Keep Walking

"The secret to success is constancy of purpose." A familiar phrase to most of us, a reminder to keep moving, stay on task, go the next pitch, carry your axe to the mountain and work at it every day. The Bible instructs us to "be instant in season, out of season;"  Whew!

For those of us who tend to follow our mood, being instant and constant often proves difficult. One morning I may be up and ready to tackle the day while the next I'm quite content to have my coffee in bed....at 11:00~ 

This past week I spent some time with a family member who embodies this principle of constancy. She is a lovely woman of God who inspires me more than she will ever know. Of course she is constant in her service to the Lord, her daily habits, her prayer life; but the thing that really catches my attention is her constancy in love. So often when we are together I find myself discussing things close to my heart. Things that I do not discuss with anyone seem to rise to the surface when I am with her.

I've been pondering today on why that is and I have decided  it is because I feel safe with her. I feel the unconditional love of God coming through her. It is constant and unchanging. Even though I occasionally shock her a tad with my ideas on life, God, etc, her love for me never changes.

Constancy of purpose in loving God's people. Isn't that awesome? And isn't that really the most important area to be constant in? If we do all the works, all the good "things" that are wonderful but do not allow His unconditional love to flow through us, what have we accomplished? We are like sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. I would rather have coffee in bed at 11:00 while visiting with the Lord - or my husband - or a friend - than be on time in the laundry room any day.

Thank you Lord for my friend and for all those that walk in your love, even when it is difficult. Your love never fails.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal..

If I have the gift of prophecy, and can fathom all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have a faith, that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
I Corinthians 13: 1 &2 (NIV)

My Feet Are Fine!

Earlier in the week, I received a phone call from our new insurance carrier. It went something like this:

"Hello Mrs. Diaz, this is ..... and I need to set up an appointment for a Nurse Practitioner to come out and visit you."

"Ummm...OK...?"

"Yes, she will check your feet and legs, go over your medications to make sure you understand everything and check your blood pressure."

"????? My feet are fine! AND I do not take any medications."  ????

It went downhill from there. I finally passed the phone to Mr Wonderful who of course was polite and handled it graciously. He then explained that he knew someone would be coming out but did not think anything about it. Well, I spent the next week fuming every time I thought about it. My feet indeed! My meds????

I think it hit me so deeply because it reminded me of the time when Mom lived with us and I routinely set up appointments for a home nurse to visit her. There's the rub! I am not my mom, (although that would not be bad, she is much older than me.)  I am not 80 years old and I am not close to passing on from this world. Its amazing how quickly a simple phone call can take me back 20 years and put me in a difficult place all over again. Those years were filled with daily stress and heartache, watching my beautiful mom fade away bit by bit.

Trying to surrender and understand things from the insurance company point of view, I began praying for the Lord to give me grace. Of course it did not help when the nurse left a message that she would be here at 8:30 in the morning. Good gracious. Who even does that????

My prayers increased. I knew of course it wasn't the nurse's fault; she was only doing her job. I prayed for God to give me the attitude He wanted me to have. An emergency pedicure late that evening did not help my attitude though. It's winter for goodness sake. Sigh....

Early the next morning she arrived right on schedule. Wouldn't you know it? As soon as I opened the door, I liked her. Isn't it crazy how God does that sort of thing? She came in and we sat at the kitchen table.That's about the time He showed up.

During the medical history it came out about the explosion back in 2000 and our summer spent in the burn unit. She cried.

After finishing with his history, she started on mine and of course the auto accident from 2004 came out. She cried.

We talked about her patients and some of the things she faces on a daily basis. Of course no names were used. Her heart was touched by the needs of people. She cried.

By now we were old friends, enjoying a morning visit over coffee.

The visit was completed and she gathered her things to leave. The Lord spoke gently to my heart, "pray for her." I spoke gently back to Him, "please, no." He spoke again, "pray for her." I replied again, "please, no."

OK - many of you are saying, what is wrong with you???? My answer to you is, ???

Finally, I walked over, touched her arm, and asked if I might pray for her. Big smiles!!! Tears!!! She put all her things down, wrapped her arm around me and said, "Please!" The Lord gave me a beautiful prayer over her. One of the times when the words came and I heard them at the same time I spoke them. When we were finished, she was openly crying. Mr Wonderful was crying. I just looked at both of them. As we walked her to the front door, she was still saying, "You have no idea how much I needed that today."

