The Hawk and the Crows

The other day, Bruce and I were sitting on our deck watching a hawk soaring above our backyard. Suddenly, a bunch of crows started harassing the hawk, diving at it, making that annoying noise that they make. The hawk flew around a bit, trying to avoid the harangue of the black birds. And after just a few minutes, I was surprised to watch the hawk give up, and fly like crazy, leaving its territory for the crows to settle.

Hawks are 'raptors', bird of prey, ...with powerful wings, sharp beaks, and powerful deadly talons. They can spot their prey from a lofty perch, or often catch it while flying. With a wingspan of 4 to 4.5 feet, and a body of almost 2 feet in length, the average Red-Tailed Hawk is a tusker compared to the crow. I wondered why the hawk, turned-tail and fled, rather than just fight them off.

Maybe, the hawk was having an identity crisis.

Occasionally, so do I. Sometimes, it seems like I am being 'ambushed' by a proverbial bunch of lousy crows (I'm the majestic hawk ). Expectations flee to doubt, hopes fade to disappointment, and fears settle my territory. I may fly around a bit, thinking they'll leave, but sometimes they are so noisy.

Neil Anderson (Victory Over the Darkness) says, that an individual will never consistently perform or behave higher than he perceives himself to be. At our church, we have a Spiritual Breakthrough Retreat every three months. The key to spiritual breakthrough is knowing our identity. As a believer in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, my identity is in Him; His victory and authority are my victory and authority. When confronted by my enemy, I need to act like a 'raptor'.

The Bible says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7). The Word of God is a tool to that end. Often, specific scripture verses have become my weapon for chasing away the crows and holding the territory God gives me*.

Hawks are a protected species. Crow are pests. And in most states, there's no bag limit on how many crows hunters may kill. I am protected by God Almighty; there's no limit to the power He wields on my behalf.

"...I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like the birds in the sky. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them. Hosea 7:12

*Psalm 5:11-12, Psalm 124:7, Eph. 1:19, Luke 10:19, 20, Malachi 3:17, 4:2

Athlete in Action

A long time family friend, Rachel Frederick, recently returned from a three week trip to Brazil with Athletes In Action. We've had the pleasure of knowing the Fredericks for many years and watching Rachel blossom into a lovely young woman, and a very gifted athlete.

Rachel is a member of the Ohio University women's basketball team, and has received numerous accolades and awards for her athletic ability. She took that talent, along with her faith in Christ, to kids in Brazil, where she was part of a team that played some exhibition games, and ran basketball camps for younger athletes.

She's featured in an article online at Ohiobobcats.com .

In Case You Missed It

Every now and then I'll come across a story on cnn.com that makes me smile. This is one of them. It's not about someone doing a good deed, doesn't contain any drama, and probably has no intrinsic value. It's about a guy who, as a child, imagined he could fly, and did.

Unconventional, yes. Silly, maybe. Certainly dangerous,... but nobody got hurt except for a few rope burns. And while it may seem that this guy doesn't aim very high in his 'dreams', at least he lived his (twice, actually).

Last weekend, Kent Couch ... kissed his wife goodbye, petted his Chihuahua, "settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks..." and then flew 193 miles, aloft for 9 hours until he decided to land just outside of Hells Canyon in Oregon! He concocted a 'flying machine' using 105 helium balloons, some plastic bags filled with water (for ballast) and a GPS in his pocket. He said, "When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind." It crossed mine, a few times, I must admit.

The part of the story that made me smile, though, had to do with a previous 'flight' of another balloon-man, who rose 3 miles above Los Angeles in 1982. A surprised airline pilot radioed the control tower that he had "just passed a guy in a lawn chair." Imagine being in a window seat on that plane :)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/10/flying.lawn.chair.ap/index.html

It Came From Beneath the Earth

Today, I was a husband. Well, I guess technically, the term is 'husbandman'. The definition is "one whose business it is to cultivate the ground. It was one of the first occupations, and was esteemed most honourable ." I'm probably still stretching it a bit, because I wasn't really 'cultivating the ground', I was gardening. Pulling weeds, digging, clipping dead leaves/flowers, feeding the plants, and spreading mulch is more like it. My husband was a husbandman, too. We didn't realize how old we are until at the end of the day, we could hardly move.

Anyhow, one of the things I dislike the most about gardening is worms. I don't like to see them, touch them, or even imagine them crawling around in the ground as I'm digging. I recently read an article about the Jamestown settlement, which said that originally, there were no earthworms in North America, and they likely arrived with the Jamestown colonists, who dumped ballast (European dirt and rocks) from their ships to make room for their tobacco exports. Over the centuries, the little buggers have multiplied and drastically altered the ecosystem.

