peaceful porch moments

I let the chickens out of the coop this evening so they could peck around for a while and the first thing they all did was to run to the side of the house so I couldn't see them. I didn't run after them, although they have been known to follow the fence line down to the street, pecking and pawing at the ground for snacks and treats. But, I did make an effort to move that way.

I shooed them closer up toward the house and sat on my front porch swing. I expected them to stay there and eat all the goodies but they just weren't content. It was probably Redhead, that rotten rooster. I'm not afraid of him because he's all bluster and part showman, but he's sooooo mean that I don't want him anymore. He's really mean to my hens and I can't stand to put them through the torture any longer. My friend, LB, found the rascally rooster a nice home on 200 acres somewhere not too far away at her friend's house. He gets his new home on Friday morning. Anyway...

The chickens moseyed around back and I just stayed on the swing enjoying the early evening cool down. It was peaceful. I started to sing an old song written by Dottie Rambo that I hadn't thought of in a very long time. I wasn't loud--after all, I was sitting on my front porch and I wasn't so sure how well my neighbors would have liked an evening serenade by me.

As I sang:

Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise,

for it was grace that brought my liberty;

I do not know just why He came to love me so,

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

I shall forever life mine eyes to Calvary,

to view the cross where Jesus died for me,

how marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul;

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

all my hens and that mean old rooster, Redhead, slowly peeped around the other end of the house. Without his arrogance and nasty attitude, Redhead led his hens to the swing where I was sitting, singing softly. They moved in closely and stayed there on the porch with me as I sang. They looked at me. They seemed to listen to me and probably wondered what I was doing. After all, I'd never sung to them before. (Who knows what a chicken thinks?)

It was a nice moment, a peaceful moment, just the Lord, my chickens and me on a quiet Wednesday evening thinking and singing about God's grace. After a little while, they quietly moved along to the other side of the house and to the backyard, heading for the safety of their coop. And, that's what happened on my evening chicken watch. There was nothing outwardly earth shattering and certainly no huge epiphanies to shout out to the world on Oprah but I love when the Lord speaks peace to me in that still small voice. Now, that's earth shattering and life changing.

Lord, thank you for those sweet, tender moments that reach in directly to us and pull us closer to Your heart. I think the chickens liked it. I know I loved it!

Suz

singing and dancing

When our girls were young, about 10 and 8 yrs old, they put on plays for their dad and me on Sunday afternoons. Their favorite was Little Red Riding Hood. They had a small record player (yes, record player) and a 45 record that they'd set it up in the living room and play "Little Red Riding Hood," by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Yup. The very ones.

They'd put the record on and then act out the story song in play form. It was fun for them and funny for us. They worked hard getting all their props and Amy was the bossy one who'd direct the whole show and both she and Holly would act out the story. Byron and I would sit and watch their efforts, sometimes over and over again. They worked on their acting skills and their timing. We loved their creativity and diligence in doing it over and over and over again. OK, sometimes we got a little tired but we mostly loved it. We loved it because they gave it their all. They practiced. They set up. They performed. Truth is, it was fun!

By Hollywood or Broadway standards, it wasn't a perfect performance. No Oscars or Tony's given around here. They were regular little girls playing in our regular little home for their regular parents. No stars. No reporters. No limelight. And we loved it! Our girls worked hard on something and gave us the gift of entertainment. It pleased us to watch and accept our girls' gift to us.

So, we're at church tonight and our young people had charge of the service. The lights were turned down lower than normal and the music is mostly different with a little of our familiar stuff with it. I didn't know some of the songs but it's all right because they post the words on the screen and they aren't hard to follow. The lyrics are beautiful and worshiping is easy. One of the young girls played and sang and she did a wonderful job. It was soulful and lovely. Our youth pastor, Pastor Shaun, preached and the message was timely and on target for the whole congregation. The message was about talking to the Lord first and then getting busy about His business. Pastor Shaun stressed that we need to spend more private time with the Lord before we strike out to tame the world and work for Jesus. It was a wise message and one we can all take to heart.

