bsmiles and sunny days

Tis the season for all kinds of wonder and adventure! This guy was an early attender at our spring celebration. Last night we found a snake in one of our flower beds. I went to bed giddy with excitement at some of the shrubs I harvested from a mess in my backyard. They have waited patiently for years in a garden of snarled weeds and piles of yard waste. Their time has finally come for something greater, and I can’t wait to see what they become under my watchful eye and careful cultivation.  I feel a little like that, deep down in my guts.  “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2:20-21‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬ https://www.bible.com/bible/100/2ti.2.20-21.nasb1995

  I woke up to a quiet house early this morning. I slipped out of bed, made myself a cup of tea, and settled in on the couch. After some quiet meditation, I picked up the book we are reading in my Sunday school class to start on my homework. I mean, it is due tomorrow!  I want to be transparent here, I am not crazy about the author. I like the subject we’re studying, but I have had a hard time getting wholly onboard with her writing style. Because I’m persnickety, I guess. But I love my class, and I want to have something to contribute in our discussion, so I read the chapter. Probably in the same vein of my dislike, my attention to my people has been average at best lately. I feel like I’m here, but I’m only partially tuned in. Sometimes I am waiting for the end of a long story someone is telling me, so I can go back to staring out the window. It’s exhaustion on multiple levels, I’m sure, but I feel guilty about it.  As I started reading, the Holy Spirit grabbed my atten...

If you are looking for a place to belong, Scarlette is starting up a new club. But be careful on the way to the meeting. You’ll have to pass Moses’s room, and there could be trouble! I have felt the lifting from all of your prayers. There is a settling of the waters, and I have gotten some rest. Thank you for girding us up, each one of you that prayed or reached out to us. The goodness of God has shone all around us on the path, even though it’s hard. I also feel the love of so many. It’s awe-inspiring when I think of how God has blessed us with an army of people to help shoulder the load. You are so very precious to me.  “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10:23-25‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬ https://www.bib...

One day I was already late for work and when I realized I was almost out of gas. So after I picked up my cans for delivery, I stopped to get gas. That was when I realized my wallet was in the vehicle Dale drove to work that day. I was on the phone with Kennedy when I realized I was in a real pickle. I’ll never forget her response. She said, “I think I know what is happening to you. You’re having what is called a bad day.” I thought of her as I walked out the door this morning. I forgot to pull the car into the garage last night and it was covered with snow. I thought I was returning it to the dealership today so there was no gas in it. I was late before I got out of the driveway. When I got to work the head hancho was there, so he didn’t get the message I texted to my regular boss, who was home sick.  When I got home from work, Moses’s poison ivy had spread from his hands and arms to his trunk and face. After we went to the doctor, I threw my blankets into the mountain of dirty lau...

  I feel a little like I’m running on fumes over here. We keep hitting roadblocks in Dale’s podiatry journey. I am grateful for the simplicity of our life, which lends to significant flexibility when we need it, but I’m tired. I am pulling double duty while he isn’t able to drive. Please, all of you that follow Jesus, please pray for Dale’s foot to heal and for him to endure the process with joy. And pray for me to have the energy I need to keep up with whatever is required of me.  “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭118:14‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬ https://www.bible.com/bible/100/psa.118.14.nasb1995

  We were just kids, straight out of Bible college, ready to change the world. We had no idea that there was an avalanche ready to bury us the minute we stepped out into the big world. I’m so glad no one told me what was coming; I would have been afraid. I might have wanted to shrink back, but in His mercy, the Lord shielded me from knowing. I walked right into our new life with total confidence and trust. I was fearless.  Then came the hard part. There were seasons that it was so dark I couldn’t see Him. There were times I was so entrenched in sin that I didn’t want Him. There were days that I wished for death to stop the ache in my heart. But in His goodness, the Lord held me. He comforted me. He gave me light. He led me out. He steadied my heart. Through suffering I learned obedience and blind faith. “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” ...

  I found this little poem on the counter yesterday when I was scrubbing sweet tea off the surface. My sweet Scarlette wrote this sentiment from her heart. I don’t know when she wrote it or what inspired it. I don’t know what the part she erased said. I just happened to read it before tossing the notebook into the junk drawer. One of the hard parts of being responsible for all these lives is that I never know whose needs are met and who is going without. I ask God to show me, but sometimes I get busy and things fall through the cracks. My little boys’ light fixture burns through lightbulbs in less than a week, which leaves them in the dark for the rest of the month. It usually takes at least that long for me to get the lightbulbs changed again. I have a new fixture for their room, I just can’t seem to get it installed. Sometimes I lie awake and beg God to cover the bases of things I’m missing. Other days I rest in His mercy and ask Him to show me what is mine to do and how to leave...