding them by His own choice of means.  They made me think of the sweet influences of so many people who love my children and take the time to sow various seeds of godliness into the soil of their hearts.  My children are a large part of the garden of my life, and they are beautiful by God's grace, treasures and joys for sure.  Like the precious flowers found today, I know that I am not the only one planting here so thank you to all of you who help make their lives and mine more beautiful.  And thanks be to God for accepting our planting and watering, and giving the increase.

Deliberately. Intentionally.

Is there anything in particular you want to talk with so and so about?  What is it you want to accomplish?  What would you like to see happen while we are doing x, y, or z?  These are the sorts of questions that predictably come from my husband before we visit with people or go to do something.  I love that about him.  He is deliberate.  He considers discussions and activities ahead of time and chews on how he can make the most of the opportunity at hand. 

Have you seen a garden that has been left untended?  Plants grow, wild and unruly.

Have you seen a garden that has been nurtured and cultivated?  Again plants grow, but instead of displaying a wildness about them, there is beauty and order. 

Life, with its relationships and activities, can be compared to a garden which requires tending in order to produce beauty.  I posted part of this quote from the book What Did You Expect, by Paul David Tripp, the other day on my facebook, but here it is again to encourage us all to live our lives with a harvest mentality...to live with intentionality...to seek to plant seeds with our communications that build up and encourage, and to live lives that reflect and imitate the Master Gardener in all we say and do.

"Every day you harvest relational plants that have come from the seeds of words and actions that you previously planted.  And every day you plant seeds of words and actions that you will one day harvest.  Most of the seeds you plant will be small, but one thousand small seeds that grow up into trees will result in an environment-changing forest." 

Think about that.  Inescapably, we will produce some sort of forest, but what will it look like?  Planting good seed, watering, weeding the undesirables, dividing and transplanting, harvesting fruit, resourcefulness with the fruit -- these are things that do not "just happen."  Good intentions alone are not enough either.  We need to be people who plan our work and work our plan.  And our plan needs to be based in reality, not our imaginations...we need to be people of God's Word which tells us who He is, who we are, what His goals for His creation are, what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil, etc.  When I first started gardening, I worked hard but I did things the way I instinctively thought they should be done...I can tell you my planning and working did not produce the desired results.  Now I read about plants, soil, what is needful, what is harmful, etc...and as I implement what I learn from those who know reality, I increasingly enjoy the view from my window.  Similarly, if and when our plans are lined up with the heart of God which He reveals to us in His Word, and we commit ourselves to working according to His ways, we can go about our life work, empowered by His Spirit, with hope of a plentiful harvest which will both honor the Lord and increase the joy of His people.

I'm still learning about gardening...literally and figuratively.  My husband has been a good example not only in being deliberate in his words and deeds, but in leading our family daily to the only One who can lead the way to a plentiful, joy-filled harvest.

Being allowed to garden alongside the Master is an honor I'm not worthy of.  I've taken His stuff and messed it up repeatedly by dismissing His Word and being wise in my own eyes.  I've insulted Him and dishonored Him and belittled Him over and over again as I've sought to do what I wanted to do, when I wanted to, and how I wanted to. Instead of nurturing what He has given, the foolishness of my own wisdom has often brought about injury and destruction.  What mercy He continually shows to let me have anything at all to do with His creation!  Instead of condemning me as the foolish traitor I truly have been, He sent Jesus to suffer His appropriate wrath in my place so He could justly forgive me and draw me close to Himself.  Amazing!  Humbling! True!

There is much more to joy in Jesus than living by certain principles...the principles of His word are good, but the joy overflows from recognizing ourselves as sinners and Him as the One who saves...the One who at great cost to Himself rescues us.  We're not like gardeners who realize from the lack of beauty in our gardens that a few practices need to change, and God just might be a good source to refer to.  No, it's more like we've been personally entrusted by the Master Gardener with a portion of His property to tend, and we think we know better than Him how to take care of things...we ignore Him and make a mess of His gifts, and it is personal...He comes to evaluate and we're guilty, it is plain for all to see.  We can never repay Him.  All we can do is cry out for mercy.  And it is very good news indeed to find He is rich in mercy. 

God is THE Master, which is reason enough to look to Him, but even better than that, He calls us to the work of tending alongside Him as His very own children.  He not only paid our debt, but He adopted us, gave us His name and a rich inheritance, and has promised to always be with us.  His mercy and patience and love overwhelm me...and move me to want to live wholeheartedly for Him.  Deliberately.  Intentionally.  According to His Word and empowered by His spirit, let us all labor with a harvest mentality for the praise and glory of God who is all-wise, merciful, powerful, loving, just, and perfect in every way.  He is worthy!

Father, be merciful to me, a sinner!

Our family is reading the book of Acts together in our evening devotions. After Jesus' death and resurrection, we find the disciples gathered together, in one accord. They were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, and giving themselves to what?  Prayer and supplication! Now they "get it."  We just plain can not live as faithful friends and representatives of God on this earth without ongoing fellowship with God Himself. 

The disciples, when given to sleep, fled and each in their own way denied Jesus just as He had foretold...they were still loyal to saving their own skin. BUT throughout the book of Acts, when we see them giving themselves humbly to prayer and supplication, we see them promoting the Kingdom of the Living God in both word and deed, empowered by the Holy Spirit...living lives loyal to making much of Jesus, and truly willing to suffer and die for the glory of His name. 

What do we give ourselves to?  There is a reason God tells us to “pray without ceasing”...prayer, or the lack of it, is a pretty big indicator of where our loyalty lies.  But even the presence or absence of prayer doesn’t tell the whole story.