While we were enjoying our young friend's solo I thought about how our girls acted out their story for us and how much we liked it despite its imperfections. I also though about how the Lord must have liked our service tonight. I imagined Him sitting in Heaven in all His glory and perfection, watching His children doing things to please Him, to worship Him. I felt His smile of approval. It doesn't take human perfection to please the Lord. It just isn't going to happen. Nothing in us is perfect yet it pleases Him to receive our worship and praise. When we make ourselves vulnerable to Him, when we let go and open ourselves up, it gives Him joy.

I want to worship the Lord with abandon. I want to sing and dance for only Him. I will never sing like Dolly Parton. I will never dance like the best contestants on DWTS, but I want to bring Him moments of pleasure with whatever talents I have. I want to make Him smile.

Father, You give us so much. Thank you for our opportunities to give back to You. We love you! You're the best!

Suz

lightening up!

Fun was my theme for today. Does every day have a theme? Maybe. I like the Fun Theme. On a whim I posted a goofy pic of myself as my Facebook profile. It's a silly one, but then I've always been happy to be known as a bit silly and goofy. That is, until I started letting all the serious details and important issues of my life commandeer my crazy gene. Being the perfectionist that I am I allowed simple everyday fun to be sucked out of my everyday! Oh, I'd have moments when I'd let down and laugh at something I found fun--and often it was with someone who isn't necessarily driven by perfectionist tendencies, like my friend, LB.

I wanna be her when I grow up. OK, maybe it's a little late for the growing up part. I'm pretty grown up at nearly 58 yrs old. And she is many years younger than I am but who says I can't learn something from someone much younger than I? A wise former pastor of mine believed we learn something from EVERYONE we meet. Well, I wanna learn to be less perfectionistic (because it's just not happening for me) and not so intense about the details working out exactly as I'd like them to work out. That's my friend, LB. She has this laid back, coastal, beachy attitude going on--like she's relaxing on vacation--most of the time! I just hope some of it rubs off on me.

Anyway, she and I filmed a commercial promoting the photography contest in our magazine and we were a little silly with it. OK, we were a lot silly with it and we had a BLAST doing it. Then JB, the young man who filmed our commercial, saw my fun photo and said I should go ahead and post it. I guess all I needed was some encouragement and I was off and running with my goofy mood which continued on today with the evidence of my fun profile pic.

After my initial post, I got to read all the crazy posts my friends and family left for me! I loved them :) They were having fun too! After my hairstylist foiled my head all up with prospective gorgeous blonde highlights, I decided everyone would love to see a continuation of my day so I asked Wendy to snap a pic of me in all my aluminum glory with my same expression, which I immediately posted. None of this was done secretly in the beauty salon. The whole place was in on the fun. The caption for the second pic was from the stylist in the next chair. Everyone in the place was enjoying my little explosion onto the internet for all the "world to see." And there were more great fun comments from one and all! My daughter, Amy, wrote some of the best ones :) I have chuckled to myself several times over what I did today. I wasn't embarrassed. I had fun and because I allowed myself to be seen as I really was feeling in the moment, several others had fun too.

Have you ever considered the people and their personalities that the Lord puts into your life? Had LB not lightened me up yesterday and had I not had the encouragement of a younger person, I would not have made myself vulnerable and open to be laughed with or laughed at and all of my friends and family would not have had that light, humorous moment! Life is terribly hard and complicated at times and if all we concentrate on is on perfecting the details and making sure everything is done 'correctly,' it is easy to skim over all the light moments as though they don't count. But--they DO count! We need this comic relief. We need snickers and chuckles and guffaws and hee haws!

The Lord made us with our sense of humor. It's there for a purpose and I think when we let loose of our control of all the details and laugh, truly laugh, at something or someone in a good natured way, I think the Lord laughs with us. It's kinda like on the funniest videos tv shows when the babies laugh unreservedly and we can't help but laugh with them! I think God laughs with us.