So, once again I have learned to trust the Lord. Trust Him to orchestrate my days; who comes and who doesn't. Trust Him to have His way with my life, my body, my time. Trust Him when I know He wants me to pray for someone. Trust God.

Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be a part of your plan for the day. How awesome. And once again, forgive my hesitancy in obeying you. I am trying, really I am.

And no, she never checked my feet. Thank you Jesus for that too!

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Isa. 52:7

Along Came Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcLriaEH4U

And then along came Jones, tall thin Jones
Slow walking Jones, slow talking Jones.
Along came long lean lanky Jones.

Slow walking Jones was a fictional character in a fictional T.V. show,  in a song by the Coasters back in 1959. Funny, I remember only tidbits of what I learned in high school, but the songs - those I remember clearly. Slow walking Jones was a hero. He always showed up when the damsel was in distress; never early but always at the very last minute.

Hummm...who does that remind you of? OK, I am seriously not comparing slow walking Jones to Jesus, but hey, if the shoe fits, you know. I have had many Jones' in my life. My parents of course and my grand parents, and my two older brothers. Growing up with bright orange, fuzzy hair and about 2,543,617 freckles on my face alone, I needed a lot of rescuing. Just to set the record straight, sometimes my brothers did the rescuing but more often they were the ones I needed rescuing from. But that's another story.

In later years slow walking Jones has shown up in many different people - male and female. I've had friends, bosses, teachers and family members that made my life easier and fuller just by being a part of it. Of course Mr Wonderful has been my biggest and most able hero for many years now. Just ask him, he'll be more than happy to tell you.

So, ok, this post has no deep meaning, no long-lasting message, but the link takes you to a cool video of the Coasters singing about Jones. He's quite the guy.  And oh, one more thing:  thank you to all the slow walking, slow talking Jones's from all us damsels who need your help on a daily basis. So there. For what it's worth, there it is.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcLriaEH4U

Graduations Happen

Seasons and memories; that is what my blog is all about. Sometimes, however, I find myself dwelling more on the memories than the seasons. At this point in my life I have seen the beginning and the ending of more seasons that I care to admit. Most blend into one another without a lot of fan fare, but there are a few that stand out in my mind.

My first big season change came when I graduated high school. The deal among us was that no one would cry. We would be cool about it, no emotion, just good times. Then the word spread up and down the line, I can still hear the whispers: "Marie is crying." Yep - there I stood in the middle, well actually almost to the end, of the line and I was crying. Not just a few tears, nope, crying! All out crying.

Was I embarrassed? I don't think I was. I remember the whispers, I remember walking and looking through my tears, I remember being surrounded by friends I had seen almost daily for twelve years, but I do not remember being embarrassed. It's who I am. Emotional, sentimental, expressive. My guts have a way of spilling out for all to see. And I'm certain none of my friends were in the least surprised. They knew me. We had grown up together. And now it was ending. Of course I cried.

Since then I have come to the beginning and the ending of many seasons. I married; I birthed three wonderful children; I divorced; I raised children as a single mom; I married Mr Wonderful;  I went through the struggles of  combining two families and emerged with more people to love and be loved by; my children grew up and moved away; I became a grandma; and now many of my grandchildren have grown up. Life has been emotional, sentimental and expressive. I have cried over some endings and shouted over others. I have laughed and been cool and I have dissolved into tears.

But a few things have remained constant over the years: those who love me have loved me and those who are my friends have understood and supported me. My family has remained intact and God's love has kept us in the most intense and in the calmest situations. Even in the early years before I knew Him, He kept me. Even then He was with me; though I did not realize it.

So, it's 2011 and a new year is beginning. I believe a new season is also beginning in my life. I sense the winds of change softly beckoning me. Where? I'm not sure yet, but one thing I know: my God will keep me and my family and friends will love and support me.

 And so, I cherish the memories of my life; of having all my children under our roof. I remember the family times when we were all together, but now I am thrilled when our family includes daughter-in-laws and son-in-law and grandchildren. Its a different season but I would not go backwards for anything.

It is a wonderful thing to me that God ordains the seasons of our lives perfectly to fit our needs and abilities at the moment. Wouldn't it be crazy if I had to go back to high school or to being a new mom? OMG! Lord help me!

And so, to those who are such an important part of my life, I salute you and thank you. Loving me is not always an easy thing, but you guys are determined.  God bless you!

If God be for us, who can be against us?