Senses

A couple days ago I decided to go for a bike ride after work. It was one of those days that had been long and tiring. I didn't really feel like riding, but knew it would be good. After 9 hours on your feet, sometimes exercise of a different form, makes your tired legs feel better. I didn't really have much time, but I put a few books in my backpack to return at the library and set off.

Usually when I ride I take my iPod along. I did the same this time, but decided that I didn't feel like using it. You know those days when your senses just seem to be heightened? We've all had times like that. Last Wednesday was one of them for me. It seemed like my eyes, ears, and nose could barely keep up with everything they were taking in.

As I leave the complex where I live, there is a group of kids that are always playing outside. They were there, just like clockwork, laughing, shouting, cheering, mocking, singing, all of the things that kids do with each other on a late summer evening when they're soaking up the last of the warm weather.

Down the block there was a man pushing a lawn mower. There are few smells I like more than fresh-cut grass.

A block further, I found a father and son laughing as they rode their bikes in the other direction. It's not very often that one sees a father and teenage son just spending time together, but it's refreshing to see.

On the way to the library there's a 4-way stop that's a bit annoying to get through. There's a shortcut through a school parking lot, that I like to use. I still have to cross the same busy road, but there is traffic from only 2 directions rather than 4. So there I stood, straddling my bike, waiting for the traffic to clear. After I waited a couple minutes, a big white truck on a lift kit with a roaring muffler rolled to a stop in front of me. The diesel fuel was noxious and the muffler grumbled so loud it was hard to hear myself think. He sat there in the middle of the road like he was turning into the school parking lot. I moved over to be sure I didn't get run over and waited. There was no oncoming traffick, but still he didn't turn. I looked up to see if his turn signal was on and finally looked up at the cab. He was waiving for me to go. Here I had been thinking he was paying little attention, only to realize that he had stopped a line of traffick to let me through. A night in shining white armor?

As I cut behind the grocery store, the odor of the newly sealed asphalt was so strong it nearly burned my eyes. I'm pretty sure the gummy tar left some residue on my tires as I squished across the parking lot.

Just as I was thinking about the variety of things that I had smelled in just a short ride, I nearly spilled my graham crackers (that's a polite term for losing your lunch, for those of you that don't know my cousin Mary:) as I rode past a wall of dumpsters. Go figure. I'm sure a grocery store can work up a pretty good stink when they throw out expired wares.

The next thing I smelled was high on my list of favorites. Books. Old books. New books. Used books. My nose is happy every time I walk into the library. The only thing better is Barnes and Noble where they combine 2 favorites, books and coffee.

On the way home, there were some leaves blowing across the road. I don't know why. Fall has not fallen. Few leaves have even turned. Maybe they were there just for me and my olfactory delight. If they would have been burning, I would have had to slow down to take it in longer. Stop and smell the roses.......stop and smell the burning leaves.

Finally, I got home, put my bike away and headed out again for a take-out hawaiian pizza at B. Antonio's. (Our church's school was having a fund-raiser, so I had to do my part:) Mmmmmmm.....what better way to top off the afternoon than with ham, pineapple, bacon, and cheese?

Sometimes all it takes is the simple things to take your mind off a less than perfect day. God knew what he was doing when he gave us multiple senses. I tend to use them without consideing their value. Every once in a while, it's good to be reminded.

Help

I could use your help praying for several people I know. Some of the situations are pretty sensitive. Some would just feel conspicuous if they were mentioned by name. Let it suffice to say, I can quickly list off unneccessary drama, illness, marriages in need of Divine Intervention, parents hurting terribly for their adult children, big decisions to be made, and people just plain hurting. The list is a mile long and probably none of us need to walk a mile to find the same situations in or near each of our own lives. Some days are easier than others. Some days you just need to let people know you could use your help. Today it's not so much me that needs the help but lots of people I care about. So......thanks in advance.

Psalm 59:16-17
16 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.
17 O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

Salsa

This past week while at work I got a call from someone at one of ONE's other offices. She said there was a delivery there for me. Since I was obviously not at the same place, she'd send it to the surgery center where I work. I was so confused. The person on the phone did not identify herself or her location. I only knew it was the southwest office because the caller ID told me. When asked if it was personal or for the surgery center, she said personal and mumbled the word cousin. Now, my dad's cousin also works at ONE. She has a bit of an ornery streak in her sometimes, so I figured it was from her. The rest of the afternoon, I was looking over my shoulder, but no delivery ever came.

Tuesday morning I got up and swam at the Y before work. I even had time to go to Panera for a souffle' and some time for devotions. It was a good start and I was determined to have a good day at work. (Let it suffice to say that was tough a couple days this last week.) After about a half an hour, someone asked if I had gotten my bag at the front desk. Bag? What bag? Oh! The delivery! I walked up front, still perplexed. Here's what I found.