The colonists brought honeybees, too. The fussy 'American' bees would only pollinate a few species of plants, but European honeybees, it seems, would pollinate anything. While the colonists brought the bees for their honey, the plants they brought with them wouldn't have proliferated without them, and Georgia probably wouldn't be called the Peach State.

Funny how little things can worm their way in unnoticed, but given a chance to grow, can change a whole landscape.

Troubled

I've not been online for a while, because, well, ...I've been off-line. Our ISP had some 'issues' and for almost 48 hours, we couldn't access email or connect to the Internet. A friend of mine sent me this cartoon, which of course I couldn't read till we were back on line, but it seems appropriate nonetheless. It was troubling to me how disturbed I was being 'disconnected'.

The problem started, so they say, with some storms we had last week which damaged phone lines, etc. We have DSL service which is through the phone line. After several hours , outwardly it seemed to be fixed... flashing lights stopped flashing, and unlit lights lit up. But, we still had no connectivity.

After having spent an hour on the phone with Tech support, resetting settings and rebooting and rebooting, it still wasn't resolved. So, my account was flagged as 'trouble'. That word must have great significance in cyber-repair, because I started getting phone calls from 'field technicians' who were replacing equipment on my behalf. And then, suddenly, the 'trouble' was corrected and it was working again. When the 'issues' were resolved, I had lots of catching up to do. Still doin' it.

Final thoughts from a commentary on Life Before The Computer... remember when memory was something that you lost with age, a program was a TV show, a cursor used profanity, a web was a spider's home, a virus was the flu, a hard drive was a long road trip, and a mouse pad was where a mouse lived :-)

Bread of Life

When our daughter, Samantha, was 4 years old, she had Whooping Cough. As an infant she'd had a bad reaction to the first dose of the vaccine, so she couldn't be innoculated with the susequent doses necessary for immunization. It was a very frightening time and took six months for the disease to be completely resolved. It wasn't medically treatable either.

We fervently prayed and prayed that she would be healed, but day after day and night after night she was beseiged with frequent, horrific coughing episodes. I vividly remember asking God, "Where are you? Do something!" I vividly remember His response to me... "I'm right here. And I Am doing something. You just can't see it." As I thought about that, I acknowledged that while I wanted her to be all better right then, she was progressively getting better, week by week. And she didn't die from the disease, which could have happened. I could even picture in my mind's eye, Jesus holding Samantha and gently pushing on her chest as she was gasping for breath.

My attitude changed from disheartened to thankful. My prayers changed from pleas to praise as I recognized I had much to thank Him for.

I was reading a devotional guide this morning which Samantha had reommended to me. The book is Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler, and today's message was centered in Luke 24:30-32. It's the account of two men who had met Jesus on the road to Emmaus, after He had risen from the dead. They were telling Him the disheartening tale... of His death... and didn't realize that He was right there with them. They felt abandoned and bewildered, until they recognized the "Bread of Life" in the breaking of the bread. They had an attitude change, too.

Ann Spangler says,

"We long for tangible evidence of God's love, but we fail to see it, in part because we have not learned to be thankful. It's not just that God likes to be thanked. It's that we need to thank him... Thankfulness opens our eyes to God's faithfulness, which in turn nourishes our faith. No wonder the word "Eucharist," a common name for the Christian commemoration of the Last Supper, comes from a Greek word meaning "thanksgiving". Skipping gratitude is like skipping the meal God has prepared for us. Without it, we merely move on to the next need, felling hungry and empty without the faith to believe that God will sustain us."

When I'm full of gratitude, I see things so differently. It's a pleasant state of mind.

I used to have a little decorative plaque that sat on my desk. It said, "If we pause to think, we'll have cause to thank." Wonder where I put that?

Antiques R Us

In our family room, we have a desk that had been in Bruce's family since he was a little boy. It is a lovely desk, but the surface is marked with some gashes and pock-marks. Bruce told me that as a young boy, he remembers his mom fervently pounding on the desk with a big garden claw. She also performed this same ritual with other wooden furnishings in their home. She wasn't angry or taking out her frustration on the furniture, but purposefully marking the furniture to give it the appearance of an 'antique'.