"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:27

All those important but pesky details will be taken care of by the Lord. I won't change anything about them by worrying and I won't take away any of their importance by lightening up on the concentration of them.

Note to self: LIGHTEN UP, SUZ!

Father, thank you for the fun day today! I had a blast and i'm looking forward to having many more fun days with the delightful people you've put into my life. I'm grateful for each one. Please help me learn something positive from everyone I meet. I love you, Jesus. I can't wait for tomorrow with You.

Suz

hoop jumping

It's been a really long day. After months of jumping through hoops with the Florida DMV we thought we had everything together so we could officially begin the journey, literally, down the road, of Kayla's possibly learning how to drive. We've submitted forms, gotten her eye exams, had letters written by her docs and talked on the phone to way more than one person about how to get from step A to step B. Then with letter in hand that said we had to take care of this before the 22nd of July, we find out they have approved Kayla to take the final driver's test with hand controls, etc! They won't do ANYTHING at all. So we wait while the supervisor's supervisor talks with the medical review board in Tallahassee to see what can possibly be done for us.

How hard is it to understand that we're not there yet. We just need a simple driver's learning permit so she can be EVALUATED to see if she is able to learn how to drive. Anyway to make an extremely frustrating and long experience shorter, we walked out with a 60 day permit to have her checked out and tested to see if she can even drive at all. Thank you, Lord!

But, that's the kicker...

With her disability comes challenges I've never had to face. Thinking about her driving freaks me out. Will she be able to be taught how to drive? Can she even keep a car on the road? Will there ever be a day when she's independent with her own transportation and home? In the natural, I just don't see it happening. My vision is weak on this one. I'm worried.

BUT, on the other hand...with God! All things are possible...He is the only hope for a new day for her. This girl has wanted physical independence her whole life. I sure hope it happens. I pray it happens. I know I should give no thought about what will happen tomorrow. The Lord has it all under control and He doesn't need my help to fix any of this. Still...worry nags at my heart, my mind. I'd like to see the future of this situation all laid out step by step with the Lord's answers for my questions. I feel like a pancake on this stuff. First, I flip this way--then I remember the truth and flip over that way. Yeah, I know. All those laid out answers just aren't going to happen. I need to talk to the Lord about this one.

Lord, I'm still fretting over this stuff and I don't like it. Fretting is stressful and useless. I know you are in control and there's nothing that escapes your attention. Please take this whole issue and work it out the way YOU want to work it out. It feels scary to say it that way but I really don't want to be in charge. I'm not that smart and certainly not that wise. Take care of Kayla, your way. Help me cast this burden on You. I love you, dear Father.

Suz

ch-ch-ch-changes

It's been an interesting last few weeks. We've just bought a vacation place in Alabama. I said I'd never go to Alabama--but here we are, homeowners in a small town there. Fancy that! It's a lot to think about.

First, our good friends moved there last year. We love them and missed them a lot but not so much as to seriously consider buying property there.

Secondly, their new Alabama friends asked them if they might know someone who would want to buy their place. "Nope. I don't believe I do." That's what they said--until the guy said there's a hunting lease that butts up against their property. "Wait. Maybe I do know someone who may be interested."

Enter a phone call to my husband about said property. Photos are emailed to us. We like how it looks.

"Sure. We'll come look at it."

A quick trip to see it and a short bargaining conversation. They tell us a price. We make an offer. Said offer is accepted. Yay! We're gonna be new homeowners.

We go home to wait for closing date. In the interim we return to Alabama friends with motorcycle "pack" from our church. Excitement ensues. (read previous entry). We go home.

Another short (3 day) trip to Alabama. (In these two weeks I've been to Alabama more often than ever before in my WHOLE life.) We close on the house and return home to wait for our move in date. We're very excited--but I STILL do not know how we got to this point so quickly. It's amazing...but only because we're NOT people who move quickly on much of anything...especially large purchases. Still...

