Thursday, July 30, 2015

A Different Course

A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps.
—Proverbs 16:9 HNV

My cousin told me she couldn’t go on our usual walk on the farm this morning. Although disappointed, I decided to go alone. I needed the exercise, and it would give me some time to pray. I had a lot on mind lately. With school starting soon, I fretted over the new course I’d been assigned to teach. The subject is not familiar to me. I will have to crack the books and watch slews of videos to be prepared, which means giving up a few of my precious remaining days of summer break to devote to it. That, I resented.

I donned my sneakers and set out for my usual course along the Chaptico Bay. Gravel crunched beneath my feet as I passed my cousin’s house and made my way through the barnyard. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. What! My passage through the pasture was cut off by an electrified fence.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Clear as Black and White

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
—Micah 6:8 ESV

“It’s hot out there, huh?” the young clerk chatted with me while checking out my groceries at Chaptico Market, the local “Mom & Pop” I’ve frequented since childhood.

“How hot is it supposed to be today?” I asked the clerk whose name, I later learned, is Brittney.

“Well, 87 when I wrote the board,” Brittney’s brown eyes bounced toward the blackboard near the door, which listed a week’s worth of forecasted temperatures, tidal information, and an inspirational quote, “but...”

“You write the board?” I interrupted, surprised that the new owner didn’t do that, for it wasn’t long after the store changed hands, from one generation to the next, that the chalkboard showed up.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Moooove Like A Cow

Are you frustrated with your life? Are things not moving in the right direction for you? Perhaps this might help…

My granddaughter is fascinated with cows. Every time she comes to visit, a trip to the pasture is in order. Yesterday I drove two-year-old Layla in my Jeep to see her favorited bovines and stopped at a spot where I was sure she could see them from her car seat. I lowered the window. “See the cows, Layla?” I pointed toward the small herd.

Her eyes widened. “What cows doin,’ Grandma?"

“They’re eating grass. See them?”

“Cows walking.”

“Yes, they are walking,” I said, surprised that she had noticed something I hadn’t.

Huddled together, the cows chomped at the blades and then simultaneously moved forward toward the next nourishing mouthful. Chomp, step, chomp, step, chomp, step.

I thought about this curious rhythm and wondered, Is this the way God wants us to move?

“Move like a cow?” you may ask, “That doesn’t sound like something I wish to emulate.”

Bear with me. We need to eat, too.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Like Fireworks on Independence Day

Not my usual post, but one of my poems I've resurrected for Independence Day...

It was my job. Clean
the church. 
Dust, sweep, vacuum.
Mother.
I brought my trio along,
Baby Emma in the stroller. The other two
were old enough to help
straighten Bibles, hymn books, kneelers.
That church sang to my spirit,
its history seeped into my soul.
Colonists sought freedom.
So did I.  Freedom from
venomous condemnation
and alcohol-laced abuse.
Sunlight streamed, spilling
hope unto wooden pews and lighting
the aisle with splashes of color
reflecting from stained glass windows.
The church bells rang out
carols, the message of the birth
of a Savior, Who came to bring
freedom.
The church bells rang out
clear, a message
to me.
And sunlight
lit my path like fireworks on
Independence Day.
So I took a
leap of faith
and left my accuser, and
took on
a new role. Single
Mother.
And I cleaned and
dusted and swept
and vacuumed.