Antiques are valuable for different reasons. Some are worth money. Some are worth memories.
I redeemed a mirror from the dark corner of my grandma's garage several years ago. It was earmarked to be thrown out because she hadn't used it in years and had replaced it with a new one. However, it was part of the first furniture she had when she was married as a young girl of 17, and it became special to me because of what it had 'been'. It connected me somehow to her, though she had been dead for several years. It now hangs in our foyer, and tho' not pretty to look at, it is a treasure to me.

Antiques are not valuable because they are old, they are valuable because of what they've been through. Furniture that has been 'beaten up' can have scars of character. It's lasted, endured, and remained. There's a testimony that is hidden beneath the marks... a story worth remembering.

Most of us have scars... physical reminders of a wound. We may look at our scars and remember what caused them (usually some sort of pain); but we can also look at our scars and remember that they are wounds that are healed, pain that has been covered over. Some scars are unseen, written on our soul. My scars remind me of specific moments that God intervened in my pain, brought me through a hard situation, comforted me, taught me, and gave me character.

I believe that scars make us valuable. We've all 'gone through' things, perhaps even spent moments feeling abandoned in the dark corners of the garage, perhaps been beaten up with a garden claw... wondering how God was going to redeem the pain. When He does, He leaves us with a reminder that healing, restoration and redemption are part of His nature and His gift to us. HE has them, too.

I saw a desk once, in Williamsburg, VA, that was 'valuable' because George Washington had written upon it. How much more valuable are you and I when God has written upon us, given us a testimony, and left His mark on us?

Blue Bicycles and Other Delights

Sometimes I like to re-read books I read a while ago, not just to refresh my memory, but to get things I may have missed the first time. The second (or third) time around, I'm reading it with a different perspective. Sometimes, re-reading a phrase, but putting the emphasis on a different word gives a new meaning or a fresh insight.

Such a moment occurred many years ago, when I was reading Psalm 37:4 which says, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires." I had once taken that to mean that if I 'delighted' in Him, He'd give me what I wanted. However, as I re-read the verse that day, I understood it to say that He would place His desires in my heart if I let Him. I felt great delight in that, because I trust that His will for me is surely better than mine and greater than I can imagine.

Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God) gives a great example of this. He tells of the time he wanted to give his son a bicycle for his sixth birthday, and found a blue Schwinn which he thought would be perfect. He bought it and hid it the garage, because the boy's birthday was yet a few weeks away. Then, over the next week or two, he found subtle ways to influence his son to think that a bike was a great idea, even suggesting a blue bicycle was the ultimate.

Soon, his son wanted a blue bike more than anything. And it was already in the garage! Blackaby just had to convince his son to ask for it; he did; he got it, and he was delighted! ...Not just because he 'wanted' it, but also because it was a great gift which his dad knew he'd love. His dad didn't trick him into wanting something he'd bought on a whim. His dad knew about six year old boys, he knew about HIS six year old boy, and he knew what would ultimately delight him and be good for him.

Romans 8:26-27 says, "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." Blackaby explains it this:

"What happens when you pray? The Holy Spirit knows what God has "in the garage." It's already there. The Holy Spirit's task is to get you to want it -- to get you to ask for it. What will happen when you ask for things God already wants to give or do? You will always receive it... Because you have asked according to the will of God. When God answers your prayer, He gets the glory and your faith is increased."

I just know my Father has a BIG garage.

Fish and Bread

Sometimes, when reading about people who did extraordinary things, I forget that they are just ordinary people who took a risk or extra-sized their faith. When I read about the heroes of the Bible, I sometimes forget that they were challenged by the same doubts and limitations then, as I am today.

For example, in Psalm 103:1-2, David says, "Praise the LORD, I tell myself; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me." It's as if he's saying that sometimes he forgets... and he has to remind himself who God is and what He has done. And then he recollects God's faithfulness and he remembers His sovereignty.

A while ago, I was reading Mark 6:52. He is referring to Jesus' close friends, who had been with Him for a while and had already witnessed so many extraordinary things that He had done. Mark says, "They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." The "loaves" referred to an event earlier that day, when He fed 5,000+ people with five loaves and two fish. And, I thought, ... how could these guys not understand? Are they dense, or what?? Then a still, small voice in my head said... "YOU do not understand." See, I had just been praying about some things and I was whining... I was doubting that He would intevene in my situations, I was forgetting about the extraordinary things He'd done so many times before in my life... my loaves. I needed to remind myself of them, and remind myself that what he did before, He'd do again. I needed to praise Him. My heart was hardened by discouragement, and my understanding was flawed.

I mention this now, because I found myself in a similar snit this morning. I was fretting over some things which I've fervently taken to prayer, which have not yet been resolved. And that still, small voice reminded me He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He's not a man, that He should lie, and I can trust Him.

