Sunshine On My Shoulders

LOVE & PAINTBRUSHES... Yard Art with a Message

   

Yard art with a message... from MY Man... to me! Knowing how I look forward to Houston's early springtime wildflowers, he brings Indian paintbrushes for me each and every year... as these are the "first bloom" of the legendary Texas flowers, blending later with bluebonnets. And he always has a creative presentation.

 
This is bouquet #38... having received one each spring of the 38 years we have been married.

NOW... is that romantic, or WHAT???

New Life

 

SPRING brings new life:

• the redbud tree in my front yard in full blossom
• bountiful appearance of bees and butterflies, the life-giving "gatherers"  and "collectors" of pollen... with the pollen covering everything (ah-choo!!!)
• a vase of flowering Indian paintbrushes gracing my kitchen windowsill (MY MAN has brought me the first of the season every year since we've been married... 38 years of paintbrushes!)
• signature Texas bluebonnets splendidly sprouting along the roadsides
• blooming of azaleas, ablaze in Houston landscapes
• homecoming of birds to my feeders... an animated potpourri of finches, cardinals, jays, sparrows, doves, woodpeckers, mockingbirds... hungrily foraging for life-sustaining food
• fragrances... sweet, flowering springtime smells wafting in the air
• transformations of yards, patios, and gardens with prunings, plantings, and plowing  

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."  ~ Song of Solomon 2:12

 

CHRIST brings new life:

• assurance, hope, expectation... of HEAVEN to come... eternal life
• a clear conscience... living forgiven
• desire to spread/broadcast the GOOD NEWS
• desire to meet together with God's people... with benefits of growth and genuine fellowship
• hunger for the life-sustaining bread of life... God's WORD... accompanied by spiritual growth... a spiritual photosynthesis
• change in our heart's "want to"... with a new desire to prune our lifestyle, attitudes & thinking to please Jesus... to line up with principles of God's WORD
• growing understanding of being "accepted in the Beloved"... then an ability to accept others with that same love
• infusions of God's life-giving GRACE... and JOY... and PEACE
• living a life that bears godly fruit... while growing in GRACE

" I (Jesus Christ) am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  ~ John 10:10b 

 

Genuine or Fake?

 I have enjoyed this sweet little cactus, a gift from My Man, for many weeks. Seeming a little strange that the cactus was growing without the red flower changing...

My Man examined it carefully, only to discover that... he had been duped! The flower was made of straw... and was applied with a glob of glue. Naively, he trusted that his purchase was a genuine, flowering cactus.

So many things in life turn out being a fake. They look lovely... we are drawn toward them... only to be disappointed or disillusioned... afraid to trust again.

Sometimes we perceive God that way. He let us down... He cannot be trusted. Because of presuppositions concerning Him from our childhood years, and perceptions from negative things that happen in life... we may turn our hearts away from Him.

The reality is... when we do not trust God... we are the ones who have been duped... as we do not really know Him. We assume we do... but it is not the genuine God of Scripture... it has become a fake god of our own making.

The God of Scripture is the real thing. And when we know Him... we can trust Him! How do we accurately know Him? By consistently spending time reading and studying His Word... His entire Word... and then choosing to obediently breathe close to His heart.

That little cactus with the fake flower... reminding me of a real thing... a genuine God of love. 

 

***** One of the best Bible Studies, taking you through Scripture, where you learn to know and trust the real God, is -  Lord, I Want to Know You: A Devotional Study on the Names of God.

As the fog lifts...

This morning as my husband and I watched the morning Houston fog dissipate, I realized, for the first time in days, the drug-induced "fog" in my mind was also beginning to lift. I feel like George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life," when he laments, "I want to live again!"

When you go through a period of illness or disability, it seems that every conversation focuses on "How do you feel?" That's the way it must be, and questions come from loving, caring hearts... but I am so tired of talking about how I feel!

I want to think of other things. So today... I am.

I am thinking of:

• MY MAN - Who through 38 years of married life, has loved and cared for me, "For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health." He had me play his song for me this morning... Celtic Thunder singing "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)". Ahhh... brought tears to my eyes... how I love MY MAN.
• MY NEW BOOK - Yep. Today I'm going to start it! Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.
• MY NEW DREAM - When I return to India... taking a ministry trip to Nepal with my friend, Sue, who just returned from there... and then planted that desire in me to go back with her! (And prompted me to order MY NEW BOOK.)
• MY CHURCH FAMILY - Expressions of their love abound... lovely cards, flowers, comforting, nourishing soups and casseroles... and TREAT cupcakes!.. Now... how blessed can a gal be? "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee..." ~ Deut. 28:2
• MY FAITHFUL GOD - Who "Giveth more grace... He giveth and giveth and giveth again."

SO... tweaking the words of a cute little monster movie... GO AWAY BAD FOG... BOO!!!