Truth is we didn't move as quickly as it might seem. We've been looking for a second place for a few years now. We even had our son in law checking out places on the internet for us. He's really good at that stuff. Anyway, everything simply clicked. I think it's often like this when it's right and this surely seems right. We've prayed long and hard for a place up the country where Byron can hunt and we can live at a slower pace...and that I would be happy with making the change. Well, miracle of miracles, I assure you that we are BOTH happy about it.

There are still some loose ends to tie up. Aren't there always loose ends? But, I'm sure in time we'll get all our ducks in a row and tie up those loose ends. How's that for a mixed metaphor? Do ducks have loose ends?

To this point everything has gone more smoothly that even I expected. This purchase means lots of changes for us. We want to vacation there and then sometime later become snow birds, spending chunks of time here and there. I'm not exactly sure how it will end up, but the Lord seems to be orchestrating this opera and I'm glad He is. It all feels too big for me to figure out.

So, here's to changes! Good changes! Good changes directed by Jesus' own hand.

Thank you Lord for your guidance. We appreciate your direction and your help in this big deal. This really is a big deal for us. We depend on you and love you so much.

Suz

The Rest of the Story--Ride With Purpose July '10

I love the movie Forrest Gump. One of my favorite scenes is when Forrest and Lt Dan were shrimping faithfully and still not catching anything. Forrest had been going to church and praying about it but Lt Dan only got angrier by the minute. Finally, in frustration, he asked Forrest where this God of his was.

Then Forrest says, "It's funny Loo-ten-ent Day-an said that, 'cause right then, God showed up!" Lt Dan had called God out and while He was at the top of the mast of their shrimping boat he argued and fussed with God while He turned loose His fury in the guise of a severe storm on the ocean. After a fight to the finish, the storm calmed and Lt Dan had supposedly made his peace with the Lord and all was well. Then they started catching shrimp like crazy! The Lord had been challenged and had given the Lt what he wanted. In the movie, God finally "showed up."

On our motorcycle ride last week we had definite challenges and trials. While riding down a two-lane country road in Alabama less than 10 miles from our day's destination, two of our friends had to lay their bikes down to avoid a horrible truck accident. In the process, Wayne swerved to miss the flying debris from the two trucks colliding. His bike had minor damage and he seemed uninjured, while Mike broke his hand, had terrible road rash and terribly sore muscles. His wife, Loretta, had really bad scrapes and bruises on her arm and bad road rash on her back. I'm not sure of the extent of the damage to his bike but it was messed up pretty badly.

The scene of the accident was a scary sight to behold. Trucks crushed. Motorcycles on their sides in the culvert. There were people everywhere. I don't know where they all came from on this little road out in the middle of nowhere. They were all over the place walking around in curiosity and shock and soon there were ambulances with their screaming sirens and red lights flashing. Our friend, Mike, wandered around stunned and bleeding. Loretta sat on the ground not daring to move until she could determine which parts of her were injured. Our group gathered around our hurt friends, comforted them and prayed for the Lord to help them.

Unlike Lt Dan, nobody had to pray for God to be with us and come to our rescue. He was already there! When we left the church on a rainy Sunday afternoon, He rode with us into the night. When it turned hot and steamy the next day, He came along. When tragedy suddenly struck on that Tuesday afternoon, we felt His presence. He was there in the Fire chief's daughter calling 911 at the scene. He was there in the nurse driving down the road who stopped to assess the injuries before the ambulances arrived.

The Lord comforted the young girl, a Baptist pastor's daughter, who felt terrible about how she had carelessly failed to slow her vehicle over the hill. He protected the rest of our team from being mowed down by the other truck she'd blasted into and shoved way down on the side of the road. He calmed our other friend who, although uninjured, was so distraught about the whole thing he was visibly shaken.

