Pleasantly disturbed, again...

For some reason it feels like Friday.  I have been thinking Friday all morning.  It is, however, Thursday, and though my friend Duane stopped his weekly link-up long ago, I am feeling pleasantly disturbed.  So here, in no reasonable order are random thoughts fluttering through my head today.

Wood ticks.  While I am happy to report I have not noticed a singe mosquito yet this year, wood ticks have made their presence known. Just thinking of them makes the crawly feelings begin and I find myself scratching, swatting, checking and rechecking every inch of myself for invaders before they have a chance to take a bite and burrow in.

Rick was out taking pictures of a unusual cloudy sky the other night and couldn't resist snapping a few shots of Faith.  I was thrilled that her beautiful blue eyes were visible without the typical camera red-eye glare.

But what's that at the top corner of her eye?  I didn't recall Faith having a beauty mark.  She doesn't!  Upon closer examination, the spot was indeed a wood tick getting ready to grab hold. Here come those creepy sensations again....  I know that God has a reason for all things.  I'd be quite willing to listen to His explanation for creating these noxious pests.

Our garden tractor needs repairs but the grass is not willing to wait. So this morning, instead of my usual cycling or video aerobics workout I walked in circles with the power push mower.  Around and around and around, longing for the 54" cut of the tractor but not able to imagine how one could push such a thing.  I trod and pushed until I ran out of gas, using quads and hamstrings, triceps and pectoral muscles.  I could have used the time to sing, or pray or ponder a solution to world hunger, but instead I seem to have spent the ninety minutes numb brained, thinking of nothing at all.  Perhaps the synapses needed the rest.

Every day there has been the scent of smoking stubble drifting by as farmers burn their fields before cultivating and planting.  This is an effective and natural technique that never fails to frighten me.  No matter how safe they try to be, man can not control the changing directions of the wind and fire has a life of its own. Disturbing indeed, but the smoke and ash in the air help create stunning sunsets.

Duane Scott who first dreamed up Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays is graduating from nursing school.  I applaud his efforts and his ability to continue writing, loving, and giving God glory through his time of studying.  He has even redirected some of his excess creativity into painting.  Stop by a give him a shout at his site Scribing The Journey.  You might want to mention squirrels, one of his disturbing pleasures.

This is not a squirrel.  If you thought it was, you might have already started celebrating Thursday a bit too early.
 

Random but listening

Random thoughts spin, hover and take flight
focus seems all but impossible
there is much I want to share
but it seems like I'm pulling words out of a paper bag
my thoughts look like a ransom note...

The first asparagus are pushing their way out of the ground.  Last year Faith realized how delicious they are and now we are trying to teach her that she may not eat them before we get a chance to pick them.

It's my wedding anniversary today -- 12 years ago my life became wrapped with Rick's around the core of God's love -- here again are words I wrote a few years back:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning penned: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Let me take a bit of creative license here and say: "Why do I thank God for Rick? Let me count the ways."

• Rick loves God above all else. That keeps his other priorities aligned.
• Rick is not afraid to say "I'm sorry"
• Rick has the same quirky sense of humour I do. We laugh often.
• Rick is a lifelong learner.
• Rick is quick to encourage and support me in whatever I believe God is asking me to do.
• Rick's bag of tricks, his knowledge and abilities fill in the gaps and compliment my own.
• Rick has a heart that has been kneaded, molded and softened by the Lord.
• Rick always finds new ways to surprise me with his kindness.
• Rick handles our finances with skill and Kingdom mindedness.
• Rick is Rick! He is exactly who God created him to be but open to the Lord's ongoing and never ending work in his life. God is taking him from glory to glory, and I get to come along for the ride.

I know without any shadow of doubt that God had His hand upon every detail of my life-to-be with Rick. If you haven't heard the story of our first face-to-face meeting you can click over and read it here.

The rains have stopped for a bit - leaving the new overgrown spring grass dry enough to cut.  I shall spend some time this afternoon riding in circles on my garden tractor,  the first mow of the new year. I will worship, and I will pray, and allow the Lord to whisper His mysteries into my heart.


Seeing Him in all that surrounds me and sharing with Jennifer and the rest

 

Undeniable

Image via Wikipedia

She chose a road
oft selected
to look at life
through eyes
half open
and half shut
to find comfort
living in the place
called denial.

She didn't question
his absences
the lost hours
crumbs
believing instead
his words, claims
to choices
that lead
to a healthy life.

Don't look
and you won't see
the motto
of her days.

But too soon
truth cracked through
his orange stained
hands
all at once
undeniable.

Only one decision
awaited.

Send him away
or with kisses
lick the salt
from his fingertips.

Written as an entry in Duane Scott's Cheetos Poem Competition.  Read more and enter here.

Spring cleaning in mid-Winter

If I could select household tasks I would choose cooking over cleaning each and every time.  But even I have a breaking point where the piles of clutter drive me to action.

This afternoon I attacked the den/study/office, sorting through stacks that contained cds and books; things I thought we had lost, magazines, and papers, piles and piles of papers.

At least 75% of the magazines and papers found a home in a fresh trash bag, destined for the burning barrel.  The rest are in single pile, waiting to be filed or discarded at Rick's discretion.

Books and cds were returned to their shelves in the livingroom.

I used to laugh at what Benjamin Franklin once said:

A place for everything and everything in its place

But now, like a deep breath, there is a sense of peace where disorder reigned.  I pray that my thoughts, scattered and random lately, would also find a place to settle.