Just as David's reflection led him, ...me, too! "As for me -- I, too, will praise the Lord." (Ps. 103:22b)

Butterfly Birthday

I had a wonderful time in St. Louis with Samantha to celebrate her 21st birthday! We spent the afternoon in Historic St. Charles, and had a yummy lunch at along the Missouri River at a small café.

Later that evening, Samantha, Kristen (her co-worker) and I went to dinner and then walked around a nearby mall. They seem to have a fascination in St. Louis with Carousels... every mall we went to had one... not the little coin operated kiddie type, but full-sized, double-decker Merry-Go-Rounds in the middle of the malls!

The next morning, Samantha humored me, and we went to the Butterfly House, located in Faust Park which also featured a Historic Village with restored 19th century buildings, and... a Merry-Go-Round.

The Butterfly House, part of the Botanical Gardens, is a conservatory with literally thousands of butterflies fluttering about. I was fascinated; Samantha was terrified! It was reminiscent of the Hitchcock movie, The Birds, but instead of aggressive birds pecking your eyes out, a myriad of delicate, colorful, gentle butterflies permeate the air and land on your head. There are flowering plants and trees everywhere, and closer inspection reveals that half of the 'flowers' are actually resting butterflies! What a great way to hide from your enemies, ...act like a flower! Or disguise yourself as a scary monster (or a cabbage patch doll).

As we walked the garden path, I repeatedly commented on the exotic colors and variety of the butterflies. Samantha said,... "I feel itchy!" Our perceptions were different, I guess, but I was grateful that she indulged my whim to go there.

The butterfly is symbolic of being 'born again'. It begins life as it hatches from an egg, eats everything it can get its hands on ;-), sheds its skin a few times as it grows, and then is encased in a chrysalis, in which it is transformed. It emerges in glorious freedom as a majestic butterfly... totally changed and looking nothing like the former ground-hugging catapillar. It only takes a minute for the butterfly to emerge from its cocoon, and in a few hours, it can take flight, find a mate, and the whole cycle begins again.

"He supplied... new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king's presence for the rest of his life." Jeremiah 52:33

Bird's Eye View

I grew up within walking distance of Greater Pittsburgh Airport (it wasn’t “International” then). As kids, we would often walk over on summer days to people-watch. I wasn’t overly impressed by watching planes take off and land… I could do that from my front yard. I remember when I was little, an aunt was visiting us for a week, and the first night of her stay, she came running out of her bedroom in the middle of the night screaming, “A plane is crashing into the house!!! Can’t you hear it?” She was alarmed by the noise of a plane landing nearby and thought surely it would hit the house. I was puzzled, because, well, I didn’t “hear” anything, and wondered what she was yelling about. Funny, how you can get used to the roar of a jet engine, and it doesn’t even startle anymore. What we 'get used to' affects our perspective

There was a cemetery near our home, right under the flight path of the aircraft. My dad would always say, ‘Bury me there, so when you fly in and out of Pittsburgh, you can wave at me ;) “. I know he was kidding, but I just waved...

I’m writing this entry from US Airways Express flight 3507, en route to St. Louis, MO to visit Samantha for her 21^st birthday! I won’t be able to post it till I get home, and can access the Internet, but felt like sharing the perspective from ‘up here’. I always look for my childhood home and familiar landmarks, to get my bearings, as I fly over the area in and out of GPIA.

I just saw a FedEx truck travel down a road and stop in front of someone’s house; I know they are about to get a delivery before they do. This got me to thinking that, often times, we are in a situation, and we’re struggling or feeling discouraged, and God’s got the answer on the way… we just can’t see it yet. But soon, the questions are answered, the provision is made, the guidance is delivered, and we breathe again. Soon I’ll be landing, and my perspective will be more limited to what I can ‘see’, but I hope I’ll remember this ‘bird’s eye’ view. There’s always so much more going on in any given situation than I can know.

Singing Prayers

After two weeks in Estes Park, CO, Samantha and her co-worker travelled to St. Louis, MO to get their camp established. The time in Colorado was jam packed with training, but Sam had a chance to perform at the camp 'talent show' with another camp coordinator, Nicole, as the training came to a close. They performed "The Prayer", with a unique arrangement. One of their friends caught it on video, and I uploaded it to YouTube. The video portion quality is a little dark at times, but the sound comes through well. If you'd like you can click the link to watch the Video.