In time, we discovered that despite the horrible scene and "what might have been," the injuries were considered minor. There were no head injuries. There were no hospital stays. There were no deaths. What could have been overwhelmingly heartrending and tragic was a bump--albeit a BIG bump--in the road. Instead, what we had were our friends ministering to one another and others.

Our Comforter was there in the midst of our people gathered two or three together in His name as we prayed for everyone involved. God was there ALL THE TIME. We never waited for Him to show. He never decided to be with us and make an appearance. He was simply and beautifully with us all.

2 Corinthians 1:20 reminds us, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken to us to the glory of God." The Lord promises us in Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave you, nor forsake you." We can hold this truth dear to our hearts no matter what is going on in our lives. It matters not the storm, the tragedy, the turmoil, the heartache. We do not wait for the Lord to show up. He is right there with us at every turn.

I am so glad, Father, that there was never a second away from your presence on our trip and especially on that Tuesday. I am so glad for your presence even now. This life often has moments so hard that we feel we can hardly bear them. Lord, you are the only soft place in it. We are grateful beyond measure. I love you, dear, dear Jesus. You are a friend like no other.

Suz

a sweet savor

The skies were beautiful. No rain today. As we rode through the Alabama hills I caught the blend of the medicinal scent of pines and the sweet aroma of wildflowers in the heat of the day. I was immediately carried back to our family vacations in northern Georgia and its mountain flora. They were simple pleasures during a less complicated time. It was a time for enjoying one another without the distraction of extreme activities. We built relationship, one meal, one conversation at a time bathed in the scents of a southern summer.

As our group explores back roads in the south and enjoys our Creator's handiwork in sight and scents of these southern hills, we don't always know what lies around the next corner, but we can be certain that nothing catches our Father by surprise. He is attentive to our needs and is ALWAYS with us.

The smells of an Alabama country summer remind me of 2 Corinthians 2:15-17 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are perishing...to the other the fragrance of life...in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. Our simple trip together. Our lives for Christ. Not humanly perfect, yet still pleasing to our God. As much as we enjoy the clean fresh aromas as we go from place to place, our lives in Christ are a pleasant aroma to Him! Our heavenly Father! How beautiful is it that God, our Lord, is who He is and yet we please HIM?

Thank you, dear Jesus. I am especially grateful today. I pray our lives will always be a sweet savor to you. You are amazing! I love you utterly.

Suz

Ride with a Purpose 2010 Day 2

What a whirlwind of a ride today! We met for breakfast at 8 am but didn't leave right away. It had been raining most of the night and still going strong at time to hit the road. We loaded up everything and prayed for requests from home and for safe travels then left in the rain. We had discussed (ok, the guys discussed)earlier about going a different route to try and avoid some of the wet stuff. It rained hard for the first few miles and then we ran out of it. That's when the sun came out and "dried up all the rain, and the itsey bitsey spiders all came out again!" It got hot quickly so our clothes dried and we weren't wet anymore.

We traveled in the sunshine and blue skies for the rest of the day. We made our way to Andersonville National Cemetery and POW Museum where Ms Christy's grandfather's recorded stories of his POW time were told by him. It was a special time for her and I will let her tell her story of it's meaning in her way and time. The museum was awesome and touching. If ever you have opportunity to visit, it's definitely worth the trip. Our time was short there but we did have opportunity to drive around in the Cemetery. I have some gorgeous photos and will post them asap.

The museum and cemetery closed and we headed for parts, Columbus, GA, for our rooms for the night and dinner. The ride was a bit grueling and exhausting. My seat hurt and my head was itching like crazy from the helmet! I was miserable so I bailed and rode in the air conditioned truck with Ms Tammy.

What is it about the heat that just sucks the life out of your body? We are tired and calling it a night a little bit early and then it's up pretty early to get the Harley shop across the street by 9 am and head to Odis and Marsha Mooty's house. I can't wait to see them again.