Several of my co-workers walked up and said, "OH! You got a candle! Who's it from? It's not even your birthday!" Nope, it's not a candle, it's salsa from my lovely cousin Heather. I was the lucky winner on her blog. How lucky am I?! It made my day! Look closer. Not only did a get a jar of homemade salsa, there's chocolate. How can a girl wrong with so much chocolate?

Now really, is salsa really that big of a deal? No. It's the thought. How many people get a homemade jar of salsa (with chocolate) packaged in a cute bag delivered to them at work? Not only was it delivered, but poor Donovan went to the Southwest office first and then brought it to the surgery center. Heather said he had appointments all over town, but still......it's a 20-30 minute drive depending on the traffic. I knew I had won, but expected to get it in the mail. That would have been fun all by itself, but this just made it that much better.

Apparently I'm pretty easy to please. Sure, big expensive gifts are sometimes nice, but really the small, thoughtful ones mean so much more. It really made my day. The rest of the week was a tough one. If that bright spot hadn't been there, the week would have felt like more of a total bust.

Thanks again, Heather and Donovan. Hopefully it works out to actually get to see you next time. I'm looking forward to breaking into the salsa with some chips and a good movie sometime in the future!

Self-Consciousness

Come unto Me." Matthew 11:28

God means us to live a fully-orbed life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside, and we tumble into a way of introspection which we thought had gone. Self-consciousness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of the life in God, and self-consciousness continually produces wrestling. Self-consciousness is not sin; it may be produced by a nervous temperament or by a sudden dumping down into new circumstances. It is never God's will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs rest in Him must be cured at once, and it is not cured by being ignored, but by coming to Jesus Christ. If we come to Him and ask Him to produce Christ-consciousness, He will always do it until we learn to abide in Him.

Never allow the dividing up of your life in Christ to remain without facing it. Beware of leakage, of the dividing up of your life by the influence of friends or of circumstances; beware of anything that is going to split up your oneness with Him and make you see yourself separately. Nothing is so important as to keep right spiritually. The great solution is the simple one - "Come unto Me." The depth of our reality, intellectually, morally and spiritually, is tested by these words. In every degree in which we are not real, we will dispute rather than come.


This was the August 19th entry from My Utmost for His Highest. It's been on my mind a lot the last week. There have been times in the past that I kept up with Chambers' devotional for a year at a time or at least pretty regularly. I can't say that I've been so diligent in the last while. That in itself isn't bad, but I honestly can't say that I've been consistent with studying the Word the last several months. Whether it's with the guidance of some sort of devotional, studying a theme or book of the Bible on your own, or just opening It and reading every day, I'm convinced that it's imperative to spend time in the Word every day.

The above paragraph sounds good. I believe what I said. I mean what I said. I've not been living what I said. My brother and I have talked several times before about how much we enjoy Utmost. Oswald Chambers is deep. There is a more recently edited version that is slightly easier to read. Being a lover of words, I like the original version. Many times as I've read it, I've been amazed at the fact that a particular day's entry appears to have been written just for me. That was once again the case on the 19th of August. I've not been spending the time in the Word that I should. My relationship with God has been coasting, which always translates to skidding backward.

The above entry was a good smack in the head. I needed it. It's easy to come up with many excuses for the leakage that Chambers mentions. I like that description. It makes sense. It's true, what he says, that there is nothing more important than keeping right spiritually. Coming up with a myriad of reasons for allowing the leakage, or not even noticing the early stages of the trickle that quickly become a hemorrhage would be easy to do. It's a slippery slope to be avoided. I knew I was skidding a bit, but probably not being honest with myself about the current status. Reading this entry brought things back into perspective. Repairing the leak is not always easy. It is, however, quite simple. There's not a complicated formula to be followed. It's time to shore up the leak and move on.

What a good weekend!

I had such a rejuvenatinng weekend. I just realized, though, that before I say anything about that, I need to add the pix from the 4th of July that I forgot to post a couple weeks ago.

That's my "little" brother fishing on the end of the dock. It's been a pretty dry summer. As a result it took him over an hour to find a worm. I think he maybe gave up and just used a lure. heheh.....he took some ribbing over that! The kayaks my aunt and uncle have been storing at Grandma's are providing hours of fun this summer!
This was the first of a couple races. The course goes around the neighbor's buoy and back. The first one past the dock is the winner. I love the bright colors in this pic. From far to near, the kayakers are Luke Eichorn(one of my cousins), Matt (my brother), Joel Eichorn (another cousin), and Mindy(my sister in law).
Matt won! But it wasn't without some real grit and determination! The next pic shows my mom grilling. Note there are a few after. In all of them the women are hard at work. Isn't this a holiday? A day of rest? Just wait until you see the men hard at work as well.

