My Father built and dedicated a park.

I was just listening to a Father's Day message by David Platt...he's so passionate about God.  It made me think; He, our Father, planned, created and gave a huge park to the first couple on earth.  They could run and play tag in it all day, drink the clean water from rivers and waterfalls, eat the most lush fruit that ever grew.  They had lots of sunlight to warm them by day and a huge viewing screen of stars and moon by night.  Their own personal zoo and aviary for entertainment.
What ecstacy, what perfection.  But, they traded it all in for One apple...no, it was one-half an apple (they shared).
Back to Platt.  He was describing the beauty of scenery in Arizona, the handwork of our creative God.  That made me think of other beautiful areas of our country that are parks and playgrounds for us.  Not National Parks, which after all used and put boundaries on His creativity, charge a viewing fee and consider it theirs...but the gifts from a loving Father to His children.
I visit these parks and wonders now by internet and television, but still am pleased and in awe of the playgrounds and gifts from my Father.
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate."  Gen. 3:6
                            below is photo of a 3 wk. old robin in nest in the yard a week ago

the night the lights went out in...(north raleigh)

We had a 'thunder-boomer' storm a few nights ago that put our lights out for an hour or so.  Boy, it was dark!  I'm used to some light, somewhere:  nightlights all over the house, street lamps right across from our house, little green light on the DVR...even opening the refrigerator I was faced with a dark cave.  It startled me, even though I knew the electricity was out.
I grabbed a 'torch' as the British say (flashlight) and scouted out some candles.  Ah, yes, romantic and calming, but super inefficient.  We stared at each other for several moments in the dimly lit room, then decided to go to bed early...better than the growing anticipation of beams of light.  It was almost like super-thirst or super-hunger...super yearning for LIGHT. 
As "mama in her kerchief and papa in his cap" had just settled down for a long (summer) nap...Wahla, the lights went on.  And the TV, the stereo player, refrigerator, a/c, dehumidifier...all kicked in.  The house was abuzz (is that a word?) with activity and noises.  Our short respite from modernity was over.

The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts (Proverbs 20:27).

Bumper sticker I saw this morning...

Wag more, Bark less.   cute.

I just finished one of the best books I've ever read...I especially like books that challenge me, more than books that only entertain.  This one CHASING FRANCIS by Ian M. Cron, is an unusual way of compiling a biography; this one is of St. Francis of Assisi.  Of course, it describes some history of the Catholic church and monasteries in the 1100-1200's.  Dry, you say?  Nope, super interesting...wish I'd known the guy personally.  Since I embrace Jesus, and he said he did, we'll probably be pals in the kingdom when I get there.
I bought it on Amazon for only $2.67 plus shipping...great deal.  (Ya gotta love Amazon!)

You know how there's times when we evangelicals are more arrogant than other times?  Ok, I'll speak only for myself...there was a day when I heard some say, "Oh, those Catholics...why don't they take Jesus OFF the cross?".  Maybe you've not heard that, but I have and with dripping piety I've thought or said it also.   This book makes me realize...Yes, the cross is empty now...bare of His body.  But, seeing the icons or jewelry with Him still hanging on the Cross reminds me of some of the price He paid for me.  It causes me to stop a moment and reflect on God giving up His only, perfect Son...of the charges against me erased, of a debt paid that I could never, in a million lifetimes pay...of Grace and Love that I can't even comprehend.  And I'm have renewed gratitude before I go on my way.

Thank You, Lord.

pure food, no substitutes

Here's an article about the suspicions of drinking unpasteurized milk.
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/05/31/raw-milk-drinking-returns/
That makes me wonder, just what IS a pure food?  Is it pure milk when it comes directly out of the...ummm, host?  as in cow, goat, sheep?  how 'bout honey...well, that's not out of a bee, but you get the idea.  Be careful of honey if you're allergic to bee stings.  Don't eat peanuts if...don't eat shellfish if...
I remember monthly trips to my uncle's farm on the edge of town then I was young.  First thing we did was grab an enamel cup and run to the barn for uncle to fill our cup with warm, foamy milk straight out of the cow.  My mother craved the stuff, even though she had been confined to bed as a child with bovine tuberculosis.  Apparently, that disease still is watched in some dairy herds.
Just thought you might be interested.
Would I do it today?  Hmmm, let me think about that.

"Like new born infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation."

1 Peter 2:2

Memorial day

I wonder where my little white Bible is?  When I was quite young, somebody gave me a small white Bible...can't imagine who, since our family didn't attend church during those years.  I kept it until I was in my late twenties, although when I read it, I couldn't understand ANY of it.

Not long after Christ was explained to me and I responded (at age 27) my husband and I drove to Florida.  We stopped at the St. Louis Zoo,( in the heart of the city as I recall)...and our car was robbed while we were watching animals.  It was a sunny Saturday morning, came out of the zoo to find luggage and belongings GONE!  Reported the break-in to police and went on our way.  But it came back into my memory today and I wondered what happened to the white Bible?

Since God's word cannot return to Him as void, (Isaiah 55:11) what did His word accomplish in whomever read that?  or did it just end up in a dumpster?  in any case,  His word is alive and eternal.  Does it live on in the heart of the robber?  or one of his partners?  hm,m,m...hadn't thought about that Bible in all these years.

Today I have many Bibles, of several translations, and thanks to God, I can love and understand the Words.

Water, water...everywhere

Yeah, I know...you missed me.  I've been gone too long; guess life got ahold of me...but, I'm here now.
I have a tendency to believe almost everything I read...and I'm reading 98% of my waking hours.  Just now I found a website while web-cruising that states:  1 in 8 of us on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water.  I love startling statements like that because it causes me to immediately thank my God for all the clean water He lavishes on me each day.  The article goes on to say it takes 24 litres of water to produce one hamburger...does that include the dew on the grass that the cow consumed?  That's 816 oz....or 102 Cups...just for one hamburger.  Maybe that includes hosing down the muddy cow before she enters the slaughter house.  Hm,m,m.
It also says,  today 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets, but many more have access to a cell phone.
It goes on, but you get the idea.  I know, I personally am more conscious of water usage than I used to be.
All this reminds me of a part of NOTES FROM THE TILT-A-WHIRL, ND Wilson.  He says all the water that God created in the beginning is still on earth today...now that's super-recycling.  The icicles I saw last winter might have been moving drops from a waterfall in the Garden of Eden...who knows?  At any rate,  I meditate on all this and conclude, "What an awesome God we have!"
         "...God...who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:  he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields...."  Job 5:8, 9