Despite the rain and the summer sun, it was a good day. Any safe day on a motorcycle is a good one. Our path changed from the way we thought we'd go to the one with the bright shining sun. Pastor Gary says sometime we have to change our pathway to get to the good stuff. The Lord will let us stay in the rain--we could have kept our original plans and stayed wet all day--or we could move in another direction and find blue skies. We moved and are happy with the results!

What else does the Lord have in store for us on this trip? I don't know but I know it will be good. God's plans are always good :) Pray for us. We're praying for you!

Father, Thank you for a change in plans and sunny skies! You are the one we depend upon because "it rains on the just and the unjust." You know the beginning from the end. Thank you for taking such good care of us! I love you, dear Lord :)

Suz

Ride with a Purpose 2010 Day 1

This is the second year of Ride With Purpose for Glad Tidings Church. Anyone with a motorcycle can join us on a fun, long distance ride where we make it a point to stop every hundred or so miles and pray for friends, family and community.

I have a love/dislike relationship with this ride. I love riding the bike in great weather. Not too cool. Not too hot. It's a feeling of freedom like no other. Feels a little daring too. Going fast on a 2-lane country road. Aren't we supposed to be doing the speed limit? Oh, the speed limit is 8o miles an hour? Yeah. Right.

I strongly dislike riding in the rain, especially the hard ones. This is dangerous and I'm not really a fan of doing stuff that's too risky. I think I'm losing my nerve. Yep. It's happening to me. I know if something goes awry, I'm in trouble. My old bones aren't as flexible as they used to be.

I love riding with friends. Especially GT friends. We've been at Glad Tidings for 7 years and there's never been an activity that we've gone on where we've had drama amongst the group. I mean, never. Not on fun stuff. Not on mission trips. Never. We go and have a blast whatever we're doing. It doesn't mean this is a perfect group of people. I think we just have a really good attitude for a church group. It's truly a great time whenever we do something together.

I dislike (strongly) how hard it is for me to sit for long periods of time without discomfort. I've tried pillows and specially designed gel seats. They don't help. This is the worst part. When I'm not comfy I'm like a worm on a hot rock. Twisting this way. Turning that way. Up. Down. I'm sure I can be pretty annoying to Byron when I get tired like this. He's a good guy though and never says a word about it.

Most of all, I love the feeling of accomplishment when we arrive back to the church after days and 1600 miles on the road. It's adventure at it's easiest. We see great places. We stop at a gas station or convenience store every couple of hours. We pray for our friends and neighbors and the community around us. We eat in nice restaurants and stay in nice hotels with our very good friends. There's a great deal of laughter and fun. I especially love this part. This is why I'm back on the road again this year even though I haven't ridden on the bike with Byron since LAST July! No wonder my seat is uncomfortable! Sheesh!

The ride was tough today. We had about an hour of dry weather after we left the church and then the bottom of the sky fell out! We got soaked and had a good laugh. Then it dried up and we had perfect temperature and an awesome sunset! We rode hard and fast so we could reach our destination in time to watch fireworks in Sopchoppy, but to no avail. They had them last night so people could go to church tonight and still not miss the fireworks this year. Still no drama. We laughed about it and each of us went to our great hotel rooms at the new Best Western in Medart, Fl to rest up for our ride tomorrow. I can't wait to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the wind in my hair--that is until I have to put my helmet on.

There are two ladies along our ride who have already received a copy of our women's magazine, Looking Forward--a cashier at a tiny store and gas station in Williston, FL and our waitress at Golden Corral in Perry, FL. We women are dividing up the rest of the copies I brought among ourselves and will be sharing them along the way to whomever the Lord leads. Wonder what the Lord will do through this great resource. Great thanks to those who contributed to this issue. Your words, thoughts, and stories will touch hearts and encourage women all along our trip.

Thank you, Lord for traveling mercies today. It was really tough but you brought us through safely. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. It's gonna be a good day! I love you so much!

Suz