Notice the women had two grills going to feed everyone. Vicki and Fran are doing a good job of setting out the rest of the non-grilled items.

And...........as promised.....the men at work!

Doesn't it look like Matt's asking for another drink?

Hahaha....it was a good day, but it cracked me up to watch lunch being prepared. I always thought grilling was looked at as men's work. Apparently not so much.

This last weekend was a good one. I went to my parent's in Michigan to enjoy more time at the lake. How could you not want more of what's in the pix above? There weren't so many people, but it was nice to relax.

Friday evening we enjoyed watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I was definitely impressed with the detail and precision that went into such a show! I had to wonder, though, about all of the talk of harmony and unity, thoughts of China taking steps toward opening their doors to the world. At the same time they didn't allow Joey Cheek's visa because of his stance on what's going on in Darfur and China's involvement. I need to educate myself about the whole thing a bit more, but it smacks of hypocrisy a bit. Also, I was chatting online this evening with a friend who's working on the Africa Mercy. She said that she loved the opening ceremony, but was also bothered by the expense of it all. One of the Liberian translators on the ship pointed out that Liberia could be rebuilt for the cost of the opening ceremony. Hmmmm...food for thought.

Saturday we slept in, ate a yummy breakfast, hung out by the lake, reading and resting, and then had some fresh sweet corn and burgers on the grill. What a restful day!

This afternoon after church my sister, Laura, and her husband Jeremy rode their cycle up from Goshen. We spent the afternoon at the lake getting sun and kayaking.

I just love time with family and rejuvenation at the lake. There's nothing like time spent near water to just make things seem right in the world. Not all is right, but it feels a little closer after a rejuvenating day.

While there are issues with some of the things going on in China, I still love the Olympics. I LOVE them! That same friend on the AFM said she'll take the Olympics over sleep any day. I agree! I'm looking forward to the next two weeks!

Time to catch up

So I'm finally getting back at it. The last month or so has been busier than I expected. Needless to say, I haven't taken much time to blog. The first week of the month I spent with family. Matt and Mindy, my brother and sister-in-law were in Michigan where we grew up for a week of vacation. It was fun to spend time with them and catch up. Twice a year is definitely not enough! I miss them a lot. Not all of us went both directions, but two of the days included riding the Kal-Haven Trail. The sunset pictures in this post were taken off the lighthouse pier in South Haven. There will be more pix from the 4th of July another day.

Two of my very favorite people!

I like the cloud in this one. It looks like it's at the beginning of a road wandering off to who know's where. Maybe the road they take when they ride off in the sun set, literally.

This water lilly is in the lake just off the dock at my Grandma's house. Some see weeds, some see beauty. The lilly pads may grow a bit faster than desired, but the flowers sure are beautiful! For me there aren't many things more entrancing than watching light dance on water.

The following weekend I spent some time at my sister's house watching girlie movies and enjoying some DeBrand's (notice this link is brown for the chocolate:) If you like chocolate and have never had DeBrand's, you're missing out, let me tell ya!

This last week, my mom bought herself a new knee (refer to previous post). She told me on Saturday that the pain afterward was worse than birthing me. Granted, I was only 5lb. 13oz. but I was her first, so I'm sure it was no picnic. I'm happy to say it's much better now. She's home and recovering nicely. This last weekend I got to go be nurse, cook, gardener, physical therapist, and dictator. That last description was hers. I think deep down, she appreciated it, but she came as close as my mom will to cussing at me once or twice when I was helping her with the physical therapy. I called her today to check in. When I called today, she said she hadn't done her exercises this morning because she had to go to the hospital for routine post-op blood work, and then to see a friend at the doctor's office. I told her I'd give her a reprieve, but she better do them after lunch. She just laughed and said, "I thought you went back to Fort Wayne". She was quickly reminded that if she doesn't want my "encouragement" she should not answer her phone;) I'm glad to know her pain is better, and she's actually moving very well.

I'm going to end on a pretty sad note. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the day we, as crew on the Africa Mercy, lost our mate, Colin. He drowned in the rip currents off the Liberian beach just 2 days before his 22nd birthday. I didn't know him well, but I had friends who did, one in particular who was at the beach with him that day. Would you please keep his family and those he left behind in your prayers?

Tell you what. That is a sad note, but I'm not going to end there. If you read this post and respond before I leave for work tomorrow, I'll send you a sample from DeBrand's. Your comment needs to include your favorite kind of chocolate! (This is really just an excuse for me to go to DeBrand's, don't be fooled!!! hahaha)

Don't give up on me!

This is going to be a super short post. Don't give up on me, all 3 of you that read this blog! Somehow between work and trips out of town, life has gotten busier than I expected in July. I have a few things to add, it's just not going to be for a few more days!