Jesus told us of two men who went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The content of the Pharisee’s prayer showed he was stuffed with self-righteousness, whereas the tax collector’s humble prayer displayed he understood the disparity between his sinful self and the holy God he was talking to.  They both prayed, but only one went away justified.

There are two camps of Bible readers too.  We might picture two men who are Bible scholars, able to quote texts verbatim for hours.  One is argumentative, judgmental, and righteous in his own eyes.  The other is in such awe of Jesus, Who He is and what He has done, that his life begins to look like a little boy who is found walking down the hallway in his daddy’s shoes...in humility and amazement, he imitates Him. 

We may attempt to live by the shall and shall nots of His Word, and we may even give verbal assent to following Him, and show up to church on Sunday, but that alone doesn’t make it clear that our loyalties have shifted from self to Christ.  Jesus tells us there are those who’ve cried out “Lord, Lord” who He will say “I never knew you” to...people who had done things “in His name.” 

I know which camp I want to be in.  And I know from even a quick inventory of my life how I often walk in the wrong camp and am a religious white washed tomb, at heart loving God's gifts of comfort, safety, food, sleep, the esteem of mankind, earthly pleasures, and every other good thing more than the Giver Himself.

"Father, be merciful to me a sinner! Empower me with Your Spirit to want what You want, to do all You put into my hand to do for YOUR glory; slay my plans and make me desire You and Your plans.  I pray for Your Kingdom to come and for Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Do whatever it takes in my life Lord to make me die to self and faithful to You."

Will you join me in making much of Jesus?  A child who walks in his Daddy's shoes knows his Daddy, identifies with him, delights in him, and wants to be like him...and what father isn't honored by such a child?  The child is a happy child and the father is honored.  I KNOW which camp I want to be in...the camp of happy children who honor their Father as they know, identify with, delight in, and imitate Him. 

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" - John Piper

What did you expect?

I've been reading a lot this month, the Gospels, Acts, Dig Down Deep by Josh Harris, Same Kind of Different as Me and What Difference Do it Make, two books by Ron Hall and Denver Moore...and now, this week I started one titled "What Did You Expect? - Redeeming the Realities of Marriage" by Paul David Tripp.   I'm in the 4th chapter of 17 and already it is worth the price of the book.  Perhaps I'll write a review when I'm done,  but for today I just want to highlight his chapter he called "Whose Kingdom?" 

I bought this book totally on a whim off an internet add (Though mostly a planner, I do have a bit of a spontaneous side).  I had read two other books by this author and very much liked them both (War of Words and Age of Opportunity), so I simply wanted to see what he would write about marriage.  Though happy in my marriage, and quite thankful to God for Mike, I do not doubt we have room to grow for our increased joy and for God's glory.  I thought this book might be good for a bit of a tune up, and already Mr. Tripp has given me much to ponder and set to right.

In asking the question "Whose Kingdom?", Mr. Tripp addresses the reality that much marital strife is rooted in the more foundational battle with God over whose kingdom we are committed to serving (our own or His).  We have our dreams and welcome God as the One who can make them happen, and we marry the one we think will help us fulfill our plan.  All looks and feels fine as long as our dream is being realized, but when we are committed to our own dream instead of chasing after God Himself and His plans for our lives, He is gracious in bringing conflict...sometimes severe conflict...not because He doesn't want us to be happy, but because He knows better than we do that happiness that is lasting and satisfying is found in trusting and obeying and enjoying Him and walking in the plans He has for us (His plans are ALWAYS better than the ones we conjur up...He, after all, is infinite in knowledge, power, wisdom, goodness, love, etc...we are finite and sinful...now ask yourself who really is more trustworthy to come up with the best plans for the life He has given you?).  Is it possible to see conflict as a gift from God designed to move us to abandon our plans and to return us to Himself?  Can we stop ourselves the next time coldness begins to enter our relationship with our spouse and ask "whose Kingdom am I serving right now?"

Like a rat in a maze, I've learned this truth over and over again...but it was good to see it in print with such clarity, reminding me once again to commit each day to getting to know my Father better and to be about His business with heart, soul, mind and strength.

A Cross before a Crown

I finally downloaded a few months worth of pictures I had been taking.  Here a just a few:

We think outside the box for birthday desserts.
Why limit yourself to cake? 

MJ wanted apple pie - yum!

Playing at the park with friends.  A fun day!

Bekah was THRILLED to have her young cousin
fall asleep in her arms!

At the zoo with our friend Grace
who I've known from the day she was born...
what a joy she is!  

I'm glad my kids have her around to look up to :-).

Two Lorikeet's picked a fight while on my arm, 

and Grace snapped a picture
of me using my scolding skills
(I am still perfecting these).

And lastly,
a picture of my dear friend Mira and our Friday School kids! 

Every good and perfect gift comes from our Father above.  Sometimes those good gifts bring carefree smiles to our faces, like you see here.  Sometimes those good gifts are like the surgeon's tool cutting sinful inclinations out of our heart's like cancer and it hurts, but in a healing sort of way as we trust Him.  We're told in Ecclesiastes that there are seasons for everything...time to sow, time to reap; time to weep, time to laugh; etc.  As I meditate this week on my Savior submitting Himself to His Father's will perfectly, even unto death, I want more than anything to trust my Father like THAT.  I know He is worthy of my complete trust.  And I know that one day, BECAUSE He is faithful and He has promised to complete the good work He has begun in me, I will see Him face to face and never doubt His Fatherly care again.  But because that day is not here yet, I yearn for Him to do whatever it takes to make me more like Jesus, even if that means fewer carefree smiles and more surgeon tools.  He is risen.  He is risen indeed.  And there was a cross before the crown.