Names

My husband has lots of names for me. Some of them I like. The good ones, the ones that generate a positive reaction from me, reflect admiration or point out my good qualities. Even the silly ones are good because they often evoke a pleasant memory of something we shared, like an inside joke.

I spent some time talking with a friend today who is going through some difficult days. She told me that in the midst of her situation, she's learning more of God as she experiences Him in an area she hadn't walked before, and it's like knowing Him by a new name.

In the Bible, there are many 'names' of God. Some of the names, He called Himself identifying what He wants to be to us (ex: God Almighty in Gen. 17:1). And some of the names identify what He's done, often expressions of how He's met someone in a significant way at a specific time and place.

One that comes to mind is recounted in Genesis 16:13. El-Roeh, the One Who Sees, is a name attributed to God by Hagar, Sarai's slave. She had run away from Sarai, who was making her life somewhat difficult, and she was alone in the desert when God spoke to her. His attention to her gave her the impetus to trust Him enough to obey Him. Hagar's name for God declared gratitude and confidence in a god who saw her, and her plight.

I was reading the book of Ezra in my Bible this morning... Chapter 5 describes some of the opposition the Israelites met when they were trying to rebuild their temple. Near Eastern kings were noted for using spys... men referred to as the "king's eyes" and the "king's ears", and the guys who were making things difficult for the Israelites likely served those roles. However, verse 5 says, "But the eye of their God was watching over...the Jews, and they weren't stopped...", drawing a contrast between the limitations of the earthly kings who depended on men's eyes and ears, and the omniscience of the Heavenly King, who always sees and watches over His people.

My friend told me that she can't see how her situation will be resolved, but she has confidence that the One Who Sees, sees her. Her relationship with God takes on a new dimension, as she knows Him by a new name.

Fleurissant in Florissant

Well, Samantha, arrived in Colorado on Sunday, and in spite of spotty cell phone coverage, we've been able to talk a little bit. For the next 2 weeks, she's in Estes Park, CO training for her summer job as a camp Program Coordinator with Group Workcamps Foundation. And while we're having temperatures in the 80's here, she's been frolicing in the snow for the past 2 days.

It would seem that my previous posting about 'blossoming' was more appropriate than I'd imagined. Her camp assignment for the summer is in Florissant, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis). "Florissant" was originally named by French settlers as "Fleurissant" which means, blossoming flowers! One of the town's original nicknames was Valley of Flowers. Florissant also means 'flourishing' in French, so here's hoping it's even prophetic!!

And speaking of flourishing... my computer's working much better with my new hard drive, and I'm loving my new iPod Nano... both gifts from my darling daughters/sil for Mother's Day!!

American Beauties

The roses have 'blossomed', and their lovely fragrance attests to their presence even before you notice them in the room. I love roses. These 'beauties' were from my daughter, Leah, given to me on Mother's Day and they are still picture-perfect almost a week later.

One of the most special things of my life has been watching our daughters 'blossom'. I don't take any of it for granted, and know that God has a great and special adventure plannned for each of them. Sometimes, it's actually breath-taking to witness them stepping out into unknown territory, and watch them draw from deep within and 'open up' just like a lovely rose.

Samantha leaves tomorrow to go to Colorado for two weeks, and then to parts yet unknown for the rest of the summer, as a Program Coordinator for Group Workcamps Foundation. She's stepping way out of her comfort zone, and trusting in His plan for her personal growth and her personal ministry. I'll miss her lots... but I'm so very, very proud of her and her willingness to expand her horizons.

We were talking at breakfast yesterday about that ambiguous area between a word or promise from God, and its fulfillment. That time between the 'exodus' from Egypt and the planting of our feet in the Promised Land is a precarious place because sometimes the notion of going back to the 'comfortable' fools us into fretting, or settling, and missing the exhilaration of the expedition.

It likely wasn't pleasant camping in the desert, especially without an idea of how long it would last. Why stay here?... let's get going! And why do we have to keep all our livestock for the daily sacrifices... why can't we barbecue some steaks??? It likely wasn't a cruise ship mentality on the ark, either, ...with smelly animals, the same companions day in/day out, constantly bobbing up and down, and yearning to put down roots somewhere on dry land. Playing "I See Something... brown" had to get old! And yet, those scenes were the backdrops of His will, and the fulfillment of His promise was worth the wait!

When God says, "Go", but doesn't throw in a lot of detail, I think He's boasting in us and enjoys the adventure right along with us. There's always something good to focus on and wisdom to glean with a little effort on our part. I think it makes Him smile, to watch his kids 'blossom' into whom and what He's fashioned them/us to be.